What's Up Wednesday: August 2023

August, oh August, why do you do this to us??? I headed back to work after my summer break last week and then, two days into my work week, Dave and Rachel came down with Covid (our second go around with it), so that sent the entire rest of the month off the rails. I came down with Covid this past weekend and Sam, either by a) having a strong immune system or b) being a teenager who spends all his time in his room, has managed to avoid it. So that's been our life lately.

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 their What's Up Wednesday post.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... For the past few days, I've been surviving on lemonade and green grapes. Nothing else appeals. Between Dave and I taking turns being sick, we've also been eating a lot of take out because when just one of us is managing all the other things, plus work, who has time to cook?!? Thankfully, the kids have also stepped up and cooked. Sam made omelettes one night and Rachel made homemade pizza and chocolate chip cookies. This weekend we'll get on a better cooking and grocery shopping schedule but for these past few weeks we've been in survival mode.

 

When I'm not sick, I've been eating a lot of my favourite kale salad, loosely inspired by this recipe here.

What I'm reminiscing about... I'm reminiscing about when we didn't have Covid! Hahaha!

 

No, really, I've been reminiscing about how different this summer was from previous summers. Some of our summer staples just didn't happen this summer and I don't know if this summer in particular was a one off or if we've moved into a new stage of summer. I'm going to write a blog post about this (eventually) but parts of this summer just felt very unusual. Here are a few things we didn't do much of:

Unfortunately, we didn't spend much time at the pool.

No pool treats and no tennis lessons.

We've hardly gone for ice cream.

We didn't visit many food trucks.

We've rarely gone to the library.

These were previously staples of our summers and I guess I'm just not sure if we're done with these activities or if we just didn't get to them this summer.

 

What I'm loving... A few years ago, I had a flower share through our CSA but that farmer hasn't been around for awhile. These past few weeks our CSA has had a new flower farmer who has been sharing her gorgeous bouquets. I'm loving getting one (or, let's be honest, two!) of her bouquets every week.

What we've been up to... August was a weird mix of things because I was on summer break for two-thirds of the month, but then I've been back at work (and sick) for a third of the month too.

August started with Sam being at camp and Rachel and I being on our mother-daughter trip to New York City. You can read about my and Rachel's trip here and here if you want to know more.

 

Then we had some family fun at home visiting a sunflower farm and enjoying a unique light installation...

 

...and Dave and I enjoyed a fun date night learning to cook Italian cuisine.

Rachel headed off to her week of camp and Sam and I headed out on a baseball tour of Missouri, where we also got to spend some time with my aunt. I'm hoping to blog about my and Sam's trip next week so stay tuned.

And before she got Covid, Rachel was attending a cooking camp and loving learning more kitchen skills.

What I'm dreading... A big spider has taken up residence in the day lilies by my clothesline and I dread every time I need to hang laundry by it. I think it's a yellow garden spider, and not poisonous, but it still freaks me out. It's rather large. Yuck.

What I'm working on... I'm trying to wrap my head around our fall schedule. Rachel has over seven hours of regular dance classes but her additional performance opportunities will add an extra four hours a week to her schedule. She is also doing religious school at the synagogue this year after taking a break from it last year. Sam has a couple of weekly sports plus a weekly night at church.

 

And this doesn't include anything they might be interested in doing through school. With Rachel going into middle school, and Sam going into high school, there will be new opportunities for them there that I want them to be able take advantage of, if they choose. It's going to be a full Fall and while I'm excited about it, it's also a little overwhelming.

What I'm excited about... Honestly, I'm excited about getting back into a routine. While I love the lazy, unstructured days of summer with more free time, I'm looking forward to having a weekly family rhythm again, even if it might be a little crazy!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've been watching the Blue Jays, once in awhile. They're fighting for a post-season spot and I really hope they can make it into the Wild Card. I have a feeling September baseball is going to be stressful this year :(

 

I've been reading through Karen Kingsbury's Baxter series, among other things. I'm almost finished with the Baxters and so I have to figure out what to read next while I wait for some holds to come in.

 

What I'm listening to... Through one of the blog linkups I participate in, someone mentioned the "Summer Hits of the 80s" playlist on Spotify. I've been listening to that as I do dishes and bake. It's the perfect "getting stuff done" playlist. I highly recommend it, especially if, like me, you were a teenager in the 80s!

What I'm wearing... Pajamas! That's all I've worn for five days. I'm looking forward to getting dressed in actual clothes today. Unfortunately, our "high" today is only 18C/64F so I might have to pull out pants. Boo. Thankfully this is just a blip and it's supposed to warm up again (highs of 30C/84F) by this weekend which is much more normal for this time of year.

What I'm doing this weekend... We'll be trying to get back on top of things after over a week of sickness and lack of parental energy. I'm hoping to bake more muffins as my "back to school" muffin baking was derailed by Covid and work. I'm going for a walk with my best friend before she temporarily moves to the US for a few months (something else I'm dreading -- ahh). And, after reminiscing about how this summer was different than other years, the kids now want to go get ice cream!

 

 

What I'm looking forward to next month... I'm looking forward to the Lumen festival! I love this festival of light and technology in our uptown and I'm so excited about it!

What I bought on Amazon... Nothing. I haven't been buying anything lately.

 

I hope you're all having a good end to your month and that September treats you well. September is going to be insane around here so I'm just buckling in for a crazy ride and hoping to hang on :)