What is your favorite season of the year? For me, it’s fall through winter. I love the cooler temperatures, the colors, and the experiences we create as a family. As a strategist for businesses, fall is always launch season too, so there’s a plethora of things tugging at my time. We’re working on the Cottage and if the crazy wasn’t crazy enough, we’re shopping for a new roof, and porch and taking out a few trees at the same time. I’m used to things swirling around in Sweetieland, but launches, renovations, and usual back-to-school workshops and trainings I do have made the last few weeks simply wild. It is so good to be home this morning and enjoying a family breakfast.
This week we’re celebrating Crescent Dragonwagon’s reissue with new illustrations of a classic, “Will It Be Okay?” It’s almost launch time and we’re excited! I’m especially touched because she dedicated it to me. I love this book and think it speaks to hearts of all ages. Its timeless message reminds me in these tumultuous times that “Yes, we will be okay” It will be available Sept 6th!
There was a special surprise when my copy arrived from the publisher. Crescent dedicated the book to me! Talk about taking me by surprise.
We’ve worked together for several years now, and met over 26 years ago when she came to my classroom in Fayetteville, Arkansas and I loved how she taught creative writing to my students.
We’re two years in now on the cottage, and we’ve come a long way. Renovating a hundred-year-old cottage that had been moved, added onto, and weathered hard before buying it, is not for the faint of heart. The hard things like wiring, plumbing, and infrastructures, like new joists throughout took forever on our DIY timeline, but we’re entering the year of making pretty!
I’ve kept sane by keeping my office space a place where I can look out my window at the cardinals and birds. When we began two of the five rooms looked like the picture below! We had moved from a year old completely done home, so it has been a journey. We’re glad we chose it, but it’s been challenging. We love our little patch of land in the Ozarks, and we’ve come to realize it’s home.
Yesterday we spent the day trying to decide what color to paint the exterior. So many choices, but we’ve narrowed it down to three. I took the conversation to our Facebook page but we’ll see what the final choice will be!
We have had a season of hard things, have you been there? I took several months off from anything that was not necessary to focus on what had to be handled. It seemed like hard things were coming from all directions. I encourage you to give yourself permission to do the same when hard things come. It was hard to change routines, but how we learned how to protect our health, our family time and personal time with more awareness when life called us to do so.
I’m enjoying the jeep this season, its ease in carting on-location cameras and props for filming, its comfort, and its go-anywhere capabilities are just a win-win-win.
We changed the front profile of the cottage, adding a porch across the front of it, I think we’ll be glad we did. We love sitting out and enjoying the sunsets and enjoying being out of doors. The shade of the porch is so pleasant.
I’m excited to see the visible changes we’re making to the cottage, it’s so fun to see it come together after such a dry spell. I’m all about creating comfort and cozy and it’s the season!
What are you excited about this season? I’m glad to be rejoining you here!
love,
Sweetie!
