Falling For Fall

For a few weeks there I was wondering if we were going to get an actual Fall this year. Our weather was unusually warm and the leaves were stubbornly green. However, like a bolt from the blue, all of a sudden last week, our leaves changed and everywhere I looked, fall splendour was on display. So, what follows is a (mostly) wordless post of our incredible fall colours. PS. These pictures were all taken around our yard, or within a twenty minute walk of our house. I didn't even have to look that hard for fall.

Our backyard maple before all the leaves fell off. We spent a lot of time this past weekend raking.

Fall on our street.

My walk to work.

Brilliant colours on the way home from work.

 

How has your fall been?

Three Things

When I saw that Dara at Not In Jersey wrote a "three things" post earlier this week, I knew I had the idea for my next blog post! See Dara's post here. Read on to discover three things about each of us right now, with accompanying silly pictures :) (I got the kids' input on this post so this is all posted with permission. Just wanted to clarify.)

Rachel

1) Rachel's life is all about dance right now! She has six and a half hours of classes, she has 45 minutes of assistant teaching, and on the weekends, she has been preparing for three different shows (which adds approximately another four hours of dance every week). She is currently on a weekend road trip with her dance bestie and her mom to perform in a city about three hours away from here. Did I mention it's all about dance?!?!?!

2) When she's not at dance, Rachel loves baking, specifically chocolate chip cookies. As those are some of my favourite cookies, I am fully on board with this!

3) Rachel has had a couple of orthodontist appointments this month so, unfortunately, she's been dealing with braces pain. Sam was rarely bothered by his appointments but Rachel lives on smoothies and sorbet for a few days after each appointment. I had braces forty years ago and I still remember the ache in my mouth after a tightening appointment so I can sympathize.

Sam

1) Well, it took a bit of extra time, but I feel like Sam has turned into a typical teenager. He's got an active social life this fall. Specifically, he and his friends meet up at the neighbourhood park and ride around on their bikes at night. Today after school, they're all biking "somewhere to get Hallowe'en costumes, so can I have some money, Mom?" I love it!

2) If he's not riding around on his bike with his friends, he's playing soccer in our backyard. The other night we had about half an hour before dance and I went out and kicked the ball around with him. It was really fun! Sam has just started a fall league so I'll be watching him on the soccer fields for the next few weeks too!

3) Sam has also been doing a lot of dishes recently. This is a part of his life he's not as thrilled with! (And lest you think Sam is carrying the bulk of the household chores, Rachel has folded more than a few baskets of laundry and helped out with cooking supper a lot recently.)

Dave

1) Dave has taken someone to a teeth related appointment four times in the past two weeks. Between the kids' orthodontist appointments and his own dentist appointment, Dave is just thankful I'm toothily independent! Hahaha!

2) Dave has been reading more these days. He's read three or four books since the end of September which is unusual for him. He almost always has a book on the go, but except for being in Saskatchewan, rarely devours a bunch of books at once!

3) Dave has been spending a lot of time figuring out phones. He's our family tech person and he had to reset his work phone (which is his only phone) earlier this month so that was frustrating. Thankfully, it's all back to normal now. He'll be in phone purgatory for a bit longer as we just discovered that my and Sam's phone company is going out of business in a month. So he'll be figuring that out over the next few weeks.

Me

1) I am working on reading some very overdue library books. I mostly read on my Kobo but once in awhile, I get library books. And then I don't read them in a timely fashion. My most overdue book should have been returned to the library 46 days ago. Our library got rid of fines during Covid, which is clearly not great for me :) Thankfully, it's a readathon this weekend so I'll have lots of time to get my library books read, and returned to the library.

2) Sam provided this thing about me: "Mom has high expectations for her family which we don’t live up to due to inherent laziness." I laughed so hard because this sums up my family frustrations in a nutshell! Hahaha! By the way, my "high expectations" are things like putting their laundry away, getting to school on time, helping around the house, cleaning up after themselves, taking a shower in a timely manner -- you know, "high expectations" like that!

3) Lest you think Sam and Rachel are the only people in our family with active extracurricular activities, I am joining a staff-student volleyball intramural team!!! We have a new Phys Ed teacher this year and she is trying to encourage some staff-student mingling so a bunch of staff are going to play on volleyball teams with students at lunch breaks. Since my lunch break is during one of the student lunch breaks, I agreed to play. This could be a lot of fun or a complete disaster. Stay tuned to hear the results/find out if I get injured :)

So that's three things currently going on with each of us. This was a fun post to write and I'm going to try to do them more often. I think my last "three things" post was in January 2021 and you can read it here.

Happy Friday, and happy weekend, everyone!!!

Real Life Update

I've alluded to the fact a few times that my fall has been hard. And in my What's Up Wednesday post for September, I mentioned I was dreading some work stuff. Well, the work stuff has passed and I've decided to write some of it out.

As many of you know I am a middle school secretary (Gr 7 & 8 in our province) at a school not far from our house. I really do love my job, most of the time. In Canada, school is funded partially by the province and partially by local taxes. However, those taxes are distributed evenly so every school in Ontario receives the same amount of funding per student. I don't know all the ins and outs of the funding formula but, for some reason, our local board has a fairly significant deficit. And this has trickled down to the local schools.

In mid-September the principals found out that there was going to be a significant reorganization happening due to the funding deficit. This meant collapsing classes (so that class sizes would be larger) and some teachers losing their jobs. Four people at our school knew we were going to have to reorg, and that we would be losing a young, favourite teacher. And we also knew that these reorgs were going to be widespread.

