{Virtual Coffee}

Good Morning!
Happy Tuesday morning to you from my front porch.
It's coffee on the front porch weather, you guys! This makes me so happy. Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!
This morning my coffee isn't quite as pretty as it is in this picture, this was actually last week's coffee at
my favorite little coffee shop, with two of my best girlfriends.
So today I'm having my coffee on the front porch and that's a pretty good place to be this morning, if you ask me- even though I would really love to rewind to last week!

So - it feels like I have not been around here for morning coffee for a long time, and a little scarce around here lately anyway. The days and weeks have felt so busy lately and I end up running out of time for more than half of the things I intend to do every day it seems like.
And speaking of busy... It's May? Say what?
The last month of school is so busy with field trips and teacher gifts, concerts and just extra things to remember to buy and do. Ughhhhhh.

Last week Charlotte and I made May Day baskets for their teachers, this was my idea because it
was one of my favorite things growing up.
I remember cutting lilacs from the bush in our backyard and wrapping the bottom in a wet paper towel and then somehow making something(?) out of paper to hold them... I can't remember that part?
Then we would leave them on our neighbor's doors on May 1.
Charlotte loved making them and even made an extra one for "someone at school" but it was really for me and she surprised me with them the next morning.

Speaking of lilacs...
On Sunday I cut the last of the lilacs from my bush so I could smell them in the house just one.more.time. this Spring.
The rest were dying so this was the last salvageable bunch.
I love this smell so very much, it instantly reminds me of Spring and home and my mom and my childhood backyard.

If we were really meeting for coffee this morning....
I would have to tell you about my latest obsession- I got the first season of Girls from the library and was immediately hooked. I know people have all kinds of stuff to say about Lena Dunham and I don't know the story on her personal life and don't really care because- the show, I LOVE that show.
Now I am on the 3rd season and I can't get enough.
We signed up for HBO free for three months so now I can watch it on HBO instead of getting it form the library, and then I got the HBO Go app on my ipad so I can watch Girls/HBO wherever I want.
I am not gonna lie, sometimes I just LOVE modern technology.

Lastly, this weekend I am hoping(I said hoping, it's not super likely) to do a little work on my front porch-- the underneath part of it needs paintedr, the steps and porch itself need to be scraped so they can be repainted.... and I really want to paint my front door this yellow color.e
What do you think? Our house is a bluish-gray so I think it will look good.
I also need to finally spray paint my wicker chairs, get new pillows and plant some flowers.
Geez. Check back with me in a month or two maybe, it's gonna take a while.

/////////////////////////////

On that note, I am going to finish my coffee and sit here in silence for just a little longer(I hope) before the craziness of another school/work morning gets going around here.
Tell me,what's going on in your little corner of the world? What's new?
Have you been enjoying your Spring... Any exciting Mother's Day plans?
Are you counting down the days until school gets out yet? I'd love to hear what you are up to!


* * * * *

Have a great day & Happy Cimco de Mayo.... I will be celebrating with a fat margarita tonight!

{Virtual Coffee} The "Come On Already, Spring!" Edition

Good morning.
It's Tuesday morning again, how about some coffee?
Last Tuesday over coffee, I mentioned that I was on the couch under a blanket having coffee and I remember thinking, while I typed that, that I really hoped that by the next Tuesday(today) I would be out on the front porch having my morning coffee.
No such luck though as today is another dreary + cloudy day.
Maybe next week? Fingers crossed.

"So yeah, no nice + sunny Spring weather here this week although we did have some nice weather over the weekend. I think we are just all so over Winter and ready to be outside in the sunshine enjoying the weather and getting fresh air. It's near the end of March now... we are ready.

So if we were really having coffee this morning we would surely be chatting about what we did over the weekend, huh? How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?
We had a good weekend, it went too fast, just as every single weekend does, but good nonetheless.
Saturday morning I had to make a quick trip to the store for milk and toilet paper and I left with tulips for myself. Usually I buy myself the clearance bouquets but I decided I needed tulips this time, so I treated myself. I really wanted yellow but they didn't have any so I settled for pink.

It was just the kids and I this weekend and it was a full couple of days, we had a lot of fun.
Friday night we went bowling with my brother and my nieces, Saturday Charlotte had a new friend over to play and Saturday night Wyatt went to a birthday party sleepover.
Saturday night Charlotte and I snuck out in our pajamas to get ice cream and we took Stanley along for the ride with us and learned that he's really not the best car rider yet. Oh, Stanley.
Good thing that boy is so cute!

