What's Up Wednesday: September 2026

I mentioned in my last What's Up Wednesday post that we always hit the ground running in September and was that ever true this month! Between work and school, things going on at church and the synagogue, and then some annual community events, we didn't do much else in September, including blogging! The rare moments I was at home I was sleeping or staring into space, gathering energy for the next needed thing. September was a month!

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. 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... Right before school started, I helped my co-worker with a task, and to say thank you, she brought me some fresh garden tomatoes and a bar of chocolate. Inspired, I decided to pull out our electric s'mores maker and, right before school started, we had a night of making s'mores on the deck. We're looking for another quiet evening to make more because it was so much fun! And it's also the first time I can remember that I've really enjoyed s'mores; I even ate two! We were going to pull the maker out again this past weekend but we were all too tired by Sunday night.

 

As I write this post, Sam is cooking supper for tonight. He never tells us ahead of time what he's making so we only know it includes baked potatoes, pasta, sage leaves, and lemon. I love that some nights we're eating whatever the kids are making!

Update: Sam made gnocchi, from scratch, for supper and it was delicious!!! We're so spoiled!

What I'm reminiscing about... It's official. Baseball's post-season started last night and the Jays aren't playing in it. Boo. So I'm reminiscing about how incredibly amazing last October was! It was the best ride ever and we soaked up every minute of it!

 

First ALCS game; October 12 

 

The Jays made it to the World Series; October 20 

 

First World Series game; October 24; This was such a bucket list item for me!

 

I still don't really have the words to describe what last October meant to Canadians. I do recognize that this October, however, I will be getting a lot more sleep! There are good and bad things about your team playing October baseball :)

 

What I'm loving... I'm loving the little touches of fall throughout our house. I bought all of the decorations below at Dollarama because I'm cheap like that! Hahahaha!!!

I'm also loving that we finally got the lights hung around the sliding doors in the living room and I have such cozy lighting each and every morning when I'm drinking my coffee-hot chocolate. 

  

 

What we've been up to... Well, as I said above, September held a lot. Sam started Grade 12 and Rachel started Grade 10.

We celebrated the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rachel and I also biked 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) to church and back as part of a bike bus for Gathering Sunday (the first big Sunday of the fall after summer).

We attended Doors Open and climbed the Pioneer Memorial Tower...

...as well as interacted with a living sculpture in a town near us. This was such a cool thing to experience!

We really enjoyed LUMEN, the festival of light and technology in our uptown...

... and the next day we joined in on the Terry Fox Run (which we walked) to support a kid in our neighbourhood who is fighting brain cancer. His team colours are blue, red, and white so we were dressed in those colours.

This past weekend our street had a party and it was so fun! We helped set up ahead of time, Dave played music during it, the kids baked cookies for homemade ice cream sandwiches as a part of our contribution, and it was just a really great time!

And we enjoyed a meal in the sukkah at the synagogue.

On Sunday, the kids did our weekly grocery shopping (AAAHHH!!!) while Dave and I went to see a play in Stratford with Tim and Janice. 

Did I mention September was full of so many things?!?!?!? 

 

What I'm dreading... Getting stung by a wasp. The wasps are horrible around here right now. They even fly around my face while I'm hanging out laundry. I've never ever been stung by a bee or a wasp so I completely dread it happening.

What I'm working on... Organizing my office, finally! I thought I could get this done before I started back to work, and then I had a goal of getting it done in September. Clearly, I was not being realistic so my new goal is to get it done by the end of October. I started with hanging a bunch of artwork, mostly made by the kids. My goal for my office is bright and cheery and so far, so good!

What I'm excited about... Well, I'm excited the kids did our weekly grocery shopping this past weekend. I'm hoping they'll continue the trend as that's a huge chore off our plates. And I'm excited about every single meal they cook.

 

When we went to LUMEN, we discovered that our local clay and glass gallery has one piece by Dale Chihuly! As you may know, I love his glass work and I cannot believe there is a piece in our local gallery. (And now I just took too long a break from writing this post and spent way too much time trying to figure out how to get to Grand Rapids, Michigan or Venice, Italy to see his latest installations!)

What I'm watching/reading... I don't really know what I've been watching or reading this month. I re-read a few books about September 11th after the 25th anniversary passed a few weeks ago. I had just been to New York City in July 2001, visiting my friend who was working at an office at the UN. One of her housemates was a firefighter (he survived) and so the whole thing just hit really close to home for me. I was in my late 20s and so many of the victims were around the same age as me. Anyways, as I've read some of the books again, I'm learning new things (or possibly re-learning them) and it's just been an interesting, heavy, month of reading.

 

As for watching, I haven't had time to watch much of anything. Since I'm not near as invested in MLB playoffs this year, Rachel and I have plans to start watching some Hallmark movies in October. I don't know if we'll watch some of the fall ones or even start watching Christmas holiday ones really early this year.

 

What I'm listening to... Sam came home from camp and asked Dave to teach him to play guitar. So I've been listening to Sam learn the guitar. Dave also played at our street party this past weekend, and is playing at an upcoming coffeehouse at church, so I've heard a lot of guitar playing this month! 

 

What I'm wearing... I'm not wearing much exciting this month. Some days are warm enough I can wear capris, but some days I've had to pull out a sweater. It's a very in between kind of month.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... Janice and I are doing a girls trip this weekend and I can't wait!!! It's going to be so much fun!!!

What I'm looking forward to next month... Time to slow down! I might participate in a readathon. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving. And I'm hoping to spend some cozy time under a blanket, watching some movies or reading some books. I need to have less happening in October and, thus far, it's looking a little calmer than September was. Phew.

 

So that's what's going on with us this last day of September. I'm very ready for "cozy season" and a little more time to relax. We shall see if I actually get it!