Twenty Years!

This post is all about the numbers...

Chad & I are celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary today, so I thought I'd compile some of the things we have done in the second half of my life!

We have had a few pets
2 cats
2 dogs
4 fish

plus lots of farm cats, some with names, some not.

 We've owned quite a few vehicles, & not one of them was wrecked!
1 SUV
2 Trucks
6 Cars
13 Motorbikes

Now, considering when I met Chad he was planning on being a farmer, which was perfect since I didn't want to move a lot, our life has not gone according to plan in that department!

We have lived in
1 State
3 Countries
4 Provinces

Many types of homes

1 Parsonage
1 Housesit
2 Co-Housing
4 Apartments

5 Houses

Which required
13 Change of Address Forms
10 Home phone numbers
8 Cell Phone Numbers

We have travelled quite a bit, & made it to
13 countries
19 Passports (including the kids')
11 years of documenting every trip outside of Canada for immigration (there were 28)

We have completed
4 Degrees
2 Certificates
(though none are mine, I still get to count them!)

We have had a total of
10 job titles
and worked for
14 Employers

We have hosted
5 homestay students
and we made
2 kids (We doubled the size of our family!)

Our life is certainly much different from what we had planned, but there's no one I'd rather be on this journey with! During one of the first major life-changing moves we were embarking on, one of my co-workers asked, "So, Chad's going to do that, but are you going to go with him?"

I answered, "Yes, of course I am. We're married!"

When my co-worker replied, "But that's not what you signed up for when you married him."

When we got married, I literally signed up for him. I never signed a contract to be a farmer's wife, or live in a certain place, but I did sign a vow that I'd be married to Chad for whatever comes in life, good or bad. We're not the same people we were when we got married 20 years ago (thankfully!), but all our experiences have brought us closer, since the only thing that has stayed the same through all of this is that we are in it together.

It will be interesting to see how the numbers will change in the next 20 years...

They Came, They Packed..... They Forgot Some Stuff

Tuesday the movers came to pack our stuff.  We kept some of our stuff separated for our trip since the movers are putting our things in storage for a few months until we find a place of our own.  We'll be house-sitting for the first few months to give us some time to sell our PEI house, & to find a suitable house in BC. 

These are the piles of things we are taking in our vehicle for the first few months.  It's a good thing we have a big van to put it all in!

The garage was in the process of being packed, with half the items being taken by the movers, & the other half being taken by us.

Surprisingly, the truck was only filled about 1/3 by our things, but that's mostly because most of our weight is books, which don't take up a whole lot of space.

This is how we'll be traveling through the States for the next 3 weeks.  PChad traded one of his motorcycles for it!  Not only do we have all the things we'll need for the next 3 months while our other furnishings are in storage, we have a car & 2 motorcycles!  It's a 15 passenger van, with only 1 row of seats, so it has lots of room for all the boxes, & even for the middle of our dining table, 6 folding chairs & the guitar that the movers forgot!

It's not too difficult to find our rig in the parking lot.  It's parked waaaay out back taking up about 6 parking spots!

Racing Attire

I’ve been sorting through all the baby stuff & getting rid of lots of stuff.  Chancery was hanging around while I was going through some bags, & she took a liking to a gold bag I had discarded.

Chancery told me that she had a great idea…

 

“Mummy, I’m a cafe racer!  I have a racing suit on!”

 

Well, she does have an interesting idea of fashion!

Chancery’s Car

After making Asher’s mode of transportation, Chancery felt like she needed something too.  It started as a box…

 

Then we cut out some wheels…

 

Tape, cut, repeat…

 

Decorate…

What was the front of the car became the back, since Chancery wanted to have a lot of trunk space to hold all the things she wanted to take with her.

 

One simply can’t drive around without a crown!

 

And we have two happy kids with many hours of imaginative places to travel to…

My Crazy Day

Yesterday I brought my Pathfinder into the shop since I’ve had a leaky tire for the last 6 weeks or so.  I figured it was time to get it fixed.  It was a perfect time to do so, since PChad is gone on a trip so I’d have full use of the car.

 

This morning, as I was dropping Asher off at school, the check engine light in the car came on.  Since I don’t know a whole lot about vehicles, I figured I’d better bring IT to the shop since I didn’t want to do something foolish like drive around without oil.

 

The VW people said the Jetta should be done by lunchtime, & they’d give me a call.  A few of us girls were planning on getting together today, so I called my friend Sarah, & asked her to pick Chancery & I up on her way.

 

After out morning out, I still hadn’t heard from either dealership, so I had Sarah drop Chancery & I at the house.  By 3pm I was calling both places.  My truck hadn’t been looked at yet, & the car had a broken heat sensor they were working on replacing.

 

A few minutes later I got a call from VW…

“We noticed your headlight is out, would you like us to replace the bulb for you?”

 

Normally I’d say yes, since the bulbs on the Jetta are not the easiest to replace, but PChad had recently told me that the headlight has an ongoing issue…

“NO!  Please don’t change it!  If you bang on the headlight, it comes back on,” I told the service guy on the other end.

 

I’m sure he was wondering at the urgency in my voice, but we have had them replace a perfectly good bulb before, & I didn’t want an unnecessary expense!

 

Around 5pm, I got the call that my Pathfinder was ready, but since I have no other vehicle, & no driver, I asked to be picked up.  They didn’t have anyone available until 5:20 to drive me.  I had been hoping to be able to get my truck while Yumi (our college student) was still home, but she wanted to leave shortly after 5, so I asked to be picked up with the truck since it had the kids’ car seats in them that would be necessary to transport them to & fro.

