TToT – Transitions and Getting Back on Track
Fall has always been a time of transition and fresh starts for me.
This year is no different. The change of seasons itself is a beautiful time of change – for me, the move from hot and humid to cool and comfortable is glorious. And I love the color changes, too. Although the fresh, bright greens of summer are beautiful in their own right, there is something special about the first pops of autumn color. And I’m looking forward to seeing more in the coming weeks.
And even though I am no longer teaching, the start of a new school year always feel like a New Year’s of sorts – a time to get back into a routine, start something new, get a fresh perspective. Clean book covers, new school shoes, empty notebooks and freshly-sharpened pencils get me every time, even if they aren’t mine.
![20150828_194855[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/20150828_1948551.jpg)
Speaking of school, as I’ve mentioned for several weeks running, Zilla’s transition to second grade has been a very positive one. Despite her anxiety and lack of enthusiasm for returning to school, she has jumped into the school routine with a renewed spirit and genuine interest. She’s doing well, she’s happy, she’s positive – and we couldn’t ask for more. This Friday she came home with a “Friday exit pass” on which the teacher asked a few short questions about the week, etc. That paper showed a child confident in her self and in her work. It showed that she is happy and proud of her accomplishments. It shows definite progress.
All of that makes these two parents so happy and grateful that I could be done right there.
But I have more.
I am thankful for Legos. An 800-piece set with a 122-page instruction booklet kept our girl happy and occupied through a mostly rainy weekend. And she bought it with her own piggy bank savings so she was mighty proud of herself. I am also very thankful that Zilla keeps hers contained and off the floor. Because stepping on Legos hurts. A lot.
Soup of the Week has returned from summer hiatus! I really do love soup all the time and I do make it year-round. But this summer saw little to report in the soup department – we didn’t make it as much and when we did, it was either green soup or our favorite tomato. Both good, but not new and exciting. But come back this week for the first fall soup and you will see exciting!
This week the Hub gets a spot for snagging some green tomatoes when he picked up our CSA share at the farm this week. Zilla loves fried green tomatoes and we had them once this summer. She was so hoping for one more round and this week we lucked out, thanks to her Fab Dad. So we had Fried Green Tomato Eggs Benedict for brunch yesterday – because on a rainy Saturday you should have a big delicious brunch – and Zilla and I had the reheated leftover tomatoes for lunch today.
![20151003_130033[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/20151003_1300331.jpg)
And you know what? The Hub needs a mention for putting up with me in general. I’m high maintenance. And, as Harry says in When Harry Met Sally, I’m the worst kind – I think I’m low-maintenance, but I’m really high maintenance. And yes, I order food in restaurants just like Sally does. Hey – at least I’m self-aware.
Zilla continues to amaze us – hourly, it seems – with her transition from little kid to big kid. She’s doing her own hair, being responsible for herself and her belongings (most days), and handling her busy days of school and after-school activities with grace and ease. Is it wrong to say I’m a bit surprised? Transitions do not come easy for her – for any of us, really – and we’re just so impressed and pleased.
I’m thankful for my slow cooker. As life gets busier around here, it becomes more and more clear to me that we need super-fast dinners or something that’s ready the minute we get home from Karate class. We needs meals that the self-proclaimed kitchen-challenged Hub can help with. Enter the slow cooker. I’ve always loved the slow cooker. But I’m on a mission to rediscover its practical talents to make life easier for us.
I am thankful for beautiful fall weather – all of it. I’ll take the chilly rainy days or the breezy sunny days. I’m just so happy it’s autumn for real! And for October – it’s just my favorite of all the months.
![20150924_084054[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/20150924_0840541.jpg)
With the fall comes more change. I’m re-committing to Clark’s Gravity Challenge starting tomorrow and also to increasing my exercise efforts. I’m hoping the Hub will join me in those efforts, too. (I did get him to agree to try a healthier coffee creamer…that’s a start!) I have more tutoring students on the roster and there may be more referrals in the works. This week I also start a new from-home job which I think will work out well for us. I’ve cleaned off my desk and have been doing more writing, including an attempt at 31 poems in 31 days for OctPoWriMo.
We are definitely moving into a new phase here. Wish us luck.
![20151004_160122[1]](http://www.themeaningofme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/20151004_1601221-e1443989065206.jpg)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your turn! How is your transition to fall progressing? What seasons most inspire you to make a fresh start and get back on track?
What are you thankful for this week?
You know the drill – share ’em or link ’em!
Your hosts
Join the Ten Things of Thankful Facebook Group
Love this? Share the love and tell someone!
21 Comments
Comments are closed.
Frist.
Frist!
Your renewed energy is quite apparent from this wonderful post. I find the un-raining part of Fall beautiful. Have you every tried fried green tomatoes with goat cheese and pepper jam? Very yum.
I find it nearly impossible to contain my energy at this time of year. I hate summer heat and humidity so much…even if I love some parts of summer, those just drain me. So when the weather finally turns, I am so very happy.
