Yes, dear readers, I know the world is moving really fast these days. But here are seven things that will help you have a phenomenal fall.

1. It is perfectly OK to start buying Halloween candy and eating it right now. There are actually about six weeks left till Halloween, but the candy is already out in full force, so it is obviously okay to buy some, bring it home, and hide it from the kids. Just try to remember where you hid it, so that you have a secret stash of chocolate. (I say this as a person who can hide her own Easter eggs.)

2. Take a ride or a walk.  It’s good for the soul to be in the outdoors. Take a walk every day. If you’re old, find someplace with level ground and wear good walking shoes. Bring a big stick so you can fight off bears and werewolves. (Halloween is coming, remember!)

3. Start thinking about Thanksgiving. That’s all. Just think about it. It’s in 69 days as of this Friday. Wow. Dream of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and pumpkin pie.  But don’t put marshmallows on the sweet potatoes. Ever.

4. Take a break from watching/reading the news. When I was a kid, the national news was on for a half-hour from either CBS’s Walter Cronkite or NBC’s Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. If we wanted to know more, we read newspapers or Time magazine. That was exactly the right amount of news. Today’s nonstop news cycle is crazy making. We know everything and understand nothing. Limit your news intake.

5. Make a list of everything you have to do.  Then you can either burn it (JK LOL) or sort the items in terms of urgency and importance and try to give your life some structure. You know, decide which things are urgent and important, urgent but not important, not urgent but important, or not urgent and not important. Then, if you’re like me, you’ll do the not urgent and not important things first just so you can check an item off the list.

6. Read about all the different diets and exercise programs that promise to help you lose weight and fit into the jeans you wore in high school. Then smile. Doing all that reading probably burned up a lot of calories.

7. Finally, don’t forget that Christmas is only 101 days away. This is important information and if you share this news, people will think that you are a super-organized person. Sadly, most advent calendars only have 25 flaps to open, so you will have to buy four of them to get you to the big day.

That’s it, kids.  Those are my secrets to having a fantastic fall. Let me know how it goes.