What's Up Wednesday (On A Thursday): May 2023

Well, if you read my "I Spy" post from Tuesday, you will know that I was complaining big time about my allergies. I wrote that on Monday night and I was feeling pretty miserable. It turns out I was dealing with a little more than allergies, however, as it turned into a slightly larger illness. It's Wednesday evening as I write this, and I'm celebrating the fact that I've been awake for two hours now (yes, that's a record) and I'm starting to feel hungry again. I don't know what I got hit with but it wasn't fun. And it also delayed me writing this post, which is why I'm posting it on a Thursday.

As always on the last Wednesday (or first Thursday!) of the month, I'm linking up with Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too for their What's Up Wednesday post.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... This isn't so much a "what we're eating" as it is a "what I've been drinking." For some reason this month, I am all about lime. I 'm still loving our ice maker, and I put about a tablespoon of lime juice in my glass, fill it with ice, and then add water. I also love adding Coke and making a homemade Lime Coke. So yes, I'm all about the lime, and ice, over here.

 

 

Additionally, Dave has made some really amazing stir fries this month and we've been eating them about once a week. He puts in tofu, garlic, ginger, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. They're sooooo good.

And I attempted to make dandelion shortbread this month. They were pretty good, but a lot of work. I used the recipe found here. Instead of rolling them out, and cutting them with cookie cutters, I rolled them into 1" balls and flattened them with a glass. Also, they only took about 15 minutes to bake, instead of the 25 mentioned in the recipe. I will maybe make them once each spring, but we shall see.

What I'm reminiscing about... As you will read below, we went to a Toronto FC soccer game this past weekend. Dave was going to get nachos for Sam and his friends when he recognized someone sitting a few rows down from us. It was our friend, Jeremy, whom we met in Edmonton. Jeremy and his wife, Hannah, were in the same prenatal group as us, and our first kids (Sam, and their daughter, Stella) were born just a week apart. We were so shocked to see him!!!

Jeremy was in Toronto for a conference and had just decided to get a ticket for the game that day. So I've been reminiscing about our times together in Edmonton, when we were parents of newborns.

 

Sam, Stella, and another friend from our prenatal class, when the kids were about 1
 

Stella, Sam, and the younger sisters, when we visited their family in February 2019

What I'm loving... We stayed overnight in Toronto a few weekends ago, and for some reason, Sam had really been wanting to go to IKEA. So we made a stop and got a bunch of new bedding. I told Dave it could be an early 15th anniversary present for us! I am loving it!!!

We also all got new pillows at IKEA. Rachel wanted to update her room (get rid of some of the pink) so we let her pick out new bedding and a new rug for her room as an early birthday present. I am loving how she makes her bed and is really caring for her space these days.

What we've been up to... An Instagram friend referred to May as "May-cember" implying that May holds a lot of the craziness which December does. And for this year, in our case, that was definitely true.

We kicked off the month with Rachel's dance studio's spring performance. Rachel was in three dances over two shows and Dave and I did some volunteering as well.

 

The next week, Sam played in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament through his school...

 

...and Rachel and two of her friends did a Science Fair project on "little known animals." I loved the fun fact about the quokka -- they throw their babies at their predators to escape!!! I don't know why this makes me laugh so much!!!

 

Then we went to Toronto for an overnight to visit some friends and to take in a Jays' game.

The following week, I had a huge work event which took up two evenings, and Rachel needed three cavities filled at the dentist.

 

And this past weekend, we (very belatedly) celebrated Sam's birthday at a Toronto FC soccer game with two of his friends. They also stayed overnight and we cooked up a big bacon and waffles breakfast for them the next morning.

And in between all that, I'm just trying to be outside as much as possible, living my best outdoors life!

What I'm dreading... Dave has a week long work trip at the end of June. He's gone over the last day of school, the kids' first days of summer vacation (while I still have to work), and our 15th anniversary. I am dreading having to manage that last week of school busy-ness without Dave's help. We've asked a few people to help with the kids since I still have to work, and have two work evening events to attend, but I'm still dreading it.

 

What I'm working on... Well, I bought about 90 annuals, and I got a few of them planted on Saturday. But I've been working on keeping the other ones alive in our heat wave, until I can get them planted... Hopefully this weekend, I'll be able to finish getting them all in the ground or in planters. And, much to Dave's chagrin, I think I even need to buy a few more plants to round things out! Hahaha!!!

Left: what I started with; Right: what I still have left to plant

 

 

A couple of the planters I've put together already.

What I'm excited about... I'm excited to be feeling better soon, I hope! Other than that, I'm just enjoying living life and gearing up for a full June. And Sam and I have a fun mother-son evening planned in a few weeks which I'm looking forward to!

 

Oh, and I'm excited about some good job news, which, unfortunately, I can't share just yet :)

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've been watching a lot of Toronto sports teams playing live -- the Blue Jays and Toronto FC. And I was watching Rachel at all her dance rehearsals (and once in the actual show) earlier this month. Other than that, I really haven't watched much of anything. I'm looking forward to watching Sam on the soccer fields, once I feel well enough to go.

As for reading, I read a few books set in the 1940s around the Japanese interment camps so I've been learning more about that history this month.

What I'm listening to... They played this song at the Toronto FC game on Saturday and it's been going through my head. "For the boys, on the field, For the boooooyyysss, on the field..."

 

What I'm wearing... I haven't been wearing much that's exciting -- shorts, t-shirts, skirts, pajamas. I find this is always the hardest question for me to answer as my clothes don't change all that much from year to year.

What I'm doing this weekend... I really hope I'm feeling better because I have two birthdays to celebrate! If I'm feeling better, I'm going out for dinner with some women friends on Friday to celebrate a friend's birthday, and we're going to Toronto on Sunday to celebrate our friends' son's 2nd birthday. And I'll be trying to get some more of those annuals planted. If I'm not feeling better, I'll be spending the weekend on the couch. Boo.

 

What I'm looking forward to next month... Honestly, I am still just so grateful for every normal month and activity we get to enjoy. Covid shut down two years of our April through June (2020 and 2021), and I just want to savour every month we get to live our regular lives again. June is bringing two graduations for our family this year, and there's Rachel's birthday in there as well.

 

I'm also excited because our rose bush is going to bloom again this year. It appears to be on an "every other year" blooming schedule and it's loaded with buds. On the left is our rose bush in June 2021 and on the right is it last night, full of buds about to pop!

What I bought on Amazon... More in keeping with our normal habits, we didn't buy anything on Amazon this month. As I've said before, it's more of a rare thing for us to make Amazon purchases.

What else is new... I think that's it. Once I've recuperated from this nasty bug, I'll be excited to get back to the joy of living life again :)

Thanks for reading my belated post today. I'm looking forward to catching up with all of you once I'm feeling better.