Tag: Kelowna

Oh Baby, I’m Sooo Tired

Posted on by Dwayne

If I ever decide to move again, of my own free will (ie without a court appointed incarceration), please remind me of this particular event. If we make it through this and the upcoming months it will be a miracle. That is if we make it without killing each other, or being killed. We could just pass away from exhaustion too I guess.

Now I say that with a bit of jest, and a tinge of exaggeration, but the moving out of our ‘old’ house portion of this exercise was something I’d care NOT to do again at least in the foreseeable future. Again, if it’s ‘of my free will’. If old age and senility takes over then all bets are off. It will be up to family to take up the challenge and put us somewhere safe.

We never in a million years would have believed that we have that much crap. And that’s after giving, dumping, and selling a bunch of non essentials. And it just seems to keep multiplying, like prolific rabbits.

At this point we have moved into our new home and have been here for about 7 weeks. I had begun writing this post at that time but you know, life got in the way.

Back to the junk……about 3 weeks after we took possession of the house we went back to Castlegar to pick up the rest of our belongings. We had moved in originally on May 3 with just the basics. Most of our worldly goods had been put into storage, into one of the 3 storage units we rented. Can you believe it, 3 stalls! In order to get it to our new place I rented a 26′ moving van in Kelowna and thought that would be enough to transport my sh**. WRONG! After all the van was advertised as being big enough for a 4 bedroom house. WRONG again, not my 4 bedroom house anyway. And that was without any appliances.

So the day came and we drove from Kelowna to Castlegar, went to the storage units and jammed everything from them into the van. You might think ‘jammed’ is an exaggeration but you’d be wrong, and I have pictures to prove it.

So long story short we loaded the balance of our worldly possessions and travelled uneventfully to our new home, arriving sometime around midnight. The next morning friends and family arrived to help us unload. We disgorged the contents of the truck into what was my empty 2 car garage, winced and started drinking. Unfortunately that only dulled the pain temporarily.

We have now had about 3 or 4 more weeks to digest our predicament. The house is full of all the knick knacks one can fit and the garage is still half full of boxes, and some furniture. There is hope for the future however. Within the near future I should be able to park at least one car back in there. When that day comes one of my dreams will be realized. At this time I have simple needs.

There’s a Move Afoot

Posted on by Dwayne

As I announced in my last post Change, More Than a Move…. we have begun the process of moving, in fact we are more than half way if my guess is correct. The house is sold and we have purchased a house in Kelowna.

All that happened very quickly as I alluded to in my last post. The offer on our house was accepted within days of being proffered and the week before Easter we went to Kelowna, looked around, and put an offer on a home in Kelowna. After some wrangling it was accepted. We leave our Castlegar home at the end of April and move into our new home the beginning of May.  Exciting times, and more ahead.

As we were hoping to we found a place in a 55+ gated community. I joke that the gates are good, they’ll keep me from wandering too far. The complex is nice though and I think we’ll enjoy it. It is quite a change from ‘public’ living however, being in a strata, and there are sure to be adjustments. The residential area is also nice, and one of the perks is that it’s only about a 15 min. walk to our daughters and grandkids home. It’s maybe a 5 min. walk to the school the kids will ultimately go to and that will be sure to pay dividends in the future.

All in all we are looking forward to it. There will be stress I’m sure but the end result will more than make up for it. Time with family is more valuable than we give it credit for.

Change, More Than A Move. Who We Were Has Gone.

Posted on by Dwayne

Change is underway, and it’s due to more than a move. It’s a new, and different, life. So many things we’ve taken for granted will no longer be part of our lives.

I guess you could say that the move is the impetus for this change, and you wouldn’t be far off, however it’s more than that. It’s the way we think, it’s the change in our priorities at this stage of our lives. It’s simply who we are, and who we are becoming. Who we were has gone.

Likely very few of you know that we were even considering moving away from our home town of approximately 55 years. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a number of years but has never reached critical mass until just recently. And critical mass it did reach.

We were making plans to list our home and had talked about the issues and potential issues around that plan. When should we list, how much should we ask, what about timing for the listing? Maureen’s questions were around her job, whether to retire or quit and then return to work in our new home town. Then of course where to we look to purchase once we relocate? We have already determined Kelowna will be the destination but what in what area there will we try to set up shop?

Much of this was pre decided for us however. Prior to even listing our house we had a potential buyer through word of mouth. That meeting has become an accepted offer, with a possible transfer of ownership and possession as early as mid-April. Wow! Wow, that was fast.

This has, of course, forced our hands in a few areas. Our planned/expected move that was to take place June/July has now advanced 2 months. All factors that hinged on that will now also have to change.

