Fall is here.

So it seems. We woke up this morning to a cool, foggy, drizzly day. My feet are cold (and yes, Andy, I am wearing socks) and I have all the lights in our living area on. It's dismal without them. I would imagine that summer will make an encore performance, but only to give us closure so that we may turn our attentions fully towards autumn.

We enjoyed our Labor Day weekend, the unofficial time to mark the changing of the seasons. I began a new cross stitch project (much to Andy's annoyance; I still have not finished the one he bought for me 4 1/2 years ago). We canned pears. We made the most delicious triple-crust peach cobbler - the kind of dessert that keeps cardiologists in business. So good. We finished the long weekend with a birthday barbecue for a one year old friend. It was there that Elise got a taste of paradise - the bouncy house. She wents nuts over it. Have I mentioned that my daughter likes to jump? She does. "Like" is a mellow word for it. She loves it. Jumping is her preferred form of ambulation.

And now my thoughts are turning towards the holidays. What will Elise's Halloween costume be? Will we travel? What events do we want to attend and which can we skip? What should we make for Thanksgiving dinner? Which gifts will I make and which will we buy? How early should I send a package to my brother in Iraq? Should we introduce Santa Claus this year? How will we observe Advent? And so on and so forth. I am frequently an indecisive person, and I have recently learned that too many undecided decisions stress me out. This usually happens when the decisions to be made are over insignificant things. For example: if we have a variety of errands to run and would also like to go out for dinner, the decisions may involve what kind of food I am in the mood for, which restaurant would be most likely to accomodate a toddler well, what gift we should get for an upcoming baby shower, what store would be most likely to have that gift, what restaurants are close to that store, whether we should invite friends to go to dinner with us, what Elise should wear, etc. Little decisions, right? Insignificant decisions. But throw them all at me at once, and I have a very difficult time sorting through them. Each one feels heavier than it really is, and I find myself putting way too much thought into them. Since I realized this weakness, it has been easier to deal with it. Now I try to remember that the "problem" could be solved by simply making a decision and not worrying about it. My response used to be (and too frequently still is - sorry, honey, I really am working on it) to get irritated and defensive. My husband would ask for my opinion and I would say, irritably, "I don't care. Whatever. You decide." Very immature of me. So I'm working on it. And what better opportunity than the holidays. There will be a million decisions to make, and most of them will be relatively insignificant. I will try not to give myself (and my family) a headache by stressing over where to put the peppermint candle or which ribbon goes with which wrapping paper.

And now to find warmer socks...