Almost October

The end of September. Kind of hard to believe. Monday we will be into October, which I guess puts us squarely in the "fall" category. Life has picked up a little since August, with lots of exciting things happening in the near future.

A tree near my house

First off, I'm spending five days with Mom in Colorado. This is a little bit of a not-well-earned vacation for me, since it feels like we just got back from our summer trip to Michigan and Wisconsin, but this way I get a little one-on-one time with Mom, since we probably will be staying in Seattle for the holidays again. 

Right after I get back, Stephanie and I are going to the Symphony, which should be a lot of fun, and then hopefully I will have an audition that next day (I applied for one, but I haven't heard back yet) and if the audition goes well I will be performing later in October. 

Lauren (Nathan's sister) arrives a few days later, and will be staying with us until she can find a place of her own. We are so excited that she has decided to move to Seattle!

Between all that, a full work/rehearsal schedule, the four or five dance performances I will see/review, and hosting a Halloween party, I wonder when I will get a chance to decorate!?! I think maybe I need to cheat and get out Halloween decorations this weekend...get a little jump start on October! One of my favorite months!

Here are some other little random things I've been up to:

I made this little board with dowels to contain my thread and bobbin collection.
It was getting out of hand. 

This is a "Kitty Garden" full of sprouts that she can nibble on once they get taller.
Yesterday there weren't even sprouts in the Oats and Barley...they grow so fast!

Speaking of kitty, right now she is playing fetch with her favorite toy: a Q-tip. Did you know cats can play fetch? We didn't even teach her. She just does it sometimes. 

The last few days have felt good and productive. Work has been slow, but people have been generous. To be honest, last week I was pretty stressed out. Our rent went up recently, and our plan had been to stay in this apartment until we could save up enough to buy a house, but with the rent going up it's harder to save and we were unsure what to do. Should we move to a cheaper place? Should I get another job? Should we sign a new lease? Should we go month-to-month to give us a way out? All the life-ambiguity (and just the thought of apartment hunting and moving again!) was sending me into serious stress mode. All those questions are still up in the air of course, but I know for right now that I really don't want to move again unless it's into a house, so we'll find the extra $100 a month somewhere. I wouldn't be in a rush to buy a house, except that it might end up saving us money after a few years of equivalent renting. We may qualify for some down-payment assistance programs from the city of Seattle, and we are going to a meeting about that in October, so hopefully that will give us some valuable information that can help us decide what to do.