 {after we saw Cinderella}

Sunday afternoon Charlotte and I saw Cinderella.
Have you seen it? Do you have any desire to see it?
I liked it, we both liked it a lot and I think the original Cinderella has always been one of my favorite Disney movies since I was a child so I was curious how this new version would be.
I wasn't disappointed, Charlotte and I both liked it a lot.
More importantly than the movie itself, it was nice to go do something with just Charlotte and I...
If I'm honest I will tell you that sometimes in the back of my mind I think I had better do these things with the kids while I can because I am afraid one day I am going to wake up and they will be teenagers and want nothing to do with me(for a few years anyway)... Just like that.

Over coffee this morning I might just get a little deep on you about this whole motherhood thing.

It is exhausting. Mentally. I am always second guessing myself... 

And then in the next moment I believe I am doing ot just right... not perfect, but just right... 

The best I can.

Some days I worry over all of the little things- 

Why doesn't she ever seem to play with anyone at school?  Why isn't he 'getting' his math?

And the next moment I laugh it off knowing that she is good, she is awesome and her own person and she will be just fine. She is better than just fine. And so is he.

We bring all of our own insecurities into this parenting thing, even when we try not to.

Some days I want my kids right next to me forever and the next moment I want to get away from everyone and everything and think some thoughts all my own.

Please tell me that I am not alone... That this craziness of motherhood is universal.

My coffee is just about out and I think I have rambled on long enough....
I am thinking that today might require a second cup of coffee... this no sunshine thing is rough in the
mornings in a serious way.

Thanks for stopping by here today + thank you for listening to me this morning.
What is going on in your world today? This week?
Do you have a Spring Break coming up or have you already had it?
Somehow I just realized my kids are out of school all next week for Spring Break... Whoops.
I guess someobody hasn't been paying enough attention to the 1.5 million papers comingh home from school, huh?

////////////

Have a great Tuesday, friends.

{Virtual Coffee}

Hey there.
Good morning to you + Happy Thursday.
This morning is my early morning, one of the days that my "early to rise"  mission worked.
Hooray for me!
I am batting about every other day so far, not including weekends, and my goal is to eventually wake up early every morning Monday-Friday.
And my ultimate goal is for it to become completely natural.... and for me to LOVE it, every day.
I'm not there yet... but it's a good goal to have.
I love getting the day started slowly, quietly, alone... And in order for those things to happen I need
to be up a minimum of one hour before the kids are up.
Preferably an hour and a half before the kids are awake, really.

I will get there one day, I am not giving up on my dream of becoming an early riser! 

But anyway.
I am up early and having my morning on the couch under a quilt, which is probably the best place
to have it, besides somewhere with friends.
When I am up before everyone else the couch is where I almost always have my coffee, sometimes my
office in warmer weather but in the Winter it's pretty cold in the mornings in there.
How about you? Couch? Kitchen table? Office?
One of the things I really miss since I started working is meeting friends for coffee or having them
come over in the nice weather and sit on the patio and have coffee.
s  i  g  h. 

So... if you were really over chatting with me over coffee this morning we would have to talk about my bright white fancy new living room.
Okay, so it's not fancy at all... but it is bright white.
We painted it white about two weeks ago and man, it is WHITE.
The change is really growing on me though and it just make the space look bigger, more open
and cleaner.
I know that's actually because it is cleaner though, too... there has been a lot of purging and organizing going on here as well.
I am really loving not only the white, but just the act of slowly putting things back up/out and knowing that it's okay to not put everything back out and to get rid of things or put them in storage for now.
It's a process and the hardest part about painting a room to me is that I then want everything new
in the room.
Couches, rugs, curtains, lamps! All the furniture needs a fresh coat of paint!
Everything needs to be new!

{These are just quick pictures I snapped with my iphone, I will take better pictures and share the whole room soon! }

After about two weeks back in school now, after the longest Christmas break in the history of man,
I think we are finally getting back into a routine around here... Finally.
Things are more normal now-- even though Wyatt has had not one, but two rounds of pink eye,
and with all of the sickness going around I am just holding my breath until Spring.
I need to completely stop reading/watching the news because all the sickness and flu and crazy
things happening gives me way too much anxiety.
Yikes.
Around here we have been daydreaming about a Summer vacation and Spring plans and wishing
it was Soccer season already, while still trying to enjoy the season we are in.

