Canada week 2 in summary
Last week was busy, but in many ways it was more successful than week 1. I certainly feel like I've got closer to being settled and part of everything now.
We went out early in the week to choose some furniture for the downstairs rec room. I knew that I wanted a recliner for myself and a three-seater sofa that was suitable for lying on, but I wasn't sure what Da would want. In the end, after trying lots of different things, he settled on a recliner that's a little different from mine but they both look great with the sofa. I half-expected to have to wait for several weeks to get the stuff delivered (that's the system in the UK usually).
It was delivered on Friday. We now have comfy seating to relax and watch TV on in the evenings. Da has discovered that his recliner is wonderful for taking naps on :-)
Also on Friday, I called my insurance company to apologise and explain that my useless ex-insurance company in the UK still hadn't sorted out the letter. They claim that it is in transit to my sister. Yeah, right. Thankfully the insurance company did some calling around and found that they could get me the good price on my policy with a promise to send the letter ASAP so I was able to go over to their offices and sign the paperwork. This meant that I was able to pick up the car on Friday afternoon and it's been great to have my own, non-rental car all weekend. I've been driving! I've even been on the highway!
Today I went down to Access Nova Scotia and registered my car (I'd been driving on a temporary plate) so I now have my own licence plate and permit. Hooray! The only thing left is to do the tests and get my driver's licence, but I have a couple of months to do that and now that I'm driving, my odds of getting that done have increased a lot.
My new computer is slowly getting set up with all the software that I need and the wireless network is wonderful. There is no desk in the office for me yet and Da keeps knocking the little table that I'd been using, making me fear for the safety of my beautiful lappie. So I'm writing this from my recliner in the rec room until my desk turns up. Hopefully that will be any day now.
We have had beautiful weather over the last week - until today, when it was foggy and yuck until around half an hour ago! On Saturday I went out shopping with Ma (and my car!) and we spotted a BBQ while we were in Kent for some towel rails. Um, we bought it. This was the shopping trip where I discovered just how brilliant the carrying capacity of my new car is :-)
We put together the BBQ on Saturday with some help (my aunt worked for her supper!) and decided to take advantage of the good weather yesterday. Mum and I picked up some peaches and cream corn, frankfurters (meatless for Da) and sauerkraut after church and after a day of quiet reading and craft work, we fired up the grill.
Somehow I ended up head chef, putting together the food and doing the grilling. It was really good fun :-) There was a brief moment when some juice from the corn went a little flamey, but once I was reassured that it was fine and the BBQ wasn't about to explode I was great. I even managed to cook everything without burning it!
Overall, the house is starting to feel more complete and I am starting to feel more connected both to the people around me and to the wider world. Being without easy access to TV, Internet or radio for a few days was more unnerving that I thought it would be and I'm so glad that phase is over. I need to get some driving lessons so that I can take my test and start getting my CV out places now. The big jobs are mostly all done and it's just getting bits and pieces that we don't know we'll need until we need it. The new deck is on, the driveway is being done this week and most of the big building work will then be over.
It's starting to feel like a home here. I'm so lucky to have the chance to do this.
We went out early in the week to choose some furniture for the downstairs rec room. I knew that I wanted a recliner for myself and a three-seater sofa that was suitable for lying on, but I wasn't sure what Da would want. In the end, after trying lots of different things, he settled on a recliner that's a little different from mine but they both look great with the sofa. I half-expected to have to wait for several weeks to get the stuff delivered (that's the system in the UK usually).
It was delivered on Friday. We now have comfy seating to relax and watch TV on in the evenings. Da has discovered that his recliner is wonderful for taking naps on :-)
Also on Friday, I called my insurance company to apologise and explain that my useless ex-insurance company in the UK still hadn't sorted out the letter. They claim that it is in transit to my sister. Yeah, right. Thankfully the insurance company did some calling around and found that they could get me the good price on my policy with a promise to send the letter ASAP so I was able to go over to their offices and sign the paperwork. This meant that I was able to pick up the car on Friday afternoon and it's been great to have my own, non-rental car all weekend. I've been driving! I've even been on the highway!
Today I went down to Access Nova Scotia and registered my car (I'd been driving on a temporary plate) so I now have my own licence plate and permit. Hooray! The only thing left is to do the tests and get my driver's licence, but I have a couple of months to do that and now that I'm driving, my odds of getting that done have increased a lot.
My new computer is slowly getting set up with all the software that I need and the wireless network is wonderful. There is no desk in the office for me yet and Da keeps knocking the little table that I'd been using, making me fear for the safety of my beautiful lappie. So I'm writing this from my recliner in the rec room until my desk turns up. Hopefully that will be any day now.
We have had beautiful weather over the last week - until today, when it was foggy and yuck until around half an hour ago! On Saturday I went out shopping with Ma (and my car!) and we spotted a BBQ while we were in Kent for some towel rails. Um, we bought it. This was the shopping trip where I discovered just how brilliant the carrying capacity of my new car is :-)
We put together the BBQ on Saturday with some help (my aunt worked for her supper!) and decided to take advantage of the good weather yesterday. Mum and I picked up some peaches and cream corn, frankfurters (meatless for Da) and sauerkraut after church and after a day of quiet reading and craft work, we fired up the grill.
Somehow I ended up head chef, putting together the food and doing the grilling. It was really good fun :-) There was a brief moment when some juice from the corn went a little flamey, but once I was reassured that it was fine and the BBQ wasn't about to explode I was great. I even managed to cook everything without burning it!
Overall, the house is starting to feel more complete and I am starting to feel more connected both to the people around me and to the wider world. Being without easy access to TV, Internet or radio for a few days was more unnerving that I thought it would be and I'm so glad that phase is over. I need to get some driving lessons so that I can take my test and start getting my CV out places now. The big jobs are mostly all done and it's just getting bits and pieces that we don't know we'll need until we need it. The new deck is on, the driveway is being done this week and most of the big building work will then be over.
It's starting to feel like a home here. I'm so lucky to have the chance to do this.