I loved my long weekend, I got to spend time with my family and lots of my friends. It was a great weekend!

He said

He we are the Monday of (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend, reflecting on the weekend we had which really was all about adjustment. My brother Greg had hip surgery a couple of weeks ago and in his ongoing healthcare issues he has a neck surgery scheduled to deal with some significant pain issues he has been having. The neck surgery we knew was coming—the hip surgery was a surprise added to his dance card. So, with Greg needing surgery and not wanting to have it pushed off we decided to forego gathering as a family with things like Covid having a bit of a resurgence—even making it’s way back into our household last week. We’re going to let get recover from the surgery and have a Teeter Thanksgiving when he is up to it.

With the weekend now being open and me actually having the weekend off we decided we would make a weekend up at the trailer as our last hurrah. We even extended the invitation to the family for anyone that wanted to come. The last half of this camping season has been spotty and sporadic at best, so we were helpful we could make the most of this weekend as next Saturday the trailer comes out for the season. The trouble is as the weekend approached, the weather forecast got shittier and shittier: rain forecasted for all of Saturday and into Sunday. We went anyway, hopeful that the forecast wasn’t right, but even though we did get some campfire time and sun in the afternoon, by dinner time the rain started in earnest. We called it early with family and let them know we were headed back to London and would have anyone who wanted over to our house. And, the rain didn’t stop for 24 hours up at Auburn—in less than 24 hours they got 50mm of rain! The good news is by the time we hit Lucan the rain had stopped, and London had a much better (drier) forecast for the rest of the weekend.

Back at home yesterday, we took it fairly easy. Danielle and I got out for a bike ride and even with the high winds, we had a great time and it put a little brightness back into our weekend. And, then around dinner time my brother Matthew and his husband Shawn came over and we had dinner together. Shawn & Matthew had hosted Shawn’s family the day prior and they had tons of leftovers they wanted evaporated and the good news is we were ready and hungry to help. In short order we had all the amazing leftovers Matthew had made warmed up and we were enjoying a family style meal together and catching up on all that has been going on in our busy lives. It would have been a lot better if we could have all been together, but that gathering will come and I will relish that gathering as much as I did this one!

Today, I was supposed to be going out on a 70 km Club Ride with the London Cycling Club (of which I am part of), out to St. Mary’s and back. When I woke up at 7:00am and saw the forecast which had high winds and gusts of up to 50km/h I turned off my alarms and opted sleep in, knowing Danielle was up for a ride on the TVP with me. Knowing that pretty much the entire ride back into London would be directly into those 50 km/h winds, and the parts that weren’t would be those same winds came directly from the side, it just didn’t make sense to take those chances on side roads, out in the country. So much later after some wonderful, extra sleep, Danielle and I got in a 35 km ride out to Byron and back. We still had the winds, but a lot more of the ride in the city is protected by forest and trees.

Tonight we did something that I have really come to love at any holiday time of year when gathering with friends and family is the norm. It is a tradition that has just kind of unintentionally slipped in and stuck. One of my favourite things around any holiday is the day that we reserve to just have a meal and time together as three. Don’t get me wrong, I do adore the noisy and chaotic time we spend as a larger group and all the laughs and memories that come with. But, like tonight, I do also really love the time that we get to sit down, much more quietly and be the little group of three that is ‘we‘. Both types of gathering are absolutely imperative for me and I’d feel lost if we didn’t do both at each special time of year. So, tonight while we reflect on what we were most thankful for, for sure it is friends and family, but it is also the two people that I was sitting at the table with and the home that we have made together!

She said

This weekend was not like we had hoped or what we have done for years, we normally have Thanksgiving at the campground and then come home for a big family gathering. But the last year has really thrown everything up in the air. With Greg’s health issues as well as other extenuating circumstances our normal Thanksgiving just did not happen. We were trying to make the best of a not so great situation and have what family could join us up at camp but Mother Nature had a completely different idea. For much of this camping season we haven’t been able to get up to the trailer because time with the extended family and support was far more important. Way back we were going to opt to only go to the trailer for a bit of the weekend around whatever time we were going to have the extended family Thanksgiving at Greg and Testza’s place. We hoped that would allow Greg to be there a bigger part of the day. With the surgery coming up next week and a multitude of viruses including covid going around it was decided we would post pone the surgery until after Greg recovers from his most recent surgery.

Our plan moved to us going to the trailer as a family and whoever could join us we would have a big potluck up at camp, but that quickly changed when we had massive temperature drops and excessive rain. So John, Emelia and I shifted to getting as much of the inside of the trailer packed up to prepare for the winter storage and make the trip back to London less than 24 hours from arriving. It was certainly not the last trip we wanted but we did get some much needed family time, which we really needed. Once we were back in town John and I went out for a long bike ride and Emelia quickly made plans after having a family dinner with Matthew and Shawn. After dinner was done one of Emelia’s best friends came over and the girls hung out and made plans for the rest of the night.

Today was another low key day, with Emelia at work John and I went for a long bike ride together and then went over to visit Testza and the girls, we were getting things organized for this week’s surgery for Greg. Got a few much needed things done for Testza and generally just let the girls burn some energy and spend time as a family as much as possible. The whole weekend wasn’t what we have always done, it is our new life right now while we take care of all our family and do what we love the most which is time with family, spending time with our little family of three and seeing our daughter spend time with not only the family she loves but all her growing group of friends. There is a lot that we wish could be different right now but we are holding on to what we are grateful for.