It's almost the end of January and I actually feel a lot better about it than I normally do....
Usually by the end of January I feel like I have accomplished absolutely nothing. Nothing.
This month I have made some goals and lists and have actually accomplished a few things I really wanted
to. Wow.
It feels really good for a change.

What is going on in your life? How has the first month of this year been for you so far?
Tell me what you're drinking this morning and where and anything else you'd like to share so I 
can pretend I am not having my morning coffee alone! 

Happy Thursday... Just one day until Friday, y'all!

:::::::::::::::::::::

{Virtual Coffee}

Hey there.
Good morning-- or afternoon by now I guess-- and Happy Friday.
I did start this earlier this morning but life around the house with two kids at home both sick and kindanotreallysick took
over this week.
Now things have quieted down and I am finally sitting down to enjoy an afternoon cup of coffee at 3:15 pm. today.
On my couch, under a quilt, headphones in, candles burning, coffee in hand.
Hooray for Fridays!

Seriously though.
I don't even care that the kids are in front of the TV watching Regular Show(I HATE that damn show).

So yes, there's been nasty, funky viruses going around and Charlotte has stayed home for the last three days this week.
Today she was much better but I just wasn't ready to send her back and she wasn't running a fever or contagious
 so she got to go to work with me for part of the day.
Now that is one thing that I really LOVE about my job, the flexibility... it's awesome.

So.

If we were really meeting for coffee today....

I would tell you that I am finally, finally getting into this whole Christmas thing just a little more, you know, 

a whole two weeks before Christmas.

This week I got a little more Christmas shopping done, just a little, I had dinner out with my 

sister one night and then last night I watched Home For The Holidays.

Have you seen it ?

It was good and it made me laugh... Oh and that Dylan McDermott. Sigh.

Now tonight I will be watching one of my favorite holiday movies, Love Actually.

Popcorn and Love Actually sounds pretty awesome to me tonight.

Okay, So we need to talk about Serial.

Or I do anyway... You may not need to yet... But I do.

Have you heard of this podcast? It's getting all kinds of hype and attention right now and 

I am obsessed with it. I confess.

It's like finding that favorite show you didn't know about and just falling in love with it.

So, so good if you're into real life crime/mystery kinda stuff like I am. 

Next week is the 12th and final episode and I am so mad that it is ending already... I need to know more and

 hear more and I need a conclusion here, people.

Please tell me if you are listening to it and what your thoughts are. 

Do you have any fun weekend plans?

The kids have a Birthday party to go to tomorrow and we have a 40th Birthday party tomorrow and I need to

 squeeze in some Christmas shopping and get a couple of Birthday presents, too and...

So yeah, there is lots to do but then there is also Miss Charlotte, who is still not feeling 100%, 

so we will just wait and see I guess.

Are you done with your shopping? Have you started?

What is going on in your little world this week?

Do tell.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

/////////

{Virtual Coffee}

Good Morning + Happy  Tuesday Wednesday errr--  Friday. 
I am craving some kind of normalcy and routine and I thought for old time's sake I would pop in here and do a Tuesday
morning Virtual Coffee post - and then I realized... it is Wednesday morning.
But that's okay, so we are having Virtual Coffee anyway... even though it is now
f  r  i  d  a  y   and I am just now finishing this post.
Geeeez.

Check out my new perfect-sized mug I got at Target last week, I love the blue, my most favorite color is blue.
So I have a thing for coffee mugs, and maybe probably have way too many, but I am always searching for just-the-right-size
latte cups and this one is pretty good.

Anyway- If we were really meeting for coffee this morning...
I would tell you that the last couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind with nothing feeling normal at all... 
like nothing, so this feels really good.
Just sitting on my couch,  freezing under a blanket and drinking my coffee... feels perfect, just perfectly normal and I love it.

My dad was in the hospital for thirteen days and he's home now but there is a really long way to go and so many things to 
figure out and.... it's just a LOT. A lot.
So until I am ready to even sit down and talk more about all of that I will just say that my family is so feeling thankful for so
many different things and the whole being thankful/Thanksgiving thing truly takes on a whole different meaning for us this year.

