The First Week

April 2 –7

 We walked to a neighbourhood mattress store and bought a new bed!  Mattress to be delivered tomorrow and frame next week.  Getting closer to a real night’s sleep!   Amazing the little things you take for granted.  Part of our downsizing effort was selling the king sized bed and moving to a queen. I didn’t really calculate that meant I would be without a bed for almost a month.  (Dave is the math guru, obvs). 

The rest of this week was spent mostly getting things sorted out.  Dave was a trooper – traipsing all over town to various customs offices and bonding yards to get Artoo (the Subaru) and our furniture cleared through the customs processes. Here is the car, waiting to be rescued. 

That is no easy task.  Meanwhile I managed to get our apartment rent set up, figured out the laundry system and tried to straighten out the fiasco with my SIN (Social Insurance Number).  This is the equivalent of the US Social Security Number… so just imagine what it is like dealing with that government entity and it’s all pretty much the same thing, except here they throw in a lot of French so it sounds kind of exotic and even more confusing! 

Purrcy continues to find new places to explore – here he is in a suitcase.

I signed up to join a “collective” garden – where groups of people tend a common plot and share the harvest.  It starts later this month and runs through October.  I’ll be interested to find out what kinds of vegetables grow well here.  It won’t be the same as having my own yard, but at least I’ll have a chance to get my fingers in the dirt – which is very therapeutic for me… as long as I don’t run into too many worms. 

So – it turns out that our furniture was cleared before the end of the week but we didn’t get informed of that in time to schedule delivery and movers so that will happen later.  Additionally, we are navigating around 1 broken elevator and a lobby remodeling / floor tiling project.  That just makes it all the more challenging! 

Rumor has it that it has been cold in Texas (and Oklahoma, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Nebraska and Colorado) as well as here in Canada!  For some reason that makes me smile!   Every time it snows – Dave either runs outside or out to our balcony to play in it or shoot video.  It’s been really cool watching it (from the 12^th floor) as it comes blowing in.  I look out and think it is some serious fog – and then go – Oh!  Wow!  That’s snow!  So far it only lasts for 5-10 minutes and then the sun is shining again and it’s like it never happened except there is a light layer of white over the grassy areas.  Then it melts.  I guess that’s the northern version of a quick rain shower.   I know – it will get old – but for now we are both having fun enjoying the newness of something so different.  I’m definitely not in Texas anymore!