Good deals all around!

I have been having some amazing luck. I was disappointed that I ended up forgetting all the kids medicine at the old place. Things like tylenol, cold medicine, etc. I also had noticed that I was running low on my stockpile of toys that I like to keep around for kids to take to birthday parties. I buy things as I find them on sale and send the kids with a good present I only paid a few bucks for when they attend a party. Well, I went up town and saw that the drug store was having a sidewalk sale on and selling things at rock bottom prices. Toys that were regularly $10.99 were now a dollar! They had kids medicine on for really cheap too! I got the kids vitamins, tylenol, allergy relief, cold medication and everything. I also got so many future gifts it wasn't even funny. But it will all come in handy sometime. That's for sure. I ended up getting $274 worth of stuff for $67! And no tax! 

And then this morning as I was drinking my coffee I realized I had no where to put it. No end tables, no coffee tables and no kitchen table. I was thinking about how nice it would be to have just a small coffee table or even a TV table. Just something to set beside my chair (no couch either).  Another thing I noticed that we needed was a small garbage can. I thought I would take Jimmy out to some garage sales tomorrow and see what we could find. 

Well, I took the garbage out to the dumpster today and I noticed two black metal legs sticking up. I know how wasteful people can be so it wouldn't have surprised me if it had of been a table in good shape. I looked at it as best I could considering it was covered in garbage. I walked around and thought about it and decided to heck with the neighbors I was going to go for it. I had to stand on the part that the garbage truck arms go into and try and grab it. I ended up dropping the table, half falling inside the dumpster and then onto the ground. So much for trying to be inconspicuous. I figured the damage was done so I didn't even look around. I just grabbed my perfectly good table and walked into my apartment like I owned it. 

I also thought that I saw a nice looking TV tray in there. I wanted some time to regain my composure before going out to try for it. I waited until dark and when I went out to get it I found a good surprise! Now on top of the TV tray was 2 full garbage bags of pop cans! There has to be at least $30 worth. So looks like I got some perfectly good furniture and $30! Oh and I found a nice small white garbage can. That's right! I found all the things I wanted for the apartment for free right outside my door!

Got a job, a haircut and weathered a storm!

Okay, I didn't get the haircut. Jimmy did. And he was SUCH a good boy! He even sat totally still for the clippers. I was so proud of him! You can see all the pictures here.

And I got a job at the Hardware Store in Loon Lake. I start on Monday. I have no idea if it's full time or what! lol! I just walked in and asked if they were hiring once they completed their new store (before fall) and they said they were hiring NOW! lol! He didn't even want to see my resume. How cool is that? It's a good thing Dave and I did so much shopping there and we got to know them. Jimmy starts at his daycare on Monday and I am actually happy that he is going to get out and play with other kids. The daycare seems really nice.

And today Jimmy and I went out to the land to check the animals and we got caught in a cool storm! I have never seen so much water/hail come down in such a short amount of time. Every dip became a river. The cow trails even turned into rivers. The thunder and lightning were really bad too, but they don't show up in the video.  Check it out and read the description for more info if you want. 

Fishing!!

So I have a confession to make. I have never caught a fish. I have gone fishing at least 15 times and have never ever caught one. I have gotten many bites, but nothing ever stayed on the line. So when people tell me they want to go fishing I often roll my eyes and think about what a waste of time that is. I don't make a very good Saskie. 

So yesterday Dave wanted to try fishing where he has actually caught fish before. We went out about 3pm and I was sure that we wouldn't catch anything. Isn't there some sort of rule about only fishing in the morning or the evening? I have to admit that I wasn't very optimistic, but if anyone could do it, Dave could. 

We went out to Backwater Creek which is really only a few miles from the apartment and is surrounded by farms. The creek doesn't seem very big or very deep. I was thinking that if Dave DID catch a fish it would only be about the size of a minnow. 

Now you can imagine my shock when after only about 15 minutes Dave landed a big Jack just about longer than Jimmy!! Jimmy was excited until it landed in the grass. Then he nearly had a fit when it was flopping around with it's big teeth showing! 

It wasn't much longer until Dave caught another one!! Not as big, but certainly big enough to eat. For some reason this one scared Jimmy even more than the first one. It took a lot of convincing to get him to sit close enough to the bigger fish for a picture. I had to pretend to pet it and tell him how wonderful it was. Wont be long until he is a good little fisherman. Hopefully better than his Mom! 