And speaking of thankfulness and Thanksgiving... note the pumpkins I still have out in the living room?
I know all of you love Christmas just a whole, whole lot but it's still Fall(ish) around here.
I stick pretty hard to my no Christmas stuff out until after Thanksgiving rule, not because I don't like Christmas just like
everybody else, but because I want to attempt to enjoy the holiday season I am in currently.
Attempting, I said.

If I am honest I will tell you that I am still not adjusted to this time change at all.
Still.
In the hospital we would look out the window and see the sun going down so early and it felt like
it should be 8:0 pm .... but it was only like 4:45 pm.... which just made for much longer nights.
The hard part for me is the lack of sunshine during the day we have been having lately...
I have learned as I have gotten older that the lacking sunshine thing really bothers me, even more
than the cold weather, if that's even possible.
If I can ever get my tired, lazy $#@ up early in the morning I know I will get to enjoy some early morning light though,
which is a definite good thing.

And yes, it's true, we have had snow already and I just felt kind of indifferent about it.
Probably a little annoyed, too.
Leaving the hospital late at night after a long day to realize it snowed and you need to 
scrape ice off of your car and you don't have a scraper in your car, is not a good thing.
But right here, in this shot... it looks pretty, right?
It did look pretty falling and we didn't get much at all.

One more thing before I go this morning, I just finished this book and I loved it.
It isn't very long at all and was a pretty quick read!
Suddenly, in this weather, all I can think about is reading books and baking and being under the covers way too early in the evening.
Time to nest and hibernate for the Winter I guess.


Thanks for stopping by here for coffee this morning, hope you have a great day !
Any fun plans for the weekend?
Tonight the kids and I are going to celebrate a Friday night not in the hospital with pizza and some movies I think.
That's exactly the kind of Friday night this mama needs!


/////////////

{Virtual Coffee}

Good morning.

Happy, happy Tuesday to you.

It's Tuesday morning and nothing like a cool, random Tuesday morning to wake up and have coffee before everyone else gets up.
I said cool.... I did, like 60* cool.
In July.
Weirdest weather ever for July in Illinois.
They are actually saying that we are experiencing the coolest July in recorded history this Summer.
It's super bizarre and just doesn't seem right... I mean, don't get me wrong, these 75* days are beautiful but we really REALLY
want more swimming weather.

So grab yourself a cup of coffee and get comfy and let's talk all things   S U M M E R, because even
if it feels more Fall-like around here, it is Summer after all.
And seeing that we only have 3 weeks left of Summer vacation as of yesterday, we are squeezing every last bit of Summer
out of everything that we can.

Yesterday I ran into Walgreen's and found a clearance section of Summer/pool things marked 70% off!
I stocked up on chalk, goggles, diving toys and mask & snorkel sets.
I was so excited when I snatched up the mask & snorkel sets for 1.99 because it will be nice once the kids promptly lose/break
them knowing that I didn't pay much at all for them. Right?
So when I got home from work the kids didn't seem to care at all that it was in the mid-70's and breezy, they jumped right
in and gave those new masks a work out!

Don't you remember when you were a kid swimming no matter how cold the water was?
I do, I remember my lips turning blue and teeth chattering and still telling my mom I wasn't cold.
Those were the days....

To be honest, because I am working part-time now,  I am feeling like Summer has gone even faster than usual
and that there are still so many things we wanted to do that I know aren't going
to happen now.
Nothing too unrealistic really, but there are only so many hours in the day.
We have knocked plenty of things off of our list though and I off of my personal list as well.
Because yes, moms have lists, too and there are things I want to do, start, accomplish as well....
It's not all about the kids and their lists, y'all.

Saturday morning Charlotte and my mom and I went to the Farmer's Market and I was reminded why
I need to go every Saturday morning... for the  f  l  o  w  e  r  s   if nothing else.
Because really, huge sunflowers for $1 each?
Yes, please!
And this sweet little bouquet of flowers for $4... and succulents for $2.
We also got peaches and herbs and tomatoes but the flowers... sigh.


If we were really meeting for coffee this morning you would have to tell me all about your Summer so far...
Trips? Activities? Camps? School?
This year since having a babysitter for a few days a week I have been wishing a little that I had signed the kids up for a couple
of day camps, or 1/2 day camps just to keep them busy-- but I didn't.

