Our Weekend

I've pretty much finished packing now. All that is left is either going in the garbage or coming with us. I just have to clean now and make sure that everything is manageable for the movers. they're coming in the afternoon now instead of the morning so that gives me a little extra time. I don't think I need the extra time now, I'd rather just have them come and take stuff away. Oh well.

I just did a quick clean-up in the bathroom and I know that I'll have to do another on Monday morning just before we leave. I ran out of my Natura cleaner from Home Hardware so I used some left-over Lysol all purpose stuff instead. I have to admit that it worked incredibly well, but the fumes made me cough and I have a slight headache. I swear by natural cleaners now, even if they take a little more elbow grease to work. too bad I still have the oven to clean...

Since we're not going to have a computer or TV for the next few days we need to come up with things to keep us occupied for the weekend. I still have 1 1/2 books left to read (out of 4 - not bad, eh?) so I'll probably get them finished, but I also want to get out and see things too. We're going to go to Deep Cove on Saturday morning and have breakfast and maybe walk around a bit. It's a really pretty little town just outside of North Vancouver, right by Mount Seymour Provincial Park. I doubt that we'll do any major hiking, though, because our running shoes have already been packed. After that, I'd like to go to The Plaza of Nations downtown and check out the "Taste of the City" festival. It's free admission and you get to sample food from hundreds (I might be exaggerating) of restaurants. Then, when we're all stuffed, the second night of the Fireworks competition will be happening in English Bay (where we live) and we'll go check them out. Everyone in Vancouver and the surrounding area comes down for them. It's pretty crazy.

Swimming

The humidity has tapered off here and I am so relieved. It's still pretty warm during the day, especially since I've been working hard, but it's tolerable once I take it easy. Scott and I went for a swim in the ocean the other day and the water was perfect; a little cold at first, but great once we were used to it. I wanted to go again tonight so I convinced Scott to go with me at around 7:30. The water was freezing tonight, but again, once we were used to it we stayed in for a long time. Our skin was cold to the touch for at least an hour afterwards, though, since it was pretty cold. The tide was high tonight so I'm guessing that's why it was so much colder. The water was so much more shallow when we went last time.

So I have my start date at the daycare. I'll be there for the 21st; the Monday after we get back from Kingston. As soon as I read the email tonight I became a little anxious. This is real...a real job. I hope I don't suck. I've always had a passion for working with kids and I'd say it's my niche. I'm just worried about things like whether I'll have chemistry with my co-workers or the parents. Sometimes my introverted personality makes things difficult.

Getting there...

The packing is coming along now, but I'm really looking forward to the unpacking part. I've always enjoyed that part so much more since I get to set up my home.

We don't have a lot of groceries right now because we are trying to use up what we have already. There wasn't much breakfast food (that I like) so I decided to go out for breakfast. There are a lot of restaurants right outside our door so I chose one for a cheap meal. It was great, I only spent $4, tip included. After our stuff leaves next Friday and we're still here for 2 days we'll be eating at the cheap restaurants on Denman Street. We'll have our cheap greasy spoon breakfast, the lunch special at Mongolian BBQ, and likely sushi for supper. We're both getting a little tired of sushi, though, so we might have to think of something else that's inexpensive.

I took some free newspapers from our front door today (the ones that usually end up sitting there until the janitor throws them in the recycling) and I plan to pack up my kitchen today. I don't plan on entertaining anyone or cooking any big meals between now and next Friday so I think it's a good idea. I don't like how things are half packed right now. It's too messy.

Summer Reading List

I just got back from the library with 4 books. Three of them are trashy romances with hopefully some rippling muscles and ripping bodices. The other is a Margaret Laurence novel. After high school I didn't think I'd ever try to read another one of her's, but this one sounds interesting. Can I read 4 books in a week and a half? Absolutely. Will I? We'll see.

Packing

Packing is hard work. I want to pack everything all in one shot instead of only some of it because I still need stuff. If I was a millionaire I'd have other people doing it all for me, I'd be staying at a luxurious hotel for the next week and a half, and I'd be eating at a different restaurant every night. But alas, I'm far from a millionaire so I'm doing it myself. The work itself isn't so bad, in fact, it's somewhat therapeutic. Organizing things neatly in a box is up my alley, deciding what to leave out and when I should pack certain items, not so much.
I find myself taking a lot of breaks. It's pretty hot in our apartment, especially when you're doing something labour intensive so I sit down for a while by the fan to cool off, then I get back up and do something else until I'm uncomfortable again.
I feel like I want to read these days since I'm not working anymore, but I've packed up all my books. I didn't have any that I wanted to read again, though, so I'll try to get to the library. I love the idea of going to the library, but I tend to get a sore neck and my eyes go fuzzy from reading things sideways on the shelves. I always find tons of books I'm interested in at Chapters because so many are all set out in front of me in a nice display with their front covers facing out. I'm drawn to nice covers. Later I might go to find an easy-read fiction. I can't let myself forget to take it back. Last night since I wanted to read, I decided to read the Bible. It's sad to say that I read it because I didn't have anything else to read. I decided to read Peter I and II as though they were a novel. Maybe some divine intervention caused me to want to read them because I did get some inspiration from them. There were some really good passages that I could relate to. On the other hand though, there were some things in there that talked of how live for Jesus and it made me think that I'm not really a good Christian. So then I went to bed and tried to meditate on what I had read and to think of ways to incorporate Christ into my life a little better. I'll save Revelations for a night when I feel better about my moral state LOL.

