Are we ready??

March 7

We are supposed to be hitting the road in 48 hours and there is still much to do. I have been having all sorts of issues getting my pension going because my divorce lawyer from way back didn't deal with our pensions properly back then. So now I'm off to another lawyer to try to get it all sorted out. More money, time and stress but I think I'm getting closer. We are also putting our house up for sale so everything must be spotless before we leave. Unfortunately we haven't been able to find a good option for our 19 pound garage/outdoor cat Smoky so he will be staying home. Rachelle will be checking on him every couple days. I know he is very independent and will be fine but I still tear up when I think of leaving him for 5 weeks.

By the time we got home from town the temperature had gone from -22C all the way up to a balmy -7C so we bundled up and continued loading the trailer. Way too cold open slides and really organize anything.

We were supposed to have an appointment with our financial adviser in Edmonton for early Friday morning. We were feeling too much time pressure so we cancelled meaning we now could wait until Friday to leave which gives us enough time to finish and then relax for the evening. We got everything (we think) loaded up and hooked up by 4:30ish and now we can relax and leave at our leisure in the morning. Phew!

Hooked up and ready to go!

March 9

Slept great! We both hit the showers, had coffee and breakfast and then set about all the last minute details. I had a long, tearful good-bye with Smoky and we hit the road. It was a cold but beautiful sunny day and the trip to Edmonton was uneventful.

Margaret in her happy place

Dave in his happy place

All was going great until we arrived at my sisters place. Lorin lives on a corner lot with tons of room to park along the side of her house. Unfortunately it had snowed heavily a few days prior and the the roads had not been plowed. If we tried to park there we would definitely be stuck. Where to park 57 feet of vehicle??? Luckily Lorin's neighbour, Vic, was outside snow blowing and shovelling his driveway. He graciously offered to let us park the trailer there overnight. It did mean we had to unhook the truck but beggars can't be choosers and we were very grateful to accept his offer.

Lorin was still at work so we headed over to our friends, Howard and Chris's for a coffee and visit. We got back to Lorin's in time to order in some supper. After dinner Ryan and Ashtyn, Sam and Richard, and my brother Dan and his wife Celia arrived for a small party. We had a number of beverages and a great time. As everyone was leaving I realized I had not taken any pictures so my daughter, Sam took a couple.

Lorin, Sam and me

Lorin and I decided to have a glass of water and chat for "10 minutes" before heading to bed. Well...3 hours and a bottle(?) of wine later we finally went to bed. Good thing we only have a 3 hour drive tomorrow and Dave is driving ;)

The Party

March 5

Dave wanted a chance to have a couple drinks with his crew. Since the first day off after their shift rotation fell on a Monday the party was on Monday. I also invited my gang from work even though most of them had to work the next morning. We decided to host it at a newly renovated restaurant in Bonnyville, Nick's Lounge. Nick has been a Bonnyville restaurant owner for many years and has done a fabulous renovation on his newest venture. Thanks Nick for all the great food, drinks and shots!!

Dave and I arrived around 5:30 to get a bite to eat and get things organized before others showed up. Nick was all ready for us with extra staff, seating and an offer of free meals for the two of us. By 6:15 people started showing up and by 7:00 we had over thirty people. Apparently everyone was VERY thirsty and we kept the excellent servers and bartender very busy. Dave and I picked up the tab until 9:00pm, after that everyone was buying us drinks. There were many Burt Reynolds, Krispy Krunches and, of course, chilled Patron Tequila shots.  Oh my!! Sorry about the picture quality but dark lounge plus many drinks equals crappy pictures...lol

Me, Shelby, Brittany, Amber, Kiersten and Marlene

Reana and Dave

Fairly early. Morley, Mike and the girls

Dave (getting tipsy), Leeland, Callum, Jared, Jeff, Devan

Derek, Dave, Roger

Shelby, Kiersten, Amber, tipsy me, Brittany

Rachel, Callum, Abi, Blaine (behind glass)and Andrew (just arrived and sober!)

High 5 Champs of the world!!

I think this was taken around midnight.

I really want to thank all those who made it out. It was EPIC!! To those who couldn't be there, you were sadly missed but pretty tough to find a time to get everyone in one place at the same time. Somehow we didn't get Vanessa in one of these pics but she was there too, she was Dave's shift supervisor for several years and a good friend of ours.

We took a cab home (of course) not that we remember much about the ride! The next day we had a slow morning and then Dave went to our friends Paul & Diana's house(who we really wish could have celebrated with us)house to plow snow with there tractor while they are away in Phoenix Az.

 I stayed at the house and cleaned some more and put more stuff in the trailer. Early to bed tonight!

 Pretty icicles...not!

Too cold to do much more than just throw stuff in. We will have to organize later. Besides, I need to go lay down on the couch with a warm, snuggly blanket and a cup of tea. My head hurts.

Our Retirement begins

February 28
Our last day at work! Dave drove his own truck into work instead of taking the company van. He arrived late, breakfast in hand for all his crew. He was thrilled to note that they all dressed in grey sweat pants and shirts in honour of Dave's preferred work attire. They even went so far as to replicate the moustache. Now that's love!

After visiting with them he headed off to some other areas and plants to say good-bye to some of the many people he had worked with over the last 30 years. After many heartfelt congratulations he came home early.

Unfortunately my last day at work was very busy. Working in healthcare does not allow for extra staff to accommodate visit time, even for your last day. I did my best to get in a chat with everyone. My girls ordered in lunch to celebrate and I hung around after my shift to say a few extra good-byes. I am staying on as  casual staff and hope to pick up a few shifts this summer. You can't get rid of me that easy!!

March 1
Our plan is to hit the road with the 5th wheel on March 8th. Unfortunately the weather in northern Alberta at this time of year is full scale winter. We have been waiting for weeks for a "warm day" to start loading up but it hasn't happened yet.

For now we are loading everything in the garage. We also took care of updating our wills with the lawyer.

March 2
Second day of retirement and I am back at work doing an eight hour course called Non-Violent Crisis Intervention. It is a mandatory course for all techs at our site as we often work alone. I can also use the hours for annual education hours required by my licensing college. Win-win!! Dave was home doing more packing, sorting and organizing. He also started some house cleaning as we are planning on putting the house up for sale. The market here is still terrible since oil prices tanked in 2014/15. Way too many homes on the market and very few buyers equals low selling prices. We will have to see what happens.

March 3
Snowed hard all night. Sitting around thinking about going to do some snow removal when "Surprise!!" my kids, Ryan and Sam, Ryan's girlfriend Ashtyn and our nephew Graham from Edmonton all showed up! Along with them was our friends Ron and Shelley and our daughter-in-law Rachelle with grandson Dominic. One of our "adopted" kids, Derek, also came by. 

Graham, Dave, Derek, me, Sam, Ryan and Ashtyn

Rachelle, me, Dominic and Grandpa

The kids brought everything with them to ensure a good time was had by all. Plenty of snacks, food, "beverages" and games. Graham even brought two really nice bottles of Champagne for an official retirement toast. Delicious :)

Graham with the good stuff

We laughed a lot and stayed up way past our bedtimes! We all enjoyed the game What do you Meme? So much fun! Such a wonderful night. What great kids we have. 

March 4
Everyone slept in and woke up a little under the weather...hahaha. After a couple coffees we made up a big pancake breakfast for all and then set about getting some snow taken care of.

The kids got loaded up and on the road by 2pm as the road conditions were not great and Momma bear insisted they be home before dark.