A new month! Trick-or-treating last night featured warm weather — the sort that makes it very pleasant to be outside. The three older kids went off to various things, and my husband and I took the younger two stomping around a neighborhood with lots of sidewalks (we put candy on our porch, but suspect we got no one because we have a very long driveway). I participated for a while before heading to choir practice late. It was still on because we are singing Durufle’s Requiem for All Saints Sunday this weekend.
Between the podcasts and newsletters I’m always thinking a few weeks ahead, so in my mind it’s been November for a while. Though I guess anything digital has a shorter lead time than the print world. I was thinking about this while flipping through the most recent issue of Southern Living. There was a multi-page feature on Black Mountain, NC, and all the places one might visit. Of course this was one of the towns in western NC that was absolutely devastated by Hurricane Helene. It was eerie reading this article that was written as if nothing had happened (which of course it hadn’t when it was written, probably some time this summer).
Other than the requiem, this will be a low-key weekend for me at least. The time change means it will be darker sooner in the evening, though I guess not waking up in the quite-so-dark (the “very dark dark” to use Tiny T Rex’s words…) will be nice. My daughter has informed me that Christmas starts today. We are getting the lights up by mid-month!
A content round-up:
This week Best of Both Worlds talked all things planners — and how to think about what you might need as you choose a planner for next year. We had a discussion in our Patreon community about what people planned to use in 2025 and, of course, a discussion of Halloween/costumes/who hands out the treats/etc.
At Before Breakfast I interviewed Philadelphia’s NBC 10 anchor Tracy Davidson about her time management strategies. I suggested that one might “Try a limited engagement” (you don’t have to start a book club with the hope that it will last forever!). I also noted that “Adults can enjoy parallel play too.”
We couldn’t get to November without at least one NaNoWriMo related bit of content! Over at Vanderhacks, my Substack newsletter, the post behind the paywall shared “Lessons from National Novel Writing Month.” In a free post I suggested that one try to “Understand your jealousy.” Often, the things we’re most envious of hold clues about what we really want or feel we are lacking. I got a lot of good feedback on that essay. Please consider a free or paid subscription — I’m really hoping to grow this newsletter over the next year.
I was also a guest on Comfort & Growth with Crystal Lim-Lange. This is a pretty prominent podcast in Singapore, and it was fun to chat with her!
My monthly “Just a Minute” newsletter comes out this weekend. You can sign up by putting your email in the “Free Time Makeover Guide” section on my home page.
Thanks for reading/listening! I appreciate it.
Photo: Decoration spotted while trick or treating last night…
Great article on jealousy! The thing that triggers me the most is when other people have involved extended family members. There are many reasons for this… 1) my completely uninvolved parents, 2) shitty comments from attendings I worked with during residency about “how nice” it must be to “be able” to afford an au pair (when they had their parents help), 3) whining and complaining about having no family help when your mother comes and takes care of your kids a few afternoons a week and whenever you and your husband want to go on a fancy vacation for a week. I am very happy with the life I have, but man those things really get me!
@Omdg – yeah, I could see that one. I have just made my peace with paying for a lot of help!