SOLD / VENDU

Well, it seems all the terms and conditions of the offer have been fulfilled and my house is now sold! As I have already taken possession of my other house (and am renting it to the previous owers), I'm delighted. Now I can go shopping... Well, actually, I should really start packing as we are moving in 8 days! YIKES!!!

Three more days of work and I will be off til school start again. I was just sort of getting back into it and getting my self-confidence back... Oh well! My family needs me and I need them, so that is where I will be.

Mathieu's surgery is scheduled for June 17th, the anniversary of Tony's death. I told Mathieu it was a special day and it meant that Daddy will be there to help him through this. So will I... As promised, I will be sleeping with Mathieu at the hospital. My Mom, family and friends will be holding the fort for me at home.

I'm very lucky to have family and friends that I can rely on. I know Tony has something to do with my good fortune. He is still taking care of us.

Well, that's it for now.

Take good care!

Renée

Photos for your viewing pleasure...

Happy Mothers' Day!

Sorry folks, I haven't uploaded the software for my new camera yet; so no new photos! Maybe Rich will do it for me tomorrow. Well, a belated Happy Mothers' Day to all you wonderful mothers out there. It can be a thankless job at times, but you wouln't give it up for the world, now would you!...

It's been really busy around here these last few weeks. The real estate agent came by last Friday to take photos of the house and put up the "FOR SALE" sign. That's just so weird. It's like watching somebody else's life through invisible glasses. All sorts of weird thing are going on.

As I was getting the lawn ready for photos, I noticed that, somehow, some of the annual flowers I had on the deck the year before had somehow made their way over the fence and seeded themselves next to the side of the house. There I stood, two days before mother's day, staring at beautiful flowers, which I am sure were Tony's mothers'day gift to me. I broke down and cried - and then I made sure that my friend who was mowing the lawn did not mow them down.

I have an appointment with the notary to sign for my new house next Thursday. Our move-in date is June 6th. WOW!

Last week I got a very special call from Tony's friend and boss, Denis. He called to invite the boys to go to Quebec City with him to see the World Cup of Hockey. Just when I was starting to freak out about dealing with the kids for the weekend and handling the renovations and all... It was like a gift from heaven. Also, when Denis talked to me, he mentioned that all the guys - Tony's work colleagues - had talked about our upcoming move and offered to help. Tony always did look after me... I don't know why I thought he would stop now... It's just weird. And, no, I haven't totally lost my mind. Just partially, and temporarily!

The biggest news is that Mathieu's surgery has been scheduled for June 17th. The one year anniversary of Tony's death. Tony will definitely be there with us that day, and I'm sure he'll be keeping our Mathieu safe! Unfortunately, it is also a week befre the end of Mathieu's school year. Hopefully an end-of-year party will make up for the time he will miss in the last week.

Faced with an overflow of emotions, I have had to scale back my work schedule to three days a week until Mat's surgery. I will be off for the summer to be by his side, and look forward to going back to work full time in September.

I hope you're all keeping well. Drop me a line or two. I'd love hear from you.

Take good care!

Renée

Rain, rain, and more rain...

Well folks, I sure hope the weather channel is wrong. They're forecasting rain for the whole week, including Saturday and Sunday. While it is helping the leaves grow and making the scenery a bit more green, it is still quite depressing! I suppose it might make it easier to stay inside and do housework... But, unfortunately, rain usually makes me feel like shopping! Yikes! The house is coming along. I actually visited some open houses this weekend in an effort to compare properties and prices for my own lisiting. I guess all the nice houses sold really quickly, because the ones I saw made my house look like a castle. I guess I shouldn't get overly optimistic though. Wouldn't want to be disappointed.

The moving truck has been reserved, and I've rented a storage space to store my stuff and declutter the house - it's not full yet, but it won't be long. I'm still on 3 days/week at work. I should be up to 4 days/week next week and, if all goes well, I will be full time on May 19th. I'm hoping to get to the gym on Wednesday... I really need to... I haven't been since last week. Working really cuts into your free time!!!

I want to wish my father-in-law and my friend Debra a happy belated birthday! And, my congrats to my baby sister who just bought her first house! We'll be christening a few decks this summer, I guess. I spoke to Joe tonight and Ella is still in Washington doing well and recovering from her surgery. She is making good progress.

Rich and I were discussing the possibility of him going to Belfast this summer. We were looking at flights and dates, and it's a definite possibility. We're still waiting on a date for Mathieu's surgery and I've been researching and talking to doctors in an effort to determine what type of surgery would be best for him. I guess avoiding the issue will not make it go away, so I'll simply have to face it and forge ahead. Tony's going to have to help me with this one.

The boys, my sister Michelle and I went to see the Canadiens play the first match of this second series of the playoffs against the Flyers. It was amazing. It went into overtime and Rich, a fervent Leafs' fan, was actually wearing - for the first time ever - a Canadiens' jersey and a smile. I think Michelle has a photo.

There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to this blog, but these days, my brain is in constant overdrive and there's not much order to my thought process. I suppose I could reorganize the paragraphs to camoufflage this, but you'll have to forgive me, I'm just too tired.

That's it for now.

Take good care!

