I stand corrected . . .

Well, live and learn I guess.

Here's something I didn't know when I wrote my last post. In Portage La Prairie, the municipality is NOT responsible for the plumbing from the meter back. They are responsible from the road back. So I stand corrected. 

And I guess, so does the guy who told me Saturday that I was correct in my assumption. He also told me about the "policy" to deal with the situation. Which makes me question the policy. But that's another blog.

Anyhoo, happy Monday! Neomom and I purchased new shower curtains this morning, which completes the bathroom renovation. And yeah, it was a little more than a day. But it was worth it! See?

Particularly proud of the floor. First time doing linoleum!

Have a great week!

"You're not going to like my answer."

Okay, here's something I didn't know until yesterday. Apparently I'm not qualified to say where the plumbing in my house is leaking . . . even if the water is squirting out of a very specific place like, say a valve.

No, no. It's true. I found that out yesterday when I called the City of Portage La Prairie's "After Hours Trouble Calls" phone number. Turns out that connects you to the fire department. Didn't know that either. 

Anyhoo, the reason I was calling the City of Portage is the leak in the plumbing is on "their side" of the water system in my house. Everything before the water meter belongs to them. Everything after the meter belongs to me. Did you know that one?

**Edit: Found out Monday that the city is responsible only to the shut-off valve at the road. Not the meter inside. Different than other cities I lived in and apparently news to the guy I spoke to on the After Hours Trouble Call line. **

So, the valve used to shut off the water to my home is on "their side" of the meter. So, if it is leaking, it is their responsibility to fix it. That's why I called them yesterday. It was leaking. And, depending on where on the open-closed spectrum the valve was turned, it would leak a little, a lot, or not at all. And I don't like that. I wanted it replaced before it went WHOOOSH all over my basement.

The kindly gentleman who answered the "After Hours Trouble Calls" phone, and listened to my problem, told me I was not going to like his response. He was right.

See, this is where I learned that I'm incapable of determining where the leak is. I was told that I had to call a licensed plumber to come to my house and look at the leak. If the licensed plumber agreed with my lay assessment, he would, in a very professional manner I must assume, call the City of Portage La Prairie back and let them know they had a leak on "their side" of my household plumbing. Action, again, I must assume, would follow.

So naturally, I asked if the Mayor's brother was a plumber desperately in need of work. Don't really know of another reason for such an asinine policy.

But hey, policy is policy. It's a great thing to hide behind and ensures no one has to think or make an actual decision. Just follow policy. And it frightens me, just a little, when I think about what would have happened if this was a major leak, spilling gallons and gallons of water into my basement during this conversation with the fire department.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, I was calling a fully trained, licensed and professional plumber to come to my house, after 5 p.m., on a Saturday, to determine where the leak was. Might surprise you to learn it's not easy to find a fully trained, licensed and professional plumber to come to my house, after 5 p.m., on a Saturday. But it's true. The one I finally reached, after making several unsuccessful calls, said he was very busy. He asked me if the handle on the valve was blue. I said that yes, it was. 

He said a lot of them leak in certain positions on the open-close spectrum. He advised me to find a position that didn't leak and maybe call the City of Portage La Prairie on Monday. 

See, that's why they get the big bucks. I had already found a position on the open-close spectrum that stopped the leaking. I still wanted, and want, a new valve. I do not like water in the little space under the stairs where I store stuff. And I do not like it when water shoots out of a valve any time I open or close it. Seems a little counterproductive to me.

Anyhoo, that's what I learned yesterday. On Monday, I'll be phoning the good folks at the City of Portage and I'm almost positive I'll have more to tell you after that.

Have a great, dry Sunday!

Great Day!

Okay, that was a great day!

After a week of being cooped up in the house, Mother Nature granted us a beautiful day yesterday; perfect for a trip to the toboggan hill. As usual, I posted our plans on Facebook, hoping we'd get a big ol' party together on the hill.

As usual, the response was not huge. But, as is not usual, we actually did get one family out to share the day with us. And it was AWESOME!

