September

This was how I felt going into September.  Board meetings and corresponding presentations. Dinner with board members and high-end donors...cocktail attire required. Hosting a Danish exchange student for 16 days. My parents visiting for the weekend the day student leaves. And a NASCAR race.

Yup...it was a month. A fun month. An exciting month. An exhausting month. Routines were broken. I exercised when I could, mostly got my 10,000 daily steps in, but didn't sweat as much as I would have liked. Eating habits went out the window. With a 17-year-old in the house, my pantry became home to all sort soy yummy and tempting things, like Halloween Oreos. You haven't lived until you've eaten bright orange Oreos.

I also got to be a mom of sorts. I was responsible for another human being, whose own parents were halfway around the world. I made her dinner, packed her lunch and snacks for the next day, asked about homework, did her laundry and picked up after her. We played board games, went shopping, went to the movies, watched Super Nanny, and took the dog to the park.

Charlotte headed back to Denmark on Friday and my parents arrived later that afternoon for the weekend. I made sauce, baked, cleaned, did laundry, tired Bernie out. They left this morning and today my life gets back to normal.

MyFitnessPal is officially my pal again. The treadmill -- in anticipation of another 5K in early November -- becomes my bestie. And planning my meals needs to become my way of life again. I've managed to maintain my streak under 200 but just barely. The last week was sort of a free-for-all. All junk food is out of the house. Soda has been relegated to the bottom of the pantry, out of sight.

October is going to be relatively simple. At least compared to September. And so that means that October can be about taking care of me.

So instead of Green Day, I can end the month singing to Earth, Wind and Fire.