A Sure Sign of Fall

The aspen hybrid tree in my front yard is turning color. It is always the first to go and is, therefore, my official harbinger of autumn.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the slightly cooler mornings and the crisp smell of fallen leaves. The crunching sound the leaves make as you walk through them is as relaxing a sound as any I have heard and, the shorter days mean more time to lounge in front of the fireplace while the kids work on their homework.

The time change works in my favor, as well, giving me an extra hour in the morning to get in a workout or to organize my life before heading out of the house to work and, let’s not forget Halloween and everything that it entails-Hugh’s plans for decorating front porch this year are more involved and detailed than in any year past and Hugh and I, um...I mean, the kids are going to love it.

Thanksgiving this year will be spent in Denver with The Barbies and the rest of my family and, knowing my sister, this means an early morning wake-up call on Black Friday. Now, I don’t normally do the whole shopping on Black Friday thing, because I am not insane (also, because I finish my holiday shopping before Thanksgiving) but; I’m more than willing to drag my ass out of bed before the break of dawn in order to accompany my kin, I mean, some one's got to make fun of them, and it might as well be me.

I’m a sweetheart like that.

My birthday falls on Black Friday and, although I am facing down the big 4-0 (which makes it BLACK, Black Friday), I won’t let the misery interfere with my ability to do good hair (extra credit if you can name the movie that line came from) or to interfere with the pure enjoyment I derive from watching my sister sniff out a bargain-seriously, she is a Bargain Bloodhound, it’s mind-boggling.

Also mind-boggling? The fact that this whole pathetic post was inspired by the tree in my front yard. I hate to imagine the post that might have been spawned had the tree suddenly sprouted underwear from its limbs or something.

No, I take that back; that would be awesome.

Although, I’m not sure that newly-fallen panties would make quite the same crunching sound as you walked through them, nor would they smell as good.

I’m just saying.