This week was Halloween! Although the weather wasn’t great, I still had so much fun Trick or Treating with Anna & Grace!
He said
After a few weeks of having not a whole lot going on – save all the normal stuff – this week was ripe with more things on the calendar. On Monday morning, Emelia and I had physio appointments. And then, after dropping her back off at school, I went and played a couple hours of pickup hockey with a couple of guys from work. Last week we mentioned about wanting to get back into shape, and get a piece of home equipment was the plan. Until we were certain what that was, this was really good sweat and an hour and forty-five minutes of extra fitness in my life.
By Monday night Danielle and I were certain what the equipment was going to be: a rower. We had found a Nordic Track rower at Canadian Tire that featured the ability to fold up and could be wheeled out of the way. To our surprise when we went to pick it up it was reduced at the till! $300 less than what we were expecting to pay was a super pleasant surprise. We spent Monday night assembling the rower and getting it set up in the basement. After a test row on it, I was certain we got the right thing.
Tuesday, Danielle took Emelia to have a follow-up appointment with her paediatrician that is trying to help resolve her tummy fun. And then after that, she and I were off to the dentist for Emelia to get filling. All that poking and prodding and we decided to give her the night off gymnastics. I was able to get in my first workout on the rower and I really love having it. I have set a goal to do 30 minutes a day on it for the rest of my life—excluding days I play hockey or when we go camping. So far I am six days in and have maintained five days of 30 minutes on the rower (Friday’s I play an hour of hockey). And I am already feeling a ton better!
Wednesday was just a mere blip on the way to what Emelia was looking forward to all week: Thursday and more importantly, Halloween! By the time I got home from work Emelia was already long gone—out with Anna & Grace galavanting door to door for treats. The weather wasn’t necessarily the best but it didn’t really slow them down. The rain and high winds did all but crush people coming to our door after 7pm so I was able to sneak in another rower ride. Emelia showed up shortly after 8pm ready to call it a night from a very successful Halloween.
Friday morning brought us the month of November which for the past ten years has also meant a freshly shaved face as a clean start to Movember! In ten years that I have been participating, I have raised a total of $5,626 and my personal best was in 2011 where I was able to raise $1,305! It’s something I have been proud to make my face look a little (or a lot) ridiculous for in support of a great cause. Mental health and prostate cancer has had it’s impact close to us, and I am happy to help however I can! If you’re a follower of our journey here, I sure would love your support! You can donate to me here!
The other big thing on our week was Saturday! Emelia was going over for a sleepover with her bestie Olivia from gymnastics and camping. And Danielle and I were off to Toronto to once again see Dream Serenade — a benefit concert to support the Beverley Junior Public School and other GTA schools that support children with special needs. Its a wonderful night of music that always features a few surprise performances. Three years ago when we went, we got to see Gord Downie which was super special. This year the surprise guests were Rough Trade and Tom Cochrane! We got to see our friends Dawn and Jennifer—meet for dinner before and then enjoy the show together. It was a great night out for Danielle and I!
Today bright and early after a 2:15am arrival home I was back up at 6:30am to get ready for my 8am shift at work. Work was busy and flew by in a blink and I got home and right on the rower. This week is the count down to the last camping trip of the season. The site is booked and I have Friday through Sunday off. And despite having already had a dusting of snow this past week and seeing some maybe in the forecast I am super excited to get this last trip out in November — a month we have never camped in. It’s gonna be great.
She said
What a busy week it was, from constant appointments for Emelia, Halloween, our normal weekly busyness we added in a trip to Toronto. I would say busy but a good busy but this week with Emelia’s doctors appointments it seems we are still no closer to answers about what causes Emelia’s stomach to have these constant attacks. Our specialist refers to it a pealing an onion—trying to determine what it isn’t so we can figure out what it is. He knows there is a medical issue there we just need to figure out what it is. Added into her pain the doctor is leaning towards it also having a mental component that is making things worse.
Emelia has always been a more sensitive child, feels things bigger, takes on the feelings of others, worries more. So the potential suggestion that we should have her talk to someone about how she handles stress and anxiety we are certainly very supportive of. The doctor doesn’t seem to feel this is the only reason her stomach is such a mess at times but a medical problem compounded with anxiety certainly isn’t helping. We will know more in a month when we go back to the doctor to see where he wants to move the next level of testing.
With the appointments, some minor injury pain she was dealing with from dance/gymnastics and add in just having a filling filled we thought it would be best to give her a night off training to let her body heal. It was the perfect night to take things easy and for she and John to carve their pumpkins.
Before we knew it Thursday was here and the big day that Emelia and her friends were looking forward to was ready to start. Emelia came home from school happy to have been to her first school dance and a fun day at school. She quickly got her things collected and off she went to her best friends place to get their costumes and make-up ready. The girls went out as a hockey players this year in a group themed costume. They looked amazing. However the biggest highlight for them was that this was their first solo year, the girls were so excited to have full freedom (as long as they checked once in a while) to go around the neighbourhood. Our baby girl isn’t a baby anymore.
The week flew by in a flash with everything going on that before we knew it the weekend was here and John and I were off for a grown-up night in Toronto. This concert is one that we really look forward to, sadly last year we missed it so we were so happy that we were able to make it this year. Around 1:00 I brought Emelia over to the Sherwoods so she could have a sleepover at their place while we were off earlier to make a bit of an afternoon of the night. We arrived in Toronto before 4:00 and John and I puttered around downtown for a few hours before meeting friends for dinner. Dawn had made some suggestions and we decided on a Thai place. Wow the food was AMAZING!
Once we were done dinner we headed off to the venue, the show started at 8:00 on the nose and it was a full 4+ hours of incredible music and story sharing. The whole concert is beautiful every year. The concert is a fundraiser for the Beverly School. The school a GTA school for special needs children, the school is incredible and the stories shared are always such an inspiration. The evening was incredible.
We left Toronto after 12:30 and got home well after 2:00 in the morning. I don’t know how John got up at the crack of dawn this morning but I can tell you I was happy that with the time shift last night we gained an extra hour of sleep because man did we need it. That was the week that was, very busy. This week will be planning a whole different kind of camping. We have never winter camped so planning and prepping will different for sure. But we cannot wait, it will be so much fun!