Ellie@Home by Nicole Kapise-Perkins

     Yesterday my not-so-little girl returned to school, dancing her way into the ranks of the high school hierarchy as a Freshman. Many of her friends left this year to go to different schools, so she was quite nervous. A text sent to me at lunchtime (they are allowed to play with their phones during lunch...I wonder how many actually eat and how many are too busy texting the friends they just had class with) cheerfully announced that she was having a lovely day and that she "LOVES BEING A FRESHMAN!!!!!!!" No more worries on her account.      Truthfully, I was surprised that she was nervous at all. This is the child who has always taken the world by storm. Born an absolute beauty, she has always turned her big blue eyes toward every challenge, and with typical Aries recklessness (I speak from experience) dives in without a second thought, often suffering the consequences of her impetuousness, but always willing to do it again. She is awe-inspiri...

     Today was the day. The weeks of lazy, hazy, ice cream for breakfast days were at an end, and my sixteen year old woke painfully early, scarfed a breakfast of corn fritters, and got ready for The First Day Of School.      What a change a year can make.      This time last year he was a shy, unsure, introverted boy, heading to a new school. Familiar classmates were there, but it was still such a change, and sometimes a hard one. Today.... today my son is a confident, self-assured, self-directed young man, eager to return to work, to begin studying the science he so loves, ready to embark on the first leg of the journey to adulthood. As I watched him walk to the bus stop this morning, on his way to begin his Junior year of high school, I sadly realized that as of today many things are at an end. My little boy, my first-born, is an adult now, at least in most ways. He will be learning to drive. He is applying for jobs...

   I have been having many many problems with my computer lately. I think it's time to take it to the doctor (eg, Staples). Poor sick computer.    All has not been well here in Ellie's world. My uncle passed away suddenly last week; his funeral was a sad goodbye to someone who lived life to its fullest. And two days ago we learned that my husband's great-uncle passed away as well.    On a lighter note, my husband, my sister, and my older children and I spent a ridiculous day doing the back-to-school shopping that needed to be done, as my older boy is heading into his Junior year, and my daughter is entering high school as a Freshman. There is no happier sight than a sixteen year old boy, a thirty-two year old woman, and a thirty-eight year old man racing shopping carts through TJ Maxx. (Especially when the fourteen year old girl is IN the shopping cart the thirty-two year old is pushing) Trust me on this.    The children return to school Wednes...

     'Tis a lovely day here in western Massachusetts. Humidity is low, the sun is shining, and while it's lovely and warm, there's a sweet breeze drifting through the open back door, rustling the leaves of the grapevine, and they're whispering  fall is coming .      Fall, my most favorite of seasons. Three of my children were born in fall, I was married in the fall, and my all-time favorite holiday arrives with a gasp, screech, and lots of candy and pumpkins. Is there ever so wonderful a season as fall in New England? (Readers are going to have to help me out here, as I've never traveled outside of the US, and never further from home than Pennsylvania and Florida. How's fall in your world?)      It's coming, but it's not here, not yet, and summer is still holding her own. On the back steps the peppers and tomatoes are reaching their peak: one pepper picked with much glee, and in a few more days I'll be snapping th...