Renée

Spring has sprung... and change is in the air

Call it a bold move, maybe done in large part on a gut feeling, nevertheless, I've gone and done it... I bought a house. I visited one house and just had to have it! It is within walking distance of the boys' schools and close to many good friends. It will make life simpler - and it is newly renovated. Only Richard's room will need to be repainted - it's now lime green!

Purchasing that house was the easy part. The difficult part will be leaving the home that we shared with Tony. I try not to think about that too much. The time will come soon enough. I've hired a friend of mine to help freshen up the house so that it is ready for sale. So far, he's redone the ceilings and repainted the walls in the dining room and living room. He's replaced the light fixtures in the kitchen and the dining room. The kitchen is the biggest eye-sore, so I've ordered a new counter and bought tiles for the floor. Hopefully that will help. I'll be replacing the bedroom doors and the light fixture in my room. My room will also be repainted. I've had a homestager come for a consultation. Her recommendations were all things I had already thought of. I have a lot of decluttering to do. YUK!

I get possession of the new house on my birthday. I wanted to ensure that we were moved in before Mathieu's surgery - the date of which has yet to be determined. It'll will be after the school year. So I will be working until the end of the school year and will then be off until September so that I can be there for Mathieu. I am still on a progressive reinstatement program and am working 3 day a week. I should be full time in May.

Well, I should get back to my decluttering... Lots to do.

Take good care everyone.

Renée

Belated Happy Easter!

It has been quite busy! Even working just 2 days a week, this week and last... has got me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Not a pretty picture! The boys are doing okay. Richard took part in the Elite football team tryouts for his league last Friday (4 hours of drills and scrimmage) and then went to his friend's sleepover birthday party. Well, he hasn't been the same since. Saturday, he came home and fell asleep at 6 pm and did not wake up until 9:30 on Sunday morning. Mathieu, on the other hand, has been all hockey and excitement. His team won their semi-final game last night and will be playing in the finals (a best of 3 series) starting next weekend. They will also be participating in a local hockey tournament. Also, I have registered him in a acting workshop starting in mid-April... Hopefully, hockey will be over by then because I think football and soccer will be starting their tryouts. HELP!!!!

My mom had us all over in her new condo for Easter brunch on Sunday. It was great. Luckily, my dad and everyone were very helpful and contributed to the culinary delight. Mom was great! I was lazy... and Richard was not well and stayed home.

My friend Ella had an appointment with Dr Sugarbaker in Washington today, and he has agreed to operate on her during the first week of April; so, next week... Hopefully, the RAMQ will come through for her as the procedure he proposes, the Sugarbaker procedure, is her only hope and is quite expensive.

Well, that's it for now. I'm off work tomorrow, and will hopefully make it to the gym to burn off all the chocolate I've been eating!

Take good care!

Renée

Anneke: I would love to get in touch with you. Please send me your e-mail address via this blog and I will contact you. I will delete your information from the blog as soon as I copy it.

Ola! la!

Well, we're back! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, and after minor delays (15 hours) due to a snow storm in Canada, we returned from Cuba yesterday, where it was at least 28 degrees everyday, to Montreal where our flip flops were no protection against the -10 degree temperature that greeted us (that's -20 with the windchill).

We truly enjoyed our vacation. We went for a few rides on a catamaran (and I have the largest bruises to prove it), we went pedalboating and swam with the fish, we swam with the dolphins, we ate too much, drank too much and slept too little... Luckily, or not, the resort was quite large, 3 km around - I believe -, so we also got some exercise in spite of ourselves. I tried not to let the fact that I lost my watch and digital camera put too much of a damper on our vacation. I bought a disposal camera and had luckily brought my sports watch to go to the gym (although I did not make it to the gym).

There definitely were moments when Tony was quite present and I could not walk by the spot we sat in throughout our vacation last year without feeling chocked up. One day as we were walking around the pool area, Mathieu noticed a lady reading the March issue of Canadian Living (e-version) and insisted I speak to her to tell that our story and photos appeared in her magazine. She was taken aback. She must've read the article quickly beacause when we walked passed her again she stopped me and told me that she was touched and that her father had also been diagnosed with colon cancer. Fortunately, in his case, it was caught early and he is still living.

It has been a difficult month. A friend of mine and Tony's, a hockey dad we always sat with during Richard's hockey games and practices, passed away on February 19th. We used to share a coffee and a chat and enjoy watching our sons play hockey together. It was sudden and quite a shock. As well, Richard's hockey coache's wife, my friend Ella, was operated for cancer. They could not remove all the cancer and told her that her best chance was a procedure that is only done in the U.S. So far, the Quebec government has refused to agree to pay for the much needed procedure. So, Ella, her husband and friends have started doing some fund raising. For more info see http://www.helpella.com/ .

I will be returning to work gradually as of later this morning. It is quite scary... I'm afraid I just won't remember how to do a thing... On the other hand, I am very much looking forward to seeing all of my friends and coworkers. They're a great bunch.

That's it for now.

Take good care!

Renée

P.S. I received an e-mail from a lady who's husband has been diagnosed with cancer. She wanted to know how Tony managed to get insurance to travel with a pre-existing condition. I'm sorry to say that we could not get him any insurance. Tony was pretty stable and in between treatments when we travelled both last year and in 2006. He really want to go and create beautiful memories for our children, so we simply went on a wing and a prayer. I apologize that I could not respond to you directly; I did not have your email address.