The Beginning of the End

The past week has been full of productivity, goodbyes, and frantic running around.

About two weeks ago we decided to put our house up for sale. I was absolutely dreading having to do dozens of house showings and all of the house cleaning that would entail. Not that our house is in a constant state of ramshackle decrepitude, but I am a bit OCD when it comes to making sure things are presentable when strangers come over. This is actually insanely hard considering Theo is an unbridled force of destruction, the embodiment of entropy, and William usually cries unless he is being held. We had our first showing last week and my mom and step-mom were a great help in giving the house a once over. The same person came back a second time with a home inspector and by Friday the house was officially sold. We have set the possession date for August 1st, so that gives us until Dustin leaves to get everything sold, packed, or stored away. I will then spend the two weeks until the kids, Karlee, and I leave at my in-laws house. It feels great to check one fairly large to do off of our list and know that I won't have frantically tidy up for anymore last minute showings.

William and Grandpa

Not everything has been all business, however. The weather has officially become pleasantly warm, hovering around 20 degrees or so, and for a brief window Manitoba is relatively free of insects. We are of course in the middle of tick season, but you can't win them all. With this nice sunny weather, our weekend was full of family gatherings. My dad, who just recently arrived back from Mexico where he lives, left on Monday for Indonesia. We had a bit of a goodbye party for him on Saturday. He won't be arriving back until after we leave for Japan, and it hasn't quite sunk in that I won't be seeing him again for years potentially. At least we had a week or so to catch up and the opportunity to meet William before he left. On Sunday we had a barbecue at my in-laws and enjoyed their large and lovely back yard. I am trying to appreciate the mosquito free outdoors as much as possible, and it helps when you know people with nice yards that actually have grass in them.

Der Theodor im Fußballtor

It felt like old times on Monday when I realized that we had our Japanese class in the evening and I hadn't really reviewed anything from the week before. I discovered that my ability to cram last minute has gone downhill drastically since I was in school, but I managed to absorb a bit.

Throw in an appointment with the doctor, a car inspection, and a trip down to the U.S., and all in all, this week has felt like a busy blur. It has been hectic but I am pretty sure that every week until we leave will be about the same, so I might as well get used to it!