BackLog

This post was meant to happen earlier, however the hectic nature of selling and moving out of your house leads to not much time and a lot of things to achieve.

Back in November when we moved out, it snowed...and I Bar-b-qued.

Then it got really cold!!!! like 30 below without the windchill cold!!!

Not much snow was on the ground when it was that cold, but here we are on Dec 24th and the snow has been falling for 2 days. So what do you do when that happens.... you go sledding!!

It sure looks like Christmas here now, in 15 days we will be in a new Country, enjoying summer! Surely next Christmas will be an entirely new experience!

For now Merry Christmas (snow and all) to everyone, and the best in the new year!!

Visa's baby!!!

After a very long wait, and some gnawed fingernails, the Visa's arrived in the mail today!! That makes the last piece of the puzzle.

The van is sold, we are handing it over on Jan4th and using a rental for the last week. That is another benefit to traveling you get rental car rewards as well :)

We are down to 22 days!!!. That is going to fly by!

Tonight is our traditional Birthday/work Christmas dinner that V throws for me every year, and it will have an extra special celebration to it now! Good thing we are taking a car service ;)

Mr. Kitty says goodbye to our washing machine

The 25th is almost over, and we got it all done! I would like to thank all that came to help out, it sure made things go quickly.

The kids seem to be adjusting to the new "reality". I think that the day to day routine of school has helped them tremendously in this "mini" transition. Their days are 80% normal, and this may help to ease the changes to come in the new year.

I'll admit it was hard to walk through the house after 4 1/2 years, and hear the echos in the empty space. Memories seeming to materialize from the echoes...laughter, tears...and the many "firsts" that happened. In the end I found myself limiting my time inside the house. Like those entering a burning building, or a nuclear fall out zone, it's much easier to going out than coming in.

A Place to Lay our heads! will they be upside down?

This is the house we are renting....


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Last week in the house

This time next week will be the last time I close the door to "our" house, and we are in effect homeless! I don't think I have ever been without a place I can call home. Going back to university even, leaving my parents house to enter an apartment that was "mine" or at least shared...still a home of my own! Being in limbo will be a new experience, and a little disconcerting considering the future is for the large part unknown.

We have heard that the visa applications for New Zealand are being reviewed by a medical board in New Zealand...which means it has to be sent there and their clearance needs to be given before they issue the visa's. This could add as little as 2 weeks to the whole process or as much as 4.

With the stress of the house almost removed from the picture, we have a new candidate for MSP of the year. (Most Stressful Period) It's kind of like a roller coaster you've never been on before, exhilarating and nauseating all at once! You clear one drop, only to round the bend and see another one looming in the distance.

We have given away a lot of furniture this week, I guess it pays off to be cheap and not invest in new things for over 15 years. So when you need to lighten the burden it is not painful to give away stuff that didn't cost you anything, or was purchased in the early 90's ;)

I still feel that the light at the end of the tunnel is going to be worth it, and it is getting bigger (slowly). I am sure that the four of us will look back in the years to come with a great feeling, and with plenty of memories of our great adventure. I just wish I knew exactly how long the tunnel is.

Well the bombers died, but I had a good time at the game with my oldest son. It was a beautiful day considering it was November in Winnipeg, we had only sweaters on!! I guess that will likely be the last football game we attend in that stadium. When we return they better have the new stadium built!!

Got the email that the sale of the house is 100% closed as of today. Now for the next 2 weeks of hectic packing :)

It's all good though because sitting and waiting is way harder, at least now I have something I can sink my teeth into.

I will post a picture from the top of that hill!!

You know that sound when all the air is let out of something? That's what my sigh of relief sounded like last night around 9:30pm. I can take a day off! Going to the Bomber game today, do or die for them as well..maybe it's a sign of better things to come.

Next up, packing up the house and getting out by the 25th of November!!

Yea! Good news!

It's sold, it's solf, it's sold!!!! Finally, sweet relief. So first major step - finito. On to the Visa hassles. Must get doctor to bar her door from all the H1N1 victems for long enough to write me a letter and courier it over the the Embassy in Ottawa. With a little luck, we will be approved in theory for the work visas and can then book our tickets to our new home. This could be a big week!

Get going already!

Here we are at 8 weeks since we put the house on the market. Seems like an eternity. If I have to hear one more person say that the house is lovely, or it "shows beautifully" without slapping a purchase offer in my hand.. I will likely go postal.

I would like to know where all the Real Estate agents went, that said they had clients ready to make an offer on our house while we were on Comfree? Were they full if s__t, or are they treating us like pariah due to our decision to use a %3 agent. I have submitted a complaint to the competition bureau of Canada against the Realtors in Winnipeg.

Getting the house sold will be huge relief!

All the time that we had when the decision was made to move to New Zealand for 2 years is rapidly dwindling down to nothing. All the hoops/paperwork still in the works; we are in a holding pattern of anticipation mixed with dread topped with a healthy drizzling of uncertainty.

Hurry up and wait! in the 21st century, bureaucracy still limps along at pace that conjures up images of telegraphs and Morse code, which by the way my dad would have been able to help me with!

The kids have been great, and I can sense more excitement and less skepticism in them lately. Although they tend to release their stress by running around with their hair on fire in a house that I am trying to keep in "showroom" condition....for 8 weeks mind you!!!!

Hopefully this blog will allow for some much needed non-postal venting for this long arduous beginning. And once we are in New Zealand, it will allow for a record of our adventures.