It’s September. And I’m here to say I don’t actually feel like the summer flew by.
In fact, it feels like we lived a very full two months of summer vacation. There were highlights and medium lights, but, thankfully, no real lowlights.
I had anticipated some church camps that didn’t end up happening, which left a few too many gaps in Indy’s schedule (which he wanted to fill with friends or screens). But aside from that hiccup, things went pretty smoothly. The kids both had overnight camp experiences, and Belle was a leader for three weeks (which is basically like three extra weeks of camp). We visited my parents at the lake twice, and both trips were wonderful.
There was lots of bridge jumping, time with friends, and plenty of trips out for ice cream.
Now that September is here, I’m feeling ready to return to routine, but not quite as desperate for it as other years. Every September since having school-aged kids I’ve felt frantic after a summer of being Full Time Mom. But this year, Belle is starting high school and is noticeably more independent. She and her friends are coordinating their own plans (aside from the occasional parental confirmation). It’s a new phase.
While I might not have felt desperate, I have felt…aimless. It’s a strange combination of agitation and “hurry up and wait” energy leading into the start of school. I couldn’t quite get my head screwed on straight with so many loose ends (some of them unbloggable).
So, today’s post is a bullet-point style Happy Things Friday.
HAPPY THINGS IN BLOGLAND
- Laura Vanderkam is hosting a “September Reset” from September 8-24. I’ve signed up and am looking forward to it!
- Lindsay IS GETTING A PUPPY!
- Jenny GOT A KITTEN (who has officially been named Foxy)!
- And if that weren’t enough animal love, Suzanne shared new pictures of Leo who is quite possibly the cutest cat on the internet.
- I’d never heard of a “White Party” before, but Tobia hosted one this summer and the pictures were gorgeous: white decor, white food, white clothes — very classy and sophisticated.
- I loved Michelle’s September haikus and her fall-inspired doodles (gnomes included!).
- Kyria reviewed her month spent in Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania.
- I made these 3-Ingredient Cottage Cheese Pancakes the Frugal Girl mentioned. They were delicious, and an easy way to boost my protein intake.
ELISABETH’S HAPPY THINGS
- A rainbow we saw while driving home one evening.
- Fresh, juicy peaches.
- So much time with friends: a spontaneous sleepover, lunch guests after church, bridge jumping with a whole crew, a back-to-school café date with Joy.
- Belle toured her high school with a close friend and mapped out their schedules together. SHE IS GROWING UP, Y’ALL!
- The smell of swim towels after drying in the sun.
- New spice containers (I finally ditched the hodgepodge system).
- Even more bridge jumping. Four times in the last week!
- A Lazy Susan (who decided it should be a Lazy Susan and not a Lazy Bob or Lazy Stanley) from the Dollarstore has transformed this side of my cupboard!
- I caught the kids spontaneously holding hands in the backseat. Sworn enemies one minute, best friends the next. It melted my heart.
- I had started to re-read the Bible in my go-to translation (ESV), but pivoted and went back to the beginning and plan to read it in The Message this time. Loving it so far.
- We went out for a back-to-school dinner at The Port. The view was spectacular.
- Birchie arrives in Nova Scotia ONE WEEK FROM TODAY.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- My take on making the bed each day; the comment section is gold, as per usual.
- August book reviews.
- A guest post from Stephany on pet ownership and gratitude.
- The October 2025 Walking Club has officially been announced! Who’s in?
- Five Little Joys (While Drinking Coffee on the Deck)
- Tracing Joy Backwards: Can Childhood Hobbies Guide Our Adult Choices?
Happy Weekending, friends.
Now it’s your turn.
- What were your Happy Things this week?
- Does September feel like a fresh start for you?
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
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•Happy Thing #1: being the first commenter on this post (how shallow!) It is 9:32 p.m. in California, still •Thursday. Is this cheating?
•Reading your book summaries.
•Visiting a library in the town where my art show was —probably 10 times as large as the one in my town.
•Getting a check from the gallery when I retrieved my art. . . most places (all non-profits around here) don’t pay until a month or so later.
•Making plans to visit my Texas friend one more while she is only 3-1/2 hours away here in California.
•Having time to work on a very challenging pencil drawing commission
•Getting deposits on upcoming oil painting commissions
•Staying down the hill this weekend instead of heading to the cabin (Sometimes I NEED to be at home.)
Well, I am flattered that being the first commenter is a Happy Thing!
And my book summaries are #2. Wow, this is going to start going to my head, Jana.
Hooray for art cheques, visits with friends, and time to work on projects!
Oh, that spontaneous hand-holding in the backseat, so sweet!
And I completely agree, Leo must be the cutest cat on the internet right now.
