Do We Have Regrets?

I woke up early this morning and just enjoyed a few minutes of quiet time to assess my life. Which is nice actually. To just take stock of what we're doing, what our plans and goals are for the next few days, weeks and years. And to think about everything that comes along with such a life changing move. Then I got a comment from Helga asking if we had any regrets so I knew I had to write about it.

Frankly, the dust is still settling and we're getting back into the hum drum of family life. Work, school, housekeeping, activities, walking the dog. No matter where you live the basics are the same. But we have more activities to keep us busy here, King Fu and riding lessons, and friends to hang with on date night. We have the opportunity to make enough money in the next 10 years to buy and own our own small farm. That's something we could never do in BC. And we really want that so we can have time together and money to do what we enjoy and something to leave to our kids. Driving along Lake Superior

I was also thinking of the things that we miss. We have some really good friends back in BC and also our 2 eldest kids and our grandchildren are there too. Brothers and sisters, parents, nieces and a neighbourhood so familiar that Steve must know every street in Oceanside. It's a comfortable and familiar environment for sure and we miss knowing where everything is, the best place to buy stuff and who is who.

But for sure the thing we miss most is our family who are still there. It's a hard decision to leave one set of kids so you can move this far and continue raising the youngest 4. But our eldest kids are smart and will always land on their feet. They're good, hard working people and we love them. I do secretly hope that if we buy them land they'll move here though ;)

We do miss some of the stuff we left behind, like some of Steve's electronics and other bits and pieces come up from time to time. Especially in the middle of a project when you need a certain tool you used to own but maybe used once every 10 years and now don't have. But it's also nice to not have clutter. To sit on the sofa and see a clean and tidy house. And so I miss things but at the same time I'm glad the clutter is gone. I'm a recovering clutter bug, what can I say? I'm doing way better at staying on top of the stuff we've got and still find myself sorting through and getting rid of things we don't need or use while trying to not let Meghan run wild with her closet. Each of has something that's our downfall. Meghan's is clothes. She loves them and would happily have closets full. Pity her future husband. Steve's is electronics, mine is books and crafty things, Kate is art and books. Chris luckily didn't inherit the clutter gene so he's free from the curse.

The Maritimes are quite different from the West Coast. The roots go deeper here and the heritage flavours everything. Yes, even junk food. That really is a Mcdonalds serving McLobster (which was $9 and gross in my opinion). There are regional foods I've never heard of and I don't even know what some of the weeds are in the hedgerows. But I seem to remember that moving to Canada from England was like this and over time you learn more and more. It's not intimidating here and the people are happy to explain what things are if you're nice and not uptight about it. This is the Maritimes, not Toronto or Vancouver. Go with the flow.

It also takes time to get to know where things are in a new neighbourhood. I've learned to just ask around and also the amount of driving Steve and I did to explore the area has really helped. Working for Welcome Wagon has been good too. No matter where you live in Canada, you can ask for a visit if you have a new baby, move to a new home, start a new business, retire, all sorts of times in your life when exciting things happen. Drop me a line and I'll forward your info to your nearest rep. if you'd like a free, no obligation visit. I love getting all the gifts and the info about local businesses but also Welcome Wagon gives out terrific and practical community and civic info so it's worth the visit just for that.

I should get motivated and do something useful today while the sun is still shining. I'm coming down with a head cold just like everyone else so I'm feeling a bit blah. But maybe I'll do something fun with Steve while the boys are out tonight at Young Men's. We may have found a cheap second hand van which is great because our Dodge Caravan is ready to give up the ghost I think and it won't pass the inspection in December when it would be due. We'll make some decisions and let you know if anything exciting happens.

Hope you all have a wonderful day. I'm making home made meat balls for supper and spaghetti. A quick easy supper because the boys have places to go.