Taking it All Apart

I haven't posted in a few weeks not because I haven't really wanted to, but because I have been so incredibly busy making this move happen. It really has been just too crazy for words, but here's a little breakdown. We got the house on market a few weeks ago.

Here it is: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=2828174&backButton=Y

We've had a handfull of showings but no offers yet. We're definitely realizing it's not the best time to be selling a house, but it's just the way it goes.

One week ago today the movers showed up and packed our entire house into 125 boxes, excluding the larger pieces that didn't fit into boxes. Last Friday a second crew showed up and loaded all our stuff onto an 18-wheeler and away it all went! The main guy that loaded the truck will actually be taking it all the way to Newfoundland. So, it's not going by sea, but that's awesome because that means that our stuff will be there much sooner than we originally thought.

After our whole life was sent away on an 18-wheeler, we moved into a quaint little hotel called the Sugar Land Marriott at Town Square (roll fancy rich-folk type music) which was a lot of fun to stay at for a week. The room was super small for a family of four that was carrying enough clothes, toys, food and such to get them through 4 weeks of homelessness. But, getting to watch Town Square hopping 24 hours a day was kind of cool. From the meditation group that is there in the wee hours of the morning to the teenagers and drunk middle-agers hanging around the fountain at midnight, it was a very eye opening experience for me, me who used to watch Town Square from 8-5, M-F. Ryleigh's favorite thing about staying at the hotel was the morning trip to Starbucks for her donut and chocolate milk just about every day. My favorite thing was not having to get up and try to get a house ready in the midst of two children, just in case a potential buyer wanted to swing by.

Yesterday morning we all got up and got packed. Jeramy headed to the airport and the girls and I headed north to Arlington for a few days with my sister. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Granbury to see the girls' great grandparents (Pam's parents) and then on to Austin to see my dear, pregnant friend Karen and her husband and good friend Jeremy. After that, it's on to West Texas for a few weeks before jumping an airplane to O Canada!

I know that once I'm in Canada and getting settled into our new home, I'll have lots of time to reflect on this experience and maybe I'll draw some wonderful, insightful conclusions about moving abroad. Right now though, in this moment as I sit here on my sister's couch with my former Rocky dog leaning on me, I - am - tired. This has been a very insane experience. I can not believe how physically draining and emotionally trying it has been. It all sounded so fine in the beginning and I don't regret that we're doing this but at the same time, wow. We spent so many years building up so much...two vehicles, a home, a job, a life, some dogs, some kids...all adding up to be called our nest. Over the past few months I feel like we've just been tearing it all down. Selling off the house and vechicles, losing a dog and giving away the other. Even our washer and dryer that we were so proud to finance in our first duplex is now gone with the house...the refrigerator that we bought the day we moved into the Bryan house when we discovered one didn't come with the house is gone. It's just so weird to watch so many things that mean/meant so much to you go away to the highest bidder. At the same time, it sort of cleanses your soul and reminds you that things are things and that things don't make your life whole, your family does.

At the core of all this craziness has been Jeramy, me, Ryleigh and Avery, hanging on for dear life. Last weekend we spent Saturday as a family. We had lunch at our favorite Greek food place in Houston and then spent a couple of hours at the Children's Museum. Jeramy took Avery to the baby area and I took Ryleigh to the big kid area. It was the first time that I felt like Ryleigh was able to understand so many of the exhibits and Jeramy said he could have scored 20 dates with all the attention Avery was drawing. That evening, we had dinner at some friends' house. All in all it was a perfect last Saturday in a place we've called home for over two years.

We'll miss so much about Sugar Land and Houston, but there's comfort in knowing that we will return. It's our home and it's our base. And while I won't miss the humidity, I will miss the life and friends that we built while we were there.

Peace out Houston....see you on the other side.

Princess Pictures

From the Chick-Fil-A Princess Party

Ryleigh: Scientist/Entrepreneur

This morning I had to drive about 5 minutes away to Home Depot to get a copy of my house key made for the lockbox on our door. During the drive back, Ryleigh hatched this master plan. She explained it to me like this:

"Hey mom. When we go back to the beach by our new house in Canada, I'm going to take my bucket with me and pick up a lot of rocks. Then, we can put the rocks in our house and make a museum out of our house. The rocks can go on the couch and people can come and see them. They can pay us ten dollars to come in and see our rock museum. But, not when daddy is on the rig. When daddy is on the rig, we will have to make a sign to put on the door that will say that the museum is closed because daddy is on the rig. Then, when daddy gets off the rig, we will make a sign that says that the museum is open because daddy is not on the rig anymore! We will charge them ten dollars...or they can just give us whatever money they have. Isn't that a great idea??"

