Remote Blogging -How Cool is That!

I feel almost sophisticated in a techie sort of way; I'm on Cathy's laptop, logged in remotely to Trevor's home computer. No, I didn't set it up - I wouldn't even know where to start setting it up-but still, it's pretty nifty. I should get out more, I think. *grin*

Our visit with Dave and Cathy is just nearing it's end. We'll be heading over to visit Dad and Jill this afternoon, thankfully only a five minute drive. We've had a lovely time with our old friends...they've become, if possible, even nicer, more interesting people since we last saw them. One of their biggest passions is traveling, so we got to see pictures and curios from their latest trips to Thailand and Peru. We've committed to saving up money to be able to go somewhere warm with them this coming winter, they are so fun to travel with. Their little guy will be over a year by that point, so the kids will entertain each other even more than they're doing now.

How did the actual travel go, you ask? Not bad, actually, not bad at all. No flight delays, everything went smoothly, and Connor was so tired by the time we boarded the second plane that when he sat on my lap for takeoff, he fell asleep and slept for an hour. No wailing at all. We figured out that if we put Adara in the middle and she tucked up her feet, he could putter around on the floor, and he was content for almost the whole flight that way. We stopped at a park and let the kids run for a bit, then drove to Petawawa. Even the drive went well, thanks to naps and Timbits.

More to come later!

Calm Before the Storm

It's 9pm and all of my bags are packed except for the few things that will have to be added tomorrow morning. It feels like I must be missing something...but really, I've been packing in bits and pieces since last night, so I guess it makes sense.

Tomorrow morning we're up at 5:30am, leaving at 6:20ish for the airport. The flight leaves at just before 8, but the airport is on the other end of town. We'll have a short flight to Calgary, a little over an hour's layover, and then a much longer flight to Ottawa. Once in Ottawa, we'll pick up our rental car and drive about two hours to get to where our friends and my Dad and Jill live. It will be a very long day. I've tried my best to be as prepared as I can be...snacks, toys, all manner of little things to amuse Connor with his tiny attention span. We'll see how it all goes.

I know that I worry too much about what other people think. For years, I hated being seated near small children on long trips, as they would almost always wail. I remember how much it irritated me, and I don't like to make others suffer similarly. But my Mom had a good point when she told me today: "Michelle, you have good kids. Bring interesting toys, try your best to make it fun, and if they wail every now and then, just remember that that's part of life. Anyone who has had children knows it, and anyone who hasn't had them yet will learn." I'll try to be less hyper-sensitive, we'll see whether it helps.

I'm off to bed; Connor's eyeteeth are acting up and I don't anticipate much sleep. The positive spin I'm choosing to put on the whole scene is that hopefully he'll nap more tomorrow while we're travelling. I'll post again once we return, probably on Sunday the 8th. Adios!

So Much To Say, So Little Time

Things have been moving at breakneck speed around here, what with getting ready for our trip to Ontario, getting all the details of Trevor's new job sorted out, and trying to get as much stuff as possible done around the house because we don't know how soon we'll be moving.

The trip prep is pretty much done. I've got my list done up of stuff to pack, I've picked up the few extra things I needed to buy, and I've assembled my folder of information with copies of our flight info, car rental info, and hotel info, plus mapquest directions, maps, and a list of interesting things to see and do. Trevor told me in an amused fashion that when he mentioned my folder to his assistant, she was delighted to hear she wasn't the only one who did that...I guess her friends and family have been teasing her about her 'travel books' for years.

It was interesting making a packing list for myself - you see, I've become quite girly over the last year. I love wearing skirts (dresses too, but nursing babies make them impractical right now for everyday wear), and I want to bring mostly skirts, but I've never packed the lighter more delicate stuff for a trip before. I think my solution will be to use a garment bag instead of a suitcase. We'll see how that works when I start packing tomorrow.

As for Trevor's job transfer, Trevor's company is proving itself to be a wonderful one in that they are taking care of all kinds of details for us. Trevor has been set up in a furnished one bedroom suite about a five minute walk from his Calgary office until such time as we all move down there. He's also getting a rental car for the duration. He's quite excited about it all; I must admit that I am rather selfishly not looking forward to having him gone Monday to Friday. I hope it won't take long to find us a new home.

