Some things I have noticed since arriving in the north...

• Driving home from Dawson Creek at 10:30 at night... we chased the sunset the whole way
• Moose!
• Sunny days almost everyday... but also wind.
• Parks everywhere
• Bike path from one end of town to the other, and even I could ride on it since it is flat!
• Lots of trucks...
• Very different birds, some are the same but there are many I don't recognize
• Kids everywhere, and many families have more than two kids... there are quite a few with more than three!
  
• People invite you over even when they don't know you
• kids play in the front yard...

And Here We are...

Hello! Well, here we are in Fort St John and a little over one week has passed since we arrived (there were some technical issues to delay internet connection... as in our service provider forgot to hook it up!) Anyway, it has been an extremely eventful and FULL two weeks since I last posted...

I never expected it would be so very hard to leave Ladysmith, but man was it. I still get a bit misty thinking about the goodbyes but I am almost through it. I was only in Ladysmith for three years, but I was totally in love, so bear with me. Anyhow, there were many goodbyes... there was the goodbye to the LaFF board, then there was goodbye to Allan's preschool (which was Maria's before his) and goodbye to his little buddies. There was goodbye to Maria's kindergarten and all of her friends, there was goodbye to all of my friends many of whom took me out for one last dinner! The goodbyes to all of the relatives in Duncan, my sister and family on Saltspring and finally were the goodbyes to my closest friend Chantal and my sister, Kathy and her girls... then there was saying goodbye to the house, the town, the island... I think I bawled for days and I didn't stop until we were on the ferry for about half an hour!

Once I calmed down and we set off, we managed to hit the worst in weather - it snowed on us from Whistler all the way up the Prince George (where we stayed overnight) and the next day... until we got about three hours from Fort St John and it turned to rain. I haven't been so glad to see rain for a long time! But yay, it was rain, not snow! There was also very little snow on the ground anywhere up here, just in the odd shady patch... whew.

So the kids were thrilled to be in our new house and they ran around like crazy while the reality of our decision hit Hubby and I like a brick. We took turns doing the "what have we done?" routine for the first 24 hours, all the while trying to keep a good face on for the kids. Once our "stuff" arrived with the movers we had so much on our minds there was no more time for reflection and we started to settle in.

Maria's first day at kindergarten was not good. Maria panicked and the whole thing was not good but it was just a meet and greet with the teacher and kids so it was relatively short. The 2nd day was excellent. Her classmates made her queen of the day and she made friends with several of them and came out with a smile on her face... whew! She has some adjusting to do though as it is a lot more french than she was used to, in fact I don't think the teacher speaks English during class at all, but Maria is a smart kid and I know she will catch on quickly. Maria has also started t-ball which is just across the street from our house and she loves it.

Allan is quite upset to not be in pre-school anymore, but I couldn't get him in until the fall, so in the meantime I have him and Maria in gymnastics and they are both enjoying that too.

The best part for the kids are all the other kids. Our street is absolutely loaded with kids, in fact I think there is only one house that doesn't have kids. Just across the street is a girl Maria's age who is very nice and has been over almost daily since we got here! The kids are rarely in the back yard, they play in the front yard riding bikes and playing all ages together... it is nice.

I am starting to find my way around town now, it took a while and I am starting to see a lot of the beauty of this place, which I couldn't see at first. It isn't like Vancouver Island where the beauty is right in front of you and you couldn't miss it, but it is there, you just have to look for it a little bit. Some of the vista's and valleys and fields are spectacular and once I get my camera going again... I will try to show them to you.

Here We Go!

The movers arrived this morning and started to pack all of our belongings for our move. They will come back tomorrow to pack the rest and then on Friday it all gets loaded onto the truck. I am in a bit of shock that it is actually happening, but here it goes!

That said, the computer will be packed up this evening and I don't know when I will next have access to it.

Wish me luck!

Friends.... I am going to miss you

Yesterday was one of the best and worst days ever. Mostly it was the best. It was busy, having several different appointments/dates/meetings and everything else that is going on, but it was good.