Well, my cup is just about empty and it's time for e to get ready for work... it's Tuesday so the
kids get to spend the day with their grandparents today... so thankful for that!
No worrying about them sitting in front of the Wii/ipod/tv all day today anyway... whew.

////////


Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by here today.
Now if only I was having a real live coffee date this morning... that would be perfect.

{ Virtual Coffee }

Good Morning.
Happy Tuesday and welcome to Tuesday Morning Coffee,  better known as Virtual Coffee around here.
It's early and I am up early, something I have vowed to start doing once the weather got nicer(but damn! it's so hard!) and thought this
morning would be the    p  e  r  f  e  c  t    morning to start this new brand new morning habit of mine.
Hopefully it lasts longer than all of the other times I have attempted it.

So yes, I am out on the porch this morning and I am so happy the days are back of coffee on the porch or the
back patio, this little thing makes me SO happy.
Deep breathing on the patio, staring off into space + smiling at my string of lights last night and coffee drinking on the porch this morning.

Getting to bust out my lights, candles, rugs, quilts... it is just so good.
That hell-on-wheels of a Winter is actually behind us.
{I wasn't entirely convinced, it was that bad and that long!}

So, if we were really meeting for coffee this morning, on my porch or on yours or wherever, we would have to talk about how May is the
craziest month ever... Right?
Like it practically ties with December, or comes in right under for us I guess.
And speaking of May and of pure  C  R  A  Z  I  N  E  S  S...
Including today, we only have 6 days of school left.
Like, SIX.
That seems pretty much absurd to me and pretty freakin' scary too... First and Third grade almost over?
Craziness I tell ya.

////


So, this past Saturday was the last soccer game of the Spring season and possibly because it's such a short season I have to say that I wasn't
quite ready for it to be over, I really wasn't.
And that actually kinda surprised me.... I'm like a soccer mom now you guys, it's weird.
And in case you missed my soccer/baby growing up post, read it here.
So the Bears(Wyatt's team) lost yet another game, something to zero(again) but I was just so proud of him and he
got a medal and honestly I think that's all he cared about.
After the game we stopped somewhere and a man made a comment about how he must've just had a soccer game and asked Wyatt how it
went and he answered "Good!"
Ha! I mean, yeah, besides the whole losing 7-0 or whatever again, it was good.

The rest of our weekend included getting a big tree removed in our backyard, which was very much overdue, car shopping(BOO!)
and hitting the road Sunday for a quick Road Trip to the Third Sunday Market in Bloomington.
I need to do a whole post on the flea market because I took a bunch of pictures and there were so many things I wanted to take home!
The highlight of our day might have been the mini donuts and lemon shake-ups though...
And doesn't this picture just scream Summer?

Lemon shake-ups and Ferris wheels and funnel cakes...
Summer really, really is almost here you guys!
Charlotte already started working on our Summer List after driving past a pool in Bloomington on Sunday that had  a big, fun water slide.
It's going to be a little trickier to fit everything in this Summer since I will be working so I think an
official list is in order pretty soon.

/////

Well I need to finish this coffee up and get moving, I am going on a Field Trip to the Zoo today with the first grade class.
It's an all-day trip and Miss Charlotte is so excited she said she could hardly sleep last night.
Remember those days?
It was the coolest thing ever when you got to miss an entire day of school.

So my cup is almost empty....
Let me know what you are up to these days... What are you drinking this morning and where are you having your coffee?

Hope you all have a great day, thanks for stopping by my little place today.

Tuesday Morning Coffee

Will you just look at that?
That was just Sunday and it was in the upper 70's in St.Louis.... trees and flowers are already blooming there.
B  l  o  o  m  i  n  g.
Today, in Illinois it is supposed to be in the 40's.
On April 15.
I think maybe I'll just become a resident of Missouri.
It' super close.... I could visit a whole lot. Right?
So maybe I shouldn't have said that I thought Winter was officially over in my last post, huh?
Lesson learned.

///////

So I am up before work this morning and ready for an early morning cup of coffee.
Blogging and life and just everything is in a little adjustment period over here because of this whole
working again thing.
It still feels really strange to say "working" and "job".... and it feels even funnier to have to be ready to walk out the door
at 8:30 am when the kids go to school.
You know, the not-so-funny kind of funny.
Not just dressed but hair fixed, make-up and wearing a BRA... and no yoga pants or ratty old t-shirts.
An adjustment,  I tell ya.

