October is Finally Here

This morning, I felt like I just entered a clearing in the woods. For all of September, I felt like I was racing through the forest, being chased by a couple of big, hairy projects. For a few days, here and there, I got out ahead of them and had time to enjoy with my family, but I was always watching over my shoulder, waiting to hear them crashing through the brush.

On Friday, we pushed the code for project #1 to staging, thus ending the pursuit of that particular monster. I worked the weekend until the code for project #2 was ready at 8:30pm last night and delivered that as well. Thus, this morning, I found myself facing the alarm clock at 5am without the internal groan that has been there for most of the last month.

Then I thought about it and realized that it was also October 1, the beginning of my favorite month of the year, making this morning an even better new beginning.

I absolutely love the month of October. First, it starts off with my own personal holiday: Sit on Your Butt and Watch Movies Day, which just happens to fall on my birthday each year. Rather than just taking a look at a new number to put in the "age" field in forms and deciding if you're now "old" or not, I take the day to specifically do the things I really enjoy: celebrating my favorite things.

Birthdays mark the passing of another year on this earth and one fewer left before our little blink of existence is over. That fact is made all the more real for me on my birthday as this year's marks the 1st anniversary of my grandmother's passing. The things that made her happy: entertaining, cooking, gospel music, needlework and taking care of others were all present in her daily life. She made each of her 90 years count.

So, on Friday, I take the day off to think about my time on this blue marble thus far, celebrate the things and experiences I enjoy and contemplate how I will spend the next year and those to come. I will observe a moment of silence in her honor and truly enjoy the day.

Birthdays aside, October marks a shift in the weather here in Minnesota that brings crisp, cool mornings where you can see your breath in the early morning sun followed by afternoon breezes that blow through the bright yellow and red leaves as the trees prepare for winter.

October is the first time since May when I know that I'll be free from uncomfortable heat until some time in May.

And, finally, this year, because of how the calendar came out, there are more billable days than any other month of the year. So, not only can I take time off to celebrate life, but still end up with a nice invoice at the end of the month.

There are still leftover effects from September's chaos, but much more manageable and under control. It feels good to be returning to feeling like the "normal" me.