Counting Down the Minutes...

...to September! Yep, that's right. September is coming! It's almost here! I'm so friggin' hyped you have no idea! I'll have a blog post tomorrow recapping August (because I still have tonight, yo! I can't cut myself short!!) and setting some goals for September, but I just want to write about why September is so great! (This will be a great reminder when a day really sucks next month and I need to know why I wanted it to be here in the first place! *lol*)

FALL!
Oh, yeah. You heard me right! Fall is approaching! I can smell it in the air! I can feel it all around me. I absolutely *love* fall. The drop in temperature at night. The colors! The feeling of change. It's just magical for me! I'm reminded of a quote from You've Got Mail (yeah, most people hate this movie, but I'm strange and adore it!) "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms." I wish I could send you all a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils too! Another great smell. Another thing I completely love. (Yes, I mean pencils.)

WEATHER
Okay, you can say this goes along with fall, but I think it deserves it's own place. I can honestly say I don't remember a summer this humid in YEARS! I'm not sure if that's because there hasn't been one, or I just haven't spent this much time outside in the summer in YEARS. I used to hide, and now I play outside. Who the crap cares? I have only this one life, and I'll darn-well live it like I want! That being said, I don't know that I've ever sweated this much! I've never been this tan either, but OMG the sweat. For me, the first day I have to put on a jacket is a magical day (it happened a couple weeks ago...Hubs says my body temperature regulator thing is broken because I get cold quicker now! *lol*)! I love fall nights where you bundle yourself in a big cozy sweater by the fire, and I will absolutely LOVE hiking through the hiking trails without feeling like I'm going to DIE!

BIRTHDAYS
I don't know if you know this, but my son was born on 9/9/99. He's a special boy and I love celebrating both my sons' birthdays! Birthdays were always a huge deal in my house - mom showered us with love even when she couldn't afford much in the way of gifts. For one day we felt like queen/princess of the house. And I plan on passing that on to my children. There's something so special about feeling like someone is thankful that you came into this world. Not only that, but there are a whole bunch of other September birthdays too! And even MORE when I joined Spark! YOOVIE shares her birthday with my oldest neice, Tracy (September 4th - the day of my 10k in their honor!). My sister's birthday just makes it in on the 30th as well. It's also the return of the holiday day from work! July 5th we got a day off...and then nothing until next Monday! That's a long time to be tied down without some sort of break!

OUTDOOR EVENTS
OMG there is nothing like the outdoor events in and around Ohio in the fall! While I have to wait a bit for the Circleville Pumpkin Show, the Ohio Renaissance Festival starts this Saturday and runs through October 17th! I'm so pumped! I've promised my kids a trip there for so long, but this year it's totally going to happen! Sadly, this will bring an end to the outdoor drama Tecumseh! - but I'll just put that on the list to take them to next summer. Still, I love being outdoors in the fall, so I'm checking out every event possible!

FOOTBALL!!!
Yeah, I said it. Not only does my son play midget league football (which makes his Mom and Dad, avid college football fans, so proud!) but we've got 2 great teams to watch this year. I was born and bred into the Buckeye (Ohio State University) fan club, and with Terrelle Pryor leading the way this year, it could be a magical season!! Also a team to watch, WVU (West Virginia University) has Noel Devine on the Heisman watch and leading the charge for this somewhat young, but full-of-promise team! This could surprise a lot of people, if only the magic sparks fly! I'm so friggin' pumped for this football season...and for the fact that I can (probably) finally wear my WVU jersey and the OSU sweatshirt bought for me last year that didn't quite fit! I'm gonna look HAWT! and stay warm too! *lol*

CLOTHES
Okay, this is my last one for now. I was thinking about this today as I went shopping (a bit about that in a minute) and I kept thinking - I just really want a big, chunky sweater this year. I know a lot of you are thinking that chunky sweaters are meant to hide (and what am I hiding? I'm looking better every day/week!) but, for me, I haven't been able to find a beautiful chunky sweater in so long! Why? Because being so big, the chunkiest sweaters simply "fit" me. I want to swim in a sweater this fall/winter! And as I shrink, the possibilities for that grow bigger and bigger! Now, not only can I choose what STYLE of chunky sweater I want, I can pick the color too -- not just "what's left in the biggest size!" (Also looking forward to a turtleneck this winter, now that my neck isn't as huge!) At least once this fall/winter, I will rock the tights/chunky sweater 80s throw-back, even if it's just at home while on the couch! *lol*


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Shopping trip (@ CATO):

A pair of jeans, size 28, with orange detail and orange belt - $25

A pair of dress pants, light brown, size 28, with rope belt - $28

A purple shirt, size 22/24, with keyhole detail at the neck - $7

Feeling comfortable & gorgeous in a dressing room and realizing that 28s are already getting loose? - PRICELESS!