As I look back at the last year I am amazed at how quickly I forget what has happened. Let's see... I hate to admit it, but much of this last year revolved around my work. I have been working on a project for the last two years to help qualify Canadian Tire (my employer) as a Custom Self Assessed Importer and thus qualify for using the "FAST" lanes for their imports from the United States into Canada. I know that may not seem interesting to most readers of this blog, but when you have been living that every day for the last two years at work, it has a way of brainwashing one into thinking that it really is important and interesting.
The project really was quite interesting as I got to be involved in designing, building and testing a new software application for Canadian Tire. I have learned just how difficult it is to fully know what it needed at the design phase of a project, and also how detailed a design needs to be in order for the final product to be what was envisioned.
If you have ever seen the cartoon of the rope swing as proposed, as the analyst designed it, as it was built by the developers, as installed for the customer, and what the customer really wanted.. well I always thought that was a slam to the craziness of business, I have come to see that in large part it actually represents the amount of communication that is assumed to be understood, at different phases of a project, but is not understood.
It isn't that the senior analyst is unable to design what the customer really wants, but just that when listening to the customer describe what he wants, well, the customer didn't communicate it well, and even the analyst didn't make it clear to the development team how it should look, and what do you know, when it was installed, well the design wouldn't quite fit and so the installers did their best to make it work.
Anyway, the project I was on was delayed multiple times and what was to be delivered in June was finally delivered in November (five months late).
During this time, there was much stress in the Hills household as it led to many Saturdays where I was not at home, but rather at the office. I think that the kids even began to think that Saturday was a work day, not a day for daddy to be at home. In the end it was almost 70 hours where I was at work or about 8-9 weekends that were not what we wanted. It was so bad that the gift certificate we received at Christmas last year for the Stratford Festival of Canada ended up being used on closing night of one of the plays. It had to be used either that week, or the next week, or it would have lost its value. Thankfully, my sister Ana agreed to watch our kids and Amy and I had a wonderful afternoon and evening, going to the Waterloo outlet stores and then to a play at the festival.
We had planned to go camping in the summer, but alas with my schedule, it did not happen. Emily continues to talk about camping, and would probably sleep in a tent outside tonight if she were given the chance (BTW, it is currently 3 degrees Celsius outside). I know that I will need to make camping happen this next year no matter what the schedule at work.
On the weekends that we did have this last year , I got the chance to travel with the family to Pioneer Village in Toronto, and several other conservation areas. We have come to realize that our family really enjoys the outdoors and thus have bought our first conservation area annual pass this last year. It took us until the summer to begin really using it, but by the fall we were very glad that we had made the investment. It has made it much more relaxing to go to the area conservation areas when we don't have to pay just to get in.
Other things that happened this year were that Amy and I began home-schooling Nathan. He turned five just this last November, and Amy realized that for Nathan the "un-schooling" alternative would not work. So we invested in a curriculum and began using it. I am amazed at how bright Nathan is. He is really working at reading, and has sounded out many words here and there. He still needs prompting to do the figuring out of what is written, but he is just at the precipice of deciding to figure things out for himself and begin trying to read everything. Amy is sometimes frustrated that she is not able to cover things in the curriculum as regularly as she would like, but I can see from Nathan that he is learning and continues to be building the love of learning that is so critical ones educational well being.
Emily has recently turned three, and I am seeing that children are not alike. In some ways Emily has been amazingly well behaved. For example, when we moved her from her crib into a toddler bed (Nathan's old bed) she never once got out of bed after being put down for the night. When we moved Nathan to a bed, it took a long time before he was good about staying in bed when he was put to bed at night. However, in other ways Nathan was quick to obey. I don't recall really having any "terrible two's" with Nathan, but with Emily, well I'm starting to think they are really the "Terrible Threes". She is so smart, and so stubborn (you'd think she had Amy and me for parents or something). I don't think Nathan was ever that fixed on getting his way. He was more like..."Ok daddy, I'll do what you think is best" Where as Emily is more like "No, I want my way." Ahh, the joys of being parents.
Speaking of Emily getting Nathan's old bed... The one project that did happen this summer at home was that Amy (I helped a very little bit) completely re-did Nathan's room. For those of you that had never been to our home, the paint in his room was pealing off the wall the day we moved in. After it being like that for a few years, Amy and Nathan had enough and well it had to change. After much scraping of the walls, then priming with an alkyd primer then painting Nathan had a room that looked amazing. He also had a new bed thanks to a bed frame from "Freecycle" (repainted by Amy) and a mattress from grandma and grandpa. Nathan loves his new bed, and shows all guests his new bed. We just had some people over last week, and Nathan took them to see his new bed. Oh, did I mention that the new bed and re-done room were finished at the beginning of the summer? I guess in his mind it is still his new bed and he is oh so proud of it. It is great to see his joy in the everyday things.
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Since I have written the previous part, everyone else in the family has written. Now I have been reminded about Amy and Nathan visiting Calgary back in February, Our family visiting the CN tower, Centre Island, and the Ontario Science Centre. All of which I had not included before and all of which I will allow their letters to cover. Suffice it to say that as I grow older, my mind is not what it once was. (Some of you will be thinking that perhaps it never was that great to begin with. If that is so, just imagine how bad it is now.)
The month of November was a blur, what with two birthdays and the project at work "going live". Some how Amy managed to survive, and recover just in time for the rush of activity that surrounds Christmas. Having delivered our last few Christmas cards today (the 24th) we are now completely ready to relax and enjoy the evening with my sister, and then attempt to get two excited and sugar filled children to sleep. In the morning we will all enjoy the unwrapping Christmas gifts and then we all say good-bye and rush off or separate ways. Amy, the kids and I travelling to visit Amy's family, and my sister returning to her home in Kitchener. Soon Christmas will be over and we will have another year before we all meet here again.
I do hope that you enjoyed this summary of our year. Please be sure to also read the posts by Amy, Nathan and Emily. They have some really great stuff to say as well. If you can take the time to leave a comment, we would all really appreciate it. Even just a short "Hi" would be great.
Thanks.
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