November might just be this tired mom’s favorite month of the year. I used to think it was October, what with the arrival of autumn and all the fun family events surrounding Halloween. And my October was truly delightful—I finally made good on a two-year promise to my kids that we’d host a Halloween party, and we all had an awesome time enjoying friends, food and fellowship.

Halloween night, we met up with friends who combined trick-or-treating with a hayride, and I’m convinced that riding around, snuggled in a blanket on a warm bale of hay, is the only way to go.

It was such fun to see my little two-year-old Jonah running around dressed as a perfectly-sized Yoda from “Star Wars,” thrilled to discover the joy that is trick-or-treating. At the first house, he wasn’t sure about the whole thing, but then he realized he’d been given rare, precious candy. When the people at the second house gave him a pack of M&Ms, he clutched it in his little fist and said, “Eat snack! Eat snack!” all the way back to the car. And then he was hooked!

But even though it was a blast and worth every minute of work that went into it, I’m kind of glad that the Halloween madness is over.

November feels like pure peace after all the hurrying and scurrying to accomplish everything on our October calendar. The weather is still perfect, the leaves are at their beautiful peak of fall color, and the Christmas craziness has not yet begun—no matter how hard the retailers try to prematurely shove it down our throats. I refuse to accept it, as stubbornly as a toddler clamps her mouth shut against a spoon heaped with boiled spinach.

This month is a gift I look forward to every year, a blessed lull in an overscheduled calendar, a time for Thanksgiving and family, a time of peace. I want to relax and enjoy the downtime, not turn November into an extended December, no matter how wonderful the holidays might be. As the book of Ecclesiastes says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” For me anyway, the purpose of November is to rest and focus on gratitude.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could bring a little November into every day? My friend Tiffany Hendra is one of the most inspirational people I know. She posted something on Facebook the other day that resonated with my soul and reflects this concept of finding a bit of gratitude and peace in every day.

She suggested that each night, just as we take a good, hot shower to wash away the dirt, sweat and grime from the day, we should also take an internal bath before going to bed, to cleanse away the cares of life.

Unclench your jaw, let out a long exhale, loosen your shoulders and clear your mind. Let go of any drama or irritations that plagued you that day, forgive those who offended you, and give thanks for the gift of life and the comfortable bed you sleep on.

November is the perfect time to do this on a larger scale. Instead of fretting over what December might bring, instead of starting the Christmas planning and shopping, just release all the stress and enjoy the gifts hidden in today. That steaming mug of coffee, the brilliant red cardinal hopping among the orange and golden leaves, the cool breeze refreshing your lungs, the soft flannel enveloping your shoulders, the calmness in knowing there is nowhere else you have to be but enjoying life in this very moment—all those simple things are the gifts of November.

Take the time to enjoy them, won’t you?

Two-year-olds are such fun! I awoke this morning to the sound of Jonah happily playing his little keyboard in his bedroom—after sleeping all night in his own bed! Woo hoo!

Then I discovered that he’d stripped—again!—and was sitting there on this chilly morning totally naked save his diaper, which, thankfully, was still intact because it held a quite malodorous surprise.

Couldn’t that possibly be the definition of “joy”? I mean, how amazing it must be to be able to play that happily while cold, unclothed and sitting in a pile of poop?

After I changed him, he helped me feed the cat breakfast, as he does every morning. He reaches into the container, holds the empty scoop in one hand while he uses the other to grab a fist full of kibble. Then he drops the tiny handful onto Max’s plate, and Max invariably looks up at him as if to say, “Is that all?” Sometimes Jonah repeats the process, but not today. He zeroed his attention on one little piece of cat food, picked it up and asked me, “Candy?”

Hey, at least this time he asked so I could say “No” before he tried to put it in his mouth!

Then he pulled my shirt, saying “Sausage? C’mon!” trying to drag me into the kitchen to fetch him some food. I microwaved his favorite sausage, chopped some grapes and added a handful of dry cereal to his plate. He watched me carefully, every so often saying, “Sauuuuuuusage!” and laughing.

Of course, being two, after begging repeatedly for sausage, he dug into the grapes and ate all of them first.

It’s Halloween and I can’t wait to take him trick-or-treating tonight. He has this new love affair with candy and is going to be completely amazed to find himself in possession of so much of it.

I’m afraid that when Zach and Eli were two, I tended to see the two’s as more terrible than terrific. What a gift to have another child at a mellower, more mature stage of life, when I have the hindsight to appreciate the jewels hidden in every ordinary day. Because this, too, shall pass. And oh how quickly it passes by.

This column ran in the October 12th edition of “The Covington News.”

It’s no secret that autumn is my favorite season, but there are five things about it that stir up a “Jekyll-and-Hyde” love-and-hate style response in me.

1. Having the windows open. I love it because the cool, fresh air circulating through the house feels so amazing. Nothing beats sleeping with the windows cracked open and hearing the leaves stirring outside as the crisp night air sneaks in and curls over my bed. I love snuggling under the blankets, waking up in the morning with a cold nose, and warming up again over a steaming cup of coffee.

However…

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This column ran in The Covington News on October 5, 2011.

I felt rather apprehensive when I walked into the doctor’s office last week. It was a return visit to discuss the results of recent blood work. I didn’t fear news of anything truly terrible, like cancer, but I wondered if my poor lifestyle choices had caught up with me yet.

I’m over 40 now, and have to start thinking about this stuff even if doing so makes me feel like an old lady. Better to face the facts than be a walking time-bomb and not realize it. We’re so totally surrounded, bombarded even, with health information overload these days. If you get sucked into the vortex created by television doctors, drug commercials and late-night diet infomercials, you end up feeling like you’re facing certain sudden death if you don’t start juicing all your vegetables, hiking ten miles a day and going gluten-free.

Since I do none of that, I worried a bit over what my blood work would reveal. Would 25 years of carrying around too many pounds have pushed me into diabetes? Would too many nibbles of the kids’ leftover French fries and not enough exercise have ruined my always-good cholesterol levels? I just didn’t know. Being a big girl, I always expect the weight lecture. This time, though, I was in for a nice surprise.

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Earlier tonight, I realized I hadn’t been to my blog in a while. I was shocked when I logged on and saw how long it’s actually been. It’s been an extremely busy October for us, what with softball season ending, and planning for a Halloween party, and crazy neighbors going wacko, and designing a website for someone, and visiting friends, and family in town, and teething molars and one kid nearly lopping off his toe with a pitchfork.

Good times.

And in between it all, the usual homeschooling and cleaning and running of Mom’s taxi service, and church stuff, and then freelance writing in ALL my spare time.

It’s definitely a hectic time of year. I also realized that I am a month behind on posting columns, so I will work to remedy that over the next couple of days.

So…just wanted to say “Hi!” and that I’m looking forward to November. Of course, there are no guarantees, but I think at least the first couple of weeks should be a nice period of calm before the holiday madness hits. Just maybe, I’ll find time to blog for fun then!

Be blessed!