Project 365 – September

September starts off strong, with Dann’s birthday right at the start (and all of his other birthday-related celebrations after it). This month did fly by, with a good mix of adventures, family outtings, and otherwise enjoying the start of the autumn season. We even travelled to another country this month, which is always such a fun time for us. As a part of Project 365, I wrote about each and every day in September, alongside a picture. Some bloggers – who you will find at the end of this post – post their Project 365 daily or weekly, but I post mine monthly as a big recap of the entire busy month.

September 1st – Dann’s Birthday

It is Dann’s Birthday today! We had a bit of a lazy morning, with gifts and cards being opened. For Dann’s Birthday Amelia, Robin and Kai made cards and picked out a few small things, but we also purchased a wardrobe experience for him, where he is going to head to John Lewis and get styled by a stylist, who will pick out a new direction for his wardrobe. He’s been saying he needs new clothing but isn’t sure what to buy, so this felt good! For lunch, we went to Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall, eating tons and tons of different foods. We also played on the claw machines, where Robin won a little sushi cat. Then, we headed back home for a little bit before going to Geek Retreat for shakes and board games. We played Articulate! For Kids all together, before Kai headed to the gym. Then, Kai and Dann went to DnD. Myself, Robin and Amelia went to Five Guys for a smaller dinner, and played Pokemon Go for Max Monday before heading home. In the evening Dann returned, after getting a birthday cake at DnD and having a fun evening.

September 2nd – Tabletop Birthday

Dann and I both have a lot of different friend groups, so today was another celebration of Dann’s Birthday! We spent the day primarily working, as there was a lot going on this week work-wise. It was a relatively boring day, before we went out for Spotlight Hour in Pokemon Go. Then, we had a bunch of people over to ours for dinner. This is the normal tabletop group with a few extra people – we had tacos for dinner, then played Jackbox until nearly midnight. Wendy made Dann a carrot cake, which was fantastic, and he opened up a few gifts from our friends there.

September 3rd – Raid Hour Cupcakes

Dann’s Birthday yet again – this time at Raid Hour. We spent most of the day cleaning the house ahead of a full week back to school next week. Kai and Robin were back in school yesterday, with Amelia off until Monday. It’s wild they have different starting dates and times! We ended up getting some cupcakes made from a local baker for Raid Hour, to celebrate Dann’s Birthday. This was a really fun evening as so many people came! We then went to Mui and Koko for dinner, with four of our friends, before seeing Fantastic 4, which was ok! We then went out a little later to hang up a bunch of ribbons as a part of the Harlow is for Everyone campaign.

September 4th – Writing, Work and Costco

Today, I got a lot of my book done and a lot of extra work caught up. There was a massive pile of review items near my desk that really needed writing up and processing, so I am so glad to have that done. I also got a lot of my book formatted, which is so fun. I switched out all of our Summer decorations for our Autumn decorations, which is always a good refresh. In the evening, we went off to Costco to restock a lot of our must buys at Costco. I really liked looking at all of the seasonal decorations and we even grabbed a few Christmas gifts too. We then headed home for dinner, before dipping back out to hang up ribbons before heading to bed.

September 5th – A Pokemon Day

Today, we had a day all about Pokemon really. Amelia had no school still, but her siblings had school, so we arranged one of her friends coming over. We watched Pokemon Concierge, pulled Pokemon Card packs, and made Pokemon clay models too. It felt very Pokemon. When Robin and Kai got back from school, Kai went to the gym, and Amelia’s friend went home. We then played Pokemon Violet and Pokemon Sword on our various Nintendo Switches and hung out in the evening after dinner. It was a Pokemon feeling day.

September 6th – Flying Birds

With Kai and Robin recovering from half a week back at school and Amelia preparing to go back in next week, we wanted a bit of a low key weekend. With that in mind, we chilled out in the morning, just playing Pokemon. Kai went to the gym to hang out with his mate. Then, in the afternoon, we headed to Coda Falconry at Hobbledown Heath for a 1-hour bird flying experience, which was gifted to us. Robin, Amelia and Kai all had a fantastic time casting off a variety of different birds and we all learned so much about them! Afterwards, we were able to explore Hobbledown Heath until dinnertime – then we headed home to eat and chill before bedtime.

