Whoa! Wait... Wednesday

When you haven't blogged in so long, your last post was basically junk, it's good to start with something that gives your readers (if there are any of you still out there!), a brief look into your current reality. So here goes...

 

image from here

What we're eating this week... I've been enjoying making lots of different kinds of muffins lately. I even dedicated an entire Pinterest board to my new obsession. Pictured below are three kinds I made for our care group gathering this past Monday -- Lemon Raspberry, Banana Chocolate Chip, and Apple Cranberry Oatmeal. Yum!

What I'm reminiscing about... I read a book (see "What I'm reading..." below) that inspired me to finally work on finishing our Southern Road Trip photo book. Besides the fact that it was such a fun trip that I want to remember, I'm shocked to see how little Sam and Rachel were. Look at these babies:

 

What I'm loving... I've been loving sharing Harry Potter with Sam, through the illustrated editions, and how Rachel's reading has been taking off lately. It just clicked for her a few weeks ago and it's been amazing to see a whole new world open up for her.

What we've been up to... We just finished the Family Day long weekend and the weather gave us an early taste of Spring! Yay! To celebrate, we wore sunglasses, spring coats, and had our first Family Festival of Fun and Frappes (as we dubbed them last year) of the season. It was so fun!

What I'm dreading... My work is going to have a professional photo shoot for our new website on Monday. The words "jewel tones," "make up," and "business attire" have been used. I'm super nervous about this as I don't have jewel-toned business attire and I haven't worn make up since Hallowe'en 1997. I'm not even joking about that. Wish me luck and pray a whole bunch of prayers for me -- I'm going to need them.

If you'd asked me this morning, I would have had said I was dreading my dentist appointment but I've already had it and I have no cavities so life is good!

What I'm working on... The Southern Road Trip photo book mentioned above and clearing out my personal e-mail inbox. A few days ago it had 715 e-mails in it with 71 unread. As of today it's down to 147 e-mails with 25 unread. It's getting there. I even deleted a ton of useless e-mails and folders.

What I'm excited about... My parents are coming to visit next week and we haven't told the kids. We're going to let them just discover that my parents are here the next morning. I can't wait to see Sam and Rachel's faces!!!

What I'm watching/reading... As I alluded to above, I read a really great book earlier this week called, "Get Your Sh*t Together." I'd seen it on some other readers' Instagram feeds and I was curious. While I'm not a huge fan of the title, nor the use of profanity throughout the book (you have been warned), some of the principles applied to me, even though I didn't think they would. Let's just say it spurred me on to deal with my overwhelming e-mail inbox.

After the "Year In The Life" Gilmore Girls' revival, I wanted to watch the entire series again. So I've been working my way through that, one season at a time. I get them from the library so I binge watch an entire season in a week, and then take a few weeks off. I just finished Season Two and I've realized I'm absolutely not #teamjess. Argh.

What I'm listening to... My favourite radio station switched to a Virgin Radio Station (which I hate), in early August and it took me awhile to find a new one. I happened to find a new one about two months ago and it plays music from the 80s and 90s so I feel like I'm a teenager again, discovering all my old favourites. Yay for good new radio stations.

And starting this Saturday (YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!), we'll be listening to the Blue Jays play on the radio again. Whoooooo hoooo for baseball season starting. And yes, we listen to them play on the radio, because as my blog friend, Erika, once commented, supposedly we live in the 1930s. And this quote from "The Sky Is Everywhere" by Jandy Nelson, just confirms it! Ha!

What I'm wearing... I dreamed about, and thought about, them for months, and I finally bought a pair of Hunter rain boots with my Christmas money. I unintentionally bought a pair which matched our car! However, I have been loving them and am so glad I splurged :)

What I'm doing this weekend... On Friday night we're meeting with our financial advisor -- fun times. After ignoring their letters for almost a year, I finally decided to make an appointment. Gah. (Can you tell I'm looking forward to it?! Ha!).

On Saturday night Dave and I have a date night at the symphony. I'll also be trying to clean the house for my parents' visit without the kids wondering why I'm going on a HUGE cleaning spree. Ha!

 

What I'm looking forward to next month... My parents' visit technically starts with about an hour left in February but I'm counting it as "next month." I'm also looking forward to going to see our friends' three daughters in three different plays. And we're going to spend a fun weekend in Toronto exploring the sights to kick off March Break.

What else is new... My parents gave Sam a calendar where he draws a picture a day, and his illustrations always bring me great joy! Pictured below: a ketchup stain (top) and a pizza party (bottom)!

I decided to put my blogging "disclaimer" at the bottom. I'm not promising to return to regular blogging, but I do miss this space. I miss recording our family's memories. I miss connecting with all of you -- if you're still around anymore :) So I am promising to try and update more than every four months. We'll see how that goes...

Thanks for reading.