I went to my last meeting as the secretary for LaFF, wrapped up my time with them and voted in a new secretary. I truly enjoyed my time on the board it was so rewarding and also enlightening not to mention a wonderful way to bring a mom-brain back into work-mode. I had no idea how much work and effort goes into making a successful program for the 0-6 and am amazed at the how much the current board has accomplished in the past few years - I think it will be exciting to see what hapens in the year(s) to come for LaFF. Anyways, the rest of the board and staff at LaFF also let me know how much I was appreciated and gave me a lovely card and pottery vase by a local potter which was such a thoughtful and unexpected gift and that was the start of the tears... but it was lovely all the same.

That evening was to be the last of my dinners out with the ladies too, which we decided should be a bit more adventurous than some of our other dinners, since it would be my last... so we chose Mexican food and dancing!

Dinner was excellent although I don't think I have ever had bad Mexican food... but as per usual the best part was the conversation. There were eight of us there and we had a lot of laughs and margaritas and I think we were there for nearly three hours! As we were wrapping up with dessert and tea the ladies pulled out some gifts that they had collectively bought for me. First the card was a painting of Transfer Beach, which got the tears flowing yet again... then I pulled out a beautiful print by EJ Hughes of High Street in Ladysmith which took my words away. I just got myself under control when Kimberly (who also lives in Saltair) pulled out another print by EJ Hughes, this one of the Lagoon Bridge.

Did you hear me?? THE LAGOON BRIDGE!!!

I was so blown away - the Lagoon Bridge is forever going to be one of those meaningful places... so much so that my family refers to it as the "M"agoon because Maria was convinced that was what it was called to the point of correcting other people who called it the Lagoon. So much so that the moment we KNEW we were moving I took a photo everytime I went over the Lagoon Bridge. So much so that I was totally overwhelmed and crying again/still.

We never did go dancing as we were all tired and or recently sick/injured and a few even have new babies so the few of us who were not quite ready to go home went for another cup of tea and some more talking to cap off an emotional day.

Anyway long story short I was overcome by these wonderful women who have become such a part of my life is a relatively short amount of time. It was so awesome and amazing that they think enough of me to have given me such a wonderful day with such thoughtful and insightful gifts and I will miss you all so very much.

Getting On With It...

For the last month we have been living life as though nothing was going to change... with the exception being that Hubby finished his job down here and started work up there... So he has been up there working for 2 weeks and then home for 2 weeks, up for 2 weeks and tonight he comes home, but when he goes back - we go with him!

My dog chasing a sea otter at our beach... I am going to miss this

So my freaking out has started, but it is fairly minor. This may be because I don't have to pack, or maybe because there is so much going on in the next week and a half that there is no time to panic... I am sure at some point in the next few weeks I will freak out though... I don't know if it is human nature or not, but it is definately MY nature.

Daylights Saving Time... grrr

I hate daylight savings time... Well I don't hate it after the fact, I just hate the change-over... Anything that robs me of an hour of sleep is evil...

Which is another good thing about Fort Saint John... they don't change their time back and forth. They stay on daylight savings time all year long. Which means that yesterday when Michael got off work at 6:30 it was only 5:30 here... but today it will be the same time... and it means that by moving there, I won't have to lose an hour of sleep for a long time... well not because of a time change anyway.

Coastal Limbo...

Well, as we are still on the coast for nearly another two months we are taking advantage of the fact that it is pretty much spring here... Today I spent some time outside photographing the flowers that are blooming ...

"Did you hear me Fort Saint John? The flowers that are BLOOMING... You might have them but you wouldn't know as they are still under the snow..."

Also taking advantage of the fact that we still have a family doctor (who diagnosed me with pneumonia and Allan with Bronchitis - crap!) I don't know what the GP situation is up in FSJ but I did notice that there were several walk-in clinics which I am assuming means that there aren't enough GP's to go around... but that is pretty much a Canada-wide issue not just a northern one... I am thinking that we will keep our family doctors here since we will be coming back quite a bit (that is the plan anyway).

Michael is doing well up north, he is tired and still getting to know the ropes but he seems positive and is looking forward to us all being up there.

I have also been contacting a bunch of different sports clubs/organizations up in FSJ and it seems there is a plethora of things the kids can do to keep busy... baseball/soccer/gymnastics/swimming and just about any other activity you can imagine... even for Allan!

So we are still in limbo, but we are starting to get healthy again and we are going to enjoy our limbo as best we can... in springtime weather