So for the first time, Neil and tried to tackle some actual packing tonight. Thus far there has been a lot of purging, shredding and shaking of our heads and fists. Where and when did we acquire all this stuff???

I am extremely worried that our moving company didn't give us enough boxes. We have tapped every penny Neil could get for relocation. Moving your things 5 provinces is no cheap affair. It is disgustingly expensive -- so much so that we have opted to pack everything ourselves (except our breakables).

Well we got 6 boxes done tonight. S-U-C-C-E-S-S-!

Neil and I make for an interesting packing team. There is me that moves quickly, stacking things neatly and wedging paper in the holes to pack it nice and snug -- regardless of the packing instructions we were given. Then there is Neil, reading every suggestion 7-8 times. Packing (while following the instructions), then looking it over, thinking it over, making an adjustment here and there... it's enough to drive a person crazy. At his speed, we should have started packing back in 1993.

Naturally our 2 styles clash and yet -- they work out for the best. If he didn't watch over my shoulder, a book or 2 may get bent (Goodness NOOOOO!) and if I didn't dance to the rhythm of my own drum we'd be here until 2010 -- but then again that might not be a bad thing -- Olympic hockey!

So it's been a few days... that is why this is so long... a post for every second day or so...

This is what has me riled up this week:

1.) Our PM

Harper wants to script the questions and handpick who in the media gets to ask them... Why aren't more people screaming bloody hell about this???? Must be nice to be in complete control of what the media reports... No bias in that at all...

2.) Gas Prices

This headline is from Wednesday's Vancouver Sun and states that gas is 36 cents more in Vancouver than in Toronto. WTF?!?

3.) Car Salespeople

We were approached a few months back by our dealership with this offer: "Let us buy out your lease. We want to have more of your model on the lot come spring." We declined.

Enter our move. We decided that if we could have our lease "bought out" we would fly to Toronto and buy/lease a new car out there. This would save us an extremely long drive and save us time as things are rather rushed right now. We call up the dealership and pose the question, "Is your previous offer still an option... would you still like to buy out our lease?" We are told, "maybe." An appointment was then scheduled so they could "check out our car."

Well, what happens is this:

• They don't even look at our car.
• We don't want to buy out your lease (well why didn't you just say so on the phone...)
• We would, however, make your last few lease payments disappear if you buy a new car.
• They inquire about what we were going to purchase in Toronto and we naively tell them. We get the "hard sell." We are left for a few minutes to "think about it."
• Neil and I use this time to think (stupidly)... hey if they work out a good deal, maybe we do buy a car now.
• Salesman comes back. I say, " Could you work out our monthly payment?" He says, " If I'm going to bother my boss I need to know if we have a deal." I think -- do people really buy vehicles without these simple questions asked and answered? The man has just pissed me off. We state, "We weren't here to buy a car, but to get rid of one. We're just curious what the car payment would be..."
• Man comes back with boss in tow and puts forth the most horrible deal. Neil is in a state of shock.
• "Boss guy" says he can see from our reaction that the price must be too high -- tries to sell us a smaller car -- then says, "what is you number, maybe we can work something out??" (Like we know our number, 1.5 hours ago we were not even thinking about buying???). At this point I am furious as "what we can afford" is irrelevant -- we weren't there to buy a car and just because we don't dance at their shitty deal they think we are paupers????? For the record, we can totally afford the vehicle we were looking at -- the price was plain outright unreasonable. They saw a big "S" for SUCKER on us and boy did they try to make big $$.
• We refuse the offer.
• We fume about how we were totally set up. They could have answered our question over the phone. Feeling a lot of hate.
• We check around -- different dealership. How is it that there can be SUCH A DIFFERENCE IN PRICE ON THE SAME CAR??? The second price was cheaper and it was a 4X4, and had way more features...
• They have since called us 5 times, leaving messages like, "we've got great news.... call us back..."

RRrrright, we'll get right on that.

