Our Subtle Fall and Not So Subtle Driving Nudge

The sun is shining again and we have a break from our first part of the week rainy weather.  BUT, you can feel the change in the air.  Fall is here.  It's sublte here.  There is a shift in how the sun shines.  The air feels different.  It smells different.  We have trees that have leaves and stay green all year long.  We also have some that don't, and those are beginning to turn.  Our white birch ( my attempt at Quakies), are not as deep green; their leaves are muted with some golden hues emerging.  And the Liquid Ambers! Oh, the delicious reds and purples will be in full blaze shortly.  We begin the 'windies' soon.  Those Santa Ana winds that bring havoc and arsonists.  But even those signal fall with their higher temperatures.

Christine even commented on the autumn change when I picked her up from school this afternoon.  Speaking of which...This is how that goes:

School gets out at 2:45pm.  I leave around 2:55pm to pick her up.  The line is long.  And I don't want to be there at 2pm and sit and wait for an hour.  They have staff who direct traffic.  I like that.  I turn in to the outer circle and pull into the staff parking lot.  I go over to the left side.  She and Amanda walk to the car.  I put it in park, and get out and go to the passenger side.  Chris piles her stuff into the back, and Amanda gets in the back.  Then Christine gets in the driver's side and drives.  I know the drill now, but it took me a while.  It threw me off when she kept showing up at my door motioning for me to get out. That permit is used whenever there is an opportunity! 

I am an apron person.  Especially the last few years.  I wear one during the day doing regular tasks.  Laundry, cleaning, dishes, cooking.  They are so practical and so cute now-a-days.  The vintage look and chef look are making a comeback.  Well, a few times I've forgotten about our school pick-up routine.  I hadn't given it a thought until I caught her expression and exclamation of, "Mom!  Why do you have your apron on?!?!?!"  uh-oh. 

She is a really good driver, and just about done with all her daylight hours.  We need to make more night-time driving opportunities though so she can complete those.