So the main one has to be successfully getting the kids into fall programs at the nearby community centre. I wasn't quite sure how hard it would be. It looks like it is somewhat easier than Chicago, where the server more or less crashes the first day the Chicago Park District classes go live.
The good news was that I had gotten the kids into one week of summer camp, so they were in the system, but I had absolutely no idea of my user id or pin. So I decided to walk over right after breakfast. What I didn't know was that some people had been camping out since 3 am to get that first spot in line. I was #65 (fortunately most people in the neighbourhood either signed up via computer or telephone or simply thought that you showed up at 7 am like a normal person). I will say that the community centre folks held up pretty well under the strain, largely of having to deal with people who were frustrated because they couldn't read English well enough to understand what the various options were or why their low-income status hadn't been verified in time. I know that sounds snarky, but it isn't intended to be. It is extremely difficult to be a migrant where you are constantly struggling with the language (for about a nanosecond I had considered moving to Berlin but I have no facility in German at all). At the same time, it isn't really fair for city staff in mixed communities like Leslieville to constantly be expected to be translators, as well as social workers.
I was quite sure that the swimming would be totally booked, or that the only option would be something on the other side of the city, but when my number was called, I managed to get the two programs I wanted without any trouble. Total time waiting around was roughly 40 minutes, so I read through the morning papers. Next time I will try to do it on line, and in fact I may test out the system tomorrow, as the sports clubs can already be booked for the winter, though swimming will require another round of registration for the winter. I do hope my daughter is finally ready to pay attention in the swimming lessons. She wasn't the last time around, though that was over 2 years ago. I think the fact that she wasn't allowed to do any swimming activities in summer camp this year and last really bugged her (see--actions do have consequences) and will make more of an effort.
The weather was pretty threatening, but I thought I would be able to bike to work and back before the evening rain. (As it turns out I was wrong.) I will say that biking to work, while quite stressful in a few sections, allows me to pretty much guarantee I will be at work in 30 minutes or so. Transit can be 30-35 minutes on a very good day but it has been over 50 on a bad day. I basically was able to make it back in a short lull in the rain, and it only started raining on me again by the time I crossed the Don Valley and was nearly home. So it could have been a lot worse, as it rained very hard the rest of the evening. Biking in three days in a row is quite an accomplishment (given my general fitness level), and I am feeling it right now. If the weather lets up, I'll probably bike in on Friday as well. That would be great.
Today I actually have to come home a bit early and meet the teachers at the school, and then go back out for a play (Tartuffe) at Soulpepper. So a lot of travel. Hopefully the buses and streetcars will be mostly normal. I will say I am pretty disappointed at Soulpepper's season, particularly compared to last season when I definitely would have subscribed. Tartuffe is really the only thing I expect to see there, unless they end up doing one more revival of Angels in America...
While there is always too much work and too many optimistic promises about wrapping up projects (the life of a consultant), I am actually fairly close to being caught up except for wrapping up the TransLink documentation. If I can get another solid day to work on this (and not be distracted by a dozen other issues) I might actually be able to reclaim my evenings for some family time. I did make sure to read another chapter of Alice in Wonderland to them last night, but we haven't played any board or card games in a long while. I'll aim to do at least a bit more of that in the coming weeks.
I guess in some ways that is the main accomplishment of the week -- just staying afloat. I don't feel as squeezed as I did the previous two weeks, and a few more meaningful projects are starting up. So, all in all, I'm feeling pretty hopeful about the fall.
Oh, and this blog has now had 20,000 views! (Though probably 2-300 were just my edits when the browser kept counting my visits.) So that's a pretty cool accomplishment, even if the "real" date for getting to this threshold is a couple of weeks away.
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