Yes, we are so proud. Of all the things that we have dreamed our children would be, topping the list is "must love rocks". We're so proud!

Not Slowing Down Now

Soooo much has been going on this past week. First off, the girls:

Ryleigh had her 4th birthday party last weekend and it was awesome! We had it at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and I think the kids had a blast. It got a little hairy when we took them through the butterfly atrium, but all the parents really helped out and got the kids through without too much of an issue. The cutest part?..the bees. The kids all really loved the bees and Ryleigh made sure to let everyone know which one was the queen. (The bee hive is in an enclosed plexi glass hive with a clear tube leading to the world so the bees can go collect nectar) Ryleigh really seemed to enjoy "her day" and it was so wonderful that she got to see some her school friends before the big move.

Avery is growing like crazy! She is very mobile and can crawl like a pro. She's also pulling up to anything she can reach and yesterday she started clapping. She can also say and wave bye and when the house inspector came by yesterday, she actually started waving and saying bye when he left and I said bye. She had her first hair cut last week and goes in for her 9 month check up on Friday. 9 months!!!! Already!!!!

Jeramy and I are struggling to keep our sanity during this move. Our realtor put the sign in front of our house last night. The house should be up on MLS today and we're hoping for some showings this weekend. Keeping house has never been my forte, so please pray that the cleaning fairies watch over me and keep me on task. I had to force myself to do the dishes this morning after breakfast rather than go roll around in the floor with the kids or go for a walk, which is my normal thing. Who knows, maybe I'll come out of this a better person, or at least a better housekeeper. Yeah, who am I kidding, my first order of business when I get to Canada is to find a maid service!

So, everything is moving along nicely. Our official move date is the 24th and 25th of July. On July 27th I will start to head west and Jeramy will fly to Canada. Right now I'm thinking that we will fly to St. John's on August 21st.

So, our next big hurdle is to sell the house. We are really hoping that it goes quickly. And then there is the mountain of paperwork that I need to get to for the realtor and the relocation company. Blah.

And then there is the insurance for the Skidoo. I got an email from an insurance person in St. John's and this was included: "Other than liability coverage you will often see a person purchase fire and theft coverage and sometimes full comprehensive which covers fire, theft and vandalism. This would also cover you if your skidoo was to go through ice while crossing a pond."

For the record, Jack, there will no crossing of frozen bodies of water in a Skidoo or via any other mode of transporation including my feet. Don't believe I will be needing that coverage, thank you very much...but what if I hit a moose?

A Very Good Day

This morning started off with a phone call at about 7:50am from Canada. On the other line, one of two preschools that I left a message with yesterday while trying desperately to find a preschool for Ryleigh. In Newfoundland, preschools are not at easily found as they are here. Daycares are relatively easy to come across, but a decent quality preschool, a little more tricky. The woman calling from Early Achievers (www.earlyachievers.com) informed me that they had one spot left for the fall. I'll take it!!! That's one issue solved.

In chatting with the director of the school I mentioned that we were still looking for a house to rent. She told me that her husband's secretary was moving abroad due to her husband's job and that they had been trying to sell their house, but might be open to renting at this point. I took the woman's info and immediately made the phone call. She was a lovely woman and after a quick conversation she asked if she could call me back after speaking with her husband. 10 minutes later she called me back and voila, we have a house!

And to all those people that told me not to stress out about the first house we lost yes, good for you, congratulations, you appear to be right, this house may actually be better than the first. It's slightly bigger (which may totally justify a housekeeper) and it's very close to the first house. It's on a large lot with a great back deck, and, well, it's just about perfect. Jeramy recalls driving by this house and seeing the for sale sign and said that it's in a great neighborhood. I've just been walking around with a jump and a skip in my walk and with a huge grin on my face all day. Once again, we have a house, we are not homeless. I'll feel better when we are signing a lease, but for now, it's all good in the hood...the Canadian hood...yo.

Other than finding a home for my family today we had a full day of activities. Ryleigh had tap/ballet at 11, both of the girls got a haircut at 12:30, then we grabbed a bite to eat and came home for some "quiet time". Yeah right when Grandma Terri is here. Then, this evening, Ryleigh got all dressed up and we headed to Chick-Fil-A for the Princess Party. I have been looking forward to this party all week long. Not only did Ryleigh get to dress up as a princess, not only did she get to meet the REAL Cinderalla and the REAL Sleeping Beauty, not only did she get to have her picture taken by Christine Meeker for FREE (same overpriced photographer that did the family pics in our house), not only did she get to have glitter make-up put on her face and glitter sprayed in her hair, she also got to ride in a HOT PINK LIMO that said GIRLS ONLY on the side. Holy Shit, what a day!

