While we sat in the tea room at Abkhazi Garden, Holly and I talked about when we met. Our boys were in the same Kindergarten class, and her family had just moved here from Alberta. The boys are now in grade 11 and 12 (her son being a December birthday at one time moved up a grade to align better with his age group). We became friends helping out in the class with the scrapbook project and have been best friends ever since.

Going for a tea date was a ‘birthday month’ plan of mine. For my 40th, I knew if I didn’t think ahead about what I wanted to do, then the date and month would go by and I wouldn’t have memories to remember it by. It is a beautiful garden on an acre right in the city, with an amazing tea service.

I also had dinner one night at a local restaurant (and tons of laughs) with two other friends. My older sister and I drove over to the mainland to visit our youngest sister for a weekend. We went to a garden nursery, visited a winery, which also happened to have a wedding in progress on that beautiful September day. It was a beautiful occasion to witness. We had dinner, lots of wine and lots of laughs.

On my birthday, I told my husband I wanted to go to Mt. Tolmie viewpoint in Victoria. He had taken me there 20 years before on my 20th birthday for a picnic. And here we were 20 years later (pictured above).

On another occasion this month, I got invited (I joke accidentally, as I wasn’t quite sure how I made the list), for a work function and was able to enjoy a facial at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel Spa. The most glorious hotel in Victoria, on the ocean, where, it just so happens, that my parents had their first date in the restaurant one New Year’s Eve lunch.

It’s been a pretty fantastic month! You can see why I love September, and the weather has been just as fantastic. Holly and I will also be going to a play together in the coming weeks or month. Another event – we like to make memories when celebrating each other’s birthdays.

September has always been a month that I like to make memories. A month that we can all get caught up in the busy- ness of back to school and new hockey seasons. A month when a change of seasons can make you feel the need to have a few last get togethers before the schedule of fall and winter set in. Some people don’t like September, I think because it causes a lot of rush and stress and it signifies the end of summer, but it’s my favourite. Like anything though, you really make it what you want. I choose to make it a good month.

Sending Love,

Devon