Well It's a Done Deal
We nixed Paris, Shanghai, Barcelona and Lisbon......and finally chose MONTREAL. Neither of us wanted the move as for many years I've posted photos of my dream home where senior/special needs animals can live out the duration of their lives. We realize while those other places would have been fantastic - we were adament no animal gets left behind. I'm numb as I'm leaving the house of my dreams, leaving my family and friends as ordinarily I'd see it as an adventure but wish this all happened years ago and not now where I finally get to reap the rewards of years of hard work. So in a few weeks time I'll be settling in and purchasing a place Back East. Kaj signed the papers last night to take the job as all other options to stay put fell through. We'll be separated for a few months and the care of the critters will be solely mine as well as the upkeep of the house. It's going to be rough for a couple weeks but in the end - NO ONE GOT LEFT BEHIND and for that I'm grateful. At least the majority of the furkids have coats so hopefully will be able to take the weather change...brrrrr. Marianne |
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| Oops sorry folks - that was me! |
| Tough decision but now that it is done....it's plow forward and like you always do....Succeed!!! Thank you so much for the update...you are such a sweetheart and deserve to be blessed for all your "above and beyond" love and care of animals. Hugs to you my friend. |
Wow! Montreal aint all that bad really  And SO much cheaper than the Vancouver area. |
| Montreal is a GREAT city! And I think there are a lot of forum members near by in Canada? I know its sad to leave your home but think of this as a new exciting adventure - you and all your animals together in a new home in beautiful Montreal! Do you speak French? Isn't that a French speaking city? So exciting! |
Montreal is 2 hour drive away from us (or 90 minutes if I zoom a bit...  ) |
| That's exciting and I'm sure the move will be stressful ...but it has to be fun to think of all the projects ahead for your new home and rescue place for all the lucky animals you bring in. Can't wait to see new pics ...and good luck!!! |
| I know it's going to be hard for you to leave your beautiful estate, but who knows what Montreal holds for you and your critters. You have a lot of work ahead of you and I wish you the best of luck. Praying for an eventless move and happiness in your new home. |
| The devotion you hand Kaj have to the animals is humbling. Best wishes for your eastern adventure. |
| Just think of all the new friends you'll make in Montreal. Besides, there are a bunch of OES.org members very close to you. Heck, you're about 4.5 to 5 hours away from me, Jonesy, & jleefoss, so you could always come down to Syracuse, NY if you wanted to. Congrats on the move. |
| Marianne, While not ideal things could have been much worse and as has been said you keep all your kids together. Hopefully they will all be able to make the transition to a new home with minimal disruption to their lives and they get back to enjoying themsleves quickly. Be very careful to inquire as to animal control bylaws and get copies in English (or at least translated by someone you can trust) before buying your new home. The last thing you need now is to have the local bylaw Nazi's demanding entry into your home and trying to take your kids away. When you are eventually settled there are a number of us within a couple of hours journey if you decide you actually want to meet us face to face and of course Ottawa has some excellent cultural venues and many of the country's national museums including the Agricultural Museum which I think might hold particular interest for you. I know change and moving can be especially hard (done it many times in the military) but consider it a challenge with the potential of many new rewards and growth lessons. Thanks and Cheers Carl |
 Baba wrote: Montreal is 2 hour drive away from us (or 90 minutes if I zoom a bit... )Hummmm.....  Not so "fast" about that now David. From some of Kim's recent posts and comments your days of getting to "zoom" around in Mady's little blue car may be coming to an end because of all your new family responsibilities.  Man doesn't growning up suck!!!!  Carl (who has given up a few of his own zoomie cars over the years to marriages and other not necessarily wanted life changes.  ) |
| Sorry things couldn't have worked out so you could stay where you are. It will be sad but you will all be together in the end. Will Kaj be able to come home and help you at all? How far from Vancouver to Montreal? I hope you are able to find a home you can love as much as the one you have. I am sure it will be difficult but you are one strong woman and you will do whatever is right for the fur-kids. |