Personally …… I believe I’m ok with all of this, the move and all the changes around it. I think Maureen is as well, although a little more tenuously perhaps. These changes are certainly more significant for her, she is forced to undergo more changes at one time than I am.

I have made my peace with the change. I tell myself that anyway, and in my gut I feel it. For whatever reason(s) I am ready. Perhaps it’s because everywhere I look I see change. I see changes in people, in my friends and acquaintances, both in who they are and how they are (relative to my wants/needs). There are changes in my town, my neighbourhood, my circles of living. My wants and goals have changed regarding my home and the property it’s on. How I want to spend my life has changed, and is changing constantly.

All this is good. All this is normal. We look upon it as another adventure. It’s an adventure we will go on together. It’s the future, move forward and don’t look to the past. Looking at the past is like looking at the wake from a boat your travelling in. It’s what was, there is no changing it. Look forward to where you’re steering the boat, that’s what is important.

Madden days

Posted on by Dwayne

The last couple weeks have been steady shall we say. I drove to Kelowna to pick up Madden and then brought him back Sunday the 2nd after his swimming lesson. We kept him from Monday until last Saturday when we took him home to see his Momma and Daddy. I’d forgotten what effort it is to raise a 2 year old. Saints preserve, will I ever be more respectful of parents now. It is work, plain and simple.

The days before I brought him back I was fortunate to see him in ‘Sportball’ and swimming lessons. That should’ve clued me in as to his energy.

Once we made it to my home though we settled into somewhat of a routine, and as the days went by I/we got better at the whole ‘daycare’ business.  All in all a good time. I miss the little guy already.

Busy Summer So Far

Posted on by Dwayne

Many apologies for the gap between my posts, it’s been an action packed summer and there’s been either little time available, or a diminishing energy in the available time, to sit down and write. I also often feel like all I do is apologize here so I will attempt to change that. So there, I’m not sorry.

So far this summer vacation we’ve either been camping, visiting Kelowna, or out and about gallivanting to other locales. This past week we’ve had some quiet time at home and so far we are relishing it. Our original plan was to go to the GoodGuys car show in Spokane Wash. this weekend but we ran out of steam and said “Hey, let’s do something different and just stay home”. So we did.

There have also been very few calls about Dad this week, or requirements for attention, and that helps. It seemed I was making frequent trips in to see him and either take him to the Doctor or the hospital. Thankfully he is at his home now and let’s hope it stays that way for a while. He is having more and more challenges walking due to a numbness in his right leg. That could be due to a pinched nerve in his back or it’s possible he’s suffered another minor stroke. Whatever the cause it is handicapping him even more and making him prone to stumble and fall, of which he’s done enough lately, thank you very much.

As I mentioned we’ve made a number of trips to Kelowna to see the kids and while I thoroughly enjoy it I also miss the quiet and solitude of home. I think I must be becoming a curmudgeon or something, my old age (joke) is starting to show in my love of just sitting in my rocking chair and smoking my pipe. To be truthful I have neither a rocker nor a pipe but the analogy stands, I like my space and being away limits my options to write, putter in the yard, or read. And I’m not complaining either. I know I have a great life!

Don’t get me wrong, I love being with the fam and after even a week away from them I’m looking at pictures of them and wishing I were there. Ah….., the inconsistencies of life.

We have also been camping, a few times, sometimes alone and once with some friends from Japan. Our friend Yuzo brought his 13 year old daughter Lisa to Canada from Japan. It was her first time here and he brought her to broaden the English skills she’s acquiring in school. Yuzo was once one of our homestay students for a brief time, taking the ESL course (English as a Second Language) at Selkirk College. We tried to fill their visit with some memorable occasions, tours of Mission Hill winery, camping, and of course dinner at the Colander. Lisa loves Justin Bieber and at the Colander we were fortunate to be served by a Justin lookalike.

For camping we were very fortunate to get one of the best sites at Syringa, totally by luck and Maureen’s hard work (I also think Karma). Lisa thought the water in the lake was a bit chilly but it was sure refreshing on the hot days.

Maureen and I certainly had a great week as well and loved spending time with both Yuzo and Lisa. It’s been about 11 years or so since I saw Lisa last, the last time was during my visit to their home in 2001. Lisa was just a toddler then, and as evidenced by the photos below she created a new way to signal “peace”. We used that method numerous times during their trip. Yuzo has come ‘home’ to Castlegar to visit a few times.

So when all is said and done “a good time was had by all”. I look forward to our next visit, perhaps it will be there. Only time will tell.