Goat cheese and pepper jam, eh? I will keep that written down to try with our next batch. That would be delicious.
I nearly texted you today about the slow cooker. I was making chicken noodle soup because my cousin had recommended a Paula Deen recipe, but then I realized I hadn’t defrosted any chicken and couldn’t make stock (hence my thoughts of the slow cooker–time to get that guy cranking again). So I sort of winged it, and it turned out good even with boxed stock. I deglazed the veggies with sherry which was wonderful, and it called for cream at the end (I used whole milk).
Always so good to hear about Zilla in school. What a wonderful thing!
Ooh…what’s the Paula Deen? I was wondering if the chicken posole you sent me forever ago would work in there – or was it in there to begin with? I have to look at the recipe again. I always prefer my own stock but our market does a really decent organic that I usually keep on hand for when I run out. And I just did run out so it’s time to get the slow cooker working on that, too. I need chicken and veggie stock.
Sherry is always good.
Zilla has really grown since I last glimpsed her on here. I am so glad her school year is going so well.
It is soup weather! Can’t wait to see what goodness you’ll be stirring up soon.
Oh, May, she has grown so much in so many ways! She’s doing well and growing far too fast for our taste. Sigh…
Soup – first up is a cauliflower sweet potato bisque. Divine.
Love, love, love it all.
🙂
Lots of energy, yes, for this new season, month, and transition.
I love October, Legos, and When Harry Met Sally.
Glad your family had a great week.
I loved Legos as a kid – if only I had thought to hang on to them, Zilla would be in great shape! Oh, well. She’s enjoying collecting her own – and they’re nothing at all like the Legos I had. Much more sophisticated now.
Harry Met Sally is one of my all-time favorites and in my mind it’s a fall movie because of the fall colors on the cover. Silly. 😀
” Clean book covers” damn! made me think of shopping bags… the book cover material of choice in high school.
Glad we’ll be seeing you at the Gravity Challenge, you are, after all one of the charter members!
Yes! Paper bag book covers were the best – last forever, especially if you do contact paper on top of them.
I’ll be there…charter member! Heh! That’s cool.
Great list, Lisa! So glad Zilla is having a good year at school. Here’s hoping each one gets successively easier for her.
Even in the years when I was no longer either a student or teaching, I still loved back to school time. New crayons are the BEST!
I’m a lot like Sally, too, especially when ordering in a restaurant.
I use my slow cooker all the time. Did you know you can bake potatoes in it? Great in the summer when you don’t want to heat up the house.
Love seeing Zilla’s ginger head as she plays with her Legos!
You think she has a ginger head? Really?
I did know you could do baked potatoes but I’ve not tried that yet. Maybe this week – I have a ton left from the farm. And baked potatoes are awesome.
I am nothing like Sally, but I do enjoy that movie. 🙂
I’m so glad to hear Zilla is doing so well. It is such a relief to know our kids are doing well, even better than we expected.
I need to get my hands on some good slow cooker recipes. I don’t have many, but they are so, so handy! Sometimes I don’t actually cook in the slow cooker, but make the food when I have the time in the day, then put in the crock pot before I leave the house just to keep it hot until we get home.
Looking forward to your soup recipes coming back!
No, I would not think you’d be like Sally – she’s too Clark. 😀
It is definitely good to know our kids are doing well and are happy – answer to prayers!
I’ve actually thought about using the slow cooker that way – just to hold things on warm. I can get dinner ready earlier in the day, but then need it to stay warm until everyone’s home again. If I start dinner at that point, it’s just too late. I may do that this week on Karate nights. I have collected a bunch of slow cooker meals on my Pinterest boards – called one “slow cooker” – if you’re over there. And the soups are coming! I even have some for the slow cooker…the first one up was one of those!
I’m looking forward to soup making time here. We usually just have it in the cooler fall days or winter, and we are just beginning to show some signs of cooler weather this week. I’ll have to look at Soup of the Week for ideas, although I have tons of cookbooks and recipes, but one really have enough?
No, one is never enough given the number on my bookshelf! And I just got one from my Mom – all soups and breads. That’s going to be a fun one!
I spent the first part of October in Florida, which you wouldn’t consider a fitting transition to fall, but it was. So far, so good. the next season starting is the best for me for renewal – I’m always looking to set the restart button.
I’m thankful for a calmer perspective and focus right now. I want to use that as long as its available for me, and take from every moment all that’s meant to be taken.
You know, I really like to look for opportunities to reset and restart wherever I can find them – a new year, new season, new month…even a new week or a new day is a chance to hit the reset button.
I’d like to get a little of your calmer perspective and focus to rub off over here, Eli. I’m definitely feeling excited about the change of season, but it is also with an underlying sense of great anxiety about what lies ahead.
[…] written before that I see September and back-to-school time as my “new year.” It is the time we make the transition from the long, lazy days of summer to the comfort […]