Shortest Autumn Ever

When I blogged about how my roses would bloom until the first frost, I wasn't quite expecting things to happen so quickly. I was very surprised to wake up to this Sunday morning:

Snow? Seriously? Wow. At least Mother Nature remembered (eventually) which season it is supposed to be, because today is the perfect Autumn day. We went to a local garden center and chose pumpkins of all sizes for the front porch. I bought my third annual Awesome Green Gourd. I'll have to take some pictures of the Green Awesomeness.

Six of my Mom's seven Grandsons, picking perfect pumpkins:

When I saw the snow on the lawn, I was almost ready to skip past Halloween and Thanksgiving. I started formulating Christmas shopping lists in my mind and felt determined to get Christmas cards out at a record-setting pre-December 25th this year. Then it dawned on me that it was still October. I felt deflated. Last year, I never felt psyched for the holidays and now I feel like can't come soon enough.

While I'm enjoying the too-early-Spirit of the Season, I might plan a Christmas party. A friend of mine, Heather, aka sister's friend, aka wife of my sister's friend from high school, aka sister-in-law to my ex-boyfriend (who was my sister's friend's brother... did you follow all that?), aka talented photographer, aka very funny lady, invited me to their annual Christmas Sing-in last year and it was a blast. Now that we have a piano, I thought it'd be fun to host a Sing-in of my own. The idea is perfect: find a pianist, invite anybody who loves to sing Christmas carols and prepare piles of holiday food. It's the ideal recipe for happy memories.

And if I plan now, maybe I'll be ready to make it actually happen come December. So "Yea!" for early snow storms that remind me to prepare for Christmas before the third week of December. And "Yea!" for snow storms that remind me exactly why Autumn (not winter) is my favorite season of the year. And a few "Pretty Please!" wishes that Autumn will last a little longer and the snow can be saved until December or January.