The Month That Wasn't

...and that would be September, as far as my blogosphere goes.

Sorry for the hiatus. It was awfully necessary.

September for me meant:

- Tis the season for the SAT & ACT! Everyone and their mother and dog wants test prep. (AKA: Overtime with a frantic pace at work!)

- Speaking of dogs: Owens split open his tail and whipped blood

everywhere in what ended up being known as "The Worst Week Ever." Tiiiiiiiny dots of blood on the floor, walls, ceiling, rug, curtains, MICROSUEDE COUCH, cushions, loveseat... *Sigh* Have no fear, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth and cleaning, OxiClean Max saved my earthly possessions. And Jesus saved my attitude--"it's just stuff," he told me.

- Speaking of Jesus and overtime: He has been workin' it in my life! I'm sure a lengthier post is coming on this subject, but let's just say that I am a different person than I was 6, 10, 12 months ago. And it's all thanks to God's Spirit and a long wait.

- Speaking of long waits: Please forgive my strained smile and fake cheerful response that sounds something like, "Still waiting...at the top of the list!" when you ask me if there is any news about the adoption. BELIEVE ME. You'll hear when there's news. And BELIEVE ME, I am just as curious as when it will happen as you are. Picture me as that overdue pregnant woman, looking miserable in her oversized-ness, just trying to will herself into labor. Wish all those labor tricks worked for getting referrals...we'd be eating hot pepper flakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

- Speaking of miserable: I'm not. Really, I'm not. But I am. Again, remember that overdue pregnancy. My world's about to change--Let's get on with it! No, wait--I want to savor the present! Just kidding...time for some action! Can you relate? I hope so. Because I'm living the life of a crazy woman with a Holy Spirit I.V.

- Speaking of savoring the present:

We went for it and took another vacay. Awww, look at us. All young couple-y and child-free. Our trip was as wonderful as possible for the middle of a crazy month, and we really enjoyed just being together, reading good books, resting in the sunshine, and eating good food. I love my husband, y'all. I just really really do. He is my best friend in the whole wide world, and we are exactly the same and completely different.

- Speaking of as wonderful as possible: We enlarged the awesomeness of our vacay by book-ending it with 2 mini-trips.

Mini-Trip 1: The weekend before we went to the beach, we attended the "Empowered to Connect" adoption conference in Nashville. I don't care who you are--adoptive parent or not--Dr. Karyn Purvis is my hero, and I love her approach to parenting. Not only did we thoroughly enjoy the one-day conference, but we soaked up some great friend-time with some of my dear college friends. (Shout out to the Meeks, Hartzogs, and our gracious hosts, the Crawfords!)

Mini-Trip 2: On the way back from the beach, we took a minor detour up the I-85 to the Loveliest Village on the Plains. Caught up with Jim & Mary Brinkerhoff, ate at Amsterdams with the Mills, and stocked up on Auburn paraphernalia at the bookstores. War Eagle!

So, yeah. September, what? It was great. It was awful. It was there.

October has already arrived with crisp weather, changing leaves, and my favorite fall foods.

I am fully present. Get ready for a barrage of fall blog posting. No, really, I mean it.

Note: Does anyone know why my SLR shots are turning out so grainy when they're posted to the internet? And does anyone know why I can't manipulate the size of them? And does anyone know why I care so much?