Jan
2022

Back to School!

We return to in-person learning tomorrow. I am happy about that!

He said

So, with winter in full swing and the temperatures to the point of unbearable cold (to the point of a couple of different Weather Advisory for extreme cold) my bike riding has been resigned to indoors on the stationary bike. This week I finally made the pedal switch and went to clipless pedals and now I understand why people are so keen on them. Everything was going swimmingly until Friday morning when 16 minutes into my ride the right pedal arm came off. Disappointingly I had to switch gears to finish the workout the rower. And that’s where the workouts will shift until the warranty crankshaft replacement comes in. Do I love doing running on the treadmill and then the rower? No. But, am I am happy that we have these as backup for the time being? Yes!

Emelia found out Wednesday this week that on Monday she would be returning to school. As much as she is happy with that, we’re not feeling overly confident about the health measures. I guess in this respect we will see what happens. At this point, with the amount of exposure we’re seeing in London, it feels like a you’re gonna get it anyway approach. Thankfully both Danielle and I have had both vaccinations and a booster. Emelia has two rounds of vaccinations and we will get her booster as soon as it’s available. Emelia really thrived in the in-person learning format and was having one of her best years ever in school so we want that back for her.

With the change in Ontario restrictions in the last few weeks, we finally this week got the official confirmation of the changes to Emelia’s Cheer Competition schedule. Unsurprisingly, but finally official, the competition we were slated to attend next weekend in Niagara Falls was cancelled. That means we will all have a weekend off together, to be together as it was my weekend off. Given that it falls the weekend before Emelia’s 15th birthday, we’ll definitely plan to do some special stuff for her given that her real birthday plans are paused until the restrictions are lifted.

This was my weekend to work at the store, so I had Thursday off, and then was working Friday through today at the store. We’ve definitely slowed down traffic-wise post holiday, but I am still really looking forward to my next two days off back to back. And maybe not having an alarm wake me at 6:30 and 5:30 in the morning like the last couple of days so I could get my workout in. Hopefully that replacement crank arm will arrive this week so I can get the pedal back on and be back on that for workouts!

She said

This week for me was more about settling in to my new job and taking in as much learning as I can. Western has a ton of online/Zoom options for training so I have been able to blend my training between home and my office. Work with most staff working from home I haven’t had a chance to really meet most of the people I will be working with yet. I have loved everything about my new job so far, everyone has been so welcoming and Western so far is an amazing place to work for. They really go above and beyond to support their staff. So needless to say this was the best decision, this career change leap of faith! And, I am fed well, too!

This week I was very grateful that I had a chance to work from home since my Mini was acting up again. Over the weekend the battery wasn’t holding charge, I had hoped once being boosted that it would fix things but once I went out Monday morning I wasn’t able to get the car started. John boosted the car and I drove to work. At noon I went out to check and nope it wouldn’t start. So I messaged John and he was able to meet me at the end of the day to get me home. After calling the mechanic to see what the cost to replace the battery was going to be we started shopping to get the battery and doing it ourselves. So on the coldest day we have had this winter John and I were out at the car at 8:00 at night changing the battery. Thankfully that was the problem and I am up and running.

The rest of the week was uneventful. We were looking forward to coming to the weekend and taking it a bit easy. With covid lockdown lifted at Helen and Doug’s residence Emelia and I took that as a chance to go see them, something we hadn’t been able to do since right after Christmas. Once we had our negative Covid results done we could head up.

Once we were up Emelia and I took on a project that was needing to be done for a while. A clean up, purge and reorganization. With physical limitations and being in their suite for the last few weeks due to a covid outbreak Helen and Doug had been wanting to do a bit of a clean out. Emelia and I were able to clear out a lot and get some things in better order that works for them. We have a fair bit more to help with but are happy to help. We cherish any chance to visit and to help.

This coming week we will be re-adjusting to Emelia back in school for the first time in a month. She is happy/nervous right now – happy to be back in school, learn in class and see her friends but nervous about being back out in the world out of her tight bubble. We have her set up with upgraded masks and are hoping for the best. I know mentally she absolutely needs to be back in school but we are a bit nervous as well. Let’s hope this isn’t a total shitshow! Guess only time will tell.

 

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