Thursday, October 31, 2024

Monthly Musings


1. What do you usually do for Halloween?
We carve some fun pumpkins and the kids go trick or treating. 

2. Favourite fall traditions?
Fall bike rides and hikes to see the leaves. 

3. Milky Way or Snickers? Starburst or Skittles?
If these are my only choices, I'll choose Snickers and Skittles. 

4. Trick or treat or host a party?
Trick or treat. 

5. Handout candy or go with trick or treaters?
I hand out the candy and Dave goes out with the kids.

6. Do you trick or treat on October 31 or on a different day?
October 31.

7. Do you decorate for Halloween?
Yes, we put out a few things, but our yard is nowhere near as full as some of the houses in our neighbourhood. People go all out!!

8. What do you do with leftover Halloween candy?
We eat it! 

9. What are your trick or treat hours?
Kids usually get going by 6:00 and then I'll turn out our light by 8:00.

10. What do you have for dinner on Halloween?
For many years I have made Baked Chicken Tacos.

Linking up with Holly and Patty.

 

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

What's Up Wednesday

 


What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Mummy Dogs and Zombie Brains
Monday - Sausages and sweet potatoes
Tuesday - Quesadillas
Wednesday - Quiche
Friday and Saturday - Out


What I'm reminiscing about...
These cuties on Halloween from years' past. 





What I'm loving...
The fall colours!! I can't get enough, I'm becoming a cliche. 


What I'm dreading...
I am still using Twitter (or X, whatever) and although I do still find it useful and entertaining for some things, I think I'll have to avoid it for the next couple of weeks.  With the US election happening next week, I can get really tired of hearing about all the "hot takes" and would prefer to get my information about the election from the newspaper and TV. 

What we've been up to...
Doing puzzles.  Puzzles are usually reserved for winter, but we started working on one a few weeks ago and are on a third one now.  It's a good way to get the kids engaged in something other than a screen, and Dave and I plug away at it throughout the day too.

What I'm working on...
Checking out high school options for E. We have attended a couple of webinars on how high school works in the Toronto District School Board. It can be way more complicated than just going to the high school for your cachement area, but I think in the end, E will just go to the local French Immersion high school.


 
What I'm excited about...
Although I am not attending the Taylor Swift concert when she comes to Toronto next month, I am sort of excited to see everyone else who will be here for it.  I love a big event when the whole city seems to be excited about something. 

What I'm watching/reading...
We are enjoying the World Series. Usually I am tired of baseball by this time of year but not this time.  We are also watching Maple Leafs Hockey and Raptors Basketball, F1 and football. It's a great time to be a sports fan!
(Canadian!! well, born in the US but holds Canadian citizenship)

I will share my October books on Monday, come back then.

What I'm listening to...
An I Heart New York Playlist - a little Frank Sinatra, a little Jay Z and Alicia Keys. 

What I'm wearing...
A poppy.  It's that time of year where we wear the poppy to recognize those who served in various wars over the years.  I specifically remember my own grandfather who was a member of the RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force). 

What I'm doing this weekend...
Going to New York City :) Lots of walking, eating, and picture taking ahead!

What I'm looking forward to next month...
Time with friends, and the start of the Christmas seasons as some parties are already scheduled for the end of November. 

What else is new...
We got E a new guitar for his 13th birthday, he had been borrowing a neigbour's.  We got a pre-loved one at our local music shop and he loves it.  It's slightly smaller than a regular guitar but is made of real wood.  When we were watching the Tragically Hip Documentary, there is a part when Rob Baker shows us the guitar that his parents gave him when he was 13.  Who knows, maybe E will be showing off this guitar to someone years later and saying the same thing. 



Linking up with Shay.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Weekend Recap

 We had a fun weekend.  I love this time of year.  On Friday we headed downtown to see the show Come From Away.  We got tickets for E for his birthday as he enjoys the music.  Q had (off-season) t-ball training so it was just me and E for pre-theatre dinner.  We ate at Elephant and Castle. 




