Yea for Fall! Wait – what? Who am I?

Something really strange happened the other day. It got cold. Like, crazy cold. It was 90 degrees in Howell on Monday, and then Wednesday it was in the 50s.

But that wasn’t the weird thing. As anyone from Michigan can tell you, that’s called September. The part about this that shocked me was my reaction to it. I stepped out on the porch to take Gunshy for his morning walk and was absolutely elated to have to turn around for a coat. As someone who has always been a diehard summer girl, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I was so stinking happy to be chilly.

Was it because the heat was so intense this year? Could it because Gunshy’s heart conditionis so sensitive to humidity? Nah…no. It wasn’t that.

It turns out that it’s not only the beginning of fall, but it’s also the beginning of my second year of self-employment. As of August 20-something-or-other, I have been off the traditional employment grid for an entire year. And I’m still breathing. And eating!

So this was my first summer as a sole proprietor. When you’re employed, if you have the ability, summer is the time for vacations and three-day weekends, and pretty much painting your nails come 3:45 on Fridays. When you’re self-employed, you still have the overwhelming desire to do all of those things, and the really great thing is, there’s absolutely no one to stop you.

The really not great thing is that there’s no one to stop you. So for me, summer was a constant struggle between I-can-do-whatever-I-want-it’s-summer-for-goodness-sake and holy-mother-of-being-way-behind-I-must-work-24-hours-straight-to-catch-up for me. It was exhausting. I’d get myself in a good spot and then something would come up – family in town, looking at reception venues – and you can’t not do those things. Especially when you can’t blame not going on some evil, faceless boss.

So I stepped outside Wednesday morning and it was cold, and I felt great. Summer is over, and now fall is my excuse. I must stay put. I must put in long days and get things done. Because fall is chilly and damp and pretty much no fun, and that is exactly how I want it to be.