Father's Day

So on Saturday Morgan had a birthday party to go to in Saskatoon so I snagged her from her Dad for the day. She wasn't originally going to be able to make it, but Dave and I decided we should grab Jimmy and the chain link dog kennel I bought. We wanted to get him back for Father's Day. I had forgotten about Father's Day when I left Jim in Saskatoon.  So on Saturday we made a run down to Saskatoon with the truck. It was a bit nerve wracking driving back because the poles were sticking a good 5-6 feet out the back of the truck. At least they were pointed up in the air so cars would drive under them and not into them. Once again *I* was driving. How come I always get stuck driving? lol!

So on Father's Day Dave decided he wanted to take Jimmy fishing after he showed him how to chop down a tree?? Well it was POURING rain. Like ridiculous amounts of rain. There was only so much fishing a person could do. We don't have a boat and there are only so many good places to fish from shore. We went for a drive to find a lake. I think we left around 1pm and ended up driving until 8pm! We drove way West of Loon Lake and down through the Bronson Forest. We took some interesting side roads, stopped at a neat little store and generally just enjoyed our 'rain day'. Dave did a bit of fishing but didn't catch anything. But that was okay, we had fun anyway. I think the highlight of Dave's day was when he found some sort of rare orchid. It happens to actually be in the area where I shot the video near the bridge. I am so glad we got a chance to tour around our beautiful country and enjoy this new place we call home. 

Watering the lawn!

Dave has been on one of his weeks off and we have been having way too much fun. For the first half we were childless so we just camped out on the land and enjoyed the benefits of our hard work. It was blistering hot the first couple days so one evening (Thursday?) at around 6:45pm Dave got a bright idea that we should get a water pump to water the pastures. We called Princess Auto in Lloydminster and they said they had them on sale! But they closed at 9pm. For some reason we decided to just jump in the car and GO. We made a 'hot shot' trip straight to Lloyd and back. We almost blew it because Dave thought we could get oil on the way home. He was leaving Lloyd and I reminded him that it was almost after 10pm and we would be only going through small towns. NOTHING is open after 9 in a small town and you would be lucky to find a store open that late. 

We got it all running first thing in the morning and Dave decided we needed more parts. I think we made at least 2 trips into the local hardware store to get more stuff for it. We ended up with an actual usable irrigation system with hoses coming off everywhere. I think we can now water 275 feet out. But I could be wrong on that. It's sure fun on a hot day!  

Going to back track a bit...

I have the internet here in the apartment, but I am not in the apartment that often it seems. I am going to break up the next few posts in to updates from the last week until we get caught up. It's way too much to put in one post. 

Anyway, on Saturday the 13th I left my place in Quill Lake first thing in the morning and ran my kids to Warman to be in a parade with my family. I got there JUST in time...well almost. I had to chase the parade a bit with the kids. But they got to ride in most of it. It was really fun for them and standing and watching the parade gave me a nice break from my stress. After the parade I had to go

 and borrow my moms van and run to Saskatoon and get Dave's big tires and take them back to my moms. That was the last of the stuff out of storage in Saskatoon. I was supposed to get some help loading the tires, but I ended up doing it myself. Then I had to pick up a cat and take it to Meadow Lake for Lori. I ran back to my moms with the tires and the cat and took Morgan and the dogs up to Meadow Lake with me leaving Jimmy at my moms. Morgan and I got to the land and got the dogs organized with lots of food and water. Then we headed to the apartment and Lori met us there to get her cat. Morgan and I spent the rest of that day organizing stuff and then we had our first night there. The next day her Grandma picked her up and I got a ride back to Quill Lake with Jason. I got to Quill Lake around midnight. Then I had to get up at 5am and get organized because my horse hauler was supposed to be there at 6:30. I had to run and feed the neighbors cat and then get the horses all ready to go. It was so stressful trying to make sure the last of everything was packed. My horse hauler ended up taking a LOT of stuff inside his truck. He was really nice about it. We just ran the horses straight up to the land and only 

stopped for gas. And when I say ran, I 

mean ran!! That guy drove 130km/h all the way up, sometimes going 140km/h! . I followed behind in Dave's car. I was almost scared it would blow up! I had my cat with me and I arranged for my friend Lori to meet us on the land to grab my cat and all my stuff out of the horse haulers truck. It worked out perfect! 

I had my job interview on Tuesday and so far I have not hear back. 

Last post for a while...

