Back to school // new schedule // upcoming logistical challenges

This week feels like a practice week for Autumn.

Ezra started yesterday at 9am (normal time) and Lily had a late start at 9:15... although for some reason it was in our calendar as 9:30 so Lily was late on her first day of school.  Oops.  

Luckily there are a lot more school days ahead of her to not be late.

We practiced getting out the door on time (I gave us a 3/10 on stress)

This week I am packing 3 days of lunches and already remembering why we do not want to pack lunch every day.  Lily doesn't like mango, but does like Apple. Ezra doesn't like ham and the school has a no nut policy.  

Ezra has 3 loose teeth and doesn't want anything crunchy.  Neither kid eats veggies in lunch and I have given up on packing them.

Thinking about school lunches for two kids is a lot. Next week we will get school dinners 3 days a week.

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Next week I start my new job.  I am excited but I am also nervous - this is a very nebulously defined role that I have wanted for years.  I actually applied for it in July 2023, and didn't get it, and was a bit sad about it.

I've asked for four 8 hour days in the new role and this feels like a big jump from my current 7 hour days. Probably because it is a 10% jump in hours.  I'll be starting work at 8am, which is exactly when our nanny gets in, and also when Andy leaves for his work. Not sure that was a great idea, but it should keep us on schedule, or create wild chaos and friction.

Thing to do: Plan out an "ideal week"

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My half marathon training is getting more tricky for two fall reasons:

1 - It is wet.  Apparently Wales got news summer is over and said HERE IS ALL THE RAIN and now it's rained every day for a week.  Running in the rain kind of sucks.

2 - It is dark.  My running time was 5:30am. I don't like running in the dark.  Now it's dark until 6am.  I can still run from 6am until about 6:45 but next week that's going to be too late to then get kids to school and get to work at 8am.

Ideas?

Run in the evenings (yuck)

Run at lunch break (not quite enough time)

Run in the morning and get wet and it's dark (really yuck)

I guess if I'm choosing between "yuck" and "really yuck" and "not enough time" then I have to go with yuck?

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Summer felt like it had a naturally occuring time buffer in good weather and longer days.  For me, fall feels like a crunch because the days are actually shorter.  The weather is worse.  When I start feeling pressed for time it's not necessarily the new job, it's probably also the new season. 

Fall might be my favourite season, but it is also a lot of season.

Hello September! Birthday Season and a random list of fun stuff and goals

September officially kicks off my favourite... calendar period? I guess it's technically "birthday season" (Everyone in our house except me has a birthday in September and October) but it's so much more.  

Here's what I'm excited about in September:

Lily's birthday! It was today and she is officially 5 now.  We had a birthday party on Sunday, which went amazingly well.  It was supposed to be a "Princesses in the Park" party but the weather turned bad and instead we did arts and crafts at home.  4 girls came, and they had a great time making unicorn masks and unicorn bracelets

Party room set up

Princess Lily!

Today we went to the Zoo on her actual birthday.  It was also great

Bears!

Lions! Also, did I get a big enough birthday badge?

This is a pretty funny slide.

Start of School

School starts tomorrow.  Lily has her first day of "big school" ie "Reception".  Ezra is starting in year two.  I'm excited because at pick up they take big siblings to the little siblings classroom and we will have only one pick up!  I also think Lily will love school, and Ezra was doing so well at the end of Year 1 I am hoping that continues in year 2.

New Job

I'm starting my new job next week.  It's with the same company, but is a step up in job title & responsibility.  I'm leaving the operations team I'm currently on and moving into a commercial role within a technical team.  What this means is that I get to keep working with the people I already love working with (the technical team) but I now report directly into their team structure rather than the external operations team. It also means there's no limit on what I can be involved in, so I need to think carefully about crafting this role into something great.  Basically, I get to think more and react less, which is exciting but also a bit scary.

Fridays off

I'm officially moving to four days a week.  I'm really looking forward to Fridays off with Aubrey and Clara.  They are so fun, and until they turn 2 they are pretty much free to take anywhere! Hopefully I can also make some mom friends of two year olds so I have someone to do things with on a Friday.  It's tricky making mom friends on your 3rd and 4th kids... I can see why the mom friends from my first kids are still my favourite mom friends.  The parent conversations I had when my first was little would bore me to death now... but I know we all found it interesting then.  

Friends or not, I'm excited to spend Fridays at home with twins.

Jewish Holidays

September is Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  I don't do much for either of these, but it will be nice to mark it somehow.

New Planner!

We use a weekly planner to plan our lives, and it runs from September to August.  I love new planner month. 

Other September Things // Goals

We are still working on house improvement project.  We replaced the rug in our lounge with the rug from the former office and current Lily room.  I bought new curtains which need to be hemmed and hung in the dining room, we decided that after 8 years we were tired of our autumnal curtains and wanted something a bit lighter.

I am training for my half marathon which is October 5th.  Training is going OK so far, and suddenly there's a month left (which probably means training is going to get harder...)

I have a stretch goal this month. It is... to stretch.  More.  Maybe daily.

This month I'm trying to resurrect the monthly Ladies Night at the local indoor jump park.  I am putting the word out that it is a great time for all the 40 year old ladies I know to play on BMX bikes.  Last time I went it was mostly skaters, who are super cool, but I like riding with ladies too.

I'm finally taking a mountain biking skills coached session this month - it's a ladies improver course.  I am excited for a women's specific MTB course.  Taking this class is part of my Year of 40 celebration!

It's Andy's birthday this month! I am not sure what we will do, but I may try and make him a lasagne.

Family photos - we will try and get a family photo taken this month

Books - Because I use Libby sometimes it takes a while for my summer reads to come through.  For instance, I just started Run For The Hills because it had such a long wait! But I am loving it.  

Decluttering project - this continues.  I am at the sentimental part of decluttering now.  I have baby clothing (ie under 12 months) for the following themes which need a new home

• USA
• Hannukah
• Thanksgiving
• Halloween

Hopefully you can see why it's hard to find the right hand-me-down people for 3/4 of those options!

I am looking for a new cleaner again.  We need a cleaner.

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I am sure I missed other fun September things.  I think it's going to be a full-on month but I'm looking forward to so much of it!