Got a brand-new washing machine installed yesterday, and found myself wading into lake of standing water early this morning - drain hose had un-installed itself. Darling homeschooled son wandered down at 7am with sleep still in his eyes and wanted to know if he could play the computer. Or watch a movie. Because, Mommy, I haven't had any screen time yet today. At all. [Homeschool crunchy-living fail. Bah.] Never mind the crown I'm getting next month, or the fridge that's slowly dying, or or or or....
Anyway. I'm still feeling the butterflies, believe it or not. The hope hangs in there, refusing to let go in the face of all beat-downs, kind of like Wayne's ex-girlfriend Stacey.
You see, it's my New Year.
September 1 of every year is the Beginning, for me. It may be a result of way too much schooling, may be the way that lots of book nerds think, but I'll tell you it's been my New Year as long as I can remember.
Traditional year-end New Year's Resolutions? No thank you. Honestly, who can think about self-improvement or ditching bad habits in the midst of too many drinks and a dark slushy January night outside? All I want to resolve to do is put the hurt on that crab dip and kiss MrNilsenLife at midnight.
Nope. Give me September any time. Yes, it comes as a shock to the system after a long lazy summer. Yes, it feels inhuman to send people to school with midday temps reaching 90 and the evenings still stretching so long. But you know the light has changed. You know the early dark is coming. And now it's time: time to buckle down and get serious about what you're gonna make happen this year.
The crisp morning air fills you with can-do energy like no summer morning does. There is a slight bounce of invincibility in your step as you contemplate the year ahead. The school year calendar stretches before you, and you see only possibility.
Look at this girl! That's the kind of First Day hopefulness I'm talkin' about!
You have 8 weeks until Halloween: what a great, timebound deadline! You will get it done before Thanksgiving. There's time to make a big change before the weather shifts - lose 20 pounds, pay off the credit card, learn to make your own yogurt. There are the long months of winter that give you the ideal chance to stay inside and finally sort those papers, to really start that novel, to re-organize the kids toys without the slightest guilt about 'wasting' the good weather. And then, to reward all that hard-core nesting, spring leaps upon you and offers early-morning runs with chirping birds, lengthening evenings, and the first ice-cream cones.
Yep, September is where it's at. I am filled with hopefulness for all that I will get done, all that will BE in the coming year. Go on - admit it: when you wake up and feel that nip in the air, rousing the kids out of bed in time to make the bus, you feel it. You feel that extra energy.
Go out there and make some resolutions. Have some passion about the possibilities. I promise you, it'll go better than it would in January.
3 comments:
Yes, I'd feel that way too if I lived somewhere that had fall. I think it's that more than anything that reminds me of school..
I do love the fresh start of a Jan. 1 New Year, but I still agree that the start of Sept. and the new school year carries that same feeling of hope and opportunity. I can't wait until my kids are school age so I can indulge that with back to school rituals, clean, new notebooks and a bit of tartan.
Really, I could lose 2o pounds before thanksgiving? Would I have to do anything to make that happen? Would just looking forward to it do the trick. I love September too. I'm just sad its already the 9th.
Dana
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