I've Been Everywhere, Man

Ah, some quality time with my MacBook and sleeping in. Life is returning to normal. Or as normal as my can be, considering that I am moving to a city that was, today, -36 with the wind chill.

Feeling creative and feisty again, I created a hilarious little newsletter about my move. Click here to take a look...

Something else that cropped up the other day was an old address book of my mother's with this humungous list of mailing addresses for me. I thought it would be funny to post the list. I have changed some of the info so that each address isn't 100% accurate, just for safety sake. But take a look at all that places I have lived in the last 13 years...

11** 15th Ave SW, Moose Jaw, SK

3** Gowinlock Court, Cambridge, ON

4*** Avon Cres., Oakvilled, ON

#34 - ***8 Kelsey Court, Oakville, ON

#430 - 45 Stewart St., Oakville, ON

Box 997 Dawson City, YT

Box 244 Dawson City, YT

221 Nursewood Rd. Toronto, ON

#3 - 2345 Danforth Ave. Toronto, ON

#2111 - *** Bay St. Toronto, ON

232 Dowling Ave. Toronto, ON

626 Dunn Ave. Toronto, ON

1734 Chester Cres., Cobourg, ON

Box 256 Petrolia, ON

**** 14th Ave., Sudbury, ON

7765 Saskatchewan Cr. E. Saskatoon, SK

#3 - 1220 E Georgia St. Vancouver, BC

6808 Westside Dr., South Fintry, BC

#600 - *0* E 8th Ave, Vancouver, BC

*** Bare Point Road, Chemainus, BC

956 Athabasca St. W. Moose Jaw, SK

That is funny to me. I am sure I am missing a few, but there it is. A gypsy at large.

And, once again, I get ready to pack.

Taking A Moment of Silent Reflection

Just a small, silent glimpse at a moment of time captured on our tour bus...as we drive off into the sunset...



Can't see the movie?? You will need Quicktime to view this...if you need to download it for free, please click here for Windows users and click here for Mac users.

Will You Be My Friend?

Ahhh, I am gearing up for the last week of this tour. Minus my snot filled nose and scratchy throat, I am ready. Ready to be done, that is.

Tonight I am missing my friends. My girlfriends, to be exact. I hung out with a couple of high school gal pals the other night and it was amazing. Having Lee to hang with, too, is great. But you know those night when there doesn't seem to be anyone in your life that you just call and really TALK to? I stare at my computer and wonder how in the hell I can have 350+ facebook friends, but not one true soul to bear witness? Leon and mom are watching movie, Leanne's off to Saskatoon for the weekend, I missed a call from another friend and all my other ones are out or working. Then there are those friends which I have alienated with my neurosis and latent anger. Then there are the friends I have which I feel like I know from all of our cyber corespondance, but haven't actually met (which is just twisted and weird on so many levels). Ah, friendless in Moose Jaw.

What if this is my fate? Turns out we aren't going to rent the house (too many reasons to count) and so I am going to be moving here. How does one make friends? Good friends? How do I create super close female friendships when I am 31 and living in my old hometown that I have denounced half of my life? Who is going to understand my love of blogging or metaphysics or lindyhopping? Who will I go shopping for lip gloss with when Leon is being a jerk? Who, in Moose Jaw, will want to spend night drinking tea and talking about philosophy? Oh GOD! I am scaring myself with every letter I type...

In Vancouver, I seduced friends into moving there. Can't make new friends? Import old ones! But who is going to move to Moose Jaw? I will answer that for you...no one. Not unless I create some amazing theatre company that pays a million dollars a week and can guarantee them all starring roles. ***okay, I am now calling all of my girlfriends all over the country on my skype while I write this blog and am only getting voice mail. pathetic and desperate. and kinda funny.***

Well, I suppose, for now, I won't worry about it. I have enough things on my list to put into place and my time in BC in December will be chalk full of socializing. Moose Jaw will just have to work itself out. For now, getting healthy, getting the tour done and getting paid is my priority.

***And OH I just found a friend that is home and willing to talk to me. See! Stalking does work!***

Suddenly talking to my MacBook doesn't seem as appealing and thus I sign off.

"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost."
- Charles Caleb Colton

Christ on a Mountain

Arg!!! I am sick again. AGAIN! Of course, it is possible that the word I should use is 'still' rather than 'again'. I want to blame it on the dry air here in Saskatchewan or the sickly children that I am constantly surrounded by or my sickly co-workers that I live with in a little van or the stress of all this house buying/life changing crap, but really I haven't a clue as to why I have become this big ball of sick. It is totally frustrating.

I am also starting to question our decision to move to Moose Jaw. We have an opportunity to rent our house instead of moving into it and rent it to someone who could really use it. But it isn't all that simple. Leon is obsessively excited about our new house and dreams of moving in and cleaning gutters. Seriously. He makes me drive by the house and then stares longingly at the gutters. I get it...when it is YOUR house, the gutters are suddenly a thing of beauty. So, I feel bad forcing him to rent it just so we can move into my one bedroom apartment. Yet, I am not all that thrilled at the thought of having to move in the middle of winter, of having no spiritual community, no lindyhopping, none of the friendships that I have spent the last few years building, no ocean, no mountains, no humidity. What there is here, for me, is a whole lotta old memories - and not all good. It is different for L who has never lived here. For him it is a fresh new start. For me, it is my past coming back to haunt me.

Which leaves us needing to make a big decision. Insurance is much more if we rent and there are still many improvements we will need to make whether we are near or far. If we just rent, the house is still a great investment, rent will easily cover our mortgage payments and my rent in Van is super affordable. Gawd. I dunno. L doesn't either. We are a bit stuck and I am sick again and missing work days which means I am losing a lot of money. Ahhhh well, six more days of the tour...and then I will be unemployed. A sick, home owning, unemployed crazy woman.

