Jan
2025

Happy New Year!!!

I got to celebrate the new year with most of my close friends at our house. It was the best party!

He said

This week was a much more calmer one with Christmas come and gone. All that was left was New Year’s and Emelia’s big plans to host a party with some of her close friends. This was the first time she was hosting her friends and not just the close ones—a select group that extended the network beyond her normal crew. She was a little stressed about it but set all the appropriate ground rules with her friends to make sure it didn’t get out of control. And while we would be home to help if needed, we were asked to stay in our bedroom and let them have their space to be teenagers. She’s a great kid with an even better head on her shoulders, but also of all the friends we have met, they are very respectful and for the most part well behaved.

Sure enough the night came and the party sounded quickly to be a hit, and even the text message I sent her from the bedroom confirmed it was going well and she was having fun! She had a few extra stragglers show up but she for sure didn’t go over the strict limit we set for number of kids—we just don’t have the size of house to host like some of her friends do. Before we knew it, the party was in full force, we could her lots of music and the word “Bro” an awful lot. But there was laughter and singing along and then within an hour of New Year’s the pizza delivery guy showed up (lol). And then we were at the countdown and we got to listen and laugh to three different versions of countdowns—not a single one of them at the actual right time!

And then sure as Danielle had guessed, within thirty minutes of New Year’s people started heading home and the house got progressively quieter and less busy. Danielle & I were allowed out of our bedroom by 1:00am and we surveyed the situation. And while there were a lot of kids here and a lot of hootin’ n’ hollerin’, the house was in a reasonably clean state. Danielle & I did a quick pass through the house to clean up the things the cats may get into, but by 2:00am we were all in bed and off to sleep in the rest of the New Year’s early hours. As far as the party goes it was a hit according to Emelia and all of her friends.

One thing I haven’t talked about in a couple of weeks has been my cycling progress on the year. I know I highlighted a few weeks or more ago about hitting 10,000km on the year toward the end of November. It was a stretch goal I set for myself not thinking I would get to it, but by about the middle of the summer realized it was a lot more likely than I thought. By the time November rolled around I knew I was going to make it and likely a month early. When you add in that I was planing on doing the Rapha Festive 500 which is cycling 500km virtually or in real life between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, I knew I was going to make a huge leap forward on my distance goal for the year. By the time New Year’s Eve came around, I had managed to ride 11,840km on the year—something I am very proud of!

She said

We are here in a new year and a new year with some big changes coming our way. As a family we had a very rough 2023 and 2024 so when Emelia asked if she could host a party at our house with her friends from Lucas we chatted and set some boundaries and agreed to the gathering. Within seconds of the parent approval the invites started going out. Emelia was over the moon with the demand for spot at the party. Our house isn’t big and with teenagers we wanted to ensure that nothing got out of control.

With a solid guest list in place and some of her besties coming over to purchase decorations for the party Emelia was in full planning mode. All in all she had 20 people on the guest list and a buffer for 5 last minutes additions. Once Emelia got home from work she and I got to setting things up before her friends arrived. Most of her close friends could be there, only Carter who was away on a vacation and Matheus who was already busy and could not change his plans. Other than that it was her core group of friends and extended group that she goes out with. Around 9:00 the first wave of girls arrived and then the kids started coming in constant waves. By the time 10:30 rolled around the party was in full swing and Emelia could not have been happier. Gone is our shy girl and in that place is a kid who got to throw the ‘it’ Lucas party. By the time all the kids had left we had a very happy girl helping us clean up from a successful party.

The rest of the second week of the holidays for Emelia was time with her friends, a few parties, a couple trips with me to the gym and lots of lots of working. She is going to be pretty happy about her post holiday pay cheque. For the rest of this month Emelia is packed with activities, she has a TON of cheer training, a cheer competition, first term final exams, her birthday and a couple birthday parties with her large group of friend as well as her core group of 7 that she spends most of her time with.

For me I return to work tomorrow after a blissful two weeks off, I am looking forward to getting back, well sort of, I feel rested, reconnected with our family and a few of my close friends that I got to spend time with over the break. Here is to hoping that 2025 is an incredible year!

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