I love this time of year. The end of summer as it trails into autumn. September has always felt like my New Year. A time for new beginnings. This year, my September looks completely different. I’ve become used to the bustle of a new academic year but now my time is not dictated by terms and school calendars. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to reflect on the moment.

Outside my window… the sky is cornflower blue dappled with white clouds. The air is still warm but it is beginning to turn and the changing season is beginning to make its presence known. There’s the promise of autumn on the breeze.

I am thinking… that tomorrow brings the beginning of the first September in my adult life that hasn’t taken me back to school in one way or another. No courses of my own beginning. No new term with new students to cajole into classrooms. No results to reflect on or lessons to plan. It’s a strange realisation. Bitter sweet in some ways but I can’t deny that I am looking forward to the joys of autumn without the stress of a new term added to the mix…

I am thankful… for the life I have, for the people around me, for the love I am surrounded by and for the path that has led me to this place.

In the kitchen… the kettle has just boiled and a mug of hot Turkish apple tea sits by my side. The cupboards are a little light on sustenance at the moment…takeaway for tea tonight!

I am wearing… black skinny trousers, my daisy top and grey, oversized sweater. (I’m excited for the weather on its way that will allow me to break out the rest of my sweater collection!)

I am creating… a collection of micro fiction and poetry (which I am still in love with and which has just gone to my reading partner for feedback); a new novel idea; my old novel idea (which has been sorely neglected but now the poetry collection is as good as finished I can return my attention to this story).

I am going… to collect my brother and sister-in-law-to-be from the airport later this week as they move back to the UK! It still feels surreal that they will be living in the same country and there are just no words for how happy and excited I am to have them home.

I am wondering… when the ill-health that has been plaguing me for over a month now ill finally up and leave…

I am reading… The House With Chicken Legs, Lanny, The Priory of The Orange Tree, She Is Fierce, The Empress of The Seasons, Read This If You Want To Be A Great Writer…(too many things, basically!)

I am praying for… a swift resolution to my questions.

I am hoping… that I will manage to get some sleep tonight.

I am looking forward to… welcoming my brother and sister home.

I am learning… to accept the unknown and the waiting and to find joy inside them.

Around the house… things are at that point of balance that is not quite tidy but not quite fallen into chaos – just the everyday evidence of a lived in home.

I am pondering… whether I want to attempt NaNoWriMo again this year…

A favourite quote for today… 

“I burn my candle at both ends
It will not last the night
But ah my foes and oh my friends
It gives a lovely light.”

Edna St Vincent Millay

A few plans for the rest of the week: 

Write.

Read.

Try to sleep.

Journal.

Welcome my brother and sister home.

A peek into my day…

What does your here and now look like?