The Last Word

Eye of the Hurricane 2 — (June 2003) Well, you read the story last issue, but how does it end? Happily, the story doesn't end. But I will continue from what happened after finding out the house was ours, and getting the rest ironed out! :)

Basically… I survived. (Yeah, yeah, I know: "obviously!") :)

Friday May 2nd was when we were due to sign at the Notary. After work I ran around like a madman getting "things" ready. I ran around the Faubourg Mall getting fresh Brie and a fresh baguette. I ran to Benix and bought 2 new wine glasses and a corkscrew. Then I drove to the SAQ (liquor commission) to pick up a special bottle of Beringer's Founders Estate Chardonnary 2000 :) (my "Proposal" wine).

It took me some time to track down a store that actually had any in stock, and when I did, it turned out to be much further than I expected!! But, afterwards, bottle in hand, I put everything in the trunk of the car and went to pick up Chantale from work, trying to act "natural" and not let on that I had something planned. We drove to the Notary and got there a little early. Chantale was hungry and suggested getting a quick bite. I convinced her it would be best to get through with the Notary so we could go to the house quicker! :)

That was exactly what we did. We went in, read through all the documents, signed TOO many times to remember (my original guess was 15, Chantale said 22. We have no recollection of the actual number :) ) and then after sharing a huge hug and kiss in the parking lot, we got in the car and zoomed to the house. :)

I had her unlock the front door and we stepped inside. I closed the door, scooped her into my arms, and carried her across the living room and into the kitchen/ dining room :) Obviously, we were ecstatic!

We started to look around and I managed to sneak out of the house while she was upstairs. I got the stuff from the car including a blanket and had the dining room all spread out before she came downstairs :) Yes, quite the romantic sight :) We toasted and enjoyed the Baguette and Brie, laughing and talking the entire time. It was truly wonderful :)

Saturday May 3rd:

After having gone to bed very late in order to get more last-minute packing done, we were up at 6am in order to get in a run to the house. Chantale drove me to U-Haul and then went to the house to unload the car. I fought the truck the entire time but managed to drive to the apartment and soon after proceeded to pack it up with the help of my father-in-law and good friend, Marc-Andre. The three of us managed to load that sucker up in no time! :) Since we were on a deadline, we had to leave at 11am. We headed to Chantale's parents' place to pick up her old bed and dresser and then went off to the house. As we left, my mom called to tell me the movers had finally arrived at the apartment (we expected them at 9am, they showed up a little after 11am).

We got to the house in one piece (after many stops and stalls – it was a horrible truck who's battery was on the verge of failure – I had to drive with a foot on the accelerator and brake at the same time!) and unloaded the truck. A quick bite later and we headed off to return that hunk of garbage. From there, we drove back to the apartment and managed to grab some more stuff for the 2 cars and, after grabbing another small bite to eat, headed back to the house. Once there, we finished unloading, started putting stuff up, but then at 6pm Chantale and I headed back to my parents.

My sister-in-law gave birth to a baby girl on Friday night!! Welcome Alexia Aragona to the world!!! :) My baby brother is now a father. How bizarre is that :)

So, the four of us headed to the hospital to see our new family member and it was a wonderful moment :) That night, I think we all slept soundly for the first time in weeks :)

Sunday May 4th:

I had to get up early and spend some time prettying myself up :) Shower, shave, and into the suit I went as I headed BACK to my parents to pick them up and drive them to the church for James' 1st Communion. It was a nice ceremony and James was really nervous but really happy, too :)

Afterwards, I drove my parents home, picked up some more of our food, and went back to the house where we spent the next couple of hours cleaning up and setting things up. It's been quite an experience. Heck, we were so exhausted that night that we went to bed at 9:30pm!!!

It's taken us quite some time to get things straightened out but we finally have a lot in place and actually have furniture! :) (For what seemed like 2 weeks we ate and watched television on the floor). For a house we initially felt was way too big for us, we're suddenly realizing it's not THAT big… except when it comes time to clean it, of course :)