Back to the land of the living

Officially as of Saturday. I have tried to post here and there over my last three weeks of working and moving with modest success; we will have internet in our new home as of Saturday August 29 and I will be sure and post daily/every other day as per usual as of then. Meanwhile thanks for bearing with me and enjoy the last week or two of the summer!

100 Things

My friend Alex over at I'm The Mom did this and I figured I'd do the same. I haven't really given a super-duper introduction to myself that was quite this thorough and I've got some time to kill over my lunch hour etc. so:

100 Things about Me

1. My name is Sarah.
2. I have a son.
3. He is adopted.
4. I have a husband.
5. We met at my prom.
6. He was with another girl.
7. They were long broken up before we got together.
8. My parents are divorced.
9. I love them.
10. I love my step-parents too.
11. I have a brother.
12. He's my son's godfather.
13. He also has excellent taste in women.
14. This time.
15. My faith in friends has taken a beating in recent years,
16. And I have turned more to family.
17. This isn't fair to my friends.
18. I was born in Montreal.
19. Grew up in Kitchener.
20. Went to school in Kingston before moving home to Kitchener.
21. Ottawa will mark only the 4th city I've lived in.
22. Although I've lived in 8 different apartments/houses in the last 8 years.
23. Make that 9 tomorrow.
24. I am a wrestling fan.
25. My favourites of all time are Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
26. This makes for some interesting inner turmoil.
27. I am a fan of the Twilight Saga and True Blood.
28. Which I guess makes me a fan of most things vampire these days.
29. 'My Soap' is Young and the Restless.
30. I am neither Shick nor Phick anymore (fans will know ...).
31. But I AM still a Bac fan 10 years later,
32. Although I think their acronym should be Milly.
33. My best guy friend is my ex-boyfriend.
34. We go back 20 years.
35. My best girlfriend lives too far away for my liking.
36. But she looks great these days!
37. She's my inspiration for weight loss.
38. That still doesn't seem to be working.
39. My mom is the best person I've ever known.
40. I am a Christian,
41. But not like that.
42. I will listen to almost any music that is good.
43. And some that isn't.
44. I enjoy any good movies.
45. Plus some that aren't.
46. My favourites are musicals.
47. My favourite male recording artists are Billy Joel and Eminem.
48. I don't get why so many people find this funny.
49. My favourite female recording artists are Pink and Katy Perry.
50. My favourite bands are Bon Jovi and the Dixie Chicks.
51. Barenaked Ladies is up there too.
52. I want to go back to school someday.
53. I don't know for what.
54. I once wanted to be a minister.
55. And a lawyer.
56. And an actor.
57. And a journalist. Or any kind of writer.
58. But I have come back to teaching over and over since I was about 3 years old.
59. I love my new home.
60. But I will also miss my old one.
61. I want to travel to Israel one day.
62. And also Europe.
63. My honeymoon was in Mexico.
64. It is tied with Scotland for best trip ever.
65. I love airplanes.
66. And trains and automobiles.
67. And boats.
68. My first car was a 2003 Hyundai Accent named Boris.
69. He met his untimely end in a duel with a telephone pole.
70. My current car is a 2004 Chevy Optra named Ruby.
71. Our dream car is a Mazda 6 or a Jetta.
72. We want at least one more child to put in said car.
73. And probably 2 or 3.
74. It would be like the Game of Life - not one of my favourites though.
75. That would be Scattergories.
76. Unless we're talking video games. Then - Zelda all the way.
77. And The Sims.
78. I have a laptop computer - I luvs it.
79. We have cats, a boy and a girl, Calvin and Lita.
80. We love them.
81. We also have a gerbil named Spyro.
82. We don't love him. OK ... Ari does.
83. We want a dog someday.
84. We will name her Yenta.
85. If you don't get it, watch Fiddler on the Roof.
86. I enjoy TLC reality shows like What Not to Wear.
87. This includes Jon and Kate Plus 8, inspite of myself.
88. I think the main TV Ari and I agree on is the 'Comedy Central Hour' (Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert).
89. I don't understand why the US is having such difficulty with universal healthcare.
90. I am Canadian and I love our system.
91. I enjoy Michael Moore but I don't consider his work journalism.
92. I don't enjoy Rush Limbaugh and I don't consider that journalism, either.
93. And Glenn Beck is worse than both of them.
94. I am addicted to Facebook.
95. But not much else (OK, maybe food ...).
96. I am a dancer (though you wouldn't know it to look at me).
97. So is Ari - we do ballroom.
98. We will miss our dance teacher in Kitchener. We loved her.
99. In fact, I will miss a lot about Kitchener.
100. But I'm looking forward to Ottawa too!

