Hello, is anyone awake yet?

It's only 2:30 in the morning, but I'm up and getting ready for our long flight ahead. Just thought I'd leave you with some parting words from a friend I wish I'd met.....


All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin'
It's early morn
The taxis waitin
He's blowin his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Theres so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they dont mean a thing
Every place I go, I'll think of you
Every song I sing, I'll sing for you
When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
I'll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say

Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

But, I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Dont know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Our last shots, and a Mother's Guilt.

I will never ever forget today. This day will stay in my mind and my heart forever. The look on my baby son Callym's face will forever be in my mind somewhere. It was a day of guilt and sadness. A lesson in a mother's daily life about the hardships, trauma, and things that I guess just happen when you are a mother.

We had our very last appointment for our very last shots today. Rabies. A deadly and always fatal disease if not immunized for, and sometimes even still fatal without proper treatment. Rabies, an unlikely disease. But so scary and really, who knows. Without going into the very lenghty and contriversial debate about immunizations (one which I am ironically against), let me just say that, after a long descusion with my beautiful husband, we decided that this was a smart decision. We are trying to be as prepared as possible for all the things unknown.

I hate needles. I hate them with a passion. I get anxious, and nervous, and want to run out of the room screaming. Callym on the other hand, well, I just don't know of a single word in the human language that would describe his fear of them. This is troublesome. How do you prepare a 4 year old for this. I thought of not telling him, of blind-folding him and leading him into the Doctors office not knowing anything until the final secound. I thought if we gave him candy that would help. We tried to explain to him that this was the last one. THE VERY LAST ONE!!! He gets anxious even thinking about it. The last one he freaked out so much that the Dr. had to put it in his ass. That was tramatic enough! But today was more than tramatic. As I said, it will haunt me forever.

We started by talking about all the other things that we would do today. After all, we were dropping off Twinkle Twinkle (the cat) at her new temporary home. This would be the last time we saw her in a few months. We planned to take her to the pet store to pick out some treats and toys. He was happy, but within secounds would bring up the needles again. At least the appointment was early, 9:30, so the day wouldn't be spent waiting and waiting for it. We made it to the Dr.'s in time, and took Callym to pick out some treats before. I thought that would help. A treat of sugar first thing in the morning is usually a good way to get your kids to behave. But once we were waiting in the waiting room his anxiety worsened. I tried to make a plan with him. I would let him open his candy before the shot so that he could be eating it and the same time, he could look right into my eyes instead of the needle, and squeeze my fingers until they popped, and maybe it wouldn't hurt as much. This seemed like a good idea to him, until we got into the room. THE ROOM.

This is when thing turned tramatic for me, nevermind my poor Callym (only he know's what this has done to him). He didn't want the Dr. to give him the needle. He wanted someone else. Was this because of the butt shot last time? He started shaking a little in my lap, and I could hear his breathing quicken. The Dr. came in and noticed this immediatly, so he told us that he would get everything ready outside to not upset him even more. This is when Callym got off my lap and asked me in the most scared little voice ever that he wanted me to help him hide, mom, can you please help me hide. I didn't know what to do. He started backing into a corner when I grabbed him and hid him inside my jacket telling him that I would protect him. Me. I would protect him? The one who made the appointment and decided that we needed these shots in the first place? I would protect my precious baby, when I myself was now crying. How could any mother that loves her children do this?

- now please, before you email me, I know. I know that we made the right decision to get the shots. I know that I am protecting my children. I'm not sure if Callym will get over this, but this is what I hope. I know that he's just a child, and doesn't know, but please. If you are a mother, you will know what I am talking about. You will know this guilt in some way or another, from a situation that you have been in once. -

I asked him to look at me, to listen to me closely. He looked up, with horrible tear soaked fear in his eyes, and asked again for me to help him hide. He asked if the Dr. could see him. I told him no. I told him that everything would be ok, and that I loved him so much. He hid his face into my jacket more. I wrapped my shaking arms around him, and hoped that we could both disapear. It took all of my strength to keep sitting in the chair and not bolting through the door to safety.

The doctor came in. Chris had opened the door so that Callym wouldn't hear him come, but he did. He started to shake more, and I needed to get a grip of his arm so that the needle could be done. I was shaking now, and Oscar was starting to pick up on it. Oscar, he is the brave one. He get's this from his father. At all previous appointments, all he did was sit there with the bravest little man face, and take that cute little quick breath in when the shots were given. Not even a tear, not one. But oh my Callym, I am now holding his arm tight, as he is pleading NO NO NO, and it's done. I'm crying and he's crying. I don't know what's going on in his mind, but it can't be good for me. Oh miracle of miracles it's done. And he wants to get out of there as soon as possible. I don't even have my needle out of my arm when he is dragging me out. Still crying, but releaved, I think.

As we enter the waiting room, I hear for the first time Oscar crying, and wonder.....

Will any of us ever get over this day. The day that should have been happy, because today was the day of our last shots?