Well, Dave's car is ready to go! Everything went well with getting it paid for and on the road. Today was Track and Field for Morgan and Kindergarden graduation. I had NO idea that was going to take from 9am until 3:30pm. I still had to close out my bank account, arrange for my mail to be forwarded, buy tie down straps and load the vehicles. Needless to say I am a bit behind. The car and van are so packed it's not even funny. I am leaving here about 7am tomorrow and I have about 1 hour of packing left and about 1 hour of cleaning left. I am about to pack up the computer and get that over with. Busy busy weekend and then I can relax a bit.

Oh and just a bit of good news! I applied for a job I really want and they called me today for an interview! I go Tuesday at 9:15am! Wish me luck because this job is more than perfect for us. I really hope this is one of those things that is just meant to be. It's feels like it! 

Anyway, I have no idea when we are going to hook up the internet. So I will just say goodbye for now!  

Getting down to the wire!

Most of the stuff that is left is packed. Van is loaded and there is just enough room for the dogs. I wish there wasn't quite so much stuff left! :( I could really use the time tomorrow to pack and finish, but Morgan has Hi Lo (track and field) tomorrow morning and then Kindergarten Grad in the afternoon. At least this will give me a chance to say goodbye to everyone. I think the plan is going to go just the way I thought it was. I will take the kids to Warman on Saturday morning in time for the parade (which means leaving here around 7am). Then I have to go back to Saskatoon, move Dave's tires out of storage so we can get rid of that storage, pick up a cat for my friend Lori in Meadow Lake and then head up to Meadow Lake Saturday afternoon. I will have time on Sat and Sun to unpack stuff and do some final fencing on the land. Sunday night late I am getting a ride back to Quill Lake and then Monday morning I follow behind he horse hauler with the car (and the very last of the stuff). 

So that's the plan for now! 

Not sure how to coordinate all this...

*sigh* Dave's car is fixed. He just has to pay for it and get plates on it then we can get it out of here. I also have a van, two kids, 3 dogs, a cat and about 2 van fulls of stuff left! lol! My Mom also wants the kids this weekend because it's rodeo weekend in Warman. Thinking if Dave manages to get his car plated that I can take the kids and his car to Warman Friday night and then take it up to Meadow Lake Saturday evening. I can drop Morgan off at her Dad's and I can catch a ride back to Quill Lake. Then I can bring the van up on Monday when I follow the horses. That should work, but I don't know about leaving the dogs here for the weekend. And who knows if Dave will be able to pay for that car. 

Oh and I just called the horse hauler and the price went up with the price of gas. It's now $4 a loaded mile. Great. I expected it, but I didn't want to hear it. Another $325 is NOT going to be easy to find. UGH!!!!!!! I just want this nonsense to be over so I can quit shelling out the big bucks. Hauling our stuff up there has already cost me almost $900. 

I have to just keep telling myself this will work. 

Most stressful weekend ever.

I honestly have never been so stressed out in my life! I know this because it was the first time in my life I was actually so stressed I was sick to my stomach and spent more than a little time in the bathroom. 

I got the U-haul around 5 on Friday. I was going to just take my van in and leave it there, but a friend offered to drive me into get it! Thank you Ursela! I loaded some stuff into it on Friday and then tried to focus on getting some stuff ready for Morgan's party on Sat. Sat morning came and I  THOUGHT my family (who had come into a motel Friday night) was going to come over and help. My mom, Carla, my little brother and his girlfriend did, but my sisters wouldn't. I could have really used their help even just getting the kids organized. But no. They said they would come around 1pm and I needed their help at least doing the scavenger hunt. The party was going to start at 2, so at 1:30 I finally stopped packing and ran out and hid the stuff with Carla (family friend). My mom was making cake and muffins in the house. My sisters finally showed up a half hour LATE and left back to the motel as soon as the party was over.  I understand my one sister had a sore back, but they could have helped with something. :(  For the record they did help take the kids around on the hunt, but that's fun so it doesn't count! lol! 