So on top of all the impending chaos coming at my school, I had no idea how these changes might affect Rachel as well. The only person I could talk about this with was Dave, as I didn't know if any of my friends' kids would be affected (and they were), so I couldn't talk about it with them. It was basically two and a half weeks of knowing some major changes were coming down the pike and having to pretend everything was normal -- both at work and in my regular life. It was a very hard two and a half weeks. Plus, I wanted to cry every time I had to interact with the person I knew was losing their job.

On top of all this, once the final decisions were made, I was the person who had to make all the changes of moving students from class to class in a very short amount of time. Needless to say I was very stressed as this all came down the pike, plus sad about losing the teacher.

The transition happened a week ago, and thankfully the bulk of the work I had to do went quite smoothly, although it was an intense day of making it all happen. And then last Tuesday was like the first day of school all over again with new classes, new class schedules, and everyone trying to figure out how to navigate this all.

And although Rachel mentioned that a teacher at her school was gone, Rachel's class wasn't affected and her teachers are all the same, so that was a huge relief.

I am hoping now that this big impending thing is done, work will calm down and I will come home at night less exhausted, with more energy for things at home -- laundry, yard work, cooking, and yes, blogging. Thanks for hanging in with me as I've been mostly absent in blog world. I hope that changes over the next weeks.

10 On The 10th: October 2024

I thought October 10th was going to be a regular, boring day of work and folding laundry but it actually turned out to be one of the more memorable experiences of my life. The Northern Lights were out and we saw an incredible show! However, ten (somewhat blurry) pictures of Northern Lights could be a bit much, so I am continuing with my original idea. On October 12 & 13, we took a very quick road trip to New York state to watch Willem compete in a disc golf tournament with his college team,

Besides watching disc golf, we also stopped at Panera once, Target twice, and Trader Joe's once. We had some fun shopping! I found Sharon McMahon's new book, The Small and the Mighty and Sam found some equally important turkey slippers! Hahahahaha!!!

The morning of the disc golf tournament was rainy but the fall colours were on full display.

Although Rachel is holding two umbrella here, it wasn't too bad and we stayed fairly dry, except for our feet.

The disc golf course was in a park ringed with woods so some baskets were in the woods and some were on a more open field, with some large trees as obstacles. We didn't quite know what to expect but we just followed Willem and his team from hole to hole, trying to stay out of the way. We got to talk with Willem way more than we expected to but also tried to respect his space and concentration.

It was actually so fun to see disc golf played well (as opposed to how we do it! Hahaha!) and also to be having a morning walk in the woods. Also, we really appreciated that Willem's college coach came and talked with us a few times, explaining what was going on and sharing in the excitement.

After the tournament with Willem!

After the disc golf tournament, we grabbed some Starbucks to warm up. Since we had done some shopping, we had to be in the US for at least 24 hours, and we were close to the Pennsylvania border, so we drove to Pennsylvania to eat lunch at Sheetz and so Dave could mail his US ballot. He could have mailed it from Canada but decided to mail it in the US since we were there anyways.

 

And that was our super fun, super short, trip to the US.

 

And for those of you who missed seeing my Northern Lights pictures on Instagram, here's a bonus picture just for you:

Share Our Lives: Sweet Tooth Cravings

I think I start every blog post this way these days but, phew, has it been a week! And yes, we just had our Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada but I am so ready for this weekend. We have very few plans and I can't wait! This week has been extra busy because it's parent viewing at dance, and we've been supporting a friend who had surgery last week, so I've been going from thing to thing to thing all week. Which is why I'm only posting about my "sweet tooth cravings" with the "Share Our Lives" bloggers today. (I'm forcing myself to stay awake for an extra half hour on Thursday night to get this post done! I'm so tired.) Also, the "Share Our Lives" bloggers are Sarah, Dara, Joanne, Adrienne, and Jen. (Click on each name to go their blogs.)

As we were driving home from a quick road trip on Sunday, I was telling Dave how much I was struggling with this prompt. I couldn't think of what sweet things I crave. Dave commented, "You're just not a sweets eater" and it's true. However, I do drink a lot of sweet drinks throughout the day -- I start with my coffee-hot chocolate and I regularly have an afternoon Coke (regular Coke, none of the diet, Coke Zero for me). So I get a lot of sugar throughout the day (and we can discuss how unhealthy that is in a different blog post - hahaha!).

I really love my Coke mixed with lime juice to get it a little more tart and I always get my Starbucks drinks "half sweet" (or "two pumps" in the US). 

But when I do want something sweet, here is what I reach for:

1) Cookies -- specifically chocolate chip (preferably homemade) or Holly's Applesauce Jumbles (recipe here) around the holidays. I also like a good, regular Oreo (not the double stuffed ones though).

Rachel made green chocolate chip cookies for St Patrick's Day this year!

2) Ice cream -- I love going to our local ice cream shop (especially in the summer) or having milkshakes when we're visiting my parents.

 

3) Raspberry tartlets -- I love a good tart with raspberries!

4) Sweet pickles -- I really love sweet pickles. We buy a mix that also has cauliflower and baby onions and they're so good!!!

See, with my last "sweet craving" I'm veering off into salty ones too, and that's really my downfall -- chips, pickles, Cheetos -- I will reach for those over sweet pretty much anytime. As long as I don't have to drink them :)

I'm looking forward to reading all of your posts, hopefully this weekend. Maybe as I read them I'll realize I like sweets more than I claim too! What's your preference -- sweet or salty???

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!

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.

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.