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My Ideal Year:  

1. All together skip January.  What a terrible month this is.  Why would you keep January?  This is the month I have to adjust to my husband being gone constantly, the weather is lame, and Christmas is over.  It's only redeeming quality was Martin Luther King Day but since I'm no longer in school this is not as exciting as it formally was.  (Forgive my extreme lack of respect for using this day to escape an education I should have been appreciating and not celebrating a great man.)  Also, my apologies go to my father, for he will no longer have a birthday.

2.  February is a tough one.  I cannot skip it completely because you have Valentine's Day.  Although notoriously an unfortunate day for me, I am determined.  Last year was much better and I very much look forward to when Elizabeth starts school and I have a good excuse to adorn my heart with lace and pearls.

3.  So we skip from Valentine's/President's Day Weekend to March 2oth.  Ah, springtime.  One could not skip this time of year.  The turning from winter to spring is something I will have been longing for for at least 3 months.  The blossoms peek out from their bud cocoons, the birds start chirping, and I slowly day by day tip toe out from hibernating to enjoy the transformation.

4.  I would then transport myself to April.  April is a pleasant month.  I love the rain.  I think I could live out every day of April in happiness.  

5.  Jumping next to memorial day weekend.  This long weekend always seems to be the source of some of the most fun times of the year.  Why, I'm not sure.  Maybe it's linked to the nostalgia of school getting out and the smell of summer upon us.  I like summer.

6.  But only till about...here, July 4th, with the exception of my mother's birthday.  So I'll go through June celebrate a few birthdays of note and overdosing on the pool and anything sweet and cold.  Celebrate July 4th with the greatest rodeo on earth...although Rob is a perennial scrooge of all things holidays...and skip to the end of August.

7.  Oh sweet August you have arrived.  Memories of wonderfully awful summer camps, family reunions, and newly sharpened pencils.  My birthday of coarse makes this a great time to be alive.  Followed quickly by our anniversary.  Lovely.  August I couldn't skip you, who else has two full moons?

8.  Which brings me to September and October.  Autumn.  Let me count the ways...this is the belt to my slacks, the shell to my turtle, the bananas to my french toast!!  Sitting on the porch on a crisp rainy day, reading and drinking cider.  This is what my heaven will be like.  I think I should move to Washington where, unlike here, this is not the exception but the rule.  Among all the glory of leaves changing, football games, the first snow, and Halloween, we also have my hubby's birthday...which I just might enjoy more than he does.

9.  So we skip from October 25th to November 25th.  My sisters birthday followed or preceded closely by a wonderful face stuffing, thanks giving, turkey roasting, pumpkin loving holiday.  Then bring on the bevy of birthdays.  

10.  Lastly we leave out the dreary early weeks of December that just taunt and torment you in a lethargic count down to The Most Wonderful Tiiiiime of the Year.  Where we spend way too much money and time totally forgetting the meaning of Christmas.  But ahh, how I love it.  I cannot tell a lie.  Who doesn't love getting bundled up to go ice skating with hot cocoa.  Or decorating the tree!  Or just spending time with our loved ones singing silly carols and stuffing stockings.  What a splendid way to end the year. 

So Autumn, although some mourn the loss of summer, I embrace you and will revel in my most beloved time of the year.  If anyone loves it as much as I do, come over, and I'll make you fresh wassail.