Americanuck

So began our spring together in our home. We were all settled in, Tom was still busily sending out resumes and keeping in touch with the Station he had previously applied to while living in L.A. and we were feeling good and happy and optimistic.

We started doing some serious planning for the wedding celebration and My Mom was looking forward to meeting everyone. She had been in telephone contact with Tom’s Mom and it was going to be nice for them to get a chance to talk about how wonderful we both are in person! (blush)

My Mom had been having problems with her gallbladder for a couple of years but her doctor was hesitant to do anything about it up to that point because of the surgeries she had in the past and how she tended to not be a ‘normal’medical case in anything. It started getting worse however, taking a couple of turns so she ended up in emergency so he thought maybe it was time to do something about it. They scheduled the surgery for a month and a half or so before our planned trip so my Mom figured she would be out and up and around even if they had to do the radical surgery. She was however, scheduled for keyhole surgery which really only mean a day or two in hospital and then a few days rest off your feet at home.

In April our landlords gave us a call and asked us to come up for a drink. I’d been there many times in the past, sometimes to talk, sometimes to listen to their escapades from their latest journey. This time however I started wondering as the tone of Pat’s voice seemed tentative, then we noticed the freshly shampooed rugs, I turned to Tom as we headed up the stairs and mouthed to him that I bet they were selling. Sure enough they told us that they were putting the house on the market. They didn’t have any choice and they felt pretty bad about it. The other tenant had moved out the month before and there also had been no signs of them trying to replace her so we knew they were serious. They had thought about it a year or so before that so I kind of knew at that point it could happen at any time.

This meant we had two full months notice and as of the end of July to find a new place to live. I was pretty upset about it, it’s happened to me before and I hate the insecurity it causes when you don’t feel in control of where and when you move. Tom took it in his optimistic way and tried to get me to see that it wasn’t so bad. I was worried about the fact that the Boys would end up having to change schools the following year if we couldn’t find anything in the neighbourhood.

We tried and tried looking at many places in the area but there was either nothing that suited or they didn’t take cats or kids or either. We looked at one house that we dubbed the “That Seventies House” as that’s about the last time it had been renovated. When we walked up and saw it was kind of run down I thought well maybe it’s better inside.. WELLLL the smell hit me the minute we walked in, a combination of 30 years of smoke and wet dog. The walls were smudged and the carpets were that thin cheap stuff, each room a different colour… some was shag! They still had the original brown patterned lino and the Golden Rod appliances oh yeah and a built in table and bench in the kitchen. I had a hard time keeping a straight face as the guy showed us around. I was shooting Tom looks as he earnestly and pleasantly chatted with the owner nodding when he was showing how he was putting in a new light over the stove. Sean and I were gagging behind their backs and smothering our giggles.

We did a big fast horseshoe through the place and made a hasty retreat to the car. Once there we all burst out laughing and Tom, ever the optimist said, well it has potential!! I said for a movie of the week ‘The Brady’s the hardluck years’ OH MY GOD!!! Truly though if the guy would invest some bucks in the place it could have been a really nice house, right near the schools, quiet block, decent neighbourhood and everything.

Well the BAD news was they got worse after that! One of the places Tom can’t even describe how bad it was (he looked at it when I was at work) I’ve never lived in any kind of divey place nor would I as I have some really tight standards!!

At one point we thought we had lucked out by finding a big old duplex that had been extensively renovated and turned into a fourplex right near Sean’s school. We checked it out and it had all new everything inside, the Realtor was telling us they were screening the applicants so no ‘party’ types would end up there. We got as far as almost signing a lease, then the details came about. We had to buy a lawnmower and cut the large lot taking turns with the neighbours. Each to have their own lawnmower.. uhh ok… why wouldn’t they provide one at least? We were renting a suite NOT the whole house. To my view they should have hired a service and included that cost in their rent. Then we found out that there was only two Power lines into the building so the people in the large suites would have to get the bill and pay it and collect from the people below. EEEK RED FLAG.. the final blow was the fact there wasn’t any heat controls in the lower suites as they were all upstairs. We asked to have some time alone and then both of us said NO WAY!

I sat down and did some figuring and realized that we COULD afford to buy a condo and pay a mortgage with my salary alone no problem, but it would end up being out of the area as where we lived were all houses. There was no way we could swing a house they are just so expensive here. This was a hard thing to tell the Kids. Chris took it very well and was a trouper, considering he was about to enter his final year of highschool and he would spend it being the new guy. Sean was VERY upset and didn’t want to move at all. He did come around eventually though and now LOVES were we live.

