Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Packing Continues

Rose and I set ourselves individual goals each day. I got a fair bit accomplished yesterday. We got the majority of the boxes we had packed moved to the van, so that we can actually see the living room again. I got all the places contacted for change of address and hook-up (gas, power, phone, water). I cleaned out the microwave and scrubbed it down. (I've got a halo for that one!)

Rose was really wanting to take her electric bike for a ride. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain for most of the day yesterday. However she did get the battery in place. Then she had to use the key to lock it in place and the key got stuck. So when the Pradzynskis came over in the evening, Walter helped her get the key out. But then the battery appeared to be dead. So she charged it overnight. But it still appears to be dead. It's a little frustrating, and she doesn't know what to do next. I don't either. Any suggestions?

My goals for today are to get my bedroom completely cleaned up and non-essentials packed. I'm not planning on packing my closet or dresser - I'm just moving a block after all, and I can pull the drawers out and put them back in at the other end. But I'd like to get the assorted clutter dealt with.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Well, it seemed a good idea at the time

Last fall I went camping three times in a row. Once was at the church retreat at Clearview camp; then as soon as we came back from that I went with the entire school to Dallas Valley. After that the school leadership team (student council members) went to a retreat at Dallas Valley. The high bush cranberries were ripe at Clearview and the chokecherries were ripe at Dallas Valley. So I picked berries.

I made the high bush cranberries into jelly, which stayed in my fridge until I finally threw it out. I made the chokecherries into syrup, which I put in freezer bags in the freezer. Bad idea. Every single bag leaked.

I have just finished cleaning out and defrosting the freezer. The bottom half inch wsas chokecherry syrup. Not nice. Not nice at all. Especially since I'm really too short to reach the bottom of the freezer. I had to balance on my stomach with my feet off the floor and my head halfway down. Not a lot of fun either.

However, the good news is that that nasty chore is done. Next time, I'll can instead of freeze. In my new house I'll have room for canning.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Packing and moving

I've signed nearly all the papers for my new house. Ruth hasn't received the instructions from the other lawyer yet, but I've signed everything else. I've made arrangements to sign for home insurance and life insurance on Friday. I still have to make arrangements for water, gas, power, phone, etc. (Tomorrow I think.)

Rose and I have started packing. We did around 15 boxes yesterday. Small boxes because they're books. That's her manga collection. It's a start, I guess. We've got lots more to go. We need to pick up more boxes. I'd like to get all the rest of the books packed today (my music, my books, the rest of Rose's books, etc.)

Yesterday we priced out furniture. I'm moving from a two bedroom into a four bedroom with both a living room and a family room. I'll need more furniture. I'd like to find some really good garage sales for bookcases though. We'll need several more of those.

In the meantime there's also lots of moving going on at school. The halls are full of furniture moved from one place to another. I've been marking stuff in the back room of the library to either go or stay. Things are pretty chaotic over there. I'm glad, in a way, that I'm really too busy to help with that. I'm putting in an hour or two everyday, but that's all. As Rose pointed out, there's not much lifting I can do anyway. If I lift very much at all with my right arm, my elbow goes out of alignment.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Have no anxiety about anything...

But in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving make your requests to God. Phil 4:6

Sunday I went over to the Pradzynski's for lunch. When I was getting ready to leave in the afternoon, I couldn't find my keys. I finally ended up borrowing their extra set of keys for my apartment so I could get back home. This evening I went back to their house to search again. We searched and searched... and couldn't find them. I knew they had to be there - but where?

Finally, Walter said, "Let's just stop and pray about this." Immediately after that, Ruth picked up a fabric shopping bag from the floor; it jingled because my keys were inside.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Happy Anniversary

Today is my parents' 57th anniversary. That's pretty amazing. I also heard that my niece, Robin, is now engaged (in Korea). Yesterday was the anniversary of when I separated from my husband. Some anniversaries are nicer than others.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Busy Week

I'm almost finished my course. I have a final assignment due this coming Wednesday (that I really need to do more on than just be thinking about it) - and then I'm done.

It's been fairly hectic as usual. (Who said that teacher's have the whole summer off?) In addition to working on my class, I spent most of the week down in S'toon. Rose, Bram and I left Saturday and Rose and I got back last night. We put Bram on the plane yesterday for YK. He`ll be there for a very short while, then fly down to burn camp and after burn camp`s over, it`ll almost be time for him to come down here for school.

We spent most of the week at my brother John`s house. I had my tub refinished (and it looks really good!). The stuff to do that is a two part epoxy, and it has to cure for five days before you can use the tub again. In addition, Rose is extremely sensitive to chemicals - so we couldn`t do it and stay in the apartment. So I invited myself down to John`s, and my neighbour downstairs painted the tub for me. It`s really cool - worked very well. You can`t tell that it`s been refinished at all; just looks good, where before it looked horrible.

Before leaving for S`toon, I put an offer in on a house here in Regina. I`m still scrambling to prove for the mortgage company that I have the funds to do this, but I have a conditional acceptance, which makes me happy. I have a few more hoops to jump, but things look like it`ll go through, Lord willing. If so, I get possession Aug 26. Most of what I`ve been doing this morning (in between working on my class) has been getting the paperwork in order for this deal. More on this if it happens.

While at John`s, he needed to go to Regina for a day and then up to PA the next day, so the kids and I babysat his one-year-old twins for him. They`re on a really tight schedule, but in many ways that made things really easy. Just follow the list. They play together really well, so it wasn`t too hard keeping them entertained. Harold is walking, while Sasha only walks a step or two if he doesn`t notice that`s what he`s doing. He really prefers to crawl. To balance things out, Sasha swims, while Harold doesn`t. He also eats more. Harold prefers a bottle, and cries if you feed him. Sasha will eat any given quantity. Neither one is talking yet.