I had decided that I am not a duct tape artist. I now have twenty-five roles of pattern duct tape and have made everything from shoes for my American Girl dolls to bracelets for myself.

He said

Definitely this week had the entire household in much better health. My neck was mostly feeling better with the odd stiff morning that took a bit more to get going. And the intestinal folly that had it’s way with me was pretty much off of my radar by Monday mid day. And the same was true – for the most part – for Danielle and Emelia too.

I was at work most of the week with my days off being Sick Sunday and then Thursday. And Thursday was pretty much a loaded dance card. Knowing it was my one day off we had lined up three appointments for Emelia and then Danielle. In the afternoon we busted Emelia out of school, I set to watching the daycare kids so that Danielle and Emelia could make their way to back-to-back appointments.

The first was a checkup with our family doctor which was a standard one, but we also had her look at some lingering warts on Emelia’s feet that have been resisting going away with over the counter treatment and were becoming quite a nuisance in her life. The second appointment was the followup to Emelia’s contact lens test where she would try to put them in herself validating she was ready for them. The first appointment went fine and a followup has been booked to remove the warts. The second didn’t go as well and she wasn’t able to sort out how to get the lenses in herself so there is one more appointment booked for that too, so that she can make a second try at that. She was disappointed but took it on stride seeing how tricky it is to get them in on her own.

After that was wrapped up Danielle took back over her daycare until the parents came to collect their kids. After they were all gone it was off to the third appointment of our busy day. Danielle had her followup dentist appointment to check out her recent work. Given that the appointment was on Mom & Dad’s end of town I took the opportunity to drop in for a visit with Emelia while Danielle sat in the dentist chair. It was a good, but brief visit. And even Danielle got some time in after she was wrapped up.

We also made a very big decision this week to cut the cable TV subscription and forgo the hefty monthly bill for the very few shows we actually watch and need cable for. We have done this in the past and found after six months that we were feeling the need to get it back. But, back then Netflix didn’t exists as it does now as well as many other ways to see the shows we like, legitimately, without having to waste a hundred and forty dollars every month for a large portion of channels and content we don’t care about. It’s already been just under a week and to be honest, I haven’t really noticed it. I don’t suspect this time, we will choose to go back to having cable and that with our AppleTV and internet package we’re absolutely have all that we need.

Friday night, Danielle was invited out to help the twins’ mother – who she has become very good friends with – celebrate her birthday.  Given that they were going out for dinner and a couple drinks I decided to quickly turn the evening into a Daddy & Daughter date to help ease Emelia into the notion of being cleaved from her Mummy for the evening. We settled on going to The Palasad so that we could do some bowling and then grab a bite to eat.

After the initial shock of recognizing Mummy was going out and wouldn’t be around for bedtime was out of the way and bowling was on the dance card, Emelia was much more amenable to the separation and off to Palasad, we were!

We had a great time! She really loves bowling and enjoyed beating me both games in a half hour of high stakes bowling. I even let her bowl for the both us in the third frame where we only had about five minutes of lane time left. Low and behold she managed to win that game too… against herself.

After that was wrapped up we decided to make our way to a table to get some grub as we were both very hungry. We managed to run into a friend of mine Ryan that I hadn’t seen in at least two to two-and-a-half years. He was pretty gob smacked at how tall Emelia was—now easily three quarters my height. We agreed that it had been too long and decided that we should get together some time much sooner than two years out. It was a great little surprise on the night.

Emelia and I continued on to dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. She’s really starting to develop her own personality and what’s most amazing is how distinctly she deals up pieces of both Danielle and I in how she acts and behaves. That is the part I am enjoying now as she develops so much. It is amazing how much more you learn about yourself than you do your kid when you interact with them. And she has the most amazing and interestingly insightful conversations.

After we wrapped up dinner we headed back home, and while after her normal bedtime, she certainly wasn’t the normal pain to get to bed when we miss the appropriate window of opportunity. In fact the same mature, little girl I sat with dinner was completely agreeable as we got her off to bed. And then I wasn’t much farther after her. Both Emelia & I got to hear about Mummy’s night out with Susan the next morning.

The rest of the weekend was working for me. Saturday was a later shift so I got time to morning at a very slow pace with Danielle and Emelia. And then, I even got to have my dinner break with them when we switched the car so I had a way of getting home. Today was the regular Sunday shift with the added twist of starting at eight in the morning which got me home in time for a nice family dinner that included steak we barbecued and all of us at the table together with a record on. It was the perfect wrap to what was much better week for us all! Now, down to the couch to not watch cable TV! 🙂

She said

The week was much quieter compared to the last few. John was finally healthier, Emelia and I were back to normal and I even managed to get back to the gym for a couple work outs. The week flew by that before we knew it Thursday was upon us and it was a packed day. John had a day off and we had it booked solid. A few weeks ago we had booked Emelia’s ‘teach’ for her contacts but before we knew it the day was booked from start to end.

The first was the cable company to come and properly cut the cable and return our overpriced cable boxes, the second was the dishwasher repair person coming in to replace a broken part and do a second check on the repair from the week prior. Before we knew it the morning was behind us. By noon, the kids were crafted out and ready for lunch and bed. Once I had all the little ones settled and had lunch I popped over to the school to pick up Emelia.

