What's Up Wednesday: October 2021

It's time for another What's Up Wednesday. October went by so fast. I feel like I blinked and it's basically gone.

Since March of 2020 I've started my WUW posts with a Covid update. I don't have much to say in that regard this time around -- we're wearing masks all the time (grocery shopping, at school, at work, at dance, etc) but other than that, things feel so great. The biggest Covid news is we're waiting for our national health agency to approve vaccines for kids ages 5 - 11 so that will (hopefully!) be the next big Covid news, as opposed to more restrictions and lock downs. We shall see...

image from here

What we're eating this week... We just participated in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon on Saturday so we're still working our way through all the readathon snacks! We do a big grocery trip a few days before the readathon especially to buy snacks and it's so much fun! Think of it as a "yes trip"! You want three kinds of chips? Yes! You want two kinds of store bought cookies? Yes! Will we be eating this food for a few weeks? Yes :)

Starting this weekend though, we'll be eating Hallowe'en candy. Yay!

What I'm reminiscing about... I'm reminiscing about Readathon fall walking photos with Sam and Rachel! Almost every October I participate in a 24 Hour Readathon and taking these photos, and posting them on Instagram, has become a readathon tradition! And yes, we can all walk and read.

October 2018 * October 2019 * October 2021

What I'm loving... I'm loving our in person, midweek, church program meet up. It's been so fun to gather in person again for activities and our church's midweek program is a favourite.

We gather in the parking lot around a campfire.

What we've been up to... We participated in the readathon, we celebrated Thanksgiving, and we've done all the regular stuff -- work, school, dance, religious school, and church. It hasn't been a very exciting month.

 

 

What I'm dreading... November. I really dislike November. There is nothing exciting going on for Canadians (we celebrate Thanksgiving in October) and it's just a long month of not much happening where the weather is getting colder but it's not really winter... Blah.

What I'm working on... My November attitude :) I'm also trying to finish up all the training videos I need to do for work before November 5th -- concussion protocols, WHMIS training, all sorts of "fun" stuff.

What I'm excited about...  This is totally boring but bear with me here. When I got permanent hours at work, I told Dave I wanted to hire a house cleaner. Then we ran into friends who commented that having a house cleaner wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Thus, we decided to spend money on easy suppers and implement a "house cleaning night."

 

So every Wednesday, we have an easy supper (store bought lasagna we throw in the oven, grocery store sushi, fast food take out, etc) and we all clean our house for a few hours. I'm so excited that our house is cleaner, we're all pitching in, and we're not spending as much as we would on having a regular cleaner. So this -- a plan for a clean house -- is what I'm excited about. Hahaha!!!

What I'm watching/reading... I have been watching nothing. I am not at all excited about the teams playing for the World Series, I haven't gotten into any other sports, and I don't want to start watching Hallmark holiday movies until at least mid-November. So I have been watching nothing. (See above where I mentioned I was boring.)

I read the most fun book during the readathon on Saturday. This was the perfect mix of slightly weird (for Hallowe'en), really interesting, and set in 1989 so lots of 80s references, which I LOVED! I highly recommend this book.

What I'm listening to... Every month I try to pick a sound which has defined the month and I don't have one this month. The leaves haven't really fallen off the trees so I don't hear leaves rustling as I walk outside. The kids haven't been listening to any type of of music. It's been a quiet month... Maybe I'm hearing the squirt of the mop every Wednesday as we wash our floors?!?!? :)

What I'm wearing... It's been a weird October, and hotter than normal, so I haven't really transitioned my wardrobe to fall yet. I'm still not wearing socks with shoes and I haven't pulled out many sweaters. I tell you, this October has been a really odd, transitional month. I haven't even worn my fall jacket much yet.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... We don't have any super exciting plans this weekend except for trick or treating on Sunday. I'm excited about our family costume theme!!! Other than that it's Religious School, church, dance, and a junior youth event for Sam. I guess I'll be driving everyone to all their activities this weekend. Hahaha!!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... I think we're going to get to do our labyrinth night at church this fall and I'm so excited for it! It happens towards the end of November and, for me, it really kicks off the holiday season. Last year it was cancelled because of Covid so I'm really looking forward to this year.

What else is new... Rachel has an emergency dentist appointment this morning (to check out something weird which happened to her teeth last night) and Sam has planned dental surgery later this morning so our family could use some prayers and good thoughts for healthy teeth and mouths and no pain at the end of today.

Thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to catching up with those of you who also wrote a What's Up Wednesday/month in review post. Hopefully November contains a lot less "weird" and, maybe even a little bit of "exciting"!