September 7th – Pokemon Sunday

Today was another sort of relaxing day, with Kai heading to the gym and the rest of us playing video games and double-checking everything for back to school. In the afternoon, we went out for Mega Raid Day in Pokemon Go – there were a surprisingly large amount of people out. Amelia and Robin got milkshakes, Kai joined us for a bit of a walk around, then we all headed home for dinner, baths, and early bedtimes for school tomorrow.

September 8th – Cozy Girls Night

It’s the first Girls Night after back to school, so we had an interesting one! Amelia didn’t need to go into school until 11am, and had a bit of a hard first day back, so we ended up picking everyone up and figuring out the rest of our day. As usual, we went to Geek Retreat and played one of their board games; P for Pizza (which we actually donated), getting shakes before doing some shopping. Though Amelia has had the same school shoes for 3 years (we bulk purchased them, as they were her favorite, and we literally have 2 more new pairs), she was told that they are now not allowed. So, we purchased new, hopefully allowed school shoes in town and did a bit of shopping before heading home. I prepped dinner before we went to play Max Monday in the town centre. Robin and Amelia had a fantastic time with so many kids out this week! Kai and Dann headed to DnD for the evening. Amelia had the idea to have a more cozy girls night, so we got the projector screen set up, but found that the projector cable wasn’t working. So, we ended up having Girls Night in my room, where we ate dinner and dessert, did our nails and face masks, and watched Camp Rock. Amelia and Robin declared it cozy, I’ve ordered a new projector, and it looks like we will be having cozy girls night for the rest of the school year.

September 9th – Ribbons and Pokemon

Today, I really felt back into packed lunches, which I have a lot of fun with. The day itself was full of meetings for me, then in the afternoon Dann and I went out to a ribbon event where everyone put ribbons around a church in our town centre, to bring the message that Harlow is for Everyone. This is just so important in the current climate. We then walked around with our friends for Spotlight Hour, getting tons of stardust as it was a double boosted event, and headed home for the evening. Dann made my favorite soup, as I have a bit of a sore throat, and I headed to bed early.

September 10th – Wednesday Evening Out

Today, I finished formatting the final draft of my book and sent it off to the publisher! This is fantastic news, to have a second book in the bank before the first one is even out in Waterstones. I also spent the rest of my day doing little bits of work and went out shopping at Home Sense (they have super fun Halloween stuff) for some spooky pasta and the like for packed lunches this week. I also prepped the meal ideas for the next few days, getting them all jotted down, and cleaned out the fridge. Back to school brings a lot of structure to everything, but there is so much to keep track of and remember. In the evening, we went out to Raid Hour, which was an extra hour long, starting at 5 pm and ending at 7 pm, due to an in-game error last week. Dann, myself and three of our friends then went to Geek Retreat to escape the rain, had some food and played some games, before heading to the movies to see Weapons. I found it to be a hard watch – a little to scary for me, a little to sad. We headed home and went to bed! I do really love having so many fantastic friends to hang out with each week, it really brightens my day.

September 11th – A Work Day

Today was a low-key day of work. I woke up, did a bunch of work, got the house ready for the day… I picked up Robin from school and we all headed home. Kai went to the gym, on his bike. We had some issues with his behaviour when he came out of school, but it turns out he choose to have cheesecake for breakfast, and there wasn’t food provided that fit his diet due to his fitness at his other house, so he choose not to really eat anything – which is why he was acting so horrible to everyone. This meant that I needed to fix around 2000 calories worth of food for his dinner, so there were lots of chatting and cooking with him and for him, so he knew what he should be eating. Robin started painting a cat mask she asked us to get her, which also has some fur that she is gluing on, along with a bunch of stars. Amelia primarily did druming and played Pokemon on her Switch, though we did plan out some of her birthday party next month too.

