Wednesday, October 02, 2024

Currently: October 2024

It's the first Wednesday of the month and time for "Currently" with Jennifer at Overflowing With Thankfulness. This is the "Natasha hurt her back because she's old" edition of Currently, as you will see in my responses. I don't even know what I did but I can barely move. I think it was a combination of roller skating and having a nap on the couch. It's been over a week and I still can't move easily. So fun.

[loving]

I am "loving" that I have pain medication! I don't love that I have to take it but I'm thankful it's giving me some relief.

I am loving" how helpful the kids are being -- Rachel has greatly assisted with laundry and Sam has taken over salad making duties and extra dish doing.

I asked Dave to buy some sunflowers at the grocery store on Sunday and I am "loving" those! My house is feeling like Fall even if the weather isn't cooperating yet.

[looking forward to]

I am "looking forward to" when my back stops hurting -- hahaha! I take my body for granted until it conks out on me and then I regret not being more appreciative when it's working well.

I am "looking forward to" one of our favourite local events -- the Central Art Walk. It's happening this weekend and I'm really hoping I'll feel well enough to participate. Local artists (like within an eight block radius) open up their studios and you can visit them. That's where I got the mushrooms and pumpkin pictured above. The kids look forward to this every year. And so do I!

I am also "looking forward to" my friend's birthday party this weekend. She always throws the best birthday parties and I can't wait to celebrate her!!!

[wearing]

I am "wearing" layers. It's still seesawing between summer and fall here so it's all about layers right now

[reading]

This is embarrassing to admit but I'm "reading" Danielle Steel. Hahaha!!! We talked about something at book club last week which sent me down the Danielle Steel rabbit hole. She was the first "grown up" author I read so I'm reliving my high school reading memories.

[cooking]

I have been "cooking" nothing. Dave and the kids have been cooking all week because my back is so sore. I sit on a chair and assist as I can but it's very minimal. Dave is even packing the majority of my lunches right now.

Did I mention that "currently" life is all about my back right now?!?!?!? It's very frustrating and I'm also "looking forward to" when I feel a little more normal again. Hopefully that will be soon!

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

10 On The 10th: September 2024

There are a few things I want to write about which happened in September so hopefully I can slowly start to catch up on some of them. Before it gets too late, I do want to share my 10 pictures from September 10th. This day feels sooooo long ago, even though it was just three weeks ago today. Phew September -- you were a doozy!

Why is it so dark at 6:32am already?!??!
First cup of coffee-hot chocolate and my new lunch bag. I love avocados and this bag is so fun!
Hanging out a load of laundry before work. The early bird gets the dry laundry... or something like that :)
I love my walk to work along my favourite path.
Catching a glimpse of early fall colour from the fourth floor of my school.
I had to take a break on my walk home from CSA. The bags were heavy.
We saw hot air balloons on our way to get haircuts. They were so close to us.
A pita for supper and a blurry Sam getting his hair cut in the background.
That's a lot of hair to get cut off Dave! Hahahaha!!!
Silly selfies with Rachel while she was working on homework.

And that was our September 10th. It was a full day, but a good one.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Monthly Musings: Back To School: Routines, Recipes, And Fall Fashion

It's the last Thursday of the month and time to join Holly at Pink Lady and Patty at Good, Better, Best for their "Monthly Musings" link up.This is seriously one of my favourite link ups of the month -- even when they ask about fashion! Hahahaha!!!

1) What are your best tips for getting into a fall/back to school routine?

I don't know that I have one. I try to enforce earlier bedtimes because, in my opinion, many things can be cured with a good night's sleep. If things are falling apart, I declare that "it's bedtime" because I always think things will look better in the morning!

2) Please share your favourite fall recipes. Crowd/family pleasers welcome!

 I think my favourite fall recipe are soups or stews with carrots and sweet potatoes and butternut squash. All the orange vegetables :) We love "cream of carrot-cheddar soup" and "curried butternut squash and pear soup." Cream of carrot cheddar soup recipe found here and curried butternut squash pear soup recipe found here.

3) Favourite fall fashion staples?

My plaid shirts, my Converse, and my favourite Amazon sweater!

4) Favourite part of back to school this year?