September shifts my focus toward the new year and I’ve started my 2026 planner in Excel. I love planning – there’s something so exciting about setting fresh goals!
A happy thing for me this week was taking my parents to an immersive Titanic experience. It was our first time trying Virtual Reality, and it was so much fun!
September does feel like more of a shift for me than January, to be honest. It marks a big transition for the kids which is really what my schedule revolves around. January tends to be “more of the same” and I’m depressed about winter coming. But September is the season that makes me come alive.
I remember you mentioning that Titanic experience being booked. I hope you blog about it…it sounds fascinating!
Both Foxy and Leo have my heart, and Birchie’s Doggo is as cute as can be. I’m all for adorable pets on the internet!
My happy thing was stopping by the animal rescue and petting cats. I was supposed to get the volunteer schedule for my son, but a roaming kitten rubbed up against my ankle, and I succumbed. Lots of pats and snuggles later, I took the picture, bought a t-shirt, and left quite happy. ( and with some cat fur. I had to change once I got home as I’m mildly allergic to cats I’m not used to, but worth it.)
The cool weather and shorter days do shift something- not a fresh start but renewed energy. I love the different angle of the light. We’ve been in school for almost a month, so it’s more firmly in the routine and getting the hang of it.
Enjoy the weekend!
Agreed that nothing magically changes with the cooler weather and return to school but there IS a sense of renewed energy. And, for me working from home, a lot more quite during the daytime hours.
Did you get some rain with the rainbow? I know you really need it, so I hope so.
My big happy thing is that outside is so beautiful right now. The weather is very nice. It’s still warm enough for shorts but it’s definitely cooler. The fall colors are starting to come in! It feels early for that, but it should make for a good leaf peep season.
At this time next week my plane will have just taken off!!! Woo hoo!!! How is this real????
We got a very short, very intense rain shower. Not nearly enough, but every little bit helps so we were thankful for it.
How is this real, indeed! I keep telling myself it’s a week away but it does NOT feel real (I’m very glad it is real).
Jana, I know what you mean about being first commenter. When I was on the west coast I loved seeing Elisabeth’s posts last thing at night instead of first thing in the morning!
That rainbow photo is stunning! I love the reflection on the road!
The sun was shining and the rain was pouring down and my husband said There will have to be a rainbow. And then for about 20 minutes there WAS a rainbow! It was beautiful.
What a beautiful rainbow picture! I love the reflection on the road!
Happy things here:
– Cooler weather
– a nice walk with my daughter
– had some ebay sales after a lull.
– very comfy bed
– Bible reading has been very interesting lately (in Job right now)
– Sunshine
-Plants
I’m loving the cooler weather, too. Especially since it’s still warm in the afternoons, so I get to wear cozy sweaters and then shed them later in the day.
Congrats on the eBay sales!
Well, I must say Foxy and Muffin are very hurt that everyone thinks Leo is cuter than them. Ha ha… just kidding. Don’t you wish we could be like animals, and have absolutely NO AWARENESS of what we look like??? What would life be like?
Anyway… yay for Happy Things, as always! I do love the back to school season. Wow- Belle is in HIGH SCHOOL. She looks like a young lady now. I love the hand holding photo!
My happy things would be… high school football game tonight. Pumpkin Palooza has started (although I don’t have all my decorations out yet- I’ll finish that this weekend.) I’m in the middle of a great book. My cats are getting along so well we don’t have to separate them anymore, even for meals. Life is good!
I think in general the life of a housepet sounds like a DREAM. Food, cuddles, no responsibilities. Count me in.
Belle is looking soooo old and mature these days and she LOVED her first day and couldn’t wait for the second day. I know there will be bumps in the road, but I do think that middle school tends to be the absolute hardest time in a girl’s life so we’re through to the other side!!!
Enjoy the game. Hope your team continues to do well. A winning team is always a lot more fun 😉
And I’m so glad the cats are all getting along well together. That’s a huge relief.
It was a rough summer here, so I’m hoping for a fresh start in September. My son, his wife and my granddaughter are visiting us this week from Chicago and staying here, so that’s been fun. We celebrated (early) her 2nd birthday last night. She is a sweet and silly little gal.
I hope your weekend is full of happy things!
Sometimes a reset is just what we need and I do feel like September often offers that inhale/exhale.
Enjoy the visit. I can only imagine how much joy a grandchild brings!
Happy Friday! The holding hands, omg so cute. Love the alphabetical spices…order is pleasing. I hope the new school schedule brings you some peace and joy!
Order is so pleasing and we have spent years with a mishmash that was confusing and not effective. I finally ordered a set of spice containers and so far it has been a 10/10 experience of being able to look inside the cupboard and IMMEDIATELY spot the spice I need.