Thank you for Thanksgiving

Today is about being Thankful. I am Thankful.
I am Thankful for life.
I am Thankful for Chris.
I am Thankful for my kids.
I am Thankful for patience.
I am Thankful for mornings full of kisses.
I am Thankful for being a mom.
I am Thankful for having my mom.
I am Thankful for family and friends.
I am Thankful for happiness.
I am Thankful for sunny days.
I am Thankful for rainbows.
I am Thankful for all the stars we get to see.
I am Thankful for opportunities.
I am Thankful for freedom.
I am Thankful for abundance.
I am Thankful for dreams.
I am Thankful for reality.
I am Thankful for coffee and beer and chocolate.
I am Thankful for brave adventures.
I am Thankful for supportive and loving family.
I am Thankful for warm fall days.
I am Thankful for suprises.
I am Thankful for health.
I am Thankful for giggling kids.
I am Thankful, Thank you.

Last Saturday Night in Canada.... What do you do??

So today was our last Saturday here in Canada for a while. How long? as we've mentioned, we're not sure, but it will probubly be at least a year, or two or ten. This is a big thing, and we wanted to make sure that we did everything that we want to do here before we go. We have talked about going to a few of our favourite restaurants, seeing some good friends, maybe bowling.... and more. So, what do you do on a Saturday night with 2 kids?????

First off let me inform you that we all have started practicing a very old tradition from Latin America. Siestas! Yes Siestas, otherwise known as NAPS! It's great, half the time it's only the boys, but the other half of the time Chris and I join them. I love it. It's refreshing, and really makes staying up late easier. What does this have to do with tonight? It's part of my story.

After a beautiful day watching the Eskimos on TV, the boys went for there siesta. They woke around 5:15pm, and Chris and I hadn't thought of a thing for dinner. I was hoping to go to a restaurant that Chris and I went to last night (great butter chicken and amazing mushroom soup - a fav of Callym's!) But Chris didn't want that - honestly it's not that cheap, and plus, we have been going out for dinners at least 5 times a week!
SPOILT!
Chris was trying to convince the boys to have KFC. I don't mind having that before we go, but not the night before Thanksgiving dinner. Yum, Thanksgiving dinner! OK, so what.... We thought about a movie, pizza, actually buying groceries at safeway (what the heck?), and more. Then at 5:45 we decided! I yelled out to everyone,

PUT ON YOUR OILER JERSEY'S WE'RE GOING TO THE GAME!

yahoo, we threw on our jersey's and jumped in the car. Chris grabbed some cash, and I ran out to see what the price of scalper tickets were going for. (Chris actually checked online, and the game was sold out so this was our only option) One guy was going to give me a 'great deal' for 2 seats 225$ each! AHH, this was going to be a little more expensive then the restaurant. After running around looking, I bought some cheap seats. We parked the car and ran to the arena. We made it within the first 5 minutes of play, and it was a great game. Besides beating the flyers 5 to 3, our kids were great! (the guy behind us mentioned this, he said we should write a book on how to raise kids this well, he said that he wouldn't dare bring his 20month old to a game because he doesn't have the patience, and his boy wasn't as well behaved as ours! Very nice compliment). We had hotdogs, pop, ice-cream and yelled our minds out! Fun Fun Fun. This was by far the best way I could ever think of to spend our Last Saturday in Canada.

You can do whatever you put your mind to!

That is something that I tell the boys all the time. One day Callym said he wanted to be an astronaut. I told him, if he wanted to, then he could do anything he wanted to. When Oscar was having a hard time learning how to use his bike, I told him to keep trying, he could do anything he wanted to. It's a very good message to tell your children, actually, to tell anyone. It's powerful, it lets you and other's know that nothing is imposible, and that dream can be achieved.

So what do you expect when you deny your 2 year old chocolate for breakfast? He stacks the chairs, climbs onto the counter, into the cupboard and finds them! Then at the time you should be getting cross with them they say ' BUT MOM, YOU SAID I COULD DO ANYTHING I WANTED TO!'

I Quit

I know that it was a couple days ago, but I Quit! On Friday the 28th of September. Holy smokes! What does the future hold for me? Oh, that's it. Another cup of coffee, thank you. To you guys. Life.

Long overdue post

Well it has been a very productive week. Our 2 weekends of moving sales were successful. The moving sales were very strange though. Some people would walk in and ask if we were moving????? Huh, I wonder what tipped them off, the moving sale sign, or the SOLD sign on the front yard? They would ask us where we were moving, and when we told them... we recieved one of two regular responses. #1, oh, do you have work there? why would you go there? when are you moving back?
OR #2. That's fantastic, I've always wanted to do that, you are very brave and lucky.
We've also had a few 'un-expected' visitors drop by. It was very nice. People we haven't seen for a long time. I mean a long long time. These are people who live here, but with such busy lives, we just don't get a chance to hook up. Visits from friends are always a pleasure. As with the moving sale, we also had the same 2 response's..... Please see #1 and #2 above.