I mean, the boys enjoy tobogganing and all, but after about 20 minutes on the hill yesterday they'd had enough and were ready to head home. It was then that our friends showed up. And with two new kids, close to their own ages to play with, Sonwun and Sontoo got their second wind.

It was so much fun to watch them all sliding and tumbling and crashing and laughing their way down the hill, over and over and over. And this time, the batteries were fully charged in my camcorder so I could catch the action in HD splendour!

We tuckered 'em all out and then headed back to our place for hot chocolate, a good chat, and some quality time with my movie editing program. It's Apple's iMovie and, honestly, it makes me look good. So easy to use. And the clips, when thrown together, with a little Ozzy for background music, looked great. 

Unfortunately, I can't upload it to YouTube with the Ozzy music. Something about copyright, blah, blah, blah. So I had to redo it with some generic muzak, but I still think it looks pretty cool.

Sontoo had one good wipeout on the hill with a friend, but he's fine. Just a little pissed off about getting snow in his face.

Anyhoo, looks like another great weather day here in Portage La Prairie, so we'll probably be heading out for a nice walk on a frozen creek nearby. Oh, and here's yesterday's video. Enjoy!

Stars Aligned

When I first entered the working world, with a part-time job at a gas station, I loved shift work.

I loved being awake, and a part of the world, when most others were sleeping. I loved seeing what went on during the hours I slept for the first 16 years of my life. It was pretty cool!

Now, not so much a fan. Neomom works shift work. She doesn't like it either. She's not a fan of sleeping during the day, and switching back and forth every few days.

I don't like it because we don't enjoy the "rut" that everyone else seems to, you know, work 9-5, Monday to Friday, every evening and weekend off. It's not just the working spouse that works shift work, the stay-at-home spouse does too. So do the kids, in a way.

Neomom's not home for supper every night. She's not here for breakfast every morning. She doesn't get to tuck the kids in every night. And she does not get to enjoy every weekend when Sonwun is home all day long.

But every once in a while, the stars align and we get to enjoy it all. And this week it started, as these things often do, with an uncontrolled discharge of raw sewage into the school basement.

Neomom had just finished three night shifts and had enjoyed a full day to recover. And Tuesday morning we got the call from the school. Cancelled. Day off. Two stars aligned.

No one in the house was sick, mom was off, Sonwun was off and, believe it or not, the weather was beautiful.

On Tuesday, we hit the toboggan hill in the morning, enjoyed a leisurely nap in the afternoon, and then Neomom and Sonwun enjoyed a "date night," consisting of dinner out, a new toboggan and lots of time to talk, one-to-one. Good stuff. (Sontoo and I enjoyed hot dogs and Cars 2).

On Wednesday, the poo problem continued at the school, giving us a second day to toboggan, skate at a local outdoor rink and enjoy a fine dinner of greasy bird bits, courtesy of the Colonel. 

I had every intention of getting some great video footage of the family tobogganing at Garbage Hill yesterday. But after a quick "establishing shot" of the hill, and a recording a run by Neomom and myself, the battery died before we could tape the boys enjoying themselves. The only star that failed to align.

But I'm not complaining. We've had an awesome couple of days together.

Sonwun returns to school this morning, and life returns to our version of normal. 

So here's the video: I added some music and a cool title page to make up for the lack of good footage. Have a great Thursday!

Garbage Hill

Wednesday . . .

Another day off for Sonwun. Got a call last night from the school's phone tree. Seems it wasn't a broken water main, as was reported to me yesterday. Seems the sewer backed up in the basement of the school. That can't be good. It also explains the "honey wagon" I saw parked there yesterday.

So I've been told we have today, and maybe tomorrow as well, with Sonwun at home. Sounds like another toboggan day to me!

We went yesterday to what is affectionately called "garbage hill" here in Portage La Prairie. I'm told it's an old dump. But it's a great toboggan hill. It even has a couple of large lights installed for night-time sliding. Cool! And so much better than the ditch in the front yard.

So last night I put out a Facebook call for my friends in Portage, who have kids at the same school, to join us on Garbage Hill again today. Hoping for a good turnout! Plan to bring the video camera today to capture some of the fun. If I'm successful, I'll try to post some of it here so that you too can experience the joy that is Garbage Hill of Portage La Prairie!

