Welcome, Autumn!

This past Monday marked the official beginning of my favorite season. Now that Mother Nature has decided to bless my part of the universe with some authentic fall weather, I am truly in the mood to "welcome autumn".

Here are some signs around our house that Autumn has arrived:

Leaf garland around the front door...

Beautiful mums lining the front porch...

Fall decor and spicy-scented candles all around the house...

Isabel's new kitten, named for the season in which we adopted her...

Yep, I'm a sucker (thanks for the email, Catherine). If y'all remember a few posts back, Isabel has been begging for a kitten. No, I said. Not enough money, I said. No litter boxes in the house, I said. Isabel pleaded her case, determined to save the money. I called our vet yesterday to get a price list of all the vaccinations, visits, declaw and neutering fees for our sometime-in-the-far-future-kitten-to-be. They just happened to have a kitten they had rescued from the side of the road in the office, begging to be adopted. Everyone there had fallen in love with this kitten, and they were determined to find a good home for her. "Do you want to come and look at her?" she asked me. My response: "Darn you all to heck! I'm not ready for a kitten yet.". Dr. Rich worked me a deal with the spaying (she's a girl) and the declawing, to be done at a future date. I talked it over with Joe and received his blessing, and when Isabel got home from school, I let Joe tell her the good news. She was SCREAMING with excitement. We couldn't get to Four Paws Animal Clinic fast enough. Once we walked through the door, it was love at first sight. No turning back, no way out. We are the proud parents of (another) pet.

Welcome to the family, Autumn. You have made Isabel one very happy girl, and I know this is a day she will remember forever.