Looking forward

I love the fall. The weather change, the changes in the garden, the changes in our schedule. All of that. Before I met Craig, I watched college football on Saturdays, sometimes missing dinner in our college's cafeteria if a game went into overtime. (Craig doesn't hate football but never has made a habit of watching it, and it wasn't a deeply ingrained habit for me, so it fell by the wayside.) And I love getting out the fall clothes and the warmer blankets. And the food? Fall gets me back into the kitchen with soups, casseroles, breads, and desserts like baked apples and poached pears. (I might even write another entry on Another Working Mom Cooks!) Once the temperatures drop into the 70's (or even 60's) my family loves to head a few miles north to hike some fairly easy trails, and we've enjoyed getting lost in corn mazes for the last few years.

The problem is, here in Memphis, the calendar says fall LONG before the weather agrees. A glance at the ten day forecast tells me that sweaters will not be necessary any time soon. And memory tells me that Halloween is more often a day to wear a tank top and shorts than a day to wear a coat. (However, I can still hold onto the memories of 1993 and 2002, when it was c-o-l-d on Halloween.) (It even snowed in 1993.) (Record low temperature.) (We still handed out all our candy.) (And had to buy more.) (Seven bags.) (Of good candy.)

I'm looking forward to THIS October for several reasons. My parents are coming the first weekend, with new furniture for my living room and bedroom. Even if they weren't bringing awesome presents, I'd be excited about their visit. We have a good time together (and football might even be watched).

The neighborhood book club is starting in October, too, along with the event of the season, the second annual Chili Smackdown. Our church's fundraising auction, too, is in October. Add Halloween to the mix, as well as this blog's first birthday (anniversary?) (blogiversary?) (Isn't paper the traditional gift for the first anniversary?) (Does that mean I should print out my blog?) (Don't answer that.)


So yeah, I guess the point of this post is to tell you that I really like October and am going to have a lot of fun this month. But this forecast? Can it please scale down about ten degrees? Then I'd be very happy.