He got the job.... now what do we do?

We were sitting at Safeway when D got the call. Because we hadn't been here that long and hadn't had the chance to make any friends to give out our number we knew it was more than likely for a job. He answered and a smily instantly grew on his face. Then he gave me a thumbs up. He had gotten the job in Airdrie. Now came the hard part, how the hell were we going to make this work?

After some thought we decided it wouldn't be smart to move to Airdrie for a job that D hadn't even started yet - what if he hated it? What if it didn't work out? There were too many what ifs to simply close our eyes and jump in. So we decided to hire a car and drive down for the first weekend staying in a cheap hotel to see how it went and then make a more informed decidion based on that experience. Someone (ie me) stupidly booked what must have been the smallest car in the fleet - a Fiat 500 that barely fit me and D in let alone a suitcase in the back. The weather was terrible and only getting worse so we knew if was going to be a pretty tense drive south in our cardboard box. We couldn't actually get a hotel in Airdrie so we stayed at one of the Calgary airport hotels which added about 30 mins onto the drive. D and I both know what a long commute is like, we both went in opposite directions 45 mins each way to get to our jobs in Australia so I knew as soon as we arrived at the hotel living in Calgary was not going to be an option if D did in fact want this job... it would have to be Airdrie.

The drive to Calgary and back became a weekly event

D woke up and got himself off to work in the dark that first day and I sat like a worrying mother all day waiting for him to come home anxious about how he was going. I was so proud of him and hoped he had a good day. He did. When he came home that night he couldn't have been happier with how the day went - he wanted the job and he wanted to live in Airdrie. I agreed and set out to find a place to live. 

D after his first day of work - yep thats the shoebox for a car we rented

Calgary night sky

Halloween was during that first week and back in St Albert so I used some things I had around the house to create possibly the worlds worst cat outfit but considering how huge Halloween is in Canada and how little it's celebrated in Australia I didn't want to miss out. D of course opted out of dressing up and even contemplated buying a BB gun to shoot the kids with but I wouldn't allow it. It was a fun night giving out candy to the kids, and even fun-ner when I discovered there was plenty left over for me as well as mega discounts on bulk lots of it in all the stores.... yummm!

Me as a cat for Halloween - immediately regretted the thongs

Meeeooowww i'm poor

Over the next few days I researched rentals over the internet and made appointments to view. I thought we would be lucky and get one starting in November but unfortunately there wasn't anything available until December which was still 5 or so weeks away. We jumped on it as we didn't want to miss out and potentially have to wait until January. Our application was approved straight away and we spent the next month hiring a car, driving to Airdire and staying in a hotel for the working week then driving back to St Albert for the rest of the week. We felt like gypsy's most of the time and we were haemorrhaging money (thank god for our credit card) but we didn't have a choice. Luckily the petrol was a damn site cheaper than Australia!

Compared to our price of $1.50+ p/l in Australia this is awesome but I  have seen it cheaper since this photo  as well

D had 1 day off one weekend while we were staying in Calgary and we took the opportunity to visit the Calgary Tower to get a birdseye view of the city and the rocky mountains to the west. Calgary was quiet that day as it was a Sunday but it's definitely a nice city I hoped to spend more time in.

Calgary tower from the ground

A weird feeling standing on glass with nothing between your feet and the ground below

Calgary with the rocky mountains in the background

All the while I had still been looking for work and ended up landing a job at The Body Shop about 10 mins drive out of town. I started 2 weeks before we were due to move. I loved the girls there however the job itself was hideous. One day I stood out the front of the store with a lame wheel to try and entice potential customers to spin for 6 hours straight. I decided the weekend we moved that I couldn't do it anymore and I quit. D has always been very supportive when it comes to my reluctance to work... It's not that I don't want to work, it's that I have no idea what I want to do and it constantly leads to my depression in the workplace. So it was 2 jobs down and a move ahead.

By the end of the month we had been driving back and fourth we were well and truly ready for a place of our own. It had been fantastic to stay with D's relatives and get to know them better and so wonderful of them to open their home to us but it was time to stand on our own feet for once. The feeling was that the last month had all been about work, and we were ready for some fun...

We booked a greyhound bus to take us to Airdrie instead of a car that last week which cost us a whole $2 per ticket (I got in early and snagged a sale fare). Before long we were here. Airdire, Alberta... a place until a month ago we had never heard of was our new home.