At least when I am unemployed I might get a chance to heal.

And when I am healed I might feel better about the move.

Until then, I am going to become a big fan of all pharamceuticals.

KJ Konkin: Home Owner

Well, I suppose it is official. The mortgage application has been approved and we just got off the phone with our lawyer. It seems we are definitely moving to Moose Jaw.

This process has been very difficult. Leon and I are exhausted as we lay here in our motel in Grenfell, SK and attempt to get rested for a very busy teaching week while organizing via fax, phone and email about a million little details and documents. Some point form musings from my experience thus far:

1. SOMETHING THAT ALL POTENTIAL HOME BUYERS SHOULD KNOW: if you are putting less than 25% down, which is the vast majority of people, then there is a little known fact about your downpayment that you should know. You must prove to the banks that you have had your 10% or 5% or whatever for at least 90 days. This came as a big shock to L and I. We are putting $6600 down, but have not had that much in our accounts for the last ninety days. It is money that we have just recently saved up due this very well paying job. SO, we are having to use L's mutual funds, one of his savings accounts from way back AND a gift letter (see #2) to tally up our 90 Days Total. Wish someone would have told us that before...

2. If you someone in your life is giving you money for your down payment, it had better be your parent. If it happens to be your girlfriend, like in our situation, they won't accept it. There is a 'gift letter' that has to be signed stating that a certain amount is being given and not expected back and it HAS to be from a parent. Oh, btw, that parent has to also prove that they have had the amount they are giving you for at least 90 days. Since I am the one putting down half the down payment, L has to have his mother tell the bank that SHE is giving him the said amount. It is all red tape and it is all exhausting.

3. Buying a house is sooooooo much more than the amount of money needed for the house/down payment. There are so many freaking hidden costs that it will make your head spin. So, do not buy a house that is too expensive for you, because you are going to need extra money above and beyond the price tag.

4. Buying a house in your old hometown is not all bad. Up sides are things like knowing what lawyer to use because he is the dad of an old high school friend, your realtors are old friends of your aunt and the carpenter that will help you fix those tilty floors is your uncle. Oh, and donig 467 little real estate buying errands takes about 45 mintues.

5. Buying a house is hard on relationships. You get tired, you get stressed, hell, you get scared and it is oh so tempting to take it out on each other. Leon and I just keep promising each other that if the whole thing stops being FUN then we must put a halt to it immediately. I wouldn't want this house if it wasn't for our relationship, so it makes no sense to let this house be the relationship's downfall.

Now, I must eat. Chicken fingers and fries in a small town prairie motel with the man I love. 'Tis a good life. And if I hate Moose Jaw and/or home owning, we will sell the sucker for a profit and go back to BC. I am a lucky gal.

And so it goes...

En Instead of Dis

Courage.

I wonder why so many people are so good at discouraging others. It is almost a default place for most people to go. You ask them if something is possible and at the very best they will give you a "well, it could be, but...". At the very worst you are answered with a comprehensive list as to why said something is very much NOT possible and, in fact, a totally foolish idea.

It also sucks when you share a dream or a plan with someone - in this case you are not asking their opinion at all, you are simply wanting to share - and they respond with something like "well, hmmm, that sounds nice, but...". Usually they feel like they are being helpful because they are warning you against all the potential obstacles. What is up with that?

Must be the reason I have heard it said so many times that if you have a dream in the seedling stage, do not share it with anyone, but keep it secret. Too many people do not know how to care for seedling dreams and, because they don't have any dreams of their own, are eager to tear yours up by the roots.

As an experiment I think it would be cool if I stopped myself from responding that way from here on in. Even if someone asks my opinion about doing something that I think is a terrible idea, I will only say encouraging things. This doesn't mean I am going to LIE and tell someone who is about to choose to put up wallpaper borders that I LOVE wallpaper borders and think that they look great in home decor. But perhaps I will simply say "if you like wallpaper borders and they will make you happy, GO FOR IT!"

If they ask me "do YOU like wallpaper borders?" I will answer no. If they ask why not, I will tell them that they just aren't my thing, but I will then assure them that if it is something that they like, they shouldn't let anyone or anything stop them. En instead of dis courage.

Not the easier route, but definitely the road less traveled.

We Have A Winner

Tonight Leon and I put an offer on a house and at about 11pm we got the phone call that the offer has been accepted. Essentially, this means, that Leon and I have just about purchased our first home.

If only it was that simple. We now have to pay an inspector $400 to tell us that it won't crumble into a million pieces and make sure that we can arrange all the financing in less than 10 days. After that we have to pay thousands in legal fees, land title registrations, insurance and deposits. This will be followed by the very expensive and exhausting venture of renting a U-haul or hiring a truck to move all of our stuff from BC. That will finally be capped off by the costs of transferring all of the utilities to our name and setting up my ever-needed high speed internet.

It'll rock if we are also able to find jobs in the new year.

Nope, this buying RE is not for the light of heart -- 'tis gritty stuff. And I can see how it can make couples turn on each other. But ohmygod the feeling that you get when you find out that you are going to be moving into your own HOUSE. It'll be ours. Ours. It is something that I have dreamed of for years.

Which means my amazing apartment will most likely be coming open very very soon. Whoever gets lucky enough to snatch that place will be blessed...it is big and bright and central and cheap. A Vancouver anomoly. Let me know if you are interested. In the meantime, send us good mortgage energy, because even if they have preapproved us, it is still not a guarantee for us 'strange actor types' and our 'sketchy paperwork' to qualify.

And heck, if it all falls through we will take our down payment money, fly to Peurto Plata and do some nesting back in beautiful Vancouver.

Not such a bad backup plan.