This weekend, Nicole, Eli and I flew to Seattle for a little house hunting. We’d all scoped out the area before, and of course, Nicole had been researching online well before we boarded the plane. Our real estate agent, a recommendation from a friend and co-worker, had a tour all prepared for us — she knew exactly what we were looking for. We allowed ourselves a price range we wouldn’t have been comfortable with at home in Canada, because there you get what you pay for as far as school districts go.
We had 7 houses on our hit list. I think the 3rd one we saw was the one we settled on — and we knew it almost as soon as we got there. Its 2300 square feet, has a view of the Cascades mountain range from the cavernous master bedroom, has two parks within a block of our front door, and a Starbucks, grocery store, library and physiotherapist all within 2 blocks. Above all else, the areas award-winning school is in walking distance.
It will be a commute for me — 40ish minutes every day, unless I find a carpool — but it will be comfortable for the family, and we managed to pull it off at a price that makes good financial sense.
Our house here closes on July 25. The house there closes on August 2nd. The mover will pick our stuff up in Canada on July 22, and by the time it gets there, our house will be ready.
Until then, I’ll be living in corporate housing in Seattle. Sunday I begin my drive cross-country, giving myself 7 days to do it. I suspect it will be less. My expenses and mileage will be paid by the relocation firm.
Nic and the three kids will be alone in Ontario — but fortunately, most of the big rocks are moved. Life should carry on pretty normally for them for the next few weeks. Before the movers come, I’ll fly home to join them and over-see the packing, then we’ll all fly out together and camp out in the apartment until the house is ready. Our American kids should have Passports by then, thanks to Nicole’s well-orchastrated trip to the U.S. Embassy in Toronto, and we’ll be ready to send them to school on day one… once we figure out what grades they’ll let them into!
On the whole, this relocation has gone incredibly smoothly. The timing has flowed perfectly, and we feel blessed in our new adventure… and blessed by those we’re saying good-bye too. We’ll miss a lot of people and a lot of places, but we are excited about having something new to conquer…