What's Up Wednesday: September 2024

September has been one of those months, where if my head wasn't attached to my shoulders, I would have left it in 27 different places. There have been many days when I come home from work late, am home for fifteen minutes, and then head out again for the evening. It's just this past week where I've enjoyed two nights in a row at home. I'm telling you, September is NUTS.

I really do love answering the What's Up Wednesday questions every month. I like how they help me reflect on the past month and I love having a monthly record of what we've been up to. I go back and re-read these posts often. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... We bought a bunch of fruit at Costco early in September, for a specific purpose, and then that purpose changed on us and we ended up having to eat all the fruit ourselves. And now we're a little addicted to Costco fruit -- blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries -- they're all purchases in a weekly Costco trip this month. We've also been eating a lot of raisins this month. Again, I don't know how this started but we've gone through a huge bag of them this month.

What I'm reminiscing about... I don't know what I've been reminiscing about. I've been too focused on keeping all the balls in the air in the present to spend time reminiscing this month. That's kind of sad, isn't it?

 

What I'm loving... My best friend, Janice, and I have been getting together weekly and I've been loving having a regular time with her. We make supper together, we go for a walk, and we just get to catch up on life. Janice is out of town for the next few weeks and I will miss our weekly evenings together until she gets back.

 

Another thing I've been loving is that we made a connection with someone who lives three minutes away from us and their daughter has a similar dance schedule to Rachel so we've started some carpooling!!! Yay! Yay! Yay for less driving!!!

What we've been up to... Well, the kids started school and that's been going well, thus far. With the start of school, my days got exponentially busier but I think I'm getting some space to breathe again. Or at least go to the bathroom on a semi-regular basis during the school day, so that's a good sign!

We've had "meet the teacher" night, "kick off to dance season" meetings, and all the other "start of the school year" things going on.

Rachel, Dave, and I checked out a roller skating popup in one of our public squares, randomly ran into friends from church, and went for ice cream this past weekend. That was really fun! 

It was Doors Open in our region this past weekend so Dave, Rachel, and I took the ION to tour the ION Maintenance Facility. That was really interesting! We got to see the control centre for the whole ION system, see where they perform nightly maintenance on the trains, and even sit in the drivers seat. I also discovered that to be an ION driver you just need a general license and five years of a clean driving record so I think I've found my next job! Hahaha!!!

This past weekend was LUMEN, one of our favourite nights of the year, in our uptown. This festival of light, art, and technology is always so amazing and this year did not disappoint!

What I'm dreading... I can't talk about the thing I'm actually dreading just yet but if you could say some extra prayers for me, I would really appreciate it. It's work related and that's all I can say about it right now.

What I'm working on... I'm working on all the start of school things -- getting forms out to families to be signed, trying to collect all the information I need to gather, doing the "start of year" training, and all the other things which come with the start of a new school year. And then, as a parent, I have to fill out all the forms, attend the "meet the teacher" nights, and ensure I've provided all the details the schools are asking for. I get to experience both sides of the coin and it's a lot!

What I'm excited about... We're actively working on trying to empower the kids to do more around the house. When it works well (Sam has cooked supper and done many rounds of dishes this month and Rachel has baked muffins, updated the family calendar, and cooked supper this month), I get really excited. When it doesn't work well, there is more frustration than excitement :)

 

 

What I'm watching/reading...We've gotten into a really lovely Sunday evening routine where we eat a simple dinner and watch a Hallmark movie, while I fold all the laundry which has accumulated throughout the week. Then on Monday nights, I put all the folded laundry on our bed and everyone puts it away. Rachel and I have been (mostly) enjoying the "Fall Into Love" Hallmark movies.

This night we had charcuterie for supper. It was delicious and Rachel mostly assembled it.

 

As for reading, I just finished People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn for my book club last night. This was a very thought provoking book and now Dave is reading it.

 

What I'm listening to... For some reason, both kids are teaching themselves Italian with DuoLingo and then speaking to each other in Italian. So, randomly, I've been hearing a lot of Italian this month. This will come in handy if we ever go to Italy! Hahahahaha!

What I'm wearing... On one of our nights together, Janice gave me a cardigan she no longer likes. And it has a hood! I love it and have been wearing it a lot this month.

What I'm doing this weekend... We're going to synagogue services, Sam has a youth-mentor lunch at church, Rachel has dance, we'll be watching a Hallmark movie and folding laundry, I might bake buns -- it's going to be a (somewhat) relaxed weekend as we have no big plans, which is nice.

What I'm looking forward to next month... We have a couple of one night road trips planned which I'm really looking forward to. Also, we're getting some pretty fun neighbours at the end of the month!!! Yay!

So that's what's been up with us in September. I'm hoping October will be a little more chill and that I will feel more on top of things soon.