And now it is Spring. Beautiful sunny blessed longer daylight spring! We are still wearing boots and toques 50% of the time. But yesterday there was a house fly in the kitchen, so I am declaring it spring! And our little family of four is alive and well. We made it through the storm. We are all moved and settled in to our new life back home in Alberta. We joked back in September that we were going to wake up one morning in April and not recognize our life. And in truth sometimes it feels that way, but not really in a disorienting way. To help explain and catch you up to speed with the Swans I will try to Q&A some of the usual questions people ask about our move.
Question: Where are you?
Answer: fair enough... we are in NW Calgary. (Rockyridge) We bought a house up here and love the area so far. pretty hills. close to the mountains. edge of the city.
*follow up Q: Why did you pick WAY up there? (Matt grew up in south Calgary, and I in Lethbridge, and we still have family/friends in the south)
A: After 8 years of anonymity in Texas, we liked the idea of moving somewhere new within the city. Starting fresh away from preconceived notions of who we are/where. Matt's brother and family live up here and sold us on the area. It has a quick commute to downtown on the train. Good community amenities. And seems like a nice place to raise our family.
Q: how are you dealing with the cold?
A: it is a surprising non-issue. (says the girl who doesn't shovel the walk or wait in the cold for the train). We claimed for years that Texas was better because of the weather. Not true. Weather is just weather. Good and bad wherever you live. We weren't bothered by the snow and the cold this winter. Ask us again in a year or two.
Q: so you are here for good?
A: yes.
Q: did Matt find a new job, or transfer within the company.
A: same company, but he had to apply as an outsider. He is working as a Canadian not an American. But lucky for us, we got all the benefits of an in-company transfer when he got the job. (they moved us, bought our house, travel allowance, temporary housing, etc.)
Q: what has been the biggest adjustment
A: Here is the short list.... Canada's crappy banks. what do you mean we have to PAY for checks, and sub-accounts!? (but then again, the crappy Canadian banks didn't fail.) Also, the short days and low sun up north in the winter. Especially when we first moved. It was always twilight. Drove us crazy. We aren't fans of Canadian cable t.v. Where are all the sports?!?! And lastly... everything costs more. Groceries, clothes, restaurants, entertainment. But we were prepared for those adjustments.
Q: what is the best thing about being home
A: Tim Hortons. kidding. Family hands down. We just got back from a quick pop down to Lethbridge for a baby blessing. We used to miss all those kinds of events. So nice to be part of it again. And we even left early with sick kids... something we couldn't do when we would visit a week or two at a time.
Q: How are the kids doing with the move?
A: Rosemary is awesome. She has been dragged around since birth so it hasn't seemed to bother her a bit. (classic 2nd child) Wheeler had a bit of an unsettled time when we moved out of our temporary apartment (we were there 6 weeks). He would often ask where we lived and wanted a long version account of how "daddy got a new job and so we sold our house, the movers packed up all our things, got on an airplane... etc. " He still occasionally asks about going to Cindy lane and swimming at Grandmas. But he has settled in well enough now. He loves his cousins and has made some good little friends in Canada. We also taught him how to skate this winter. He really loves it and we are looking forward to teaching him how to snow ski next winter!
Q: What do you miss about Texas?
A: The food is the automatic answer. Tex-Mex, BBQ, cajun food, southern food, tea served at every restaurant. The cheap groceries/food/retail is another easy one. We also traded in lots of Papa and Grandma time in Texas for being close to the rest of our family. Wheeler has to learn how to share his grandparents now when they visit... something hard for him. We miss our Texas friends of course. But catching up with old friends who still live in Canada, or have moved away and now also moved home has been so great and kept us so busy. We have been feeling a little bit guilty that we forgot how many really cool friends we know up here and we were so bad at keeping in touch with while we lived in Texas. And now we feel even guiltier that we have been poor at keeping in touch with our really cool buddies back down in the south. ( sorry y'all. mental note to do better!) All in all, yes of course we miss it. But we haven't felt homesick for it and the transition has been remarkably easy. Which leads into the BIG question...
Q: So are you happy that you moved back to Canada? (and this one is always said tentatively with one eyebrow raised... )
A: YES YES YES! We really are happy here. We are probably more surprised than anyone how easy and painless the move and transition has been. For those who know how long we hoed and hummed and weighed all the pros and cons about coming back... please believe us when we say whole heartily that we are glad that we did. The majority of our hesitations have turned out to be moot points. We concede that it was the right decision for our little family. And we don't have regrets EVEN when it is snowing in April.
So a happy Spring from the now/again Canadian Swans. Let us know if you would like our new contact information!
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