Sunday Salon: November?

Is it really November? Time is flying by. I am not kidding when I say the not-even-a-year I was pregnant was the longest, slowest year of my life. At first time felt normal again after Hawthorne was born. Suddenly, he's growing and changing so much, and time is moving faster than ever. But November? It has sneaked up on me (am I the only one who always feel as though I use the past tense of sneak incorrectly? It just sounds wrong.) I think my November disbelief is partly due to the weather. I wore my winter coat for the first time Friday. That is unreasonably late in the year. Thursday night Hawthorne and I sat outside in our chairs (okay, so he does not so much sit as recline gracefully in his baby chair) while I enjoyed a glass of wine. It's been a beautiful, mild fall, and I've been enjoying it, but I am also getting ready for winter, which I adore (until around March, when I am once again ready for spring.)

Part of my love for winter is my I love for the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas and the New Year); the crisp temperatures signal their arrival. By this time I'm usually already listening to Christmas music, but I haven't had the urge yet. I am typically not a big fan of Halloween, but now that I have a baby, it allows me to dress him in ridiculous costumes, which I apparently quite enjoy. Here are Hawthorne's Halloween outfits:

Festive daywear (yes, it glows in the dark!)

My baby penguin (I did wait until it went on sale, as he
wore it for approximately five minutes before getting
agitated because it did not allow him to slobber all over
his fists as he so loves to do--he will manage to
separate his thumb any day now, I think. So, yes, it was
an expensive photo op, but so worth it!)

October reading wrap-up
I knew when I went back to work I would read less, and I have been. But you know what has really cut into my reading time this month? Houseguests. I love houseguests, but all of my leisure reading time becomes social time. This month my brother and his wife came from Atlanta for a long weekend and my father-in-law came from Arizona for a week. It was so lovely for them to meet and spend time with Hawthorne. Too much of our family and friends live too far away, so I treasure visits, especially as I want Hawthorne to know all of the important people in our lives regardless of where they live. But all those times I have my audiobook playing while washing dishes, feeding Hawthorne, and driving around town? Gone. Those quiet hours while Hawthorne naps when I can usually sneak in some reading time? Gone. The leisurely hours after he goes to bed but before I go to bed? Okay, some of those hours were still there.

So, despite my excitement at reaching 100 books read for the year in September, I ended October with only six finished books. I will, however, probably finish three this weekend, so I will start November with a bang! I am reading too many books at a time because so many great new books have come out in the past month, everything I've been waiting on at the library has finally arrived at the same time, and I have had more time to listen to audiobooks than actually read. These are all good problems, and now that it will get dark an hour earlier, I will probably spend even more time reading. Hawthorne is just getting on a sleeping schedule, so his 5:30-7 p.m. bedtime will now be 4:30-6 p.m. We'll work on it, but he is impossible to wake up while sleeping and very difficult to keep awake when he wants to sleep (in his defense, these habits are mostly lovely.)

November plans
What will November bring? I hope more reading. I plan to keep picking up whatever sounds good at the moment, but I am starting to think about reading goals for 2015 (I cannot believe we are less than two months away from 2015--it still sounds futuristic to me.) I'm also trying to get back into the #fmsphotoaday challenge on Instagram. I've been terrible at it, and I want my Instagram to have more than just nomadbaby photos (don't worry, there will still be plenty of those!) And I'm so excited for Thanksgiving. I think Hawthorne will be the perfect age to sit on the table in his Bumbo next to the food, which will make for fabulous photos to be enjoyed for years. Also, it's a four-and-a-half-day-weekend, which sounds divine.

Now tell me: what's the best book you read in October? Are you as surprised as I am that it's November?

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