Setting:
Chill Sunday morning. Tom reading paper in the kitchen. Tav watching sports highlights at kitchen table. Mommy eating breakfast in the kitchen. Keva colouring at the dining room table.
An ad for "Skip the Dishes" comes on between sport highlights Tavish is watching.
Keva:
"I get to skip the dishes on my birthday. My birthday is in 26 days."
It's a pretty intense year overall. Work is also strange. It's mostly virtual but in addition to sorting that all out, I was given the opportunity to present at the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM) conference. Even better, it was not just one session, I delivered two! It was a lot of work to get prepared, especially because the conference had to be moved online, but it ultimately went well. My family was super supportive during my focus preparations (read, ignoring their needs) and leaving the house for the presentation. They even brought me a lovely hanging plant to celebrate.
Setting:
Keva's bedtime, later than Mommy would like it to be. Mommy walks into Keva's room and discovers a disheveled mess on the floor after Keva 'cleaned her room'
Mommy: (surprised)
"Keva! This room is a mess! You need to clean it up!"
(Mommy storms out to the bathroom to get things organized in there)
Keva: (muttering to herself after Mommy has left the room)
"I wish I was a piggy. They are allowed to make a mess..."
I needed to take a call one day and was able to find a small, cluttered slice of privacy on the messy floor of my 12 year old. It didn't last long. About a minute later, Keva found me and made herself comfortable in Tavish's room as well. I mouthed "aren't you in class?" to her, then quickly realized my focus needed to be on the call. A few minutes later, when the call was done, I looked back to Keva who had written a note in response to my earlier question...
I feel very fortunate to be eligible for my first vaccine. Pfizer. I went to the Convention Centre and was impressed by the organization and professionalism. It feels so very momentous - is this beginning of the return to normalcy? Thank you, science. Let's do this!
Cannot believe it's been a year since Tom's big 4-0 ... and we're still having virtual celebrations and having to wear masks outside! However, covid can't get the celebrations down! Kids put on brunch, made a delicious cake. We went for a (busier than we would have preferred) bike ride to the Leslie Spit. And balloons. Always balloons.
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| Balloons for the Old Guy |
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| Fantastic Faces to Celebrate With |
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| Brunch |
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| Birthday with a View |
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| Gourmet (kid made) Cake! |
Another early settler attends the Century School House with "Miss Taylor"! Keva being in grade three meant a TUSC field trip with a covid twist - it was done virtually!
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| Keva Cosburn |
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| Meeting her Mom, um ... Miss Taylor! |
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| The Class of Characters |
MOMENTS: Past Schooling with Present Technology
What is usually a full-day field trip has been modified to two separate online sessions. For the first session, I taught from my home office (aka: my bedroom) so had Keva join me in person and virtually at the same time!
