Rabbit, Rabbit!

I sit here, on a Sunday morning, eating a homemade breakfast burrito, munching on some mango, and I’m not quite sure what to write. As you well know, this happens to me often. There are plenty of times I know exactly what I want to say, and plenty of other times, where I don’t, so I just let my fingers take to the keyboard and see where we land.

And then it hit me that tomorrow is November 1, which gave me a zing of excitement.

This October passed me by without much fanfare, to be honest. I didn’t do too many fall things, barely ate any “fall” type desserts (there’s still time), only watched a handful of movies. No pumpkins were purchased, no apples were picked. But that’s alright. I thought about this this morning actually. How it’ll be the last October where it’s just Charles and me. I’m pretty sure this thought is going to creep into my mind plenty of times between now and February. Our last Thanksgiving, just the two of us. Our last Christmas, just the two of us. Our last New Years, just the two of us. My last birthday, just the two of us. So on…so forth. And while a part of me does mourn that a bit, I’m very excited for what things will look like next year, when we’re doing things not just for ourselves, but for our daughter (or, in the beginning, for us with the guise that it’s for our daughter ha).

I’m 36 years old. I’ve had a lot of time to myself or “just us.” And it’s been wonderful. Free. Waking up, turning over and asking “what should we do today?” where nearly any answer would be possible and feasible. Choosing to lounge around on a Friday night eating take out in bed and watching movies until the wee hours of the morning. I know I’ll miss those times, probably more than I can even begin to realize. But what I also know is that they will be replaced with something better; something with purpose and meaning.

That said, I do want to mentally set the intention of going into this holiday season without hurry. Without feeling rushed. Without a sense of “let’s move on to the next holiday, okay now the next…and the next.” Today, as I write this, it’s Halloween. We’re going to a small little local fair with friends, and yeah, I might still watch some Halloween movies I missed in the coming weeks. Who cares. I can’t stand jumping so quickly from fall to full-on Christmas. Can we enjoy Thanksgiving? Granted, I also fully support anyone who takes great joy in pulling out their trees and garlands and lights and little porcelain villages ASAP to enjoy as long as possible. Like I said, who cares. Do it how you want to do it.

And how I want to do it, particularly this time, is with a slow and steady pace. I’m not planning all my Black Friday purchases (if there are any, they will likely be mostly baby-related). I’m not itching to get out all my decorations. I have no photoshoots at home this year that I have to plan for super in advance, living weeks ahead of the calendar schedule. I want to eat sweet potatoes and cranberry roll-ups and watch what feels like the only Thanksgiving moving that exists—Planes, Trains & Automobiles—and then move along to December.

We won’t be going away for Christmas this year (as we didn’t last year). I’ll be too far along to safely travel that distance, according to my doctor. And at first, I was bummed. Another Christmas without our families. But I’ve turned that around in my mind, and I’m actually really happy and grateful that I get a quiet moment with Charles. Just the two of us.

And then, the year will be wrapped up. Ready to transition in 2022. If you’ve been with me often this year, following along with what started as Project 365 (but is now really more like Project Monday Through Friday), you may be wondering what comes next for Arlyn Says. I think about it a lot, actually, and I still don’t have an answer. I might not have an answer until January 1, 2022. I’ll likely keep writing, but at a slower pace. Maybe go back to my twice-weekly schedule. As appealing as having zero content responsibilities sounds, I know I’d miss it (you all) too much. But, we’ll see what happens.

Anyhow, this is where I leave you. This is where my fingers brought us today. I sadly don’t have a giveaway, but I do really want to do one for December, so I’ll try to make it extra special!

Happy November to everyone, and may the luck of the rabbit, rabbit be with us all! 🙂

See you tomorrow, FOAS.