THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life ~ July Edition

Happy Canada Day! I'm pretty shocked that June has come and gone. But I'm definitely ready to get this summertime party started and I'm really looking forward to all of our summer plans! Normally I do a little pandemic section so that I'm keeping a record of how things are going. Things had gotten a little boring pandemic-wise, UNTIL NOW! The main thing is that I caught Covid. Finally. After two+ years of miraculously avoiding it, I finally caught it. My suspicion is that I was exposed at a yoga class that I attended (there were people coughing in the class) but there is really no way to know for sure. Archie caught it from me and Tim caught it last. (We didn't isolate from each other, instead we just blasted our germs all over our house and into each other's faces with reckless abandon, HA HA HA.) Unfortunately, I also infected Rachelle (but amazingly not Amy or Nicole) because we had a girls night the day before I was symptomatic. :( Also amazingly, I did NOT infect my parents who were staying at our house that week! Covid was very mild for me. It started with a dizziness and generally feeling unwell, like a full-body ickiness. Then I had a very light sore throat which never seemed to turn into a real sore throat. Then the main part was a very bad headache, stuffy and runny nose, and bad sinus pressure. Lastly, there was a bit of a cough but it wasn't constant. I also had chills. I really only had 1.5 days that I would consider "bad" and my symptoms were pretty easily managed with regular medicine. It felt like a head cold and I have certainly been more sick with other things in the past. Archie had the same symptoms but also vomited for an entire night. Despite this, he only had that one "bad" day and then bounced back faster than anyone. Tim didn't seem to have any bad days at all (although he did get stuck with a more persistent cough that lingered) and continued to work throughout the whole thing. We were fortunate that for us, Covid was no big deal and we all recovered quickly and easily. I was beginning to think that we were immune or invincible but apparently not!! If anything, the timing was great because now we'll get to use our three months of best immunity for the summer!

In other Covid news, as of June 14th Alberta has lifted all remaining health restrictions. This was Step 3 (the final step) of "Easing Measures." This means that mandatory isolation requirements are now lifted and people are no longer required to isolate when they have Covid. (This actually happened WHILE we had Covid, which was pretty funny.) It's like the "before times" when you would get sick and could still go about your life. It's pretty wild to imagine that we have reached this point. As for the rest of the month... This is my house lookin' real nice with all of the flowers in bloom. It often hits me that I am SO GRATEFUL that this gets to be my home. And that I own it.

My parents came for a visit and stayed with us for two nights before heading off to Jasper. Somehow they didn't catch our Covid, thankfully, even though they were in our house and we were hugging, etc. (I tested positive two days after they left.) They were supposed to return to stay with us for almost a week but we had to cancel that part because of our germs. So that was unfortunate!! But at least we had a short visit which is better than nothing.

We also had a girls night to celebrate Nicole's birthday and she picked to have dinner at New Asian Village. So that was fun! However, this took place ONE day before I tested positive and unfortunately sitting directly across from me at the table was the wrong place to be. :( Many apologies Rachelle!!!

Then it was Father's Day! Thankfully we were recovered by this point. Archie's preschool did a cute "Donuts with Dad" event where Tim got to attend a party at the preschool with all of the other dads.

Then on actual Father's Day we went out for brunch at a French Canadian restaurant called Chartier. It was a great time and I think that Tim really enjoyed himself.

International Yoga Day!

Lacey and Dallas came to Edmonton from Canmore for a visit and they spent a night at our house. It was so nice to get to spend some quality time with them and of course we used the opportunity to eat some really good food! (Dallas is a chef in Canmore, so they're great foodie friends to have!)

We also went out to PrideFest, which was mostly a huge party that lasted for a whole weekend in Edmonton. I always enjoy being a part of the Pride celebrations. We met Edmonton's mayor (once again) while we were there!

I also took this photo of rainbow bagels that I was pretty proud of!

We celebrated Amy's daughter Sawyer's 6th birthday and I enjoy when we adult at children's parties together.

We also visited Pets in the Park, which is an event in Edmonton where everyone brings their pets to Hawrelak Park. It's mostly all dogs which is why I extra enjoy showing up with a cat.

And finally, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary by going out for a delicious Spanish/Portuguese dinner at a restaurant called SABOR and then went to see the musical Hamilton! I liked it better than when I saw it in Toronto because my seat was substantially better. It was the best and most fun night!! It's always really nice to take the time to just be "the two of us." I am very grateful for our roster of four teenage girl babysitters that we can use whenever we need to!

And that was the month! Apart from the whole Covid adventure, it was a really great kick-off to the summer! Life with Archie: Archie had a great month as well. His last month of preschool (EVER!) was really wonderful and special. They did a field trip to the Edmonton Valley Zoo, had a Pajama Day, and thankfully Archie didn't end up having to miss too much because of Covid.