As I mentioned, Chris had his last day of work on Friday. ( YIPPEEEE) He came home early, and you could tell that he was relieved for this day to come. He loved his job, but as with any job where you come in day after day, and do the same thing, with the same people, it get's a little tiresome. Chris is a very creative person, and it's been a long time since he could let that part of him out to play. It hasn't even been a week for Chris, but already I see him having some trouble with being at home like this. It's not his fault, I've had practice for the last 4+ years. It will take him some time to learn how to chill and relax, to learn how we do things. We will need to find a balance between the way he does things, and the way we do things. Although we are the same in many many ways, we do have differences. For example. When Chris walks through a room and see's something out of place, he will just put it away and move on, well, maybe he'll look for more.... just to get it all done. Me on the other hand, I will stack things in a pile and wait until it's large enough to warant a 'clean up'. Chris will wake up and do the dishes, sometimes starting even before his coffee! This is not the way I work. I will wait until I really need to get them done (or at least once my first two cups of coffee are done). When Chris is doing something, he likes to start and finish, I have learned that with kids around, sometimes you need to stop, and finish at a later time. Neither one of us is wrong, but we need to learn how to live with eachother doing things this way. Chris is use to having a limited time with us, and an even more limited time to get 'things' done. Now that we have all day to hang out and do things... well, like I said, it will take time for us to all get use to eachother.

Well, this week is dedicated to packing up EVERYTHING in the house. It sounds daunting, but it's reallly not. We have sold so many things (especially the large items) that it just means packing things to get sent out together, and packing the rest in bigger boxes that won't be sent out. We have a good dozen boxes done, and at least two rooms are completly empty. We also have most of the boys clothes in a suitcase. I know it's early for this, but it helps with having so much laundry, and keeps the mess to a minimum. At any rate, they really don't need shorts right now, the weather is getting a little nasty. No snow yet, but sometimes you can feel it in the air.

One last note here, We have found a home for Twinkle Twinkle, and we have sold our Jeep. These were the last two LARGE items of concern for us. Twinkle Twinkle was in need of a temporary home. We have every intention of having her shipped out to us once we find a real home for ourselves. The boys love her dearly, and she is a real part of our family. We thought about not having her with us, and we have decided that it wasn't an option. Thanks Chocha, it really means a lot to us.


For now, all our love, The Lukies

An early lesson in Patience

Tonight was an early lesson in Patience. My sister came over today, and we decided to go for a drive to West Edmonton Mall (I needed to do a quick exchange on some pants). Well, the whole family ended up tagging along and we decided to go out for dinner afterwards. Christina suggested the Olive Garden - they are having their 'never ending pasta bowls' right now. So, I thought it would be really nice to invite my other sister Lesia and of course my mama! My mom and sister don't eat as early as we do, (we eat around 5pm, they eat closer to 6 or 7pm), so we thought a 6pm meet up would be fine. We finished at West Ed a little eary and headed off to the Olive Garden to reserve a spot. They don't take reservations and some times the wait is very long at dinner time. Once we arrive the wait was 30 to 40 minutes. That was ok. I called Lesia, and she told us they would be a little late too. No problem. So by 630 we finally had our table. We placed our orders, had our drinks and waited. The bread sticks, salad and Callym's food came. Oscar only wanted bread sticks! Then we waited. We had more salad and B sticks. Then they brought us more. And we waited. It was now a waiting game. My mom and I ended up taking the boys outside for a few minutes (a good time to have a smoke and let them run off some steam). We came back in and we waited. It was 730. An hour since we ordered, and an hour and 45 minutes since we arrived at the restaurant. After another 20 minutes, the manager came by and said that there was a slight mix-up and the food should be along shortly, He had changed our bill to only show the drinks and Callym's food. He also mentioned that any and all desserts would be on the house. Nice. But.... We still waited. (At this point I would like to mention that this is a LONG time for children to be well-behaved at a restaurant. My kids, did quite well!) By around 815, our food came. It was good, and hot. I wasn't hungry anymore, I had had 4 bowls of Salad and 3 bread sticks. (Also 2 bloody ceasers). Anyways, to no-ones surprise, Chris finished all of his dinner, well we all took our's home for tomorrow's lunch. (BTW Chris also got a dessert to go - Very smart man my Hubby). So, the lesson here? Patience, Patience, Patience. In Latin America we will be lucky to even find a restaurant that will serve us dinner before 6pm. Tapa's the local snack, which is served almost everywhere, will have to tie us over from our siesta's to dinner. An adjustment I think will go over fine. The other lesson, Maybe don't go to The Olive Garden at dinner time, and in a city that is in desperate need of staff that actually give a damn about their jobs! LOL

What's new..

Well, the moving sale has been a success, but we still have more 'stuff'. I think we'll do it again next weekend, and that's it, whatever is left will be donated, packed up or given away (look out family, we're coming by with stuff!) After the first day we went out and treated ourselves with some new clothes. In Central America, people pride themselves on how they look. They aren't vane, but proud. It's not like here in North America where we think it's fine to go grocery shopping in our sweats. They think it's important to look nice, and if we want to fit in, if we want to be accepted, we are going to have to live without our ratty riped up jeans, and stained t-shirts. Chris, my dear sweet husband, who's wife loves him so much, does not have many 'good' clothes. He now has 2 fabulous pairs of pants that I can't wait to see him wear. The boys also got a few things (don't they always?)
Anyways, what's new? Well, as I mentioned, the sale went well, we are now without the following....
Microwave (no more popcorn)
Oscar's bed (he's been sleeping with us lately anyways)
Both of the boys Dressers (it's kind of fun living out of a suitcase)
Kitchen chairs (we'll be having picinic's in the living room for a few weeks!)
Radio (music only on the computer now)
Swing set, Slide and Teeter-Todder
Fire pit ( too cold now anyways)
A few book-shelves and many other little items.
So far so good..... now please, come and buy our stuff!!!!!!

