Emma and I were planning to go to my parents' house for a few days, but I decided against it at the last minute. Some things came up and it turns out they weren't even going to be home that much, plus I really wasn't looking forward to the drive. The worst thing about not going is poor Emma was so disappointed. She already had her suitcase packed. :(

I am so excited about autumn - my favorite time of year! I love the crisp, cool weather and all the fun, pumpkin-patchy stuff to do. Drinking hot tea, wearing sweaters, carving pumpkins...I can't wait! I almost included raking leaves in that list, but given my irrational and intense fear of snakes and the number of snakes who reside in our yard, there will be no leaf raking done by me.

Actually, yesterday I was supposed to mow the grass because I had made a deal with Steve and promised that I'd do it. My first time around, of course there was a snake. I sat there, frozen, on the mower until Steve walked over and asked why I stopped. I tried to back out of the deal, but he was like, "Sarah, you are sitting ON THE MOWER. I promise you, there is NO WAY those snakes can get to you." So on I went. Two more loops around, and there was another, bigger, snake. I put the mower in reverse, backed up to the house, and ran inside. No more mowing for me. Maybe I should go get hypnosis or something to rid me of this snake phobia so that I can start actually hanging out in my own backyard. Hmmm...I wonder if that really works?