Happy things #24

This was my walk home from work today. Yes it was drizzling. Yes it was grey. Yes the colors have faded and a few of the trees are bare. But it is still fall, and fall makes me happy.

Missing pieces

I've been gathering items for a garage sale. Well, technically, I guess it would be a yard sale since our garage is way back behind our house. I had decided that this Friday would be the perfect day. The weather should be beautiful, there is nothing else that I have to do, and I am SO ready to have this stuff out of here.

Then, out of the blue yesterday, I realized that I can't have it this Friday, or any other Friday in the foreseeable future because I would have to do it completely alone. No brief breaks to run in for a drink, the restroom, or lunch. No helpers available to fetch things or answer people. No company.

I keep forgetting that my kids aren't here anymore. I keep forgetting that although the guys--no longer boys--still live here, they are busy people. Patrick and Jonathan are gone all day every day during the week and Patrick is also gone most of the weekend. And Andrew, my nearly constant companion of the past 18 years, is now working about 40 hours a week between two jobs.

The change has happened gradually, and will continue. Two years ago Bethany got married and moved away. In the spring, Patrick will graduate and move out. In the fall Andrew will add college to his schedule and become even more of a phantom. I know that the changes are good and salutary, but that doesn't make them easy.

And, it doesn't make it any less difficult for me to figure out how I'm going to have a garage sale.

I've got the bug

I've got it bad.

 First, there was the thick fall fashions edition of InStyle magazine.

Then there were three days walking around the mall while I watched my friend's one-year-old son. I'm having shoulder troubles, so pushing a happy baby in a stroller and sipping a cappuccino seemed like a good solution.

There are the crisp nights and sunny-but-not-hot days.

Then there are the several hours that I have spent sorting through clothes. I'm swapping out the white crops and sundresses for jeans and. . . ummmm. . . Where are my fall clothes?!

The realization that has hit me is that my fall wardrobe is pathetic. I have been paying tuition for kids in college for five years. Two years ago I had just spent my summer spending money in a manner that  felt, to me, reminiscent of the proverbial drunken sailor. Between our money pit of a house and having a wedding with 300 guests, there was nothing left. And then last fall I felt rotten and didn't feel like shopping, or going much of anywhere.

Add to that a 27-pound weight loss and a 15-pound regain in that time, and you see my problem.

I need to go shopping. I need to buy sweaters and white blouses and cute shoes. I need some jeans. I'd love a leather jacket; they are EVERYWHERE this year. Riding boots. Scarves. Something suede. Burgundy.

Oh, yeah. The bug has bitten hard.

The bright side

I've been lamenting the cool summer and the fact that fall is coming. My fall wardrobe is lacking. I want to swim in my pool. My older sons will go back to their busy, busy college lives.

But today I had a happy thought.

At least, cooler weather--fall--means I can wear my boots again.

Happy thought, indeed.

Head, meet post

It really was a resounding thump.

As I tried to evade some heavy smoke rolling off of our campfire, I turned and ran. Straight into a 6X6 cross beam at the shelter house.

I'm not sure exactly how I got onto the ground, although I know I didn't fall hard because the rest of me didn't hurt. My kids said I kind of staggered and half fell, half sat. I just remember being on the ground with my little brother holding onto my shoulders and cradling me from behind.

Yeah, it hurt. And I was dizzy and nauseous. So I let them take me to the emergency room. And the people at the ER were very nice and put me in a wheelchair, then a bed, then a CT scan.

After a couple of hours they sent me home with a diagnosis of mild concussion and some instructions that--thankfully--included rest. I'm glad they included rest because that's really all I've felt up to so far this week.

I think that the next thing on my list is getting reacquainted with my chiropractor. The ER doctor said that the effect on my neck would be similar to a whiplash injury and I'm feeling it today.

The morale of the story: Don't run with your eyes shut, even if they're full of smoke.

Apple season

A week ago today I got the bug. I had to go to the orchard--right then--and get apples. So all week the house has smelled like apple something-or-other. Tonight it's apple butter cooking in the Crock Pot. I've made a couple of small batches of applesauce, but today I cleaned a bunch of canning jars, so tomorrow will be the major applesauce operation.

For me, apples mean it's really fall. Of course, the frost yesterday morning was another clue.

The good old days

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic right now. As the new school year starts all around us, and I prepare to send a second child to college, I'm missing the days when I had four kids at home. There's nothing much more fun than being the unschooling mom of a bunch of curious kids.

I miss the "field trips" to the state park or forest preserve. (I put field trips in quotation marks because it wasn't anything organized. In the fall, especially, our life was one big field trip.) Taking two teens to walk at the park isn't nearly as entertaining as taking a crew of 4, 6, 9, & 13.

Don't get me wrong. There are wonderful things about this stage, too. I love to spend time with my grown and nearly-grown children. I'm sure that the excitement when Andrew has his braces removed next week will be something to remember. We have much deeper discussions than we could before, and each of them can cook dinner in a pinch.

But with the approach of fall, I hear echoes of those little voices, and would love--just for a moment--to go back and do it again.