So I have a LOT of pictures to share from my girls weekend away this past weekend-- so much fun and I can tell you that I have

not laughed so hard in a long time.

There is nothing better than spending 4 days with 3 of your very oldest girlfriends, that I know for sure.

The weather was absolutely beautiful in St. Louis, and although I missed my little family so much, I 

think we could have found enough to do for a couple more days there.

BUT, that being said, it is really nice to be back home, on my couch under a quilt since it's so cold out there again(BOO), having
my very own homemade latte in my own cup-- not a Starbucks cup.
That is good.

So this morning it's back to reality and all of my regular duties--

Lunch making, getting myself ready for work, doing my first-grader's hair, packing back packs...
Back to soccer practice tonight, homework checking, spelling word practice, dinner making... REALITY.

It really is so good to get a break from the every day once in a while and believe me, I take advantage whenever I can, and
know I am lucky that my husband is able to handle everything at home without me having to worry about anything at all.

////////

Well coffee time is about over for me....
How was your weekend?
Did you do anything fun?
Have you had a weekend away with friends or by yourself,  or with anyone at all lately/ever?
Where would you go if you could?

I think I am already planning the next weekend away in my mind...
Happy Tuesday!

#HavingMyCoffeeHere

Good morning.
Already Day 5 in November.... Say Whaaat?
I can't believe it's November and we will be headed into the Holiday season before long... and way too soon.
Yikes.
But I can't even think about that right now, because Halloween was less than a week ago.

So anyway,  grab a cup of coffee and sit down with me and let's chat this morning.
Oh! Speaking of Coffee.... Over the weekend I saw someone holding a cup of Starbucks coffee in the RED CUP!
The red cups are here!
Hello, skinny peppermint mocha.... Come to mama!! I'm definitely getting myself one this week.
But back to today's coffee though...

I'm really having my coffee on the front porch under a heavy blanket today, but this above was where

I had my coffee on Sunday... in the backyard on a pile of blankets in the leaves.

It was a beautiful day Sunday. Absolutely beautiful.

We played in the back yard, did a little work(well, not me), had a fire in the fire pit, and made S'mores. 

The weather was perfect, a little chill to the air but not cold at all.

When you're lucky, moments like these can somehow cancel out all of the crappy ones.

Sometimes.

I wish I could just bottle these moments up and just save them for later when I really need them...

You know? Because I could really use them later on... like a lot.

If we were really meeting for coffee this morning...

I would have to tell you that we had a fun + crazy busy weekend.

Friday night was a night out with my best girls, dinner + drinks and music?

Yes, please!

Friday night and Saturday morning we had a Photography Fundraiser for school

 and I volunteered to be one of the photographers...maybe not my first choice on how to spend 

my weekends... but it went well. 

It was actually kinda fun.

Saturday night was the Friends & Family Preview Night at TapRoot(my brother's restaurant)

the official open date is 11-11-13.

The night was so awesome and so much fun! 

I have a whole bunch of pictures to share but I will leave you with this one, which is the 

Grilled Provoleta. You just can't go wrong with cheese... EVER.

Oh my... it was so good. SO GOOD.

It was a good, full weekend with lots of family and friends...and good food and drinks...

and more fun.

I felt lucky and grateful all weekend or the friends and family in my life.

Tis' the Season, huh?

:::::::::::::::::::::

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday.... 

Where are you having your coffee today?

Leave me a comment here and remember to tag your Instagram pictures with:

#havingmycoffeehere

Virtual Coffee :: Hello, October

Hey there.
I'm just popping in a little late for a cup of coffee...
There was just not time this morning.
This whole "working woman" thing just doesn't leave me a lot of  extra time, ya know?
It's actually funny/interesting because on the one hand there isn't as much free time lately as I am used to, but on the other hand I think
being busier will  force me  to become more organized and prioritize my time a little better.
Does that make sense?
I'm more productive when I am busier and less productive when I have too much free time?
It's kinda dumb... but totally true for me.

I spent the day at TapRoot today while the kids were at school.
I have been spending quite a bit of time at the restaurant lately until my "real job" starts later this month.
I need to write a whole big old post explaining my new job,  along with what I have been doing at the restaurant... it's just not super exciting...
and to tell you the truth, I'm still not 100% sure what my "real job" will consist of.
It's a little stressful,  but I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that things are going to end up working out just fine there.
In the mean time though, I have been working on the windows at the restaurant and making lots and lots of paper pinwheels this week.
It's fun to get to do this stuff now before they open, also I just like to be able to do something creative and help out while I can.