How easy it was for our kids. We had no big transitions, the kids settled into their school routines pretty quickly, and they are generally more independent. I just feel like "back to school" has gone so smoothly compared to other years. (This is me speaking as a parent, by the way, not as a school secretary! That's a whole other ball of wax!)

5) Do you celebrate Homecoming where you are?

No, I really think "homecoming" is an American thing. I don't know anyone who celebrates it here in Canada.

6) Apple pie or apple cider?

I love apple cider, especially mixed up in my friend's "Hallowe'en Apple Cider" recipe with Jim Beam Red Stag and some other good things! Soooo good!!!

7) Do the leaves change colours where you live? If so, when?

Do they ever! I've seen a few smatterings of fall colour already but they will likely hit their peak in the next few weeks. Until then, enjoy these pictures from previous years.

 

8) Favourite fall sweet treat? Do you have any recipes to share?

I don't really have a favourite sweet treat for fall. Maybe the Coffee Crisp chocolate bars I steal from the kids on Hallowe'en. And to clarify, I steal from my own kids, not just random kids trick-or-treating on the street! Hahahahaha!!!

9) Hayride or bonfire?

I like the idea of a hayride but hay is so itchy so a bonfire would win out.

10) Movies that give you all the back to school feels?

I don't really watch movies, except for the Hallmark ones, so I don't have a great answer for this.

Our weather has been unseasonably hot these past couple of weeks but writing all these answers puts me in the mood for actual fall -- bring on apple cider, the leaves changing (and me exclaiming about "the fall colours" to my kids' complete annoyance), sweaters, my Converse, and cozy nights of reading under a blanket.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

What's Up Wednesday: September 2024

September has been one of those months, where if my head wasn't attached to my shoulders, I would have left it in 27 different places. There have been many days when I come home from work late, am home for fifteen minutes, and then head out again for the evening. It's just this past week where I've enjoyed two nights in a row at home. I'm telling you, September is NUTS.

I really do love answering the What's Up Wednesday questions every month. I like how they help me reflect on the past month and I love having a monthly record of what we've been up to. I go back and re-read these posts often. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here
 
What we're eating this week... We bought a bunch of fruit at Costco early in September, for a specific purpose, and then that purpose changed on us and we ended up having to eat all the fruit ourselves. And now we're a little addicted to Costco fruit -- blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries -- they're all purchases in a weekly Costco trip this month. We've also been eating a lot of raisins this month. Again, I don't know how this started but we've gone through a huge bag of them this month.


What I'm reminiscing about... I don't know what I've been reminiscing about. I've been too focused on keeping all the balls in the air in the present to spend time reminiscing this month. That's kind of sad, isn't it?
 
What I'm loving... My best friend, Janice, and I have been getting together weekly and I've been loving having a regular time with her. We make supper together, we go for a walk, and we just get to catch up on life. Janice is out of town for the next few weeks and I will miss our weekly evenings together until she gets back.
 
Another thing I've been loving is that we made a connection with someone who lives three minutes away from us and their daughter has a similar dance schedule to Rachel so we've started some carpooling!!! Yay! Yay! Yay for less driving!!!

What we've been up to... Well, the kids started school and that's been going well, thus far. With the start of school, my days got exponentially busier but I think I'm getting some space to breathe again. Or at least go to the bathroom on a semi-regular basis during the school day, so that's a good sign!
We've had "meet the teacher" night, "kick off to dance season" meetings, and all the other "start of the school year" things going on.
Rachel, Dave, and I checked out a roller skating popup in one of our public squares, randomly ran into friends from church, and went for ice cream this past weekend. That was really fun! 
It was Doors Open in our region this past weekend so Dave, Rachel, and I took the ION to tour the ION Maintenance Facility. That was really interesting! We got to see the control centre for the whole ION system, see where they perform nightly maintenance on the trains, and even sit in the drivers seat. I also discovered that to be an ION driver you just need a general license and five years of a clean driving record so I think I've found my next job! Hahaha!!!
This past weekend was LUMEN, one of our favourite nights of the year, in our uptown. This festival of light, art, and technology is always so amazing and this year did not disappoint!