Also, a quick note, Callym seems to be doing great with his new glasses. This makes me happy and sad. I knew with Chris' and my genes he would probubly need them some day, but he is only 4! I wish he was older when he needed them..... But we have noticed that he isn't tripping as much, nor is he running into his brother (we thought he did that on purpose - opps) He is also much better at kicking balls and catching balls. Hmmmmm, I think that's a good thing. Still makes me a little sad tho. Well, if you want to see a picture of him with them on, please check out the post from September 19th.
Also, another quick note, remember that you can subscribe to this blog. It will come straight to your inbox, and you won't need to check in every other day for news!


All our Love,
The Lukies

It's late, I'm not tired, and I'm thinking........

Well, it's only 11:40, not late, but I'm not tired. I'm in bed thinking..... thinking about a lot of things. Thinking about what we're about to do. Thinking about where we're about to go. Thinking what is about to happen. Thinking about what could happen. Thinking..... Is this crazy? Are we as insane as some people are saying? Or am I just thinking this way because I have most of the big important things out of the way and now have 'time' to sit and think 'these' thoughts. I'm not sure. I wish I knew. What are we doing..... I mean, I know what we're doing, but Gosh, Wow. What if we don't find a home? What if the boys don't like it? What if we get sick? I know the answers to these questions, I've told you all already.... Now it seems I have to remind myself. Is this a natural part of any adventure? I mean, this is a HUGE LIFE CHANGING move we're about to make. I not sure that what I am having is doubts, but I am in a way rethinking. Not rethinking the trip (no no no), but rethinking what could happen. What we would, could, should do if a certain cirumstance arise's.... These are a lot of thoughts and 'what if' questions. Maybe I'm just trying to be prepared. I am prepared, I feel prepared, but maybe not enough? Is this a girl thing, a mother thing? to question and what if so much? Ah, I just don't know. I hate having to think this and come up with 'what if' answers. ('what if' answers are the worst mind-confusing-waste-of-precious-time blunders next to lover's misunderstandings). 'What if we don't find a home' (I ask myself) 'Well', (I tell myself), 'it depends on where we are, and how long we have been travelling' 'yes, but what if' (I ask again) 'well, we re-evaluate where we are and what we want'. A good answer, I've been through this before with myself you see, (I knew what I was going to say before I wrote it!)

At any rate, I honestly, deep down think that no matter where you are in your life, and where you are in your dream, re-evaluating your situation is a vital part of living and dreaming. It is so true. We could find the perfect home in a not perfect place, we could find our perfect place and not a home. We could get sick, we could find a great way of life. We could meet wonderful people and make great friends. We could not. We could a lot of things. And maybe we could not... But in the end, I know we will.

I need something to fill my time. To fill my mind. These thoughts are starting to drive me crazy. Maybe I should pack more boxes....

All this and still trying to be a decent parent

Well. We had day one of our moving sale. By most standards it went well, but we still have so much stuff here. And we feel we are minimalistic. Makes me wonder what the type-A's and the Jones' have at their homes. Feel free to respond, you know who you are. The boys have been troopers putting up with our matters of consequence, and they have had a hard time trying to be happy in this time it seems. We have not been playing as much as we can, of course, because, we have to set things up for the sale, book this, ready that, read on this place, drive to get this, worry about money, and to top it off, we stick them with needles containing potentially fatal diseases and say "cause it will get you to the beach". We owe those kids so much for being so strong and going thru so many changes. btw Callym now needs to wear glasses because he has astigmatism, and it seems to be a pretty significant prescription, explains a few things going on around here. Dreams are worth chasing, but they are not all beaches and surfing. Not by a long shot. Chris out.

I love spending money!

Well our VISA is getting a run for it's money... but it is all for the good. I have found a cute little hotel/appartment to stay in for the remainder of October, it's located just 15 minutes north of San Jose - so very easy to get to from the airport. It's a small 2 bedroom place with a kitchen, living room, private bathroom with hot water, and either a balcony or small yard. There is internet service, so we will continue with our blog (thank you for reading by the way!). The town is called Heredia and there are stores near by to shop and buy food. The people at the hotel are very friendly and can help with anything we may need. Tours, transportation, etc. October Accomadations . Heredia is only a 10 or 15 minute drive to the town of Grecia, the cleanest town in latin america. One of the great places that I want to look at homes in. Although it's not near the sea, the prices there are great! I found a wonderful web site Karens Real Estate We have an appointment with her on Monday to look at homes (even I'm surprised at how fast this may be moving, but isin't that the way Chris and I work?). Karen is actually going to interview us for a show called House Hunters International! It's a show on HGTV (one that Chris and I try to watch all the time) They help you find homes in your price range, and help with many of the details! Wish us luck with this, it could be very cool, and who knows, we may be on tv! As for the month of November, we are still looking for a place to stay, no rush... we have time. We are looking in the area of Tambor (if you look at a map of CR, it will be at the south end of the north-west peninsula. Very beautiful (from what we've heard) and quiet. Not touristy, and full of cute little towns and villages. Ah, doesn't that sound like the life???

