Two out of three boxes ticked...sigh...

I've tried to have an "amnesty" week for stressing about the move and have had some success but it inevitably keeps coming up in conversation and it's constantly on my mind. I think the agents are getting twitchy and are now finally updating us more often because I keep popping into the office unannounced and asking what is going on...hey, whatever works, eh? We have heard today that "two out of three boxes are ticked". Great. At the bottom of the chain (where is the banging-head-on-wall icon??) the "homebuyers survey" has been done accepted by both parties, "local searches" have been done and accepted as well and now we just await the "mortgage valuation" which is scheduled for Wednesday of next week...please do not ask me why this wouldn't have been done immediately when the offer was accepted because it just causes my blood pressure to increase exponentially!!!! At least we can go into the weekend knowing that things are progressing in the right direction. However...until we actually have an "exchange of contracts", I'm still on tenter-hooks.

So much for my amnesty.

Mom is still here and is leaving on Tuesday...boo hoo. I can't believe how the weeks have flown by since she arrived. We have had a couple of nice days out, just the two of us, and that has really helped me to cope with all the stress. Today was a lovely walk into our local town for "market day" with a stop off for coffee and cake. Bliss. We are both trying to exercise more and have been walking everywhere. Too bad we keep sabotaging all that exercise with yummy treats....hey, they WERE skinny lattes! :o)

Tim is still here and is stressing about how long to stay, when he needs to be back "in person" for work, and when he will have to return for the actual move. Aarrgghh. Cisco has been unbelievably understanding through all of this and for that I'm thankful! It would have been so much worse if they were giving him a hard time. Thank you Cisco Canada!

Oscar is still enjoying "doggy summer camp" at the lake and I think my Dad is really enjoying having a dog around the place again. I WILL be taking my dog back Dad, so don't be getting any ideas...hehe. Dad has a habit of stealing the affections of canines. They have been having lots of great walks and I'm sure this is good for both of them, dog and human. Dad is on a bit of a health kick after his latest doctors visit revealed slightly elevated blood pressure, nothing serious but just a small warning. He made the decision to watch his diet and in the process lost 4lbs...men suck, how do they do that?? :o) Speaking of weight, Tim is down even more and is over 40lbs lighter than he was in January when he left for Canada...woo hoo Timmy! The felines are not faring as well in the Berry household and still hate each other...oh dear. There is still hissing and back arching when they meet in the house. Schat will still make no attempt to go outside even when the door is left open, poor thing, hope she can be convinced to venture out once we are settled into a new home!

The kids are doing really well and are just getting on with things. Connor is doing well at school and enjoyed a field trip to a museum this week for his Wednesday elective "Insect Club" where they got to enjoy all kinds of creepy crawlies! He enjoyed an outing for "laser tag" last weekend with his autism youth group and enjoyed the day. Tomorrow we will take in cake and celebrate his birthday with the group, slightly belated but better late than never. I'm sure there won't be any complaints once the cake appears!! Cam is preparing for his year 6 SAT's, we never imagined he would be here for them so now we are working hard to make sure he does as well as possible. It will be good to have the results to use when he transfers schools. I was a bit worried after some very stressful preparation homework sessions but he has brought home practice tests where he is scoring extremely well! Way to go Cam!! Del is loving "nursery" still and is going to his sitter Dawn's place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. He loves her to bits and it's good to keep him in a familiar routine. Plus Mommy can use the quiet time for her mental health. :o) Mae is her usual busy self doing her activities and is just two days away from her Grade 3 ballet exam...EEK. She has one last class tomorrow and then the big exam arrives. She is going to be just fine, she knows everything cold and loves to dance! Guaranteed I'll be more nervous than she is on the day. I'm not letting her ride on Sunday or in a small jumping show at the stables today for obvious reasons! She is not exactly happy about it but understands Mom's position on this one! She'll be back in the saddle on Wednesday once the exam is done and dusted and will jump in another in-house show on Thursday next week where she will try to do "clear rounds" on Sparky, the pony she has chosen to ride.

I enjoyed a night out last night with all the ladies from the stables, we are all "mature" students who ride along with Fizz, who owns the stables, and Bez an instructor and "right hand". What a great group they are and it was nice to meet so many interesting ladies. The lady who organized the evening, for 18 of us, kept playing "musical chairs" so that we would sit next to new people, what a great idea! Great food, charming company and not a child in sight...woo hoo! It seems that I always start to meet lots of great people as I'm about to relocate, ahhh well.

I'll get some of my Isle of Wight pics up in a separate post, Mom the kids and I had a great trip there three weeks ago and I have lots of great pics and memories.

Hope all is well in your little part of the universe,
Laura :o)