Vacant

We’re all moved into our temporary home on the hill. The movers showed up at 0915 yesterday and by 1715 they were done. It would have taken me weeks. Of course I would have been purging as we went but now I have something to look forward to when we get to Sexsmith. A very emotional day. Sher had a complete break down just after the movers got to the house. It so rare for her to get emotional that it was rather un-nerving. We packed the cats up and headed to the temp place. Flip had the cats in his truck and I guess they yowled the entire trip up. Smudge crapped in his cage, pushed his food bowl out and was trying to push the plexi glass off the front of his cage. Seymour spilled his water everywhere and was trying to scratch his way out. They were both stressed and a mess by the time we got up here. It was a 20 min. trip. They are going to have so much fun on the drive to Sexsmith. It took them about two hours to settle down once we let them out of the laundry room. I couldn’t take three steps without the furry secret services agents checking all the nooks and crannies for me.
The first few hours in the temp house were interesting. One of the bedrooms in the basement has a walkout to the basement deck. I originally told Sher she could have this room this was until I found out she was smoking full time. When we rented this place we were told no smoking. My concern was the door would be too convenient and Sher would be dragging smoke smells back into the house with her soooo… I gave the room to Drool. She was pissed. When she wasn’t sulking in her room we got nothing but attitude for the rest of the day. She has 24 hours to get it together or she’ll be getting a bit of mine.
I tried to maintain an even keel but it was very tough. Sher stomping around like a Prima Dona and the cats yowling around the house then my own emotional coaster, it’s a day I don’t want to repeat for a while.
As Flip and I were driving back to the house for last walk through with the movers I kept telling myself, “it’s just a house it’s just a house…” Walking back into the place was a shock of cold water. It’s so hollow. I was forced to go and have a moment on the back porch.
So from the hollow house to the hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach I feel washed out and tired. We have to go finish last clean up hopefully every thing goes smoothly.

Pearle Vows Frances?

Well I’m biting the bullet. I’m going to try to learn to speak conversational French.Since I’m not working any longer and I’m planning this trip east I figured what the heck. I went and got a book and a CD set. Really this is rather cruel as I totally massacre my mother tongue English, now I’m going to brutalize another poor unsuspecting language.
My problem is not with comprehension, nor with my reading skills. It’s my pronunciation. I guess the best example of how I can totally mess with our language is to use the word salivate as an example. Most the population of the world pronounces this word SAL-i-vate. I pronounce this word sa-LAV-i-tate. My dad has always pronounced it this way and it wasn’t until some one actually freaked out on me for pronouncing wrong that I even knew I was doing it. Even then I actually thought I was pronouncing it correctly.
I had been commenting on how good the pies were smelling and the reaction my mouth was having as a result, when she finally snapped. “THE WORD IS SALLLL-iiii-VATE!!!!” (Obviously this had been bothering her for while.) I looked at her puzzled, then said “Yeah that’s what I said sa-LAV-i-tate.” Later Flip was kind enough to explain what I was doing wrong. I have a habit of emphasizing the wrong syllable. Apparently I have a whole host of words that are uniquely mine. I was shocked and a little (make that a lot) embarrassed. I have been making a valiant effort to fix the way I speak but I am beginning to think I’m just hard wired that way.
My other major area of concern is replacing one word with one of a similar value. We just bought a new house and are having hardwood floors installed. For some reason when I tell people about them its hardware floors. I’m thinking hardwood but the word hardware is coming out. For others it’s confusing and amusing for me it’s frustrating.
So now I’m going to attempt to learn French. My biggest fear is they might think I’m making a mockery of their language when really I’m just slightly inept. But maybe, (just maybe) I’ll get good enough to scratch number one off my list.

Our Fuzzy Schizophrenic

How do you move a highly paranoid, schizophrenic cat? Getting rid of the cats is not an option. We’ve had Smudge for 12 years and Seymour for 11 they are family.
I’ve done a ton of reading on the subject and one thing that was emphasized was cats do not deal well with change. No kidding. We changed the floors in our main living area and it took Smudge three weeks before he could walk on it with out having a panic attack. We would see him sitting on the top step on the stairs contemplating how he was going to get to his food bowl with out actually having to touch the new floors. He would then very carefully, testing every step, creep to his bowl. If anyone happen to enter the area while this was happening he would go diving back down the stairs and it would take he a good long while before attempt another attack across his personal battlefield.
Cat carriers are a must. Most the article said get them early to let your cat become accustom to them. Mom very kindly lent me her cat carriers. After getting them home and putting them next to my genetic freaks I went out and bought dog carriers. They are pretty nice. There is a spot to put food and water which can be change from the outside of the carrier. There is a big door at the front and it can also open from the top. I have both carriers set up in the living room. I’ve started filling the food and water bowls in the carriers so the cats can grow accustom to eating from them. Seymour is great, “Woo Hoo! More food.” Smudge is on to us. “Humm my captors have been feed me in the same spot for my entire life and have now changed the location. I shall protest immediately. Hunger strike? No not my style.” Meow, Meow, Shed, meow, shed, shed, and then hack up a hairball on the couch.
It is March 17th. I have 13 or 14 more days to get the cats used to these things. Lets hope it works.

Our Castle

We bought a house. It’s weird how my brain works. Every time I picture it in my mind it gets smaller and smaller. The dining area in my head can hold a small bistro table with a couple bar stools. The floor plan shows that it is actually bigger than the dining area we currently have. Same with the kitchen I thought it was tiny but again it’s bigger than what we now have. Hard to judge without the counters, furniture, etc. The house is classed as two floors but it’s actually four half levels, so much for my much hoped for open concept design. (I know I sound glum I’ll perk up eventually.) Our bedroom is quite a nice size on the top floor looking out over the backyard. It has a large walk in closet and access to the main bathroom. My Princess's bedroom is beside ours and is larger than the master suite I currently have. She's a little put out because she doesn't have a walk-in closet, "What about an ensuite?" I offered to help her move else where but it seem she will suffer with her Spartan conditions. Drool's bedroom is off the family room on the third level and is the size of large walk-in closet. His attitude was, "Whatever. I'm moving soon anyways." There is a full bathroom on this floor as well. The forth level has tons of storage and a large bedroom that we are planning on making into the media room. The house is on a very quiet street. It is a cul-de-sac that jetties out by itself with green space behind us and a large pond behind the people across the street. So we actually have trees near us! An extremely hot commodity in these parts, you wouldn’t believe the amount of places that we looked at that the view was the neighbour’s house, and then his neighbour’s roof and so on. Roof lines for 360°. I kept waiting to see the chimney sweeps dancing from rooftop to rooftop. (Just kidding no one has fireplaces.) I’m very happy with the colours that we’ll have. The floors are hardwood, ceramic and high-end carpet. The cabinets are oak finished in an espresso colour. I’ll post pictures later when there is something other than drywall to look at.
We will be homeless for a month still don't know what we are going to for housing, so be nice and wave to anyone you see pushing a shopping cart, it might be us! I'm trying to convince Flip that a month in Mexico would be cheaper than a month in Grande Praire, the beaches are a little nicer this time of year as well.....

Home Sweet Home?
Well we're back. What a whorl wind trip. It was the strangest journey back to Kamloops. Usually when I'm coming home from a trip there is a sense of closure. The trip is done and we can get back into the routine of our lives, not this time. I feel like I've actually just started my trip but the accommodations are just the way I like them. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and having great visits with them but I know in two weeks I'll be leaving again...I don't want to say permanently but definitely for a long time. I don't feel as sad as I felt a couple weeks ago. I've got two week and I'm going to try to make the most of them before I go.