September Notes
I realize this isn’t a novel thought, but this September felt like such a blur! We are definitely getting back into the swing of things the way we haven’t done in 3 years. It is both exhilarating and exhausting. My kids are taking tennis lessons, piano lessons, and my 7th grader is in an extra-curricular orchestra group and church youth group. It’s a lot. (And honestly I feel like we are way less scheduled than a lot of people we know!) I don’t feel like I want to drop any activities, I just need to build up my endurance again.
On the work front, I’ve been at my new job - in-house counsel for a large accounting firm - for 5 months now, and I am finally settling in to the new rhythms. It is so different than my old job - I have an internal service role, rather than customer/public-facing, and I have almost no meetings as compared to my old schedule that was jam-packed! I’m really enjoying working as part of a team again, too, instead of being the boss. There’s much more I could say, but you’ll have to send me a Voxer/Marco Polo or meet me for coffee or a walk to hear the rest. 😉
October Notes
October was such a fun month! The weather was beautiful and we had a lot of fun activities, like an Oktoberfest party at a friend’s house and a camping trip in Arkansas. In other exciting news, Matt and I left the kids home alone for the first time while we went out for several hours in the evening (we watched a spooky play). They are 12 and 9, so they’re certainly old enough (I’m pretty sure I did some babysitting when I was 12) but I still worried about them a bit. They did great! It’s wonderful to realize we are getting to the point where we can go out without arranging for a babysitter. 🙌
Currently Enjoying
📚 Breaking a reading rut with children’s literature. I’m pretty sure I enjoyed City of Ember just as much as my third-grader.
📺 Abbott Elementary is back!
🎧 Stepping back from social media has been nicely paired with rediscovering the nuance with the Pantsuit Politics podcast.
📖 I started a book club! Our first meeting is next month. I was talking to some friends , we all love books, and we just decided to go for it. Our first book is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
Fall Highlights
A visit to my hometown, which always includes lots of family time, but this time we visited a few local tourist spots that somehow I had never been to. We toured the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri and walked around the downtown that inspired Main Street USA at the Disney theme parks, and went to the Great Pershing Balloon Derby where it was too windy for the balloons to fly, but we got up close & personal with the balloons during an evening “balloon glow,” which might have been even better.
September is jam-packed with events in southwest Missouri - my favorites were the Greek Festival (Opa! 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷) and Cider Days (Yay fall! But why is it still 90 degreees?). I also attended the very creative and Instagram-ready 99x Party at the Art Museum… it was fun, but next year I will be prepared to take more selfies!
I did the Run the Rock 6-Miler at Dogwood Canyon near Branson, MO. I had not visited this “nature park” before, so I fully embraced being a tourist and taking tons of photos as I made my way through the (extremely hilly) race course. Dogwood Canyon is beautiful, but it has an uncanny quality of being “too pretty” - it is definitely Mother Nature, but she’s had a little work done. 😂 For example, the waterfalls were gorgeous, but I’m quite certain that there isn’t that much water flowing in mid-September when we haven’t much rain lately.
Playing laser tag with my son’s church youth group was ridiculously fun, although the worrier in me still thinks about how it glorifies of gun violence and perpetuates the myth of the “good guy with a gun.” I know, I need to relax. It’s not my strong suit.
The kids and I went to see School of Rock: The Musical at Springfield Little Theater, then the next night we watched the movie (which they hadn’t seen). Our local theater is always great but I was especially impressed with the kids in the show, many of whom learned to play their instruments for the show and they played live on stage.
I also got to travel to Dallas for my first in-person training event for my new job. I don’t mind that a lot of work training has switched to Zoom (probably for good), but a couple of nights away from home, with all meals provided, is pretty nice once a year or so.
Favorite Book I Read in September
What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat, by Aubrey Gordon.
I’ve been a longtime fan of Gordon’s podcast Maintenance Phase, which debunks diet and wellness culture, so I decided to pick up her book. (Support your favorite creators!) It is part-memoir, part-extremely well-researched thesis on all the ways that our culture harms fat people. Discrimination against fat people is still completely legal and I really appreciate how Gordon ends the book with action items to take steps to end the horrible maltreatment that fat people endure at almost every turn. As my favorite quote on the back of the book states:
Your fat friends need this book, but your thin friends need it more.
- Julie Murphy, author of Dumplin’
Favorite Book I Read in October
The Sentence is Death, by Anthony Horowitz
This is the second book in the Hawthorne & Horowitz mystery series by Anthony Horowitz. (Start with “The Word Is Murder.”) I listened to it on audio and really enjoyed the British accents and all the plot twists. In each book of this series, the plotline is narrated by an author (the author of the book you’re reading) who tells the story of writing a mystery novel - and the novel he’s writing is the novel you’re reading. It’s convoluted to explain, but it really works. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a fun, quick-to-read book.
Picture of the Month(s)
I’d love to hear about what you did lately that made you smile! Talk to you next month. 😊