September 12th – Very Busy Day

When I woke up this morning, I knew it was going to be a very busy Friday. I had a lot on work-wise today, but we also needed to get everyone ready and out the door a bit earlier due to roadworks literally on our street. Once everyone was at school, I did get on with tasks, before going out to shop for dinner. This week I’ve been doing spooky dinners like deconstructed pot pie with a pumpkin pastry topper, and stuff like that, so I wanted another spooky mean. I settled on a taco-bread situation that looked like a spider, but knew we didn’t have much time for dinner in the evening. I picked up Robin from school, with Dann going to Amelia first, but she had PE last, needed to change, and then was called back into school to get a schedule we already had at home; this all meant she was very late leaving, so Robin and I took an Uber home, while Dann grabbed Kai. They all met us at home, Robin changed for her new activity which started today. This was a town over, so we wanted to leave early. Kai headed to the gym, then Dann took Robin to her activity, which she really enjoyed. It’s a drama class, where they are putting on a play we get to see at the end of the term. Amelia and I made dinner and she did her drumming, before we all ate, then Amelia and I headed out to our cupcake class, which was so much fun. We then got home and went right to bed, really. It had been a long day.

September 13th – Street Art

On Saturday, we had a bit of a lazy morning before Dann and I went on an afternoon date to The George Pub, which had a Street Art festival. This was an event that had a number of local street artists live creating art in the back of the pub. We walked around for a bit, checking out all of the paintings in progress, before going into the pub to try out South African Tapas, which were really, really delicious. When we were done eating, we stuck around for a bit to see more progress on the art before heading home. Dann went out to do some board gaming at his friends for the rest of the afternoon and I spent some time writing blog posts, catching up on work, and watching The Block. It was a perfect Saturday really!

September 14th – Pokemon Community Day

Today was a very rainy day. I started off the morning doing a bit of cleaning, watching more of The Block, and writing! For Dann’s birthday, I got him a styling experience as he has wanted to have a more defined style for a while, which he went off to in the morning. I made some latkes for lunch, which I had been craving for quite some time, and then headed off to Pokemon Go Community Day. Now, it was raining but we had a decent turn out – though not many people stuck around until the end. I got a lot of shinies, before heading home for a quick dinner (Dann made steak and bok choy), then went out to do a little bit more Pokemon to try and get the shiny Psyduck with a background, which I got right before the end. By then, it was late and I was tired, so we went home and went to bed.

September 15th – Start of the Week

Today, was a Monday that felt very Monday. Kai has been having some issues eating while at his other house, due to the other parent not supporting him in his fitness journey, so I have volunteered to bring him his lunch each day. So, I got up earlier than normal, and made him the food he wanted, then took a little walk to his school. I did need to do more steps in Pokemon and I quite missed morning snaps, taking pictures of flowers, so this felt like a good idea. Once I got home, I then started work, and spent a lot of the day just working! We have a new table coming on Wednesday, so there has been a bit of clearing the way and making sure the house is ready for it, along with some shifting of Summer stuff to be put away. I went to Max Monday and caught some dynmax Pokemon, which is always fun. Dann and DnD tonight, and I had a bit of writing to do before heading to bed early.

September 16th – Tabletop Tuesday

Today started like yesterday; made Kai’s lunch, walked it to his school. I bumped into some of the people we play Pokemon with and walked with them, which was very fun. I had a few meetings to do with a game launch this week, so got very, very busy during the day, then went back to grab his lunch box and run some errands. I got home and cleaned up the house a bit, went out to Spotlight hour where I got a perfect Pokemon (called a hundo), then came home to make breakfast for dinner for tabletop night. I have been craving French toast, so this was fantastic! We played Vicious Gardens (gifted), which was cute and fun! Matt made cheese cake, and I went to bed quite late.

September 17th – Off to a Play

Another early morning walk, then back to work. It’s Wednesday feels like an easier day, which is always good, though I had a lot to get through and a few extra meetings. At midday, Dann and I went to the town centre to run some errands and pick up a pumpkin spice chai latte from Starbucks (gifted), which was a lot of fun to try! It’s great to be in pumpkin spice season. I harvested my potatoes as well! The table arrived right on time, which was good, and Dann started putting it together. We went to raid hour in the afternoon, catching some legendaries with everyone, before we headed off to The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch to see Sherlock Holmes and the Hunt for Moriarty, which was fantastic! We then got home late and went to bed.