We have also talked about it, and decided that Belize would make a very nice 'vacation' for Christmas. We talked and talked about it, and were going to go north to Nicaragua, but have decided on Belize. So we are booked at The SeaSpray (if you want to visti!) it seems very nice, beautiful and relaxing actually! 2 minutes from the beach, restaurants, snorkelling, diving, fishing, sitting, etc. It is located in the town of Placencia, one of the places I wanted to stop and look at real estate anyways! Wow, is this trip working out? We will be at the sea-spray for the enitre month of December (Callym wants to know if Santa will surf to our home, and if he'll just bury his presents in the sand under our palm tree?) I'm not sure if we will stay throughout January aswell, but we have time to decide.

As Chris has mentioned, we are working hard, the boys are getting restless..... why oh why do we keep on with the 'matters of consequence'? As the little prince would say 'it's hard to understand Adults, you always need to explain things to them!'

Well, the days go on, and take off for CR is getting closer and closer. Will we be ready..... I wonder. We're ready to go, but our 'stuff' isin't quite there yet. Well, 21 more days. That should be enough..........

btw, just a cute picture of Callym with his new glasses. Enjoy!

And still more to do.

Well, as you can see. Our flight to Costa Rica is booked and confirmed. Now what? Well, we need confirmation that we are in fact leaving Costa Rica, so I will be on the phone with the consulate on Monday finding out exactly what that means. Do we need a flight or bus ticket out of the country? (we would probubly head to Nicaragua after C.R.), or do we need a ticket back to Canada, (we may just book a cheap flight from Cancun to Edmonton to show we are leaving eventually). Either way, it's quite easy and do-able.
I have a few ladies getting back to me about hotels and home rentals for the months up to January. We feel that is far enough in advance, who really knows where we will be in the new year.... we could have found a home by then, or we may be still travelling? Not sure.
Also, our Rabies shots are scheduled (3 apointments each), and that will be the last of them - and all shots we need.
I almost bought a book today. A 400$ book. It was a book about real estate and how to make money, especially in Latin America. I really thought about it, but have decided against it. I'm not sure why I'm not getting it, or why I would. I honestly think that I have enough to do before our October 13th deadline!
I am in the middle of making arangements with a few realtors to actually meet with and go on 'tours' of some homes for sale. That will be interesting. At any rate, I have found even more sites about real estate and they have very attractive prices. One more reason why we need to be there. I want to see if it's really as fabulous as they are telling me. But with prices starting at 15000 for a home and land, it's starting to look like we may just be in for the life of our dreams.......

That's about it for tonight. I have added some more pictures on our other site. Mostly of Callym and Oscar messing around. Enjoy and Love

Booked, Paid for, and Confirmed

Flight Itinerary

Depart
6:25 AM
13 Oct 2007 103 Edmonton, Canada
Las Vegas, NV 8:35 AM 13 Oct 2007


9:40 AM 13 Oct 2007 303 Las Vegas, NV
Phoenix, AZ 11:00 AM 13 Oct 2007


11:49 AM 13 Oct 2007 357 Phoenix, AZ
San Jose, Costa Rica 6:10 PM 13 Oct 2007

Where are We Going??? What are We Doing??? And Why????

Well, this may be a long blog or short and to the point, I'm not sure. I will try to be as complete as possible - but please, if I am unclear, ask. We will be happy to clarify.

First.... Where are we going....?
Let me start at the very begining. As many of you will remember - way back, when Chris and I started to talk about moving away. We spoke about Europe, in particular the Mediterranean. Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece, Italy... all came to mind, and all for the same basic reasons. Heat. Sun. Sand. Surf. Slower pace of life. Well, after many months of research on the internet and in books, and too many hours to count emailing and calling realtors and business', we decided that our cost of living there would not give us the time to enjoy why we were going there in the first place.
So
We did more research, called more people, joined more expat forums, emailed new realtors, bought more books, and watched as many shows on different countries as possible. We still wanted the same things as before. Heat. Sun. Sand. Surf. Slower pace of life. But now we added Low cost of living. Bear in mind things like Schooling, Health Care, Safety and more were very high if not top on our list, I don't mention these because they were basic mandatory things we considered when doing our research. So after more research -as I mentioned- We came up with Central or Latin America. Once we had a good feeling about the general area, we started doing research on specific countries and their areas. (Yes more research, please quiz me! sometimes I feel as though I really have too much information about these countries inbedded in my head!) What sort of research did I do. Well for starters, I looked for expats, I wanted their opinion. I read through government websites on the country stats and politics, I visited the CIA website too many times looking at crime rates, death rates, safety, security, population, etc. I bought a subscription to International Living, a magazine that talks about living abroad, working abroad, real-estate, cost of living, expats, insider tips, real life stories, different ways to survive including jobs, real-estate, starting a business and more. There was a ton of information on their site, and most of it was very useful. I book-marked different on-line newspapers and read them weekly. I talked with people here, who knew people there and started emailing with them. I had many questions. This was important. This was not research for a vacation. This was for a new life.
So
Where did this research take me. A few countries have been flaged as potential places of paradise.

Costa Rica is one. Jungle and Surf. Spanish and howler Monkeys.