We went in and got pre-approved for a mortgage where I work (we get a sweet deal on the rate as Staff) and were pleasantly suprised with the amount we were approved for. It gave us some real wiggle room and could buy pretty much any condo we wanted in our town and maybe even some of the townhouses. We decided to concentrate on a condo though as we intended on flipping it when we could in a few years and buy a house. We found a realtor and she got to looking for stuff that met our criteria. This was going better than we thought!

After Tom ‘Landed’ it was now possible to apply for a Social Insurance Number which would allow him to pay taxes in Canada (the lucky devil) once he found employment which for an immigrant can be no easy task, even more so as he works in Television and the people who work here don’t tend to move that much!

That was ok though because it was awfully nice to have a House Husband for a while! Tom would get up and drive me to the train station (the first day humming the Sheena Easton tune Morning train) and then picking me up again after. He took care of a lot of the household stuff which helped me TONS because I was in the middle of a large stressful project at work. He was and IS the BEST.

We found a place to put all his stuff (although that was also no easy task) Tom pointed out how lucky it was he didn’t bring most of his things and he was right!

The place we lived in was a suite on the ground floor of a house. Our landlords Pat and John (the same ones I had since separating in 1999) were terrific and welcomed him with open arms. They loved me and the Boys and really treated us more like friends or family than tenants. While they were away on one of their many fabulous trips they had me house/cat sit their baby Napoleon and water the plants which gave us their satellite TV to watch which was pretty neat (alllllll those channels!)

Cinnamon was still in her jail recovering, this time though it looked like everything was healing as it should. Tom missed all of the drama of her pulling off her splint (one time it was laying in her food dish and when I heard her fussing in the livingroom I went to check on her and saw it laying there I FREAKED.) It looked like she had chewed off her leg! Ok to my defense I was half asleep but still….With Tom there however she was given freedom and a chance to exercise during the day, not to mention be spoiled by extra attention and lap time.

The last bit of paperwork for the sale of Tom’s condo went through and he was sent a cheque for the proceeds which promptly went into the Bank to save for down payment for a place as well as to pay for our wedding ‘party’ that we still wanted to have in Vegas.

By then we realized with the way things were looking economically a big party wouldn’t be possible. We DID still want to do it but we decided to plan it as party only for the immediate family. That was appealing as well because it would give our families a chance to get to know each other and talk.

This was very exciting to think about and plan. Tom’s Sister Nancy had suggested a venue in Vegas called Battista’s Hole in the Wall which sounded perfect so we decided to go with that. We started surfing hotel site and flights to figure out our budget but didn’t make any reservations until later on. We checked with all Tom’s Sisters and our Moms and everyone was ready willing and able to go.

Things seemed to be settling in nicely and going along swimmingly. It was a bit of a lull before the storm however….

We hadn’t had any significant snowfall in years. In honour of Tom’s arrival Mother Nature decided to put on a show. We had one of the coldest winters we’ve had in a LONGGG TIME and lots of snow to boot!

Here are some pictures of our cars in the snow. My lil guy was used to it but poor wimpy Cali Boy 300 wasn’t happy. He handled it well though and drove like a dream!Check out the bumpercyles!

Tom contacted the border to find out how to go about importing his car and then called the US side to figure out how to export it. They freaked out and said that because Tom had landed he HAD to get the car out of Canada IMMEDIATELY or face a fine of 500 bucks a day. He called me and I left work early and we drove it down to B’ham airport to leave for a few days. I followed in my car and we came back in it. Nothing like at little unexpected stress!

Tom had to ensure that the border had the clear title for the car three days in advance as well as some other paperwork and then show up for an export appointment. He took the bus down to the airport and got the car the following week. That process went pretty smoothly.

Once the car was export/imported he had to have it inspected by Canadian Tire (who has the contract to do with the Feds)provide a recall clearance letter from the dealer, as well as complete a provincial inspection. Any changes had to be made to comply with Canadian standards so he made an apt with a local Chrysler dealer and they Canadianized it with the recommended changes (basically they added daytime running lights which are required here)and then Tom was able to get BC insurance on his car. He had to send off for his driving record as well as a no claims record on his insurance so he was able to get the full safe drivers discount.

Now even his Car was a legal resident of Canada!