On the Trail

White Christmas was nice. It has now been a week since the departure of our now classified trip and inevitable(?) return to Canada. It has been rilly intense. Family, snow, cold (it's the wind that sux), friends, parties, food, no plans, etc and now I am startiong ont he campaign to find a career. I am looking forward to it, maybe old Haldane may help yet. I am making a list of contacts, people I have known and people I have heard of... everyone rilly. is it worth the stress? Nope. I'll get a job, it's the house that I want to get sooner than later. That requires the income. I tell you though, starting again is a very exciting thing to do. think about it. trying to get something new, meet new people, impress new people, new friends, a new route to work, seeing new homes and stopping at new lights. I am excited to do it. I did not think it was going to happen so quickly though. I was focussed on March. So now instead of thinking about what could have been with that path, I now wonder what March in The Peg will be, three months into our New Life. Just got to hang in there, we're almost somewhere.

Still here !

Well, we are. But not for long. It's coming up fast that we are headed home. A home. Wow.

But the last few days here have been fantastic. Every day we have raced out to the beach, and every night we have sat watching the stars. It's been completly perfect if you ask me. This is a great way to 'end' our trip.

Today for sure it has really hit me. I turned to Chris and said " are we really leaving THIS to go back to Canada" ? I know we are, and I still feel like it's a great decision, but REALLY??

Well, today at the beach the boys were floating around catching some sun. Kicking the ball around on the sand. We all got a bit more colour. Chris found a few star-fish and some flounders. We went on a little boat trip with a couple who live here 3 months of the year. They are from Edmonton.

I don't have many exciting things to write. This last week has been pure relaxation and 'vacation' style lazyness. But I have started to make my famous 'LISTS'. Argh. Lists. I love to hate them. I love to love them. I need them. Lists.

Blah, blah, blahh. I love you all. We miss you all. We will see you in 4 sleeps. (Winnipeg at least, Edmonton's a few more).


Ciao

Having Fun again....

Tuesday night was a great night. It turns out there is a meteor shower here for the next week, and we're here right in the middle of it. We went out around 8pm and sat on the beach. It was so dark and so quiet. All we heard was the waves breaking on the shore. Perfect. We saw a few shooting stars, meteors, etc. It made me so happy to be sitting out there with just the millions upon millions of stars. I remember doing that during the summer with my dad. "Confirmed" Yes, there were a few. The stars seemed to go on all the way to the horizon, it was so beautiful.

Wednesday was the first day in a long while where we were all feeling good AND it wasn't raining. So what did we do, Raced to the beach and jumped into the Ocean. We had a blast, got a bit more colour and had a fantastic family day. I think we spent the majority of the day on the beach and in the sea. We wanted to hit 'de tatched' restaurant for Lobster, but they are closed on Wednesdays. We're going tomorrow. For now, we're eating some pasta and sauce, and are about to head off to the beach yet again to check out the stars. Can't wait.

So many things to do..... and it's raining.

So, we have only 9 days left in Paradise before the cold cold snow hit's our tanned faces. The four of us feel like we're stuck. Stuck with so many things to do, and really not doing anything.... O.K. that's not entirely true. The last few days have been hectic. We've felt a little couped up in the house with the frequent but short rain storms, but have used the time to look for a new house in the Peg. There are some fantastic places that we are looking forward to seeing soon. We're thinking about shopping (ok, that may just be me), but there is a lot to buy.... Besides the house, we'll need furniture and clothes, a nice big t.v. Lots of clothes because we didn't keep much, besides what we brought, and even that has been widdled down to the bare minimum. I'm not too sure how our new bathing suits and shorts will help keep us warm....we'll need mittens, boots, jackets, and more. Socks too. Humm. I hope my VISA's ready.....

I'm not sure what we will do in the next few days. The ocean is a little ruff right now for swimming, and we really want to get in there before it's too late. At time's we've even wondered why we waited to fly out on the 19th... Things happen for a reason. Sometimes you don't know the reason until later, but there's always a reason.

So many things to do. Relax in the sun. Get a bit more of a tan. Pack. Shop. Look for a house. Find a realtor. Get jobs. See family. And more I'm sure. We really can't wait to get to Canada. This has been a fantastic experience, and we're ready for the next one. But now, we just need to find something to do until we leave......

What's new now...

Well, our blog has been a bit quiet the last few days. The reason is mostly that we are all still sick, well the boys are better but Chris and I still have a bit to go. It's sad really, now that we have decided to come back to Canada we're stuck in the house not getting the chance to explore and enjoy our last 11 days. Wow, 11 days. There are still many things to do here, but I'm not sure what we will end up doing. Sitting on the beach sounds like a nice way to relax (and spruce up our tan for the cold white winter). There is a ton of great snorkelling to do here, but the boys just can't do it yet. The Belize Zoo is suppose to be fantastic, but that just sounds silly to do here....... We're thinking of doing a tour or two. Not sure. It really is hard to get up and go when you're not 100%, but that's just what we have to do. Not just because of our short time left, but because the boys are not sick and they have the energy of 10 kids (it seems) we just have to get them out to do things. I need to get some more fantastic pictures. This could be our last HUGE 'vacation' in a long time. We need to live it up.

I hate being sick. It's almost a week now since it's hit us, so it should be over soon. The only good thing I can think of about being sick is that we've all lost some weight, and can now eat 3 or 4 helpings of Christmas dinner with little or no effect! Gotta look of the bright side Right?

See you all soon, We can't wait. We've missed you all too too much.