Belize is another. Jungle and Snorkelling. English and The Cayes.

Honduras and Nicaragua have our curiousity. Sea and Sand. Very simple lives, great real estate and cost of living.

And Dominica seems like a dream. Untouched land of wonder. Beauty and seclusion.

Mexico also has a place in our hearts. ( some of you are now worried - what about all the Canadians that have died there recently?..... Please don't worry. For one, we will not be fall over drunk buying drugs off people in the middle of the night in a tourist area. We will be living a simple life in a simple place, with simple people - We are smart).

Now... What are we doing???
This is a huge question. First, NO! we are not going to just sit on the beach and surf until our money runs out. Nor are we going to be pampered in hotels and all-inclusives until our money runs out. We have many many options that we have discussed over and over with eachother. Over and over. We want to be together as much as possible. The entire day, upon day if we can handle it. We have discussed it, and this is something that we will not budge on. The four of us are important to us, and spending as much time, if not all of our time together is a must. With that said, how will we make money, and what will we do to live. As I mentioned, this has been the source of 100's of hours of talking. We have many ideas, and we are very confident that put in the right situation in the right place, it will work. The research has been done, please trust me. Now, enough blabbering.... what are these ideas....

Eco Lodge / Bed and Breakfast / Hotel / Hostel / Restaurant / Bakery
These are all similar ideas. We would purchase an existing building or have a new building built and start it up ( I have done research on starting a company or business in all of these countries, found out about many tax incentives, etc). We would hire locals (I have done research on hiring in all of the above countries, including minimum wages, safety, health, etc). There is more to this obviously, but the basic idea is here.

Import / Export
Again, this would intail starting up a company. I already have a few people in Canada who would be willing to sell goods from a few of the above listed countries. We also think an Import would work aswell. There are more and more and more Gated Communities coming up in Latin America, full of retired, semi retired, or other Expats all from Britian, USA, and Canada. They crave North American items that you can not find in Latin America ( we are sure of this, from many that we have spoken and still speak to)

Copy Writting.
This is something that Chris has been doing research on, and has actually bought a course on. He has yet to find time to study at all (with all the work we've been doing), but see's this as a great part time thing, and hey, if he get's paid... all the better!!

2nd Home as a Rental
This would be ideal as well, and something that I am REALLY REALLY crossing my fingers for. Real Estate is cheap in Latin America. But vacationing and rentals are usually not. So, if we can, we will buy two homes, and live in whichever is not being rented out for that time. (we've also had people interested in joining us in this type of income) Maybe we would even have one on the Pacific and one on the Caribbena. (Family would not have to pay if your wondering mom :))
--- This brings up another point. Where are we thinking of living when we find our ideal country. Well, we have 2 options really. First we could buy in a gated community. Security, Expats, Ammenities, etc. Or we could buy in the city or village with locals (true living). We aren't sure. That is why we are going to explore. We want to find what is right for us, and we won't know until we get there are try it. This also depends on what we end up doing for income. But rest assured, research has also been done on this area.

On the side, I do want to mention. We do not have any sort of plans to move to a country and live off the land for free. What I mean is that we want to be involved with the community and the people. The environment and land, etc (whether in a gated community or not). We would love to be a part of helping build schools, Eco friendly anything, Conservation and Volunteering in the Rain forest / Jungle and Sea. These are all important to the 4 of us. We have also decided to bring many extra's with us on this trip like crayons, pencils, little toys, etc. Things that the boys can give out to children they meet and play with, as well as donating them to schools that we come across.

Ok, I hope that was satisfactory. Now for the last question. Why. Why would we want to leave all the wonderful things of Canada. Our home. Our family. Our Jobs and Friends. All these things that we truly love. Why oh Why.........

Well, quite simply and to the point is... a new way of life. We are GYPSIES. We are, didn't you know that. Haven't you guessed yet?
But Really. We don't want to be bambared with the rush rush of money money and the stress of feeling that we need all these things that we don't really need!!! Now wait. I know that there are places in Canada that we can achieve this, it's true. But we also want Heat. Sun. Sand. Surf. Slower pace of life. We want to wake up and enjoy each other. We want to learn new things. We want to be a part of something that we know nothing about! Be a family that is a family together. We don't want to wake up and rush off to a job that is mediocre, and be stuck in traffic when we could be together. We don't want a car. We don't want sweaters and mittens. We want fresh air, and fresh foods. Chris has been craving the Ocean ever since he left Australia. We want to walk everywhere. We want to live slowly. We want to say hello to people walking by.

We want to feel that by having eachother and a few simple things, that we have everything.

I know that some of you wont understand this. I know some of you that think this, that we, are crazy. I want you to know that we know what we have - and we feel lucky to have it. And whether you think we're wrong, crazy, brave, stupid, or somewhere in between, we just want more by having less. We need to try this. This is something that Chris and I have been talking about since we met. Yes, over 5 years now we have been talking about it. It's not something sudden (although it may seem that way to some), and it's not something that one of us has convinced the other into. This is something that we both had in mind, and when it was shared, a new adventure started in our minds that has now, it seems come to be.

I hope you enjoy this overly long post. Sorry about the lenght. Please ask us if you have any questions. We love you all, and will miss you so much. But as I said, we are part Gypsie, and I'm sure we'll be back soon (at least for a visit!)

