Getting Ready to Leave

It is so hard to believe that the summer (was it summer?) has slipped away so quickly! It may be partly because of two trips to the east coast since we returned to Canada. In May Gail and I both went to Halifax to spend a couple of weeks visiting her mother, who is now in a nursing home. She has dementia and that was hard to watch. So sad for Gail and especially Lillian.

Then in July I went to Newfoundland for a quick week. It was surreal to go to St. John's and drive past my parents house, knowing it no longer belongs to us. They bought the house in October 1960 so for fifty years that was the family home and of course where I was raised. The great thing was spending time with my family. I stayed with Brenda and Pete; went to visit Janet and Gape at their cottage on the lake (cabin on the pond in Newfoundlandese!) for a weekend; had the immediate family for BBQ at Brenda's so I saw Sean and Dianne. My wonderful Aunt Francie also stopped by for a while; visited with my Uncle Joe and Aunt Peggy.... I also managed to get a quick couple of hours at the annual Harte family BBQ reunion, where I saw and chatted with many of my cousins.  Then back to Victoria and part time work at the bank.

We also completely gutted the basement suite in the house; put laminate flooring down in the kitchen and entrance (to match the living room and laundry room); replaced the bedroom carpet; replaced the kitchen stove and bathroom ceiling fan and completely painted the entire downstairs including the laundry room, front entrance and stairwell. Then our new tenant Judy (who I know from work) moved in. She seems very happy with everything and I hope it will be a good home for her.

I finished work last Thursday and have been busy since then getting the garden put to bed for the winter, organizing what we want to pack in the van (still so much my head is spinning-how can I leave some of the things I still want?) and cleaning the house from top to bottom. This will be our last drive to Mexico (that's the plan anyway). We will leave the van there and fly home in April.

Today we went to buy our out of country Medical Insurance and were shocked to find that it has more than doubled because Gail turned 60 in July. So much for senior's discounts!

We have house sitters arriving from Edmonton a couple of days after we leave. They are retired teachers who want to spend the winter in Victoria to be close to their daughter, son-in-law and new and only baby grandchild.

We are looking forward to our annual and very fun Thanksgiving dinner with our McManus buddies on Saturday. Sunday I'll pack the van and take photos! Monday will be last minute housework and early to bed. Tuesday we'll be out of here on the 10:30 Coho sailing to Port Angeles.

Stay tuned!