The wind howls while the nest continues to slumber and pumpkin pancakes are frying in the kitchen. It’s going to be a good day.

Today kicks off Operation Kick Procrastination to the Leaf-covered Curb. Wanna join me? I will likely be posting lightly–if at all–this week because I have a lot of work to catch up on and favorite clients to please, in addition to a lawn that I swear we JUST raked and a veritable mountain of green tomatoes that I promised myself I would not let go to waste. And the usual other time-suck: LIFE. Oh! And Halloween costumes to finish (err, start) and pumpkins to carve and a Zombie Run to cram for and, well, you get the point. How does your week look? Are you getting excited for Halloween?

Best! Ash

P.S. It’s scarf-weather here and I’m very happy about this. Today I’m sporting a green scarf, the color not unlike our tomatoes.

P.P.S. Super cute husband update: Chris just stopped home and asked me, “guess what I just saw at the curb?” Me: uh, I don’t know. What? To which he responded, “Procrastination. And he looked really sad and dejected. I think he might just go find someone else to bother.”

Please excuse me while I purge some bits & pieces from my brain…

thought it was Friday today. Oof. Revisited an old favorite from childhood: a Hawaiian Blizzard at DQ. Still tasted great and I’m in love with their new “mini” size. Pure genius. Except I STILL hate DQ’s “new” logo and it’s probably about six years old now. Yuck! Side note: how ridiculous is it that there is a DQ Locator iPhone app? Wow. Moving on.

Finding it easier to breathe with my new short hair cut. Didn’t realize how my hair impacted my breath. And my posture. And my general well-being. Soooo happy I did it.

Wishing coloring books were spiral bound. Also wishing there were more interesting coloring books that didn’t focus on licensed characters. Thinking there’s a whole market to be explored there… and a fun project to make. Speaking (err, writing) of projects, last Christmas I promised myself I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to make gifts again and here it is, the end of October already. Sigh. I was planning on making an advent calendar like this, but there’s no way it will be done in six weeks. Next year…

Took Wren to the mall tonight to get her ya-ya’s out in a big, open space and remembered why I never go to the mall. Depressing! Everyone I saw looked dejected and sad. I could never be a mall-walker. Repeat after me. I could never be a mall-walker. I could never be a mall-walker.

Still giddy from seeing the Sound of Music on the BIG screen this week as part of the movie’s 45th anniversary celebration. Absolutely lovely. I heart Julie Andrews. Do you think there is a family out there whose children are all named after the Von Trapps? Do you have a favorite? OK. So there was a costume contest and I dressed up as Maria. Of course! I wasn’t the only one; there ARE other Sound of Music nerds out there, I swear.

Pondering what to do with the wealth of green tomatoes still out there. 42 and rainy might just mean that they’re not going to ripen, hmmmphhhh. Green tomato relish, anyone? Pickled tomatoes? Green tomato pie? What would you do with them?

I have paint on the brain–and literally in my hair from a wee hours painting project–and seeing these paint chip cookies happily put me over the edge into paint lover’s bliss. How fun are these?! Enjoy!

Oh! Before I forget, I’ve joined Tweetdom. Am I cool, or what? Don’t answer that. But if you’d like to follow my drivel, you can find me now on Twitter @besquirrely. Happy Friday (tomorrow!)

Sometimes it takes a few moments (or hours) of feeling sorry for yourself to turn around and kick yourself in the ass… So here’s the story. I left the house the other day with a little birdie who really needed to nap, but didn’t want to nap more than a little bit. Sooooo outside we ventured. We wandered around the neighborhood to see all the pumpkins, goblins, witches, spider webs, acorns and leaves. We found ourselves in front of the pink house, which houses thirteen (13!) children. Just as I was chasing my one (1) child as she was darting into the road, The Mom came out of the house. As usual, she looked fantastic. She’s probably a bit too old to be wearing the trendy little dress and leggings she was confidently sporting, but because she has a great body she seems to be able to pull it off. As we chatted, I thought about what I had thrown on. Oof. The pants were fine, but the rest? Oh my. The comfy (read: too big and dowdy) sweater WITH the pants? Not a good choice. And because I couldn’t find my default black boots, I was wearing a pair of old running shoes. And my Mom Hair — always a pony tail, now about a year overdue for a real haircut–nice. The only thing that looked good? My toes. But only because I had a pedicure about two weeks ago. Of course, The Mom could not see those…

But it gets worse. The Mom asked me what Wren was going to be for Halloween. Side note: although she has 13 children, she always is the first one in the conversation to ask about my child. I didn’t really want to tell her that I was thinking of dressing Wren up as Andy Warhol because I’m not sure she’d quite understand so I told her that I was thinking (which I had been!) about making Wren an apple costume because she’s obsessed with apples (which she very much is), but I wasn’t quite sure “if I could get it together by then.” Then I remembered with whom I was speaking. The Mom. She went on to sweetly tell me about all her (13!) kids and their costumes. Sigh. At about that moment, the only thing that saved me from continuing down this soul-sucking road was that Wren tried to dart into the street again, another one of her recent obsessions. So that was my out.

The little birdie and I kept walking and I decided that a coffee would really perk me up. With some sugar. Yeah, caffeine and sugar, that’s what I needed. I ordered a pumpkin pie latte, which friends had been raving about, but, ahem, gag. Do not put a pumpkin pie into a cup of professionally-steamed espresso. Repeat after me. That’s about when it dawned on me. No amount of caffeine and sugar was really going to make me feel better or more confident as I walked around with a sad excuse for an outfit and a ‘do. And a “woe is me” attitude.

Hair appointment is tomorrow. And I’m getting IT back. Myself, that is. But not like my old pre-baby self. She’s gone, but that’s OK. Because I’m here and I’ve got everything I need. Nothing like a swift kick in the ass.