I've moved...on!

Professional packers

I thought I’d got rid of so much stuff but the movers took a whole work day to pack the dishes, the ornaments, the pots and pans, the clothes, the furniture etc. I was horrified at how long it took four people to pack up my house. Despite my horror, I was amazed at all the boxes packed in the truck, like Tetris, with little air between each one. 

Tetris

 

Keith and I waiting to clean

Then Keith and I spent the rest of the night cleaning the house, which took longer than I thought. We had to haul out all the cleaning supplies and the odds and sods and that didn’t seem to end. I was trying to recycle, give away or save everything but Keith was helpful at packing stuff up and loading it off to the Eco Centre before I went through it all.

I really thought I would never get everything out of the house. But finally it was empty. 

My empty yard

Today I walked through it one last time, said goodbye to each room and thanked it for being such a good home to us for so long.

I gave over the keys to someone else. Another family with two daughters in elementary school,  the same age difference as my daughters, who hopefully will enjoy the house as much as we did.

And now I am finally living with my husband for the next two weeks.  

The Purge

I’ve been packing up my house. Twenty seven years of stuff and memories. The girl’s baby clothes and artwork and I couldn’t part with.  Keys saved because I wasn’t sure what they were for or if I’d need them again. Ornaments and jewelry passed down the generations. Décor from previous iterations of my house. CDs, tapes, and the associated video and other equipment that’s now out of date and worthless and no one wants it. We loved the Dollar stores when they arrived but I’ve since cursed the accumulation of items from them.  We loved Lulu Lemon bags when they first appeared but now we have thousands!  Cleaning products, gardening supplies, so much stuff.

I’ve been purging since May when I accepted the job in Victoria but now it's crunch time. The movers are coming and the piles don’t seem to be shrinking. I’ve rented an apartment that's one third the size of my house with no double garage or attic so can’t accommodate even all the furniture, let alone the boxes of games, seasonal ornaments, arts and crafts materials etc. etc.

It seems that the more I haul to the recycle or the charity the more appears. Kinda like a hole in by basement where, when I'm not looking, stuff gurgles up. 

I’ve promised myself never to buy another purse or hat or dish I don’t need, never. I can’t bear the thought of going through all this again. Ever!

On the move!

So as you may have gathered I've moved. 

I miss Alberta but, despite having every other geographical form, one of the things it doesn't have is the sea.  I love the ocean and grew up spending summers near it in eastern Canada. Even Winnipeg borders Hudson Bay and has beautiful, enormous lakes where I spent my teenage years. Adelaide is bordered by the warm and clear Great Australian Bight (I always thought it was bite - it looks like someone took a nibble out of the continent) in the Indian ocean. I could cycle to the beach in 15 minutes.

Colourful Orca, Victoria

Browning Harbour, Pender Island

Living in Australia for 10 months made it hard to return to the cold, harsh northern climate. Not being able to venture outside safely as the sidewalks were icy and slippery for most of the winter was tough. Exercising in a gym had lost its appeal for me. I found it so much work just to get out of the house in sub-zero temperatures.

I'm still writing my doctoral dissertation and I was working part-time at the University of Alberta. But short-sighted and drastic budget cuts to post-secondary education have eliminated the possibility of an expansion of my role there. And for that matter, not much meaningful work in or around Edmonton in the foreseeable future. Even consultant friends, in the field for many years, are finding it difficult.

For the past few years, social justice and equity based work in Alberta felt like fighting an uphill battle against the conservative establishment.

So, I'm living in Victoria, British Columbia, in a temperate climate by the Pacific Ocean, in the shadow of the Olympic mountain range, where it seldom snows,  there is a social democratic government and protecting the environment is a priority. The sea will almost be at my doorstep and my new boss picked me BECAUSE of my values of collaboration, integration, inclusion and equity.  And to boot, my Mum and some of her family live here.

Roses on Pender Island

Vineyards outside Victoria

I'm only an hour and a half flight from Edmonton so can come home every second month when Keith and the girls (and you!) aren't visiting me. Keith will follow when the time is right.

Happy Canada Day!

Today Canada celebrates it's 146th birthday.

I think I’m truly Canadian. I’ve lived across this vast country, being born and raised in the francophone city of Montreal on the mighty St. Lawrence river,  then growing up in the flat, big sky, prairie city of Winnipeg, then settling to raise a family in the river city of Edmonton and now ending my working days on the far west tip of the country in Victoria, British Columbia. 

I've celebrated Canada Day in many capital cities, notably our nation’s capital of Ottawa but also Winnipeg, Regina and Edmonton. About a decade ago I celebrated Canada Day in Sydney, Australia then got on an Air Canada flight home and celebrated with the passengers then arrived back in Edmonton on July 1 to more celebrations!

Today, I was served birthday cake by seniors at the airport after dropping Keith off. Then, for the first time, I mingled with the throngs in Victoria, at the Parliament Buildings by the Empress Hotel and the boats in the Inner Harbour.  Most people were decked out in red and white, adorned with flags wrapped around them or tattooed on their face or fluttering in their hair or being waved in their hands. I felt proud and not so lonely. I'm at home, no not Edmonton but Canada!