Moving Day

Last Sunday (April 30th), we drove to Guelph to help with our son's fourth annual Moving Day. Keys for their new place were to be available for pick up after 12 p.m. We arrived just after 11:30 a.m.  

The moving crew this year included three young men (our son and his roommates) and two sets of parents including us. For vehicles they had a pickup truck (borrowed), a van, our Santa Fe and our son's hatchback. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see packing was well underway when we arrived. Box springs were already loaded and ready to go. 

We filled the bins and boxes we had brought then helped load up the van and the hatchback before making our first trip over to their new place.

I rode with our son and his dog. Ajax sat in his bed, but seemed a little unsettled with all the chaos of Moving Day.

"Smile boys." OK never mind ... not a lot of enthusiasm for Mom taking photos on Moving Day.

I took one photo of the kitchen then set to work carrying things upstairs and downstairs as directed. Mostly I kept Ajax company while everybody else made multiple trips back and forth. Moves involving three strong young men are so much easier ... they do all the heavy lifting.

It took all afternoon to move everything. They were lucky with the weather. The rain held off until after the last boxes were unloaded. By then, everybody was hungry. We met at Fionn MacCool's for a yummy dinner before heading for home, leaving the boys to set up their bedrooms and finish unpacking.

Although I didn't take more pictures of their new place, I will tell you it is a three bedroom townhouse condo with a three piece bathroom upstairs, a two piece downstairs, a fenced patio out back and an unfinished basement with laundry and plenty of storage. The whole place has been freshly renovated - new carpet, linoleum, kitchen cabinets, appliances, bathroom fixtures, paint - everything is shiny and new. 

Their new place is slightly smaller than their last place, but the central location with better bus service more than makes up for that. Besides one less bathroom to clean is probably a good thing. They were missing curtain rods on the newly patched and painted walls, but my son tells me they have already installed rods on all but the kitchen window.

My son shared a couple photos taken at their new place. They look happy.

With Moving Day done, we wish them all another great year in Guelph.  

You can read about last year's move here if you missed it.

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The New Place

We helped our son move into a new place in Guelph a couple weeks ago. He is now living in a three bedroom townhouse condo with two friends. I wrote about the move here, but neglected to take many photos.   

My husband and son registered with a friend and his son to ride the Fox Epic 8 Hour Relay at Mansfield on Saturday. Guelph is much closer to Mansfield than London, so we stayed over at the new place Friday night. I took a few photos Saturday morning before heading out. 

Our son is happy with his new blackout grey curtains. They block the light and coordinate nicely with his bed linens - a much better choice than purple and black sheer drapes. 

I like the fun shower curtain his friends bought for their bathroom. 

On the main floor, there is a two-piece bathroom and a coat closet to the left of the stairs. The door to the garage is across from the stairs. The hallway leads into an open concept kitchen/living room/dining room.

With simple furnishings, it seems quite spacious. To the right of those boxes is the door to an unfinished basement with a front-load washer and dryer.

There is a small deck out back which overlooks a children's play park. 

The New Place is really very nice. I am happy to see them comfortably settled for another year in Guelph.

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Moving Day Mayhem

On Saturday we drove to Guelph to help our son move from one house to another. He was moving from a six bedroom house shared with five other students to an almost new three bedroom townhouse he will share with two friends. In almost every way his new place will be better.

We loaded up our Santa Fe with a few essentials from home - new bed linens and pillows, dishes and glasses bought on Kijiji, Costco-size oatmeal (breakfast staple), olive oil and steel-toed shoes (needed for his new job). We also bought a double mattress and box-spring on Kijiji and booked a U-Haul trailer in Guelph so we could pick up the mattress and move the rest of his stuff more efficiently. My husband bought a trailer hitch. We were organized. This was to be an easy move.

We made good time arriving in Guelph ~11 a.m. Our son was ready to go. We packed a few more things in the car and drove to the new place with our first load. We were scheduled to pick up the trailer at noon for six hours. At the house, we made a list of things we needed from the nearby Jysk and Dollarama - dish soap, garbage can, toilet brush, shower curtain and bath mat. With our shopping done, we headed out to get the trailer.