It sounds like a good summer. I am always glad when September hits and we can return to a routine.
What a pretty rainbow and I love all the spices! I really need to organise mine. Aww! The kids holding hands is just adorable!
I’m not sure how long the spices will stay in alphabetical order, but for now it is 10x easier to find things than before.
I had to surreptitiously snap the photo of the hand-holding. Isn’t it precious?
We are so puppy excited, which helped balance off the first week of school feelings. One of my happy things this week was getting an email back from the principal in 3 minutes (THREE MINUTES!?) when I expected it to be a week of follow-ups or a (gasp) phone call. And, cooler weather! And, cups of tea on the deck with a book in the cooler weather! And, PUPPY PREP!
Three minutes! That’s a great response time.
Yay for puppy prep. I can’t wait to follow along with all the stages of the puppy journey. LM must be beyond excited at this point.
Oh my gosh, the hand holding?!?! Sweetest thing ever. All the heart eyes.
And you get to see Birchie so soon!!!!!!!!! I am so jealous of both of you!
I get to see Birchie SO SOON! This time next week she will officially be en route. I hope the weather cooperates, but I have a suspicion regardless of what’s happening outside, we won’t have any problem making conversation inside or out 😉
September is definitely a fresh start month for us with the kids returning to school. I am overjoyed to have both of them back in school. We had full-time child care all summer but they’ve been out of childcare programs since mid-August. It was time to get back into a routine! They both had great first days and us parents are LOVING ONE DROP OFF. Yes, all caps!
Returning to school was a big happy thing for me. It’s nice to be back in the office, too. Summers can be kind of slower as client/financial advisors aren’t as focused on their portfolios in the summer. So things are picking back up which I much prefer. But this also means travel is restarting which I have mixed feelings about! But I’m mostly feeling positive/excited for fall!
One drop off is such a game-changer. I loved having the kids on two schedules. And now, I’m loving having them on slightly offset schedules because I get some 1-on-1 time with each of them since our daughter leaves 40 minutes later to catch her bus now that she’s in high school.
I’m so glad you’ve had some time off of travelling over the summer. I suspect everything will feel easier now that the boys are in school AND that you have consolidated dropoff/pickup.
@MBmom11, I’d lose all sense and sensibility if I ever visited a cat shelter!
Happy things! I am currently in my BFF’s house, and tonight we are going to their new place in Canmore. It’s been such a fun little whirlwind of a trip. I got to see another friend, and also my senior yoga ladies! So all is delightful.
I loved seeing you with all your senior ladies. What a great group <3
@Katy@Practical Walk, the most helpful book I’ve ever read to understand Job is called “Let God be God” by Ray Stedman. Can’t remember anything about it right now, only the title and that it was great to study with my group.
September feels like new life, lol … the older I get, the more the “in-between” seasons are my sweet spot, and there’s something extra special about Fall. Granted, my September also started with spraining my ankle, so that’s been an experience this week … BUT! Happy news: my tiny Bantam hen laid her first egg last week, and has laid one every day this week! 😀 They’re super tiny, but incredibly adorable, and now I may finally have enough to do something with them, haha (3 Bantam eggs = 1 regular egg, I think).
I saw your blog post – what a teeny, tiny, adorable egg!
What a joyful post, Elisabeth 🙂 It sure looks like you packed a lot of good things into your summer, and … I must get my hands on some spice containers like that! My spice cupboard is a hot mess, lol.
It is the first time I have had a set of spice containers and I am LOVING it!
that hand holding is so sweet! I really hope my girls become best friends as adults. there is no one that have the shared experiences they have for each other in the world.
lazy susan is genius invention. I have it in the kitchen counter for spices.
happy thing this week included a nice lunch with my new boss in brasilia, better than I expected and about to have our first weekend trip to the nature.
I hope they stay close as they get older. It was really sweet to glance back and see that <3
Love the hand-holding pic! And I must have one of those Lazy Susans – compact. And a book recommendation – THE QUIET LIBRARIAN (Allen Eskens). I often choose books with “library” in the title, but this one really educated me about the 1995 Bosnian war – my kids were little at that time, so I didn’t pay much attention to it. Horrible! I do love when a piece of fiction also informs me about a world event.
Thanks for the book rec! I so agree about historical fiction that is both captivating and informative.
I bought the Lazy Susan in the kitchen section of Dollarama.
They were holding hands in the car?! Love this. How sweet. My happy things (and we’ve had a rough couple of weeks, but I’m gonna dig deep here): going out with Coach last night with a gift card to a fun place and Tank met us there. He was earlier than we expected, took the train home for the adoption and sort of crashed our date, but it was great. And Coach got our new to us FB marketplace headboard up and running.
