Behind the Shop

There was some debate back here in the warehouse about whether this we were in Week 4 or 5. I did a Week 3 update 10 days ago, and it sort of seems like we’re in the midst of Week 5, but it could also be a recap of Week 4...?

After 16 straight days in the shop from our last break, the kids were within an inch of setting the building, and possibly each other, on fire, so Jon went in to the main shop by himself and the kids and I stayed home, with a few things on our list to get done, 85% of which did not get done over the course of the day.

I took this photo on the drive in to work one day. What a bizarre, gutting feeling to see one of the busiest streets in the city, Spadina, looking down to Chinatown, empty, in broad daylight.

In my new position as a homeschooling teacher, I’m now discovering that my child is a student who loses pencils.

For one of our first Christmases we had as a staff, Jon and I got everyone matching name cups. Shortly after that, Brendan joined our team, and he was the only one without his own cup. He wasn’t terribly bothered by this, but then one day at Value Village I found this beautiful almost Brendan mug, and for a short while (until we hired our next person) our cup situation was at peace. Basically everyone but Brendan used the mug, but the point was everyone had a mug.

A small silver lining to the shops being closed: our non-shop dog Super now comes with us to the main shop. He trots around sniffing the plants, trying to find a sunny spot.

Today is Sunday, and after seven straight days at the main shop, the kids and I stayed home, above the studio shop, while Jon went to the main shop to help pull and ship orders and get things organized, send emails.

It’s only been a few days since the brick and mortars closed, but it feels like ages. Literally—it’s only been three days since we’ve closed the shops. It’s so surreal to think about how literally just a week ago things seemed pretty normal, and were only just starting to unravel.