Reunited

Awww...aren't they cute?

Yes, she's finally here; I've missed her so much. All of her scratches (thanks 59 highway!). All of her dents (remember when I hit the bus bench, Floral Fern?). Her soft, forgiving, almost mushy clutch. The way she starts to shake and shudder if you drive too fast. The way her winter tires and lazy (compared to The Husband's) suspension encourage leisurely and laid-back driving.

See, she's a mini-me - a bit beat-up, kind of lazy, protesting against working too hard and always just a bit loud.

In other moving news, I have a grocery store dilemma. I've mostly been shopping at Cub - relatively similar to Extra Foods except without the inexplicable lack of actual products on the shelves. But the corner store is Lund's - the place where the well-heeled find brand names and carefully and exquisitely designed displays. One does not find no-name brand there.

So far the big box store has won out because of cheaper prices. But yesterday I took a quick trip into Lovely Lund's just to pick up a few things. Seeking the express lane, I looked up and saw:

"10 Items or Fewer"

As we all know, I'm a sucker for grammatical correctness. And as we also all know, one uses "fewer" when referring to countable nouns and "less" when referring to non-count nouns (i.e. one would never say "there were less people there" unless describing a particularly successful Weight Watchers meeting).

Thus, I may just have to open up my pocketbook a little bit further. If only they knew that correct grammar was a marketing tool....

(Edited to change my example of bad grammar to an actual example of bad grammar - see, it's so ingrained that I simply can't write an incorrect sentence! And if you read it the wrong [i.e. right] way the first time around and wondered what I was smoking, good for you!)

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To Connect or Not to Connect...

For a self-proclaimed Luddite, I am suspiciously reliant on speedy and readily-available internet access. The past week has been a bit of a tough slog given that I am used to receiving and responding to emails several times a day. Plus, without access to cbc.ca, I have no clue what's going on in Canadaland. Y'all could have been taken over by France without me knowing.

But as of today, I am once again cruising on the Internet Interstate and will try to keep the blog updated more frequently. Perhaps focusing on my blog will help me with my prayer, "lead me not into temptation..."

For, you see, the cheapest internet package we could find came bundled with basic cable. Most of you know that we haven't had a TV for a couple of years. But perhaps you did not realize that it was not because we don't like that flickering glow of voyeuristic pleasure that has come to replace the family unit's evening fireside and effectively destroyed the cohesiveness of that unit by removing from it all incentive to actually talk. No, it was because we knew that once we allowed even a brief glimpse of that seductive glow to enter our sight, we would succumb to its siren call and not emerge until summer reruns.

(I should be clear that "we" means "me"; The Husband would probably protest that he could quit at any time, and perhaps that is true. But I take comfort in thinking that I have company in my addiction.)

I'm the first to admit that I have addictive tendencies. An entire day's worth of exams in my undergrad was jeopardized because I was playing solitaire the night before and was playing "just one more" until I made my money back. The nadir of my television-watching days came when I had a show I "just had to watch" every single night. When it comes to television, my only hope heretofore has been simply to remove the possibility.

But now, there it is. Beckoning. Of course, the cable guys *had* to plug in the TV. Just to make sure it was working. And now I can't even cling to my laziness and passively avoid its lure by whining that it's too hard to plug it in. Now I have to actively unplug it.

And if I do, it will always be there. The Boy has discovered its existence; The Girl will no doubt find out shortly. For now, we're watching the 12 inch circa 1990 set that was in the kids' room back home; hardly an orgy of pixels. But The Husband is quite determined to get one of those monster screens - "for movies only."

Sigh. The battle is lost. Anyone know if Survivor is still on Thursdays?

(BTW, thanks to all who have been praying for The Girl. This morning was still tough, but she discovered last week that her BFF also has a stuffed animal in her locker, so she doesn't feel nearly as alone.)

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Colouring and Coffee with a Caribou

I suppose there's one good thing about not having internet at home - you can justify sitting in a coffee shop while your son colours because it's the only place you can access wi-fi. Except for late at night when the computer is perched *just so* on the coffee table and you can "borrow" someone else's.

Well, I estimate I've unpacked 1/2 to 2/3 of the boxes. I kept tripping over boxes marked "books" and so I finally had to give in and start placing them on the shelves. Usually that's the final job; I save my favourite task for last, making a nice big cup of coffee and spending as much time as I deem necessary deciding whether to put all the anthologies on one shelf or two and snickering about the proximity of Foucault to J.K. Rowling.

If you think of it, could you send up a prayer for The Girl? She hates school. There are a lot of things going on: being the new kid (tough under any circumstances), struggling with not understanding her teacher, and feeling the higher expectations of grade one compared to kindergarten. But the biggest is a self-dictated but excrutiating giving up of Mom Teddy.