 

Two minutes later, I got the call from VW that the Jetta was ready.  I asked if they could pick me up figuring I could cancel the Pathfinder pick-up for today, & get it tomorrow.  VW had no drivers available, but offered to send a Taxi at no charge to me.

 

I asked Yumi to hang out with the kids for a few minutes while I got the car, since the car seats were in the car & truck respectively, so I had no way to transport the kids in a cab.  She agreed, & I took my first Charlottetown taxi ride!  In a smelly, smoky cab!  But I got my car, so it all worked out.

 

Once I got home, since I had delayed Yumi, I offered to drive her to her friend’s house.  I loaded everyone up & off we went!  I got home from all the running around around 5:45, ordered Dominos, gave Chancery a bath, we ate dinner, & the kids even got to bed on time!  Whew!!!

 

Tomorrow I get the truck, we’ll see how smoothly that goes…

What Is It?

I just love funny commercials!  I had to share this one…

 

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

Rock On, Jeeves!

Asher has really gotten into having music on when we drive anywhere.  There are certain songs that he requests to be played louder, & I usually comply, but there is a limit to how loud I’ll let the radio get.  Funny enough, Asher also is a non-stop chatterbox.  As we drive, he is CONSTANTLY talking about what he sees, where he wants to go, & what he’d rather be doing.

The conflict inside him of having music or talking must be a strong one.  The other day, he had just asked me to turn the music up, which I did, but then I heard him talking away in the backseat.  I turned the music down so I could ask him what he wanted…

A: “Turn the music back up, Mummy!”

M: “Well I just turned it down so I could hear what you were saying.”

A: “I was just talking about that I like this song, but it’s not my most favourite song.  Now, could you please turn it louder?”

I turned the music back up, & when the song finished, there was a pause before the next one started.  The next one was a bit louder, so I turned it back down a bit.

A: “Mummy…” he says exasperated that he needs to reiterate his request, “I ASKED you to keep it loud!”

M: “This song is a bit louder, so I turned it down a little, it’s a good volume now.”

At the end of that song Asher informed me…

A: “When I’m an adult, I’m going to drive Chancery in my car & if she says the music isn’t loud enough, I’m going to turn it up REALLY loud!”

To which Chancery replied, “Can I please ride in Asher’s car?”

I guess I don’t play the music loud enough for her either.  The CD in question...

Mistaken Identity

On Monday when I was taking Asher to school, I had to take a different route due to some road construction blocking the road we usually take.  About 1/2 way to Asher’s school, I noticed a young lady walking along the side of the road with a UPEI backpack.  She was walking rather slowly & I thought she looked a bit tired.

 

I continued on & dropped Asher off at school.  By the time I was leaving the school, the young lady had just passed the entrance & was continuing along the road in the same direction I was headed.  So I stopped & asked if she’d like a ride.  She got in the truck & said, “Thank you so much!  It’s so nice of you to offer me a ride!  I was working late last night & was up until 2, so I slept in a bit this morning, but I just knew I was going to be late for class!  Are you headed to class as well?”

 

She then looked in the back seat & saw Chancery.  “No,” I told her, “I’m on my way to the grocery store, but the University is on my way, so I figured you might like a lift.”  We chatted the rest of the way & she thanked me again for helping her get to classes on time.  I didn’t mind a bit.  I kind of like being mistaken for a University student, especially when the person asking is 19!

A Day At The Races

Yesterday was PChad’s birthday (he turned THIRTY!!!), so we decided to celebrate by going to the annual Demolition Derby in Oyster Bed.  Since it’d been ingrained into us that when you go somewhere you arrive early, we were at the racetrack 1/2 an hour before things got started.

Lucky for us, it was audience appreciation day, so they were giving the kids rides in the race cars.  Chancery told me afterwards, “I helped the driver drive the car.”

Asher took rides in 3 different cars…

…he then gave me the lowdown on how many times he went around the track in each car.

The kids started off excited…

…but the lack of naps soon caught up with them.

Asher discovered that he could see people under the bleachers, so he spent the bulk of the afternoon saying “hello” to anyone who would listen.

And of course, it looked like fun, so Chancery had to join in too.

We had a great time.  I was a bit surprised that the kids did so well (don’t get me wrong, they weren’t angels) seeing as we were there for over 4 hours.  My only complaint was that the demolition derby part was so short.  When I’ve been to them before, the entire afternoon is different heats of the demolition with different cars; yesterday was a day of stock car races with a 15 minute crash up derby at then end.  But it was a fun way to spend our last weekend of summer.

Figure of Speech

At lunch today, PChad was making plans for his afternoon.  He said, “Well, I’d better take off now.”

 

Asher then piped up, “I want to go on the airplane with you, Daddy!”

 

It took us a minute to figure out why Asher thought PChad was going to be flying somewhere.  Asher was a bit disappointed when we explained to him that PChad was merely going to a meeting.

 

**************************

 

After he got back home, Asher wanted to try on PChad’s motorbike helmet.  He put it on, stated, “I’m going to a meeting now!” and began running around the house making motorbike sounds.

 

He knows his Daddy well…

Mine’s Still Cooler

They make the minivan look cool, but I still love my Pathfinder more!

 

Happy Friday!