September

It's astonishing to think that it's nearly September. The weather is cooling (a bit), and the hustle and bustle of summer is coming to a close. Summer bbq's, pool time and scheduled trips have come and gone. Back to school clothing ads have reared their ugly heads (perhaps too soon), and parents are scrambling to keep their children occupied for a few more weeks.

September has always been an exciting time for me. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I looked forward to school more than summer break itself. I LOVED (read: still love) to shop for new pens, pencils, paper, books and markers...Oh, the thrill of it all!..organized and intentionally packed in my backpack weeks before school even started.

Not much has changed.

So, here we are, a few weeks from September, and it's happening all over again. As a school teacher, I have stocked my classroom with supplies: new colored pencils, pens, binders. As of this afternoon, everything is neatly placed, ready for Monday's big start. I was so excited this afternoon that it's almost impossible for me to wait the next couple days to start.

September is coming. The leaves will change color. The mornings will be cold. I will pray my pumpkins don't frost before they're ready. I'll have to wear pants and bring a sweater to work. It's the same every year.

But with this realization that a new year is beginning (teachers think very differently than the rest of society), I have also become so very aware of how much everything has changed.

Connor will be a year old in September. It's hard to imagine we have a child that is nearing the one year mark. What a difference a year makes!  This fall, my weekends will no longer be filled with lazy mornings of coffee and football. We will have an active one-year-old tornado who wakes at 6 a.m. no matter what day it is, and we'll be lucky to catch a few minutes of a game.


So, here's to September. The month that will always hold a special place in my heart.