Thursday 13

With the weather turning colder (somewhat), my thoughts turn to the top 13 things I like about October.

13. Tons of festivals!! It seems like every weekend there's some sort of arts and crafts or apple or sunflower or SOMETHING worthy of a festival being named after it in the state of Georgia. Although my favorite festival (The Yellow Daisy Festival) is actually in September, there are tons of others I enjoy during October.

12. The showing of IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN. With the advent of dvds and videos of all the old favorites we grew up with, it's not so much of an annual event the way it was when we were kids...but I still like to watch it on tv...usually sponsored by Kraft Foods or Peppermint Patties (get it? grins)

11. The fall foliage. (Did i spell that right?) Anyway...here in the Atlanta area, it starts peaking around the last week in October. Take a look at my imps and our nieces in the below picture and you'll get an idea of how beautiful it gets. We have a HUGE leaf tree outside our front window that provides a wonderful view on crisp days.


10. Our first fire of the year. It's always sometime in October and I know that when we move to Florida that's going to be the one thing I miss the most. The sound of the crackling logs, the aroma of the scene, all of it just gives me a big case of the warm fuzzies.

9. Columbus Day. Obscure I know, but my husband actually gets the day off from work! Whoo hoo. How many holidays do we get that the kids are in school, but Dale's off from work? That's a double goodie. We're going to have a grand time on Monday!

8. Catalog Heaven. There's a huge push by all the companies to send out their catalogs in October so that you will consider them come Christmas. I love going thru catalogs and dream shopping. Right now, I have Lillian Vernon, E-Toys, etc all vying for my dollars.

7. Cooling Temperatures. After a long hot summer, it's so relaxing to have the temps dip below 80 in the days and below the 60s at night. The kids (and adults too) actually start going outside again to play. We all got in the front yard the other day and played giant frisbee together for half an hour. The kids frolicked in the front yard with my brother's pooch and we all just had a ball. We dont have have that kind of outdoor fun in the summer.

6. Birthdays. 2 notable ones in our family. My brother Steven's is the 23rd and son Josh's is the 6th. Steven will be THIRTY FIVE this year...and Joshi will be 9. Happy B'day to you both.

5. Football season is in full swing. I'm an oddity I know...a girl who loves football. But I love it when Sunday rolls around and my thoughts turn to the Falcons/Cowboys/Saints etc. I love the competition, the excitement and intrigue. I follow the Dawgs & Yellow Jackets some but I prefer Pro-Ball. Go Falcons.

4. Octoberfest in Helen. I know I should have put this in the festival section, but it's so big, it deserves it's own number. I love all the celebration, the brats, the music, the hype, etc. I love the drive up into the mountains. Etc.

3. Pommagrantes come in season. Another obscure thing, but when I was a kid, i loved these things. I begged my mom to buy them whenever she could...but they were only at the grocery store in October. I loved cutting them open and getting that purple juice all over myself! And I love the sour sweet taste as a fat seed pops in my mouth.

2. Christmas shopping starts. For me anyway. I may occassionally pick up something before now, but I start in earnest in October squirrling away things to give as gifts. My closet starts bulging at the seams as I try to get all of the shopping done before Thanksgiving. (It never happens, but I always try.)

1. Halloween. I'm sure noone is surprised by this revealing number 1. But god I love this holiday!! The costumes, the chocolate, the late nights, the parties, the chocolate, the jack o lanterns, the scarecrows, the haunted houses, EVERYTHING!! And here's my favorite picture of our family from Halloween.