On his very last day they had a whole last day party complete with a magician/puppeteer, snacks, and a graduation ceremony. Archie received the award of "Class Engineer," which makes complete sense to us. It really hit me that Archie has completed preschool and won't be going back there. His teachers were so wonderful. For the past two years while the pandemic happened he got to "go to school" and the whole thing felt surprisingly normal. (He never even caught Covid from school - I gave it to him instead, ha ha.) I could not be more grateful that he was almost shielded from the pandemic in a way, and got to continue doing something that we would have previously taken for granted. When he started he was just a little three year old baby and now he has grown and learned so much. Because of all of this, I find it pretty emotional to close this chapter.

Speaking of the next chapter, Archie got to go on a French Immersion Kindergarten Visit to Lendrum, his new elementary school. He was very excited to go into his new school for the first time, see his actual (beautiful) classroom, and meet his teacher Mme. Mindana. He ran to sit on the carpet with the other kindergarten students and immediately started participating in the class and raising his hand to answer questions - even though lots of it was in French! He is seriously so ready to go. It was wonderful to see and I'm so excited for him. Archie's favourite food is poutine and he was very pleased that Chartier had it as an option on their kids menu.

Archie loved attending the Pride festivities and we had some great talks about what Pride is all about. If I ask him what Pride means he says "it means that you can love who you love, and love yourself too." He's really sweet and he gets it.

And finally, Archie absolutely loved attending Sawyer's birthday party and being included in the fun! They're 6.5 months apart in age so it's really great when they get to have hangouts!

Also, I completely forgot to mention this last month! We have broken Archie's habit of coming to sleep in our bed every night! Previously, we would put him to bed in his own bed and then halfway through the night he would wake up and start calling for us and Tim would always go to get him and bring him to our bed. This had gone on for years. In May, Tim took a work trip to Vancouver and I was alone overnight with Archie for the first time since the pandemic began. This was also my first time alone with Archie since he's been out of a crib. (Yes, that's how long the pandemic was.) So anyway, I told Archie that he had to sleep in his own bed for the whole night because dad was gone and I wasn't going to come to get him. And he did! And then even after Tim returned he just kept doing it! He hasn't come to sleep in our bed ever since. I guess all that it took was to have a conversation with him about it. Now that it's July and preschool is finished it really feels like summer vacation! Today is Canada Day and we're planning to go watch the big fireworks show over the river in Edmonton. Archie hasn't gotten to see anything like this for the past two years so we're looking forward to taking him (and letting him stay up extra late for it). Then next week Sarah and Darren are going to be arriving from Toronto with their two kids for a visit! We cannot wait to show them around Edmonton (we have SO MANY fun plans) and then we're all heading off to Jasper together for four nights! We're doing two nights camping (in tents) at our favourite campground called Wabasso and two nights in cabins at our favourite Becker's Chalets. I've been dreaming of this mountain adventure! Two of my favourite festivals; Improvaganza and Taste of Edmonton are happening this month and I'm looking forward to checking them out! And then near the end of the month we are off to Ontario! We will be flying to Toronto and spending five nights at the family cottage in Muskoka with Tim's whole family. We intend for this to be the last time that we ever go there because we are planning to sell the cottage. So this is the last hurrah! I can't wait to jump into the lake again! After that we will be spending three nights in Toronto (staying at an Airbnb) doing fun Toronto things. We are considering this the "farewell" that we never got to have when we moved away. There were so many things that we wanted to get to do before moving but because of the pandemic we didn't get to do any of it. So we're making up for it now! Then we'll be spending three nights in Pickering (staying at Colen's house) so that I can get some great quality friend time with my Toronto crew. <3 This is going to sound insane (because it is) but starting this month I will be flying somewhere every single month for the next seven months. O_o This is how I make up for lost pandemic time, ha ha! THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!:

July 5th is Candice Weingartner’s 40th birthday!

Welcome to the 40th milestone club! I hope that you have a wonderfully relaxing time at the cottage and get to feel truly celebrated. You've always been such a driven and determined person and I've always admired how you know how to get things done. I can't wait to ring in this decade properly with you in Mexico!! Love you! <3 July 8th is Crystal Hawker’s 40th birthday!

How are we all turning 40?! How??? I hope that you get to feel loved and celebrated. Just know that I am incredibly proud of you and the incredible woman that you are today. This next decade is going to be so wonderful for you! And I can't wait for us to ring it all in in Mexico! I love you very much! <3 July 15th is Robin Checkowy’s 40th birthday!

Welcoming you the 40th milestone club as well!! You are such a kind person and a wonderful mother. I value that we've gotten to have such a long friendship and I hope that you get absolutely spoiled on your special day! I miss you and hope to see you very soon!! Love you! <3 July 26th is Nadine Ottenbreit's 8th wedding anniversary!

8 years, 4 kids, 1 grandkid, same husband. I'm pretty sure that's a feat in itself! ;) I hope that you and Kyle have a chance to celebrate!