Life Update

Summer is almost over and many things have changed around here. We lost our raw milk source and that was disappointing to say the least. I refuse to go back to regular store milk so made effort to find the next best thing and was able to find, at Quartermasters in Wortley Village, organic, whole milk that is unhomogenized. That's awesome! The brand is called Harmony. The cows are pastured and treated humanely and fed natural foods. The milk is pasteurized at the lowest legal temperature, which is nice-no Ultra High Temperature pasteurization here! They also do not routinely use antibiotics or growth hormones.

Besides the milk issue, we have some HUGE changes going on around here. It has been a flurry of activity for the last few weeks. The last week of August, we were searching for a lodger to help us cover bills. Then, we had someone agree to move in for the 1st of September, then the next day he called and told us he couldn't move. Then I was told I was losing a client due to her giving the job to her sister-in-law, and I had just lost my other full-time weekly client due to terminal illness. Things were NOT looking good. On top of that, Ben got notice that he was being laid off as of October 3rd. Not good at all.

Considering the fact we had used what savings we had last time he was laid off for 4 months, and couldn't survive the wait period for EI, never mind the fact that EI won't pay our expenses, I figured drastic action was required. I asked my Mom if her and Dad would consider allowing us to move in there to get us back on our feet. This was on September 1st. Keep that in mind.

She texted me back, saying she would talk to Dad and was on her way to pick him up. I emailed Ben and told him I had asked Mom if we could move in. A little while later, Mom texted me and told me to call her. On the phone, she said we could move in. That meant I had to get my notice in to Sifton PRONTO! I emailed Ben, who understood this was our only option, and typed up a letter of notice for Sifton. I immediately took it over to the Berkshire Club to hand in. The lady at the desk felt it necessary to admonish me for waiting to give it to her until the 1st; apparently I should have done it the day before. Luckily there are 31 days in October, else we would have been stuck here until Nov 30 instead of October 31. And I'm not sure how we would have paid October's rent!

We immediately realized we were going to have to get rid of EVERYTHING. We will not be taking any furniture aside from our bedroom set, Ben's big TV, and the kitchen set. Everything else is being sold or donated. Even our decorations, half my clothes, and all other unnecessary items will be gone. We started purging the stuff from the basement and I have gotten my stored stuff down to 1 box of Christmas decorations (not getting rid of that!), 1 box of Halloween decorations, 1 box of keepsake items (baby book, Ty's ashes, photos, etc), 2 boxes of reference books, and then my craft stuff. All of my other books are being sold or donated. I posted 3 lists of books on my Facebook in the Notes section and had some response but other than that, I will put the books out in a yard sale next week, and whatever doesn't sell will go to the used bookstores for credit. Anything they don't take will go to Valu Village.

The same goes for clothes. A new consignment shop just opened in the plaza down the street so that's where most of my clothes will go. I have a lot of suits and such, and I don't really need them anymore. I will keep one suit but the rest will go. I also have dresses and other items that I don't wear anymore that are just taking up space. All of Delilah's old clothes will go to Once Upon a Child or be donated.

The "donation" pile downstairs is huge, and keeps getting bigger every day. It feels good, to go thru boxes I've had for years and years and realize that I just don't NEED this stuff. There's no way I'm moving all that crap again! There is some space for storage at my parents', in the spare room or the basement, but why bother? I am in a competition with myself to get rid of as much stuff as I can. I know how much crap we have, considering we just moved in here last Feb 29th. And I know we said we wouldn't move again until it was to our own house, but things happen. At least we'll be starting fresh in a year or two. I didn't realize it, but Ben felt a lot of the stuff here was "mine", not "ours". Which is odd, considering I got rid of a lot of stuff when I moved from Guelph to Ingersoll last time!

The sad news about the move is that we have to get rid of Harley. We are heartbroken but my parents won't consider allowing him to come with us. I tried to convince them, since D loves him so much, but they won't budge. I will be meeting with a family in the next few days who are considering taking him. They live on a farm, have a 7 year old son and an 8 month old puppy and horses. The mother is always home, and they take the dogs with them when they go out. It sounds like the perfect place for him. He needs the space to run, and I think another dog will help him with his anxiety.

The other day I told Ben that it will be a long time before I consider getting another pet. Every single other animal I've had, I've had to get rid of in one way or another. Felix stayed with my parents when I moved to Guelph (and hates me now). Maddox ran away (or was killed, haven't figured that out yet) when she was left with housemates. Birdie had to go to a new (loving) home when Tyler was insistent on killing her, and Tyler had to be put down just last February. And now Harley.

Aside from the Harley situation, I am excited to start this new aspect of our lives. I think it will allow us to change and grow and go in a new direction. One year will allow us to become debt-free, and another year will have us saving for a down payment.