Catch up

Sorry kids, I've been too busy to keep you up to date - how bad is that? Here's the condensed version of the last week!

We headed to Edmonton Friday night and managed a "past bedtime" get together with my old friend Josh. I know him from University, but since he and his wife now live in the States, we only see each other every couple of years. He was in town to meet his new nephew, hang out with old friends and also to meet Simone. All in all, he seems to be doing well.

Stuart spent Saturday morning going through every of his that is still residing at his parents' house. There were some battles over what could be recycled versus thrown out, but in the end, the pile did get whittled down. We brought all his old BattleTech books for me to work through and a bunch of minis to try and sell at FallCon. I managed to stay out of the battle zone and be virtuous by giving the car a thorough cleaning.

After lunch, I drove to my parents and while Stuart ran there, Mom and I did errands and I sorted through the last few bits that I had left there. Megan and family arrived in time for all of us to go to the Spicy Garden and fill up on yummy Chinese food.

We got up bright and early to get ready and be at my parents' place for 9am. Bleagh. Daiyo was supposed to be the truck master, but he forgot, so Stuart and Geoff shared the duty to begin with. Dad had hired 3 students to help with the grunt work, as well as my cousin Laurie, but we did a lot of standing around, while the boys "discussed" the best strategy for loading the truck. Even given that, it only took about 3 hours and then we got to break for pizza! Once we'd eaten, it was time to head over to the new condo and do it all in reverse.

The last thing was for all of us to watch Stuart and Geoff move the washers. They'd pulled the new HE washer out of the laundry room, down the hall and up the narrow stairs onto the truck at the house. Then they had to pull the old washer out of the condo - through a narrow doorway, up a two-curve, no landing stairway and through the garage. Then back down that path with the new washer and finally back to the house to reverse paths with the old washer. This entailed a lot of cursing, but fortunately no major injuries.

Once everything was unloaded, Stuart and I picked up Josh and headed back to Calgary. It was a decent drive and we had time for a very quick visit when we dropped him off at Kay and Dave's. Dave's dad was there and I thought we'd never escape when Dave pointed out that he and Stuart's dad may have worked together. Yikes!

After lunch on Monday, my co-worker Erin and I headed out to by groceries for our boss' BBQ. We spent about $400 on meat, salad, buns, etc. before swinging back by the University to pick up Stuart. Then it was south to Peter's house to get everything prepped. I didn't count actual guests, but there were 53 RSVPs and we managed to feed and pick up after them all. And no, it wasn't out of the goodness of our hearts - he was paying $25/hour, so Stuart and I made enough to buy a new food processor!

Tuesday night, Stuart and I went to look at more potential rental properties. The first was a duplex in our current neighbourhood, but neither of us was impressed. It wasn't dirty or run down, but it wasn't particularly nice either and we'd have to mow/shovel/etc. With our combined allergies, mowing in particular is a real drag. The second place was a condo that sounded good on paper and I had real hopes for, even though it's in one of those high density developments. It turned out to be perfect: 4 year old building, well appointed, two bedroom, 2 bath, ensuite laundry, underground parking, bicycle stalls, games room, theater, gym, still on convenient bus routes to work and close to our friends and shopping. All this for less than our new rent at the old place and the owners are incredibly friendly. Needless to say, we took it - so we'll be moving at the end of October. That'll make two Hallowe'ens in a row without proper celebration, but I'm willing to make the sacrifice.

Last night I made a quick trip to the gym, to get on the treadmill with the new hiking boots and a 20lb pack. They seemed to be fine, so I guess I'll take the plunge and see what happens on a real hike. I was about to leave the parking lot when there was a fender bender between an incoming car and one pulling out of a stall. I don't know how, in such a small space, but they managed to lock their bumpers together and thereby block the only exit. It took us about 15 minutes to get them apart and out of the way, so I was late for my shiatsu client. Fortunately, he's pretty laid back, so that was ok, but I didn't get dinner until 9pm! Honestly.