Canada Bound - of family, dogs and horses

This is an experiment. Will I continue this blog? Will anyone read it? Do I care about the latter? Only time will tell, and perhaps if I do continue to create on here then at the very least I can look back (probably in embarrassment) at my past.

In 41 days my son and I fly to Edmonton where my husband will collect us at the airport and drive to our new home. Home will be an address with more numbers than letters in it, surrounded by fields and a big blue sky. All our furniture will be there, looking uncomfortable and self-conscious in it's aged English-ness. Most of it will be in the wrong place and I will spend some considerable time moving it when I have found that time. The day after our arrival, our dogs will arrive. They will smell of shaggy-dog having been in kennels for two weeks prior. I don't think they will have minded the flight over, but we may never know.

Then we will all go into a low level state of shock. New country. New culture. Where's the Supermarket? What does a Coyote look like? Where's my potato peeler? I will take son to swimming lessons at the local leisure centre; I expect they teach the same swimming strokes the world over. Son will want to make friends, more important than anything to a six year old. He will have his seventh birthday in a country where he knows no-one but his parents. Deep breath! A mother's fear for the well being of her child looms large!

We will settle in. Meet the neighbours. I will buy a horse. Or two. I will get used to driving on the right, and I will master driving a tractor (yippee!). Life will continue, and I am absolutely determined that through my best efforts we will be okay.

Welcome to the North American continent :) I made this move before, except to the states instead of Canada. You'll enjoy it I'm sure!

Looking forward to your posts! It you have a good potato peeler.. hang into it! Who knows what movers like to snitch now a days :( Took us a looong time to replace our good one!

Welcome to Canada! Once you settle in, you will love it!
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Thank you to Waresbear and Skyseternalangel for your messages :)

My house looks like an antique furniture shop. Not, I hasten to add because it is chock-full of priceless antiques, but because every thing has a label on it. There to tell the removal men in new home (I need a better name for new home) where to put everything. My plan is that as the house is packed up. I will write on every box in big marker pen indicating where it should be taken, and whether it should be unpacked or left for me to do that.

Then my husband (who will be at new house) will check the labels and point at the appropriate room. Good plan huh? I would like to arrive to a partially ready home, and I think the prospect of unpacking only the small items is quite pleasurable rather than a chore. A little bit like doing a HUGE shop on Amazon and then all the parcels arrive at once.

Electrical items have pink stickers on them saying "LEAVE" as they work on a different voltage to Canada. This does mean that while son and I rattle around an empty house for four weeks, we will have television, kettle, microwave, juicer, coffee maker et al to keep us company.

I don't drink coffee but husband does and I fear that whilst he's living in Edmonton living the bachelor in the city lifestyle, he is drinking a large amount of Starbucks coffee at every opportunity. That doesn't seem healthy.

Yesterday I was exhausted following a week of labelling, preceded by weeks of sorting and tidying. I felt shattered - more tired than I have been in a long time. Partly perhaps because of the very intense Body Max class I do every week - but I think mostly because it's hard work and stressfull to pack up one's life. Today is my reward day Hurrah! I am going to Boxercise at the leisure centre then meeting friend H and her baby for a big fat unhealthy Brunch. H is the Yard Manager at the Livery yard where I kept my mare; when she became pregnant she and I thought that I'd see her baby grow, that I'd be as big a part of her life as the horses are in mine. Then Canada popped up over the horizon and thath's not going to happen. I'm sad about that - I was looking forward to being honourable Auntie, and I think H was looking forward to me being her horsey-mother-of-small-child-friend.

Going on a big adventure, seizing the opportunity: these are phrases commonly applied to our move to Canada and people often respond to my news with "I'd be off like a shot if I was given that chance". But we're leaving a lot of people behind - and I don't care how "small a world" it is with the Internet and air travel, the truth is my friend H won't be able to afford to fly out to see us, and my parents are too old to do more than one flight a year, and my neighbour D and I won't be able to run across the road fifty times a day to have a conversation. And that's a shame.

But onwards and upwards. As I tell son when he get's miserable that his friends will "forget him", I will make new friends there, and I will keep in touch with old friends here with Facebook and FaceTime, and all will be well.

Don't worry, they have great potato peelers in Canada!

New door openning, but the old one is still there, just far enough to still see it over the horizon, but you wont' be able to go through it now. Sweet sadness. Soon you'll be too busy to indulge too much melancholy. Hope it's an engaging and exciting change for you.

Moving is VERY stressful, and paired with your butt kicking classes I can see why you'd be tired!

And daily starbucks isn't healthy nor is it really all that affordable. There are better coffees found in grounds or bean form.

Get outta here! Starbucks is to healthy. It has like the same ph as human blood and great antioxidant properties. You could use it as a substitute for human plasma in an IV in an emergency.

I do so every morning.

You sound extremely organized I must say! Pink labels even! I can hardly wait for further posts when you arrive. I enjoy your writing style, keep them coming.
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Definitely keep writing here... you have us all interested and caring about your move now! :) What an adventure!

We don't have a Starbucks in our town, so I settle for dunkin donuts. Its cheaper, and good, . Get your husband hooked on that instead lol.
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