lovely fall

I'm excited that fall is here! Pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice lattes, hearty soups and stews, crunchy leaves on the sidewalk, grass crisp with morning frost, clean fresh air, warm cozy sweaters. These are the reasons I love fall. The damp rainy weather? I can do without that. I'm hoping for lots of beautiful clear but cold sunny days. I made pumpkin bread yesterday, my first batch of the year. Not only is baking a fun Sunday afternoon activity, but two of our neighbors have been gifting us with fresh vegetables from their gardens (David and I have been secretly comparing their tomatoes to see who is a better gardener :) ), and I've been feeling for weeks that I need to give something in return! Social graces are sometimes a blessing and sometimes they feel more like a curse. In any case, I had a lovely afternoon cooking (I've been trying to make meals ahead of time on the weekends, so I don't have to do much cooking during the week), baking, and listening to country music. It was a nice change from my Friday evening and Saturday, during which I spent a collective 12 hours or so preparing a presentation for my counseling supervision class. We tape a 20 minute section of us in session with a client, and then have to transcribe it, prepare a 5 page case history, and present it to our class for them to critique us and our work. Have you ever spent hours on end listening to your own voice on tape? Oh my goodness, I was alternately cringing at how silly I sound and getting frustrated with trying to figure out how to transcribe unintelligible murmurings: Hmm, Mm-hmm, Uhmm. What a day! Glad that is behind me, though I still have to give the presentation today in class. Wow. I think I'll go treat myself to a pumpkin spice latte afterward.