See you in September

Ok, I admit it. September makes me all nostalgic. September to me means two things: School is starting, and fall is fast approaching. I know a lot of kids went back to school this week. I've heard my parent friends talk about their kids' first days, and some of my teacher friends discussed it as well.

This is the time of year when you start school, but can't actually wear your new fall wardrobe because it's still 85 freakin' degrees out (at least in CT it is). So you have to wait a few more weeks before you can wear those fabulous boots or sweaters. I remember my first day at college. I was so scared. I had bailed on orientation a week earlier, so I was still unfamiliar with the campus. I had a brand new wardrobe and I wore something fit for October that day, and almost died because of the heat.  I was also lonely because I didn't know anyone yet, and my parents were on vacation. So I had absolutely zero moral support on the big day.  But I survived, and would survive four years after that. ;)

September means that fall is will be here soon; my favorite time of year. At the end of this month I'll go apple picking, in hopes to snag a few Macintosh apples on the trees. Of course they will all be gone by then, but I prefer apple picking when it's a little cooler out, and less buggy. So if that means less Macs and more Golden Delicious, so be it. My friends and I go every year, to an orchard not far from my place. It's a tradition. And I'm big on tradition. It just seems me and the rest of my family have more fall traditions than summer. See, we weren't big beach or bbq people or pool people. But apple picking, candy apples, Halloween, pumpkins and carving...oh yeah. All about that. 

Every year I get a candy apple in memory of my mom. She would always buy those cheap ones in the supermarkets (with the gooey coating and coconut on it). But when I started going to the orchard I would get her a good one all the time. The kind with that crunchy, sugary coating on the outside of a huge apple. She loved it. And I loved her, so I would do anything to make her happy. And I'll get one every year, and slowly cut a piece of it and eat that piece every day, to make it last and last.

Sometimes I miss school, and think about going back. I'm not sure if I want to finish my degree (six credits shy-I guess I should) or start all over again. There are too many things blocking me from making this a reality (hello, condo) but I admit it: I get all mushy inside when I think of taking classes, buying books and stomping all over campus again.

So, this time of year is bittersweet for me, I guess. Candy apples, my mom's birthday, school memories... I try not to get too depressed though. I'll curl up in my Snuggie with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the cool weather at night.  I'll think about how exciting it will be to take my niece apple picking, and trick-or-treating when she's old enough. And yes-I'll be the one to present her with her very first candy apple.