I'm starting to get nervous about the trip - not the visiting part, just the long flight and then many hours driving part. Hopefully the kids will come through as strongly as they did during our last trip. Or, worst case scenario, we'll have what I remember Gary Smalley calling "bonding time"; evidently it's the disasters that unite families. *grin*

I'll try to post again before we leave, provided I have time with all the packing I'm planning. Wish me luck!

Calgary, Here We Come!

On the 9th, Trevor went down to Calgary for a general interview with the Major Projects division of Suncor. Last Friday he went down for another interview with them, this time for a specific job. Today he got a job offer from them, and it's a job he wants. So he has accepted, and his present and future bosses have haggled out a starting date for his new position. It's a lot earlier than he expected - June 18th. That's right, only a week and a half after we come back from Ontario. I had a feeling that when things happened, they would happen fast, and I was right.

Unless the perfect house in Calgary happens to fall into our laps between now and then, it looks like Trev will be commuting. The company will put him up in temporary accommodations in Calgary, and he'll come home on weekends on the Sunjet. He'll have weekday evenings to look at potential new homes, and hopefully things will resolve themselves quickly. If we manage to sell or rent out our home here quickly, Suncor will put our whole family up in temporary accommodations for up to three months in Calgary, although I hope it doesn't come to that.

Hard to believe that we could be out of here at the end of June. It feels like we've been standing on the edge of a cliff for months, and now we've finally jumped. Hurray! I love the excitement and energy that comes with moving, and the fun of getting to know a new city. We told Adara today, and she's very excited about the Calgary Zoo. She's looking forward to family being able to visit us in our new home too. This will probably be the first move she actually remembers in the long term, so I'm going to try extra hard to make it as fun as possible.

Onward!

We had our realtor over this weekend to look the place over, give us a general idea of what we could get for the house, and point out things we should focus on fixing up before we show it. He, being an excellent realtor despite raising my hackles every time we meet, brought up another possibility...he said that with rents being so high, we should consider keeping the house and renting it out through a management company. This is especially attractive to us because if Trevor stays with Suncor long-term, eventually we'll be coming back up here for another couple of years.

We're not sure if it's even financially feasible, keeping this house on top of buying another in Calgary, but it's an intriguing possibility. And it's very exciting to be making the first small moves towards heading south. The waiting is starting to make me cranky, despite the lovely weather and the perennials coming up so nicely.

Just One More Reason to Love Freecycle

We got hooked on the Freecycle concept in Red Deer. There was a big community, and lots of items being given away daily. Up here, there's less than a hundred people in the local group, so there's less activity. Still it has been a huge blessing for us.

We've had several friends and acquaintances tell us we're missing out by giving our things away instead of selling them. I argue that first of all, they are ignoring the non-material bonuses, like knowing someone who needs it is getting it, and the fact that you have people come to your door and carry the stuff away. Secondly, on a purely material level, perhaps we would be if we never got anything in return, but when you add it all up I think we've actually gained more than we lost in the deal.

Tonight, we picked up my best Freecycle find yet - the Little Tykes kid-sized play kitchen and play tool bench, in absolutely mint shape. They even had all the accessories still, all the pots and pans, the tools, everything. Wow! On top of that, the lady asked me if we needed a tricycle (we've been eyeing them in the store, but they're $60 or so) and gave us one that was like new. Plus a bike helmet and pads, and skates that will fit Connor this winter.

I can't even describe how blessed and grateful I feel. I can only hope that some of the people we gave our things to felt this way too - that's what makes this kind of thing so worthwhile.

Fighting Off a Cold

I'm not on the computer much these days, as I'm trying really hard to fight off a burgeoning cold...which means I'm grabbing every possible extra moment for sleep. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but the more sleep I get, the stronger my immune system is. So I'm going to bed about a half hour after the kids are asleep, in the hopes that the cold will give up and go away. Hey, it's worth a try, right?