Finally! We're In!

Well luck has smiled on us, finally. Last Saturday we were allowed early occupancy on our house. The actual closing is this Thursday, but we are a sort of tenants until it closes. We are VERY HAPPY to be out of the hotel and home at last.

The house is HUGE, especially now that the previous owner's stuff is out of it. Its quite an adjustment to go from a town house to 3500 sq feet. It is a great house, lots of room to roam. Our master bath is practically a bedroom itself. We back on to a wooded area and Crowders Creek (dumps out into Lake Wylie) and there are lots of pretty birds and quiet. I saw my very first bluebird, which was a thrill. No marshmallows yet, as the firepit went with the owners, but we'll get a new one. We met our neighbours and everyone has been very nice to us.

Unfortunately, we don't get our moving truck until next Monday and that has been a challenge. We decided to move in anyway and we've been doing some indoor camping with air mattresses and card tables/chairs. We also had to do a big walmart run to get one of everything kitchen related so that we could function. Its not ideal, but we're in, and that is what counts. Although if you asked me around 9pm every night, I would probably do alot for a computer or tv. So far, I have a throw away temp cell phone and thats it. We hit the bookstore and have been doing some night time reading just like a pioneer LOL! The phone/cable guy comes on Thursday and after that we will have a landline, which will be a great start. (I am writing from the library at the moment using their computers).

The kids and cats are getting settled in and after 3 sleeps I think we're all starting to feel more at home. Paul just go there and then had to turn around and go for a business trip in Hamilton. He's back on Wednesday.

What else can we tell you. Its HOT. We are told that normally its not this bad, and I'm hoping its true. We've had many 100f plus days here and it really takes some getting used to. People plan their days so that they are indoors from noon to 3 and there is a very good reason for that, its just too much. Our house has its share of mosquitos too, even in the middle of the day. I am giving serious consideration to getting one of those clip on off repellant things and just wearing it permanently, as I would like to go out side more and enjoy the cooler hours in the morning/evening. But, these are all the things that we must take in stride as new Southerners! Also, the whopper thunder storms which are a bit alarming at first, until you realize that as long as there isn't hail or overly high winds, you just wait it out. Thankfully there is fall and winter here, so cooler days are ahead.

Owen started part time preschool yesterday, and this is a very good thing as he was bored out of his mind. RL starts grade 3 on Aug 17, but for now she is enjoying her "Owen free" hours during the day (we love him, but he is a bug so a break is not a bad thing!). We are keeping busy getting set up and finding doctors, etc. And the shopping, yes we have been at Walmart pretty much daily, and that feels like more than enough for me now LOL.

Well the library thingy tells me I'm out of time, so I'll sign off and say, see y'all later! ;-)

And the hits just keep on coming...

Well. If you had told me one month ago that I would be sitting in a hotel, without a house, wondering what the HECK happens next, I wouldn't have believed it. Yet here we are. As of today, we have been homeless in Charlotte for one week, six days. Comfortably homeless, in a suite at the Marriot, but still, we're feeling pretty adrift, and the company paid hotel tab is about to run out. Next stop, depressing one bedroom hotel with 80's comforters, and a smell of desperation. I really do hope things resolve this week and it doesn't come to that, but its on the horizon at the moment.

The short of it, our original lender bailed on us at the last moment due to a second appraisal on our house that came in low, and then, we were declined for mortgage insurance twice, and the closing on our house was cancelled. We are now working with Wells Fargo, had a third appraisal (went well) and currently await the closing go ahead from them. But. We are all pretty gun shy from our first experience, and won't really believe it until we see it. We plan on doing a thing called early occupancy, which is basically when you move in as a tenant before the title actually closes. The current home owners are sitting there with the uhaul, waiting as much as we are, but to get out. All of this bank stuff came in just as we were preparing to move, so you can imagine what the last couple of weeks have been like. argh. major stress.

Paul went to work last Monday and I have been "home" with the kids at the hotel. So far I have been trying to treat it like a vacation and be all positive, but my cheerleading skills are starting to fade. I am a home body person, and right now, if I was on vacation, I'd be packing the car and looking forward to that first sleep in my own bed. And it weighs heavily on me that there is no such place, at least for the moment. That and the fact that all of our stuff is sitting in a storage facility, just waiting for all of this to be settled. Which leaves us with one week of clothes and personal items. We ran out patience pretty quick with that and did a clothing shopping spree that improved all of our spirits (thank the Lord for Kohls). We are all restauranted out at this point, carrying a few new lbs from hi fat meals, and dreaming of home cooked meals . Owen repeatedly asks to go home, to his babysitter, today he even asked when we were going to church. The cats are hanging in there and were surprisingly good travellers. Thankfully we are near a good vet, because Jingles needed some attention today and is feeling much better as far as I can tell.

