well, here we are three months after the fact and part of me thinks I should just pick up the blogging torch from present day, but the nostalgic part of me knows I am going to want to look back one day and remember the fall of 2024 in all its messy, chaotic, toddler-mayhem and tween-drama glory. it's perfect writing weather: chill and rainy outside, warm and softly lit by the Christmas tree inside. the babies are resting upstairs and the big girls are coloring pages from Inside Out and Wicked respectively. cozy music plays on Spotify, my bare toes burrow into my fuzzy slippers, and every time I turn my head, the smell of advent incense wafts up from my hair (perks of sitting in the second row at mass this morning). we have nowhere to go for the rest of the day and my whole self is grateful for Sabbath.
and now for September!
1) back to school. our school year always begins the day after Labor Day, and I love having those last few weeks of August practically to ourselves as most of the public schools go back the third week of August. the week before school began, Greta participated in our school's chant camp and prepared to sing for the school's welcome mass the Sunday before school started. their singing was beautiful!
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| in Sunday best |
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| Sabrina bought them these adorable outfits. Victoria just wanted to play with the hat |
then on Tuesday, the school year officially began! the girls had a great first day -- Cece especially was thrilled to have the same second-grade teacher as Greta. we celebrated that afternoon with a much deserved trip to Antney's.
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| our neighbor friend started at the same school this year so they have a buddy to walk down to the bus stop with them |
2) outside fun. Nick put in a raised bed garden by the garage and kept us well supplied with lettuce, arugula, radishes, sugar snap peas, and beets.
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| farm to table |
the babies spent many hours in the yard and I also suddenly remembered that we have a tiny little playground about a half mile walk from our house that the big girls have outgrown, but it's the perfect distance to go for a stroller run/walk and then let them play for a while before coming back home!
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| dirty summer feet! |
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| nothing like a stroller nap |
3) new daycare. after almost a year at our previous daycare, we made the switch to a center that is much closer to our house and has been under the same ownership for thirty years. it was a hard transition for Elizabeth and we miss her old teachers, but knowing that our current center won't close unexpectedly due to maintenance or staffing issues is absolutely priceless. and after a few weeks of tearfulness, Elizabeth fully adjusted and loves to go to school!
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| updates from the first day of school! |
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| school pictures, melt my heart |
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| the older they get, the more they look like twins |
4) Painting with a Twist. I did one of these years ago for my birthday and forgot how much fun it was! this time, my dear friend Susan invited me to go with her. we left our husbands home with the kids (and discovered after we left that they had combined forces too and were having their own dad & kids party at our house). the time slot that worked for us to go happened to be a "date night" theme with a set of paintings that could be hung together or separately. we had lots of snacks, wine, and Susan graciously shared her sandwich with me since I hadn't had time to eat dinner after work.
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| love this girl! |
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| the whole sensory experience of painting was surprisingly therapeutic! |
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| my other painting from eons ago - the texture on this one was really fun! |
then we came home and had more drinks with the guys while the kids ran around way after their bedtime until we finally called it a night. and my painting now hangs in our guest room!
5) Oktoberfest. the girls went to Sabrina's for the weekend so I could run the Great Race 10K on Sunday morning. it suddenly dawned on me that Nick and I could go out for a proper date night on Saturday! as we were talking about options, he had a eureka moment as he realized we could get VIP seating for the Oktoberfest celebration at Penn Brewery. I'm not sure that pre-race carb loading is necessarily supposed to entail a liter or two of beer, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! our friend John came out to join us too and it was just delightful.
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| Nick held his own (pun intended) in the stein-holding competition |
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| prost! |
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| throwback to actual Oktoberfest in Munich in 2012. why yes, I do still own that dirndl |
6) Great Race. when I ran this race in 2022, it immediately became my favourite race ever. it's a gentle downhill course that leads from the East End of Pittsburgh through the university district and downtown, passing so many classic landmarks including my alma mater. I used a new-to-me training plan this cycle and definitely missed several workouts here and there, but overall was able to follow the plan. I still need to take walking breaks and am slooowly working my way back into shape, so I had really no expectations of my pace going into it, apart from hopefully faster than a 14 minute mile overall.
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| the shaded boxes were completed ... and the slashed boxes were not |
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| 9 AM: on the shuttle bus to the start line packed full of other runners. |
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| 9:30 AM: and we're off! |
I stuck by the 12:00 pacer for the entire race -- the pace group was doing 2 minute run / 30 second walk intervals, which I don't typically do, but it worked really well. my eclectic playlist included the &Juliet soundtrack, contemporary Christian jams from circa 2002 ("Blessed Be Your Name", "Breakfast" by the Newsboys, and "Everyday" by Lincoln Brewster), summer 2008 hits, and some random songs that just get me in the zone ("Home We'll Go" by Steve Aoki, "Keep on Rising" by Fedde Le Grand, "La Camisa Negra" by Juanes, and "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls). I ran relaxed and easy the whole time, not pushing too hard, enjoying the hour spent alone and yet with other people ... one of my favourite states of being.
at the 5 mile mark, we passed a couple of guys who were grilling in their back yard and setting out wrapped hot dogs on the barrier for runners to grab. so random, but who am I to pass up free food? I definitely grabbed one and carried it like a baton for the rest of the run.
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| obligatory selfie with Duquesne. the building in the foreground is my old dorm! |
ultimately, I crossed the finish line at 1:16, averaging a pace of 12:14 per mile. as slow as this is, I was thrilled with this pace for the shape I'm in. the downhill course really helped me out, and the weather was great for running -- cool with a little drizzle!
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| nothing like that post-race high! and yes, I did eat that hot dog and it was exactly the post-run food I needed. |
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| running under the Duquesne bridge, hot dog clutched tight |
Your turn: Did anyone in your household go back to school this fall? Have you ever done a painting workshop? If you run, what's the strangest food or drink that has been offered to you during a race, and would you take the hotdog or not? (I've been offered pickle juice, pierogies, lemon drop shots, and jello shots!)
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