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.