I'm sitting here, over my late afternoon coffee, just thinking about how I can't believe today is the first day of October.
I know I say it every month, but this month especially for me because it means that both of my kids will turn ONE YEAR OLDER this month.
Sigh.
I love October though, I really do, it is my favorite month of the year!
Wyatt turns 9 in two days and then just ten days later, Charlotte will turn 7.
Wow.
Nine is just feeling so old to me, so BIG KID like... and I don't love it, but it's here.


Besides Birthdays, I love October for all of the other things that it brings.
I am so ready for Fall and we are being eased into it very  s  l  o  w  l  y   here in Illinois.
I was daydreaming in bed this morning about the cooler weather(just not too cool, yet!) and all that I am looking forward to
doing/making/planning this month.

Above is just a little bit of the past few days...

: Working at the restaurant, swinging at the playground, making paper pinwheels
: Candles and books on the porch at night, Mastering the monkey bars, Walks
: Me, cupcakes delivered to the restaurant, pretty morning light

I'm really looking forward to a trip to the Pumpkin Patch(but not just yet) and bringing all of our Fall and Halloween decorations
down from the attic this week.
The next few weeks promise to be very, very busy... I don't do super-busy really well but maybe with
a little more planning and a lot more organization I will make it.

Hooray for Fall!

Hope you had a great first day of October... what are you looking most forward to this month?
Do you love Fall like me, or what is your favorite Season/time of year??

{Virtual Coffee}

Hey there and good morning.
It's Tuesday and Tuesday means Coffee.
Well every morning does really, but- well, you know what I mean...
So grab your coffee, find a seat and let's do this Tuesday morning coffee thing.

On Instagram lately I have been trying to remember to tag my coffee shots with #havingmycoffeehere, and this is one I just love
from over the weekend when we were away, so I thought I would share it for my coffee post this morning.
There is nothing like having coffee out on the deck of an awesome cabin in the woods when it is just barely chilly enough to see your
breath-- but not actually cold yet.
That is the best.

So this morning my coffee is not on the deck of a cabin in the woods, but inside on the couch... and that's okay today.
I am surrounded by to-do lists, school papers, my calendar and my purse that needs a cleaning out desperately... and I mean desperately.
If you looked inside my purse right now, you might :

A.) Defriend me, online and in real life
B.) Think that it must actually be a 2-year oldie's purse... no adult would do this!
C.) Think that someone had a Fraternity party inside my purse and never bothered to clean it out afterwards
I am not proud of this, but it is just a fact, folks.

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So, if we were really meeting for coffee this morning...
I would, no doubt, be talking about my new job that starts this week... and ultimately I would have to admit that I am just really kinda nervous
about it all now.
It's really kind of too much to get into now, but I am worrying just a bit about what I've gotten myself into, for starters.
Second, I have to go to Chicago for 2 days with a complete stranger. Tomorrow.
I am not good with complete strangers... I'm just not.
I am not the person that makes friends instantly, everywhere I go... I am not super shy,  but maybe just take a little more time getting to know
someone first.
And all I can think about is..... 3+ hours in a car with a complete stranger.
That is something I would reserve only for a true enemy.
So I guess it's probably just all of the usual starting-a-new-job-jitters with some extra stuff just added in there.
Anyway, I am still excited, but some of that excitement has given way to some good old-fashioned anxiety, which I am trying my best to keep at bay.
I think I will be just fine once I get up there tomorrow and just get going with it already.
Right?

If we were really meeting for coffee this morning, we would no doubt have to talk about Fall being here, officially, in just a few short days...
Sunday is the first day of Fall I believe.
Are you ready(those of you in the States)?
After being in Indiana this past weekend it definitely felt a bit more like Fall there and it has me looking just a little bit more forward to it than I was.
Pumpkins and leaves and corduroy and football and pumpkin bars.... Here we come!

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So that's about it for me this morning... the little ones are waking up and I have a list a mile long to-do today... literally.
Hope everyone has a great day... Happy Tuesday!
Join in for coffee by linking up your post below and remember to tag your IG photos, too!