September! September, a time to remember.  As the summer has passed by and fall is upon us, we still have time to reflect on what we want out of this month and year.  With a long weekend ahead, nominally nice weather, we have much to be optimistic about.  What would we like to enjoy this month?

There is still time to consider our options regarding the weeks ahead.  We have basically ten weeks of decent temperatures in which to enjoy outdoor activities.  We can take walks or bike rides with our loved ones.  Picnics are nice to do at this time of year as temps start to cool.

September is a perfect month to do some extra cleaning up on the exterior of our homes.  A touch of paint on the trims, cleaning the outside windows improves the view.  Taking a day for family clean day, clearing off the porches and doing a little upkeep results in good feelings of accomplishment.  Maintenance is an activity that can be done on these famous long weekends in both the spring and fall.

17 weeks until 2016, we have four months to work thru.  We can break our goals down to weekly steps to gain success.

I made up a game which we call Our Weight Loss Game.  We are working an 11/11 goal, when we started there were 11 weeks until November.  The rules are that we must pray daily about handling our stresses with wisdom and self control.  We must exercise for 30 or more minutes at least six days a week.  Make good food choices based on the program we choose to follow.  Keep in contact with each other and talk about what we are doing and how we feel about it.  The reward, we are making a $1.00 or more per pound contribution to the World Wide Work individually.  It is a personal decision.  The benefit is that where most diets fail because of doing it for self, when you have low esteem, self is not always a good reason to stick to a beneficial program.  The first bit of boredom or stress than one caves into desires.  Yet, if it is for a worthwhile cause, than it is a terrific reason to stick it out.  One is also benefitted, just like “….I Jehovah your God, and teaching you how to benefit yourself, and am guiding you in the way in which you should walk…” Isaiah 48:17.  I love this scripture, just quoted it.  It may not be exact wording but you get the idea, look it up.  A bit of guidance and beneficial results I am all for that. In addition the result is that we do benefit by such adjustments and we will feel better about ourselves, our clothes will fit better, or we may fit into a smaller size.  All are benefitted.  Even if a person is already thin, making good choices and getting a little activity benefits most people.

It is also important to consider that there may be a few things we can do to get organized to make this next years tax season a little easier.  What bit of info can you get together or compute?  This can make extensions avoidable by working ahead of time on the things that only you know present themselves to be stressful.

I decided to do a fall winter garden, my husband got it all tilled and prepared.  Still have pepper plants producing.  Tomato plants are still growing.  Want to start some cucumber and radishes before it gets too late.  You can dig up some plants, pot them and keep them on porch, later bringing them in for year round gardening.  Lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower are good winter garden plants.  Mums, always look nice planted along walkways.  Mine are still growing from last year.

Make this September memorable, enjoy time with family at parks, zoos, and on picnics.  Being productive now may make future months easier.