Sep
2013

Daddy is the new ‘Lead Wizard’

IMG_4174I start Grade One tomorrow! Mommy found out last week that I get the teacher I really wanted. And that my best friends Anna and Grace are in my class too! I am so excited to start school and see my friends!

He said.

IMG_4184So. Now that it is official I can say, I was offered the Lead Genius position open at our store. I found out Wednesday after an interview in Toronto, and then the announcement was made in the store Friday when I was at work.

The whole experience has been nothing short of amazing and the support and encouragement I’ve received along the way has been incredible. In twelve years at my previous job I didn’t experience the potential or type of growth that I have in the just over a year I’ve been with Apple. I am beyond excited to see what the next part of this journey will bring!

One thing that is for certain is I will be making a trip back to Cupertino! Only instead of the one week trip I went with my brother Matthew and Jordan (one of the other Creatives at our store), last May, this trip will be three weeks! Meaning two weekends spent in California. It will be a long time to be away from both Danielle and Emelia, and we’re still waiting to hear when that trip will happen, but in the end we will make it work and FaceTime will be a huge help in that time apart.

IMG_4203The funniest port about this job transition is that for the longest time Dad was calling Matthew and I Geniuses. In fact, a lot of people mistake the Creative (trainer) position for Genius. Dad used to jokingly refer to Geniuses as “Wizards“. And it seems like the time when I finally got him to using Creative, I’ve gone and become the Lead Wizard.

As soon as I got through my shift on Friday which was a blur of sessions and then conversations and congratulations about the new position, my mind immediately switched into vacation mode. With the Saturday to Monday (today) stretch off work, Danielle and I orchestrated a mini vacation away at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park in Niagara Falls. As soon as we awoke Saturday morning we were packing and on the road with Wolfie in tow.

IMG_4138The park itself is a privately run one, and as thus not necessarily the getting away into the woods that Danielle and I would prefer. But, having said that we had a great time – especially Emelia – and there was no shortage of things to do. On site they had a large playground and not-so-heated pool. They also had shuttles that ran to The Falls every hour.

We took advantage of that shuttle and took Emelia down to see the craziness that is The Falls as well as the infamous Clifton Hill drag which is overwhelming to even the most seasoned of adults in the afternoon Sunday. And then, after dinner we got back down to see the lighting of the Falls along with their last fireworks display of the summer.

And while Danielle worried that I wasn’t getting enough of the roughing it and mother nature that we got when we were at the Provincial Parks, the best part of the trip for me was being able to spend the time just three of us, outside of the realm of our regular day-to-day. As I said to Danielle: Are we in our driveway?; Are we together?; and, Do I have beer?. And at that point, Emelia proclaimed, Daddy’s favourite part of camping is the beer! Heh! Kid knows her Daddy pretty well!

IMG_4136But the point is, we could have camped out in our driveway this weekend, and I would have been completely okay with that. The surroundings are just that… Surroundings. For me, it’s always about the two girls along with me making the journey more complete. And given that I am going to be spending three weeks away from them, this trip couldn’t have happened more perfectly.

I feel pretty energized to start this new journey as a result!

 

 

She said

IMG_4181This week went by in a flash, for weeks we knew there were potentially big changes ahead for John and his career at Apple but Wednesday it was official. And although the change means he will be gone for just under a month straight I could not be prouder of him.

What makes me happiest is first how happy he is, and second that he has found a career he is passionate about. In the 17 years between Emco and Xerox John never had passion about it, he did his job and well but there was no recognition professionally for everything he had done for both companies. He works hard and finally is with a company that sees his incredible qualities and is using him to his full professional potential.

So yes the next few weeks and months will be a huge challenge for us as a family it will be so worth it in the end. Emelia was a bit concerned when I mentioned that Daddy would be going away for a few weeks in the next while but I promised her I would more than make up for his absence with lots of fun activities and that seemed to lesson the blow. Well that and Daddy usually brings her home something when he is gone on longer business trips. So that certainly helped.

IMG_4139John’s chaotic few weeks made the end of the summer go by in a flash and before I knew it I was in a major transition, not only as a daycare provider but a mommy. This past week meant some major good-byes and therefore changes within my daycare. As it seems now every end of August I am saying good-bye to one of my daycare cuties as the move from daycare to big kid school. Last summer I saw three of my little ones graduate, this summer it was one returning to school and one of my longest term daycare boys moving on. I still remember like it was yesterday his first day.

When Reece started with me he was a chubby cheeked crawling baby, Friday he left me a big boy, full of words, personality plus and ready to take on school. Now his mom and I are not 100% sure he really understands what is going to happen in his new world (he was convinced I was going with him to school or at least would be coming to get him from school each night like I get Emelia). But we know that Reece is ready, it was his mommy and I who weren’t.

IMG_0295What this September means as well is a big change for Emelia and I. She starts grade one tomorrow which means for the first time in her life she is away from me more waking hours than she is with me. It will be a big change for both of us but we both are ready. Over the last few weeks Emelia had become a bit concerned about school and the idea that she would be at school away from me every day. She was worried because she didn’t know who was in her class and who her teacher was. She was hoping and hoping she got one certain teacher.

As anyone who knows Emelia she is painfully shy, especially around adults. So for her to really want a teacher it made both John and I hope that she would get her favoured teacher. Well, this week with a concerned little girl on my

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mind I took advantage of John’s day off on Thursday and ran over quickly while the little ones were down for nap and went to the school. I peeked at the hooks outside the grade one classrooms. And on the last hook I checked there was Emelia’s name. In Miss Bolger’s class. The teacher she really wanted. And the even better news is that we found out Friday that two of her closest friends Anna and Grace are also in her class.

This information has really helped her, it was the unknown that she was working herself over. There are big advantages living across from your child’s school for sure. With this knowledge in hand she and I were ready for the next big step. Grade one!

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After an emotional end of the week with our good-bye to Reece we waited for John to get home from work and then to pack up for our weekend away. It could not have been better timed. With the knowledge that John is going away potentially soon I really wanted this time for just the three of us.

With limited notice of his time off we started looking around at campsites for the long weekend. I asked friends and Jellystone as a destination came up a few times. I checked, they had openings and even better were not requiring us to pay for 3 nights for the long weekend and we could book the 2 nights we needed.

We arrived close to 1:00 and realized quickly this was not what we were used to nor the style of in nature camping we prefer. The sites were very close together, there was not a lick of shade for our site. Needless to say neither of us were happy, but as we always do we make the best of things. What we did love about this for Emelia is that they had activities planned for the children, there was a pool and a playground for Emelia to play. But the biggest bonus honestly was the proximity to Niagara Falls.

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Emelia had never been and we had not been since our honeymoon in 1999. So we paid for shuttle tickets and we spent the better part of Sunday down at the Falls. Emelia loved it, well the falls part. The side show circus that is Clifton Hill was a bit much for Emelia, it was too crowded, loud and well hot. But she loved seeing the falls, and even more so at night when it cooled down and we got to see the lighting of the falls and the last fireworks of the season.

All in all it was a great weekend. We spent a ton of time together as a family which is the best thing you can do on this last weekend of summer. Now off too get some more things done to prepare for Emelia’s return to school and the start of another new baby to daycare in the morning.

Good night.

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