Now you all know how The Girl is about MT. I challenge you to find a picture of her without that beloved and bedraggled bear under the crook of her arm. MT's essentially been velveteen-rabbit-ized. Heck, even I consider her to be a third child, and include her in every pre-voyage checklist. Everyone has shoes? Check. Everyone been to the bathroom? Check. Mom Teddy is here? Check.

However, The Girl has decided that only "baby kids" need to hug their stuffies at school. So every morning involves an agonizing farewell. MT sits in the locker, and I've told The Girl she can always go and give her a quick hug on her way by, but The Girl is determined. I don't get a sense that she's being teased; I think she's just putting pressure on herself to conform in order to fit in a bit better.

Each morning seems to be worse than the last; today her teacher had to physically pull her off my leg. I think her actual days are fine, but she dreads going and works herself up into quite a tizzy when it comes to me actually leaving her. She has a best friend at school already (there's even a secret handshake) and on the playground after school she seems to have made lots of connections, but some prayers to ease her anxiety would be much appreciated by us all, as would any words of advice from anyone who has been the new kid in school.

In other settling-in news, we had a fabulous time on Tuesday enjoying a Twins game (tickets courtesy of The Husband's work). I have realized that baseball becomes *much* more bearable when you get your hands on one of those very large beers that I've always seen everyone else slurping. The kids did not have the benefit of alcohol, but the promise ("threat" from my perspective) of a potential pop fly coming our way and providing a souvenir kept them quite intrigued.

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Home Sweet Home

It was *so* good to pull up into "my" driveway last night after a long day's drive. Yes, there are still a lot of boxes to unpack (although The Husband has done a stellar job in my absence). Yes, we still have no phone or internet (although we've found an unsecured connection that just barely works when there aren't any cars or bicycles passing by). But it's *our* chaotic, unconnected mess and we can see through to the house's comfortable and cozy future and it feels good.

(And no more hotel breakfasts. I will be okay if I never eat dry scrambled eggs or dry danishes or watered down coffee again.)

It was also good to be "home", where by "home" I mean with my family and friends and by "good" I mean soul-comforting. Still feels oh so raw and while there is lots on my heart, I seem to be powerless to put it into words right about now.

Today was a "back to the grind" day. Reason #4571 to hate SUVs: the drivers in them are unlikely to see Jettas that are in front of them. I stalled in an intersection ( in my defense, The Husband's car has a *very* different clutch) and no sooner had I started again than I felt a big jolt. Initially I thought I'd stalled yet again, but one look into the very large Tahoe looming behind me and I realized I'd been rear-ended. The driver was quite apologetic and kind (I would be, too, if I'd gotten into an accident with my brand new vehicle and I also hadn't bothered to get a Minnesota driver's license since I moved from out-of-state two years ago). The damage appears minimal, but The Husband suspects a new bumper will be required. Not my fault, but not my favourite way to spend my afternoon.


But we spent a lovely evening biking around Lake Harriet. Lots of hills, which remind me that it has been some time since I exercised sustainably. It gets dark so quickly here; we left at 7:20 and it was beginning to get dusky and by 8:00 it was almost completely dark. Guess that's what happens when you leave the land of the midnight sun.

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Homeward Bound

I never thought my first trip back to Canada would be to join my friends in mourning. The kids and I will be travelling home tonight and are staying until Sunday. It is good to know that I will be able to share the grief with family and friends; it's been difficult being far away.

A quick moving update: our stuff has now been rescheduled to arrive tomorrow (although we're not holding our collective breath). I am hoping that when I return here on Sunday I get to go to my own bed in my own home, but if not, we'll keep managing.

On bureaucratic fronts, we continue to argue/plead/cajole for things like our car, phone numbers, credit etc. Wearying, but necessary.

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Another Inadequate "I'm Sorry"

This time from me.

It's been a sad day here. Our friends' baby died last night due to complications from a pre-existing medical condition.

Of course, the only thing I can think to say is, "So very sorry for your loss." And it seems hollow and useless and trite and much too small to hold my grief and compassion and love.

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Lazy Saturday

There's something nice about knowing that businesses are closed on weekends. You know no one will pester you for letters you don't have that indicate your odometer reads in kilometres, no one will politely but firmly tell you that you have no credit history, and no one will apologize.

I'm quite tired of apologies. "I'm so very sorry that we did not get your letter to you on the day we promised we would." "I'm extremely sorry that the moving company had your shipment loaded and a driver scheduled, and then unloaded the shipment and rescheduled the driver to another load. Just because. Please accept my deep apologies."

Anyway, to wash away the residue of the week's apologies, we had a nice lazy Saturday. Brunch at Pancake House (note: better in the States than in Canada. And by "better," I mean even more artery-clogging-tastic. They serve whipping cream for the coffee). An afternoon at the children's museum. And pizza and a kids' movie to top it all off.

