Almost two and a half years... eight moves and more than forty eight sleepovers in the last six months alone...

....I have finally been able to make a momentous decision!

My journey started when I moved back home to the Chaleur area of NB, after having been away for almost forty-two years. That is a heck of a long time to be away, isn't it? However, don't let anyone tell you you can't go home again. You can!  I did and while what transpired was NOT always easy, I survived and I am gloriously happy.

I am now done with being a "couch whore". Please pardon the expression, but I was. En français ça se dit bien aussi, une putain de sofa.  Some prefer the term "couch surfing".  Whatever term you prefer, that is what I was.  I moved in and out of my rented cottage four times, in and out of my brother's motorhomes four times (each "in" is a move in my books, and each "out" is a move too!) I stayed with my sister, my baby brother, my first brother , my son, my daughter, my friends in Edmonton, Campbellton, Jacquet River, and Florida. Have I mentionned my MOTHER?  My wonderful, caring, supportive mother who took me in more than once, and especially when I was at my lowest point, last fall, upon returning from The Camino?  I owe her a debt of gratitude I can never repay.

So, it is ANOTHER HAPPY DANCE FOR ME! I bought a home!!!! Je me suis achetée une maison, une semi-détachée, et nous emménageons, moi et Vimy, la fin avril, pour DE BON! J'ai enfin fini de rouler ma bosse un peu partout dans la région Chaleur et dans le monde.

My new home is 0.12 kilometres from my disaster zone apartment, which I moved into in mid November.  Some may think I am TOTALLY CRAZY to be moving so quickly and so soon, but.... it was meant to be. 

Furthermore, I know there will be NO smell of cat urine in my new house. Alleluia!
Now, if I can just get a hold of the RIGHT mailbox keys from the get-go, life will be perfect!

What would you have done?

My friend Linda and I came out of church one Sunday morning a few weeks ago, to find that the car parked behind us had its front hood up.  Propped up by the driver's door, was the owner, a regular looking guy in his late thirties, smoking a cigarette.

OF COURSE, I had to ask him if he needed a boost, as I had booster cables in my trunk.
Without remembering every little detail, this is the story he told me, more or less.

"I left (Edmundston?) this morning. I am on my way to visit my 81 year old father in Saint John.  I stopped in Campbellton at Tim's, and there I changed my jacket to a lighter one, since it was warm out.  It was only when I took the Bathurst exit to find a gas station to fill up, that I realized I had left my OTHER jacket behind, with my wallet, credit cards, and cellphone, in Campbellton.  I have no money for gas, and I was hoping some people could help me out, so I can get to Saint John."

He said all this in a very matter of fact way.  OF COURSE, I had to ask a few questions, to which he replied, "Yeah, I called Tim's from the gas bar and no, the jacket is there but there is no wallet, nor cellphone in the pockets."  "Yeah, I also called my father so he wouldn't worry." "Yes, I cancelled my credit card."

OF COURSE, I then pulled out $20 out of my wallet and gave it to him. He thanked me politely, and said he only needed another $5 to be able to fill up his tank, as a few other people had given him money.  As he said this, Linda, who had been in the car, came out, heard a summarized version of his story from me, and promptly gave him $10.  He thanked us again, got in his car, and drove off.

OF COURSE, we were left wondering, as WE drove off to fill up Linda's car, if we should have handled this differently. Maybe we should have offered to put $30 in his car, by following him to the gas bar.  Furthermore, Linda thought his story a little odd, in that he shouldn't be going to Saint John, via Bathurst and Campbellton, if he is from Edmundston. However, it is possible that in MY recollection of his story, I made an error in his departure point.

Anyway, after musing over this incident, we decided that if it were a scam, it was a poor one, because hardly anyone came out of church. There was a "Share Lunch" in the church basement after mass, so most people went there, thereby not going out to their cars.  Furthermore, if it was a scam, "Hey!", what goes around comes around, sooner or later.

However, our ultimate conclusion was that we had helped out a fellow human being in need. It wasn't up to us to decide how and why the money we freely gave, was spent!
We will never know whether his story was true or not, but I have a feeling it was.

I AM NOW "LESS A HOME". HAPPY DANCE! HAPPY DANCE! HAPPY DANCE!

Should I say I am now one "homeless" person with elucidation?

I no longer own a house that I have been trying to sell for almost two and one half years.  I have been bought out, and I couldn't be happier than a pig in S&?* or a clam at high tide!

At the end of February, when I received my buyout, I went to the bank.  As I handed over the cheque to be deposited, I told the cashier "This is the largest cheque I have EVER received in my name alone. Furthermore, this is  the FOURTH happiest day of my life!  She so totally, totally deadpanned it when she replied "You must have had three children then."  I smiled, told I had had two children, but didn't tell her what the third happiest day of my life had been. Then I made my request and told her what I wanted to do with some of the money. She laughed... and laughed. She said it was the first time she had heard "that one!"

I had told my lawyer's secretary what I was going to do when I received the money. She replied " You have lost it!"  My son chuckled and said, "Go for it Mom!"  My daughter thought it hilarious when I sent her the picture.

So here is what I did with some of the money!

 

$1000 in five dollar bills!