I was so faithful to this blog for so long that I sometimes feel a bit guilty for the way I neglect it these days… that is, when I have time to even remember that I’ve been meaning to write. With a family of five that consists of a teenager and two toddlers, it would be the understatement of the year to describe things as “busy”. And that’s just if we’re talking about life at home! The truth is that I’ve been on a bit of a tear recently, making our lives even busier and more full.
As you may remember, I decided to take on a coaching role last winter with F’s U18 hockey team. What began as Team Manager rapidly evolved into Team Safety Manager and Assistant Coach. It was an absolutely incredible season and I was so glad that I took the opportunity to get more involved. The team taught me so much and led me to take on some other exciting new things…
Like how I took a new (and really big) job!
In May, I began work with a professional services firm as Senior Manager, Regional Marketing for Atlantic Canada and Northern Ontario. For the past five months, I’ve essentially been drinking from a fire hose. The role is in-person, four days a week in-office in Halifax, and I’d be lying if I said the transition from totally remote back to working in the real world — complete with a commute across the harbour every day — hasn’t been without bumps.
It’s been both really hard and really wonderful to adjust to the new position, the new routine, and the volume of work and travel. Fortunately, my team is amazing (I manage a team of five total rockstars) and I have the flexibility to make the best choices for our family. Travel has been exhausting in all of the best ways: connecting with new people, getting to starfish in a bed in a hotel room alone for a night, and rediscovering myself professionally. I’m so glad I decided to take this leap.
Speaking of leaps…
Because life wasn’t chaotic enough already, M and I got married in August after ten years (more on that in a separate blog post or seven if I can find time to write!) and I handled the whole thing mostly solo. The timing of starting a big, new job and planning an outdoor wedding that kept growing and growing over the spring and summer wasn’t the best, but it all turned out OK.
This, of course, meant that our summer was completely packed with wedding-related obligations and work. Our trips to Cape Breton were mostly around things we needed to manage, and several weekends in a row were allocated to bachelor/ette events, packing, and crafting for the big day.
While that was happening…
F had his first summer job this year, living in Cape Breton with my parents. It made for a long and lonely summer for us without him, but he really enjoyed the experience. As of the time of writing, he’s accepted his second job and will begin work later today! I’m currently very excited for him to get his full driver’s permit, so I can be off the hook for getting him everywhere.
And when we’re not working…
… you can find us at hockey, where I’ve stepped into the Head Coach role for 2026-2027 with the U18 Dartmouth Hurricanes. We’re currently two weeks into our season and I’ll admit that the late nights (regularly 9-9:30pm starts!) are going to kick my butt, but I can’t imagine not being involved with the team this year, especially after having the opportunity to get to know several of last’ year’s players and families.
So, while this isn’t a completely exhaustive list of things that have gone on, it definitely sums up some of the bigger things to happen in our lives in the past 8 months!
