Call me Queen of Procrastination

I can't believe I've let this go for two weeks. And not for lack of things to report either! Now I've got more than I can comfortably fit in one post. I'll have to do some catch-up installments. (Or just edit. There's a thought.) Picking up where I left off, I did go to the Emily Carr house that day, but realized that I wouldn't have enough time to tour the house, so I just enjoyed the gardens instead. There are little stations throughout, with excerpts from Carr's books and it made me think I should actually read some of her work as I've only enjoyed her paintings up until now. It also made me think I should try to be a better gardener.
On Friday, Sept 12th, Dylan drove me and the kids up to Swartz Bay where we took the 6 pm ferry to Tssawassen. The crossing was magnificent - see photo. The spectacular sunset was the start of a wonderful weekend with the cousins. George had a morning class at circus school, so the girls played with Amalia, and got to harvest the potatoes they'd helped their uncle plant in the spring, while Sam got reacquainted with his beloved Gobots. After a picnic in the park, we fulfilled a promise to take the children to Playland (this was the primary reason for the trip - we made the promise in the spring, hoping to put a silver lining on the dark cloud of making the kids move. When my sister called me up to let me know that time was running out for Playland this season we decided to make the most of the glorious weather.) Sam was a little under the weather, but still enjoyed the rides. Lily and Alexandra had the time of their lives, running from ride to ride with Amalia, George and a few of their friends. Needless to say, they were all exhausted when we returned and flaked out in front of the t.v. allowing my sister and I to fit in a quick shopping trip to H&M.
Sunday was equally beautiful, but after two late nights the kids were a bit challenging. We had lunch at Little Nest - the funkiest little 'parent-friendly café' just off Commercial Drive, serving exquisite food (I had a green papaya salad with lime, chili and cilantro dressing). Unfortunately, Sam completely decomposed mid-meal. I can't even remember what triggered the tantrum but it wasn't pretty (one broken saucer, one scratched mother...). We quickly finished up and made our way to the park around the corner (where, my sister informed me, one of the scenes from Juno was filmed - she is the ultimate Vancouver tour guide, I have to say, fits in all the best destinations). The kids played happily for an hour until it was time for us to catch our ferry home. The trip home was not quite as magical as the one there, but I suppose that's true of most return journeys. We were lucky to be on the Queen of Vancouver vessel, and to be walking on, as there had been trouble on an earlier crossing with the Queen of B.C. (a log in the propeller? something like that) and there were delays for cars.
The following week was fairly uneventful, although there was a meet-the-teacher night at the girls' school. I had already met their teachers, but went anyway. I was somewhat preoccupied by the newness of the building (1997! Have any schools in Quebec been built in the past 50 years? I haven't been in any of them), and found myself distracted during the speeches in the gym, examining the seismically sound steel reinforcements propping up all the beams. Very impressive. I think in the event of a major earthquake, the kids would definitely be safer at school than in our house (1899, no seismic upgrades to my knowledge). But I'm not supposed to dwell on the 'what ifs'. I had a nice chat with one of the other mums from Lily's class, who, in an incredible case of "it's a small world after all" turns out to have been taught Latin by my mother at The Study 20 years ago. We didn't actually discover this at meet the teacher night. A mutual Montreal friend had given us each other's info, and when we made contact we were astounded to find that our 6-year olds were actually in the same class, sitting at the same table in fact.
I'm going to have to tie this up for now, as I've been alerted that blogger will be down for maintenance in a few minutes. So I'll sign off with this teaser for my next post: Valdy! Snowbirds! Never a dull moment in Vic!

Victorian Homesick Blues

Not to worry, I just thought that would make a good title.
Although there is some truth to it. But first to cover all the good stuff, of which we are fortunate to have lots of. Top of the list: we are now connected! But not by Telus. I grew tired of their "we're just not that into you" attitude and told them I was canceling my unfulfilled order. We signed on with the good people at Shaw instead, and they came when they said they would come and hooked us up. This happened last Friday, which was a beautiful day, so to celebrate Dylan and I took Sam to Willows beach where we played in the sand (ok, they played, I lay) and watched a sea otter playing off-shore. The girls were at school, and thankfully they have settled in quickly and have each made a few friends. Having attended the same school for all 12 years of my primary and secondary education, and then sending my kids to a school in a neighbourhood where I knew (what felt like) half the population, I was quite unprepared for the feeling I had entering the schoolyard on that first morning, without a single familiar face in the crowd. I think it was good because it meant I was in the same boat as the kids. The school seemed very organised, with the principal and vp on a stage in the school yard, introducing the new teachers, and then calling in last year's groups one by one. There were tables set up with coffee and healthy snacks, and the kids played on the playground until it was time for the new students to follow the principal to the multi-purpose room (with parents being dragged or pulled by their children). She sat them down on the risers and gave them a cheerful speech about how they were so lucky because this was the best school ever, and she'd been new last year but it only took a matter of days before she loved it and was sure they would all feel the same way, etc, etc. There were a few weepers up on the risers, and I was grateful that mine were not among them. Lily was a real trooper, smiling and nodding at the principal's enthusiasm, while Alex shared a rather discontented face that was sported by most of the other unhappily relocated older children. Since then there has been no turning back, they joyfully bike to and from school (Dylan accompanies them), and on the way home the bike along the Dallas Road, stopping at the beach for some rock-climbing, and sometimes for a grilled cheese or a milk-shake at the the Beacon HIll Drive-In. (This part makes me think of Harriet the Spy always stopping at some restaurant for custard on her way home from school. I have yet to go to the Drive-In myself).
Another piece of last week's news is that we traded in Big Red. We were sad to say good-bye (Alex especially, who I think has overdosed on good-byes, and cried as Dylan drove off in the truck), but it had failed inspection here and was not eligible for BC plates, so we were on the lookout for another used vehicle. Dylan spotted an ad in the paper for an '88 Chevy Celebrity (sort of a shrunken station wagon). It's not pretty, but it drives well and uses a lot less gas, and I don't have to worry about the kids scraping their legs on the rust as they climb into the car. We took the Grey Fox out for a spin on Sunday, driving to the Sooke Potholes for the afternoon. Not that kind of pothole. The naturally occurring kind in a river bed. We've had a string of really perfect fall days, and are trying to make the most of them before the rain!
Sam started at preschool on Monday, and let me leave within the first five minutes this morning, which was encouraging. I have signed up for an online course so that will keep me busy on his preschool mornings. I've been up and down on this roller-coaster adjustment ride, trying to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and not let myself loll in loneliness, or resentment for D. being so blissfully content here. I'm not exactly lonely, I'm just having trouble getting used to being so far away from everyone, and I wonder if I want to get used to it. Oh well. I've got another hour before I have to pick up Sam, so I think I'll go have a wander around the Emily Carr house. I'll report on that in my next post!