In other news, my hydroponic experiment continues to flourish (but not flounce). All of the seed pods have sprouted, but thyme and basil remain in the lead. Dill is way behind and oregano has a good start. (I mislabeled the last photo, calling the thyme oregano. I know this news probably changes your view of the world this morning. Sorry about that.

And finally, I'm one full month into my 90-day, blog-a-day commitment. For the most part, I'm proud of myself. But I have posted a few filler pieces. Not proud of those.

And so far, this year, I've had readers from 11 different countries, believe it or not. My analytics program tells me my blog has been visited by people in Canada, U.S., Brazil, United Kingdom, Cayman Islands (Hi Steve!), Germany, France, India (hmmm), Italy, Netherlands and Russia.

In total, I've had 449 visits. Each visitor has viewed an average of 2.34 pages and spent two minutes and 30 seconds doing so. Most of you use Internet Explorer to browse, with Google Chrome coming in second, followed by Safari, Firefox and Opera. Three visits came through and Android Browser.

I could go on, but it gets a little monotonous. 

So I won't. 

Have a great Hump Day. Celebrate as you see fit.

Mommy and Me

So, I thought I'd wait a day or two after my "Bestest Night Ever" post before writing this one.

Not to take anything away from Daddy-Sonwun night, but I enjoyed the following day, Daddy-Mommy day, just as much.

We called in a babysitter and, by 9:30 a.m., Neomom and I had dumped the kids like a bad habit and were in line at Tim Horton's drive-through. Armed with coffee and a couple of breakfast sandwiches, we headed for Winnipeg for a leisurely day of kid-free fun. (Love my kids.)

At Timmy's, we didn't hear one whine from the back seat about apple juice, cookies or muffins. As we headed east on the TransCanada Highway, there were no fights, no one was looking out anyone else's window, no one was spitting, no one was "talking too loud" or "looking at me."

We talked without interruption, all the way to Winnipeg. At the St. Vital Mall, we walked at a leisurely pace without having to tell anyone to stop playing hide-and-seek in the clothing racks, we shopped and could actually concentrate on what we were looking at.

I love my boys, but every now and then it's nice to be out in public, doing mundane things, with my wife.

I realize for many of you, this is normal. Maybe you get a "date night" once a week, courtesy of Gramma, or Uncle Buck. But part of the joy of the RCMP lifestyle, with all the moves and being so far from family, is that lining up a trustworthy new babysitter or two, in each town you move to, takes a little time.

You know, as I contemplated writing this post, I did my usual brain scan for funny, unusual, wacky events that took place during the day. When I wrote for the newspaper, we called it the hook.

But honestly, there really wasn't anything that stood out. It was just the regular old stuff, sans kids. But I guess that's the point. Spending almost a whole day alone with my wife is not just a breath of fresh air, it's a hurricane. It's rare, it's appreciated a whole lot more.

Anyhoo, we finished up the day with a nice lunch at Earl's, a place I've wanted to check out since we moved to the area, and then headed over to the casino to lose a little cash. Mission accomplished.

As I realized on Sonwun-Daddy night, it's great to do things as a family, but it's equally important to find time to connect, on an individual level, with each family member, as well as yourself.

Have a great Friday!

Box on . . .

So, it's Boxing Day. Celebrate as you see fit.

The unbridled greed of Christmas Day (with young ones) has drawn to a close. I'll need a Bobcat to move the empty boxes and crumpled paper from the rec room. So that's on the list.

Neomom's back to work today and Sontoo is off school for two weeks. But at least the two boys have a whole new crop of crap to wade through. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

As for me, Daddy got a new KitchenAid stand mixer. And, as luck would have it, there are four old bananas on the counter, turning black. So, banana bread it is. I've wanted this mixer ever since I started baking my own bread. While kneading dough by hand can be therapeutic, it gets a little old after a while. I only have so much anger in the bank to transfer to my dough.