Sept does feel like a fresh start, because of school AND because my daycare starts up anew.
Your summer sounds like it was a great mix of all the right events, relaxing things and visit. Hooray for the kids being more independent.
There are many moments that are not nearly so sweet, I can assure you, but I was glad to catch them doing something so sweet so spontaneously!
Your spices are in a basket/drawer? And you look down on them? I love how organized they look with their matching tops, but I’ve never seen that before. My spices are on shelves. Many shelves.
Yes, I too consider September a time of new beginnings. It’s the best.
[I don’t know if you care or know this, but I’m seeing ads on your blog now. Down here at the bottom of the page under this comment box. Seems new to me.]
They’re organized in a plastic shoe box on a shelf in my pantry.
I am experimenting with ads (a divisive topic, I know), to make some income off of my writing. I’m not committed to doing it long-term because I know it can really detract from the aesthetic, but I want to trial it for a while since I was accepted into the Mediavine program.
Happy back to school! I hope Belle and Indy have a wonderful year!
Happy things here:
– IT RAINED LAST NIGHT!!!!! And it’s supposed to rain more today and tonight. Woohoo!!!!
– We had a great first week of kindergarten homeschool. I kept my expectations low especially given that we had a couple morning appointments this week (bad timing, but as I’m sure you know, you take the appointments when you get offered them as wait times can be looong). C far surpassed my expectations!
– My youngest passed her hearing test! Or at least she did well on the objective, probe in ear tests. She did ok at the subjective turning to look at sounds, but the audiologist thought she got bored as she was perfect and then just stopped responding. We’ll recheck in 6 months, but for now it seems that her repeated ear infections and fluid on the ear haven’t affected her hearing.
That’s such wonderful news about the hearing test. Such a relief! We had to do that with our youngest and I remember being nervous about the outcome. Of course when they’re that young it’s an art not a science, but it was a relief when he passed.
I’m so glad the first week of homeschooling has gone well.
And YES to rain. It POURED here last night, which was very much needed.
High school! I am astounded that it’s time for that. I hope the transition back to school is a smooth one. One of my writers told me last week that he was about 15 minutes late picking up his kids from school because he was just NOT into that routine yet, HA. It’s a lot to get used to after summertime!
Happy things… I think I have an apartment to rent! I’m really excited about it, especially because I think I can get all of the move-in fees waived, which would be INSANE. Plus, they’re doing a “two months free rent” special right now! Fingers crossed it all works out. 🙂
That’s great news about a new apartment. I know it’s been on your radar for a long time, so it’s a double win to have found one AND get a good deal!
So many happy things! I love the photo of them holding hands, that will always be a happy memory for you.
Happy things around here – our new car is a big one, and we celebrated my FIL’s birthday yesterday, which was fun and now the day after, I get to relax, and the house is company clean.
Company clean – what an apt description. I know EXACTLY what you mean.
And I’m so glad you settled on a new-to-you vehicle and I love the bright red colour.
September is exhausting. I guess it’s a fresh start, if by “fresh start,” you mean constant low-levels of stress you can’t do anything about. For people with SAD, September is the beginning of the end. Pretty soon I’m not going to be able to do anything except walk the dog and go to work. Oh, well. This is a happy things post, so here are things that made me happy last week: we finally decided that car shopping has to be done and came up with a list of cars to test drive, I had good news about a scary medical situation, and I probably won’t lose my job because of budget cuts. Woot woot!
September can be a mixed bag for sure, and for anyone working in a university it is the absolute PEAK TIME.
Hey, hard things happen, Engie! I’m here for the hard stuff, too. But I’m so glad to hear that your medical situation is less scary now and HOORAY about your job being safe. Those are both extremely stressful things.
Belle is in High School. *sigh* How does that happen so quickly?
I love the ‘hand holding’ capture—the sweetest thing ever!
I gotta go check out some of your shared links—cottage cheese pancakes? Yes please. (I’ve been making the simple banana/egg ones this past week and yum)
We went to a white party a few years ago; gotta check this out!
Bridge jumping, time with friends – these are the things childhood memories should be all about.
Even though I’m not Susan (I get called that a lot!) I’m offended by the Lazy part. I’m not lazy, and neither is the circular thing that holds and moves stuff around. 🤣 I’m gonna start a Movement on this topic.
What did poor Susan ever do to deserve such a reputation, right?
And I know – it feels like high school just sprang up out of nowhere.
Oh my gosh I am just catching up and then seeing your shout out. Thanks so much.
I love your new spice system. It’s a whole other level of adulting if that is all neat, right?
Bridge jumping takes me instantly back to my summer in Idaho.