The swiftly approaching conclusion to what has been the most scrumptious summer is breaking my heart just a little, to be honest. Why does September always come so quickly?! I love the fall, really I do, but summer is my happy place and this one did not disappoint.

When I woke up this morning and realized that August really, truly had evaporated, I knew it was time to buckle down and get to work. There is much to do before the official start of the new school year next week, not the least of which is accepting that lazy mornings in bed with my squishy beebs are numbered. Also, laundry. All the laundry.

One of the things that tends to happen once the frenzy of the school year has overtaken our household is that my personal endeavors fall entirely by the wayside as I become consumed with and responsible to the hustle and bustle of the week. It is my express intention to not allow this to happen, to instead focus on cultivating the kind of personal discipline required to be the vibrant and successful working mother I know I’m capable of being, as opposed to the scatterbrained ragamuffin I tend to become.

I’ve set a small goal for this month, to be present in this space on a daily basis. Because there’s nothing like a public announcement to keep motivated, is something I have come to know about myself. In truth, it has been far too long since I’ve maintained a daily writing practice, and it has been my particular experience that good things happen when I do so.

Today marks the start of the twentyfourth month we’ve lived in our house on a hill by the sea. Not a day goes by where I don’t think at least once how incredibly fortunate we are to be exactly where we are. But there is plenty of room for growth, and that is where I’m putting my energy.