Summer’s almost over. I say that with mixed feelings. I love the fall. I don’t even mind the winter: I like snow (even more so now that I have a kid to play with in it), and I like wearing sweaters. But I loathe the shorter days. Going to work & leaving work both in the dark is mega-depressing. I believe I have seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. This year, I think I’ll try out on of those light therapy lamps.

Summer was a beast this year, though, and I won’t miss the stretches of 100+ degree days. And The Hurricane. And the mosquitoes. There have been many days I woke up to a fresh batch of bites due to a rogue mosquito trapped inside my house. That’s no fun.

I’m one of those people who thinks of every new season, every new year, and even every new week as a fresh start. With autumn quickly approaching, and it being a Monday morning, I jotted down this to do list for the week:

1. Letters to Jax. I’m getting behind on penning my letters to Jax, thanks to the Kindle. When I have a rare moment in time to myself, I’ve been snuggling with it. The good news is, maybe this will be the year I finally read 52 books in 52 weeks (beginning & ending around my birthday in August). There have been so many cool things Jax has been doing, though, that I really want to jot them down! Hopefully I’ll remember to throw his notebook in my purse one of these mornings so I can spend a lunchbreak at the park writing instead of reading.

2. Stretch. I’ve never had a backache, really. I mean, I’ve certainly had that normal PMS-y type of lower back pain that is helped by a handful of Pamprin. But this back pain I’ve had since Saturday is no joke. I don’t know what exactly I did to enrage my lower back, but I can’t get rid of the pain! I feel like an old lady all of a sudden. I think I need to start exercising, like for real. I’ve asked The Twitter to recommend a beginner’s yoga iPhone app — that’s how I roll — so we’ll see what they come up with. If you know one, please comment! I figure I should try an app first, rather than a DVD or a class, because it’s cheaper and portable.

3. Eat better. I confess: Hurricane Irene killed my usually healthy diet. Like I mentioned on Friday, I chose to avoid the big grocery stores (and therefore save myself hours of waiting in line with crazy people hoarding eggs, bread, water, and milk) and shop at Rite Aid instead. So you know what I came home with, right? Oreos, Pop-Tarts, and granola bars. Not even the healthy kind. I don’t ever keep that kind of crap in the house. Yet I spent the whole weekend eating it. And drinking beer with my husband. Eating better now that the crazy weekend is over shouldn’t be too difficult.

4. Drink more water. Funny confession: I hoarded water this weekend because of Hurricane Irene. And then I was afraid to drink any of the 5 gallons we had in our house. Now that I’m back at work, where water is in endless supply, and now that there is no emergency on hand, I’m going to resume drinking my usual 80+ ounces per day.

5. De-hurricanify the house. This means peeling the masking tape X’s off the windows, reassembling the swingset in the yard, tossing out (or making my husband eat) all the junk food, putting our patio tables and chairs back outside where they belong, etc.

6. Sit up straight. I slouch a lot at work. See #2. Wonder if the backache is related or at least exacerbated by all the slouching all day long.

7. Buy BlogHer ’12 ticket. I fully intend to spend that birthday money in my pocket on my ticket to BlogHer next year, before the August discount on the early bird prices expires. The reduced price through Wednesday brings the ticket down to $158! I can’t pass that up. My friend just reserved our hotel room at the Hilton using a promo code, so I’m officially going as soon as I get my ticket, which I think will be today. I’m actually nervous. Weird, right?

What are some of your goals this week?