we're alive!

Don't have much time - kids should be up soon. But we FINALLY ave the internet up and running, so thought I'd quickly pop in and say hi.

Well, we're in Calgary! The move was stressful, to say the least. Once we added everything up - flights back and forth, u-haul, gas, gas and more gas, we figured out it would have been the same price to hire movers to take everything from point A to point B - and probably much less stressful. If we move back to Ontario, that's how we're going to do it, or so we think now. The packing part was still hard on the kids. At one point, just a couple days before Mike arrived, I was busy packing, and Joan was sitting on the bed nearby. John came up and sat down beside her, gaver her a big hug, then said "Baby, you're my best friend in the whole wide world. Mom is really busy today. Too busy to play. So this isn't play time, or story time. This is work time. But remember, everyone loves you very much." I felt so bad when I heard it, because i think it was less John reassuring Joan, and it was John reassuring himself.

Our trip home to Dryden was delayed by a day to try to get everything in the house squared away. It was three households all going in separate directions, so it was a bit chaotic. But somehow, we managed. And of course, everyone was sick as dogs for the trip. Only John seemed to escape it. I lost my voice. Mike threw up. Joan had a fever. It was all pretty miserable. Mike spent 80 per cent of his time in Dryden in bed, before heading to Calgary at midnight, Christmas night. But they made good time, and arrived the night before my flight even left.

Everyone's fears about John acting up in the u-haul were unfounded in the end. John was so excited to finally see dad after three months apart, I think he would have gladly travelled in a cardboard box with him, just to be able to stay close. He loved the truck! He drove back to house in it with dad, when we first picked it up. Mike said he squealed "the truck is awesome! Yay!!!!" And threw his hands in the air.

Those few days between picking up dad at the airport and leaving on our trip were the happiest I'd seen John in the whole three months prior. I had dragged both kids into the terminal to pick up dad, at 1 a.m. - not the smartest idea. John melted into a wailing puddle on the floor. Another mom helped me out by taking Joan, while I got him to a chair, where we waited for dad. By the time dad appeared, John had fallen asleep, so Mike picked him up to carry him to the car. But he woke up - in dad's arms. I wish i had a camera to capture that smile! it was one of those uncontrollably happy grins, from ear to ear. We were worried that there would be some residual anger against dad once he came back, but it didn't materialize at all. In fact, i became chopped liver. He was constantly elling me and Joan to go away, because he wanted dad all to himslef. "Just me and just dad. Not you and baby!" was the line I heard over and over. One night, Mike and john were cuddling on the couch, and John looked up at dad, and pointed to dad and himself one by one, before cuddling back in - a little secret affirmation of "just you and me". It was very cute.

The packing of the truck was a little stressful. John flip-flopped between being stressed that all of his things were vanishing into the truck, to being worried that other things weren't being loaded fast enough, and might get forgotten. It was a very good idea to have movers for that part. We were able to spend time with the kids, John in particular, reassuring him that everything was really OK. But after the movers left, the real stress started. We had a bit of last minute packing and loading to do, but all of John's things were in the truck already. So he just wandered around, searching for things, getting increasingly agitated. At one point, he went to Mike, all sad, and said "I can't find my games or my toy trunk or the tv." So Mike broke out his laptop, and he and the kids watched Charlie Brown Christmas together. It cheered John up, and kept both kids out of my way, so it was a good thing.

The final load onto the truck was the worst part. It was 3 in the morning. The kids hadn't slept, but Mike was getting ready to go. So we were loading up the last few things. John, who was massively overtired and somewhat confused, was almost hysterical. He sat in the den on our luggage, rocking back and forth, screaming over and over "DON'T FORGET ME!!!!! WHAT ABOUT ME!!!! ME!!!ME!!!" It was heartbreaking, and no amount of consolling could convince him that he wouldn't be left behind. The first time he smiled all night was when I buckled him into the truck, and hugged him good-bye.

Mike said he was asleep within about 5 blocks, and slept to Sioux st Marie, as I recall.

Mike drove all the way through, just taking naps as needed. John was wide awake for one of his naps. He explained that he needed to sleep, so John was going to need to be quiet. And he was! he sat in the space between Mike's knees, and quietly read books. For two hours! Apparently even the second leg went well. Mike was pretty worn out by the time he got to Calgary - he was travelling with a flu after all. And John didn't sleep quite as much. But he was a good traveller. Even John travelled well. On the first leg, she slept in the taxi to the airport, then again for the entire flight, then the entire trip home from Winnipeg. Or so I think she did - i was asleep the entire time too. The trip to Calgary wasn't quite as smooth. She screamed for the entire trip to Winnipeg, and only slept for half the flight. But all in all, a good little traveller.

Christmas in Dryden is kind of a blur, to be honest. We were sick and exhausted. It was definitely nice to stand still for a few days. John had a great time with all his grandparents, and still talks about making great-grandma Evans' bed move. He shows me all of his toys and tells me exactly who gave him each one. Unfortunately, he seemed a little confused by the whole thing, even though we'd explained it so many times. At each house, he'd ask "is this our new home?" When we told him no, he was actually pretty eager to hit the road in search of our new house. He was asking to get back into the truck before Christmas even came. it was sort of sad in a way. I don't think he enjoyed it as much as we hoped, just because he was in limbo and confused.

