I had to work entirely too much this week! But I did have a blast with my friends on New Year’s Eve!
He said
After working through the entire Boxing Day weekend and into Monday I was really ready for a day off on Tuesday. I worked on Wednesday (New Year’s Eve) and then was off Thursday and Friday which couldn’t have come soon enough. Boxing Day and the week surrounding it tends to be very busy as people are looking to spend Christmas gift money and are also looking to kill time for those still on Christmas Break. And the traffic at the store this week was very busy at times. While it made the days fly by, they were also a touch exhausting too.
Emelia with wide open availability all of a sudden was scheduled the full week. So-much-so that when they realized they had given her full-time hours they told her that she couldn’t pick up any more extra hours. She told them she already had more than she wanted and she couldn’t get anyone to take a shift or two off her hands. While it basically tied her up all week and was exhausting, she also made a lot of extra for her bank account. And next week she returns to school and regular availability so the schedule will be back to normal for her.
On the cycling distance front for me I finished out the year doing the Rapha Festive 500 like I have the past two years. For it you cycle (indoors, outdoors or a combo of both) 500 kilometres between December 24th and 31st. I wrapped up on the 31st hitting the distance which completed the challenge but also added a significant amount to my year-end total. I started the year with the goal of hitting 12.000km and I hit that almost a full month early! On December 20th in fact I past 13,000km too! But, as I added the last bit of the Festive 500, I managed to tip the scales at 13,622km which boggles my mind but is proof if that you break the goal down into small, relatable chunks, it is absolutely infinitely more possible.
Lastly another big day for us this week was the arrival of the Christmas present that Danielle & I gifted each other this year: a new living room set. Our “courtin’ parlour” furniture set was more than ten years old and over the last few years, our ginger-haired little fucker had started to treat like a giant scratching post. It was high time to replace the set with something as Cousin Eddie would say was, “real nice”. So we splurged on a leather set and accompanying accent chair that had our eye for some time from IKEA. Tuesday, it was delivered. And our courtin’ parlour is now ready for proper courtin’ again!
She said
What a week for Emelia this last week has been! I know that she was looking forward to making some extra money over the holiday break but I don’t think in a million years she thought she would work as much as she has. At one point her one manager came up to her and told her she could not work any more extra shifts because she would be over hours. It wasn’t great for her relaxation or social life for part of the week but she will have a really nice pay cheque for sure. Emelia long ago told work she was booking both New Years Eve and New Years Day off so plans for that night were key for her and her friends. Some of the disadvantage of the ages of Emelia and her friends, they are not quite old enough to go to the bars and Emelia has never bothered getting a fake ID so they were all trying to figure out what to do that night. Thankfully one of Emelia’s close friends from high school decided the night before to throw a big party with all of Emelia’s close friends from high school. She was thrilled. The adjustment to university the biggest part for Emelia and her friends who stayed at home is going into parties not knowing anyone other than each other. It is not to say that they are shying away from meeting new people but it’s different. They don’t have the built in social friends from residence. So the move to new friendships has to be far more deliebrate. When Lucy messaged Emelia to invite her and their friends Emelia and the girls were so happy.
So off they went, the girls got ready here before and then I brought Emelia and the girls to the party. The sign that it was an incredible night was the fact that I did not get a text from her to come get her until 2:30! As soon as they got in the car the girls talked my ear off the entire way home. It was actually so fun to hear what happened, not only because they had an amazing time but they were talking about all the kids that they spent their high school years with. I missed this, the girls babbling on about these names I know, the kids I have seen them become close to over the 4 years of high school. There were endless stories about who did what with who, what their friends who were away for school were up to and all the usual gossip and drama. Once I got Emelia and the girls settled where they were sleeping for the night I finally crashed for the night. I thought at that time that the girls were all out for the night, well that was until we woke up in the morning to a text from Emelia that the were having some friends over at 4:00 in the morning. Emelia’s friend Marley invited over some of her friends and the girls were up chatting away until 5:30 in the morning. From all we can figure out I think that Emelia and Marley finally fell asleep at 7:00 in the morning. So all in all a huge success to new years!
The next day Emelia took things slow of course, once Marley and Bri left it was just Belle and Emelia, the girls had a big breakfast, hung out, we got more stories from the night before and then Belle was picked up from her dad, Emelia quickly went back to bed and we barely heard a peep from her for the next 6 hours! Needless to say she needed the sleep. All in all she had an amazing New Year’s Eve. She was able to spend it with the friends that mean the most to her. I know she is determined to start 2026 with a different mindset, with a focus, determination and drive. She has grown so much in the last few years. She is more sure of herself, she doesn’t take crap from just about anyone but not with a harshness, she knows her worth and gives her whole heart to her family and friends while doing her best to protect her heart. This year will prove to be a big one for Emelia. This will likely be her last year in competitive all-star cheer with a chance to compete on the Worlds stage. It should be a good year for her.