I have had so much going on and my body is starting to tell me that I need to slow down a bit.

He said

Last weekend was our first overnight trip up to the trailer after opening it up May 1st. This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend which for most people is when camping season sort of officially starts, so we were hopeful we could get some time off up there. After quite a few years of having the whole weekend off to get up to the trailer, this year was my year to give back and work the Saturday so others could have it off. I still had my weekend day off Sunday, as well as the holiday Monday, so basically we could get two full nights, and two days at the trailer after leaving straight after work on Saturday at 5:00pm. By 7:30pm, we were relaxing in the trailer (not at the fire pit because in true May long weekend form, it was raining).

Back to the week though. Emelia has been working through the last week and a half with a nasty patch of bruises on her knee, calf and thigh courtesy of the rugby tournament a week ago. She skipped on softball practice in order to let it heal a bit more and because she had a rugby game the next day against Medway. She managed to get another try in that game, but her leg was definitely still needing her to slow down which those that know Emelia, know that isn’t possible. But, it made it particularly tough for her at the Level 3 evaluations on Wednesday but true to Emelia form, she went and tried her absolute best, though her knee was definitely not at 100%.

With Mom having more and more challenges, it has meant trying to ensure that someone between us, Matt & Shawn and Testza are getting over to see her daily. Her health is deteriorating more quickly but as her Dr. says, she’s stubborn and a fighter so it’s hard to say precisely where we’re at. But, we’re pretty realistic having been through this last year with Dad—our sense is every visit is important. Friday, Emelia wanted to surprise Mom and show her dress for Prom so we went over to visit her after Danielle & I were done work. Emelia immediately snuck into her bathroom and changed into her dress without Mom seeing her. The look how Mom’s face lit up when she got to see the dress on her was so great to see and a highlight for us all.

Danielle, Emelia, Matt & Shawn all over to see her again on Saturday while I was at work and she was doing better and happy for another visit. Knowing she was good, like I said earlier, we made our  way up to the trailer to spend a couple of days relaxing and enjoying time in our ‘second home’ up on Snob Hill. We had the gift of no alarm clocks both days and got to take to waking up when we were ready to and take morning at a much slower pace. As well both days, Danielle and I got to get out for bike rides together on the G2G. I really cherish this time to do that as it allows Danielle & I to really catch up and talk about all that is going on. With Danielle starting her new job tomorrow, the time at the trailer, and I think, specifically the time riding our bikes gave us the space to really unload a lot of what is on out minds these days. And, it is a lot. Some good… some worrying… but, all of it, life. And it was good to be able to sort it out in the best place to do that!

She said

This week was a bit crazy. First I will start with Emelia. Right now Emelia is in the middle of her busiest time. She is wrapping up some school projects as she gets closer to the end of her last year in high school but she is in the time where all three of her sports collide. This past week she had cheer assessments, softball practice, a full day rugby tournament and her first softball game (because of her knee we pulled her from that game). As John mentioned a week or so ago Emelia came down hard on her right knee and man has it been a mess since. It swelled to 3x the its normal size and the amount of bruising she has been dealing with is insane. In a perfect world she could take some time off but she is in full on sport mode, she tried to see if she could scale back a bit at level up training at cheer but that went on deaf ears and she pushed through. It was a bad idea because she came home with her knee that was getting better back to square one. Not going to lie I wasn’t happy at all considering Emelia is staying at the same level as last year pushing her was absolutely not necessary.

Thankfully we for Emelia we are getting a bit closer to the end of her rugby season which is taking a lot of time, she has only one more cheer level up training and then she might have a tiny bit of time off cheer. Sports were not the only exciting things going on in Emelia’s life recently. We are getting closer to prom which the kids are getting so excited about. This week Emelia and I went to the shop to pick up her dress after some alterations and she is so happy how it fits now. Emelia is going to prom with one of her best friends Carter. It was very sweet that Carter really wanted to make this official and he did an official ‘promposal’ coming to Emelia’s work a week ago with flowers in hand and asked her to be his date for prom. They are funny as hell together, they chirp each other all the time and their friendship is one of the most genuine that Emelia has ever had. They are both getting very excited for the big day and it is now only 10 days away.

Now on to the rest of life, this past week was my last week at Western. It was a bittersweet week. I have long outgrown the role I was in at Western and my goal for a long time was to move over to Kings. I love the smaller campus, the direct connection with students and faculty. The added bonus for me is the location from home and that Emelia is going there in the fall. The benefits for Emelia (tuition for Emelia after I have been there a year) is just life changing for our family. The last few weeks at Western I was spending my days training people to take on parts of my role until they can post and hire a replacement. I got to pass off some projects that I have been part of. I was able to say my goodbyes to some amazing friends and went out for a drink at the Grad Club. Tomorrow I start a new adventure. I am nervous and excited all at the same time.