So, after a quick shop this morning, Sonwun and Sontoo in tow, my plan is to bake stuff. Probably the aforementioned banana bread and then a loaf or two of regular bread. The price of the stuff at the grocery stores has just gotten out of hand. I can do it cheaper . . . and better.

Anyhoo, not gonna spend much time blogging this morning. But I have accepted the New Year's resolution of daily blogging for 90 days. After that, we'll see.

I know I enjoy writing and blogging, for whatever reason, makes me feel good. And I need that.

So, not sure if anyone's still reading this, but if you are, you should know that the next few will not be up to my regular standards. (Check back in my archive for "regular standards.") But I will improve. Read if you like, ignore if you don't.

Happy Boxing Day all!

Christmas is coming . . .

**DISCLAIMER**
Not sure what font or type size will appear on this one. Blogger seems to have changed the way it does things since my last posting. We'll see.**

Well, another day begun. This at 4:30 a.m., with the loud proclamation from upstairs: "Daddy, I'm done peeing and pooping!"

And even though it is the sweet little voice of my three-year-old and it's a cute little sing-song sound that floats down the stairs, at this time, it hits my ears like a smoke detector on steroids.

But I am daddy, and I now must take care of the paperwork. And then I must utilize my best gentle daddy voice to try to soothe Sontoo back toward sleep. And I fail.

As I type this, I am listening to a discussion between Sonwun and Sontoo. Seems Sonwun wants to sleep and Sontoo, now fully awake, would like to offer up a personal opinion on his recent viewing of Thomas the Train: Steamies versus Diesels.

Diesels are bad! Just in case you were wondering.

Well, Christmas countdown is on. Seven days until Christmas Eve. Seven days of Sontoo asking if he can open the presents under the tree. Seven more days of Sonwun repeating, "I wish I had that," with every salvo from the myriad marketing departments fired down from satellites to our television set.

Six days to get a turkey, wrap up the shopping and settle in for a few days of rest and relaxation.

And in spite of the fact that Sears' Christmas Wish Book arrived in September, and we've been bombarded by Christmas movies, commercials and specials since late October, we have managed to save one or two things for Christmas Eve, and maybe Christmas Eve Eve.

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, for example. And no, I'm not talking about the creepy, crappy 2000 version. I'm talking about the 1966 classic, that my brothers and sisters and I used to gather to watch the ONE OR TWO times it was on in maybe the week or so before Christmas. (Not 45 times starting in mid-November). So we're saving that one for Dec. 23 or 24.

I admit that, in the last week, we have watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Elf. Unfortunately my copy of Scrooged was on VHS. Must buy DVD, or Blu-ray.

We are also holding off on our trip to Island Park, here in Portage La Prairie. It's a new tradition, started last year when we loaded our pajama-clad crew into the mini-van and drove through a pretty impressive Christmas light display. The boys loved it and have been pushing for it for the last week or two.

Why wait?

Well, the weather's just not cooperating. We're experiencing and unusually snow-less December here. And to fully enjoy the Island Park experience, I need a blanket of the white stuff. Cross your fingers.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got this morning. Enjoy the season. And don't let anyone take the Happy out of your Happy Holidays.

If you wanna be a cat wrangler . . .

All righty then, let's talk baseball, shall we?

Specifically, let's talk about a kid's first experience with "organized" ball. And let's talk about a parent's frustration with said baseball. And just for fun, we'll use myself and Sonwun as examples.

We signed up a month or two back. It's free, and worth every penny. Well, it's free except for the $50 deposit we had to put down for a "uniform." $50?? Cool, I thought. Must be the whole thing with pants, socks and hat.

Um, no.

For the $50 deposit, we got a shirt. A big shirt. A shirt that comes down below the boy's knees. A shirt that would definitely fit Neomom and, quite possibly, me. There may be a five-year-old or two on the planet that could wear this thing, but I've never seen one.

So, expectations are lowered somewhat. But let's look at that, shall we? What exactly are my expectations, and am I aiming too high?

1. I expect the coach, or coaches, to know and be able to impart the fundamentals.
2. I expect the coach, or coaches, to have some ability to handle five-year-olds. And yeah, I know that's like herding cats. But if you sign up to be a cat wrangler . . .