That's when the trouble started. It was a busy student area with lots of students moving. Traffic was slow and the road to U-Haul was closed. We took a detour finally reaching the U-Haul place by 1 p.m., an hour behind schedule. My husband hooked the trailer to our hitch, but couldn't connect the wires to operate the lights. We needed a special adapter. Not a problem, Canadian Tire should carry it.

Canadian Tire did not carry it. Hyundai did not carry it. Houghton trailers did not carry it, but while we were there, Hyundai called and said they might have a solution. They had an adapter another customer had ordered for their 2012 Santa Fe. Unfortunately, our 2010 Santa Fe requires a slightly different adapter. In the end, we had to cancel the trailer rental. My husband thought we might be able to tie the mattress to the roof of our Santa Fe. The mattress we had purchased was in Solstice (student housing) just two miles from our son's new house.

When we arrived, the parking lot at Solstice was crowded with U-Haul trucks, trailers and vans. It was total Moving Day Mayhem for students and parents. We managed to find a parking spot. I stayed with the vehicle while my husband and son went to get the mattress from a second floor unit. I chatted with one of the other parents waiting for his son and friends to bring stuff down to the large truck he had rented. There was only one elevator, so he had been waiting a long time. I asked if he would be willing to deliver our mattress for $20. He agreed, refusing any money. We were grateful for his help.

Once the mattress was delivered, we picked up one more vehicle load, then I stayed at the new house and set up the bedroom while my husband and son made multiple trips back and forth. It took another three hours to move everything.

By then it was 6 p.m. and we were starving. We decided to eat at Fionn MacCool's. It was delicious. After dinner, we shopped for groceries then dropped off our son and headed home to London. Our son's roommate also picked up groceries with his Mom. They should eat well this week.

Our son is happy with his new room. The box spring and mattress look fine on the floor. The grey bed linens tone down the pinkish mauve walls. His desk fits in the corner. He has a big closet and private bathroom with a separate shower and Jacuzzi tub. The shower curtain he chose was cheap yet looks terrific. 

He feels guilty getting the largest room in the house, but it's a nice change from the small room he had last time and a bargain at only $25 more than his friend's pay per month. He's not happy with the purple and black sheer curtains, so I'll pick up neutral curtains from Costco and bring them in two weeks when we visit. 

 

 

Another friend will be moving in this week. Internet is scheduled to be hooked up soon. I think they will enjoy living here. Utilities are extra and it costs a bit more with only three people sharing, but the main issue involves a relative lack of bus service. There is a bus stop out front. Unfortunately nobody thought to check the schedule before committing.

The bus runs during school until 10:30 p.m. In the summer, there is no bus. The next closest bus stop is at the University about 4 km away. At least they have bikes and their jobs are within 5 km. If it's a problem, they can always move again next year. 

In the meantime, we plan to get an adapter for our Santa Fe so we can tow a trailer and minimize Moving Day Mayhem.

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Taste of Freedom

On May 1st, our son moved to Guelph into a house he will be sharing with five friends for his second year at University. Since rentals run May to April, he and a few others decided to stay the summer. 

They plan to get jobs and enjoy a Taste of Freedom involving fewer rules and more independence. They liked living in residence, but were ready to move on. Our son likened it to 'day care' for big kids. I get it.

Freedom for us means an 'empty-nest'. Once I learn to stop worrying, I'm sure I'll love this phase. There was no internet at the house and, since I don't own a smart phone, communication was limited. 

I got one anxious call the first weekend. Our son needed to turn off the water because the 'bath was broken'. I told him to call his Dad or his Grandpa then I sent an email to his landlord who was able to arrange for a plumber to fix the problem. Our son now knows how to turn off the water and how to contact his landlord if necessary. He's learning to cope and I'm learning to let him. That's the hard part.

I tried not to worry last week. It wasn't easy. Was he eating right? Will he get a job soon? How will he manage if he doesn't. We pay rent, tuition and books, but he has to cover his food and other expenses. More freedom means more responsibility. He's growing up.  

