Optimistic October

October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC, October retained its name (from the Latin and Greek ôctō meaning "eight") after January and February were inserted into the calendar that had originally been created by the Romans. In Ancient Rome, one of three Mundus patet would take place on October 5, Meditrinalia October 11, Augustalia on October 12, October Horse on October 15, and Armilustrium on October 19. These dates do not correspond to the modern Gregorian calendar. Among the Anglo-Saxons, it was known as Ƿinterfylleþ, because at this full moon (fylleþ) winter was supposed to begin.

October is commonly associated with the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere and with spring in the Southern hemisphere.

October's birthstones are the tourmaline and opal.  Its birth flower is the calendula.  The zodiac signs for this month are Libra (until October 22) and Scorpio (from October 23).

The last two to three weeks in October (and, occasionally, the first week of November) are the only time of the year during which all of the "Big Four" major North American professional sports leagues schedule games; the National Basketball Association begins its preseason and about two weeks later starts the regular season, the National Hockey League is about one month into its regular season (check out this beaut of a goal from the last night's Stars game vs. Detroit:  https://youtu.be/FTvmQcjW7jQ ), the National Football League is about halfway through its regular season, and Major League Baseball is in its postseason with the League Championship Series and World Series. There have been 19 occasions in which all four leagues have played games on the same day (an occurrence popularly termed a "sports equinox"), with the most recent of these taking place on October 28, 2018. Additionally, the Canadian Football League is typically nearing the end of its regular season during this period, while Major League Soccer is beginning the MLS Cup Playoffs.

October also celebrates the following festivities: 

• American Archives Month
• National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month
• National Arts & Humanities Month
• National Bullying Prevention Month
• National Cyber Security Awareness Month
• National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• Filipino American History Month
• Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month
• LGBT History Month
• Polish American Heritage Month (more info to follow!)
• National Work and Family Month
• And of course, it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  If you haven't already scheduled your mammogram, pick up the phone now and call your doctor!  https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month

Here's the link to this month's Action for Happiness calendar: 
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/media/810489/october_2019.jpg

Hello October!

It's officially Fall Y'all!  The greatest time of the year!  Except in Texas where it's still 90 degrees and you wouldn't dream of turning off your A/C just yet.  Maybe some time in late December or early January. 

KJ is settling into college life very nicely.  She likes her roommate, she's made friends and she's successfully survived Rush at Ole Miss, one of the most competitive in the country.  And no, she didn't have a consultant.  She did it all on her own. 
http://thedmonline.com/rush-submission/

She had an extremely positive Rush experience and we're very, very proud of her!  Ole Miss has changed things up a bit and did things a little different than when T was there.  After visiting all 11 houses, KJ was invited back to 6 (max of 8).  Out of those 6 she went back to 5 (max 5).  Then on Pref day she was invited back to 2 (max 2).  Although she was an AOPi legacy, she #wentKappa on Bid Day.  She was so, so excited!  I couldn't be there for Bid Day but T, Pony Boy and T's friend Maddie were there to support her as well as her roommate Maddie.  She's had her pinning ceremony, had lunch at the house a couple of times already and has a formal coming up.  Baby girl is branching out on her own and doing great! 

Coach and I went to 3 football games during the month of September.  We went to the Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech game in Houston (which was a lot of fun!).  He had been in Houston all week so I flew down on Friday and we did a bar crawl with Ole Miss and Tech fans.  We followed the cheerleaders from bar to bar and although we had great seats, Coach won two sets of 50 yard-line tickets (total of 4 additional tickets!).  We ended up giving them to some folks we met from Oxford. 

Then we attended the Kent State game with the Martins.  Or, I should say we tailgated in the Grove with the Martins, never even bothered to go into the game.  After the crushing loss to Alabama, we thought we'd have a better time if we didn't actually go into the stadium.  T and Dew came in for the weekend and we all had a great time despite the torrential downpour at the end of the game. 

Last weekend we attended the Arkansas vs. Texas A&M game at AT&T Stadium (aka Jerry World).  One of Coach's vendors had a suite which, in my humble opinion, is the only way to watch a game!  Hahaha!!!  Seriously though, I love not having to wait in line for the ladies room or for concessions.  That stadium is first class all the way.  From the super friendly ticket agents at the gate, to the elevator attendant to the security people telling you to have a safe drive home after the game.  The suite was gorgeous, the food and drink was plentiful.  The A&M fans were awesome to watch.  Very loud (hence the whole 12th man thing) and very entertaining.  And their band was incredible.  Extremely precise. 

So now we're gearing up for our Annual Week of Family Festivities (our niece's birthday and our anniversary on October 11, Coach's birthday on October 12, KJ's birthday on October 13 and my mom's birthday on October 15).