In these challenging times, it was great to be able to celebrate some good news. 3 bits of good news, to be exact.

But first, today, the BC Ferries are set to resume trips to Nanaimo, and (the bigger one), schools are set to reopen on June 1^st. Personally, having seen how kids social distance at the skateboard park and in cars, I’m thinking we’ll not be sending our kids to a lot of classes (but there’s still so much to be worked out for this to be a final decision.)

Find out about the schools HERE and the ferries, HERE.

Another quick observation about re-opening schools – didn’t we just force the teachers to become mini-IT experts, online course creators, social workers, and counselors to both the kids and the parents? That’s a LOT of work, and now they also have to work on some sort of regular classroom curriculum and police mitigation as well? Are we asking too much here?

Anyway, on to the good news.

In times like this, we set the bar low. Good news, no one I knew died today. Good news, it was sunny outside. Good news, no one forced me to watch Cats.

Then we got some really good news. The-Oldest won the Sharon Stevenson musical scholarship for $10,000. That will pay for a year at university or nearly two at college. He was so happy, he actually walked around the house singing and doing some sort of Singing-in-the-Rain dance.

He had worked hard on that scholarship, but they also recognized that he has genuine talent, and wanted to help him succeed. How cool is that?

To reward him, we wanted to do something special. For me, that would be, umm, like a large milkshake or dinner at Earls. For The-Youngest, that would be going to Playland, you know, when it opens. For The-Prettiest-Girl-in-the-World, that would be a day free of stinky boys, I think.

But for The-Oldest, it was watching West Side Story.

Have you seen this? It was a bit of a chore to watch. The-Oldest, however, loved the music, of course, getting super excited about tri-tones, dissonant chords, and the elaborate musical theater of Leonard Bernstein.

Oh, the things we do for our kids.

Then, the next day, today, we found out he’d won the Langley Community Music School’s Young Composers Competition. Boy, did he work hard on that one, and pushed himself to create something utterly unique. It’s a great prestige win for him, something that’ll help build his musical resume.

To reward him, well, he didn’t really want anything. I mean, according to him, we all watched West Side Story together, yesterday, and that was enough (but not enough for us.)

See, it’s one thing I really believe in. We beat ourselves up A LOT over our failures, yet treat our successes with a self-deprecating shrug. We need to celebrate our wins with as much fanfare as we can muster.

So, we bugged him for a couple of hours, and finally, he came up with White Spot, one of our favourite Pre-Covid19 places. We ate food we hadn’t eaten in 64 days. A double burger for me, a salmon burger for The-Prettiest-Girl-in-the-World. Spaghetti and (proper) meatballs for The-Youngest, and for the contest winner, chicken strips.

Ha.

The last bit of good news was The-Prettiest-Girl-in-the-World feeling it would be safe to go see a friend (based on the latest from Dr. Henry – HERE.)  She’s been stuck with us morons for two months, and while her sanity seems only a little tattered, she hasn’t been able to get filled up by her family and friends.

So, tomorrow… her first venture out. Social distancing will be strictly enforced. No hugging or kissing. No sharing of food. She’ll bring her mask, her sanitary wipes, and lawn chairs so they can sit far enough apart.

She needs this, though, as crocheting, binge-watching Schitt’s Creek, and plotting my murder isn’t really satisfying her social needs.

Anyway, all-in-all, a good day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, so I wanted to share some good news for a change.

Until my next post, stay safe, stay healthy, and respect the new world.