Fall has Fallen

Well, all of a sudden fall has fallen here in the Hudson Valley! Yesterday it was in the 80's and humid and today it is breezy and in the 60's---picture perfect fall weather. The brilliant blue sky against the bright autumn leaves is a sight for which there is no comparison. We were on our way to my in-laws for dinner and someone along the way had a wood fire going--it smelled so good! Some leaves are starting to fall too and that crisp woodsy earthy scent gets picked up and carried on the breeze. We had a lot of rain this year so we are expecting a bumper crop of apples. Yay! Fresh picked macs are one of life's little pleasures! The fresh UNPASTEURIZED apple cider is most delicious as well. I LOVE fall! I am so thankful that I get to be here in NY and see fall unfold this year---I love everything about it and I love it here.

Gav is loving school and having a great time too. I hated school with a passion from day one so I am just thrilled beyond words that he loves to go to school. Already you can see that he is thriving--he is a chatterbox with so many new words and sentences and everything is spontaneous, not "programmed." He is confident and independent and more sure of himself. He loves the weather and going to see grammy and grandpa and all of the little things that make life wonderful. Sometimes you can see that he has touched complete contentment and reached the zenith of happiness to an almost 5 year old. It is such a privilege to see that and know that.

Me, I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze a gallon of money out of a quart. I'm not sure that it is possible, but I sure-as-hell am going to try! I'll let you know how that one goes.

I am writing my own kids book, apparently that is the thing to do when you're a stay at home mom with a special needs kid. I didn't get that memo until recently, but I've been working on my kids book for a long time now and it has nothing to do with my son. I wrote it and am doing the illustrations myself as well. It is a labor of love and a work of tribute to a great person I knew and how he brought what he loved to as many people as he could. It is called "The Popcorn Man." Stay tuned. I rewrote the text and am about to sit down and re-do the illustrations. I had already completed the text and illustrations for the first version, but it needed to be simplified and re-focused, so that is what I did and I am just really excited about it. I didn't know I had it in me--I never really considered myself an artist. I always did like to write and thought that one day I might write a book. Even when I was little one of my favorite things to do was make books. My problem is that I have so many ideas that I don't know which one is the right one! However, I have always believed that the Lord would show me which ones and then how and when, and He did. He showed me the way with my company, Sensory Assault Operations and my kids book "The Popcorn Man." The thing is,we all expect that the right ideas will make us a fortune; the word fortune implies money, but the Lord has his own way of seeing and doing and that "fortune" may come in ways that many of us don't look for. Success comes from within, not from within your bank account or checkbook, but from within yourself. The Lord doesn't limit the scope of our successes to just money and material possessions; if we limit ourselves in that way, we will eventually find failure. I want to set standards for myself through the Lord--not through society. So, if maybe my business fails, it was still a success because I did it. I'm not doing "The Popcorn Man" to make a million, I'm doing it as a labor of love and respect. If it is a hit, that's great! If not, I finished it, I carried through and will find contentment in the fact that I successfully wrote, illustrated, and published this book and honored George's life. Someone said once that "all you can do is your best." As long as I do my best in whatever I try, it means I have lived up to my end of the bargain. Everyone has their own standard of "the best," but it is human nature. As long as I know what I am capable of and do it each and every time, if it isn't enough for someone else--that's their problem not mine. All you can do is your best.