I finished my last shift on Saturday and now I've got a little less than two weeks to pack up our stuff and get ready to move. I'm getting really excited to get to Edmonton and get settled in our new place. The day of the move will be slightly hectic as we get our luggage and the cats to the airport to fly. We'll have to arrange to have someone pick us up at the airport in Edmonton since it's too long of a cab ride downtown. The airport is outside the city.
On Friday at work they had a surprise going away party and it was really sweet. I didn't think I had been there long enough to get one, but they had a cake and everything. People wrote really nice messages in a card for me too. That night I decided to go out with a couple of the girls that work in the gift registry since one of them lives across the street from me. I thought it would be ok to have a couple drinks with them since they had asked me so many times before but I always said no. It was a lot of fun, but I ended up drinking more than I'm used to and I felt really sick when I got home and didn't sleep well. My actual last shift was Saturday and it wasn't very enjoyable because of the night before.
Since we weren't going to be here for very long I didn't try to make any strong connections with people, but I realized that I'm going to miss some of the people I've met more than I expected. I've been so focused on moving on that I haven't been able to enjoy my time that I've had here. I'm glad we came here.
I'm hoping that when we get to Edmonton we'll find a church that we both like and I can connect with people there. I've really missed having a church that I feel comfortable in. I miss being with people and hearing messages that really make me think. I really hope to find a small group too since that was one of the best things that happened for me when I was in Kingston. Things just never really fell into place that way here.

Sorry for the lack of posting. Zeek is much better now; I don't really know what happened. He was curled up uncomfortably all night, but by morning he and Tyke were running around and playing as usual.
I've been both lazy and busy at the same time. I've been busy with trying to find an apartment in Edmonton, finishing up my last few shifts at work, and meeting friends to say good-bye. When I haven't been doing these things I've been super lazy.
I have the day off tomorrow and there is some serious house maintenance that needs to be done. The basic stuff like vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom and doing the dishes has been neglected.
We have an apartment now; we just need to find out more details about it. I talked to the property management group and we were told that we're appoved for the place and the woman told me that she called the property manager and told him to call us. She said that she called him on Friday, but we still haven't heard from him. Scott tried calling him today, but had no luck. I'll feel much better once we talk to him and he tells us that we do in fact have an apartment. On the phone last week he sounded both confused and grumpy. Once we know our address we can start changing the address on things and transfer our cable over so we can have internet as soon as we arrive.

By the way, that's the picture we have of the afore-mentioned apartment.

I'm worried about Zeek. He's been lying this way tonight and if you even gently touch his side he wimpers. We've had trouble with him and hairballs for a long time since his hair is so long, but he tends to throw up and then continue playing around as usual. I've also never know him to be in pain. He threw up, and he doesn't seem to be able to walk. He takes a few steps and then lies down. As I write this he has just gone into his box and is lying down in there. I hope he's ok. If he's still like this tomorrow we may need to take him to the vet.

I took the job!
I couldn't turn down such a good opportunity being handed to me so I decided it was a good idea. If it doesn't work out, so be it, but I need to try it. It could be the best job I've ever had.

Who'd have thought?

I checked my email tonight and discovered that I've been offered the job at the daycare. I started reading it fully expecting to say that she enjoyed speaking to me, but she'd offered the job to someone else, but I was taken aback when I read that they thought I'd fit in well. I got a little "sour grapes" after the interview since I thought it went so poorly. I started thinking of the size and how far away it was, but now that it's right there for me if I want it, I'm thinking of the good things like the regular hours, the better pay, paid holidays, and the satisfaction with working with kids. The cons are still there, of course. At this point the one that bugs me most is how far away it is. I don't know Edmonton's transit system so I don't know how easy it would be to get there. I've decided to think and pray about it and respond tomorrow.

I haven't heard back from the daycare yet, but I have a feeling that if I do, they'll tell me they gave the job to someone else. I'm fine with that. As I thought about it more, I realized that it's probably better to find one that is smaller and closer to where we are going to be living.

We've found a potential apartment on the south side of Edmonton so we're going to send our friend Stuart there to check it out. It's a 2 bedroom and way cheaper than what we pay now. It also has a dishwasher which would come in handy if I end up getting a full time job somewhere.

I've been thinking a little more about packing and I'm looking forward to getting started. Everything is at a stand still now and it doesn't feel like we're moving because I'm not doing anything in preparation now. I have a little under 2 weeks left of work and 7 shifts. After this last weekend I'm looking forward to the end.