good riddance, september

My sister has been harping on me to post, so here you are, my dear. I’ll overload you with photos of your nieces and nephew.

I don’t think it’s a secret that September and I are not BFFs. We’re not even casual acquaintances. In my humble opinion, September is just something that you have to grin and bear, it’s something you just have to get through. Hold your breath, dive in, and hope that you come out on the other side with something resembling your sanity intact.

It wasn’t all horrible, mostly because I don’t want to let depression beat me to a pulp this fall/winter. I’m not going to let it. I’ll pretend that these photos represent what we do every day, and that there is not one day where I a have three-hour nap or let Preston watch TV all day long or discover I’ve been wearing the same clothes for three straight days, because obviously those things never happen.

The kids and I celebrated the “first day of school” by taking one last trip to the lake. While everyone else in Canada was posting back-to-school photos to Facebook, everyone in the girls’ school district had the day off. I don’t know why. I’ll never understand school governance that is more about budget cuts than providing children with a proper education DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED.

I’m quite certain Preston enjoys his days by himself, with no sisters to boss him around. I’m sad it’s getting colder out, as he has such great naps after playing outside. I still need to clear out the garden, so I’m sure we’ll have a couple days this week where he’s bundled up and playing in there with me. He loves being allowed to be in there now that most everything is dead.

The thing about September is that it’s all there is of fall, even though three weeks of it are technically still summer, I do not think they count, as they are not very summery. I wish fall lasted to October. Anne of Green Gables says, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” but she grew up in PEI, not in Saskatchewan, where winter starts in October and goes till May. I wish I lived in a world where October meant Fall rather than The First of Eight Months of Winter.

But remind me not to say the wretched W word.

Kaylie and I participated in a race a few weeks ago called Color Me Rad. I do believe it was the funnest race I’ve ever participated in, though it was not at all a race. It wasn’t even timed. We were a part of a team with friends of ours. We started the day clean as whistles, and ended it covered in colour, wearing neon fanny packs and zebra-print headbands.

Because fall is such a horrible time where mental illness is concerned, I’ve tried to brighten up the front room a bit as to make it not so depressing. There is so little natural light that comes in our house during the middle of summer, it’s even worse in the middle of winter. Paint, plants, pictures, and rainbow curtains. Those are my attempts to cure our house of its dismalness.

We also got a new-to-us fridge and stove, hand-me-downs from our landlords. The stove is eleventy billion years newer than our old one and the fridge much bigger than the former, so we’re quite happy with them. Also? We got a new front door. Because I kicked in our old one. Ok, I knocked it in with my shoulder, and I might tell you that story when I find it more funny than humiliating.

I’m heading to Regina this weekend for a race, the former of which both delights and terrifies me. I love Regina, but there are ghosts there whose one desire it is to swallow me whole. I get to hang out with Kami, though, which is a highlight to any weekend.

I think I’ve caught you up on the picturesque things as of late, my dear sister. I hope this will do for a bit. I guess I owe you a garden update, too, specifically about our pumpkins, but that will come eventually.

In the mean time, check out my sister-in-law’s site, Hope Aglow. She and my brother are going with a team to the Dominican Republic in just over a week. Teresa has it on her heart to shine a light on the human trafficking situation there, to partner with existing organizations who are working to help children who have been trafficked for sexual exploitation or forced labour. She has a shop set up with necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. They ship to Canada and the US, and all proceeds go straight to the victims of human trafficking. The team is covering the cost of their trip themselves.