Best Laid Plans

I had a plan and got one post done and then my summer turned sideways.

I will state right away that nothing horrible has happened, some of it would probably be considered good, but it has all made for stress:(. Not exactly the type of summer I had planned! I am down to my last few weeks of summer and today is really the first day that I have felt stress free in a while.

But let’s forget about all that and talk about the last few days.

This week I had a workout on Monday and had a snack lunch with two friends from school. Her driveway was horrendous and I was a little afraid Sparky (my new car) wouldn’t make it up or down, but we did and had a lovely visit in between!

Monday night I left with two of my running buddies to visit two other running buddies. They are actually the couple that taught me to run and they moved to the coast about five years ago. We visited the first two years and then missed three due to Covid.

It was a lovely visit! We hiked at Hidden Groves the first day which has 21km of beautiful trails to walk ( they’d be fun to run too)! The second day I went for a run with Dennis in the morning. It was a lovely trot along the waterfront until he suddenly took off. I ran after him and turned the corner to see the Starbucks sign. I knew that man was obsessed! The final day we went for a walk at Trout Lake whiz was very green and quiet:). Along with the exercise was amazing food and good visiting ( though I had forgotten how much my friend talks- quite a change from my silent condo)!

We went out for dinner on Wednesday night to El Segundo which was amazing! Lots of gluten free and vegan options and I am still dreaming of the corn chowder and shrimp tacos I had:)

Thursday we made the long trip (only due to traffic) home and I got another workout in.

Friday I started with a short run and a massage and then met up with two friends to visit a street market two towns over. It was okay- though the lineups were horrendous, there were too many people and I paid $5.25 for about 1/3 of a cup of ice cream!! Ugh we’ll chalk it up to quality time so I forget those parts!

Today was lovely! I have done laundry, blocked a sweater and two pairs of socks, knitted a cowl for my niece for Christmas, got caught up on my temperature tree stitching and started a cowl out of my new knitting book. I also had a nap, made bread from my sourdough starter discard (good taste, but not cooked enough) and watched plenty of flosstube and knitting podcasts.

Tomorrow I run and then start house and dog sitting for my brother’s family. I am hoping life will continue calmly for the rest of the month though!

Have fun!

AJ

Vacation Week 1

Maybe with no work I will actually have some time to write.

This week was the first week of vacation and it has seemed busier than I was expecting!

It started right after work last Thursday with a staff gathering for the end of the year and one of the teacher’s retirements. It was fun, but I have to admit that I was too exhausted to really enjoy it.

Friday was the first real day of holiday and it was Canada Day. I ended up checking out a local festival with one of my oldest friends. It was a little weird as I spent most of my childhood at this festival, but I have to say I wasn’t impressed with their new version. They had some activities for the kids and they had plenty of companies and organizations happy to take your money, but there really wasn’t a whole lot for adults to do:(. We ended up continuing on to the ice cream store which was amazing as usual.

Saturday was a quiet day at home and on Sunday I was home other than for my run n the morning. I had to go around a park that is uphill both ways!

Monday I had a massage which was great as I’ve been having some neck pain which is unusual for me. It turns out I need more stretching than usual with the extra weights I’ve been doing.

Tuesday I had a run with Dennis around the river and then a pedicure so that I was no longer embarrassed to wear sandals. That night was neat as I met friends to go axe throwing. I am not a natural, but did get it to stick three times. I think it would be a really good date activity. Unfortunately my night went downhill when we tried a new restaurant and they gave me the wrong bowl and I ended up with a dairy incident:(

Wednesday I checked out a new coffee shop with a friend that I have not seen for a year. We are both teachers and it was July last year when I last saw her. It was great to catch up and we will try for one more before she’s off to Europe to see her boyfriend for the summer. That night was knit night which is always a good time!

Thursday I celebrated my summer vacation with the Sunday morning crew by having Chinese food. This is a big deal for me as until now there has been no gluten free Chinese food anywhere around me. It turned out there was no dine in option (though their website said there was), but that wasn’t a big deal- we just went back to Brenda’s. The food was awesome!

Today I have gone for a nice long run on the dyke this morning with Dennis and then had a leisurely coffee. It was great to feel good on my run and to do 7km. Lately every run has been just 5km and the lack of mileage has been getting to me. Maybe by the end of summer I can be back to my regular 10km!

I also got boxes for my parents today and finished both of my current stitching and knitting WIPs.

All in all, nota bad week. Hopefully I’ll be back next week to tell you about week 2.

Have fun!

AJ

Lest We Forget

Remembrance Day has always been a big deal in my family- seems to be bigger than Thanksgiving even, but this year, while lovely, was weird!

Our local service was cancelled. I understand it as you don’t want all those seniors in a big crowd, but it was still sad. I have been at every service my whole life, so it just made the day feel weird.

It was a nice day though, don’t get me wrong.