 I went and picked up the picnic tables from the Fire Department. They rent them out for $5 a day. Got the party going. It was a smashing success. A nice break from the stress of the move. 18 kids showed up and all of them got pony rides and had a blast with the scavenger hunt. Then the party was over and it was time to get serious. Seriously sick. My 'help' left and I wasn't sure how I was going to get anything loaded. My friend Heidi was at the party and a friend offered to take home her kids so she could help. Thank you Kim! I ended up losing the U-haul keys for about 45 minutes and I was a wreck thinking I had accidentally packed them. UGH! Heidi started helping me get my room done and we found them under my chair. We had to take the picnic tables back and I stopped by Ursela's to see how much of my stuff she sold at her garage sale. I had a check and $15. Well $15 is what I owed on the picnic tables. Heidi suggested that we just drop the money off then since I had it and we were in town. When we went to Robs house to drop off the money Heidi asked him if he would quickly just come and help us load Dave's HUGE table saw. He came right over and we got it in pretty easy with his help. Thank goodness for him! He kept us from killing ourselves. THANK YOU ROB! Heidi, Carla and I  loaded stuff until 7pm and then she had to go and get her kids. When she got there they were asleep so she CAME BACK! What an amazing friend! Thank you Heidi! Around then my sisters thought they were going to come over for supper!!!!! Are you joking? They couldn't understand when I said "Find your own food!!" Sorry sista. No help, no food.  The rest of us had a really nice BBQ! We finally got done loading around 10:30. Without Heidi and Carla it wouldn't have gotten done. 

I managed to convince Carla (who came with my family to the party) to leave early Sat morning. Really early! lol! I picked her up at 5am (after I got about 2 hours sleep) and we headed to Saskatoon with the u-haul. I had to get all of Dave's stuff (and a little of mine) out of a 10 x 10 storage unit that was packed FULL. The only way to get into the storage place was to back in. I had to back that U-haul between a gate that had about 6 inches of clearance on each side and then all they way down a long row of units! Got it done, took us an hour and we loaded all the stuff. I dropped her off on the way out of town. 

I got gas just outside of Saskatoon and the darn thing took $200!!! I burned up a half a tank (according to the gas gauge). I was a bit freaked thinking about it costing at least another $200 to get to Meadow Lake and then adding more once I got there to make sure it was the same as when I got it. It was gas so you can about imagine how much I thought it would take. 

Would you believe I got over 200kms (125 miles) before the gas gauge moved off of full! When I got to Meadow Lake I still had 3/4 of a tank and that's what it had when I picked it up! So driving 540 (335 miles) in that beast only cost $200 total! That's not bad at all! That U-haul was 34.5 feet long from bumper to bumper. 

When I got to Meadow Lake I had found some help to unload the U-haul. A friend suggested I try calling Multiworks and see if they could find me some guys! Well it worked (Thank you Darwin!) I had two guys help me unload and they were good and strong and worked for $10 an hour!! 3 hours of unloading only cost $60! Thank goodness because after paying for the storage unit in Meadow Lake (something I forgot about), I was about broke. 

Unloading took forever. I had rented a 15 x 7 unit and I knew that not much was going to fit. The u-haul was also packed all mixed up with half needing to go into the apartment and half needing to go into the storage unit. We basically had to unload the entire U-haul to get to it all. We made 3 piles, storage, apartment and I don't know! lol! Once we got almost everything out and onto the ground we could figure out how best to pack the storage unit. And WOW did we pack it. It was tight! I kept all my horse stuff up at the front so I could get it easy. I don't have a tack room so right now if I want to ride I just go and get my saddle from storage and take it out. I also left a bunch of stuff up at the front that will go out to the land right away. And Dave's tools are near the front so he can get them. The back is packed with stuff we don't need for 6 months like Dave's 500lb + table saw and Christmas decorations, etc. 

Then we had to put all the stuff for the apartment back into the U-haul and take it over there. We forgot the dishwasher was on wheels and I turned one corner and we heard this BANG! Oops! I ran back and opened the door and the dishwasher had slid across so hard we broke off a wheel. Sad, but at least that was the only think I noticed that got broke in the whole move. 

It only took about another hour to get everything into the apartment. I was in a bit of a panic because I had a ride back to Quill Lake that was going to leave around 5.  We got done at 4:50 and we were going as fast as we could! Heidi's man Jason was in Meadow Lake helping his Dad and it just happened to work out! Sure beat taking the bus home at 8am this morning! I would have still been on it. Thank you Jason! I got the U-haul washed off and cleaned out and was on the phone with Dave when Jason called me and said he was ready to go. We both got to the U-haul place at the same time. Hows that for great timing? Then we headed to Saskatoon and picked up my kids who had stayed with my family for the day. (They had stayed in the motel with them the night before and then they just took them to Saskatoon with them.) I was SOO happy I didn't have to drive home. I was just dead after all that. We finally got home around midnight. Thank goodness I had a foam pad on the ground I could sleep on. Morgan was on the couch (my Dad is keeping it) and Jimmy was in his playpen. It's sure weird having no stuff left in this house. 

