Winnipeg Home Buying

It turns out the bidding wars in Winnipeg are not as sinister as I thought. Today I met witha fresh from school Realtor. 21 and six months in, but over 15 (or 50 but I guess it is probably 15, seeing as how I can't hear properly) home sales and he passed the course in 3 months. Good country boy from around Brandon. But he was very helpful. I did feel a little guilty after. He spent an hour and a bit with us and then asked if we could see us working together, adn I hit him with the I still need a job. The look he gave was priceless, but he soldiered on and helped us set up the property searches that will inevitably find their way into my Inbox. That was great of him and you know it impressed me that he wanted to keep going. I am glad that he did cause he straightened out the bidding wars. Turns out that when they post a ne whome and then have a showing 5 days later only for 5 days and then take offers... breathe... they actually post a lower than market value price in the hopes of bringing in more buyers and then getting more than market value in a bidding war. How nice of them... kind of. it still sucks, but at least it is not a bidding war above and beyond an already ridiculous price. It is still not perfect, but I am now in Winnipeg and that is how real estate home purchases are done here.

A Dream is a Dream

The wonderful part of dreaming is that it is a perfect scenario. You win the lottery, you get the perfect job, your credit card company's mainframe self-implodes and your bank gives you some Y2K goodness (remember that?). Always though it is a dream and it should be perfect. So no matter what keep it alive. Disregard the fact that you will only get minimum wage to it. Disregard the fact that it won't get you a home, tuition for your kids, or a ring for your wife. Or accept those facts and postpone it for a more opportune time. Because when is it the right time?... When you are ready you say? Wrong. Trick question. It is NEVER going to be the right time. The right time is now and no other. So for me, I just went to look for a dream job today. Found out I would get 50 cents over minimum wage. So do I say forget it? No. For now the right time is never. But never may not be far away anymore. That is how I am going to convince myself. Ah sweet distraction. So wrong but so necessary. The right time is coming, I just need to say now. Then I will have my dream job. Then I will start studying my brewing text. Then I will start apprenticing under some smart and fun brewmaster. Then I will write those exams. Then I will again be a resident of Earth. That is a dream worth waiting for. Because they do come true. Just read last years blog.

Hunt is On

It's all circular, as Kevin Nealon from the movie Happy Gilmore says. Well never truer. I left in 2001 and now I am back in Winnipeg, but with my family. What do i need to do? Get a job. Today I went for a first interview at the Canadian Grain Commission, otherwise known as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Yeah it sounds like there is an extra Agri in there, heh. So this is not new territory for me. I worked there in 2000 and was always involved in a small way thruout my BSc and MSc at the U of Manitoba. In fact, in my tour I recognised a number of people still working there. That is nothing strange being government work, but it was strangely reassuring, satisfying and comfortable. A colleague of mine from the Grad program at U of M met me (she is now heading a dept) and it was great to see her again. We talked and she gave me a tour of the place and I was introduced to some people. Although most people were not bouncing off the walls excited working there, I ralised that I would be more than happy getting involved in testing and analysis again and joining the ranks of the scientific minded. Hell, I would welcome a chance to be creative and innovative on projects. In short, I was soon more than willing to be hired on there. Unfortunately, there are competitions for all positions and you have to go thru the government website, and get all that in order at jobs.gc.ca/ (Which I have). She even went so far as to say that there would probably be people fighting over having me in their dept. Which I thought was not going to be what she said after checking out my resume. In fact i thought she would have said something like "wow not doing research or analysis for the past 7 years... well that's not going to help you here." Well that is apparently not the case, and the fact that I stuck with Foods was enough. All I need is to wait for the competitions. So I cross my fingers. But knowing that crossing ones fingers, trusting to God and blind luck only get you so far, I have also booked a meeting with a former professor representing a different entity in the same building for Thursday, and that wonderful person also is part of the gruop that does Pilot scale brewing at the building (I hope/ think). Will wonders never cease. I was told this was a good time, because people were retiring- in fact one retired just today- and I am certain they are correct. Like Tamara says, things work out for us, we always have correct timing, so why should this be different? I hope I can be patient enough is all. Well, talk soon. I think that I may have something else to say about the Winnipeg housing market, or a repeat of a previous post.

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.