Finally by Friday, our son was back on-line and I was relieved to get the following photos. They have been shopping and they love cooking.

I was happy to see their delicious looking meals. They've got it handled.

 

 

So far there are three in the house, another stays once a week, plus another may be joining them soon. It will be a full house by September. 

Our son is still looking for work. Fingers crossed he gets something soon. His girlfriend who plans to be a vet someday is volunteering at two vet clinics and starts her paying job tomorrow.

They want us to visit. I'd love to. My husband is not keen as he will be in Guelph for work on Friday plus another day next week. He will drop by when he's there. I might have to drive myself if I want to see them. Maybe I'll take my parents. They would love to see his new place too.

For now, I am happy our son is enjoying a Taste of Freedom.

* * * * *

If you would like to read about his move into residence last year, check out this post.

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Mothers' Day Weekend

This was a perfect weekend to celebrate Mothers' Day. With such warm and sunny weather, I asked my SO (Significant Other) to take some garden shots on Saturday. Our magnolia tree is in full bloom and beautiful. Who doesn't love magnolias?

We have flowers blooming along the back wall of our house as well. I love the white Flox. It's such a pretty tiny flower. 

I also love this purple Pasque Flower. It's so intricate and colourful with lacy green leaves. 

Our garden is relatively small but I thoroughly enjoy the few flowers and herbs we grow. I say "we" but really I mean my SO. My gardening enthusiasm ends with the enjoying part. It's my SO who takes care of planting and maintenance. 

He was extra busy planting pots and cleaning the pool this weekend. He added some green by planting basil and removed other green by adding five 10 L jugs of chlorine to the pool over the past few days. The pool looks quite inviting although much too cold for me.

"We" also planted sage and parsley (no photo) and our garden is already full of tarragon, oregano, mint and chives. I love using fresh herbs from our garden all summer long.

On Sunday to celebrate Mothers' Day, we gave my Mom a bouquet of white roses, crochet dish cloths and a card. My favourite pattern for crochet dish cloths can be found here. I like to add a single crochet border to this pattern to give a clean finished look.

In my recent clutter clearing efforts, I found this card from 1972 made when I was almost 9 years old. I thought the verse was funny so I wrote an updated version and gave it to my Mom along with the original. 

Clutter clearing trick - scan paper items so you no longer have to keep the original. You'll save the memory without the clutter. I plan to do more of that to cut down on stored photos and various keepsakes.

I took my Mom to Starbuck's in Byron where we enjoyed cappuccino on the patio then spent some time chatting in my parents' back garden before heading over to my In-Law's for lunch. Lunch was delicious and it was great to get everybody together again. Our son who recently got a part-time job was working but we did manage to save him some apple pie.

After lunch my SO and I had massages booked for 3:00 and 4:30 p.m. which was exactly what we both needed. Me for my shoulder injury and my SO from doing so much extra work around the garden and pool. 

With the timing of massages and extra jobs to be done at home, we missed our son's first soccer game of the season.  Luckily our parents went and our son was happy to report a win which was very exciting and a great start to his season.

My SO also planted Tuberous Begonias in a pot which sits in the corner of our patio. We loved these flowers last year as they were full of blooms all summer long and into the fall. We also love the ambiance provided by colourful light sticks in this pot all year round.

Sitting outside enjoying a glass of wine at the end of the day. A weekend full of simple pleasures.

Then to top it off, our son finally took the time to check his email and discovered he has been accepted at both Carlton University and University of Guelph in Computer Sciences. He had already been accepted at Brock University back in February. Now he has a decision to make. How great is that? He is looking forward to the next step after high school but also thoroughly enjoying himself right now.

I'm so excited for him and looking forward to the inevitable changes this year. I wonder what it will be like to have him out of the house in September? I wonder if I will finally be able to sleep through the night? The house is going to be so quiet. I haven't decided if that is a good thing or bad thing but I'm leaning towards good.

I hope you all enjoyed your Mothers' Day weekend including the ups and downs and everything in between because that is what life is like with kids or without.