First week of school done. Love my classes. And I have friends in every class!

He said.

While I did have the week off and you’d think that our instinct was to spend the week at the trailer, we were back home early Tuesday afternoon. First, Emelia was set for her last, first day of school on Wednesday to start Grade 12 for her and we wanted to be here for that. And then, with Danielle working at Western, there wasn’t really opportunity for her to also have to have the week off with the students returned, and also being knee-deep in a hiring campaign. So, we knew all along we’d spend two weekends at the trailer,  and then be back in London during the week.

Emelia’s last, first day of school went off without a hitch. Her first period class is a spare and then she has friends in all three of her courses this semester. And also with her now having her license, it certainly makes getting her to and from a lot easier as on many days she can take the car and then be on pickup duty for Danielle to get to and from work. She is really happy with her course load this year and really excited for this senior year. She and her besties made and decorated keepsake boxes this weekend so that they can collect things from this memorable last year of high school.

With that out of the way Wednesday and Danielle still battling this stubborn, persistent cold, she worked from home every day to protect her coworkers. So, since that was the case, we paid for the upgraded internet at Auburn so Danielle could do her work from home day at trailer Friday and we opted to head up there Thursday evening. The forecast wasn’t super great but over the course of the weekend the all day heavy rain forecast switched to a couple of hours of light rain. With the camping season coming to a close we wanted to squeeze in any bit of time we could there.

Friday, while Danielle worked, I got to take the day easy getting out for a ride on the trail and then lazing about which was perfect. It’s definitely becoming more and more obvious that fall is approaching up there as the day time temps are much cooler than even a few weeks ago, but also the leaves are already starting to turn up there. The bike rides I am doing on the trail the last week are a testimony to all the change that happens at this time of year. By 5:00pm, Danielle was wrapped her day of work and since it was raining we watched some movies in the trailer until the rain had subsided and we spent the evening at the fire pit. Which was the perfect and cozy way to end the day.

Yesterday was my birthday so the plan was simple. Wake up whenever the heck our bodies decided it was time to, take the day easy and then go for a birthday dinner, down the road in Blyth at Cowbell. With Danielle still feeling the nagging effects of the cold she opted on not doing the bike ride as she wasn’t certain her lungs were ready. So, I got off to a windy and damp bike ride (it was misting for parts of the ride) and once again enjoyed how much the trail is changing on the daily. After a lazy afternoon watching more movies while it rained we went an enjoyed an amazing dinner at Cowbell before coming back to the fire pit for the evening. It was the really perfect way to spend a birthday that was peppered with messages from friends and family all over the world.

Today we opted to come back home sooner than later so that we could catch Emelia’s first full Cheer practice with her new coach Rayna to start the season. She’s got an acclaimed Cheer pedigree having won Nationals and Worlds with renowned The Great Whites. She’s been coaching at CheerStrike now for her second year while she is a student at Western. We’re excited to see what she does with this team, and how she inspires Sov to have their best season yet. It was great to see how much farther they are right now, than they have been at the same time in season’s past. And Emelia really loves her style of coaching. With this being her last season of Cheer before she ages out, we want nothing more than for her to go out on a high!

She said.

As John mentioned in his post I have been really sick this week, I have never had a relentless cough like the one I have been battling for the last two weeks. I was able to continue working from home so that I was not ‘sharing the love‘ with all my co-workers. Work lately has been insanely busy so taking time off really wasn’t an option. I know in an ideal world with John off this last week I could have taken more time off but it just wasn’t possible.

After an extended weekend at the trailer of the long weekend we were able to get home so we could be here to see Emelia off to what is her last first day of high school. It is hard to believe that we are here, I was told once from a good friend that the high school years fly by and man they were not kidding. Emelia is excited for what the year is going to bring. She has great classes, a balanced schedule and lots of friends in all her classes. We know this is going to be an exciting and memorable year for her. There will be so many lasts, and her friends are excited to experience this with them all.

The rest of the work week was busy, I had a ton of work to get done but grateful that my work has the option to work from home as needed. I was slammed but with little distractions from co-workers I was able to get some much work done. This time of year with the students returning to campus I am deep into short term part time hires. It is one of the biggest parts of my role as we end the summer and come into the fall. In the end I am responsible for about 100 hires and it a lot of work. Thankfully this week went pretty well and I am in good shape.

With the support of my bosses I was able to work at home which meant we could take my home office on the road and attempt working from the trailer on Friday. We paid for an upgraded internet package for the weekend and it worked like a dream. I pushed through all day working away while John got in a long ride and puttered around the campground. By the time the dinner hour was upon us I was able to finally log off for the weekend. John and I had a great dinner and sat by the fire before coming in the trailer to watch a movie.

Saturday we had a very lazy start of the day, something my body desperately needed. We wanted this day to be low key and time together to celebrate John’s birthday. John and I had a quiet later start of the day before he went off for his ride. We took the day easy, went for walk around the park before heading to Cowbell for a yummy dinner. The food was incredible and it was the perfect end of celebrating John on his special day.

Today we were back in town a bit earlier that we have been lately on Sundays, we were coming back to make sure we could come to see Emelia’s cheer practice today. It is the start of the mandatory cheer practices as the girls get ready for the competition season. Before we know it their first competition will be here and they want to be ready. Emelia has a new coach this year and so far she could not be happier. Rayna joined CheerStrike a few years ago. She is a former world champion coming from the Great Whites. She is an incredible coach but she is also a talented choreographer so much that she does this professionally not only for the teams she coaches at the Royals she builds routines for gyms all over Ontario and BC. So needless to say Emelia is so excited for this year. After watching for years to see the teams struggle we are seeing a huge differences on both of Emelia’s teams. They are in much better shape vs anywhere they have ever been this early in the season. It is going to be a great year!