What I'm dreading... I can't talk about the thing I'm actually dreading just yet but if you could say some extra prayers for me, I would really appreciate it. It's work related and that's all I can say about it right now.

What I'm working on... I'm working on all the start of school things -- getting forms out to families to be signed, trying to collect all the information I need to gather, doing the "start of year" training, and all the other things which come with the start of a new school year. And then, as a parent, I have to fill out all the forms, attend the "meet the teacher" nights, and ensure I've provided all the details the schools are asking for. I get to experience both sides of the coin and it's a lot!

What I'm excited about... We're actively working on trying to empower the kids to do more around the house. When it works well (Sam has cooked supper and done many rounds of dishes this month and Rachel has baked muffins, updated the family calendar, and cooked supper this month), I get really excited. When it doesn't work well, there is more frustration than excitement :)
 
 
What I'm watching/reading...We've gotten into a really lovely Sunday evening routine where we eat a simple dinner and watch a Hallmark movie, while I fold all the laundry which has accumulated throughout the week. Then on Monday nights, I put all the folded laundry on our bed and everyone puts it away. Rachel and I have been (mostly) enjoying the "Fall Into Love" Hallmark movies.
This night we had charcuterie for supper. It was delicious and Rachel mostly assembled it.
 
As for reading, I just finished People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn for my book club last night. This was a very thought provoking book and now Dave is reading it.
 
What I'm listening to... For some reason, both kids are teaching themselves Italian with DuoLingo and then speaking to each other in Italian. So, randomly, I've been hearing a lot of Italian this month. This will come in handy if we ever go to Italy! Hahahahaha!

What I'm wearing... On one of our nights together, Janice gave me a cardigan she no longer likes. And it has a hood! I love it and have been wearing it a lot this month.

What I'm doing this weekend... We're going to synagogue services, Sam has a youth-mentor lunch at church, Rachel has dance, we'll be watching a Hallmark movie and folding laundry, I might bake buns -- it's going to be a (somewhat) relaxed weekend as we have no big plans, which is nice.

What I'm looking forward to next month... We have a couple of one night road trips planned which I'm really looking forward to. Also, we're getting some pretty fun neighbours at the end of the month!!! Yay!

So that's what's been up with us in September. I'm hoping October will be a little more chill and that I will feel more on top of things soon.

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

And The Walking Continues!

Oh September! Why are you always so full of so many good things? I keep thinking I will have time to blog and then, something else comes up. You'll be able to see what we've been up to this month tomorrow when I write my "What's Up Wednesday" post but, for today, I'm writing about the remainder of my and Dave's eight day hiking trip in Scotland this past summer. For those of you just tuning in, I wrote about our first day, which we spent in Glasgow, here, and about the first part of our 96 mile walk, here.

So when I last left you, we had just reached the halfway point of our walk on Day 4. This was the day we discovered we could walk around 20 kilometres (about 13 miles) with no clear lunch plan! We'd thought we would grab a quick lunch in a little town, which we thought was along the way. However, it became clear that rain was coming and that the little town was actually about an hour detour off the path. So we ate some protein bars, some apples, and some trail mix we had in our backpacks, and just kept going.

