we're still here!

A quick post - it's hard to get online these days, but we're back in Calgary for a day, so figured I'd better log in to say hey. I have new pictures, too, but my camera is here, but the cord is in Edmonton, so that will have to wait, unfortunately.

I guess I'll start with the big news. We sold the house on Monday. We're not very happy - we JUST made enough to cover all the costs. We each have our own way of making it ok in our minds. For me, I just remind myself that we did roll a $25,000 line of credit into the mortgage just a few months ago, so it's like we paid off $25,000 in debt over and above everything else. For Mike, he finds comfort by remembering all the corroded, leaky pipes held together with electrical tape, which are now someone else's problem. The place was a real ticking timebomb. We had smoking outlets, sparking bare wires, wobbly toilets that wouldn't always flush, and a leaning porch, not to mention extensive water damage and a leaking roof dangerously close to collapsing in several places. But our big consolation - we can finally get on with our lives. We don't know anything about the guy who bought it, other than he's paying the full amount in cash, didn't bother with a home inspection, and he wants it February 14.

Back in the west, we're still in Edmonton - Mike just had a day off, and we'd forgotten some things, and needed to check in on the cats, so headed back to Calgary last night, and will probably go back to Edmonton tomorrow morning. This is all getting a little...gruelling. It's disjointing for everyone, all this travel. John can't keep track of where the heck we are.

Edmonton is...different. Neither of us like it. We both remember it as a very classy city, but it's not like that this time. Not sure if we've changed, or the city. They still seem to have the same job shortages, but there are lots of homeless bums skulking about. I keep thinking it's just our neighbourhood, but Mike says it's pretty rough all over the place. They're downright scary. One of them was sleeping in our lobby the other day. Our little unit is right across the street from a grocery store. John and I headed over the night we sold the house to pick up some ice cream to "celebrate", and as we were walking along, some guy came bursting out of the shadows and ran straight up to me. I actually screamed, and started running away. He looked a little shocked - I don't think he intended to scare me. But there are some things you just don't do to women - especially women with young kinds - in parking lots past dark. There's more of a mean streak in Edmonton. The drivers are rude, the people are cold. I really like Calgary - I'd recommend it to anyone. Edmonton - not so much. But it's not for that much longer. Heck, it might end any day now. I'm actually a little annoyed about what's going on with Mike's transfer. Just before they were dispatched, the company gave everyone a call to see what kind of living arrangements they were able to get. Shortly after, all the guys with families were told they didn't have to go - every guy with family except Mike. He's the only one who made arrangements to bring his entire family with him. (Their concern was separating families.) A few days ago, they called a big meeting. All guys except four were told they were being sent back to Calgary. Mike was one of the four. Why? Because he'd uprooted his whole family to be here. If we hadn't gotten the place we did, not only would they have let him stay home, but even if he was sent, he'd be home by now. Five days. Not six weeks, like planned - five freaking days. But the logic is, with only four guys remaining, there should be enough work for those four guys to stay busy. A week of 10 techs made short work of the majority of the backlog, but it's apparently still busy enough to keep a few behind. Telus is doing a huge advertising campaign in Edmonton, apparently.

The kids are doing well. John is really missing school. He keeps asking where the other kids are, and whether he can go to school. It's heartbreaking. But I've managed to find a mishmash of various programs he can go to in Edmonton - through the library and Alberta's answer to the Early Years Centres. Lots of sing-a-longs, puppet shows, story-times, open play times. All free drop-in programs. It's not as good as the best start prgram - nothing can match that program. But at least it's interaction with peers. Mike meets lots of young moms here, and he tells them all about John's school and how great it was. There's no reason they can't put more into early education here. It made such an amazing difference in John. His self-esteem alone really blossomed there. He ended that program so confident and eager to try new things. It was great.

Joan's doing great. She's lots of fun. She's learned to point, which makes communicating a little easier. She's even starting to talk! She's said "No" "Up" "Yeah" and "Eat". I'm trying to get her to use her words more, but it's slowly coming. Just wish she could crawl! Her hand is getting stronger, and she uses her right arm a lot now. But she's not making huge progress. Tomorrow's big job is getting a doctor for her. It's tough without internet, and we had no phone in Edmonton until Tuesday. I met one at a clinic I really liked who was taking patients, but Mike didn't like the sounds of him. (This person will be Mike's doctor, too, so yes, his opinion matters). I had taken her in for what looked like an earache, which turned out to be nothing. He gave her a thorough look, and said her murmer was quite loud. He was really excited to talk about her stroke, and knew all about the condition. He said we might run into problems later, if she's not actually a lefty genetically. Not sure if that's true - no-one else mentioned that, but the therapist did say she may need help with writing down the road, so maybe they're just trying to spare me the worry by not telling me the full story. With all the lefties on my side, it may never be an issue anyway.

We took the kids to see the mountains just before we left for Edmonton. John slept the whole drive there, but the dropped jaw he had when he woke up surrounded by big peaks was priceless. He was speechless for the first few minutes, then finally whispered "It's big." And everyone who knows John knows it would take a lot to render him speechless!

Well, I had better go for now. We have a number for Edmonton now, and when we get back there, I'll e-mail it around. It's hard to keep track of stuff when some things are here, and other things are there. I'm REALLY looking foreward to ditching our two spare homes!