Did the cups have babies?

How come trying to organize items the way they once were (before you packed them away in cardboard boxes and moved them to two other locations before returning to the original starting point) never fit the same way?

It's not as if the item has magically expanded (like just ad water) and now takes up more room in the closet or that the cups had babies when you weren't paying attention.

I know we still have the same amount of dishes (maybe even one or two less) but yet things don't seem to fit the same. And the something even crazier is that we've given things away, recycled items and still there seems to be too much.

I guess I'll just have to rethink what do I want to keep vs. what is clutter. Or better yet reconfigure the organization of my items. Check out this new storage system offered by target, it's pretty cool.

If you have any suggestions please let me know.

Ah, Painting

The joys of painting... pick a color while trying to remember the tone of the couch cushions and the counter top plus the blue wall that was painted two years ago and you haven't looked at it in a year. Yes, picking paint colors can be fun.

We are in the processing of moving, yes again, across the street. I know it seems silly but we're actually moving into our old place (from which we once started). Before leaving for our big Canadian adventure we were there. And now it is time to return.

Thankfully the renter kept the condo in good condition and with a few minor things (new carpet in one room,) the fresh coat of paint in the living room, office and hallway will make the place feel more like home than just another place to rest our heads.

Did you get your vote on?

We didn't get our absentee ballots but we still got to vote.

Here what transpired on our Super Tuesday...
"There was a loud crash and through the window a flash, then the whole floor went dark. There were power lines down in the street and cars swerving around to avoid them. It took about a half an hour until police and stuff arrived," J reported to me.

J's work was powerless which meant production came to a halt which resulted in sending everyone home. J headed over to a co-worker's house where he saw a story on the news about the Democrats Aboard.

He called and told me to look it up. I learned that we could vote and if we would have registered by Jan 31 via the website, we could have voted online. Although we missed the online deadline there was a physical polling place just down the street open from 6pm-9pm.

We grabbed our coats and walked down to the Irish pub (imagine in the states if voting locations were located in pubs... how many more people would vote?).

When we got there about 10 people were in line and several small groups of people sitting in the far corner watching the election ticker. We had to bring our passports and something to show that we were residents (basically something with our name and our Canadian address). Soon a reporter from the Vancouver Sun began interviewing people and then the tv crew arrived followed by two more reporters.

As we stood in line more people pushed through the wooden doors to cast their votes and several Canadians just came to show support for relatives. We slid our paper ballot into the box and made our way through the ever growing line.

I'm happy to say I VOTED!! And if your democratic US citizen living abroad, you still can vote on until the 15th.

Here's a few of the news articles I found regarding democrats abroad:

Vancouver Democrats cast vote - Vancouver Sun

Oversea's voting: Online for the first time -Newsday.com

Tough decision for Democrats Abroad in Toronto - The Star

U.S. Democrats abroad vote with yearning for change - Reuters.co.in

When we moved up here we drove our car and at the border went to the US border patrol first to process our car so it could be imported into Canada. The officer told us that we may have to surrender our pink slip and just make sure we have a copy of it, if we plan to bring the car back to the US.

Then we proceeded to the Canadian border office where we were told that they did not have to inspect the car and we were not going to be charged because if was up to the county's auto insurance (ICBC) to decide if we needed to import the car. If ICBC decided that the car needed to have new license plates then we would have to drive back to the border refill out the paper work, have the full inspection and pay the fee.

But when J talked with the insurance folks he learned that we actually could take care of the inspection and fix the car with day time running lights at the local Honda dealer.

We will be getting new plates but we will not need new driver licenses. I think importing the car has been the most confusing thing yet.

The movers arrived a few days ago...
Well, I was out of town (lucky timing!). J had to meet the moving truck at a building in Burnaby (about 1/2 hour from our home) to go through the six page list of all our items being imported. The clerk told J that he once had a guy with a 100 page list. Now that's a lot of stuff.
He thought for sure that they would ask about the alcohol - but nope. So he paid the $60 processing fee and was on his way.

So the movers showed up and unloaded the next day. Within a few hours our empty home was filled. J began to unpack, and the first thing he did was make the bed then fill the cabinets. He even hung up a few pictures. But now the question is "Hmm... where do you think we should put that?"

And maybe when we're done we can build the ultimate cardboard box fort.

DAY 6:

Still waiting for the moving truck to arrive which should be sometime next week around the 10th. So for now the only piece of furniture we have is a inflatable mattress that is raised off the ground. It's on loan from J's cousin. I have to say it is a fancy mattress that can even be tilted up like one of those electronic beds. But I can't wait until we have our real bed back. My back is sore and now since I'm working at home... my butt is sore too. I'm either sitting on the floor or the bed all day. Add, find a gym to the to-do list.

We have one dinner plate, 2 salad plates, 2 cereal bowls, a steak knife, a butter knife, a teaspoon, two large spoons, two forks and at least 4 mugs. Isn't that funny we have more mugs than anything else. Well, I guess we'll be well hydrated.

Some other interesting tid-bits: all the appliances in our place are made by Frigidaire - which reminds me of the 1950s olive green appliances and the oven has both Fahrenheit and Celsius on it but the Fahrenheit is in a larger font then the Celsius, which is weird because they go by Celsius. So the question is why both?

Most television shows start with this disclaimer "This show contains coarse language and mature subject matter, viewers be advised." The funny part is this appears before almost every show on every channel... for instance it appeared before Must Love Dogs, come on it's a romantic comedy with John Cusack. What coarse language?

One other funny thing about basic cable is that sometimes one channel called PeachTree is TBS and although certain things will say its on TNT; there is no TNT.

Tomorrow we head to J's cousin house to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I'll let you know more about that later.

We made it! Oh, Canada, eh!

First day in our new city, our new home, our new neighborhood in a new country.

Many people have said to me, "Well, it's not like your moving to a new country," but it is. And there's so much to learn about. Banking, insurance, phone companies, credit cards, where to shop, where to eat, and so on.

So as we learn about this country and discover new things, we'll share them with you.

To start: The market

After unloading the car we decided to head to the grocery store. Safeway, a familiar place to us California natives.

Things we learned:
1. have a quarter in hand to get a cart - and when you return it you get your money back
2. fruit and vegetables are sold by the pound but meats and cheese are by the gram
- it was a good thing that for our first time at the deli counter there was a girl in front of us who was ordering, so we could see how it was done.
3. just because you have a Safeway Select card in the US doesn't mean that it will work in Canada (yes, we got a new Blockbuster card too and it has a red maple leaf on it.)

Well, when you're shopping and have no toaster, pots, pans or any baking sheets -- the list of items to buy is short. Can't wait for the moving van. It should be here in about a week to 10 days... guess that will give us some time to try out a few local restaurants. Bon Appetit.