I am officially a Mustang! Bri and I had so much fun at O-Week. Last night was so much fun going to the football game and closing concert!

He said

While you think a post on my birthday would (should) be all about me, it is not. This week was Emelia’s first week of university life. As for classes, it was a light load for her with classes starting on Thursday. And the first week of lectures is never really much more than introducing the syllabus, the required text book and schedule for exams, papers and the like. And, that was the case for Emelia. But, the bigger deal this week was that it was “O-Week” which is chock full of events and things to do for the first year kids to get acclimatized to university life. Being that Kings University College is an affiliate of Western University, Emelia got the best of both worlds as there were events on both campuses that she could take in.

But, the highlight of the week for Emelia (and her bestie Bri, who is also attending Kings) was the finale of the week last night. First there was the Western Football game yesterday afternoon against University of Ottawa (they smoked them). And then the evening ended with an outdoor concert that Emelia was looking forward to the most that was headlined by Flo Rida in the practice field adjacent to Alumni Stadium. All week the girls loved having our house and its proximity to both campuses as a landing point between events and Danielle as their dedicated no-cost Uber to get them to and from event easily. And to be honest I am pretty positive that Danielle enjoyed being able to hear all about her experiences first hand as they were happening. The week was a big success, and Emelia says she had the right amount of fun.

So as far as first weeks of university and your first and only child starting that journey, it couldn’t have gone any better. She’s still at home, though living in her own defined space where she gets to be herself, and navigating this new and different school demand so far swimmingly. It can all be overwhelming and a lot all at once as Danielle & I learned a million years ago. But, Emelia has the right supports at a school and in a program that will work for the kind of student she is. She won’t feel lost in a big sea, and she has friends right there alongside her going through the same. It truly is the perfect fit we could want for her!

Now, as for me and getting older today… It was exactly the kind of day I was looking for. First, I was off work as Sunday is my day, but it also was pretty low key and all the things I love. I got to start the day with a group ride with my cycling club (LCC), which also afforded Danielle a sleep-in. When I got home from that 57km ride (in absolutely perfect weather) I was spoiled with a big breakfast that Danielle made me. We spent the afternoon relaxing and watching Danielle’s beloved football (I may have even had a nap on the couch!) before Emelia & Danielle took me out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant I have been wanting to try, Grill 23. We’re now back home and going to have a movie night together. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday, so thank you to everyone who reached out and sent messages, and mostly to you Danielle & Emelia for truly making me fee special.

She said

What a huge week for Emelia! This week she got to take in a bunch of  the events at Western, Kings and Huron as part of the full week of O-week. I will say Western does it right. There are sooooo many activities every single day and night and so many events that are geared to any energy and social comfort level. They really do it right. Emelia and Bri could take in some quieter things at King’s, the highlight for them was the retro rollerskating and Drag Queen Bingo and at main campus they took in concerts, football games and other shows. They went back and forth between the two campuses taking it all in. Both of the girls were overwhelmed a bit at the whole event so they sometimes chose to just hang out, or go to smaller events at Kings but other nights they wanted to be deep into the action and went to Western for the bigger high energy events. I asked Emelia this morning if she felt O-week was a success and she said yes, for what and Bri wanted to take on this week it was the perfect balance. And honestly that is all we hoped for. As their comfort builds and they meet more people they will be all in and ready to take on the next big event – Homecoming!

The next big event for Emelia this week was taking in her first two days as a student. She and Bri are in classes together for their Thursday and Friday courses so there was comfort there. They were happy and relieved to get into the classroom and meet their professors. Emelia seems to like things so far and is excited and nervous to get back at it tomorrow. It was great for me that I was able to see the girls so much this week, they popped over to see me after their classes and I was able to do a bit of a walk around campus with the girls to show them where all their classes were and that made them a lot more comfortable for the week to come. For the next three days Emelia and Bri do not have any classes together so I am sure that tomorrow will be a bit more nerve wracking for them both but they are ready.

In the middle of school orientation Emelia also had a big week at cheer. Normally this first week of school the gym closes and gives the kids a week to settle into school, this year however things were a bit different and the world’s teams were in doing training this week and learning their routines for the season. All in all Emelia seemed happy with her role in the routine and is excited for the season. It has been a challenging summer for Emelia with this new team so hearing her happy with things is certainly a relief for sure.

So a great week all in all! But this week is not all about Emelia and university. Today is a big day – it is John’s birthday. What the last few years have taught us is that getting older is a privilege, that every birthday isn’t promised. So we have decided to celebrate every moment, every birthday, every small moment and every big moment. So today was about John – he spent his morning doing what he loves, on his bike with her cycling club, the afternoon we watched Emelia and tonight we went out for a dinner just the three of us. It was a perfect day.