Moving day....not!

Canadians are actually very prompt people, when it's not a holiday, weekend or lunch hour. That said, our delay in moving is due to a scheduling conflict with the US movers and our household items remain someplace in New York. While we would like to get things unloaded on Sunday, we can't because customs is closed. Yes, you have to go through customs with a semi-full of everything you own and basically swear you didn't just buy a plasma TV, appliance, etc. the day before you moved -- because of course they want to collect the taxes those items if you do some shopping.

So today (Friday) we need to move out of our rental home and into a hotel and wait for our truck on Monday. (Duke will be going to a "dog camp" in the country for the weekend since we couldn't find a hotel to take an 85 pound lab). Hopefully the TV will be unloaded and hooked up before Tuesday night so we can watch the election returns from north of the border. It should be interesting. Canadians are just as tired of the coverage as the US at this point. 

The weather here seems to be cooperating for Halloween after a blast of cold air this week, which made us realize winter is on the way. The sudden change prompted a trip to Wal-mart for some hats and mits (as they call mittens) since Kish thought the moving truck would have already arrived.  The kids will trick or treat at our new, freshly painted, empty home tonight. 

Got Skype?

Do you Skype? We had a Skype session this evening with Uncle Dan and Uncle Jim. You'll notice Uncle Jim wore a coat and tie for the call and Paul is wearing Canadian plaid. Skype is really cool and thanks Dan for introducing us to this handy means of international(and domestic) communication.  The link is on the left. Danielle was on her computer at school today and didn't know she was logged on and got a Skype call in the middle of French class from Uncle Dan. Oops!

Au revoir Naperville

Our house in Naperville is officially empty. Kish was there the last four days for the packing and loading process....it was a walk down memory lane. Paul held down the fort in Montreal getting the new house ready. 

Our family spent nine years and 11 months on Freeland Circle. It's the home where Danielle lost her first tooth and Louis took his first steps. We made great friends in Naperville. Thanks to everyone who helped out in the move offering a bed to sleep in, a meal or a cocktail. Our neighbor Scott turned out to be the handyman for the weekend and while we have been away. And our other neighbor Ellen, who moved with her family 11 times, knew to come over with her gloves on and started cleaning, knowing Kish shouldn't be by herself for the last few hours in the house. She offered great advise on moving with a teenager and knew enough to suggest at the last minute to get the basketball hoop in the truck knowing it will be great for Louis to have his hoop from Naperville as one of the first things to be placed at the new house. Just before leaving the house for the last time, Paul received a call from Kish which he appropriately called a "Kumbaya moment." 

The Sox Flag was the last thing on the truck and will be the first thing off -- the flag pole is ready in Beaconsfield/Montreal. It's not baseball season (for a Sox fan), but until we can find the Blackhawks and Bears flags, this will do.

Canadian and American politics

It's political season.  We're all trying to understand how Canada works, and the differences south of the border. We can still vote in the US and will sending in absentee ballots. Thanks to Wikipedia -- here's a brief explanation of how Canada works. This is good information for kids learning about governments. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_and_American_politics_compared

Canadians really are green

While grocery shopping I couldn't figure out the milk situation -- Danielle found out from school friends. Milk is sold in these large plastic bags (biodegradable of course) and there are three clear one-litre bags inside. You slip those in this pitcher and cut off a corner and voila (a backwards accent should appear on top of the "a" in voila but I can't figure out accents on my computer yet -- but I did confirm the spelling in my French dictionary) -- there's your environmentally-friendly milk!

On another environmental note...I was looking up information about our new home town -- Beaconsfield -- and ran across this article.  As you will read, the city has banned plastic water bottles from city functions! They have also banned pesticides on the lawn.

Beaconsfield hopes to eliminating disposable water bottles
KAREN SEIDMAN
The Gazette
Thursday, July 10, 2008

More than 300 families in Beaconsfield have taken the pledge to stop using disposable water bottles after the city launched a campaign asking residents to give up buying single-use plastic
water bottles for a year.
The program seems to have received positive feedback from residents, but the reaction wasn’t so positive from Nestlé Waters Canada, the country’s largest manufacturer and distributor of bottled water.
Company president Gail Cosman sent a letter to Beaconsfield Mayor Bob Benedetti expressing her concern with a ban on bottled water in the city.
“The possibility of a ban is particularly mystifying given that just last week, the government of Quebec and our industry announced that we were providing funding of $6 million over the next three years to boost recycling programs across the province in public places like streets, parks, restaurants and hotels,” Cosman wrote.
“A recently-completed pilot program in Quebec concluded that this program will significantly reduce litter in such areas of our community, while offsetting the cost of your current recycling program because of the value of the materials collected.”
Despite the letter, Benedetti said he was pleased with the participation by residents, although he was hoping about 500 families would take the Tap Water Pledge.
“What’s important is that it’s getting good buzz in the community,” he said. “People are talking about it and that’s a good thing. As long as we get people in the community talking sustainability and thinking about their footprint on the planet, we’ve succeeded.”
Last December, the city banned plastic water bottles from city functions, but Benedetti said the city wanted to do more. Beaconsfield estimated that 88 per cent of plastic water bottles are not recycled and one bottle can take from 500 to 1,000 years to break down in a landfill.
“We do have really good tap water in Beaconsfield and we should be using it more,” Benedetti said. “There is a real financial and environmental cost to using single-use plastic water bottles.”
With 317 families having taken the pledge, Benedetti figures that alone will significantly reduce the consumption of disposable water bottles.
“That’s a lot of water bottles,” he said. “And surveys have shown that when people sign a pledge like that, they take it seriously.”
Karin Essen, president of the Beaconsfield Citizens Association, thinks the campaign against water bottles is a good idea. She took the pledge and plans to keep it.
“I’m very against disposable water bottles,” she said. “I don’t believe in paying for water when we’ve got such great tap water. If people stick to their pledge, it will be really good. Maybe other cities should think of doing the same.”
kseidman@thegazette.canwest.ca

P.S. -- are they playing AC/DC like crazy in the states or is it just here? We know they released a new album, but seriously, we have not heard this much of their music since 1983.