I had the best Christmas break, I spent so much time with my favourite people!
He said
We finally have gotten back to some semblance of a routine. Danielle was back to work this week and I was still knee deep in the retail shopping season. And, while Emelia wasn’t back in school yet, she worked a ton of days and when she wasn’t working was hanging out with her besties. There is definitely a lot more freedom now that she & the twins have their licenses for them together with their friend group. It also gives us the opportunity to teach Emelia about the responsibilities of a vehicle, like keeping it clean inside and keeping the gas tank topped up from use. Both, are still a work in progress.
Last week we were talking about Emelia’s New Year’s Eve plans which were going to a party with her bestie group which they did. The original plan was that two of the girls would stay here after for a sleepover. The twins live around the corner so they always opt for their own beds. As Danielle & I were the ‘Uber‘ for the kids to get home after we waited up for the call which came close after we the New Year was rung in. After some confusion, we collected all of the girls between two vehicles and got them back to our house. Quickly the sleepover of two, turned into four, and Danielle was on snack duty making he girls who were hungry some cheese pizzas (and helping them avoiding Uber Eats orders). By 3 am we were all in bed, the girls had a blast and we were all sawing logs quickly. Her group of friends, to a person are such good kids—every single time they’re over they thank us for having them when they leave. To be honest, we couldn’t have been luckier that this is her group.
A big development for me on the cycling front this week was that I have built a relationship with a local bike shop, which has turned into a bit of a more official relationship as I will be representing Gremlins Bicycle Emporium in all the races & events I will be doing this season, and in return I will be wearing their super cool kit in all the races, and they will help me with the maintenance and parts I may need for the bike. I am happy to represent them as they are a really cool store, they really believe in growing the cycling community in London and area, and I believe in what they are doing. And I want everyone I ride bikes with, to know all about them!
After two weeks off School, Wrestling and Cheer this week, Emelia is back to all three in a big way! This afternoon was the first Cheer practice since before Christmas and Danielle – who was there for a bit – says there’s a lot of change in the routine so it will be interesting to see where this goes with just two weeks left to the next competition. But, also Emelia’s run to try and qualify for WOSSA for Wrestling starts soon too! It will be a lot for Emelia to focus on, especially when you add in the semester switch at the end of the month, not to mention Emelia’s birthday too! January and February are fixing to be a couple of very busy months!
She said
Emelia for sure lived her best life the last two weeks. She spent pretty well every day over the two weeks with various combinations of her ever growing friend group. The event they have been so excited about was New Year’s Eve. The girls have hit the stage where they get all dolled up and head to parties with their friends. The girls all opted to get ready here and John and I opted for a dry New Year’s Eve so the girls could be transported there and back to the party safely. The girls all dressed up were off to another friend’s house for a large party. From the stories coming home, everyone was there according to the girls. Emelia and the girls talked our ears off about all the stories and who was there. It sounded like they had the best time. The funny thing about Emelia is she is always shocked how well she is known in her school. The boys she deems to be the popular in school all come over to talk to her and hang out, they ask her about things she is surprised they know about her. I find in sweet she doesn’t know how popular she is at school and how wide her friend group has become.
Shortly after midnight we got the text that the party had been broken up and could we come get them all. John and I made our way close to the school to gather the gaggle of girls and they all came back to our house to continue their New Year’s celebration. We knew we were having a few of the girls over for the night but as the night went on we gained more kids. We love that all of Emelia’s friends are so comfortable here and with us. It is exactly what we hoped for. Mom and Dad uber turned quickly into Uber Eats. The asked if they could order their own food in but when I suggested I could throw in a bunch of pizzas in the oven they were thrilled. The pizza was gone in as second and after a few more of the girls made their way home we were finally all in bed asleep by 3:00. It will be a night I know none of the girls will soon forget, they said it was the best night. As John mentioned Emelia’s friend group we could not be happier with, they are all so incredibly supportive and really great kids. Emelia hasn’t always had the best of luck so to see her surrounded with so much love and support has made both of her parents really happy.
Today, we were starting to get back to a bit more reality. Emelia returned to Cheer today after a two week break. I had dropped her off and went to get some groceries while she trained, when I arrived at about the half way point I was confused, the girls were in different places and none were looking too happy. I asked to two moms I become friends with this year to find out what was going on and it seems that the coaches are making massive changes. Apparently one of their team mates has left the team so this meant a massive change. The girls and parents were confused why we weren’t bringing in a replacement but we do trust the coaches and hope that it all comes together quickly. Emelia is nervous about it since she isn’t sure about where some of the changes are going to impact some other areas of the routine and the fact that they compete in 2 weeks these changes need to be clean and FAST.
The rest of this week will be about getting back into the grind, back in routine, and back to sports. Not only does her Cheer team need to learn a whole new modified routine Emelia has a bunch of Wrestling practices for her meet this week and another one next weekend. It is going to be a very busy end of semester for her. Oh in the middle of this she is wrapping up semester ending projects as well as preparing for exams. Oh and planning her 17th birthday with her friends.