The Displaced Kiwis: The prep work to getting to Alberta

After months of paperwork, money and a fair bit of stress, my work permit was finally issued for my new job in Alberta! Once the work permit was through, it was all systems go to get everything sorted out - I had to give notice on the apartment, give my resignation at work, arrange for a moving company, decide on a start date for the new job, organise the girls......the list was never ending!!!

All in all, it took just over three weeks to get everything sorted. Packing was the worst job ever - its amazing how quickly you accumulate junk in a short two years! And I'd be damned if I was going to pay to move junk to Alberta! I think the landlord was getting a little bit annoyed with the amount of garbage we were tossing. Oh well...

I had the moving company all sorted - they would be here by the end of the month, and then we could jump in the car and start our little trek across country. If only it were that easy....

I still hadn't had a date confirmed by the moving company. So I called them, and was again assured they'd be there before the end of the month. Then on the 30th, still no word, so I called again and asked if they realise it was the end of the month now? To be told that the moving truck was over on PEI for the day. I was then given the option to PAY a priority fee to get him to come out that night between 7pm - 11pm. Yeah, that would go down well having a moving company show up that late in an apartment building.

Thankfully they showed up the next morning, bright and early. Yippee!!! I had all my boxes sorted and ready to be loaded!

The guys were pretty impressed at how organized I was, even to the point of dismantling everything myself. The only problem I had with them - they showed up with no tape! Who goes on a job with NO TAPE????? Thankfully I had a TON of rolls of tape, which I gladly donated. In return, I scored premium packing on the tv and keyboard, and didn't get charged for the extra bits and pieces. And as a bonus - I now didn't have a dozen rolls of tape to bother with!

Once the movers had gone, we were left with a rather empty looking apartment with a ton of cleaning to do. The worst of it was the kitchen. Now, due to the move, I hadn't really been buying much in the way of groceries. I was trying to clear out the freezer and cupboards from the hoards of stockpiling I had accumulated (thank you Costco!). Unfortunately, now that we were down to the last couple of days, it was obvious we weren't going to be able to eat it all. So I "donated" to everyone at work, and chucked the rest. Such a waste, but had to be done.

Next up was sorting out the stuff to go in the car. I had decided to limit the car packing to one suitcase each - even though its a decent sized car, the luggage space is pathetic. Plus we were taking a few things with us that we'd need straight away when we arrive in Alberta. Yeah, great plan....

So I get home from doing a chore, and Emily had come up with a great plan to put ALL the stuff to go in the car into the now empty living room. OMG! What a mess!!! Time to start panicking - how the HELL are we going to fit ALL that into the car!!!???

So after a bit more rearranging, throwing out a lot more unnecessary stuff that doesn't need to make the trip across country, and quite a few promises of "yeah yeah, we'll buy a new one when we get there", it was time to now play tetris - adult style!!

It took almost an hour, but I did it - everything loaded in, all nooks and crannies totally filled, and still able to see out my windows and mirrors!