For some reason writing these month in review posts seems to make the months go by a lot faster. Maybe it’s because I’m just more aware of each month as it ends. So instead of jumping straight from summer to “Oh my gosh, it’s Christmastime!” I get to “Oh my gosh!” at each month as it passes. But despite the quickness, October was lovely. And I learned some good lessons.
##A short academic biography…
I was one of those students that most people secretly hate. I got straight A’s. I scored in the top percentiles on aptitude tests. I consistently set the curve in my classes. While I worked hard, learning material and showing what I learned on assessments came easily to me so I rarely experienced any failures. I went through the traditional public school system from kindergarten to graduation and left feeling like a complete success.
**Now that I’m a mother and contemplating my own child’s future education, I’ve realized I don’t want him to have the same experience.**
There’s something about fall that brings out the wannabe chef in me. I think it’s because fall seems to encourage a lot of cooking that involves combining fruits and vegetables with sugar and cinnamon. You can convince your brain that you’re having something healthy, but your tongue knows that it’s really dessert.
Another month has gone by, and once again I’m linking up with [Emily at Chatting at the Sky](http://www.chattingatthesky.com/2013/09/27/learned-september/) to share the things I’ve learned this month.
1. **Late summer/early fall is almond season.** I know this because we have an almond tree in our backyard and it has been dropping almonds by the bushel-full. When I first learned we had an almond tree I was kind of excited about it. I started envisioning tasty desserts and breakfast granolas full of fresh toasted almonds harvested from our backyard. But then I looked into what it takes to prepare almonds for eating and realized that I will **not** be harvesting my own almonds. Here’s why:
I’ve long admired those cute little menu planning boards that I’ve seen floating around Pinterest. I assume that people with such boards must be super crafty and organized and have some kind of magical craft-and-organize time in their days.
But it turns out that’s not really the case because I made myself a menu planning board. It is moderately cute and I got it done in one evening after my boy was in bed and before I hit my daily wall of exhaustion. Here’s how it went down.
I’ve discovered a very helpful tip for motherhood thanks to a recent Google image search.
You see, part of my job involves finding images to show during my pastor’s sermons on Sundays. Many times this involves finding images of people experiencing certain emotions. For this particular sermon I needed to find an image of a mom who was feeling stressed out or overwhelmed. Here is a sampling of some of the images I found. See if you can come up with the handy tip…
Did you notice it?
Let this be a lesson from Google:
Just don’t even try. Then maybe you won’t end up looking like one of these lovely ladies.
Maybe.
When I was younger my dream house looked like this:
Or this:
I have always had a thing for homes with character.
But today I was neighborhood shopping with google street view. (Surely you’ve done that too). As I clicked my way along a street not too far from where we live now, I suddenly realized that my dream home might be right there.
Sometimes it’s hard to listen to the news. News about unstable nations that don’t seem to listen to reason. News about stable nations that can’t seem to agree on anything. News about the blatant disregard taken towards our environment. News about crazy dictators who may or may not have access to horribly destructive weapons. News about humans reduced to commodities. The list goes on and on…
Being a mother has changed the way I hear these stories. I used to just shake my head in disappointment. Or get all righteously indignant about the ways the rulers of the world rule the world. But now I worry. And fear.
I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve been enjoying on the internet lately.
#What I’m reading
[Keeping Kids From Toy Guns: How One Mother Changed Her Mind – Atlantic Mobile](http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/keeping-kids-from-toy-guns-how-one-mother-changed-her-mind/278518/) – This is an interesting article discussing the zero-tolerance stance many schools take these days on guns and whether it is actually beneficial. The most thought provoking line:
“There is no easy answer when my Japanese friends wonder at the paradox of our banning gun play when we do not ban the guns that kill thousands of children and teens in the U.S. each year.”
[A place you can always return to | Simple Mom](http://simplemom.net/a-place-you-can-always-return-to/) – This is a sweet story about a couple’s favorite place. My favorite line:
Once again I’m linking up with Emily at [Chatting at the Sky](http://www.chattingatthesky.com) to share the things I learned this month. Here they are in no particular order.
1. Apparently I am a very sweet person because mosquitos love me. Upon stepping out the door I will get no less than 5 new mosquito bites every time. My husband (who mosquitos seem to ignore) found [this interesting article](http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/07/why-do-mosquitoes-bite-some-people-more-than-others/) about why mosquitos are more attracted to certain people. Unfortunately it’s not very helpful, as mosquitos seem to be attracted by uncontrollable factors like blood type and the kinds of invisible bacteria that live on your skin. However, [if we could just find a high powered fan to blow across our entire back yard](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/science/a-low-tech-mosquito-deterrent.html?_r=1&) I think we’d be golden.