September 18th – Movie Night

After dropping of Kai’s lunch, Dann and I went to Costco in the morning, right after visiting the tip and throwing out our old, broken table. I am so glad we have a trade membership and can go early, as when we left (about 30 minutes before it opens for public) there was a queue of people waiting! We picked up a bunch of stuff for Kai, some delicious smelling steaks, and a bunch of our staples. When we got home, I made this week’s menu, and got back to work. In the evening, we watched The Long Walk with some friends, which was only Ok. There was a lot of gore-y death, which is hard, and the ending wasn’t satisfying for me. We then went home and went to bed.

September 19th – Finally Friday

I dropped in Kai’s lunch, then got back to work for the day. The Friday feeling was everywhere! I then went to pick up Robin in the afternoon, before Dann took her to her new afterschool club, which she was excited for. Kai went to the gym, and Amelia and I hung out organising Pokemon cards. After dinner, Amelia wanted to go for a walk to finish her leveling up, so that she could hit level 45 in Pokemon Go. This didn’t take long at all, and we had Five Guys shakes to celebrate (which is why Robin came along). We then headed back home where I cleaned up from dinner and everyone headed to bed.

September 20th – Pokemon and Skating

Today, we all slept in. Then, the freeze broke. Dann is pretty sure he can fix the freezer with a new seal, so he got that ordered. We actually do not have much stuff in the freezer, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. We lost some ice pops, hash browns, and a bag of mixed vegetables. We had a bit of a lazy day otherwise, then after lunch we headed out; Kai to the gym, the rest of us to Shadow Raids in Pokemon Go. I got a shiny perfect Pokemon on the first day, which was great. We ended up walking around so much, then went back home for a snack before heading to the roller disco. Wheelie Roller Disco appeared in our town, Amelia, Robin and I went. Robin and I are both very good at roller skating, but Amelia was more cautious. We all had a good time anyway, and then went home for dinner, where Amelia made curry. We then all went to bed.

September 21st – Pokemon and Circus

Today I slept in a bit, then worked on some writing, before getting on with the day. Kai asked to go to the circus, and as he never really asks to do anything (being a teenager) I booked it right up. We ended up going out for more Pokemon raids before the circus, where Amelia got her shiny! We saw a bunch of friends too, which was fun, then headed to the circus. The Circus Cortex is a very fun one, and they had a bunch of new acts, which we all enjoyed! Then we headed home, had some dinner, and Kai went to the gym. Everyone showered before school tomorrow and settled back packs – before heading to bed.

September 22nd – Busy Monday

Monday’s back to school always feel like a big start to the week. Today was a normal day, I packed lunches, Dann took everyone to school, I started work and had meetings. In the afternoon I went out shopping for dinner. When it was time to get Robin, I went to pick her up, and then we all headed to Geek Retreat, where we played What’s The Best Thing? Kai went to the gym, Amelia, Robin, Dann and I picked out a few sets of Pokemon Cards for Amelia, and then headed home so she could open them. She really is into Pokemon Cards now, which is so cute to see. We then got changed before going to Max Monday, where we caught a bunch of Pokemon, then went back home for girls night. We watched Holes on the new projector in my room, painted our nails, did face masks, and had dinner. I had a bit more work to do after the girls went to bed (Kai and Dann were at DnD) and then went to sleep myself when they got back.

September 23rd – Work work work

A lot of this week is honestly work, because we are going to Amsterdam at the weekend. Today, was very normal, once everyone was at school I started work. It’s another day with meetings, which is fine. I spent a lot of the day writing, which I very much enjoy! At midday, Dann took me out to Starbucks to get some pumpkin-spiced drinks. A little treat. In the evening we went out to Spotlight Hour, where we got to hang out with a lot of our friends, which was nice. Then, we headed home and I continued to get some writing done until I went to bed.

September 24th – My book!

