My first day of Grade 8 was way better than I expected!

He said

Well the really great news is that both big events this week went off without a hitch. Wednesday, Mom & Dad got moved into their new assisted living apartment and aside from them being very exhausted, and pretty much everything fit! Also that day, was Emelia’s first day of Grade 8 which was a big success. Both of these events landing in the same week, on the same day took quite a bit from us mentally and physically and come Friday we were all ready to escape to the trailer for a weekend together as a family.

First on our agenda this week was Mom & Dad and their move into their new assisted living digs. Because both Danielle & I had to work, Matthew & Shawn stepped up to be their help getting from the house over and into the apartment. Aside from a couple of delays with the movers and then their Paramed Nurse arriving late to the house, everything else went relatively well. Although Matthew & Shawn were at it til quite late and were probably quite sore the next day. But, otherwise when I called Mom the next day she was telling me how good the food was and that they were doing just fine which was a relief. Now, we will move focus on getting their house cleaned up and ready for sale.

With COVID-19, we knew that this school year was going to look and feel a lot different for Emelia and challenge her in ways she might not be ready for. Classes sizes were supposed to be reduced (that didn’t happen), she would have to wear a mask all day long, and they would be living with constant reminders of the need for physical distancing. We were concerned for her to say the least. Last week, we managed to find out that she got the teacher she wanted and that she would be in the same class as her besties, so that case some ease in her life. And one of her other besties asked is she could get dropped off at our house so they could go in their first day together. All of these combined for what I was told that evening was a lot better than she thought. She was happy, so naturally we were too.

And if that wasn’t enough going on in our week, Friday was our anniversary! Now, mind you this was the least physically and mentally challenging item on our dance card in the week. In fact it was a nice way to cap off the week. I had the weekend requested off some time ago as it always falls the same weekend as the Sandbanks Music Festival which we usually haul the trailer down to Sandbanks Provincial Park and take in the Festival to celebrate our anniversary. With the worldwide COVID-19 still a part of everyone’s lives, the festival made the wise decision to move the festival to an online virtual concert, and we decided to take it in from the trailer and spend our weekend there, just like we had at Sandbanks in the past.

And the best part was we could take it all in with Camp Bubble Family, The Sherwood’s! I was the first one up to the trailer early Friday afternoon so I got the fire pits going. Then slowly but surely everyone else started arriving. Even though the weather has turned cooler, we still enjoyed an evening around the fire pit laughing and carrying on. Saturday we got out for a bike ride together as a group and then spent the majority of the day relaxing. In the evening was online concert, so we set up the projector next to the fire pit and took it all in. While weird to be taking it in this way, it still worked and was nice to be able still have the festival part of our anniversary weekend.

All-in-all it was the perfect way to cap off what was a very busy week, and being able to celebrate our anniversary with friends who mean as much to us as our marriage. And to Danielle, Happy Anniversary to the person who makes everything better and more real when you’re at my side. As you say, I can’t think of a better person to have through it all—all 21 years of marriage and 32 years of being my other half. Me too, babe!

She said

Every week I think, ‘this is the the longest week’ and then another week happens. This week was an emotionally and physically exhausting week for our family. The big two events were getting John’s parents packed and moved from their home of 30 years into an assisted living apartment, in the middle of a pandemic! What this meant was there were strict rules in place to get this done. First we had to assure all the last of everything packed, meaning lots of trips over to the house multiple times of the day to late hours. Also meant Testza had to take them to get COVID-19 testing all timed perfectly so we could get the movers over to pack the last of the big and breakable items while assuring that everything was labeled and in order. It was a long week for everyone. All-in-all it was a stressful week but we are slowly coming out the other side.

Wednesday, because of covid restrictions only two family members were allowed to be in the apartment to help with the move and then we have to wait until the two week quarantine period is over before hopefully being allowed in to the residence to get them finally settled. But we are running into some barriers to that already. The number of COVID cases are starting to rise so we are seeing increases in restrictions and a lot of protections and restrictions in long term care homes. Which might mean we are not going to be allowed back in to get the last of the heavy boxes unpacked and see Helen & Doug any time soon face to face.

The other big event this week was getting Emelia back in school for the first time in 6 months. Her last year in grade school has been unlike any other year. There have been lots of new restrictions, she is masked all day, they stay in their class most of the day and they have split lunches to balanced day so the children get two longer breaks vs a longer lunch and two mini breaks. This is to give them as many mental health breaks as much as possible. Last week we found out which teacher Emelia was going to have and that she was going to be with her three closest friends and most of her closer friends at school. This made the first week a bit less stressful for her.

Wednesday, her friend Evelyn came to the house with her mom so the girls could walk together, they went to school happily and we said our good-byes at the gate. Strange for parents this year is that we are not allowed at all in the school. All communication with the teachers this year is remote or online. I chatted with Emelia’s new teacher (Mrs. Yu) on the phone so she could give all the parents a sense of how the first week had gone. All in all the first week went pretty smoothly.

By Friday, however I think we all mentally hit the wall – the weight of the week hit us all pretty hard and we thankfully had two nights and three days away at the trailer with friends! We spent our anniversary with our close friends (The Sherwood’s) around the fire, sharing laughs. It was the perfect way for us to spend the night and end the week—we all needed this!

The next steps for us is keeping Emelia adjusted to school, her sports schedule and keeping her mental health in check. So far she’s doing pretty well. The next BIG steps in our lives right now is focusing on getting Helen and Doug’s home cleaned out, painted, deep cleaned and on the market. It will be a stressful couple weeks, we hope to get the house on the market in a month so that we can find new closure and focus on assuring Helen and Doug are settled in their new home.

That was the week that was. Long, tiring but filled with friends and family.