I loved this bridge we got to walk under.
Our views were incredible this day (as they were most of time, to be honest), and while it's laughable now, I took the picture on the right to show "how muddy my shoes were."
I love this picture of me walking up a hill through heather.
The next day was one of our shorter days -- we only had about three hours of hiking. The signpost on the left is an example of how we found our way. The thistle symbol told us which direction to go, or let us know we were still on the right path. As I've mentioned before, the entire walk was very well laid out and we only took a slightly wrong turn once, on the first day, and very quickly realized our mistake. The Scots Rail train passed us as we walked, and again, this will have significance later in our trip! 
I loved seeing all the foxglove blooming on the highlands -- so pretty! And this day we got rained on for about an hour. We thought we were pretty wet!!!
Our "short" day ended around 12:30 and we were staying at the Bridge of Orchy Hotel. It was a lovely spot, and right before supper, we walked down to the actual Bridge of Orchy. Our hotel is the huge white building in the background of the picture on the right. It was nice to have an afternoon off to nap, read, and just relax. We enjoyed a fancier dinner this night too. I had mussels and Dave had haggis.
Still fascinated by the heather!
This was the day we walked on the old military road across Rannoch Moor. It was also quite wet this day and by the end of the military road our feet hurt from walking on the hard, sharp rocks. Everyone we talked to this night said how hard the rocks were on their feet.
The moor was incredible though, and so very desolate.
Again, this was a shorter, rainy day so we had time to relax in the afternoon. We enjoyed an afternoon tea with scones and they were delicious!!!
Dave and I stayed in the bunkhouse, which was way cheaper than the hotel, but our accommodations made us laugh. They were very spartan! I had the lower bunk and Dave had the upper one. We had shared bathrooms, which we knew about, and this was the most "hostel like" place we stayed. I enjoyed hot lentil soup for supper while watching the rain fall.
We knew the next day was going to be quite rainy, but thought if we got a later start, we might avoid the worst of it. Spoiler alert: we were wrong. It poured down rain for about five hours straight and I have never been so wet in my entire life. It was so wet, I just started laughing. This was one of the days which Dave found harder though as it was very wet and windy. And we had to climb the Devil's Staircase (which you can read about here. Note: We had absolutely no views this day as it was so rainy and cloudy.) At one point we had to cross a waterfall on the rocks and there was no way anyone's feet were staying dry! I got Dave to take a picture of me beside this rushing stream which also soaked our feet. That's the picture on the right.
 
This was the day I barely ate anything during our five hour hike because it wouldn't have stayed dry. Dave managed to eat a chocolate bar as we walked. At one point the rain was dripping into my eyes so badly, I feared I would lose a contact so I kept wiping the water out of my eyes which really hampered my walking.
 
We survived this day and it was the only day my feet didn't hurt by the end of the day because they were so wet and cold, I couldn't feel them! Hahaha! Also, the picture of my muddy shoes from Day 4 makes me laugh so hard now because my shoes got much much wetter and muddier this day.
After all the rain, I definitely enjoyed the selection of local gin at our stop for the night! I was also excited to see the map which showed how far we had walked, and I was astounded by the sun shining over the mountains at dinner. We had no idea what the views were as we walked because it was so rainy for most of the day.
We woke up early on our last day of walking and, honestly, this day was filled with so much nostalgia. "Get a picture of this because it might be the last one we see." "Do you remember on Day 1 when...?" At first, we had thought this would be the hardest day because it was 15 miles (24 km) with no services -- no bathrooms, nowhere to get water or buy food -- nothing between Kinlochleven and Fort William. But honestly, the day went so fast. We took two or three short-ish snack breaks and we were fine.
How can we be almost done this great adventure?!?!?
 
Some people have asked if it really was as empty as it looked. Some parts of the walk were definitely more crowded like Conic Hill, the Devil's Staircase, around lunch stops, and in and out of towns in the mornings and at night. However, for many parts of the walk it was just Dave and I. We definitely felt like we had the space to take pictures without other people hovering nearby and could talk without being overheard. However, we also felt like if we ever did run into trouble, someone would come across us within half an hour or less. We got to know people at the overnight stops and then we would pass each other the next day as we stopped for lunch or they stopped for a break. So it felt very friendly, but also private, if that makes sense.
Looking down on Fort William, where the walk ended.
The West Highland Way used to end a little before Fort William but now the official end is The Sore Foot Statue in the middle of town. We bought ourselves some finisher's medals and celebrated our accomplishment at the statue!!!
My FitBit stats from the week of walking, not including the last two days of the way. (167 kilometres is about 104 miles.)
We stayed overnight in Fort William and the next day, we took a four hour train ride back to Glasgow. The views of Scotland weren't near as impressive from the train -- hahahaha! Also, remember when I talked about seeing the train as we walked? Well, in the picture on the right, in the middle right, you can see some West Highland Way walkers from the train!
Arriving at the Glasgow train station. We stayed in a hotel near the airport, and the next day we said...
...Farewell to Scotland.
 
We are so thankful we had this opportunity, stayed healthy while we were walking, and had great people/camps for the kids to be with/at. This was a once in a lifetime trip and Dave and I still can't quite believe we did it!!!