Today, was a very exciting day, but I did not know it was going to be so exciting! I spent most of the morning doing work, after my morning walk to drop off Kai’s lunch. I was pretty bored with today, but did get some recording done for a game jam I am judging, which was good. Then, my book came! I wrote a book about a year ago, which was published, and is now coming to stores like Waterstones next month – and the physical books have been shipped by the publisher, so they came. I brought my book to Raid Hour to show people – it was so cool having it there in person. After Raid hour, which was a food bank donation day, we went to Tesco and grabbed a few things that the food bank asked for, and then went home where I did some more work (as there were no new movies in the cinema this Wednesday!) and then I went to bed in the evening.

September 25th – A Work-y Day

Today was a day of primarily work! There were some larger meetings in the afternoon, which took up a lot of my day. In the morning, we dropped off the food bank donatins for the month, collected from our Pokemon Go group. I also dropped Kai’s lunch off at his school. Robin had an afterschool club, so I didn’t need to do the school pickup run, as Dann took care of it. I focused most of the day on working. When all my meetings were done, everyone was back home, and Kai went to the gym. Amelia wasn’t feeling her best so put herself to bed early to relax. Robin, Dann and I went to the local nature reserve for a walk about, to get out and do something, before heading home. Robin also cut up all of the food for dinner (we had spam fried rice) and helped out with that. It was a fun evening!

September 26th – Uneventful Day

Today, I was primarily wrapping things up for the end of the month and for our travel. Everyone got off to school, everyone got picked up, Amelia still wasn’t feeling great so wanted to relax at home until dinner. Kai went to the gym and Robin went to her acting class, where she was given her lines and roles in the upcoming Christmas play. She is very excited as she gets to be the ghosts in Scrooge. It’s very fun! Amelia after dinner did some drumming and hung out with everyone, clearly feeling better, which was good to see. Otherwise, it was a fairly boring, normal day.

September 27th – Off to Amsterdam

Today, we had a very late flight in the evening, so spent most of the day getting ready for that. After lunchtime, when it was just Dann and I, I worked a bunch to make sure I wouldn’t have to work much in Amsterdam. It was a very boring and preparing day – then we went to the airport, and waited around a bit for our flight. I had a few new mobile games to play during the flight. We landed in Amsterdam in the evening, stopped at a local shop to grab some snacks, and then went to our hotel to rest.

September 28th – Pokemon Go Safari

The reason we went to Amsterdam was for Pokemon Go Safari, which is a digital, location-locked gaming event. We met up with two of our friends from our town and hung out all day – catching Pokemon, doing raids, and eating some fries that are well known in the tourist centre of Amsterdam. It was a very fun day and I got all the shinies I was looking for! We had ramen for lunch at a place Husky and Molly (our friends) recommended, and it was just a really great vibe!

September 29th – Touristy Stuff

Dann and I decided to stay in Amsterdam for a few days so that we could do some touristy stuff! Today, we went to Tony’s Chocolonely Superstore, to try some chocolate and see how they are made. We stopped at a sort of casual dining pub to have bagels for breakfast, and then we went on a canal tour. The tour was beautiful, an hour long, where we learned about Amsterdam and the canals around it. Then, we went to the Botanical Gardens, where Dann had loads of butterflies land on him! There were so many beautiful flowers – I had a great time taking pictures. We stopped off for some Stroop Waffles in the evening, before dinner, and then had all you can eat Korean BBQ, which was fantastic!

September 30th – More Touristy Stuff

We started off the day getting breakfast at a little hipster cafe, that had some very delicious meat-free options, which was nice. This place was beyond the historical boats that sit on the canal, so we did take a look at all of those on the way. We are doing a lot of walking while in Amsterdam – it is such a walkable place. Then, we headed to the zoo. The zoo here is so big, and a lot of it is free roaming, so we had lemurs on the path with us, watched big birds fly overhead, and really enjoyed how huge the enclosures were. We spent a few hours at the zoo, before heading back to the center. We then went on top of the Nemo, to enjoy some desserts at the cafe there and take in the view. After spending quite a bit of time there, we did some more walking and ended up eating dinner at a lovely all you can eat sushi place! Then, we headed over the canal to the A-Dam, which lets you swing over the top of Amsterdam. It was a magical way to end the night, and then we headed home to pack up our stuff for our final day tomorrow.