Happy Autumn!

So today is the first official full-day of Fall. Autumn is my absolute favorite time of year! I love the smells in the air: the crispness, the changing colors of the leaves, and the fact that I get to pull my sweaters out of storage. My fall/winter wardrobe is so much cuter and cozier than my spring/summer wardrobe. Plus, Fall means that Winter is just around the corner. And although I don't love getting hammered with endless snow storms, I do love the first snowfall, snowball fights, snow angels, crackling fires, and the holidays. This, in turn, means that my favorite day of the whole year is just around the corner: CHRISTMAS. I love Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, and the Christmas spirit.

My only wish is that people feel the true spirit of Christmas for more that just a few days a year. I wish we could all be a little kinder to each other all the time. I know that the holidays are not great for everyone. I know that a lot of people are sad, lonely, or missing loved ones who cannot be there.

But I do know that this year is going to be exciting for my son, who will be old enough to open his own gifts and get excited. My husband will probably have to work on Christmas, and I may be alone with my son. And that will suck. But we can pick any day and make it the special holiday. Boo Boo won't know the difference!

I hope that each of you is touched by the holiday spirit this year. I hope that you don't feel lonely. I hope that you are surrounded by the ones you love, and comforted by happy memories of the ones who cannot be there.

I hope that you are able to share the spirit and "pay it forward" so to speak. I know that each year my dad picks an elderly person or someone who is dining alone in a restaurant, asks the wait-person for their check, pays their bill, and then tells the waiter/waitress to tell the person that "Santa" took care of the tab. It may sound cheesy to you, but these random acts of kindness help to brighten someone's day. And the more you give, the more you get out of it.

So I wish you all happiness. I wish you all peace. I wish you a wonderful holiday season. I wish you kindness. I wish you joy. And I wish you a Happy Autumn, Mother Phuckers :)