Welcome to the January 2021 version of What's Up Wednesday. As always, 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.
I have to say that 2021 isn't starting off better for us as our province is in a complete lock down, the kids have been learning from home since the beginning of January (and will be continuing that for at least another two weeks), our next door neighbours have started a major renovation which is extremely loud, and I have clearly hit the Covid wall. (You can read a good article about this idea here.)
I'm hoping by February's What's Up Wednesday, things will be looking a little better but this January has been hard. With that caveat, let's move on to what's up with us this January (spoiler alert: not much).
image from here
What we're eating this week... A man in our church bakes pies to encourage people. Normally, he makes them for organizations who are working towards social justice or for charities, especially ones related to our denomination. However, since the beginning of January, he has been baking them for families of elementary aged kids in our congregation because we're all doing online learning right now. When he called last week and asked if he could drop off a freshly baked apple pie for our family, I burst into tears because I was so touched. So we've been eating pie this week.
Also, Sam has really been into eating seaweed lately. I buy packages of it at the grocery store and he eats a package every day. The rest of us can't stand it so he likes to breathe on us once he's eaten it. So yes, pie and seaweed -- that describes our family's January!
What I'm reminiscing about... Our Disney Cruise! We went on an amazing Disney cruise with my parents last January and it was amazing! You can read about it starting here. Also, when we landed at the airport and were waiting to go through customs, we saw people who had gotten off flights from China wearing masks. I commented to Dave, "What's going on in China?!?!?!" and that was my first ever introduction to Covid, although it was a probably another month before it hit our news.
What I'm loving... When I was putting together my January goals (you can read them here), Rachel asked if we could have a weekly games night. We decided to make it a "weekly take out and games night" so we could put the cooking and dishes doing time into playing games instead and it has become a highlight of our week! Each person gets to "host" a night, deciding what sort of food we'll be ordering and which games we'll be playing. It's been so fun and having one person in charge cuts down on a lot of fighting decision making!
What we've been up to... Working and learning from home, doing puzzles, going for outdoor walks, playing games, celebrating Dave's birthday, and trying to stay sane :)
We've also followed a few online creative suggestions like making snowman pizzas and stained glass cookie art. We're happy to try anything that might be fun and help pass the time!
What I'm dreading... I'm dreading how long this current lock down will last. I'm dreading how long the kids might be off school. I'm dreading what new restrictions Covid might bring our way and how long they will last.
In non-Covid dread news, you may, or may not, know that I still print out pictures and put them in photo albums. I know, I'm so old-fashioned. Well, for the past number of years we've printed our pictures at Costco but they have decided to close their photo centres. So now I need to find a new place to print our pictures. I want inexpensive but good quality. Wal-Mart for instance, is cheap but the quality sucks. So I'm dreading having to find a new place to print photos. I HATE change. Ugh.
What I'm working on... Staying on top of laundry. This was our bed on Sunday evening. Yikes!
Also, since our school closures (and thus online learning) have been extended indefinitely, we're working on figuring out a healthy routine. What we could let slide for one week (living in pajamas and not getting enough exercise) was not sustainable long term. Thus, every afternoon, to get a break from screens and the major construction noises coming from next door, I've implemented an hour of outside time. So we're working on getting dressed, leaving our rooms, and getting outside every day. Some of us are doing better with this than others of us.
What I'm excited about... Honestly, these days I'm not excited about much. I guess I'm excited that the 24in48 Readathon is back in a couple of weekends. I'm looking forward to a whole weekend of getting a lot of reading done. I'm excited that my latest Covid test came back negative. Whoo hoo!
And given that it's winter, I'm excited about tulips! I've been buying a couple of bunches of them every week and they make me smile.
What I'm watching/reading... Honestly, these days I'm not watching much of anything, unless you count these Walk At Home videos. If you're exercising though, does that count as watching?
As for reading, I am planning on doing a January book review blog post next week but (spoiler alert!) I've either been reading Lisa Kleypas' regency romances or anti-racism books -- there is no middle ground. I also read this book this past weekend and, despite having misgivings about the premise, I LOVED the book. Have you read it? What did you think?
