We Made it!!!

Hello Everyone!

Well, we made it to Calgary! What a whirlwind these past few days have been! I'll try not to bore you with ALL of the details, but be warned, this is going to be a long post with LOTS of photos...my apologies to those of you who have dial-up.

So, on Wednesday, we had the packers come. Let me just say that the process of packing all of your belongings in boxes...SUCKS!!! Not to mention how embarrassing it is when the packers have to call for back-up because you have so much stuff. Yeah, that's just what I needed to hear. Anyway, they got us all ready for Thursday, which was our move day.

Thursday went well. The estimator we had for the moving company needs to be fired for under-estimating our load (by half), but other than that, things went off without a hitch. The vehicles got picked up, and we made some new friends with Rod, Derrick, and Lloyd...the movers. After a lot of tears and a really big headache, we made it to my in-law's house in Scarborough for the night.

Friday had to be one of the hardest days ever. We packed up our stuff (by the way, 6 bags, a baby, a stroller, and 2 cats will not all fit in one Jeep Grand Cherokee. We had to have Pat come over with his truck to provide back-up...thanks again Pat!! We made it to he house to pack up the cats and say one last goodbye to our first home. Man, I am getting all emotional as I type this!

The trip to the airport was "adventurous". Even after 24 hours without food, Louis still managed to poop in his crate...fortunately he did it on the way to the airport and not after we handed him over. God bless Craig for figuring out how to clean Louis up in the airport Men's room. I still don't know how he did it.

After a lot of fumbling and crazy looks from the TSA folks, we made it through security. We were all nervous because there must have been 25 TSA agents standing around us. We thought we did something wrong...until we realized that they were there for the shift change...oops!

Here's Hannah and DaDa hanging out in the airport...

Our flight to Chicago went really well. We gave Hannah a bottle as we were taking off, and she slept the entire trip!!! We were so relieved that she did so well. Thankfully we thought to bring an extra one of her blankets, since the plane was freezing!! The flight attendants told us that it was negative 57 degrees outside of the plane, and that's why it was so cold on the plane...ahhhh!!!!

In Chicago, we had a decent layover, so we grabbed lunch, and Hannah played in the playground for a little while.

The flight to Calgary went pretty well too. Before we left the ground, we wanted to be sure that Louis and Ella made it on the plane. As we were waiting for the flight attendant to find out for us, I saw poor Louis in his crate outside on the baggage cart. He was trying so hard to get out of his crate. It was so cold in Chicago, that I am sure that he was also trying to stay warm. Ella was next to him, but she stayed covered by the curtain on the cart until they were ready to put her on the plane. Once in the air, Hannah slept for about an hour of the trip, and was a bit cranky for the rest, though no one around us on the plane seemed to notice. The flight attendants were having so much fun playing with her, and we all know how much Hannah loves attention!!!

When we finally landed in Calgary, we were so happy to be on solid ground. Despite a long day in her car seat, Hannah was all smiles when we landed. We made it through customs and I got my Visa, so we thought we were all set. Then, as we were grabbing all six of our bags (we needed 2 luggage carts...which was interesting with our stroller too!!!), Craig's name was announced and he had to check in with the lady at the counter. They thought they had lost at least one of our bags in Chicago. I must have counted our six bags, a million times. I don't know why they thought they lost one, but we had them all...including the cats. We thought we were in the clear, until we were leaving the international section on the airport. The lady asked us about the cats, and then asked us to go over to a waiting area within customs. We thought they just needed to check their health reports, but instead, we got in trouble with the customs guy! Apparently when Craig filled out the customs form, they asked if we were bringing any animals into the country. Out of habit, Craig checked off "no", and we got yelled at for it. The guy was just being a jerk, so once we were done getting our verbal hand slap, we laughed it off. We figured that something had to happen since the rest of the day was going so well.

We were able to change our rental car to a mini-van...yes, I said MINI-VAN!!!! (Craig is slowly morphing into a Soccer Mom) It was the only thing they had that would fit all of our bags. Then we finally made it to the house...and a bunch of our landlord's stuff. He never finished cleaning out the house, and he still has a room to paint. needless to say, much of our stuff is still packed, waiting for someplace to go.

We quickly unloaded our bags, and attempted to relax. Louis spent all night exploring, and Ella decided that hiding behind a curtain was a good idea...I wanted to join her!

We went to Walmart...in our MINI-VAN...and bought some basics, as well as an air mattress...BAD IDEA!!! I haven't had such a lousy night sleep in so long. Probably since the first night we spent in our old house. Craig and I woke each other up every time we moved, and when one of us would get out of bed, the other would get launched into the air!!! Hannah slept well in her Pack 'N Play, so that was the important thing. Once Craig and I finally got to sleep, we were down for the count...we slept in until 10!!! So did Hannah!!! It felt so good, even though we were so cramped up from the stupid mattress. We so needed to make a trip to IKEA...so, we did!!

These photos are from Saturday. The first one is of the mountain view from our neighborhood. You can see the mountains from our bedroom window too. The middle photo is Craig getting me a coffee, because I was dying for one. He looks mad, but he wasn't, I think he was confused as to why I was taking his photo. The last one is of some of the geese that were flying all over the sky. Craig and I are still trying to figure out if the people up here call them Canadian Geese, or is the "Canadian" part implied since that's where we are?? Hmmmmm...

So, we made a trip to IKEA and bought ourselves a bed. It is a double, but we don't care. We have a double mattress and box spring on the moving truck that we never had a headboard or foot board for. IKEA was having a sale, so we got the bed and extra mattress pretty cheap. We also picked up a bunch of other odds and ends. Hannah seemed to enjoy the shopping trip.

Today we went grocery shopping at the Superstore. It is like Super Walmart, only the stuff is really nice. Groceries are expensive, but you have to eat, right?? While out shopping, the snow started. here it is weird, the snow is so dry that it just drifts across the road. People up here drive like they are driving in ten inches of ice. They are so stupid!!!!!

So much for Craig telling me that it is always sunny here!!! it has been crappy both days I've been in Calgary. he thinks I brought it with me. Yeah! It is so cold tonight, and tomorrow it is supposed to be negative 20 F for a HIGH! I think I'm the one who is high!!! It is negative 15 out there right now. This place is so crazy that in a few days it is supposed to be 20F above!! And everyone thinks that New England weather is unpredictable!!! Sorry, Calgary has NE beat in that category.

Finally, we made it back and Hannah was very excited when Craig put in her Little Einsteins DVD on the computer.

Sorry for the play-by-play...I just didn't want to forget anything. We are slowly making it here. I still plan on thinking of my speed in MpH, and I will bake in cups and teaspoons, but I have learned that when it comes to the house temperature, I will have to learn Celsius...grrrr!!!!

No one ever said that we couldn't cheat!!!

I hope you are all doing well. We get our phone hooked up tomorrow, as well as our internet (so I don't have to steal my signal from the Starbucks around the corner anymore). Craig has to work tomorrow, so we'll see how my first day alone with Hannah goes. I am sure that I will have a novel to write about that too!!!

Have a good night and I'll talk to you all soon!

(By the way, please excuse any typos or grammar mistakes...I am really tired!!!)

Miss you!!!

Sharon