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Are we there yet?
Some days I feel like I’m just walking down this endless path connecting where I was with where I want to be. Right now, I want to have my life just a little more together.
While it’s awesome that the store is in great hands, that we can make actual plans for living in the same city again, there’s oh-so-much to do between now and when that can happen. I have a big project to launch, a pattern to design and publish, two households to pack and move, several pets to transport around the country, and annoying things like broken transmissions to take care of on top of it all.
I haven’t really had the opportunity to share all the plans with you guys, so maybe I should do so now!
This coming weekend, we’re having a big garage sale to pare things down a little bit, to get rid of things we don’t love and don’t need to pay to move cross-country. A lot of the stuff includes duplicates; dvd players, irons, household stuff. And there’s quite a bit of yarn that neither of us is entirely enthralled with. (Let’s be honest, my wife doesn’t stash much. It’s pretty much all mine. I say this with a lot of humility and pride, for the record.) And some really good clothing that doesn’t fit – or never has. You know, the kind of things that are good and all, but should probably find a better life with a new family.
After that, we (i.e., Sandra) can continue packing up the house in Calgary into boxes to be moved or stored while we figure things out over the coming months. Thankfully, we already made a good dent in it last weekend, and I feel good that this coming weekend, we’ll get even more done.
May 31 / June 1, I move my pretty considerable amount of everything-but-furniture into the first floor of the house I’ve been living. While I’ve been living in the attic and sharing the second floor apartment with the owner of the house, the first floor is a separate one bedroom with backyard access; the perfect transitional home for Sandra and I and the dogs.
Although I’m kind of in love with this funky big attic space, I’m looking forward to having my own space again. And, every time I’ve flown back to Calgary, I’ve schlepped back at least a hockey bag’s worth of stuff to save on shipping costs later on.
Then, the night of June 18th I fly back to Calgary to pick up my family and go for a little camping road trip en route to Toronto… together… at long last. I don’t have the exact plan figured out, but we’ll be going slightly out of the way to check out the Pacific Coast along Washington and Oregon, and then high-tail it through the centre of the country with a quick stop in Boulder to visit our friends at Schacht and (hopefully) see the Indigo Girls in concert. If you have any dog-friendly suggestions in Washington, Oregon, or between Portland and Boulder and Toronto, please let me know!
How three weeks on the road is going to work with two 85 pound labs… I don’t know. It could be fun, or it could be funny, but it’s probably going to be a good combination of both. Since Cooper is afraid of the dark, we’ve got an appointment with the vet tomorrow to see if any kind of mild sedatives are available to help him sleep in the tent a little better than the last time we went camping.
It’s all good. Everything is good. There’s just a lot of Everything between now and June 18th. And while I know it’ll all get done, I just want it to hurry up and get done already.
In knitting terms, I’m more than ready to cast off.
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May 13th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Sounds like an amazing adventure. Enjoy it! 2.5 years ago my partner, our daughter, and our dog Willis (lab/chow mix) took a month long coast to coast road trip. It was incredible! Dog Tip: LaQuinta Inns are super dog-friendly with usually no extra fees!
May 13th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
i have been praying for the day that sandra is with you, and that things are more normal. i’m glad that it’s getting closer.. i really am.
May 14th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Good luck with the big move!
Have you tried Rescue Remedy as a sedative before? Our borrowed dog, Robertina, responds really well to it and doesn’t flip out around bees when we’ve used a few drops of it in her water. (Normally bees and the sound of a BBQ terrify her, so it seems to work OK. She’s a Rottie/Shepherd cross, too, so I think she qualifies as a Big Dog.)
May 14th, 2009 at 8:57 am
If you do want to try rescue remedy – I saw some at Amaranth which is nice and near by.
May 14th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Sounds like things are finally coming together……good for you guys. I will be there on Sat. for sure! Let me know if you guys have a couch that is going to be up for grabs. My youngest is looking for one for his place.
I have a bottle of Rescue Remedy that I will bring for you to try out. I’ve done that trip with a dog, but he is little, and sleeps most of the time.
See you Sat. P.S…….your blog always makes me smile Amy!
May 14th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
whenever I travelled with dogs I called the chamber of commerce for the city and they helped me a lot.
May 17th, 2009 at 5:55 am
Love the blog and LOVE the photos of your gorgeous Labs!!!!
May 17th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Have you received good dog-friendly suggestions yet? My friends made a cross country trip (Connecticut – Seattle and back, by way of San Diego on the way out, and all of Canada on the way back) in a sedan with a Siberian Husky. And lived to tell about it. I can ask, if you’re not already flush w/ lists of places to stop.