Even when we got to Calgary, it took him a bit to settle down. We spent a couple nights at Mike's little place, then we moved to the new place - so that's two more places. Just after we got everything into the new house, he asked me "when do we got to the next house?"

But it's been a few days now, and he's starting to settle in. When he says "let's go home" he still feels the need to explain exactly which home he means. "Not our big house. Not dad's apartment. Let's go to our new house!" He and joan share a room here, and he's actually loving that. he hasn't been in our bed since we got here. He has all of his toys in there, and his bed, and his "reading chair and reading light", which is one of the big comfy easy chairs from our attic. It's in there for story time before bed, and he really loves it. I find him in there reading quite often. During the move, he escaped there regularly. If things got a little hairy, he'd announce "I'm going to my room! GOOD BYE!" And off he'd go, and he'd shut the door behind him.

But little does he know, his life is about to be turned upside down yet again! Oh joy. Mike's first day back at work, he got a call from his manager.
"Hey Mike! How did the move go?"
"Oh, it was stressful. But it sure is great to have the whole family together again."
"Oh Mike, I feel so bad for you."
"No no, it's really great. We're finally together. Things are fantastic!"
"Ohhhh Mike."

And that's when his manager broke the news that the entire team is being transferred....to Edmonton....for six weeks.

The pay is the same, and he gets the per diem again, but he has to use it for accommodation while he's there. It will barely cover a hotel room, so really, it's just regular pay. But on the upside, it's all the work he can handle, so it's crazy overtime, which is big money.

The big downside is the family. We just got together. John is just starting to unwind about dad being gone, and is getting used to him going to work each morning and coming home each evening without fail. We're not sure how he'll really cope with another six weeks apart. So we've decided, if we can, we're going to go together. it's not like I have anything holding me here, and John's not in school. My task for today is to find us a place to live. It apparently starts January 11, so I don't have much time. And it could last six weeks, like they say, but it could also dry up after 2 or 3. On the upside, this comapny also does a lot of work on Vancouver island. So he may get transferred there at some point, so the kids and I could have a long tour of the extended relatives, without Mike missing any pay.

Mike was talking about the predicament to one of his coworkers, who said "Welcome to contract work." So I guess this is the norm. They used to shuttle them around with Bell, too, but it was always, always voluntary, and they provided free accommodation AND a per diem, and all the overtime they could handle, so it was a sweet deal. This...not so much. But I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks.

it kind of sucks for me, too. I'm just settling in too. I like Calgary. I had heard it was a grumpy city, but I don't see that at all. In fact, it's easily the nicest city I've ever been in. It took me a while to put my fnger on what makes these people so different. I thought at first that they just provide excellent customer service. But that's not it - regular people on the street are nice, too. I think it's that they don't have that high-strungedess of Southern Ontario. I thought Hamilton was mellow. And compared to Toronto, it is. But here, it's at a whole other level. People here are so...relaxed. They're polite. People coming down the street smile at you, look you straight in the eye, and say hi. If you're stuck in a line, they'll tell you a story about their life, or play with the kids. Mike says it's like a really huge small town, and it really does feel that way. We're all Calgarians, so we're all like one big family. I had to run some errands the other day, so I had to take the kids to a mall. John was a little overwhelmed by it all. There is SO much money here - a bit of a culture shock coming from Hamilton. Everything in this city is dripping with wealth, including the shopping malls, which are filled with cool decorations and bright shiny things. John kept getting away from me, and when he did, someone would stop him, and direct him back to me, telling him to stay close to mom. I thought that was kind of neat. When we stopped for lunch, I had people offering me their seats, even though there were lots of empty tables, just because they thought their seats would be more convenient for me. If Joan dropped something, someone would pick it up for me, without fail. One guy actually left his lunch, and walked halfway across the food court to pick up a book at my feet, that Joan had dropped. "It looks like you have your hands full." he said, and turned around to go back to his lunch. Mike happened to call when we were just beside the doors to leave, so John was hovering by the door. About six people passed him, and each one said "watch your fingers." It was drilled in so much, that John started saying it to the people passing him. One of the people was this total surfer dude, with the long hair and everything. John told him to watch his fingers, and actually opened the door for him, and it was a pretty heavy door. The guy said "Whoa, you're a strong little dude! You must have eaten your Wheaties today!" John looked so proud! Even the drivers are polite. I haven't done much driving here yet, so I wasn't sure if I was allowed to turn right on a red. So when i was in that situation, I thought I'd better just sit tight, and if people honk, I'll know I can turn. Well, about eight cars lined up behind me, and no-one honked, so I figured, must be illegal. But I asked Mike about it, and sure enough, I could have made that turn. They were just being polite. That's just so...Calgary.

Anyway, better go. I hear little feet fast approaching!
I'll update again soon, now that I have internet!