Dave and Q arrived in lots of time. 



I've seen this show in New York and in Toronto, and we have watched the live version on Apple TV.  But seeing it live again was great. I was ready to sing along but restrained myself.  


It was a beautiful day on Saturday.  Dave was golfing in the annual Pumpkin Scramble.  I got the kids outside to rake a few leaves.  We filled 6 bags but when you look up and see the full trees, it's clear we still have a lot of work ahead of us. 




We walked up the street to get some lunch.  There was a little Halloween festival going on and the boys were able to "trick or treat" at a few of the businesses, even without costumes.

I thought we could get fun Halloween themed doughnuts at Krispy Kreme, but they were all sold out.  So regular classic and sprinkles it was!


We had a relaxing afternoon after that, I read my book, the kids played Legos and watched TV.  E went to Canada's Wonderland with a couple of his friends that night for the Halloween Haunt.  They have season passes for next year but get to use them already for the Halloween and Christmas weekends. 

On Sunday afternoon we went for a walk in High Park with the plan of finding a few geocaches.  I love the colourful leaves!  


First one found!






This tree was more brilliantly orange than this photo shows.











I made mummy meatballs and hot dogs and zombie brains for dinner.  The kids were impressed. 




We didn't get any schoolwork done and only E practiced his music, but you can't do everything!





Monday, October 28, 2024

Real Life

This post was inspired by a reel I saw the other day on Instagram.  (And like any good reel, if I wanted to try and find it again, it would be impossible.). But the gist of it was a shout out to the people living in the real world, not the (wannabe) influencer/celebrity/instagram world.  It spoke to me because even though I have this blog and like to post about what we are up to, I assume you can tell that I’m not really displaying my life the way that others on here do. Sometimes I do wonder if I am the only one who isn’t doing a certain thing, since that’s what my view is of social media, but that reel reminded me that there are lots of us “real ones” out here.  So this post is for you guys! (And this isn’t a slight to those of you who do do these things, you’re living a real life too, it just looks different from mine!!)



Those of us who:

Don’t go to the cosmetic dermatologist to get peels and Botox and injections.  
Don’t own a Stanley cup.
Haven’t had a pedicure for months.
Just got their haircut last week for the first time since January!
Aren’t receiving multiple Amazon parcels each week.
Don’t have a cleaning lady.
Don’t have a perennially clean house. 
Get their books from the library. 
Own just a couple of pairs of jeans (at least one of which is skinny).

If you sometimes get overwhelmed at all the stuff other people are doing, just remember what is important to you and spend your time and money accordingly.  Happy Monday!

Friday, October 25, 2024

Friday Favourites


Happy Friday! 

I'm not great at taking photos of my outfits but the full length mirror in the bathroom at work helped.  This is my Aritzia skirt and turtleneck.  The long sweater is from Winners.  I felt kind of "school-marmy" in this outfit but decided to embrace it. 


It was E's actual birthday on Monday so although we had previously celebrated with his gifts, birthday dinner, and party, we still had to have cupcakes to mark the actual day.


A condo is being built by our house and just recently someone put up these murals at the construction site.  They are so cute!

School photos came back this week, cuties!


Swimming lessons for Q on Wednesday.  


E played at a little Open Mic night put on by his music teacher.  Most of the kids played a small song on the piano, but there were a couple of guitar players, including E.  He did quite well and said he overheard a kid say "that sounded like a real person playing!!"(I guess as opposed to a student who has just learned guitar in the last year!).  (Dave was there too but didn't get a seat!)




I can see the new CIBC building from my office window but I had never walked over to check it out.  I did that yesterday and found some delicious lunch at their fancy food court. 

Then I checked out the outdoor space and saw downtown from a new perspective.




One more October weekend - will probably start some leaf raking, and may try a fun Halloween meal.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.