What I'm listening to... As I'm writing this, Dave and the kids are doing dishes and Rachel is playing all the songs from "Sing" as their accompaniment. Those songs are actually pretty good and it's a nice break from Frozen 2 which is what she usually picks.
What I'm wearing... I'm either wearing work clothes, workout clothes, or pajamas. Hahaha! I've been trying to stay on top of exercise and get a good walk, or a workout video, in every day, so I've been wearing a lot of work out clothes.
What I'm doing this weekend... Housecleaning. We really need to do some housecleaning. We're also hopefully going for a long walk to a bakery to get croissants to celebrate Croissant Day on Saturday.
What I'm looking forward to next month... Hopefully our kids will get to go back to school in person and some of our restrictions will lift. Hopefully... Also, the 24in48 readathon is happening the first weekend in February so I'm excited about participating in that. And hopefully Spring Training will start and we'll get to listen to/watch some Blue Jays baseball, although that isn't scheduled to start until February 27th so it's pushing it to say "next month."
What else is new... Nothing. We're just getting through one day at a time over here.
The pie baking - how sweet!!! I love that take out and game night -- so hard to be in a routine when stuck at home, hang in there!!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for the strict lockdowns. I do hope they lift soon as well.
ReplyDeleteOkay first of all, that pie is BEAUTIFUL (says the girl who can't bake pies to save her life)...and what a touching gesture! I loved that story! I spy some Leslie Sansone in there! :) I told Ryan just yesterday that it was a blessing to all of us that we didn't know when the lockdown started that it would go this long, or we might have lost hope from the start. Sending big air hugs your way and encouraging you that you are are doing a GREAT job in making the most of the situation at hand! (I'd be up for take out and game night, even though I would lose ALL the games.)
ReplyDeleteI hope that things get better there! And that the lockdown ends soon. I have heard mixed things on The Book of Longings - glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteYour pics of tulips keep inspiring me- I added some last week but I think I need to pick up more! Looks like a great month :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that I inspired you to buy tulips. I'm definitely on the "more" side of having flowers around!
DeleteHang in there, you're doing a great job, even if you feel like you're not. That's how I feel too.
ReplyDeleteWe have our game night tomorrow but we haven't picked food or games, I like the idea of everyone taking turns!
I think everyone taking turns with the games nights are what is keeping them fun. Otherwise there would be way too much arguing about what we're eating/playing.
DeleteOne day at a time is about all we can muster over here. I am trying to do a little deep cleaning room by room. And decluttering. Although I got derailed last week but back at it again.
ReplyDeleteI thought the puzzle with the popsicles was actually popsicles on a table top. I was envisioning the mess it was making and cringing. Had to do a doubletake.
My daughter wants to go to Disney in March but I wish she would wait. She wants us to go too but I just don't know if it is the time to be in a place with a zillion strangers. Your reminiscing is bitter sweet I am sure.
That pie is so sweet!! (pun not intended). I am totally going to steal that take out/game night idea but maybe make it just once a month thing. That sounds so fun.
ReplyDeleteIt really has become a highlight of our month!
DeleteI struggle with wearing real clothes - I workout almost every day AND work from home - there just doesn't seem to be much point in putting on 'real clothes', but I also don't want to look sloppy, ugh. I have bought some new workout clothes more recently which has helped to feel a little bit put together ha. I love the game and takeout night - how fun! That would be really hard for us to do with the age span of our kids...but still seems fun!
ReplyDeleteI love the sentiment behind the pie. It's such a small thing yet such a big thing!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, work out clothes! A year ago it was frowned upon to wear jeans to work. They relaxed the dress code with the pandemic and now I've gone straight to sweat pants! Can't tell you the last time I wore real pants!
Sam was reading this comment over my shoulder and started laughing. He can't remember the last time he wore real pants either! It might have been for our family pictures at the beginning of November.
DeleteBless that pie-making man's heart. What an amazing human. I love people like that so much and wish there were more of them in the world.
ReplyDelete