And out there, is my house. With its pretty porch, the marshmallow pit in the backyard, the birds singing and the sounds of the water through the bedroom window. I hope with all of my heart to be in it soon. I need to organize my cupboards, say hi to the neighbours, do that first local grocery shop. I need to NEST. now. If this deal falls through, we will put in an offer for another place but I would always regret losing this one. And we would have to sit it out and wait for the bank processing in a hotel even longer and I can't even go there in my mind right now.

Thankfully our experiences as new Southerners have been very good. Everyone is very friendly and kind, and we are figuring out how to get around here. The shopping and bbq are as good as you have heard, and we try new things and get out and explore. But now, we would like to go to our (new) home please...

Happy Canada day, er, Independence day!

15 days and counting to departure, whoo boy.

The sold sign is up (yipee!) and now we just wait. These next 2 weeks are all about wrapping up business here and seeing dear friends & family to say good-bye. We celebrated our (probably) last Canada day on this soil at Spencer Smith park, watching our friend's little daughter become a Canadian citizen. Lovely 4 day weekend just to relax, clean a closet or 2 (or not). I was taken to dinner by my friend of 34 years (!) Angela, and on Sunday we took a drive to Ridgeway to see our friends Steve and Jackie in their very nice new home. Yesterday, FINALLY, my haircut day, and a sad good bye to my gem of a stylist, Sherry. At least I will be looking good when I meet my new neighbours! Next on tap, seeing our friends the Christmases who are here visiting from Shanghai next weekend.

We're all feeling a little bit funny lately. Its a cross between wanting to linger and see people, but at the same time, wanting to just rip off that bandaid and get going already. I am looking forward to being in Lake Wylie but have some anxiety around our 2 day drive with kids and cats, so I would like to get that part over with. Hotels are booked; we are stopping at the half way point in West virgina to stay the night and will do the remaining 6 hours the next day. We realized this week that we really need to start trying to explain to Owen that we are moving. At this point it seems all he cares about is the moving truck, he says "big moving truck coming, and it goes BEEP BEEP BEEP (when it backs up)". Something tells me this move won't be too traumatic for him LOL. Rae-Lynn, well she's a bit anxious but taking it alright, beyond trying to push a button or 2.

Its weird having a company do your move for you. You feel like you should be doing something but there really isn't anything to do. Other than finish off the tequila, which can't be moved LOL. I think I can handle that :-)

In the beginnning...

In March 2010, we learned that the Siemens plant in Hamilton was closing and transferring operations to Charlotte NC. At that time, I was laid off and home with our new son. When asked if I would be willing to go, my answer was something like "hell no". Fast forward to December and I found myself accompanying Paul to an information session in Charlotte. Shortly thereafter, with great trepidation, we found ourselves agreeing to move. We had to agree that it was a good move for our little family, after being soundly whooped by the Ontario economy for 6 years straight. What a difference a year makes.

What came next was 6 months of hurry up and wait. Wait for offer letters, wait for lawyers, wait for relocation companies. Never leave a Virgo (which we both are) alone with their anxiety and speculation, its not pretty. We both imagined the worst. Finally, the day came where we flew to Charlotte to find our home, which ended up being the one that I had been drooling at over the internet for months. Finally a good nest for us birds.

We listed our house in Ontario early June and continued to be put through the wringer with offers withdrawn due to the fearfulness of buyers to deal with our relocation company. Finally, with alot of help from our excellent real estate agent, today we find ourself with an accepted offer ready to put up the sold sign. A wee 4 weeks away from departure. Needless to say, we have alot of tension, and more grey hair, and do not want any strangers walking through our house anymore.

And with all that, the hardest part is pictured above. When we travel to our destination, we will carry 2 cats in our car, and one very precious cat in our memories. Last week, my dear Buddy became very ill and we learned he was in first stages of heart failure. After much angst and only a few hours to decide, we put him to sleep. We will never know for sure if the stress of selling the house accelerated the process or not, but it would have come eventually as he had a very enlarged heart. I could not bear the thought of him having a heart attack and suffocating when when he was home alone, so I held him as he left. Those who know me know this boy was my constant companion for 13 years. I nursed him through 2 boughts of feline lipidosis (which is usually fatal) and never slept without him. Letting him go took all that I had and then some, and I miss him terribly. It will be awhile before the tears stop, but I am trying to be strong. It will be hard to be brave in a new place without my Buddy at my side. He was truly a wonderful animal.

So, why am I writing all of this? Because I am scared sh*tless and I know that at many points in our new journey, I will need to write it down. I'd also like to share our new experiences with you, the people who we love and surely will miss. After spending my entire life in one city, one place, I am going to live somewhere else, in another country. Sure they've got costco, but its not Canada. I am sure there will be alot to discuss. So please join me, if you'd like. I suspect some days this will not be more than a rant, but some other days, may be informative. So hang on and enjoy this ride! xoxoxo