I started with a run with Sarah and Dennis. We did a different route where we walked up the big hill by my house and then ran down through the trail and my old neighborhood to the lower road and then home along there and the inlet trail. It was awesome to have the first 2.5 kilometers downhill! I would love to do it again and see how fast I could come down that hill. It definitely helped that we had perfect cool, dry running weather this morning!

I then got home and tidied up my place and myself.

I then joined my two friends Melissa and Em for brunch. We had to wait in a lineup for 45 minutes! It was wonderful food though. I had the Hipster Hash in the big pancake.

I enjoyed the socializing, but brunch was super exciting because Alexa- one of the designers of Tin Can Knits was diagonal to us. I had noticed the two ladies knitting in line outside while we were eating and was dying to talk to them about knitting, but then I realized who it was and that was just even more exciting! I didn’t disrupt her brunch, but did send her a message on Instagram.

After my lovely meal, I had Brenda over for knit night, the afternoon version. It was lovely! I did a stripe on my Christmas socks and then worked on my baby sweater which is a Flax Light by Tin Can Knits.

Since Brenda went home, I have been knitting on my test knit. I can’t wait to be done so I can wear it!

Well, I’m off to knit more on this lovely bonus day, though I do also plan to do some upper body strength training this evening still.

Have fun!

AJ

Time Gets Away

I can’t believe I didn’t get a post done this last week. It was just super busy and crazy with Halloween! Today was worse though- my behavior boy didn’t have a great day and actually ended up sitting out gym because he tried to trip a boy!

We did get a lot done today though- we created a monster in journals and wrote about them. It’s amazing how exciting eyeball stickers can be!

We wrote about our Halloween for the hallway. This afternoon we did phonemic awareness and chalkboard spelling, then the ill fated gym.

Our principal was away so staff meeting was cancelled and I have to say I was super happy about that!

I walked home and got right into my knitting I am working on clue four of shawlography. It sure is another clue with lots of knitting. I’ll be lucky to be done by Friday!

I wound the yarn for my first pair of Christmas socks today so I would like to get the toe done on those tonight too!

I have also roasted up the pumpkin seeds for my students to try tomorrow.

I managed to wear my fancy shawl today.

I felt very put together in my matching skirt, boots and sweater, but unfortunately I was on supervision so my feet ached by the time I got home. I can’t believe I used to wear heels everyday!

I also made myself do a fifteen minute NourishMoveLove barre workout tonight. I was really conflicted because I wanted to work out but I don’t want to be sore for my run workout tomorrow. I guess fifteen minutes is better than no minutes:)

Well that’s my life and I’m going back to knitting:)

Have fun!

AJ

The End:(

I can’t believe I am down to my final hours of holidays! It’s been good so I can’t be sad and I need to go back to getting a paycheck!

I started the day with a run around Mundy Park with Sarah and Dennis. It was a nice run and the hills didn’t feel as tough as they usually do which was a bonus. Kula had the chance to be off leash and was loving it! I think he would vote for this park for every run if he got a say!

He kept racing between Sarah and I and Dennis who was ahead.

After tea I came home and immediately did my workout. It was tough to make myself, but I knew I had to do it!

I then got my house dusted, laundry all put away, another sweater on the blocking a tank top sewed, my stash updated on ravelry and some knitting done. So I will call it a successful day.

I wanted to get a tank top done as I would like to spend more time sewing this year. Plus I want to make more project bags but had to finish up the projects I already have. I thought this was my last tank top, but I think I actually have material for one more. I had made the tank top up yesterday but ran into trouble with the binding being too long so ripped it out but then waited until today to resew. I am happy with it and think it will make a nice outfit with my green pants.

For knitting I am trying something different this month. I am usually a monogamous knitter on one project but over the past two days I have cast on two pairs of socks, a sweater, a toque and have plans to cast in a shawl tomorrow. I will see if I like being able to go between projects. I am loving the sweater so far so may end up being monogamous with that anyways. I also will be able to work on the vanilla socks and toque a lot tomorrow I think as I have to sit through two meetings.

I finally gave in and made my lunch for tomorrow and planned out my day. It’s going to be a busy one!

Well when I planned out everything I needed to do tonight and worked backwards for timing I realized I had to start it all at 6:40 so I guess I had better go.

Have fun!

AJ

Update

The last couple of days have been quiet and lovely. We went back into the city to pick up more material for my mom and I managed to get some lining material for my next project too and some fusible fleece.

I have run each day and I think I might be getting better at hills🤣. Saturday I set out for the same route that was 9km last time I was here but it turned out to be just 7.7 this time. Is this place loosing road or did I take a wrong turn??

I have spent a lot of time knitting and have finished a pair of socks for my mom.

These are plain vanilla socks with a German short row heel in Sugar Bush Blaze in the Baked Plum colourway. I tried to do some yarn management so that they would match, but didn’t quite get it right. It’s close enough though.