Neither of the girls put up much of a fight when we got home as far as going to bed went. Ahhh, sweet, sweet sleep. Mama needs some wine, there's reason to celebrate!

Coping with Addiction

Part of our efforts to ready our house for sale has been power washing every concrete surface around our house. Power washing kicks so much ass. If you have never power washed, you will be amazed at what it can do for your house. Especially here in good ol' humid Houston, where your home grows greenery like an oversize Chia pet. I actually don't advise that you do any power washing in West Texas; I would hate to be responsible for you tipping your trailer house over. (Disclaimer: Trailer livin' jokes may only be made by those that live and/or have lived in a trailer, perferably single wide.)

Jeramy spent 5 hours on Saturday power washing the front driveway, walkway and sidewalk. I kept checking on him to see how he was doing and to provide him with moral support, but I was really just dying to take that power washer and do it myself. Imagine my delight when he came down with a tummy bug on Sunday and I got to power wash the back porch all by myself. It took me two days since I could only power wash when Avery was sleeping, but it was a whole lotta fun, I tell you what. I got my back porch squeeky clean and then moved on to the brick behind the bushes and ended with the little plastic toddler slide that we've had at our last three homes. I even tackled the fence a bit, but wasn't sure I was making it any better. Before I began powering the bark off the oak tree, Avery woke up. It's probably just as well though, I've heard that trees need their bark.

So, if you have the time, come check out our nice, clean driveway. Never mind the thick, black sludge at the end of the driveway. We're one good rain from that not being an issue.

A Minor Setback

We landed in Houston at about 4:15 yesterday afternoon after a very long and very grueling day of travel. Ryleigh just refused to nap on the plane and refused to eat just about anything we asked her to all day long. The girl was really craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

When we landed in Houston and started making our way toward the luggage area, Jeramy turned on his blackberry to see just how many emails he missed in flight. One of the first emails that Jeramy read was sent from the Canadian office to let us know that the owners of the house that we had hoped to move into were moving back to Canada and no longer wanted to lease the house. Damn. Seriously?? Damn. And there we were, standing in the luggage claim area, with one hungry and sleepy 3 year old, one smiling and obliviously happy 8 month old, being quite hungry and sleepy ourselves, and realizing that we had just spent a week in St. John's and were back at square one with the housing issue. Damn.

The realtor that the company uses has already emailed us some other options. We know that there just won't be another option for us as perfect as the one that just slipped away. It was just so totally perfect. But, we at least now know where we do and don't want to be. If we have to move up there and live in a hotel for a little while before the perfect place comes up, then we will. No biggie.

So, it's good to be home. Avery was up at 5:30 this morning and Ryleigh was up at 6:30. That's 8 and 9 St. John's time, so I'm sure they think they're doing well. Right now Ryleigh is catching up on cartoons and Avery is standing up to the couch trying to reach the remote that is just out of her reach. Her ability to pull up to things is just ridiculous, expecially considering her size. She's just so little!!

Time to get to some chores, some errands and lots of unpacking. My Nana and Papa are coming for a visit on Monday next week and I'm sooo excited. We also hope to have the relocation company come and appraise the house next week. So, there is still so much to be done to get us up to Canada.

Up for Sale:
One 8 ft. Christmas tree, 7 years old. In great shape and very beautiful. $40
One Christmas wreath complete with plastic storage box and door hanger: $20
One blow up kayak, lots of fun on the Guadalupe, complete with paddle: $20
Dining room table and chairs, oak colored, 10 years old: $25
Computer desk, black tubing and faux food: $20
Coffee table, side table combo, wrought iron bottom, glass tops, 10 years old: $100
'06 Jetta, 28K miles, leatherette, Bose sound, white with black interior, 5 cylinder, $14,800

And more to come....jenn

Leaving the Morning

This morning we got up and had some breakfast in the hotel. Ryleigh finally discovered that they had fruit loops and white chocolate shavings to sprinkle on top. After eating that and the now normal cup of hot chocolate, she declared that she had just eaten the best breakfast ever. Jeramy headed to work and the girls and I just hung out at the hotel and finished packing and preparing for our trip tomorrow. For lunch the girls and I walked across the street to the little coffee shop again then we all headed downtown for a few more souvenier purchases. This evening we had dinner at a pretty nice steakhouse type place. Jeramy ordered surf and turf and when half of an entire lobster showed up, Ryleigh declared that he once had a family somewhere. All in all a pretty uneventful day, but the weather was really just incredible. It was hard to pull the curtains tonight when Avery went down because I don't think we've a view this clear the whole time that we've been here!


I'll leave you with this picture courtesy of a friend of my parents. Real funny Dave, real, real, funny. Cheers!