All our love, The Lukies

Is today the day?

Well, we got home in time to have one offer presented to us. It was a much better offer than our realtor thought it would be (good news!), but still lower than we wanted (unfortunate)..... so the counter offer was given. The lady was waiting in the car, and the realtor was waiting on our front step. They were serious, and we seriously considered the offer. After we countered it took the buyers all of about 15 seconds to come in and accept. The one thing Chris and I didn't want was a possesion date of more than 30 days, or to wait for an inspection. We thought that these things would just postpone the actual day of moving forward. Well, her requested date of possesion was October 15 - only 5 weeks away, plus she had an inspection scheduled for tomorrow. TOMORROW! Great. So, once that was taken care of.... we celebrated with a beer! The buyer was actually interested in a few of our items to purchase on the side. She didn't buy much, but it was a good sign that she really wanted this place. Apparently she looked at over 30 homes over the weekend. She was living out of province and was starting a job in Edmonton soon. A good sign for us, and a great deal for her!
Well, we tried to sleep, but morning came soon, and the home inspector was due here at 11am. 10:30 he showed up and started outside. He was very careful not to miss anything, and wrote everything down. EVERYTHING. Chris had a really hard time with this guy walking around looking at our home, writing down little things that aren't perfect and could be different. He actually had to leave for a while it was so over-whelming! He ended up taking the boys to the park for a while, and I stayed here answering questions and trying my best to listen in to their conversation! After an hour or so, the buyer came by to see how things were going. She wanted to see what was wrong, etc. She was leaving on a flight back to her home province around 6pm. Well, the inspection continued and went on and on. Around 4:30 they finally decided to leave. They had heard enough. And I had had enough of people looking around our home. Just buy it or leave I thought. The buyer ended up having 2 issues about our home and asked for some money back. After calling Chris and talking it over, it was decided that we would counter that. It was done and accepted. What? Yes Accepted. We have officially sold our home.

Please understand we are the very most excited that 4 people could be. We are also very very overwhelmed! There are so many more things to be done, but the major item now has a tick beside it. I promise to write more tomorrow, let you know where I am looking to book a flight to, and give more detail as to what we plan to do in Central America. (I've been told that some people have the impression that we are going to sit on the beach until our $$ runs out, Not True! - But I'll explain later!)

For now, Thanks for reading, and we'll be in touch soon. The farewell Party will be soon, and we can't wait to see you all before we head out!

Ciao for Now!

Well, the next moring we were off at around 9am to head to Banff. The drive was so nice. Fresh air and beautiful mountains. Just what I wanted. We were there too early for check in, but just in time for lunch. St.James Gate, a regular stopping place for Chris and I. Callym ever remembered being there from the last time we were there with Isabel and my sister. Delisious food and a pint. Just the way to start a vacation..... Then we went for a stroll. Banff is under a lot of construction right now, it is going to look really nice when done. All the same shops..... and guess what, the candy store is still there (duh). The boys were so so good (many people actually commented on that, as well as them being beautiful - again duh!) So they were allowed 6 candies each. Callym had them all picked out within 4 steps into the shop, but continued to 'trade up' when he found something better to get. Oscar on the other hand needed to be convinced to pick something. We were there forever with him. I would see something I thought he would love and he would say no. After a long time, he found his 6 items. I found a few things too, so did Chris. Our bill was only 40$ so I think we did pretty well. It was still to early for our 4pm check in, so we headed to the hot springs. Ah, so nice and relaxing. Not the place for kids to run around and splash. Sadly they did get in a bit of trouble. Not their fault but ours. After around 30 minutes we were gone and now it was time for the RimRock. The drive up was nice. Situated on the side of the mountain, the views were very nice. The room was very nice too. We had a 25$ room credit, we would use this the next morning for breakfast! We hung out jumping on the beds for a while.... the boys got very good at jumping from one bed to the other. Now it was time for dinner. Oh but wait..... where was my wallet! Ah, the things girls do. Lose their wallet. I looked everywhere. Then I ran back to the hot springs. Thank goodness it was there. I think secretly Chris was wishing that I didn't ever carry a wallet. Dinner was fantastic. Very delish, but as you will see in the pictures.... the Lasagna that Callym and I shared was a little small. Good thing it was filling! We headed back to the hotel, and fell asleep fast. Actually, Chris and I stayed up later and watched the funniest guy on 'just for laughs'... a funny oversized guy talking about eating. SO FUNNY!

The next day we woke up before 9am.... a feat for a holiday. Oscar of course was up after we finished half of the room service breakfast. Yum, I even had a croisant. We started the day with a trip up




Sulfur Mountain on the gondola. This was a wicked wicked trip. The boys loved being on the top of the world. There was snow, and fresh air. The views were better than amazing. We were only there for a little over an hour, but well worth the 50$ ticket! We had a bit of lunch and walked around so more. There is only so much you can do in Banff when you aren't a big hiker or snow sporter. Anyways, we left and decided to come home and see how the open house went. Such a long drive. Many many rest stops were needed, but the boys slept from just outside of Banff to just before Red Deer. That is when we got the call for our awesome realtor Jason. We needed to get home by 730 because an offer was going to be presented to us. Wow, the best way to end our vacation was for this to happen. Actually, there may be 2 offer's for us to consider..... Hum, was this my secret 11;11 wish? Well, if we drove 130 the entire way, we would just make it! On our way home........................................