Oh yeah... the Oilers are doing well. I don't want to say I told you so... but I did, I told you so! Neil is tickled. A happy dance might have been performed this evening (by me naturally, Neil doesn't dance). What a crazy third period. Scary even. Ohhh how easy it is to forget subpar play when you come out on top.

Rest up boys.
One more game to go.

That's what we were asking ourselves the last 2 days. I tackled the bedroom closet yesterday -- result, THREE garbage bags of clothes are making their way to Big Brothers (who calls us every 1.75 days it seems...).

Today I dragged Neil to Ikea. We were trying to decide if we should leave and/ or sell our dresser and mirror. So we checked out cheap alternatives. I hate the dresser and Neil knows it. First of all, it is a monstrosity that holds next to nothing. Second, the mirror screams old country Polish Grandma. We had bought 2 small Ikea 3- drawer dressers late last year and they hold so much more than the aforementioned eyesore. They are also plain and simple with no weird curvy adornments. Neil also debated selling his desk which is too small for him to work easily at and it too is well... old for lack of a better word... if it were destined for his office it would be fine, but if it ends up in our dining room again I'd rather it be replaced by something easier on the eyes (I had to peel dinosaur stickers off it and he also had turtle magnets stuck to the drawers for a while -- this should tell you he has had it forever).

He gets my hopes up for new furniture and then convinces me that we will take it because that is the easiest thing to do. I think the dresser can be salvaged... if I change the hardware on the drawers.... hmmm... the mirror must die eventually... I could take the mirror to a glass cutter and then have it tastefully framed.... hmmmm.... but we must move first -- I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tonight I tackled my immense music collection. I decided I could part with the jewel cases on my CD's and put the discs into a binder thing. Well I completed that task, flipped through the book and decided that it sucked. I need my CD's in their original form. So I put them back into their cases and packed them. I haven't bought any CD's for a while (last one Forty Licks by the Rolling Stones) -- but they tell a story. I love looking back and remembering why I purchased a CD. Sometimes it was a guilty pleasure, sometimes it was a true gem -- I love them all -- they are my babies. Neil watched the whole spectacle shaking his head at me. I also have about 50 "mixes" I've created. I can't part with them either... I have all the tracks in MP3 format and I still want the physical copy.... for example, who knows when I will want to listen to Look Who's Turning 30 (a mix I made for Jill), or Feb 15th, 2000 -- my Fiona Apple Fixation Mix, or Too Much Positivity at UBC Volume 1 or 2 compliled by Morphy for my listening pleasure, or the gem, Chef Boy R Neil: Songs from a Spaghetti Incident. Too many what ifs... I hate moving!

Well, I must get to bed. I have a 5 day gig starting tomorrow and its insanely late.

Neil and I are trying to visit/ revisit all of our favourite BC haunts. Today we ventured out to Deep Cove to hike along the Baden Powell Trail. We had heard the view from the outlook is fantastic and it was!

Here are a few pictures. I've tried to mark where the outlook is on the first pic. (You should be able to click on the pictures I post. A new window will open with an enlarged image - much clearer to see...)

These next 2 are Neil and I posing on the trail...

It was nice to be away from our disaster of an apartment. Boxes, boxes, more boxes -- piles: things to go, things to give away, things to keep, things to debate whether to keep or give away, or throw out....

Questions, questions, more questions.... Do we drive? Do we get rid of the car (sell) and fly out? Do we rent in Toronto or in the burbs? If in the burbs -- which one? One bedroom, two bedroom, condo???? Should we take Neil's beat up computer chair? Should we hire movers, should we rent a U-haul? How angry will my family be if we fly -- after all -- I, super aunt, would miss Harry's 3rd birthday and they would not see us until Christmas... Ahhhhhhh!!! Are you starting to understand why we needed to get out even though we have tons and tons of things to get done and soon...

All forgotten in a second... we sat up here on the rock and let our minds empty and our brains relax... (note: this looks more grey than it actually was today... our camera batteries were essentially dead when we got to the top -- spare batteries -- back in the trunk, stupid stupid me)

On the way back to the car, Neil was throwing his water bottle up in the air and well... it got stuck in a tree -- it was bloody hilarious...