Yesterday morning as I was driving to work, I listened to the latest episode of a favorite motherhood podcast – the hosts were catching each other up on their summer adventures and, at the end of the episode, they shared a few goals for fall. I famously love summer and openly hate on back-to-school (for many reasons which I will not share), but I also love fall. So where’s the line? Anticipating fall feels like wishing time away, but ignoring it and refusing to get excited about my other favorite season feels like wasting time. I’ve reframed the whole conundrum as “we’re midway through my favorite half of the year and I’ve got so much more to look forward to!” and it’s a nice place to be.

So in that spirit, while I’m by no means ready to say goodbye to summer, I am ready to at least start thinking about fall – anticipating my favorite parts of the season and setting some small goals that I’d like to work on.

Anticipating…

• Seeing the leaves change at my favorite local park. While I love being surrounded by green all summer long, there’s nothing like those reds and oranges.
• Related: taking a fall hike in Shenandoah National Park. I don’t have any current plans to get out there, but it’s only a little more than an hour’s drive and totally doable for a day. Shenandoah is one of my happy places.
• Sipping hot apple cider! To be perfectly honest, I am not a pumpkin spice anything person. But apple cider – yes, please.
• Travel baseball! We’ve never done fall baseball, but it’s going to be a busy season at the ballpark between Nugget’s 9U travel team and regular Little League (which is required for all travel team members). Talk to me in November and I might be over it, but I’m excited right now. It’s so much fun to watch the joy and pride on the little guy’s face.
• Pumpkin and apple picking. I love a pumpkin patch – and an apple orchard – and while I know the days of my family willingly cooperating are numbered… I’ll never stop trying.
• Crisp mornings on the deck. I like to wrap up in a cozy blanket and take my tea and book outside in the mornings, but the current weather – still in the 90s – doesn’t allow for the blanket part. A nice cool morning in the 60s would be perfect. Not colder, let’s not get carried away.

Planning…

• My biggest goal for the fall is to make progress on unpacking. This summer, what with travel and work and running to camp and baseball and all of that, I fell behind a bit. I’ve set a goal to have the living floors of the house unpacked and organized by October 1, and then I’m going to turn my attention to the basement with the ultimate goal of finishing by Christmas. So unpacking and organizing is going to be my new hobby for most of the rest of 2023.
• I always run the Marine Corps 10K at the end of October and I’m planning to do that again this year. No time goal, but I’d like to work more runs into my weekly schedule (I’ve been distracted by the Peloton for a long time, and I can’t deny that it is fun, but I need to mix it up).
• For awhile now, I’ve been meaning to learn more about vitamins and skincare and come up with a better, more personalized routine. No time like the present – maybe I can harness some of that September energy and finally do this.

So that’s it! Lots to look forward to in the coming season, and just a few things I’d really like to accomplish. But first things first – it’s still 90+ degrees outside and I’ve got more summer to enjoy.

What are you looking forward to doing this fall?