Strange Fall Mood--Apple Pie, Anyone?

So I had a brilliant birthday weekend, thanks to the presence of my parents (child minding!) and a sea kayaking afternoon with my brother on the Sound. DH is (rightly) concerned that now I might want to get a kayak for myself, and after hearing my brother's propaganda insight into the design qualities of his former employer's kayaks, I found myself conversing inexpertly in the subject at an impromptu Labor Day BBQ with our neighbors who have 3 kayaks. Suffice it to say, one kayaking experience does not a kayaker make.

Of course, in the aftermath of the Folks' visit I find my house awash in yet more clutter (and I didn't think it was possible...my parents the clutter experts showed me differently). I am digging out from that, and remain unconvinced that our house will ever be truly clutter-free. I have a ton of dirty laundry to do, and I have been grumbling about the things that they did which I found irritating. Regardless, DH & I agreed that everyone does things that irritate others, and the same goes in our direction. I'm sure my mom was aghast that I wasn't diligently cramming veggies at DS at every opportunity (you slacker mom, you!) and my dad was huffing about the general state of our cars and the corroded battery posts ("You're going to come out here one morning and all it's going to do is to go 'click' and you'll be stuck. Where's that battery post spray I bought you for cleaning them?" I bit my tongue to keep from mentioning that the only time I have dead battery problems with my car is when they visit and don't shut the doors properly and my battery runs down...but I digress.)

So my house is incredibly untidy, and to be fair, it wasn't perfectly tidy when they arrived, either. Somehow our furniture rearranging left us with a den/family room that feels like a TV set. We have a cozy, intimate seating area with our sofabed, coffee table, end table, and chair and ottoman, all arranged in front of the woodstove. Then there is the long wall opposite the chair, where we currently have DH's desk, a medium-sized bookcase, and my sewing table, with the walkway through to the hallway between all of these items and the perpendicular sofabed. So it really does feel like a TV set--we just need a camera poised where the bookcase stands, and it could be a sitcom. Hmmmmmm...not quite what we were going for. Further rearrangements will be forthcoming, I have no doubt. DH has happily termed it "Half a Room".

However, seeing the cozy domestic scene, I was inspired to finally empty our ash pot onto the compost heap, in anticipation of cozy fall days with tea, a book, and a warm fire. Mysteriously my children are absent from these cozy imagined scenes of domestic bliss, for surely when such days do arrive I will be greeted by a range of toys strewn all over, my DS howling from a close and unfortunate crawling encounter with a table leg or the hearth, and countless bits of snack spilled on the (thankfully wood) floor.

I even entertained myself today during naptime with visions of a fun fall party for the kids and some mom friends. I could cut out fun shapes in potato halves, cover the deck table with craft paper, and let the kids stamp their own artwork with washable tempura paint. They could also each make their own apple brown betties to take home, and while they painted the moms could enjoy some coffeecake, coffee and/or tea, and some adult conversation. Hmmmmmmm, maybe I will actually do that. I just need to finish digging us out of the dirty laundry, clutter, and dirty dishes. Hahahahaha!