The weekend contines... #2

After the Zoo we headed to Gina, Paul and Sophia's house for the night. It was too too fantastic to see them. Gina is looking so great, and Sophia is growing like all kids do. She is walking around, talking.... She introduced me to all her little toys, and fed them all her gold-fish snacks. She is absolutly the most gorgeous little princess I have ever seen! I love her, and secretly hope she marries Oscar!

Gina made us the most fabulous dinner, belated birthday cake included! We had a great time hanging out and catching up. I love her so much. We have actually been friends since the age of about 2..... I think we met on Haloween? Correct me if I'm wrong.... Ah, Woodcroft. Paul worked late, a shame really, They are the greatest couple. They have a beautiful relationship and family. I hope all the best of the best for the three of them, and I will miss them so so much when we leave!

Our weekend Trip!

Well, I was right. Chris was sick on Friday. What a way to start our trip..... :) Anyways, Callym had a little time at Nursery School before we left, and while Chris and I finished cleaning for the Open House, and packing. We picked him up early, and he loved that! We left at exactly 11;11, a time in which we made our secret wishes.... Mine was to come home to 2 offers for our home. We'll see.

Anyways, the boys fell asleep between Red Deer and Calgary. That was nice. As soon as we got to Calgary, we headed straight to the Zoo, the weather was looking like it wasn't going to co-operate with an outdoor adventure, but it stayed nice enough. No rain, but our sweaters and jackets came in handy. The tiger had a new cub, and the boys loved that! We saw everything but Chris' favourite.... the Canadian Exibit. Sad, (not really!)




Tigers, Red Pandas, Butterflies, the Tropical Plant area (very interesting, it was all the plants we would see in the rainforest), Elephants, Monkeys, Gorillas, Snakes, Turtles, Bats, Lizards, Pigs, Hogs, Giraffes, Hippos (Callym was 2 feet away.... very cool!), Lions, Zebras, Ostrich, Wort Hogs, Meer Cat eating a swallow, Flamingos, Peacok, Parrots, Flowers, etc. Fantastic! We loved it so so much, and have too many picutres to prove it.

Part 2 Today.....

Ok, sometime between noon and 2pm the sky opened up and blew a big dirty fart on us. WHAT? Well, it did hail here for about 2.5 minutes, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I was in the middle of trying to find a reservation for our mountain trip. Yes, I think this is when it started.... We decided to start at the Calgary Zoo, stay over night with Gina, Paul and Sophia and head off to Banff. From there we would hang out for a bit and cruise to Jasper. See the sites, the mountains, the animals, the waterfalls, etc. Anything. Then stay in Jasper overnight and head home for Sunday. (Carol, Lyle and the boys weren't able to make it to Radium, there is not much to do without some buddies to hangout with...)

Well, Jasper is booked. The entire town of Jasper is completly booked - save for a 1 double bed bedroom with shared washroom???? WHAT??? OK, so a slight change of plans. I tried Banff, and the only 2 hotels that had rooms were - one that was 20 minutes out of Banff (No good) and the RimRock. RimRock is expensive. A little more than the Fairmont I think, (but they were booked so I didn't even get a quote). So, I made a reservation online with a company that was going to give us 15% off. Great, that means that the one night stay will only cost 300$. (It's OK mom. We'll be fine...) A little trouble with my credit card being verifed, so I had to call Visa and get that done. Done. So now I have a confirmation #. But why doesn't the hotel have our reservation? Ok, I wait 2 hours. Still no news. I call the booking company, and they explained to me that it would take at least 48 hours, maybe longer. She advised me to call on Monday to see if they had it. Well I told her that the reservation was for Saturday. Long quiet pause on the phone. Oh, she says, well... They should have it by tomorrow I hope. Yes thanks I hope so too. Good news is, the RimRock called back an hour later and said they recieved our reservation and everything is fine. www.rimrockresort.com Please ask for Melissa, she is fantastic!!! ( I do know, I spoke with her 5 times today)


So after this, I need to get us some groceries. Oscar is going bonkers from boredom, or b/c of Callym, not sure - so I took him with me. Chris was staying home to finish the last of the painting.... Have I said this before???? Shopping was long, but good. We come home with homemade pizza stuff and 'treats' for our trip and Chris is done the painting. He's on the phone. With someone. That's all I will say. This person doesn't understand what we are doing and why. This person thinks that they know better things for us to do. This person is kind of like a dream squasher. This person doesn't understand. It drives me crazy!!!

So at the moment, the feeling in our house is one of ..... oh what is the word. Have you ever had a 'brain fart'? It's kind of that feeling, when you're not sure what's going on. What everone is thinking, what you should be doing. You think you were about to do or say something, but now.... you aren't sure if you're standing or sitting. Confusion. And the kids are part of it, and picking up on it at the same time. We all need something, but I'm shaking my head in some sort of rythmic crazy head dance not knowing what to do....

Hope this entry makes sense, I can't really guarantee anything right now, especially my spelling.