Fall Fever

I go a little nutty for the fall, and this time of year the anticipation of cooler weather and soft sweaters is almost too much for my little heart to bear.  It starts with the slow trickle of fall fashion appearing in my favorite stores.  It's followed by the return of the yellow school bus to my neighborhood.  I smile as I see it being filled with cute, eager faces, ready to learn (ha! right?!).  But seriously - these little ones with the back-packs and brand new back to school outfits.  How I loved that.  I was totally that nerdy girl who looked forward to the first day of school.  Then, the weather starts to chill the eff out a bit - the air is crisper in the morning, the quality of the light begins to shift slowly to a more golden hue to match the leaves that are slowly changing.  And pumpkins.  Don't even get me started on pumpkins.  And apple cider.  And soft wraps and boot cut jeans.  And boots.  And the new fall television line-up, the new theatre season, the final harvest of the season. Ooooh.  Seriously.  I have a deep love affair for all things autumnal.

I guess it's because all good things always happen to me this time of year.  Serious major life changes.  I think it started with college - uprooting myself from rural Wyoming to Southern California in the fall of '97.  It was like reinventing myself.  Two years later, in early September, I boarded a plane to take me to England for a year with nothing more than a suitcase and a backpack.  I moved across the country from California to Washington, DC again in the fall of '01 to start my adult post-college life in the "big city" under the watchful eye of my big brother.  Two years later, I met my husband in November (the fall).  We married a year later in October (the fall).  We bought our adorable condo in Georgetown in the fall.  Then two years later, our town house in the Maryland 'burbs.  We made the biggest move of our lives across the country from DC to Denver in November (the fall).  Do you sense the trend?

And now, this fall - I'm having a baby.  We'll be celebrating our first Thanksgiving together with a new addition to our family at that all-American table.  Complete with mini pumpkins as decoration.

What a wonderful season it is indeed.

12 weeks, one day and counting....