What's Up Wednesday: March 2023

Some months feel so slow but then, before I know it, it's the last Wednesday of the month and time for "What's Up Wednesday." Time is seriously weird the older I get :) This is also hitting me because of "what I'm reminiscing about..." which you can see below.

As always on the last Wednesday of the month, I'm linking up with Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too for this post.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... After a week and a half of road tripping, we are trying to eat more home cooked meals. We had our delayed St Patrick's Day celebrations this past weekend which basically meant I cooked up a batch of Beef & Guinness Stew. This stuff is seriously delicious and I really need to remember to make it at other times of the year.

What I'm reminiscing about... This kid turns fourteen tomorrow. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!?!?! Usually, around this time of year I'm reminiscing about when Sam was a baby, but lately, every once in awhile, he intentionally makes this same face in the mornings when I'm waking him up and it sends me right back to when he was a toddler. I mean, wasn't this just a couple of years ago???

 

See what I mean?!?!? It's the SAME expression!

What I'm loving... Sometimes I'm really good (or lucky!) at Wordle! I don't really love word games but I've been playing Wordle most days (better late than never, right?!?!?) and I enjoy when I do well. Dave does not enjoy when I do well :)

What we've been up to... Well, we were gone for a week and a half so we're trying to get back into routine around here. We've done all the regular things like the kids' activities (badminton, dance, Jr Youth, Hebrew lessons) and puzzles and reading and laundry and working and going to school and...

 

Sometimes I feel a little exhausted by everything that's happening but, this past weekend I was reading my blog posts from Spring 2020 and remembering how stuck we all felt. So I try not to take the busyness for granted or resent it. I want to be grateful for being able to do "all the things" again, even if I feel really tired sometimes.

What I'm dreading... Is it too early to be dreading spring allergies?!? I love almost everything about spring, but the past few years I've been hit hard with allergies and it's been miserable. So I'm trying to soak up everything I love about spring (warmer weather! more light!) before my allergies hit and I'm sneezing and grumpy.

 

What I'm working on... We had a really fun, and full, March Break road trip and I'm trying to get all the blog posts written about it. So far I've documented our day in Philly with Emily (read it here), our road trip days (read it here), and our day at Clearwater Marine Aquarium (read it here). Still to come -- a Blue Jays' spring training game, a mother-daughter-best friend day at Universal Orlando, and heading home, featuring a visit with Erika!

 

What I'm excited about... SPRING!!! Open windows, it's almost laundry hanging season (!!!), and a new doormat. How long until I can buy pansies and plant them in our window boxes?!??! I am just filled with so much joy this time of year (until my allergies hit, that is - hahaha!).

 

Also, TOMORROW IS MLB OPENING DAY!!!! Baseball is back and I am so excited!!! We got a small taste of it over March Break and I can't wait for more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Jays!!!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've watched a few Spring Training baseball games and it just makes me so excited for the upcoming season.

I am participating (unofficially) in The Decades Reading Challenge hosted by The Book Girls (see more about it here) and March is the 1920s. I'm currently reading a book called The Woman's Hour: The great fight to win the vote and it is blowing my mind. We woman have only been able to vote for about 100 years and it's just shocking to me to think that it was such a fight. This book is so interesting and I'm only about halfway through it.

What I'm listening to... On our road trip we started listening to the Sharon Says So podcast. She has rebranded it as "Here's Where It Gets Interesting" and we listened to her episodes about various states. It was so great to listen to each state as we drove through it and all of us, including the kids, were very engaged with them. We listened to the podcasts for 15 states on our trip.

So when we got back, I wanted to listen to her series, "How Women Won World War II." I have been listening as I fold laundry and it's so interesting to me. I've never been a podcast person but I am hooked. Sam did a project on Japenese interment camps in Canada so I might listen to her podcast, "Resilience," which is about the American interment camps, with him next.

All this is to say, when I'm done writing this post, I have about four baskets of laundry to fold and I'm not even sad about it because I'll get to listen to another podcast episode. Hahaha!

What I'm wearing... Well, I was super happy to ditch my socks on our March Break trip but I've had to pull them out again since we've been home. However, I've been wearing my Converse and spring jacket as I've walked to work for the last week or so. They're calling for about 2cm (about an inch) of snow for today so I might have to pull my boots and winter jacket back out, but mostly, I'm excited to wear a lighter jacket and shoes!

 

 

What I'm doing this weekend...  I don't even know. I should probably figure that out. Hopefully I'll be able to read a few books and do another puzzle. Isn't my life sooooo exciting?!?!?!?

What I'm looking forward to next month... Easter! Passover! Laundry hanging! A four day weekend! There's quite a bit to look forward to in April :)

What I bought on Amazon... We actually bought something on Amazon again this month! As I've mentioned before, we rarely buy things on Amazon but, when we stopped at Erika's she had satin pillowcases for the kids, and they LOVED them! So I ordered some for them when we got home. Rachel's are the purpley ones and Sam got navy. You can find them here. The kids are thrilled!

 

What else is new... Earlier this year, my blog friend, Bekah (find her here), linked to this blog post about spring potpourri. Well, you all know how much I love my Christmas potpourri, so I had to try one of these out. I made the grapefruit/mint/ginger one last night and Rachel commented right away how much she loved it. I had it simmering on the stove all evening. I'll have to let you know what I think of it after a few days but I'm really loving how our house smells right now -- part of that might be the open windows too!

Also, I've enjoyed eating some of the grapefruit as I had to buy a whole bag of them. I guess you could add that to "what we're eating this week..." as well :)

Happy Wednesday to you! Are you fully into spring weather where you live or is winter still hanging on? It feels like spring and winter are fighting it out over here and, while spring is mostly winning, there's still a little too much winter (cold and snow) for my liking. So if spring has clearly won the fight in your area, enjoy it a little extra for me today :)