Longest Month

I believe October the longest month of the year. I realize there are 5 other months with 31 days. But somehow January, March, May, August and December never seem to drag the way October is. I've been trying to figure out why. Why I'm sitting here on October 21 feeling like this month should be almost over and realizing there are still a full 10 days remaining. I think it's a combination of factors.

1. The highlight day of October - Halloween - doesn't happen until the very last possible moment. This means we spend 30 full days getting ready for an event that basically lasts about 4 hours. Of course we do lots of fun prepartying - trips to the pumpkin patch, picking out costumes, hanging decorations, baking yummy apple and pumpkin goodies, and buying candy that we will inevitably consume in its entirety well before the big day and need to run out for replacements at the last minute. But all this anticipation just makes All Hallow's Eve seem that much farther away.
March has St. Patrick's Day to break up the month.
August - well, it's summer and those days always seem to fly by faster than we'd like.
December has Christmas placed strategically a full week before month end so that the month doesn't seem so darn long. Plus there is all that holiday cheer to go around keeping your spirits up. But mostly I think December flies by because it's crammed full of parties and shopping and way more things on the to-do list than could ever really be completed
January - I'll grant you that January is just painfully long as well.

2. Looking at my calendar, I realize that October has a FULL 5 weeks. And by full I mean weeks with at least 5 days of the month in them. So we had the first week of Oct 1-5, then Oct 6-12, 13-19, 20-26 and finally 27-31. Compare that to it's counterparts this year:
March: the first "week" of March is only March 1-2. That is followed by 4 full weeks and then lonely old March 31 participating as a a part of April really.
August: again, the first "week" is only days 1-3, not really a full week at all.
December: 4 full weeks (since December 1 is on a Monday), followed by a "week" of just the 29-31. And of course Dec 29-Jan 4 is really just a big holiday week.
January: the lone exception is too similar to October for its own good.

3. The anticipation of the holidays. October is when the weather really starts to turn to fall. September is still mostly summer. You aren't thinking about your plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year's Eve. But once October rolls around you start to get that glaze in your eyes, dreaming (stressing?) about all of the big events coming before year-end. There is a sense of excitement and urgency to get to the big holidays - if only we can get through October first. And as things are apt to do when you want them to happen quickly, they drag slowly.

So now I have 10 more days to try to really enjoy autumn before the crisp weather turns cold, I start to really have to think about Christmas shopping, and have to start considering turning another year older. Take your time October, take your time.