How to meet your neighbours: lose your cat

Apologies to all my faithful readers for leaving you hanging for the past 10 days. We have been keeping busy, but my main excuse for not writing is that Telus has not been providing the service I signed up for (I signed up on the day of my last post and my most recent update from them suggested that we'll be connected on Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed.)

To pick up where I left off, our movers arrived on Friday morning, and I swiftly got the kids out of the way - we spent the morning at the park, exploring Miniature World (an impressive while diminutive experience), having lunch at daidoco - a wonderful Japanese-style deli that the mum in the park had recommended, and finally going for ice cream at Roger's (Lily is missing pamplemousse sorbet from Bilboquet). We headed home to find the house full of boxes and the movers still at it. Things became a little dramatic when one of the movers got knocked in the head with our ladder as he was getting something else out of the truck. The gash was significant, so Dylan took him off to the Royal Jubilee Hospital where he eventually got stapled back together. (He made it back in time for pizza at the end of the day, and seemed unperturbed by the injury). On the bright side, D. now knows the way to the closest emergency room.

At some point during this chaos Fern wandered off. (Cat has not been renamed for internet safety). I noticed that he was missing, and after a couple of hours looking around I made up some posters and stuck them up on posts up and down the street. We carried on unpacking and organizing, but were all missing Fern when we finally got to bed that night. I couldn't quite believe that we had driven across the country mainly to save him the potential turmoil of a flight in the baggage compartment and now, one week after arriving, he was gone. Saturday we carried on unpacking, and I took the girls to the library in the afternoon as Sam had a much-needed nap. Just as our new neighbours appeared with a chicken and pasta casserole for our dinner (with salad, and brownies for dessert!) another neighbour rang asking after Fern. When I answered that we hadn't had any news, he reported that he'd seen him the previous afternoon two blocks up. Fern appeared to be dragging his hind legs and he and another passerby rang the doorbell of someone's house to see if they could call the SPCA. To make a long story somewhat shorter, we finally tracked Fern down at the Elk Bay Animal Hospital, and after Dylan met with the vet and saw the x-ray, agreed to have his broken leg operated on. Three days later, Fern came home and now spends most of his time in a fenced-off corner of our bedroom (he isn't allowed to jump while he heals). He seems to be feeling better, and is now putting a bit of weight on his lame leg, seems to be a little fed up with being limited to one corner of the house, and howls if we don't go visiting him often enough. The whole cat fiasco ended well, and while Fern's definitely used up one more of his lives, we have at least met more of our neighbours than we otherwise would have!

The big highlight of the week was a visit from Vancouver cousins Amalia and George (with parents). They were returning from their holiday spent on Hornby Island and in Ucluelet. They arrived on Tuesday evening and I made our first proper dinner in the new kitchen: roast wild pacific salmon (renamed by my mother as the Oxymoron fish), roast Vancouver Island Russet potatoes, local green beans and salad greens. Very 100-mile diet-ish, except for the champagne that our realtor had kindly left in our fridge and we were finally in the mood for opening. Wednesday we went to the wonderful Bug Zoo together, where Amalia kissed a cockroach and George wore a giant African millipede as a bracelet. I declined Alexandra's begging for me to hold a scorpion. My only previous contact with a scorpion was in a hotel room in Mexico, where my friend and I agreed that I would be the one to kill it, but I would use her sandal. I said my quota for touching exotic creatures had been met with the boa constrictor at Lily's birthday, but that I would be happy to come back with her on her 19th birthday (the age at which you are allowed to touch the tarantula and scorpion). We then went for lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish, a gourmet fish and chips stand on a pier near where the sea planes take off from (good entertainment). We saw the cousins off on Thursday morning, after they had presented us with a gorgeous housewarming bouquet (still going strong!), and the rest of the week has been spent filling out forms for health cards, making a daily call to Telus to remind them we exist, enjoying the classic boat show in the Inner Harbour and hanging out at South Park (my replacement Somerville Park). Now we are getting ready for the start of the school year and I have a synopsis to write for the end of the week, so back to the grindstone. I've gone on too long, so I'll sign off wishing everyone a good start to September, whether it's back to work or back to school, I'm thinking of you all. Happy Labour Day!