The Big Quit

Having to take a hard look at our family financial picture, the wife and I have come to the same inescapable conclusion. We can not afford to smoke any longer.

Now, before you all go getting preachy and annoying, let me state a few things:

1. We KNOW we could never afford to smoke. No one can.

2. Smoking bad, yeah, got it.

3. We have NOT smoked in the house since two years before our children were born.

4. Yeah, smoking bad, got it.

5. We know it's a good thing to quit.

6. We know it will save us money.

7. We know quitting is the healthy thing to do.

I think I covered most of what we know. In any case, April 1 is the big quitting day and no, this is not an April Fool's prank. We are quitting.

The wife is looking into the laser therapy thing. Yes, my eyes are rolling . . . but whatever works. I just can't buy into something that works by, and I quote: "applying a low level or cold laser to your body's natural energy flow points to stimulate the release of endorphins into the body."

I roll my eyes, but I know that no matter which crutch you choose, it's all about your will and desire to quit. And we both have that in spades right now.

I plan to either go it cold turkey (was successful for 6 months using this once before) and, if it gets ugly, I'll go with those fake cigarette things that do the same job as the nicotine gum or patch. But you get the joy of holding a cigarette-like thingy and sucking on it when necessary.

I have also checked the Health Canada quit smoking website and it offered a few tips as well. For example, it's apparently good to write down your plan and reasons for quitting. It's also a good idea to share the plan with friends, family and strangers on the Internet (okay, made that last one up). So this blog entry will kill two birds with one stone.

The HC website also promises that I will breathe easier within 8 days, food will taste better soon thereafter and so on and so forth. I look forward to all of these things, as well as the chance to keep up with the always active Sonwun and Sontoo. And I guess that's really what it's all about. I want and need to be an active participant in their lives.

So that's the plan. The countdown is on and I begin today by cutting down on the number of cigarettes I have per day. Twelve days and I quit.

Well, Sonwun has just crawled out of bed so my day begins. It's 6:11 a.m. Game on.

A little breathing room

Well, we have some solid deadlines to work with now. The move to Thompson will take place in the Fall.

Got word last week and the wife will head to Ottawa in August for the 40-day training program, after which we will head north for the three-year apprenticeship program in Thompson.

It's nice to have dates. It makes it so much easier to plan the sale of the house, the minor renovations for sale, the house-hunting trip and so on.

I gotta tell you, I was in a bit of a panic mode last week. The powers that be were trying to get the wife into Ottawa for the April 20 course. That would have meant a three-week assessment in Winnipeg for the wife, starting almost immediately, followed almost immediately again by the trip to Ottawa. And that, my friends, would have left me with the two kids and a house to spruce up and sell, as well as a trip to Thompson to buy another. Lots of work and stress for a 10-week period.

So now, at least, we can take a little time to digest the change and make it happen. And while that seems like good news, the downside is that we must now make the move to Thompson at the beginning of winter. It's a little more treacherous on the driving front and a little less pleasant setting up house.

In any case, today I will head to Winnipeg to begin the process of severing the house and 20 acres from the rest of my property. The real estate agent told me I will get more for the properties separately than as a single unit. So that's the plan. It's also Playgroup day, and I will just have to miss that. The wife has a day off and she will take Sonwun and Sontoo while I do the running around. Good deal.

In the next few weeks, the wife and I will pick one of about a dozen little projects we have to do, each time she has a few days off. That should put the house in proper order in time for sale. I think I've said it before, but there's much to do and, even with the reprieve, not much time to do it.

Have a great day!

Thompson Research

Let's start with the poker update today. I won! There it is. Couldn't contain my excitement. Last night, with the last dime of my $5 gift from PokerStars, I entered what I thought would be my final real-money tournament.

There were 360 players entered and I finished 13th. I won 40 cents! Wahooo! That means I can now enter at least four more tournaments and go for the big prize of $8.50. I will wait a bit before calling the Porsche dealer.

So the move to Thompson. I've been spending a little time on the ol' internet trying to find out what I can about this Hub of the North. I know real estate prices are high right now. So rather than focus on that, I've been researching more fun and interesting things. For instance, while I was enjoying a balmy 0 degrees Celsius today, Thompson was enjoying -20C. It's a little strange to think that I have been living in a community where the first snow falls in October, doesn't melt until April, the temperature regularly sinks below -30 and windchills hit -50. And now I'm going somewhere that I feel will be cold. But, hey, they have an indoor community swimming pool.

Thompson has a Royal Bank of Canada branch. That's where I do my banking. The town I live in now does not. There is, however, one conveniently located 45 minutes up the road.

Thompson has a population of about 15,000. That's considered a city in Manitoba (and a "hub" apparently if you go far enough north).

Thompson is a apparently similar to northern Ontario. Smaller lakes, boreal forest, Canadian Shield rock. It's like Ontario's cottage country if you will; the place I used to go to recharge my batteries. It looks like a truly beautiful place. Only Thompson's summer is not quite as long and Parry Sound is only a few hours from Toronto.