And, based on those expectation, I hope my boy will have a good time and learn a few things.

That's about it.

So, now, let's talk about the past couple of practices. A couple of weeks back, it was "picture day." And on this day, an individual with a digital camera and dreams of big bucks shows up to record, for posterity, the beginning of a dozen baseball careers.

But, rather than set up, say, behind the backstop, out of the way, this Geddes wannabe sets up on the diamond, rendering it uninhabitable for the future Blue Jays' practice. And the coaches, apparently, decide the outfield area is not a part of baseball.

And so, while the photographer plods through a dozen photos, taking the entire hour, the kids play a rousing game of "What Time is it Mr. Wolf" while I grind my teeth in the bleachers - for an hour.

And so, having missed out on batting practice (his favourite) the previous week, Sonwun and I show up, on time, at 5:55, as usual, the following week. And once again we're alone with the coaches. Slowly, the others dribble in until about 6:15 when there are enough, apparently, to begin practice.

And batting practice is on the agenda. Naturally, the kid who arrived at 6:15 is the first to bat. He gets about 8 minutes of practice. By the time Sonwun's time at the plate rolls around, at 6:57, he gets about two minutes.

And I grind my teeth in the bleachers.

Oh, and one more thing, for now. When learning to bat, it's important for the young player to raise the BACK elbow in anticipation of the pitch. Raising BOTH elbows is counterproductive to the batting process and not one of the fundamentals of baseball. It is also galactically stupid.

Okay, I'm done.

And, in fairness, I should point out that Sonwun is enjoying baseball, as well as What Time is it Mr. Wolf. And I should note that the coaches are volunteers, who are taking time away from their lives to, um, coach, this team. And for that I am begrudgingly grateful.

But still . . .

1. I expect the coach, or coaches, to know and be able to impart the fundamentals.
2. I expect the coach, or coaches, to have some ability to handle five-year-olds. And yeah, I know that's like herding cats. But if you sign up to be a cat wrangler . . .

The good, the bad . . .

Once again I find myself returning to the keyboard after a long absence. Guess I've been a little overwhelmed lately getting my house in order . . . literally and figuratively.

But I miss writing and, eventually, am inevitably drawn back.

Since I last wrote, we've been through some good, some bad and some ugly.

So let's start with the ugly - cause it's forefront in my mind. I'll try to keep it brief.

A few weeks back, we learned that the "sciatica" pain that my dad had been experiencing for several months was, in fact, a cancerous tumour on his spine. To make matters just a little more ugly, we learned a few days later that this was the secondary cancer. The primary was found a few days later on his kidney.

The good news, I guess, is that treatment is moving along. Yesterday he underwent surgery on his spine to remove the as much of the tumour as was possible, and repair some of the damage it had cause to one of his vertebrae.

In a few weeks, he'll begin radiation therapy to for that tumour and a medicinal therapy to shrink the one on his kidney. So it's one day at a time.

It's hardly worth saying, but I'm running through a mess of emotions. I haven't sorted them out yet, so I'm not ready to put them to paper. But I'll say frustration is one of the key elements. I'm frustrated that this is happening. I'm frustrated that I live more than 2000 km away from Dad. I'm frustrated that I can't just pick up and go. I'm frustrated that I can't get information minute-by-minute, second-by-second. That being said, the information technology available today is providing a much speedier communication exchange than what was possible 20 years ago. And for that I am grateful.

So I guess that covers the bad and the ugly. At least as much of it as I can write about today.

So . . . the good.

The boys are happy and healthy and we're slowly making our house in Portage into our home. Sonwun is finally enjoying Kindergarten, Sontoo is getting out to playgroup now and again and spring seems to have finally arrived.

After a long western winter, the sunshine and melting snow is more than welcome.

As I type, I'm listening to the soothing sound of mournful wails coming from the playroom. The boys have discovered the joy and frustration of domino runs. And, as a big fan of Angry Birds, Sonwun is attempting to build frog castles at the end of each domino run. He is meeting with some difficulty. (For those of you unfamiliar, Angry Birds is a game for iPod/iPad fans. Look it up for more info if you care.)