Here's some children's museum fun:

Getting groceries

Mom Teddy gets a check-up

Giving the queen ant a kiss

Happy news today: Little Penguin wine is $7 in the US. Yes, it's cheap wine, but I'm excited that I will now be paying cheaper prices for cheap wine.

In happier news, my good friends Rendezvous-Verschtez and Doug have just welcomed their new baby boy into the world. With pseudonyms like that, you *know* they picked a fabulous name for their new little one and they did not disappoint. This is the first "big" event we've missed; knowing it is the first of many is a bit sad. But each one will be one more reason to visit frequently, right?

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The Most Expensive Laundromat Ever

So we got a call from the moving company. Apparently our goods are now only scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. Guess we are hotel dwellers for another few days - it did seem a bit too good to be true to actually move in to our house.

The good news is that we can at least do laundry at the new house. It's a pretty hefty price per load as we are also paying for the unfurnished 3-bedroom house that sits on top of it, but there you have it. The dryer doesn't work, though. (Our landlord - who absolutely rocks - has arranged for delivery of the new one on Tuesday, so the dryer is low on my list of complaints.)

High on my list of complaints - just a shade beneath the moving company and a bit higher than the lady at the bank (who is, after all, just doing her job) - is the car shipping situation. We finally received the correct letter of EPA compliance from VW Canada (several days and several phone calls after informing them that they had sent the wrong one in the first place). Now the shipping company has requested another letter confirming the car reads in mph. At this point, I am two steps away from hopping in the car we do have a la Thelma and Louise and showing her *exactly* how the speedometer works.

And so it goes. Thanks for your prayers for patience. We knew the first few weeks would be like this, so it's just a matter of struggling through and maxing out our Canadian credit cards.

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It's Like Being on Vacation. Except Without the Fun Parts.

Still living in the hotel. Still eating out for every meal. Still only one two-foot-corridor-between-double-beds away from a family bed. Still watching copious amounts of Animal Planet.

But apparently our stuff comes tomorrow, so the end is near! It's been absolutely maddening to know that our wonderful house is sitting empty. The Boy and I went there to do laundry the other day and I lay down on the floor and closed my eyes and imagined that all my furniture was in place, the cupboards were full, and there was something yummy simmering on the stove. I know, I know, soon come.

The Girl is doing really well in school. Today she is going on a field trip to the art museum to see the Picasso exhibit. I'm quite jealous, actually, as we checked out the Picasso museum when we were in Paris, and this exhibit details his influence on American artists. But if I went, then I'd be limited to short peeks at the art in between searching for The Boy and hauling him off of sculptures, so it's probably for the best.

In exciting news, The Husband received his social security number and headed straight over to the bank; up until 10 minutes ago, we were the proud owners of a joint account complete with credit cards and a line of credit. Unfortunately, our agent did not connect the dots to realize that we had no US credit history, and has just informed us that we are not eligible for anything but pre-paid credit cards. Guess Equifax Canada went out of business last night.

Next stop: cell phones (if we can get them without credit). We have been using my pay-as-you-go cell phone in the interim and I'm burning through minute-top-ups at a frightening rate.

Today's tasks include fighting with the powers-that-be for a letter confirming my car conforms to EPA requirements (we finally got one this past Wednesday, but it was for the wrong car. That's what you get when you own two of the same, I suppose) and going to IKEA for a cheap picnic blanket for the family picnic at the school. The Boy is looking forward to playing in the playland. I, too, am looking forward to The Boy playing in the playland.

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Prepare to Be Blinded

...by the cuteness: Still have your retinas intact?

All in all, it was a good day. The Girl says it was "a bad day," but admits that there were good things.

Of course, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Whether we live one block away or many miles, we are always late for school. I left lots of time, but my map-reading skills are right up there with my oven-cleaning skills and we screeched into the parking lot at 9:05.

We had done a lot of prep work beforehand about what to do if there were bullies or she had questions, so she had a bit of a foundation, but she had never seen the school. We headed to her locker and installed Mom Teddy on the top shelf. She was quite fine until we got to the classroom - the sight of all the other uniformed children on the carpet was a bit overwhelming. So I sat with her on the edge of the carpet for awhile.

Her teacher introduced her to the class and said, "Everyone, this is The Girl, our new friend from Canada. We will all introduce ourselves to her later." Of course, this was all in French, so the only word The Girl understood was "Canada," upon which utterance she began nodding vigorously. I whispered a translation, and she relaxed a bit.

She gave me permission to leave, and just as I did her teacher asked her "comment ca va"; The Girl understood, but couldn't quite manage the French yet, so she gave a timid thumbs up, and I left her there.

