September 2024 Life

We are somewhat in a survival mode. Everyone is getting fed and getting to/from school and various activities; there is work, homework, laundry, and a couple of critical household tasks (like food shopping and cooking). There hasn't been much else...

Highlights of September (so far):

• All kids started school (5th, 9th, 10th grades). They all like their teachers and classes and seem to be pretty happy overall. 
• The highschoolers have a horribly early departure - their bus comes at 6:35am. We could drive them later (like, 7am), but that would make mornings more busy and stressful for the parents - so we don't. No "parents of the year" award here.
• Two of the kids are full-on in activities (the oldest has violin lessons, youth orchestra, and cross country team; the youngest has cello lessons, soccer, and swimming).
• The middle kid is feeling left out as far as activities go - she only has piano lessons right now. But she'll be starting rock climbing team in October and I'm hoping she'll join school clubs.
• We had 2 cross country meets so far this season - I only was able to go to one of those (E did very well! He was happy with his time and I got a chance to see him with his team mates and chat with other parents. And the weather was beautiful, so all-in-all a very enjoyable way to spend Saturday morning).
• C started "proper" swimming practices after many-many years of only unstructured fun swimming. She did swim lessons before the pandemic and was ready to join the pre-team, and then things just went pear-shape and we lost momentum with swimming and just never got back to it. Which was a pity because C really liked swimming. 
• She is only doing swimming twice a week, so that she can learn proper technique and build strength. The coach initially suggested the training team with practices 4 times a week (she really wanted to do it!) - but we can't. Just can't. Twice a week is hard enough. We can see how things go and then re-evaluate as needed.
• E has a decent amount of homework. Combined with XC daily practices, races, orchestra rehearsal, daily violin practice - he is staying up later than he should to finish it up. I hope he figures out a way to manage his time and get more work done while he is at school (he has about half an hour in the morning before classes start and half an hour after school/before XC practice that he probably could put to good use... )
• We went to our local arboretum a couple of times - for a brief hike and also for a quick picnic. 
• I've been going on late evening walks with my husband a couple of times a week.
• Took my parents to an Uzbekistan restaurant for dad's birthday and went to Bell's market to stock up on Russian food (Borodinsky bread, pickled cabbage, pryaniki/ginger cakes, sweets) - this is all about an hour drive from where we live, so doesn't happen too often.

Failures (so far):

• Garden is a disaster
• Deer are eating everything (even stuff that's supposed to be toxic to deer)
• Kitchen renovation project has stalled
• Laundry room renovation has stalled
• Dark brown walls in our hall (just as you enter the house) are driving me bonkers. When we bought the house more than 10 years ago, I was like "ok, a little dark, easy enough to repaint". Well - we haven't gotten around to it yet...
• Birthday planning for my son's 16th birthday (next week!!!) - yeah, hasn't happened yet. But I'm outsourcing the friend-party to him. He can organize and figure out when to invite people over.
• Grown-up social life - non-existent.
• Vacation and travel planning - nope.
• Organizing and making our house feel more zen and less chaotic - nope.
• Weekend adventures - need more work here, planning fun outings and exploring (we did some... but it all felt kind of rushed)
• Figuring out carpool options for kids activities (we know a few families who go to the same swim place - I can probably reach out and see if we can take turns driving kids)

Coming up:

• My husband will be away in Germany next week, so solo parenting for me. I think I have most of the logistics figured out for what to skip and what to keep in terms of kid activities.
• Example: next Tuesday, skipping C's swimming (can make up on Friday), skipping high school back-to-school night (unfortunately... I was really looking forward to meeting the teachers), taking E to orchestra rehearsal (~35 min drive each way, will not be back until close to 10)
• Need to talk to a couple more people about kitchen renovation and get estimates
• This Saturday, E has a "home" XC race at his high school AND an orchestra retreat. 
• We will be going to 2 Bar/Bat Mitzvahs this month

Does it seem like this post is discombobulated and all over the place? (YES)

What are your favorite weekend adventures?