The next two weeks are going to be so busy for me!
He said
This weekend was a big one at work—essentially the kickoff of the Holiday season and Super Bowl of retail all-in-one, in the Black Friday weekend. Typically it means I’m working non typical days and the entire weekend (well, Friday to Monday) we are very busy! This year I worked the Friday, Sunday and Monday (tomorrow) and by the end of my day tomorrow I will be very ready for another day off! This year has been just as busy – if not busier – than last year. But was busy as it was, it was also a very good weekend as the team really came together and stepped up in a big way. That was encouraging to see!
My bike rides have started to make that winter shift to being indoors as much as they are outdoors. And. given the cruddy winter blasts we keep getting almost on a weekly basis, I am okay with riding indoors over wiping out on ice. Last week I shared that I had hit my yearly goal of 12,000km over a month early so the goal is for the rest of the year to focus on putting down the same distance every single day with the intent of seeing how far past 12,000 I can get. Right now, there is a really good chance I could get close to 13,000km when it is all said and done. Especially likely when you consider I end every year with the Rapha Festive 500 on Zwift.
This week, the focus for Emelia was really dialling in on school and Cheer. Final papers are due this week, and then exams start the week after. And, if that wasn’t enough, she also has her next Cheer comp coming up next weekend in Oshawa. And, if that wasn’t also enough, she also has her two, part-time jobs too. This week was a lot for her—pretty much every hour outside school, Cheer, work (x2) was focused on one of the other things and getting the work done. By the time last night rolled around, Emelia was ready to blow some steam off. Her besties came over to the hose last night, I gave them the main floor and they had a fun evening unwinding after a week that was a lot for all of them. And by all counts it was just what they needed.
She said
It has been a really hectic few weeks for me at work and I was finally able to put to bed my last big event of the year before the holiday break, it has been a crazy 6 weeks for me for sure. Thankfully all the events from Convocation, to Open House, to Student Awards and finally Teaching Awards all events went off without a hitch. I am proud of how all the events came together they were all given such positive feedback. It has again anchored that I made the right move changing careers to start at King’s.
What I also love about being at King’s is that Emelia is on campus as well. I am able to be at work if she needs anything and at the same time I am able to let her know about supports she might need. John and I are so beyond proud of how Emelia has been doing this first term. She is in the middle again of another busy stretch. She has a bunch of term ending papers and projects all due this week and with little downtime after she is moving right into final exams. All Emelia’s grades have been strong and she is really putting in all the hard work. She is focused and driven. This week what is adding to the craziness for Emelia is that she has a fair bit of shifts at work and we leave on Friday morning for her next cheer competition. She certainly has a lot on her plate!
With all that we have had going on the timing of this last weekend was perfect. In the summer when one of my best friends Lauren came up to the trailer we booked a trip that I would head up to Toronto to spend the weekend with her. I hopped on the train in the afternoon on Friday and made my way to her place. The whole weekend was all about hopping around the city to see as many Christmas celebrations and markets. We started Friday with a hang out, some wine and catching up. Saturday we got up early and got out the door and made our way out. We started our day in a new market that Lauren had been wanting to check out. It is the Evergreen Brickworks Market. The market in the shell of an old brick production plant. Similar to the Distrillary District in Toronto they have kept the bones and history of the building and made a unique market around it. We wandered around for an hour or so before we headed towards downtown. With some hiccups in transit we made a few changes in our plans and ended up staying downtown and went to the Eaton’s Centre, Nathan Phillips Square, a few other Christmas markets before we made our way to Queens Street and looked around the stores there. After over 17,000 steps Lauren and I were ready to head back to her place and get some food, rest our feet and have a couple glasses of wine and relax.
This morning we opted instead of heading to more markets we would have a slower start, chat over coffee and breakfast before we took in one more Christmas must see before I headed home. Our last stop was at the Royal York. And I am so glad we took that extra stop. We walked around the hotel lobby and took in all the decorations, the Christmas music and the beauty of this iconic and historic hotel. The whole atmosphere was beautiful. I was sad to say good-bye today but it was the perfect balance of a weekend. We got to catch up and get into the Christmas spirit!