J:

The answer to the ultimate question of  life, the universe, and everything is, as we all know, 42.  Sadly we are not sure what the question actually is.

42 also happens to be (well it was yesterday) the number of days left until we should complete on our house.  And yesterday we found out that we are looking good to complete on January the 21st.  There are six weeks left and here is what is left to be done:

Next week (w/c Dec 14):  fitting the kitchen.  To repeat – FITTING THE KITCHEN!  Rebecca is nervously excited about that.

Week after that (Dec 21): lots of finishing (plumbing, electricals etc)

Week after that: putting the wood and carpet floors down

Week after that (Jan 4th) – tidying up.  On Jan 8th we have our “pre-delivery inspection” which is when they walk us through the house and together we identify a snagging list to be done before we close the deal.  Depending on how that goes we could even close around Jan 14th.  Well we can wish, can’t we?!

So we’re getting there and some of the time it even feels close.

Reason #44 – technically I could walk to work any day I felt like (although not when it is -13 degrees outside, like today)

#43 – we’ll be able to have the C.O. for lunch (maybe even on moving weekend!)

#42 – never receiving a previous resident’s mail

#41 – fully detached!!

See you soon

J:  Today is December 7th and we had our first snow of the year today – the wet stuff that melts straight away, making for greasy roads.  There may be more on the way but I don’t think we are looking at major snowfalls yet.

Rebecca and Rosie should tell you about their weekend – ask them about their Tea Party…  As for me, I attended my first NFL game (American football) in Toronto last week – very interesting…

Work proceeds apace at the house – ceramic tiles appear to be in, the garage door went on today and the siding (cladding) looks to be next.  Realistically, they should be close to finishing, since they need to walk us through for snagging with enough time to achieve completion by closing date.  So we’re getting very excited and in fact some plans for moving weekend are coming together.

To keep the countdown going…

Reason #49 – getting all our books out

#48 – parking in a garage connected to the house

#47 – (maybe) having an office again

#46 – not having to do the bedtime dance anymore

#45 – don’t know where to put it?  Chuck it in the basement.

We’ll be back soon, so stay tuned…

R:

Reason # 53:  Looking at the lovely paint colour on the walls.  (The interior painting was completed last week.)  The colour is called ‘Elephant’s Breath’  but the children have re-dubbed it ‘Elephant’s Poo’ which is most immature I know, but quite funny.

Reason # 52 Walking on the tiles on the floor.  (The floor tiles are being installed this week.)

Reason # 51  Being closer to the gym.  I teach 5 classes at the gym now – and it will take me 5-6 minutes to get there, instead of 15-20.

Reason # 50 ALL the children will go to school on the School Bus!  We visited the new school yesterday, Rosie was with me, and we both really like it.  It’s a very small school, called Applewood, and the principal is lovely.  We collected the forms for the three children to be registered at the school – they will start after the Christmas Holidays, even though we will not have moved by then.  But the best news is that at this school, all the children that attend are eligible for the bus, which is great for me, and they are really excited too.  I will just have to stand at the front door in my jammies, with my coffee and wave goodbye!  ( I wouldn’t do that really, I am much too classy….or am I…?  Got to keep SOME of the Croydon Chav in me alive!)

R:

The days and weeks DO seem to be slipping by a little quicker now…….now each week is a much bigger fraction of the time remaining, so each time we knock one off, we are getting closer quicker.  Confused?  OK, simple numbers coming up:

# 63 The kids being able to put away their own laundry as they will know where it is supposed to go.

# 62  What am I saying?  The kids being able to DO their own laundry as there will be a whole laundry room.  (Well, the girls anyway)  Woo Hoo, that’s a good one.

# 61 Being able to see boats from our back garden.  We are just over the road from a major commercial canal where FUGE boats from around the world cut through the land mass from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.  There are 8 locks, averaging 120 feet tall, and Lock 3 is just across the road.  When there is a boat at the top of the lock, you can see it from the back of the house – it is amazing.

# 60  Being within walking distance of a local museum.  At Lock 3 is the Canal Centre and small museum where you can access all local history, and regular exhibitions and events, mainly aimed at children.  There’s an Annual Family Pass which I will buy and in the Summer I’ll probably be able to send the older kids off by themselves!

# 59  Again Canal related:  Being next door to water.

# 58 Having my very own basin in the bathroom.

#57  Seeing the colours we have chosen in real life.  (Light grey and dark grey – doesn’t sound very exciting, but they are gorgeous – just wait and see)

# 56 Having all my cookbooks on shelves in the kitchen.

# 55 Having the space to hoard clothes.  WHO CARES if I only wear it once a year – I’M KEEPING IT!

# 54 (This will be temporary)  The kids having oodles of space to play outside, before the houses next door get built.  I predict they will be disgruntled once that happens….. “But that’s OUR pile of mud”.  And don’t panic, remember there’s a mud room, for precisely that reason!

Oops now we’re ahead.  More coming in 4 days time.

Hi, it’s Rosie here.  We are STILL behind on our reasons, so my Dad is making me do some. Let’s see if I can bother him as much as he bothers me (have you seen reason #79!?)

Reason # 70: Having a sign on my bedroom door that says, “DO NOT ENTER! And don’t wake me up before 7:00 either, or I’ll eat you!”

Reason # 69: My new school, where I won’t be the only kid standing outside for the NA (national anthem).

Reason # 68: Having an iPig! Squeal!!!!! (If you want to know what that is, which you probably do, google image it. It’s an iPod docking station that looks like a pig)

Reason # 67: Earning money from my own paper route. That equals more clothes.