Anyhoo, laundry awaits, supper awaits and I wait. Hoping for a really good spring and summer. Hoping for a lot of things.

And, hopefully, I'll write more tomorrow.

It begins

Well, good morning. And a happy Last Day of November to ya!

The silly season is well under way. Black Friday, Cyber Monday . . . marketing madness and suckers lining up to take advantage of the "deals." Merry Christmas.

Here in Portage, it's cold and it's snowy. That's more my kinda Christmas vision. And last night after supper we loaded pajama-clad Sonwun and Sontoo into the mini van of joy and headed for Island Park to see the lights.

As this is our first Christmas here, we were anxious to see this spectacle, touted as "Manitoba's longest running drive through light show," and "a winner of numerous provincial and national tourism awards."

Well who could turn that down?

Now we made one mistake here. En route to the longest running drive-through light show, Neomom's attention was captured by a giant candycane. "Turn here," she ordered. And, against my better judgment, I did.

And one turn later, we found ourselves on a street apparently inhabited by distant Griswold relatives. Four or five houses, it seemed, were competing for the highest electric bill in Manitoba, perhaps beyond. But WOW! The displays were truly awesome and I regret not having my camera and tripod at hand. Maybe I'll sneak back one night this week when the wind is down.

Anyhoo, after that, the "winner of numerous provincial and national tourism awards" was nice, but it paled a little by comparison. Don't get me wrong, it was well done. But it was apparent that many of the light displays were from years gone by. Many were also new and spectacular and overall it was a good time for the boys.

One criticism for the operators of the Island of Lights . . . don't tell me to tune my radio to a certain station, in order to get the maximum effect, if that radio station doesn't come in worth a crap while I drive around the island. I mean, I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas loses a little of its charm when it keeps cutting out and being replaced by a radio station playing Highway to Hell. Just sayin'

That being said, if you've got young 'uns and you're in the neighbourhood, it's worth the five bucks. It took us about 20 minutes to drive through the Island of Lights and see all there was to see. And most of it was pretty good. But while you're here in Portage, you should also check out the Griswolds. They're in the Koko Platz neighbourhood. Can't remember the name of the street, but just drive around a while, follow the bright lights in the sky and you'll find them. And they're free!

Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to the Christmas season!

Brain Vomit

Well good morning.


It's 3:40 in the blessed a.m. and I am awake . . . yet again.


But it's all good. I'm in the lobby of the Canad Inns Portage La Prairie. I am no longer in Thompson.


After a whirlwind month of selling the house in Thompson, travelling to Portage and buying a new house here, returning to Thompson and packing up, we're back here to stay. And so far it feels pretty good.


This is part of the RCMP lifestyle, I suppose. And it takes some getting used to. But we're getting there.


So, a theme for today . . . I don't know. So much has happened in the last six months and yeah, I know I haven't been writing. And I guess it's because I haven't really been at peace. Life had, and has, been turned if not upside down, at least a little off kilter.




I write best when I'm at peace, or when something really ticks me off. (I was gonna say p*sses me off, but the parental controls on this hotel computer are really touchy).


Anyhoo, leaving Thompson yesterday was bittersweet. It's nice to be leaving, but we had to say goodbye to the best neighbours, best friends, we've met since we began this little RCMP adventure. If you happen to be reading this, you know who you are. We miss you already.


But Thompson, MB, was not our favourite post, for a number of reasons. The isolation, the taxes, the generally depressing atmosphere . . . I could and probably will write more later. This post, my friends, is more about clearing my head. Which is why there really is no theme today. My brain needs to vomit and I just need to write.


So, with that in mind, let's talk about in-car DVD players.


I was always one of those dads that preached against them. "Kids don't need that. Stifles the imagination, kills creativity, teaches them to be entertained and not to seek their own entertaintment, blah, blah, blah."


Yeah, to an extent, I still believe that. But on an 8-hour drive from Thompson, to Portage La Prairie, the "I Spy" game goes something like this:

"I spy, with my little eye, something that is green."