So that was basically my weekend. At least it is DONE. I just have about a van load of stuff her to take with us. And the three dogs, the cat, 9 horses and Dave's car. We should all be done in a week.

So I would like to thank Heidi, Jason, Louise from Multiworks, those two awesome guys (sorry I forget your names!), Carla, my Mother, my brother James, his girlfriend Pheadra, Darwin, Ursela, Kim and Rob for making this weekend possible. Sorry if I forgot anyone, but I don't think I did. 

Oh and I promise to get the pictures from Morgan's party up soon. 

Packing packing packing!

UGH! We have so much stuff!! You have no idea how many toys a daycare can accumulate in a year. My mother would send me all the good toys she would find at garage sales, etc. I have a whole basement full of stuff that we do not need! I am also one of those people that tends to keep more stuff than I should keep and buy more stuff at the dollar store than I should buy! It's not that bad, but a LOT has to go. I found the perfect solution! Tomorrow the whole town of Quill Lake is having a garage sale. I am taking some of my bigger more expensive stuff in for a friend to sell. The rest is getting donated to the church my family goes to (and anything that doesn't sell tomorrow). They are having a garage sale soon to raise money for the church. Everyone is asked to try and donate some items to sell! Well I have many many bags and boxes already packed for them! My front porch is loaded with stuff. It really is a big relief to unload so much extra stuff. Thank goodness Morgan is on board with the whole project. She is happily donating anything she hasn't played with in a while. She is actually getting rid of a lot more than she really has to. Fingers crossed we can get rid of enough that this will all fit into the U-Haul (we also have a 10 x 10  storage in Saskatoon that has to fit in the U-Haul and half a tack room full of stuff for my horses that has to fit). Good thing we are not taking half the furniture. I want different stuff anyway so my Dad might as well keep it. 

UGH! I hope this works...

My family is coming out for Morgan's party on the weekend. They have agreed to help load the u-haul I am going to rent. I am not sure WHO can follow me up to Meadow Lake with my van on Sunday and help me unload it. But I think we can find a few people. This should work. It's going to cost a fortune so it had better work. I think we are going to give up our storage place in Saskatoon and just rent one in Meadow Lake. It's stupid to have all of our stuff in Saskatoon. Unfortunately we have to rent the biggest u-haul and it's probably going to be packed full. We have things like a ginormous table saw and a plastic play house! lol! Those things alone will take up a quarter of it. 

Good and Bad weekend

So lets talk about the good stuff first. My ex husband and I managed to get a large holding pasture built near where the house is going to go. I would guess it's about 30 acres and has a large pond in it and lots of trees for shelter. It goes down a half mile, across two hundred feet or so and back up. We put in about 100 posts. It's just one wire for now, but as soon as I save up some more money it will be two wire and eventually a three wire because of the cattle that are coming. Well, the fence is just about done. I have to do some fencing in the trees to keep them from walking around the pond. Wont be a big deal. We put in a few gates at each end and kept the fence 16 feet away from the perimeter fence so we can drive around the land and not worry about horses getting out. 

I also managed to secure us an apartment in Meadow Lake. I am not overly excited about living in Meadow Lake, but I will get over it. The apartment is in a good location, clean, bright, spacious. Well....as spacious as a one bedroom can be. Ya, we are going to be living in a one bedroom. It will be okay though. I will fix it up so we all have our space. I also applied for a few full time jobs in town. Hopefully I get one soon and get a daycare secured for Jimmy. (Morgan will be at her Dad's for the summer). 

And now for the bad part! lol! When I drove up to camp I couldn't see our 'house'. Couldn't see it. Couldn't see it. Ummmm...... Yup! It was GONE. Left trail though so I could find it. :( Must have been a CRAZY wind. I can not believe it just up and took off like that. We had a tarp attached to the bottom and a ton of stuff piled on the tarp. It was also staked down. It should have never ever taken off. I can't believe people have these things set up all the time with cars in them. Scary. I am just so glad w

e were not in it. The tent weighs s

o much that a leg bar to the head would be a bad thing. It's broken and if we ever do get it fixed I wont be comfortable sleeping in it again. Certainly not with the kids. Here are some pictures of the destruction. It was impressive! Pictures

*sigh* And the container that had our blankets in it was flipped over. I didn't know until it was time to go to bed that that meant they were

 soaking wet. So I slept in my van with no blankets. Oh well. Dave says it my 'First night alone on Skull Creek initiation.' I lived so I passed! lol!