Sunday Funday (the pumpkin version)

My most favorite thing in life?  Sunday breakfast.  It is not hurried.  It can be complicated (or not).  Everyone is generally in a good mood.  It is just the five of us.  It usually involves a dance party of some sort.  It is heaven.  

Today's heaven was pumpkin pancakes with bacon.  So if you have never had a pumpkin pancake with a piece of bacon rolled in like a taco filling with maple syrup - you have never lived.  Try it.  No need to thank me.  

Then, because I had an open can of pumpkin - pumpkin pie dip it was awesome and will be great to use up some of the ten million apples we have from the orchard last weekend.  

Now for those of you who have little people and are football fans, you must know what a travesty the NFL's 3:15 pm game can be.  The Packers played at 3:15 and it is miserable with kids - they want to run around and be crazy because they have recently napped.  You want to sit and watch the game and not run around.  So today, I had the brilliant plan to make pumpkin granola during the game so the kids were occupied and hopefully I could steal a few glances at the tv.  

I started with my basic granola ingredients and swapped out pumpkin in place of the olive oil.  I put the kids to work. After about 15 seconds of that, I think Luke sneezed all over the place.  We had to have a friendly chat about cooking cleanliness.  I like my granola like my life - very nutty.  Dottie was having a blast scooping and dumping ingredients.  Especially the peanuts.  

Luke was totally vigilant to ensure that Dottie wasn't getting to add or do something cooler than him.  He added about seven million tablespoons of cinnamon sugar.  He also kept sneaking tastes of the honey.  He wasn't even sneaky about it.  He left a huge sticky trail that gave him away.  They were excellent helpers.  

Of course, even the best 4 and 2 year old helpers get antsy.  And lets be serious, making granola is super tedious after the mixing part is done.  I was abandoned with the granola.  Which I guess is fine because it would have been pretty suspect parenting to let them do the roasting in the oven. 

Finally, several hours later, all the granola was finished.  The game was on but chaos reigned supreme here.  I would like to think of myself as some hippy, granola, calm momma, but to be candid - this is what it is really like:

In fact, shortly after the last roasted pan came out of the oven, Dottie informed me, "this nola is gross".

Great.  

Well, at least they are cute non hippies.  

The Darkside of Fall.

Fall is tops.  Right?  I mean, is there any debate about that?  Warm, sunny days, cool crisp nights.  Love.  There are pumpkin spice lattes, football games, and all sorts of other exclusively fall things. 

But there is a downside. 

When you are in school, September means a fresh start, new notebooks, new teachers (that aren't irritated by your "charming ways") new adventures.  All in all the general excitedness about starting up again - including new school clothes!

When you are a grown up?  Bleh, not so much.  In fact, September causes me the annual blues.  Every year.  My birthday is in September, and I LOVE that (I mean, would it be entirely unreasonable to request a birthday every month?  failing that, how about an Angie O day, every month?) but the rest of it?  September leaves me unsettled, like there should be a new beginning. 

I always want to look for a new job in September. 

I always become very sensitive to the fact that I am a crappy housekeeper and that my home is disorganized and messy. 

I always get a little bitter that I don't see my friends and family as much as I would like and that eveyrone seems so damn far away. 

How can a season that is so beautiful be such a rude awakening to me every year?  I mean, I haven't been in school for, gulp, nine years.  Shouldn't that feeling wear off? 

And what to do about it.  Do I keep making lists of the things about fall I love and try and ignore that wanderlust feeling?  Do I ditch the job, responsibilities (ok, not husband and kids, I will keep them - but the rest of it) and try and forge a radical change?

Instead, I will try and make peace between those two.  Eat the apple the kids picked on Sunday. Buy new eyeliner and see if I can capture a little newness that way.  Write endless emails to my friends and hope they miss me too. 

And a pumpkin spice latte can't hurt.

For realz...

The list of things to do keeps growing.  The hours to do it in?  Not so much.  Some people would aggressively attack their list, make a plan, execute, even if grumbling along the way.

nothing can go wrong with red shoes, right?

Me?  I bought cute shoes.  And complained about my list.  And added a new commitment, writing this blog.  But so many of you have things to say that I want to hear, I hope you will allow my voice to be part of the mix.  I mean, my house is a mess, but LOOK AT THESE SHOES.