Metaphorically speaking, the month of September flew. Between back-to-school night, college application night, our anniversary and a trip to the DMV for my son’s driving learners permit, I find myself at the end of the month.
Am I sad? Halloween no!!!
I mean…well, you know what I mean.
October is one of my favorite months. Cooler weather prevails and if we’re lucky, we might get a drop or two of rain. For the past nine years I hosted a Halloween party for our boys. All the children on the block joined. It was loads of fun, but exhausting too, however I always looked forward to the energy of the day. This would have been our tenth year, but alas, tiny children become teenagers and the party this year is a no-go.
Initially disappointed, I quickly rallied when I received a lovely party invitation from my friend, Kirra. The theme: under the sea. Three more party invitations followed and amazingly three of them land on different days.
Realizing all the time and energy I’ll save not planning the party gives me time to make a costume again, but without the mad-dash rush. Plans are already underway.
Of course, the month of October is also filled with land minds: Halloween candy. It’s one of my downfalls.
Chocolate Pumpkin
The other thing that flew this month: seven pounds. I’ve been following a healthy eating plan and slowly the pounds are coming off. The last thing I want to do is reverse that trend eating candy. When I say it’s everywhere, I’m only mildly exaggerating. The grocery stores started stocking bags of it weeks ago. The drugstores have it too. No need to go looking for it as its right there at the check-out aisle. The next land mind arrives closer to Halloween when I buy candy to give away. I’ve learned to stay away from my favorites and that helps. Close to 200 children grace our doorstep over the course of three hours on Halloween night. We give away a lot of candy.
So, starting tomorrow and for the next 31 days, I’m going to keep track of the candy that I **don’t** eat. My Halloween countdown will also include my candy-free countdown as well. If you struggle in a similar fashion, I hope you’ll join me in this challenge. I’m going to enjoy all the things I love about October while continuing to lose the extra pounds.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Cassidy, Pilates instructor extraordinaire, for her ongoing support.
Here’s what the garden looks like as we head into fall:
Gardening Nirvana 
Sure did
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Lovely!!! The end of the year is dangerous….. Weight wise lol 🙂
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Yes. This year I plan to change all that.
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good!! 🙂 me too i should add lol
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September did fly by – I wonder where it went sometimes! Your garden tour was so lovely, it all looks very neat and tidy also for the end of a season- not at all like my tiny higgledy bohemian mess 🙂
It is such a disappointment when our children insist on becoming teenagers and refuse to please their parents any longer by enjoying the wonderful celebrations of childhood! I was devastated when my teenager declined to take part in our annual Advent celebrations – she was most dismissive of it and that had always been our favourite festival of the year. She was fourteen and ‘not a kid any more!’ Three years later I arrived home from school on the Monday after first Advent Sunday to find all the dismissed trappings being set up and a very happy looking mature teenager enjoying being part of her childhood celebrations once again. Times change and so do teenagers 🙂
It is an excellent idea to buy in candy that you don’t like so much – good luck with it! xoxo
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Pauline, you give me hope. What a wonderful story. I can picture it too, as I remember doing similar things to surprise our mom. My youngest son has been in love with Halloween for as long as I can remember, especially growing pumpkins and decorating the yard. Some years he received Halloween decorations for Christmas or his birthday. Santa stuffed his stocking with pumpkin seeds for four or five years running. Joyous times! So, no dressing up this year, and only a passing interest in the pumpkins, but he’s taken a surprising interest in the avocado pit growing in the window and that makes me smile.
Thanks for watching my video. I did a lot of garden tidying about a week ago when I took out the tomatoes and pruned the vines. It’s a little early, but we had the exterior of our house painted, so I needed to clear the wall.
Thanks for being here, Pauline. xoxox
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Yes, hope is not lost – it’s just a phase 🙂
I have been ‘growing’ avocado pits on my window sill for about two – three months now. I say ‘growing’ as absolutely nothing has happened yet. What am I doing wrong?
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You’re Halloween may be changing, but really, I think they hung on to the magic pretty long. Halloween is so, so much bigger than it ever was when I was a kid. We dressed up and went trick-or-treating but our customs were usually just old clothes and stuff laying around (hobo, gypsy, pirate, hockey player). I don’t even remember there being much at school and never a home party.
Now, wow, people go all out. There are Halloween pop-up stores around town and lots of Adult parties at hotels, casinos and community halls and homes too. There’s so much going on right up to Christmas, it’s a retailers dream season.
I finally bought my carving pumpkin. It’s not super big but it’s the biggest one I could reach without falling into the bin, HA.
Congratulations on your success on your eating program Alys! You’re going to be so slight and trim come Christmas, you’ll be able to look forward to some of your favourite treats. Bravo! I’m so proud of you. And to give up Pepsi, that’s immense xoxo you inspire me at every turn. Mwaaaaaa k
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Well done on losing those pounds Alys! Fortunately Halloween candy is not a thing in Germany, but yesterday the supermarket had put out the first Christmas chocolate Santas… Oh NO! Temptation for three whole months! Good luck with getting by Halloween, and my tip is to have a plan for any candy that gets left over…
I loved your tour – such a pretty place you have with all your little creatures too. 🙂 Happy October!
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Congratulations on the weight loss and good on you for being positive about avoiding candy! I always find an excuse not to diet this month – birthday, anniversary and then it seems to carry on until Christmas – please can I borrow some of your willpower!
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I love your video, how did you make that? It has that fall feeling for sure! I love your curved concrete sitting area, that is really pretty and your yard looks great! I am SOOOOO WITH YOU on the halloween candy. I hadn’t even thought about it yet. BUT i am so weak in the knees for it. I don’t need to buy it though…however i will get into my kids candy pretty hard and i buy halloween candy for birthday treats at our guild and I ate most of them last year and had to keep buying more. When it gets colder i crave chocolate. Stay strong and tell me how you do it!!
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Love the video! Your garden / outdoor space looks beautiful heading into fall.
Congrats on the healthy eating and candy avoidance.
I’ll try to use you as my example … I said I wasn’t going to drink my nightly glass of wine, thinking that it would help me to lose some of the weight I gained when I got my teeth back (that “no teeth diet” worked so well) … I already blew it tonight at book group! Argh!
Keep up the good work and reap those rewards!
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Wine is something you love and cherish. I would hate to see you give that up. I vote for something else. Silly question, but does riding a motorcycle burn calories? It seems it would since you’re often moving into the wind, not to mention the strength to hold it up and maneuver it.
Please, no repeats of the no-teeth diet. That’s the worst.
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I forgot to mention that I love your new picture. Cute. Yes September flew. So has every other month. The older you get, the faster the months go. It also goes faster the more you have to do. Pauline is correct. They do come back around. Enjoy all your parties without all the work.
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Thanks, Marlene. That was from last year’s costume. Isn’t that the best wig!?
I’m now fully embracing all the extra time and energy I’ll have and appreciate your and Pauline’s sage words of wisdom from moms that have already been there.
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