September just flew by! Maybe it’s because I was so busy with foster cats this month, but it felt like September was less than two weeks long. It’s strange being home without the kids. It’s changed things in more ways than I expected – like for instance, I haven’t even bothered to decorate for Halloween yet. I never would have waited that long if my kids weren’t around, and they didn’t even approve of me decorating for Halloween before October! It was just part of my personality with them, I guess. Or maybe the busyness from the kittens and the grief from having my aunt and my grandma pass away this month, plus no longer having kids at home, is causing more depression than I realize. In any case, I’m still adjusting to this empty nest thing, but it’s not as different as I expected (especially as Laurence calls home almost every night – I think it’s especially hard for him because his roommate never showed up and he’s up there alone!).

Reading and Watching
I expected this to be a big reading month, but after my third book, every other book I had out from the library was a bust! I did finally find a book I’m enjoying toward the end of September, but I’m not done with it yet.

Of course, it’s the start of TV season here, so a bunch of shows have started their new seasons, including the Great British Bake Off, one of my faves!

House
Other than the unexpected replacement of our dishwasher and garbage disposal, not much happened on the house front this month. We did some more work on the front and back yards, and finished converting the boys’ old room into a combo office/foster room. That’s about it.

The Ferals
I suppose I should label this “the fosters” by now, but I’m just going to keep as is, because who knows when I’ll end up with another batch of neighborhood kittens on my doorstep? Hopefully not, but considering how many community cats roam this area, I’m sure there will be some kittens in the future. In any case, we began fostering again this month. First there were Panini and her three little babies, who we had for a week before the stress of being near other cats was too much for Mama. Then we got a batch of kittens who ended up having a potentially deadly virus! They were on three different medicines, and a few times, had to be syringe fed. But I’m happy to say that they’re all on the mend and doing so much better than they were just a week ago!

(Austin, on the right, isn’t angry or scary – he just has a gremlin face. He was purring here.)

Health/Fitness
My health was focused on two things this month – the introduction of a new medication, which I’ll talk about more in detail in my upcoming Wellness Wednesday post, and a 30-day mobility challenge. This isn’t like other 30-day challenges, but instead a 1-2 minute functional movement exercise each day. This could mean doing a few cat-cow stretches one day, or rocking back and forth on your feet, or shoulder-flossing. They’re designed to loosen tendons and joints for larger range of motion, and are particularly helpful for people struggling with mobility (me!). I liked quite a few of the movements and will probably continue to do them for a bit, trying to incorporate a few into my week as I can (hopefully) incorporate more physical movement again soon.

Favorite Photos
It’s really hard to choose favorite photos when you have so many cute kittens in the house. You love ALL the photos, even the bad ones! Anyway, here are the ones that rose to the top.

Top row, left to right: baby Schnitzel; nap time with cats; crepe myrtle blossoms in the sunset

Bottom row, left to right: a sudden storm; empress leilia butterfly on my deck (which I actually edited into a postcard collage type photo!); my little gremlin-boy aka Austin

Highlights of September
This seems like a short list, but honestly, that’s only because “snuggling with kittens” was like 50+ highlights of the month. It’s the best thing ever to watch them run to you for pets when you enter the room, to have them purr and snuggle into your neck, to see their eyes light up when Jason gets home and they see him for the first time all day, etc.

• Ambrose got married to his best friend, Tyler, via proxy marriage on Sept 1st
• Lilo got adopted!
• Cadbury mini-eggs adapted to become Cadbury “mini harvest handfuls”
• pumpkin cream cheese muffins, mmm…
• Ambrose was chosen as a Green Rope at tech school –>
• snuggling with kittens – best thing ever!
• discovering Countryle (like Wordle for geography)
• first Halloween decoration
• first weather front cool enough to leave the windows open overnight, near the end of the month
• Brandon Sanderson got a tiktok!
• the official GBBO tiktok responded to one of my comments, eek!

Coming up in October
It’s going to be another busy month. So many plans – possible corn maze and pumpkin patch, my first planned creative photo shoot, a Muslim-fest with friends, a Hocus Pocus 2 viewing with my hiking gals, maybe another haunted Halloween hike, Halloween in general… October is often a busy month here but it’s also a month that I tend to love and feel very energized by, so hopefully that’s true this year!