ICH wrote: How far from Vancouver to Montreal? Very far, over 2800 miles on the trans-canada highway. And as Carl mentioned, you should make damn sure the bylaws etc. of the places you look at do not conflict with your menagerie. I imagine that will be the toughest part, probably the majority of communities would not allow all those animals. |
I'm so happy you've been able to reach a decision  Still quite a west to east trek, but at least you are in the same country and all the headaches of travel will be so much less. Sounds like you should look for a nice place in the country  |
It's got to be very hard leaving. But what's most important will be moving with you. You both are very special people and I don't doubt for a second that you will again make this new location a warm, welcoming and special home. |
| Marianne.... In Montreal, you'll be about a 5 hour drive away from.... THE ANNUAL NEOESR PICNIC!!!!! |
| Well how fun, we can visit each other! I can hug your chickens and all of your other critters! |
Hey thanks everyone for the postive notes and of course chuckles...ummm thought only sheepies and bunnies did zoomies but I guess people do too!  I was sad for a period of hours when crunch time came but then bounced back to my usual self and am going to think positvely and get think in that mindset. It could have been worse as he could have been offered no option of transfering with the company, so in the end I'm really grateful we at least had a way out. Moving closer to a lot of you folks and the potential to possibly attend a Sheepie Fest...ohhhhh now that sounds like a plan!!! It may not happen this summer as that's when I plan on making several trips (think it takes 5 days to drive each way) across the country and I'll have to do it several times with various critters...but yah know I'm motivated when it comes to keeping my fur kids together. It's a five hour plane trip but the cost is as much as flying to Europe but hopefully I can do that with the healthier ones. I have spent hundreds of hours (or maybe it feels like that much) checking and double checking bylaws and areas which are considered pet friendly and will be able to accomodate us all. It's been a bit of a challenge as Kaj doesn't drive and so we need to be near transit but I'm feeling more positive after viewing one house on MLS that fits all the criteria. Don't want to jinx myself as it might be gone by the time we are able to get in a position to purchase it...but it gave me hope that there does exist other homes I may like besides my "dream home" I'm currently living in. That place is further away from the city but Kaj is willing to make the sacrifice so that all the animals have a place. Hey I speak French...well sorta ...I understand it 100% and speak like a 6 yr old. (The age I was when I moved from France to Canada with my parents). However, on the West Coast no one speaks it so I have to brush up on my French but at least I have some background. |
| You can practice French with David and I, and Mady barks in French. Virginia and Gracie are just learning it. Theirry on this forum is in Montreal I believe, so at least you know that you can have a few sheepie play dates! |
| Marianne, I hope this turns out to be a blessing in disguise for you. No choice at this point only to go full steam ahead and expect great things. Was it ever an option that Taj could relocate for a while and you stay put and he could continue trying to get a job in your original town? Meanwhile still employed albeit across the country? |
| Wish he had that option but even tho we are common law and home owners he was here originally on a work visa and not a citizen. The only option was if another local company was willing to pay lawyer fees and take him on a work visa or if he stayed with the same company and accepted the transfer to any of their offices then the work visa was already in place and they would just extend it for another 3 years (duration of the next project). Montreal was the only Canadian city named in the transfer and is aprox 2500 miles away. Blah. It seems that was a HUGE barrier for him to find a job locally as many companies locally didn't want to bother with the process when they found out he was not PR. Yeah, we are kicking ourselves for not having the forsight that he hadn't applied for his PR (permanent residency) sooner but as his work had paid all the lawyer fees for a work visa we never bothered doing it through a common law partnership visa as we thought it was already covered.He would have had to leave Canada at the end of six months. We really never saw the company closing it's doors...no inkling at all. Ironically at the end of 5 years he would have had automatic PR anyhow. Eventually he would have be allowed to return to Canada as I would be sponsering him but that would place huge financial hardships on us and could take up to another year or longer for the paperwork to go through. I know I could have found other employment but it would have also left me alone for aprox a year while waiting for the process of sponsership to come through