"Is it a tree?"




"Yeah Daddy! Your turn."



"Um, okay, I spy with my little eye, something that is . . . um . . . green."



"A tree! Okay, my turn . . . I spy with my little eye, something that is green."



Gets a little tedious after the first hour or so. And yeah, we've made that drive five or six times in the last year and a half. So I broke down and bought the DVD player for the final drive. My sleep bank was depleted, my patience thin . . . it was a good decision.



Sonwun and Sontoo enjoyed Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Cars. And Daddy enjoyed 8 hours without a single fight and only a tiny bit of whining. Nice!



And the brain vomit just keeps coming . . .



As we planned the move, sold and bought houses, we tried our best to get possession dates to match. And we did. Nov. 1 is possession for the new owners in Thompson and possession for us here in Portage. We planned to pack up the house Friday, drive Saturday, spend two nights in the hotel and meet our worldly goods at the new house Monday. The RCMP likes this, according to the IRP (Integrated Relocation Policy). And so did we. But . . .

The best laid plans . . . On Friday, after about 80 per cent of our stuff was packed on the moving truck, I was chatting with the driver. And he told me that our stuff would not be arriving until Monday, the following Monday, Nov. 8. News to me. And not good news.

We'd packed for a weekend. Not a week. Neomom's work clothes were packed away on the moving truck, and she was expected to start work Wednesday. Yeah, we'd have a house, but very little to put in it for a week.

But we're gonna make the best of it. It's so much easier to paint an empty house, do those minor repairs and maybe build that fence in the back yard. Good plan, if I had my tools. But I don't. They are, to the best of my understanding, somewhere between here and Churchhill, MB, on a truck, with everything else.

But hey, we're in a nice hotel, with a nice pool and waterslide for the boys and we'll probably get some painting done, as brushes and rollers are relatively inexpensive. The fence will just have to wait.

Oh, and did I mention that sister in law and her manfriend (are we getting too old for boyfriend?) will be arriving Wednesday? Yeah, we kinda figured on having a house set up for the arrival, you know, complete with a table and chairs for eating. Now? Well, we'll just play this one by ear. Be nice to see them regardless. Hope they don't mind camping out on the floor too much.

Well, Neomom's up and has joined me at the hotel computer in the lobby. So I must go now. Will write more later. So much stuffed into my head that needs to flow out through my fingers.

Later. And Happy Sunday!!

Sleep and the Band Aid

Oh, I wish I could sleep a little more. Should try to go back to bed right now, but I know my head will just keep swimming in a sea of plans, responsibilities, what ifs . . .

Hello all. Been a while, once again. I know. So let's catch up.

First off, we're being transferred out of Thompson, Manitoba. We're moving 8 hours south to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. This morning in Thompson it is -1C. In Portage, it's +3. So much warmer down south.

Sold the house in Thompson, officially, last night. But here's the catch. Possession date is November 1. So that means today I must book flights for the House Hunting Trip (HHT according to the RCMP IRP). Must catch said flight Sunday morning and begin house hunting Monday.

If all goes well, we will have purchased a new home by Friday, fly home Saturday and then there are four days until the movers arrive to pack everything up.

In the meantime, we must satisfy all paperwork requirements of the RCMP IRP (Integrated Relocation Program), contact service providers such as gas, electricity, satellite, telephone, internet, mail and everyone who mails things to us. Where's that list??

Must close down life in Thompson, begin new life in Portage. It's daunting, I admit, at the best of times. But to pull it all off in a couple of weeks . . .

It's like a giant band-aid and we're gonna thoroughly test the "rip it off quick" theory. More intense pain, but for a shorter period of time.

Must pull Sonwun from Kindergarten, register him in Kindergarten.

Must empty all gas from gas-powered tools (snowblower, rototiller, lawn mower) for the move.

Must pack for HHT.

Must pack for move. Must make 8-hour drive with two kids, cat and dog.

Must say good-bye to best neighbours we've ever had.

Must meet with mover.

Must find home for dog and cat while on HHT.

Must not go insane.

Sleep would help. Need sleep. Should go back to bed right n . . . .