Last Sunday night the Tooth Fairy came to our house and left a twoonie in my Tooth Fairy box and I found it Monday morning when I woke up. Today I went to a birthday party for our friend Emma at the movie theatre.

He said

So, this time next week, I will be just arriving in San Francisco for my three weeks of Genius training. It seems surreal that we’re so closed to this trip happening — something that was months away when I first learned I had taken on the Lead Genius role. I am starting to get excited about the trip. Being able to do some more sightseeing in one of my favourite cities, not to mention going back to the mothership ain’t all that bad either!

The last few weeks have been a blur of learning all the aspects of the new job. There hasn’t been a dull moment and I absolutely love the challenge and how it is something completely new and different each day — each hour some days. I was actually pulled aside and asked by our store leader if I had to rate where I was at with the job: 10 being really excited about doing it, and 1 being I want to go back to my old role of Creative. I didn’t even hesitate, I am definitely a 10… maybe even 11. As much as I loved being a Creative and all the experiences I had in that role, I have to say this new role and the challenges it brings are every bit the thing that I love about walking in to work, under that Apple logo every day. I am definitely all-in and thrilled about this new journey.

One bonus of the three weeks away is that I will be in the San Francisco area for two weekends with time on my hands. One of those weekends I am hoping to spend with my friend Lee in Sacramento. Last year when I was there for Creative training, we didn’t manage to connect which was a shame being so close to him. This time we’re going to try and rectify that and the best part is we’re going to see Lee’s alma mater Oregon State University take on Cal Golden Bears — NCAA Football!

I’m also going to try and slip in a visit with my Aunt Babs, Uncle Don and their family in Burlingame, as well as get in to San Francisco and most notably Amoeba Music to check out their record collection!

Enough about the trip to Cali…

This week I had the luxury of being able to walk Emelia to school pretty much every day and I love that. It’s a time where she and I get to connect on a one-to-one level and talk about things like how much she is enjoying grade one, or how much Art was my favourite subject when I was in school. She’s really developing into an insightful little girl who likes to be independent but fiercely loves being an only child at times too. It’s amazing to be witness to this blossom, something both Danielle and I have on occasion a hard time reconciling that we made something so amazing.

This week she won a prize at school which turned out to be a little note book that has a fuzzy cover. I have watched – with delight – the last few nights as she has take that book and turned it into a story book complete with pictures and words. She is now phonetically working at the words on her own and that is really where I get a sense of just all that she is learning this year. When she is done with this book, I am going to try and quietly tuck it away so we will always have this work of sheer creativity she is displaying.

And that’s the part that is going to make the three weeks away in California hard. I am going to miss having Danielle at my side undoubtedly. There isn’t a part of my life that I want to experience without her there as my sidekick, and sadly this is one where I have to. But the part that also tugs at my heart strings is missing out on the time with Emelia too. That’s the part where I hope the next three weeks fly by as fast as they can. Sure, we’ll have FaceTime, but it’s not quite the same without those two ladies there along with me.

So undoubtedly this week will be all about soaking up as much of that time that we can get! That and packing, I guess.

She said

Time is flying by at an incredible pace and as I sit here doing this week’s entry I realize that this time next week will start three hopefully quickly passing weeks. As excited as I am for John and this incredible opportunity to not only to return to California but a huge advancement in his career I would be lying to say I am not dreading the next three weeks.

The dread comes not only that I am single parenting our daughter for three weeks after running the daycare all day but the biggest thing is that even after 25 years I love being with him.

This new job has been incredible, the money is better, his happiness has been immeasurably better and his chance for challenge and advancement has been unlike anything in any other place of employment. But it has been an adjustment. Emelia and I spend many weekends just the two of us, doing errands, taking care of the house and doing all the weekend activities. It took I would say a year to get used to the new work schedule but I do have to say I have gotten into a good groove, the new hours give me some me time, when Emelia is in bed and I have a quiet house when I can just sit, watch some TV or read my book after the house hold chores are done. Reconnect with myself.

That being said I think I will have more me time than I want after 21 days of John being gone but I am sure that with how busy we will both be that the next three weeks will fly by. Thanks to FaceTime, emails, texts and this blog we can stay connected and pass the time before we are all back under one roof.

So this weekend was about getting a few things done off the to do list before it got away from us. One big one was putting back together the wall in the basement from the plumbing work we needed done just over a week ago. And it could not have come soon enough with a rain storm pouring outside I have a feeling I will be housebound with the daycare kids a fair bit this week and knowing the toy/classroom is back in safe order takes the stress off me.

This rain could not be worse timed however, I had hoped that I would be typing this week that our street was all but back together but with some delays this week and a few days of scattered rain we are still in the middle of construction, no access to our driveways and not an end is real sight considering the forecast for the next couple days. Thankfully we cancelled our plans to take Wolfie out one more weekend this coming weekend because I am pretty certain the trailer is going nowhere any time soon considering the state of our road right now.

Well that is the week that was, we are trying to spend as much time together as possible before we are apart for almost a month, so that is all from me for now. Until next week when I am figuring out how to post this blog on my own from home with John sending me his entry from California.