and him trying to find employment in Europe until he could return. As an EU citizen transferring to all those countries, I previously mentioned, would have not been a problem for him or me (as I still have duel citizenship as I was born in Europe) but no matter how hard we looked/searched we would have not been able to bring all the animals over. Some would have had to be left behind and that just tore me apart. In the end, I'm grateful it all worked out and we are all going to be together although separated for a few months as he starts his new job in a few weeks in Montreal. That will give him time to find a place and do some house shopping and me to view it - then have a place to go with the entire menagerie probably in a few months time.It really could have been worse as what if his company hadn't offered a transfer so in the end we were lucky. On a positive note - his new contract is for 3 years and that gives us plenty of time for him to get his PR and perhaps some day I can move back to this area. Last thing which I posted on my FB page....those animals better be grateful and keep me warm on those cold cold Eastern winters as we love them and did everything humanely possible to never leave any of them behind. Marianne |
| Marianne: Everything will work out, just be your positive self. Maybe when Taj gets settled in Montreal he can take some classes and get his driver's license. After I saw your posting here, I went on the internest to see how far you had to move. Lordy, lordy girl, that's quite a move. I've been through Quebec/Montreal when I was a child. That was so long long ago, that I remember nothing about it other then the fact I'd been through there. lol My parents were from Vermont so it was during one of those trip to visit my Grandma...her family is from Quebec. I see the weather is a bit different...colder. Crossing fingers for an eventless journey. |
| marianne, any chance of renting or leasing the existing homestead? just a thought.  |
guest56 wrote: marianne, any chance of renting or leasing the existing homestead? just a thought. I second that emotion... |
| Marianne, Mao and our familly live In Montreal. I have never had the chance to go to Vancouver but from what I have heard it is a very beautiful city. Fell free to contact us when you settle in the city for a sheepie meeting. Have you found a place to stay yet? Thierry |
| One other thing, I work in real estate, I am not an agent, but our company sells information on properties to real estate agents, lenders and so on. So If you want to get some information on a property in the province of Quebec such as when it was last purchased, what is the market value and so on, I will be happy to help out a fellow sheepie lover. Take care Thierry |
| Hi Marianne I dont think we've met but I wanted to say other than hello! I wish you well on the move - the dedication alone to move everyone should be a nightmare, but I think it will all go smoothly. Pleased to hear your hubby has a contract for three years - things here in England are just as bad if not worse for jobs. People are fightened to go on holiday or indeed take a sick day in case they come back to their P45 being on their desks. There is an old moving tradition that I often write in peoples new home cards and I would like to share it with you, if I may? Here are a list of the first items you should bring into the house before any other furniture: A new broom - so all your old worries are not carried into your new home A box of salt - for protection A bottle of juice or wine - so you may never thirst A loaf of bread - for prosperity |
| Hello again! Just this morning my closest friend sent me photos of her living her dream and that was to take sailing lessons and someday sell her house and sail the seas. I sorta "get it" although that's not my thing, as you all know having a place for animals to live out the rest of their lives was my dream. While I only got to enjoy it for a mere 3 years at my "dream home" (of which almost 2 of them was fulled with reno nightmares and other things) I'm still grateful. It doesn't have to end. We are exploring all options so that we can possibly rent this house and return to it some day. Tierry, you are a godsend and I can't begin to thank you for your generous offer and I will take you up on it! Thank you so much! Kaj's work generously offered to fly me out as well (a few weeks in advance of his April 9th move) in order to check out neighborhoods and view our new city. We hope to be able to use the opportunity to possibly purchase a home then. We have a few things to arrange first - a previously approved morgage and someone to be with all the animals before we can make the trip. With those two things in place we hopefully can make the trip possibly in March. I'll keep you posted. Thanks to all of you - really enjoyed all the upbeat post and loved that little poem! Marianne |
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