At the end of the day, her teacher assured me that The Girl had done very well and that she fit right in. The Girl is a bit unsure about eating cafeteria food, but today was pizza, so it's not an outright rejection.

As far as the rest of the day, I believe I shall play a round of "The Glad Game." For those who were not lucky enough to have an annual Christmas reel-to-reel movie crammed along with an entire school into a hot and stinky gymnasium, this game (from the movie "Pollyanna") consists of twisting any circumstance, no matter how negative, into something positive:

1. I am glad that I got lost so many times today. I am becoming quite adept at righting myself after taking the wrong direction down the interstate.

2. I am glad that our household goods are only arriving on Saturday. This means that I will really enjoy the novelty of having a home and not a hotel room.

3. I am glad that it took me a whole three hours of being alone with The Boy before I was tempted to Google "Minneapolis daycare options." This suggests I may be able to increase my tolerance to the entire day.

4. I am glad that Target has their bathing suits on sale. Nobody should have to pay more than $10 for the horror of an emergency bathing suit purchase at the end of season.

5. I am glad that I packed some extra pairs of underwear. Even though I have a total of three outfits that are not temporarily unavailable (see #3), I will still feel fresh and clean.

A final treat for you: this was the scene to which we awoke this morning. Again, shield your eyes from the cuteness.

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Remember on 90210 when Dylan McKay lived in a hotel?

It seemed really cool. Yes, he had issues with his estranged father, problems with alcohol and hung out with a bunch of kids much younger than he, but he also had room service. Plus that whole "come on up to my hotel room, Brenda" line certainly added to the mystique.

I have come to realize that there is nothing cool about living in a hotel room. Well, if I drove a motorcycle and was going back to high school tomorrow in between my surfing sessions, maybe. But waiting for my MIA household goods with a perfectly serviceable house sitting empty? Not so much.

The worst part is that there is no "cool-down" location. The Girl has spent the greater part of the long weekend being alternately belligerent, whiney and weepy. I know that it is because she lacks structure and is nervous about her new school, but it is hard to remember that in the moment. Today has been a delicate balance of fostering the parent/child bond with "tell me how that makes you feel" and "if you don't stay in that bathroom, your time-out will be that much longer." Yes, I've got that Parent of the Year award *just* about sewn up....

We did go over to the new house today to do a bit of laundry and walked about the new area. There's a grocery store half a block away plus a bunch of restaurants and a fabulous liquor store. And a violin shop. And I know what you're all thinking: it's tough to find a quality violin shop these days.

The rest of the day was spent in the hotel pool and watching Animal Planet. It's been a Steve Irwin (aka The Crocodile Hunter) tribute weekend. I'm not ashamed to say I've been a bit misty-eyed watching him interact with his daughter, knowing how short-lived his obvious pride in her will be. (Fortunately I could still see through the tears enough to muscle my own daughter into the bathroom for another time-out.)

Tomorrow is the big day - first day of school! I'll update tomorrow with all the highs and lows.

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The Canucks have arrived...

And Minneapolis will never be the same!

Thanks to all who prayed - the flight went really well. The Boy flashed his squinty-eyed grin at the border guard, who waved us through with a smile. The Girl expressed a fair amount of concern when Mom Teddy had to go through the x-ray screening, but the odorous bear made it through unscathed (good thing the inspectors were wearing gloves - MT is overdue for the spin cycle).

We managed to secure an entire row to ourselves on the plane, so although I did a bit of aisle-hopping, both kids had a window seat. One DVD player refused to work, but fortunately I had enough electronic inventory in my backpack to make Future Shop blush with shame, so I pulled out the laptop and saved the day with Diego.

And, happily, The Husband was at the other end, into whose arms we all collapsed with sighs of relief.

The highlight of today was visiting our new home. It's more beautiful and spacious than I remembered. The kids found all the nooks and crannies and promptly began a game of hide and seek. Our landlord described all of our new neighbours: I'm torn between whether I'm happier about the lawyer two doors down with the "No War in Iraq" sign on his front lawn or the next-door neighbours with teenagers whose response to hearing that small children were moving in was "Do you think they'll need a babysitter?"

We're very much looking forward to moving in, but at this point we don't have an ETA for our possessions more accurate than "somewhere between Sept. 1-7."

So, we're hunkering down in a hotel for now and hoping that our stuff arrives on Tuesday. The Girl's school uniforms were shipped here, so she's essentially ready for school when it starts. It will be interesting doing it all with only one car, and four days' worth of clothes, but we've surmounted much greater obstacles already, so we'll manage this one just fine, too.

Tomorrow will be a day of much-needed rest, with swimming in the hotel pool and some more exploring of our new city.

Thanks to all who made our move down so smooth, whether it was prayers, food, accommodation, rides and/or childcare. We probably could have done it without you, but it would've been terrible!

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