Moving Week - epilogue, prologue, and acknowledgements

So here I am for my last sleep in my Kitchener House before our move to Ottawa. It's been a wild ride the last 2 weeks since we sold the house, and 10 days since we made an offer on our new one, but not all bad by any means.

First, my job - teaching a semi-private politics course in Ottawa to two very enthusiastic and eager 18-year-olds has been a lot of fun (though I miss the little guys) and educational for me as well - they ask hard questions! Which is great.

My cousin has been graciously letting me stay at her place until our house in Ottawa closes, and she's been a tremendous roommate and hostess; considering some have been accused of not being terribly nice people, or using others, for much less than taking up a room in one's house, eating their food, and accepting rides to work on the other end of a very large city, she's shown me not just what being good family is about but good friends as well. 'Pay It Forward' may have been a disappoiting movie but it's a concept I definitely want to adopt; starting with treating her to a lovely dinner out Wednesday night as a thank-you.

As I'm just coming off parental leave without a job lined up in Ottawa full-time yet, while Ari's job is about to improve exponentially, we've had to crunch a lot of numbers to figure out where we're at in terms of a mortgage, discretionary spending, etc; our parents have been great to consult with on this new adventure, as well as having put in countless (I'm sure painful) hours with their grandson while I've been working and Ari's been packing and doing paperwork. Again, we feel like we're abusing people's generosity terribly, but they've all remained so kind and helpful with smiles on their faces, and we appreciate that.

As of Thursday our move will be all over (except of course the mountain of boxes and furniture that will be aching to be unpacked, placed, utilized to turn our new house into a home), and it was only about 3-4 weeks ago that Ari got this job offer and we put the house on the market to begin with. I just wanted to take the time to thank those people who helped, those who will be meeting us for dinner tonight to see us off, those who will be there in spirit (you know who you are - enjoy your family, guys, and your bro's wedding, cher); and even those who won't.

While I'm not leaving Kitchener with my 'in-box' as empty as I'd have liked in some ways, I guess that's the way it has to be right now, and I am too grateful for what I DO have to dwell on those which refuse to fall into place. All I will say in regards to that (after keeping a 12-month promise to leave this issue alone) is: congratulations. You're more stubborn than I am. I am ready to be a positive in your life again when you are ready for the same; in the meanwhile, may your road bring you everything you deserve. And may that be true for all of you! :) I'll see you in Ottawa.

Last 48 hours in Kitchener ...

So ... I'm here about another 18 hours ... and then another 36 or so next weekend to help poor Ari who I'm abandoning with the packing here ... and then it's on to a new home. We are 12 days away. It's kind of sad I don't think I'll have quite the final 'goodbye' experience Ari will with this place'; furniture, etc. will still be here when I go next; pictures might be off the walls, boxes might be all over, but it will still basically be our home. And then I'll never see it again. It's just a place I know ... my things and most importantly my people will be coming with me. But this was the first house we owned, the home we brought Little Tyke home to, etc. Lots of tremendous memories, and we basically bought this house for LT and now he won't even remember it.

Definitely feeling nostalgic this weekend; I'm hoping by next week it's more about the 'New Adventure' we're looking forward to. And we're moving into a lovely new home that's far too good for the likes of li'l ole us, in a wonderful town which has so much to offer, and I'm excited. Just not right now. Right now I'm thinking of the goodbyes I'll be making ... and those I won't have the chance to make. The wonderful life Ari and I built for ourselves in our hometown; the decent jobs, the closeness to our son's grandparents, the wonderful circle of friends ... we knew in the back of our minds I think that we'd be leaving - at least that it was a better-than-average possibility - but I thought knowing it would leave me more ready for it. And in many ways I am; knowing we had a house to prepare to sell, a house to find, jobs to look for, etc. we had a lot of those details handled which allowed us from sign up to closing/moving date take literally 4 weeks. But my friends, my family, my job, my church, the kids I tutor ... tonight, I beg your indulgence as I mourn those things.

Brief update

Bought a house today ...
Start new job tomorrow ...
Staying in a dorm ...
First time in years.
Stressful few days,
No denying that at all,
But everything smooths out.
Onward and upward.
Hope a good weekend
Was had by all -
Happy new week, darlings. :)