Back to school

This is always the time of year that I feel the most out of step with the world around me. Back to school sale fliers fill the newspaper and mailbox. I hear my neighbors talking and read the celebratory Facebook statuses. Parents express relief and joy that their offspring are once again back in school.

For 13 years, back to school has been largely meaningless at our house. We'd watch the back-to-school season, hear the neighbor kids mourning the return to school, and then enjoy sleeping in on the first day of school. Because our lives are pretty much the same year-round, there is no new school year at our house.

It has changed things a bit to have college students. When someone starts college we lose part of our pack. It takes a while to get the dynamics worked out. For four years it was Bethany going off to classes and now it will be Patrick. In two years Jonathan will leave me here alone with Andrew, and then two or three years after that it'll be his turn to go. But that isn't the same as sending your kids off to school for the day.

I have to say, I share the joy and relief of the parents of school children at the return of their kids to school. I can once again enjoy a relatively peaceful trip to Target without hearing their kids whining and begging. We'll take a trip to the zoo next week and it will be relatively empty. I can go to the mall without being run over by kids wearing those ridiculous shoes with skate wheels in the bottom. All of my errands will get easier.

But my kids will be enjoying it with me.

Fall in northern Indiana

Yesterday was my niece Gabby's fifth birthday. She wanted to do something with Bethany and her family, so we met them at a farm about an hour northwest of here. The main feature of this particular farm is the corn maze. As we started walking through the maze my sister-in-law asked if any of us get claustrophobic.

Uh, yeah. Me. And by the way, I hate cornfields. Well, I love looking at them. I just don't like being in them.

Really, though, it wasn't bad. We were led around by a five year old and all had a good time throwing corn at each other, which we discovered later was against the rules. I even hid in the corn.

Fall

I LOVE fall. It has always been my favorite season.

I love the warm sun on the cool-ish days and I love the crisp nights. I love sitting by a warm fire with a cup of hot cider or tea, looking up at the stars in the clear sky. I love the reds and golds of the leaves and the crunch that they make underfoot.

I love the spicy, woodsy, smoky smell of burning leaves. I love sleeping with the windows open and waking up culed up under my down comforter. I love sweaters and boots and fleece and trousers. I love squash and chili and warm creamy comfort food.

I love baking and the warmth and good smells it sends through the house. I love All Saints and the end of the church year. I love Redeemer's Sauerkraut Supper.

I'm not looking forward to winter, but I love fall.

Birthday party, sort of

Friday night we had a great family get together at Mounds Park in Anderson. My mom and Wicked throw a thirteenth birthday for each of their grandchildren, and this year we have two turning thirteen. Because of busy lives and the fact that the grandparents are leaving for Florida for five weeks, the party was held a little early. Andrew won't be 13 until November and Kate's birthday is in December.

I don't think anyone's complaining. A gorgeous evening at the park in October beats a December afternoon crammed into the condo anytime! We had a gorgeous fire, walked in the woods, and cooked hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire.


Roasting wienies!


My brother taught the girls his all-city airband championship dance to 1999. (Warning: The link is to a Prince video.)

Gone scrappin'

My bags are almost packed and I'm almost ready to go.
This weekend I'll be scrapbooking with Bethany and a couple of non-blogging friends at a Y camp in northern Indiana. With the exception of a break Sunday morning to drive home for church I'll be buried in photos and scraps of paper all weekend. Well, and maybe we'll take the break or two to walk in the woods or play tetherball.

I love cemeteries

Okay, I may not love all cemeteries, but I love the country cemeteries where earlier generations of my family are buried. (The one above is Elhanan Cemetery in northern Wells County.)

For a history buff like me, who is also part of a close family, family history is a natural interest. I have been researching for over 10 years now, but moving to northern Indiana five years ago really reinvigorated my searches. Both of my parents are from the county to the south of Fort Wayne, and the last immigrant ancestors of mine arrived there in the late 1840's. Our families were among the early settlers of three northern Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, and Wells.

This gives me an enormous feeling of connection to this part of the country. I love finding the homes that family members lived in, seeing the churches the attended--and often helped build--and walking through the cemeteries where they were buried. I love finding newspaper snippets about their comings and goings, reading their letters, and seeing their names on old plat maps.

I love the cemeteries for their serene country settings. I love the signs of the faith that was an important part of their lives. There are eight cemeteries that I know pretty well, now, but each time I go I seem to make a new connection. There are a few I have yet to find. A beautiful fall day is the perfect time to go search.


My great-great-great grandparents, Joseph and Anna Harrod moved here from WiIlliams County, Ohio.

Their son Enos and his wife Hester have one of my favorite headstones. Enos and Hester's daughter, Alta Jane Harrod Ruhl was my great-grandmother and I was named after her.

Amazing sunset

The sky was incredible on Tuesday night. I was across town at the time these were taken from our yard. The sky looked slightly different over there.

Life is good

It's a cool fall day. My hubby is in town. Apple butter is simmering in the crock pot. Some nice fresh bread is rising.

I had a stressful week last week, but Sunday I went to church and got what my soul needed, and on Monday some medical tests turned out in the desired fashion and took care of that bit of stress.

Oh, sure, I'm still behind. I still have way more to do than I can realistically handle. But life is good.