Do birthdays make anyone else hyperventilate a little bit? Not my own, but those of people I love. I stress sometimes worrying that I won’t make them feel special enough. Which is funny because where I used to want ALL the attention for my own birthday, now I almost prefer more subtle acknowledgement because the pressure I put on myself to display proper gratitude. I’m sure there are weird personal issues tied up in all that, but it leads me to my next point-

It’s September! It’s one of my favorite months as summer and fall blur the lines and we return to spending Friday nights and Saturday mornings cheering on the kids in soccer. Hailey turns 11 in the middle of the month and I’ve been busying myself with how to celebrate it. She doesn’t want a party and her only request was hamburgers and a scavenger hunt to find her presents. She’s so giving and grateful that she is fun to celebrate so I have a few other tricks up my sleeve to help make her day feel as special as she is. I hope!

She always says her favorite birthday was when she turned seven because it was before Papa John was sick, Grandma Betty was still here, we hadn’t experienced the pandemic, and she got a scavenger hunt to find her presents. Funny enough, it’s the year a hurricane forced us to cancel her party, but still she remembers that year as her favorite. The world doesn’t deserve her heart.

Whew, I’m feeling a little emotional this morning clearly. The passage of time has fought for my attention lately and I just can’t fathom how it passes by so quickly. I feel so fortunate to get to spend as much time with my family as I do, and yet time still finds a way to slip through my fingers.

When these moments arise, I find myself pulling back and creating time to breathe and slow down. Which brings me to my September intentions. I asked myself, what do I want from this month? And here’s what I’m shooting for:

• Fully engage myself with the kids in school. We’re starting Gather Round Farming and Food next week, a unit I believe we will all enjoy, so I’m preparing for a lot of my energy to go there.
• Be present. Focus more on living my days instead of taking pictures of them or checking off lists. I want to pull out my nice camera again for more quality pictures and less phone in my hands.
• Stick with my pick three. I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter (are you signed up?) how I’ve been employing the use of the pick three technique of picking three tasks each day that either have been weighing on me or will move the needle forward in an area of life in a tangible way. My to do list will never be complete, but with the pick three strategy, I end the day feeling accomplished and with some real movement forward in some way.
• Lean into joy. As of yesterday the pumpkin decorations are up at our house and it feels so cozy. The kids screeched with joy when I said we could pull it out of the attic. I love their pure enthusiasm for the moment they are in, so we’re going to lean into the things that make us happy. Reading and yummy snacks and baking and candles and football and more yummy snacks and board games. Yes it’s still summer and we even are going out on the boat later to prove it, but if fall-ish things bring us joy, we’re going for it!
• Learn about credit card points. Well that’s a hard left turn, huh? Along with closely tracking our financial transactions, I’ve dipped my toe into the world of credit card points and learning how to leverage them for things important to us, like travel. If you have any awesome resources, please send them my way.

What emotions does September conjure up for you? Excitement? Coziness? Sadness to leave summer behind?

What joys could you lean into this month unapologetically? Pumpkin creamer? If so, no judgement here.

Wishing you a great weekend and perhaps a few minutes of quiet time to ponder the month ahead and what you want from it. <3