Reason # 66: Having a specific day when I cook dinner (in our fabulous kitchen), because I have a million things I want to make but refuse to because (1) I have to clean up after myself and that’s impossible in this kitchen and (2) it’s impossible to make anything in this kitchen without first dropping five things, moving seventeen things off the stove, countertop, etc., etc., and saying something like “Oh man!” fifty times. And yet my Mum rarely does any of those things, except maybe moving seventeen things.

Reason # 65: Having a ’secret clubhouse’ under the stairs in the basement which is about the size of George’s  room, so quite big.

Reason # 64: Playing my music so loud on my iPig that my Dad will tear his hair out! Yay!

J:

So we’re a bit behind on our reasons.  At least I have an excuse…  I’ve just finished three intense weeks at work – 12+ hours a day many days, one Saturday and one provincial holiday.  Some days I’ve just about managed to find time to go to the bathroom.

It’s been tough for R and the kids too, since I’ve been more or less incognito.  Even when I’ve been at home, I haven’t really been fully present.

Anyway, yesterday I got told to take a sickie.  R and I went to see the house, which is coming along nicely.  All the trim is in, the stair railings are in, and the gas fireplace has been installed.  And it is two months from today until we close.  So here are some of our backlog of reasons:

Reason #75 – did I mention the gas fireplace?

Reason #74 – R’s new RED kettle will look great in the kitchen

Reason #73 – a food fridge, and a beer fridge…

Reason #72 – going to Mackinaw’s on Wednesday will be less impractical

Reason #71 – being able to park our bikes inside.

I’m going to try to get R to do 5 or 6 reasons, and the kids to do a few, to see if we can catch up.

R:

It’s got to that point for me now – you know when everything you do is related to what you’re waiting for…..? I opened a new box of 160 PG tips tea-bags yesterday (delivered lovingly by my mum and dad) and wondered to myself  ‘ I wonder if the next time I open a box I’ll be in my new house?’  It’s quite ridiculous I know.

The house is progressing well – they are very busy working inside.  They are fitting all the woodwork, next week they will be painting and the first week in December the tiled floors get installed.  I believe the following stage is installing the kitchen.  Hopefully, if that goes without a hitch, we can then start to feel secure that they are going to meet the closing date.

We are all very busy; this past week has gone by quickly.  Jason is heavily involved in budgets at work and has been working many hours.  This is the last week of three that he has been working on this, and it has been an interesting reminder of how things used to be when he worked for Family Mosaic in London.  I have been on my own with the kids for most of the time, have generally managed to stay non-stressed, but I am so TIRED!  Next week should be back to normal, so Jason will be back home between 4 and 5pm (practically part-time!)  As a result of a less-senior position for Jason of course, we are living on a much-reduced income level – but this has been good for us too.  Back to Basics – but baked beans are very nutritious!  And we are forced into applying the counsel we received at the Special Assembly Day last month about being very careful with credit – and only spending the money we have.  Well, we have zero credit here, being new to the country, so we have been able to practice this literally! 

So those things are good.  I still get moments of panic when I remember afresh where I am and all the people I can’t see.  The general strategy is to keep thinking of the positive things about being here, which I think I am doing quite well.  That’s why it’s a panicked feeling when the things I’ve lost come into my mind – it’s like I forget for a while.  The hardest times are when dramatic things happen to my friends at home.  Whether they are very good things, or bad things, I still get the same reaction!  I was so emotional when my friend got re-instated – so happy, but so upset that I wasn’t there!  Same thing last week when I learned that another friend got engaged.  It really hurts that I’m not there to be happy with everyone – it’s such a strange feeling.   And then when close friends are going through hard times – I feel VERY far away….like a satellite.  I am very hopeful that when we are in the house, I will feel more comfortable, and able to phone people regularly.  I’m just not relaxed here, and feel less able to do things that require a deep breath and a shot of courage.

We are seriously behind on our reasons – we’ll do a catch up at the weekend with the help of the children.  I must put up some photos of the kids too.  My goodness, they are growing up so fast.  Rosie is only half-a-head shorter than me now.  Daisy has no front teeth and talks with a lisp.  Johnnie is quite hard to carry now he is so BIG.  And George talks.  He calls himself Georgie which I find quite amusing.  He wants the ‘ee’ like the rest of the kids.

The boys are watching TV while I write this today.  I looked up when I heard an English accent on the show – Billy Bragg is making a guest appearance on Sesame Street!  Hilarious!

J: it’s been a while since we added some reasons for looking forward to moving into our house…

Reason #83 – being able to tell Johnnie to go play on the trampoline when he gets too much (we bought the kids a trampoline for their anniversary present in May, but we don’t have anywhere to set it up yet)

Reason #82 – having a fire at the flick of a switch

Reason #81 –  bed time will be a lot easier!!! Right now it’s a bit of a musical comedy – kids go to sleep wherever we can get them to go, and then we want to go to bed we move them around appropriately.

Reason #80 – all of my clothes will be in the same room!

Reason #79 – Rosie can listen to Beyonce in her own room, and I can listen to The xx on my stereo, which should be a Beyonce-free piece of kit.  Or indeed Avril Lavigne, who is arguably worse than Beyonce.  I’m still deciding about that.  But Avril is also definitely banned from my stereo. (At this point Rosie hits her Dad reasonably hard!!)

** We’re working on the whole hitting thing, it’s SO immature.  And DON’T get me started on Leona Lewis **

Reason #78 – being able to say we live at Number Ten

Reason #77 – the mudroom… come in from garage (connected to house BTW).  Dump bags.  Go into house.  Done.   Did we put that already?  If so – it’s good enough for two reasons

Reason #76 – that first G&T tastes so much better in your own house.

Hey teacher…

Some more photos – R got a chance to go inside again today (we don’t have a key right now) and got a few shots – PLUS our house now has a number!