I have also gotten a hat made for my dad or at least I think I have. He needs to try it on again so I can see if I have knit it long enough. I have to say he wears his toques weird. It appears Charles Bronson is his fashion inspiration.🤣

Last night we had a lovely dinner with my aunt, uncle and cousin. Their place is right on the water so it is always a pleasure to visit on their deck. Of course there was more food than I normally eat in a week. I feel like I’ve gained ten pounds and will have to give up eating when I get home. I could probably go without eating for a good week after this time!

We are about to head out for an adventure so I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Have fun!

AJ

Don’t know where the week has gone

I’m not sure where the week has gone. I think I spent most of it watching knitting podcasts while throwing a ball for an anxious, sad puppy. We survived and I am back home.

Today was very quiet. I slept late and still got a run in as it was cool. It seems as though our Fall weather has arrived. It’s been gray and cool all day here. My run was an easy 3km and it felt good. I spent the second half really trying to concentrate on pushing off my toes. I’m going to need to do some reading on how to engage my butt while running.

I came home and immediately did my workout too. It was a thirty minute push workout from Nourish Move Love and I can tell you that I’m going to feel it tomorrow. That’s a good thing in my mind.

I have to admit that other than doing laundry I have done nothing else today. I have been reading a series of books by Lea Coll called All I Want. It’s a good series and I’ve been enjoying them even if they are just fluff. I always seem to get sucked into the series that revolve around a friend group- they seem so fun. I would recommend the series even though I spend some of the book yelling at the main female character 🤣

Well I’m on the last book so I’m going back to it.

Have fun!

AJ

Resting Up

It was another hot day here today and I have three things happening tomorrow so I decided to lay around today.

I started the day with my minimum run and then immediately did my ab workout and yoga that was called for in the Nourish Move Love workout plan so that I would get them done!

Other than that I have done a little knitting. I had finished a sock but it was slightly long so I pulled it out and am almost done it again. I also got about two inches of body knitted on my current sweater.

I have spent the rest of the day reading. They have all just been fun books so nothing really to report.

Oh I also ordered some mail product. I am hoping that it will help strengthen my nails which are so incredibly weak, but I guess we shall see when it all arrives.

I’m going to bed now as I have a early run in the morning.

Have fun!

AJ

TriviaTuesday

It was a busy day!

I started the day with a run with Dennis. We went around a very hilly local park but I had a pretty good pace. The best part was the cute guy behind us for the first little bit.

I went directly from tea to a bike ride with my friend Em. It was a lovely day out on the dykes. It was just a leisurely ride, but lovely!

I came home from my bike ride and had a nice nap.

I actually spent most of the day reading a book. It was Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider. I really enjoyed this book and it’s been a while since I’ve read a book in one sitting. It is light and fluffy and a great summer read. I may just get the second in the series.

This afternoon I got my workout done- another NourishMoveLove. It was the 15 Minute Total Body Strength that I think I’m going to feel tomorrow!

Amazingly, for the first time since February, trivia was on. We still aren’t allowed to move from our table, but it was nice to have some normal.

From the first round:

Who has played the grumpy guy in The Odd Couple?

Walter Matthau,Jack Klugmann, Matthew Perry

Name the number one brand in Canada of Ket Chu up, Mustard and Relish.

Heinz, French’s, Bics

Finish this phrase:

Sticky——-

Fingers

What does HVAC stand for?

Heating, ventilation, Air a conditioning

What two states other than Washington border BC?

Idaho, Montana

Name the three tenors:

Pavarotti, Carreras, Felliciano

What does HMCS stand for?

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship

In the music round I only knew the country songs:

Big Green Tractor by Jason Aldean

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off- Joe Nichols

In Kahoot I was pushing the buttons with my back to the screen so I don’t even know the questions that were asked.

In the fourth round:

Put these shows in order of when they came on the air:

Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends

What does TNA in wrestling stand for?

Total Non Stop Action

Well I have to go home to bed cause I have a busy day tomorrow.

Have fun!

AJ

Tired

It was another nicely balanced day, but I can barely keep my eyes open.

I got up and did my usual 3.12km run, but today I really concentrated on pushing off with my toes. I don’t think I’ve been doing that so I guess I’d better practice.

I also got my workout for the day done before 8am. It was another NourishMoveLove workout and this time I got to use my new kettlebell. We shall see if I regret this workout tomorrow. It was legs and core focused and I have to try to keep up with Dennis tomorrow! I did some rolling and yoga stretching this evening to hopefully help with this.

I met up with Brenda for lunch today as she is leaving early Wednesday for her father’s and doesn’t know how long she will be gone for. We had a walk first since the restaurant didn’t open until noon and then had a lovely pasta lunch. I always get the seafood marinara as I love seafood!

I spent the afternoon, well except for my nap time, knitting on my everyday tee and on a pair of DK socks. DK socks seem to be all the rage right now. I find it really funny because my grandma always made us DK weight socks- I guess she was way ahead of her time. I was on the foot but pulled it all out because it looked enormous. I’ll have another go at it.

Well I can barely keep my eyes open so I’m going to sleep now.

Have fun!

AJ