the move west: day zero

This is it! Our last day in Mississauga.

Saturday morning I picked up the car from Canadian Tire -- our first set of snow tires! Then I spent the day driving around doing errands. I was super lucky to have dinner with two good friends who couldn't make it to the pub night. I've been binging on pho and dim sum... knowing this is something I'll miss in our small town.

Yesterday, Sunday, I picked up my brother at the airport; he took the redeye in from Oregon via L.A. A few hours later, we dropped Allan at the GO bus for his last day of work in Toronto, then M and I went to pick up the truck. It's the largest U-Haul there is -- we can only make one trip! Then I spent the day packing.

(Over the last two weeks, we hired two friends to pack the apartment. Allan did some, especially the jungle that is his office, but was mostly overloaded by errands and chores. Last week he said he couldn't wait to go to work -- to relax.)

Several people have very kindly asked how Diego is doing amid the boxes and bubble wrap. We're so lucky: he's super chill. We've had dogs who would be depressed or anxious about all the commotion, but not the Big Boy. Wherever you plop down his bed, that's his new place to sleep. Any friendly human to drool on and get attention from, that's his new best friend.

A word about M. My brother is eight years older than me. Yesterday -- after spending the night in airports and on planes, through two flights and three time zones -- he never stopped moving. The man is retired, and still, no one can keep up with him. He claims he has slowed down, but I see no evidence to back that up.

We never did get that smoked salmon in Sydney. The current obsession is getting gas at Costco -- in Barrie. To be fair, this gas is $0.20/litre cheaper than what's around here, and $0.10 cheaper than anything in the Barrie area. And Barrie is on the way.

Me, I'd fill up at the nearest Petro Canada to earn points. Plus, full fairness disclosure: I am obsessed with points. M is not the only obsessive at the party. But hey, if Costco gas is the thing to do, then Costco it is. As long as we reach our dog-friendly motel every night, I'll just go with it.

Now it's Monday morning. I made a big pot of coffee, and I'm hoping for an hour of calm and quiet before the chaos begins. The crew we've hired to load the truck are supposed to arrive at 9:00 a.m. If all goes well, tonight we'll be in Sudbury.

Thanks for coming along!