The first doctor’s appointment for Emelia was her annual check-up, she’s doing great – everything checks out. She is of course very tall for her age and her weight is average for her age so she is balanced! The second purpose of this appointment is these lingering planters worts she has all over her feet. For a while we were on a wait and see thought to see if they would resolve on their own but with they started becoming really uncomfortable for her especially during gymnastics so we looked into treatments.

I had started with the over the counter options and if they were not successful we would see our doctor. Well they aren’t successful, all they are doing is damaging her healthy skin and doing nothing to get rid of these worts. By the early part of the week the treatment was causing a lot of pain for her so we stopped entirely to have the doctor assess them. So needless to say we need further treatment but our doctor told us to book in a week to allow her feet to heal from the treatment we had been doing. So we go back in next week.

The second was the much anticipated contact lenses teach. We were to go in to the office and have a train for an hour with a staff member to show Emelia how to put her contacts in herself. So she was so attentive, patient and tried and tried and tried but no success. Her long eyelashes are her nemesis. She tried so hard it broke my heart that she couldn’t get them in. She has no fear of putting them in, she just needs to figure out how to get her eyes open wide enough to get those big contacts in. So a sad defeated little girl agreed we would book the next available appointment that we could that worked with our schedule. So we go back in two weeks. Here’s for hoping that she has better success the next time around.

As if that was not enough for one day, the next appointment was for me, once the children were picked up and we had dinner packed for Emelia and supper for John and I in the crock-pot we were off to the dentist. I dropped Emelia and John off at Helen and Doug’s for visit and I went in for my full check-up. The tooth that was causing so much pain a few weeks ago is healing slowly but well and the rest of the teeth are clear of cavities. So all in all a great check-up and I am booked for a full cleaning at a later date.

Needless to say we were pretty well spent by the time I picked up John and Emelia so we headed up to get her to bed and John and I some supper.

So before we knew it the week was turning into the weekend. Friday was a bitter sweet day, a huge part of John’s and my life over the last 10 years has been CBC Radio3. It brought the amazing Canadian indie music in our lives. Not only did the station bring us a whole world of incredible music it brought us some of our closest and dearest friends. We have met sooooooo many amazing people, gone to see incredible festivals and concerts because of this community – heck it brought us Emelia’s favourite singer who has sang her to sleep for over 6 years in Jill Barber. So why am I even talking about this – well Friday was the last day of live host shows on CBC and our friends Grant Lawrence (who happens to be married to Emelia’s fave Jill Barber) and Lana Gay will no longer be hosting. So as I cared for all the kids I had Grant and Lana’s shows on in the background. I had Facebook open looking at all the photos our friends were posting of their favourite CBC moments and it was a happy/sad day. We will always have those friends but its just another change – and I am good with a bit less change.

During the day I received a text from my friend Susan asking if I had plans for the night because she wanted to go out for dinner and drinks to celebrate her birthday. With John being home around dinner I was happily able to say yes. Once John was home he and Emelia went off to their daddy/daughter date and I got ready to go out.

The night out with grown-ups was a great change to my day to day with wee ones. We had a great dinner, went out for a couple drinks and had a great time. As I said to Susan we really need to do this more often, it was a great time.

Saturday morning came early as I had an early appointment across town. Once I was home John, Emelia and I hung out before he had to head out to work. So as I was getting ready I had to make a ‘stop’, as I was getting ready I heard a dreaded ‘splash’ and the horror kicked in, I turned around to see my cellphone at the bottom of our toilet. I ALWAYS check my pockets before I use the washroom, every time except apparently Saturday, and of course this is the time my damn cell phone was in my back pocket and I forgot. So instantly we knew the phone was a goner. Strangely enough the conversation that John and I had earlier this week is that I was going to keep that phone until it died before upgrading. Well it died alright. I was so incredibly pissed at myself, the phone is out of warranty of course so I had to go buy a new phone, ouch ouch ouch.

After getting over the shock that I was buying a new phone months before I had intended I went on with my day. We brought John to work and Emelia were off for a bit of shopping. I was trying to fill our day as our play date I had planned had to back out last minute due to illness.

With a wide open day and a hurting bank account we ventured over to Target. Target Canada is leaving and it was announced this week that all the stores will be closing in a week. The liquidation discounts were going up and we thought we would have one more peak. We did quite well, we bought some replacement patio stuff and well we stocked up on some household necessities. Emelia is still so upset that Target is leaving. After Target we met John for dinner at Farm Boy after getting our weekly produce there. John brought us home and Emelia and I had a movie/craft night.

Sunday morning came crazy early, John had to be at work even earlier than normal on a Sunday. Emelia and I returned home and she went right back into crafting mode. I got a few things done around the house and then we went out for errands and Emelia’s beloved weekly gymnastics. She is so much in her zone in that gym that it is truly a highlight not only for her but for me each week. I just adore watching her in her ‘zone’.

After gymnastics we decided that we would check the west end Target for one last time to see what they had in stock. Needless to say Emelia made out like a bandit. Emelia’s obsession is duct tape crafting. I had shown her some crafts she could do for her American Girls with duct tape and she was hooked. But this is not a cheap craft so the 70% off on craft supplies made stocking up a whole lot less painful. She was in crafting happiness.

The day went by in a flash and before we knew it John was due off work and we were on our way home. Tonight was a great family night, it was again crafting of course and a family game night. A perfect end of the day.

That was the week that was, next week is a short work week and Easter is here! Bring on the chocolate!!!!