Day 39: Witches Brew and the Countdown

This morning started with coffee in bed — the good kind.
The quiet kind.
The kind where you know change is coming, but it hasn’t knocked yet.

Raelene had left early, before everything started moving. I already miss her. I don’t know if it’s just the contrast of quiet after connection, but her visit filled something I didn’t know had been running low. And now, even though the rhythm is shifting again, I’m excited for whatever comes next — for both of us.

Josh is leaving for Vegas later today. My oldest is heading to Universal Studios. Everyone was packed and ready, so we let the morning linger. Bacon, eggs, toast. A little extra time together before the goodbye hugs started.

When it was time to drop everyone off, we met Jovie’s friend near a little shopping center — and naturally, I found myself walking into Trader Joe’s.

And that’s when it hit me.
Fall.

That little seasonal switch I’ve been waiting for — the one that usually shows up earlier and louder — finally flipped. It wasn’t dramatic this year. More like a whisper. A soft nudge from the universe wrapped in pumpkin butter.

Mini mums by the door.
Gluten-free pumpkin bread mix.
A bottle of mulled wine called Witches Brew with a label that looked like it belonged on my kitchen counter.

That alone would’ve done it. But the universe gave me a bonus round: I got carded. Twice. At Trader Joe’s. Four months from 40.

Yes, I know they probably card everyone.
But also… let me have this. I’m choosing delusion. It’s working for me.

Back home, it was Homecoming dress time for daughter #2 — and this part of the day was straight up magic.

We found the dress at the very first thrift shop. One of the ones her sister tried on last week, and somehow it just belonged to her. She stepped out of the fitting room, and the whole store kind of… paused. One woman looked at her and said, “She looks like a Barbie.” And she did. Not in a plastic way. In a cinematic, sunlit, her moment kind of way.

After that, we grabbed Mexican food at a little hole-in-the-wall spot nearby. Nothing fancy. Just good salsa and an easy table.

Then it was home again… and time to drop back in.

And that’s when I finally dropped back into rhythm.

Blog. Socials. Catching up on the parts of this challenge that took a backseat while life got full. It felt good to settle in — not in a push-hard way, but in that satisfying “let’s land the plane” kind of way.

Because somehow, there’s only one more day left in this thing.
And I can feel it. That end-of-book feeling.

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I keep thinking about what this challenge was really about. It wasn’t just consistency, even though that mattered. It wasn’t just building something online, even though I did.

It was about coming back to myself.
Even in the messy weeks.
Even in the quiet days.
Even when the spark showed up late — like fall did this year.

Turns out, transformation doesn’t always need a grand finale.
Sometimes it looks like pumpkin butter and a thrifted dress and a glass of Witches Brew on the counter.