Beware the Baobabs

I suppose we did it to ourselves. We planned it and we did it... as is becoming our cliche, it's not a big deal because it was always a 'part of the plan when certain conditions were met'. And they ended up being met yesterday in pure concrete conversation with my wife and kids. It's a good thing we did it when we did because it seems returning to Canada was on the mind more than we thought. 'Children Beware the Baobabs!' (on a side, if anyone has not read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Expury, i recommend you do it, if my opinion has any weight. Minou introduced that book to me in 1997 (?) in a rough time and it has turned into a very important part of my life and now my family's) If you do not take care of them when they are young they will grow too big to manage properly. What I mean by that is if Tamara and I hadn't finally discussed our desires then us and/or the boys cold have ended up in a place that would have been more difficult to respond from. We could have become resentful to each other for example, or maybe become poisoned to travel forever, or worse!!! Right now, I still have gypsy in me, but you know wanting to stay in one place is something I want to embrace.

How did this come to a point then? Well, as Tamara mentioned, she had been considering this for a while now but it never was acute enough to rilly talk about. That's female nature. As it was guy nature to all of a sudden drop the bomb one fine morning after a good morning. I woke up early tortured in my mind by the 'what the heck did I do to my family?' So because I had the option I left the house and went for a swim in the ocean. I spent about a half hour floating and swimming back and forth thinking about leaving, staying, returning, seeing someplace else, etc, but I had to always end up at the same place, it doesn't make sense anymore to my family. That was our turning point since we began this quest. The boys wanted Canada, Tamara wanted a home again and all that goes with it, and I didn't have the feeling this was going to work anymore, and obviously, I'm not a tyrant. There was the fact that we did not spend as much time as we should have in locations and we travelled too much. That turned off the boys for sure. They HATED moving around so much, and to be honest, looking at everything and wondering what was expendable, was getting tiring. I knew it was getting bad when I considered the boys as well. Ok, ok, kidding, but you guys with kids know what I'm talking about. We could have (should have?) stayed longer in Montezuma, and Monteverde but decided against it. Why? I am sure that one day in the future Tamara and I will be sitting in our comfortable Winnipeg home and we'll talk about this trip.

What else was there then? Well, I still wanted to go to Mexico, because you never know! But, since the return was almost 100% inevitable, the Ukrainian practical side came out and I realised it was just a big expense for minimal return and that money would be better served buying appliances for a new home than on a warm trip. So after deciding this in my head, where would we go?

Yeah, rilly., where? Finishing the plan in BC was tough because prices are ridiculous for just a lot in Nelson area. Edmonton is still there and we will visit, but i guess we did give it a try already didn't we? 2.5 years and it wasn't exactly as we wanted. East sounds good and has potential, but of all places Winnipeg sounded better. Old friends (hopefully I am welcomed back with the family even though in my youth I have not been the greatest advocate of The Peg- I would like to stress that was in my youth when I was drunk for about 8 years), there was familiarity for me, homes are still affordable, there is sales tax (but not for the boys, yay!), it is a new place to try out, and among many other reasons, the boys' only Gido is there. So now we begin the chapter in our lives in Winnipeg.

I hope I enjoy my last few days in Belize, but being who I am, once I have a plan set, other things fall on the wayside. Right now i think, why didn't we just book tix for tomorrow since we are doing it anyways? Oh well. For whatever reason, it's probably a good idea to enjoy ourselves for the next 11 days, hopefully not being sick anymore, because reality may be that the ocean is not in our future. Who knows. I am looking forward to this move. I have not lived there since I took off to live in Calgary with Tim in the Fall of 2001. I still remember packing Poops' truck, I still remember partying at Oktopberfest the night before (well barely, in all honesty, I remember almost winning a trip to Munich? nah, probably was too loaded), I still remember what a great life I had begun in The Peg only to drop it and try to build it up again in Calgary. I was well on my way with a good job, meeting people, having fun, but I had to try Calgary. I am not worried. Winnipeg was looking good, I had a future in Calgary. Unfortunately, Calgary did not reciprocate with a decent playing field for that future. It was my favourite city though. Edmonton was a done deal! I even had a pension! So I am confident that The Peg will be kind to us as well.

We'll rent a home, buy, or stay at Mom and Dad's for the time being. I'll find a job. Tamara will start up Partylite again. Callym can go to Cadochok or playschool, Oscar will keep growing, and we'll go from there. I am upbeat for the move. I will enjoy living in The Peg again. I will look forward to The Bombers going on their cup run again in 2008, and being part of the stadium. So many different events. I am looking forward to living life again in Canada! Earth can't be wrong, right?

A white Christmas.....

Ok, so here it is.............................






We will be home for Christmas.




We are booking today or tomorrow.



We'll see the Lukie side for December Christmas, and the Scharabun side for Ukrainian Christmas.


We haven't failed in our attempt to find a new life, but it has stopped making sense to us.


All four of us.



What were we thinking..... A GREEN CHRISTMAS????????????


This has been a blast. A life changing experience. So life changing that....






wait for it....








wait for it.....









we're going to try Winnipeg as our new home in the new year............







We love you all, and we can't wait to see you all very very soon! Sooner than most all of us were thinking,

but as the song says....

I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me, please have snow ............

Getting use to the different currency

Not a big blog, or anything really important. Just a little diddy I guess...

In Costa Rica we paid for everything with Colones. We could get around 520000 colones for 100 US dollars. At first it was difficult to figure out what it was costing us, but after a while I figured out a good way to do it. I would move the decimal over by 3 spots and double it. So, when I found a Lacosta sweater for 19000 colones, I knew it was only 40$. (why did I not buy this!!)

Here in Belize we buy things in Belize Dollars. The exchange rate is 2 Belize dollars for every 1 US$. I'm still getting use to dividing by two instead of doubling it. Our dinner 2 nights ago cost 75$ and at first I doubled it for Costa Rica, Chris then reminded me to divide. So our dinner was only just over 35$ and not 150$!

See, math is good!