What's Up Wednesday: September 2021

I can't believe it's already the last Wednesday of September. Can you believe we're already three quarters of the way through 2021?!?!?!? That is crazy to me. As always, on the last Wednesday of the month, I'm linking up with Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me To to talk about what we've been up to lately.

For the past eighteen months I've started my WUW posts with a Covid update. September 2021 has been the most "normal" month we've had since February 2020. We've gotten to do things we haven't done since the pandemic started and it was incredible!!! We're not completely back to normal (we're still wearing masks and distancing) but things are feeling a lot more hopeful. I keep telling people we're about halfway back to "normal."

image from here

What we're eating this week... For some reason we've been eating a lot of potatoes lately -- Sam made a curried shrimp soup with potatoes, we had them diced and roasted, mashed with kale, and then mashed with butter as a topping for shepherd's pie. I really don't know why our meals have been so potato heavy lately...

Also, we received some homemade applesauce, and then I made some more with some apples from a friend and some that Sam picked at church, so we've also been eating a lot of really yummy applesauce.

What I'm reminiscing about... Canadian Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of weeks and for a few years we would go visit Dave's family in New York over Thanksgiving weekend. And then this past weekend I read a certain book (see "What I'm Reading..." below) and now I'm reminiscing about that time I got to visit the Friends' pop up cafe in New York City and sit on a famous couch.

You can see more pictures from my visit to the pop up here. 

What I'm loving... I'm loving attending church in person and getting to sing with other people again!!! Virtual church was so hard for our family and we didn't attend very many services that way. For the past three weeks, we've been able to gather with some of our church family for in person services again and it's been AMAZING!!! These are the first in person services our church has offered since March 2020. About thirty adults gather in the sanctuary while the kids and youth groups meet outside. I LOVE hearing other people singing.

What we've been up to... Work, school, church, dance, going to baseball games, celebrating the Jewish holidays, buying school supplies, voting in our national election, and attending fun events in our uptown. There's been a lot going on in September.

Uptown Night Market with Janice & Tessa * LUMEN Festival

apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah * early voting

Rachel was quite excited that one of our neighbours got a bunny and let Rachel take it for a walk in our backyard!

 

What I'm dreading... Well each of the schools I work at has had one Covid case. That was a hard week but we got through it. I'm dreading Covid cases potentially hitting Sam or Rachel's classes and what that would mean for our family, especially since Rachel can't be vaccinated yet. It feels like we're getting so much closer to her age group getting vaccines, but we're not quite there yet...

What I'm working on... Laundry, always laundry. This was our bed on Sunday morning as I was working my way through three loads of laundry. After I'm done writing this post on Tuesday night, I have another four loads of laundry to fold. It. Never. Ends.

What I'm excited about... All the "in person" things we've gotten to do lately -- go to church, attend a Blue Jays game, sending the kids back to school -- it's all still very exciting to me!!!

What I'm watching/reading... Well, this past weeked I finally picked up I'll Be There For You: The One About Friends and it was so good! I read it in one sitting and now I just want to watch the whole series from beginning to end! I loved all the political commentary which went along with the retrospective of the show too.

As for what I'm watching, it's all Blue Jays baseball!!! It's Tuesday night and you can bet I'll be glued to my computer, streaming the games against the Yankees this week and cheering my Jays on to victory! Go Jays go!!! 

 

What I'm listening to... I've been listening to the radio as I drive back and forth to work. Normally, I listen to a radio station which plays mostly 80s and 90s music. However, for the past few weeks I've been listening to sports talk. I'm absolutely devouring everything I can about baseball right now, especially as it pertains to the Blue Jays. I'm really hoping they'll make it to the Wild Card game, win it, and be playing baseball well into October!!!

What I'm wearing... Are you shocked if I say "all the Blue Jays gear"?!?!? Well, you shouldn't be :) Our friend even made us Blue Jays' masks to wear at the game. So yes, pretty much every day I'm wearing my Blue Jays bunnyhug (hoodie, for you non-Saskatchewan people), or my Blue Jays shoes, or something else.

Modelling all our gear at a live game a few weeks ago! 

 

What I'm doing this weekend... Well, Saturday will be the day of getting all the things done (grocery shopping, laundry, errands, etc) because Saturday night I'm attending my friend's birthday party (on Zoom). On Sunday we're having an outdoor church service with communion. Sunday afternoon, we're heading to Toronto to see the last regular season Blue Jays game!!! Yes, we went back to one game and now we're hooked. We need our baseball fix :)

What I'm looking forward to next month... Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October so I'm looking forward to a three day weekend. I'm also hoping we'll get outside for some forest walks as we haven't done one of those in awhile. And of course, I'm looking forward to Hallowe'en and drinking spiked apple cider. Yum!!!

What else is new... I think that's pretty much it. We're firmly settled into our fall routine and, although it's busy, we're loving it! Give us all the "in person" activities please :)