Fall Fun (from a distance)

Thanks to the brilliant planning skills of the EPA, the brownfield grants I write on an annual cycle are due on November 28.  That would be the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Awesome.

I'm back to leaving the house before 7am, working through lunch, cancelling lunches and meetings and daytime appointments (no comments on the state of my hair and/or monobrow), rushing out to pick up whatever child needs to be at whatever activity in the afternoon, trying to cook somewhat healthy meals, spend a few minutes with my family before herding them up to bath and bed, and then returning to my trusty laptop to write and write and write and write.  Saturdays have become days of leaving the house early - working at the office all day - and trying to leave in the afternoons to spend just a little bit of time with the kids.  And Deonne, of course.

So the already full schedule of dance class, French class, Annie Jr. rehearsals (did I mention that Anna's in her first theatrical performance this year - cast in the superstar role of NYC Central Park Squirrel [read: extra] in the local Childrens Theatre production), church music and rhythm class, Wednesday night church programming, soccer practice + games, women's Bible study, PTO board meetings, karate, and soccer class is even more crazy.  (If that's at all possible.)  Add in the menagerie of fall activities going on across Columbia that I really want to enjoy with the kids and it becomes an out-and-out battle to keep everything straight.

Game on.

So limited time to keep the blog updated - limited time to put much thought or detail into writing ('cause my super-stellar writing skills are too busy telling tales of woe and desperation...)

And I hate that.  Truth be told, it's a weird place to be - I love the writing, I love the work.  I just hate that it falls during one of my favorite seasons.  That it takes time away from doing the things I love with my family, like carving pumpkins and tissue lollipop ghosts, baking pumpkin treats, and taking advantage of things like Boo at the Zoo, the State Museum Halloween party, the scarecrows at the Robert Mills House, and a gazillion others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

So for now, I'll just update with pictures - and say thank you to my spouse for taking on kid duty for the next month, for enjoying the fun things fall offers with our children, and for documenting most of it with your camera phone.

See ya on the flip side for more details....