September - Promises for the Months Ahead

I think my time away was very beneficial.  I read a number of books.  I took a lot of naps and slept in late most mornings.  I ate decently, stayed home a lot, marathon viewed my way through several new to me vlogs and tv series, watched movies and journaled.  

Along about the fourth week of August, I woke with a tingling anticipation for the months ahead.  A little restless, a little ambitious, a little anticipatory for autumn.  I even planned my very first trip, which I'll be taking with family to another state that is NOT Florida, and then I began setting my plans in motion for a trip to St. Augustine.

Although I do realize that Labor Day is not the 'official' end of summer, truly it is in nearly every other sense.  School is in session everywhere by now.  The sight of yellow school buses is all too common on the roadways.  School supplies are still on sale in stores.  I've begun taking sneak peeks at cardigans and pullovers, lovely autumn clothing.  I've seen the real seasonal signs of a new season ahead: golden rod budding, boiled peanut stands with fresh peanuts, cotton bolls awaiting harvest, and the arrival of the new crop of apples from the northern part of our state.

I have avoided with diligence all of the seasonal signs of Pumpkin Spice everything, fall decor in August, Halloween displays at the decor stores.   I just cannot get behind those things when it's 101 in the shade and the zinnias, cosmos, fig trees, and Phlox all dried up into brittle sticks.

I've done a great deal of thinking, too, in my time away.  About the ways I sabotage myself, the ways that I still tend to twist myself into knots, the things I want most from my life and the things standing in my way (mostly me, myself, and I).

The promises I'm making today are for the next three months.  It doesn't include the holiday weeks from late November to the first part of January.  That is, in my mind, a whole separate season to be enjoyed.  There are many things I want to enjoy and plan for in the autumn months, too much to fit into one month.

#1.  I will be mindful of my spending.  I started following a new to me frugal vlogger and so far, I've found her information hits home.  In a post in late August, she laid down ten rules for shopping, and one rule hit me really hard:  Leave room to walk away from a purchase.  Disappointment costs less than regret.    

Her point was that leaving a big purchase for a few days and letting the idea of the item 'brew' might mean it's no longer available later, but in the end, it will cost you nothing.  While regret is often the result of spending money you don't have at that time, or you are purchasing something that doesn't fit your life, style or real desires.  Once spent, money is seldom recouped.  Better to live with the disappointment of missing out on something than to regret money you can't get back!

I've noticed a spending habit or two of mine that needed to be curbed or reassessed over the past few months.  I want to be more mindful of where I'm spending money and why.  My main goal is to ask myself repeatedly, "Is this spending embracing my real desires or hindering me from achieving what I want?"

#2.  Create a Fall Bucket list of seasonal treats and pleasures to be enjoyed over the next few months.  Seasonal foods always come to mind: fresh hot boiled peanuts, crisp cider rich apples, mulled cider, spicy cakes, leaf shaped sugar cookies, and my autumn oatmeal cookies all come to mind, as does pecan pie with fresh season pecans, apple pies, slow simmering pot roasts, and pots of soup.

But so does driving to the mountain to view the autumn leaves, stopping at some of the fall festivals that abound in our area, gathering bouquets of wildflowers which bloom prolifically just before frost, and sitting on the porch enjoying chill mornings with a nice cup of brown sugar cinnamon coffee. Watching a movie on a chilly, rainy autumn afternoon with a nice hot cup of tea, creating a fall reading list, looking for a pretty mug for autumn cuppas, caramel dipped apples...There's lots to be enjoyed!

#3.  Now is the time to make several trips.  It's time to stretch my wings and enjoy travel the way I've always wanted to do.   Having grown up with a father who was destination oriented and having been married to a man who was the same, now is the time for me to take advantage of all those side trips I've always wanted to make along the journey to my destination.  

I was watching a vlogger who said whenever she plans a trip, she looks at all there is to do in the area they will be visiting, including restaurants, coffee shops, stores that look interesting, tourist attractions, etc. and then she makes an itinerary that includes some of them. 

I can plan to enjoy some of them as I travel along.  It will make for a nice break in long travel days and if it happens that I take an extra hour or half day to arrive, then I'm fine with that.  

#4.  Assess my projects lists and get started.  Several of the projects I want to work on will take mostly elbow grease rather than a boatload of money.  I'll choose one project and do all I can on it before I move on to the next.  There's plenty to be done, indoors and out.

My home, especially outdoors, has really begun to look a bit worn and rundown.  It's due mainly to the fact that I gave up when sciatica hit me hard in June/July and then it got really hot.  The mismatched mess of pots and containers on the patio need to go.  The porches and sheds need a fresh coat of paint.  Flower beds should be cleared or heavily pruned and weeded.  Indoors paint touch-ups, decor changes, replacing very worn items with something fresher and newer all await me.  

#5.  Look hard at my wardrobe and ask myself if my fall/winter things reflect who I am?  Once I wore lovely mustards and rusty oranges and it suited me.  Now my hair is mostly grey, those colors no longer look good on me.  I've changed my style back to something a little more bohemian romantic in nature.  I amassed a few nice pieces over time in the spring/summer that suited that style for those seasons, but do I have anything that fits fall/winter?  Do I have a proper jacket?  Do I need pieces to complete outfits?  

I never buy a whole lot of things at once but simply try to determine what I need and then I look, rather casually, for them when I go into a store, am shopping online or in a thrift store.  Katie has gotten very good at picking up items she finds in thrift stores that suit me perfectly and she's seldom wrong in her selection.  I am happy to acquire these things gradually.  

#6.  Start a list of purchases I want to make over the next six months.   I'll need to buy paint for porches and for interior walls.  I need other items to complete the projects I plan to tackle over the next three months.  I need to replace a few pieces of furniture.  I obviously won't buy everything all at once, but I can be pricing and setting money aside over the next few months to make those purchases.

#7.   I will not hold myself back from doing fun things just because I am alone.   I will be looking into what's on offering at small groups, recreational departments, etc. and see what sounds interesting.  I want to get out a little more.  I'm not very good at reaching out and I need to put that into practice.    It's hard being an introverted rural country girl!