Thompson has a KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and A&W. All of that is currently 45 minutes away. It lists Grapes Bar and Grill under "Fine Dining." Something to think about there. I've been to a Grapes back when I lived in Ontario. I liked Grapes. I don't consider it Fine Dining.

There's a Canadian Tire, a Bootlegger, a Mark's Work Wearhouse. There's a Home Hardware, a Wal-mart and a Safeway.

In the summer, there's fishing, boating, camping and all the fun stuff that I enjoyed north of Toronto. In the winter: snowmobiling, ice fishing, a winter festival, curling, hockey and even skiing, snowboarding and tubing at Mystery Mountain Winter Park. And Mystery Mountain, my friends, boasts Manitoba's longest snowboarding half-pipe. Don't imagine they had too much competition there.

Anyway, still much to research, much to explore and much to do. Stay tuned.

Transfer Time

Well word has come down from on high. We will be moving.

It's part of the joy that comes with being an RCMP family. You can expect to make more than the average number of address changes in your lifetime. It's part of the adventure you signed up for. But they say one of the bigger stresses in life is moving and having moved more than once already, I agree. Throw two kids under 4 into the mix . . .

So the word from on high is that we will be moving to the rollicking town of Thompson, Manitoba. For those of you unfamiliar, it's about 750 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It's the "Hub of the North," it's isolated and it's cold. Yeehaw! But they say the fishing's great - during the month or two that the lakes aren't frozen.

Today, I am feeling stressed. This house must sell for a reasonable price, I must find a new house in Thompson and we must move there. I have already checked out the housing prices and they are surprisingly high up there. One thousand square feet goes for between $200,000 and $300,000. Say it with me . . . Yeehaw!

So, gentle readers, that is what this blog will be about for the next little while. The trials and tribulations associated with moving to Canada's Siberia.

Today, the real estate lady came by to look over the house we now occupy. She believes we will maximize our profit by severing the house from the 120 acres property and selling each separately. Good news, I guess, but the severance process takes about 4 months. We will likely be moving in about 3 and a half months. A little something extra to clog the cogs of a smooth move.

The reason for the move, by the way, is that the wife has been accepted for training in the forensic identification program. That is the good news. That's the reason she joined, the reason she went to university. I am glad for her. But the wrinkle in this one is that while she is away in Ottawa training (7 weeks) I will have to sell this house and travel to Thompson, Sonwun and Sontoo strapped in the minivan, and buy another house. All together . . . Yeehaw!

Anyway, stay tuned. Things are going to get a lot more interesting in the months to come. I mean, where else can you (and why would you) read about someone moving to Thompson, Manitoba. Living the dream . . . living the dream.

Language Development

Good morning. For most of you, it's Wednesday. To me, it's Monday. The wife just finished up three days off and is back on day shift. And that means I have my two little treasures all to myself from about 7:45 a.m. until about 6:30 p.m.

Let's see, where did we leave off? Right, poker. Well, I'm down to 20 cents of my $5 gift from PokerStars. That means I can play in two more of the 10-cent tournaments before I return to the land of play-money poker. But I gotta tell you, the real money games are so much better. People are serious about the game. You don't get these idiots going all-in with 2-7 off suit. You don't get the bingo poker players - the ones who just go all-in, all the time.

If I manage to win one of the last two 10-cent games, first prize is a little more than $8. That's my ticket back to the $2.20 tournaments, where first place gets more than $500. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Daddy needs a big-screen.

In other news, Sontoo celebrated his first birthday Sunday. I'm sure he has no idea what it all means, but he got to coat himself in chocolate cake and icing, so in his mind, I'm sure, it's all good. He is now officially walking as well. And that means he gets into trouble just a little quicker than before. He has also discovered that things thrown down the basement stairs make fun noises. So he's practicing his new-found walking skills by carrying various items from the living room to the top of the basement stairs, throwing them down, laughing and returning to the living room to find something just a little bigger. He is also anxious to keep the education process going by mastering the stairs - scary. They are hard wood and there are 11 of them.

As for Sonwun, his language skills are developing at an alarming rate, as is his sense of right, wrong, fair and unfair. His language skills are a constant reminder that I must redouble efforts to curb my more colourful adjectives. Last week, when I sent the our Golden Retriever out of the room for misbehaving with the cat, he shook his head as the dog made its exit and muttered, "Fucking dog."

Yes, I'm embarrassed. But I give myself credit for assuming a proper look of horror and not laughing.

His idea of sharing needs a little work as well. Right now, his philosophy on the toys in the house is: What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine. The toy I want is the one you are playing with. We're working on it.

Oh, by the way, I obviously don't write this all in one sitting. And in the break between these last two paragraphs, Sontoo has discovered Daddy's case of beer by the fridge. And guess what? A can of Budweiser makes a really cool noise when you drop it down the basement stairs.

Anyway, tonight is gym night, and I must be going. Will let you know how it goes.