HOUSE News!

This is for those who don't already know, we are now the proud owners of a new house in Cape Breton. It is about 20 minutes out of Port Hawkesbury, so very doable in terms of travel.

We have to say that we have had to face what seemed to be endless Brick Walls. I (Gemma) did a Tarot reading a couple of months ago, and even a follow-up reading, and they both said that if it was going to happen it would be complicated, seemed to be inferring a lot of paperwork. From that we inferred that the lawyers were going to make a meal of it. We decided to get a myriad house inspections done, which now means we have a new oil tank, and also the house is rewired - so it pays to be careful with an older property. Even down to our last days before completion day there were questions from the lawyers, and I now realise that much from the Tarot reading was related to this. And back to the 'Brick Walls'' ' what is this reference, it is particularly referenced to the Randy Pausch 'Last Lecture', we realised those last days, even the last weeks, working up to buying this house, that Brick Walls "are there not to keep us out, they are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something, because Brick Walls are there to hold the 'Other's ' back" and those are the words of Dr Randy Pausch. We feel that he truly gave us the strength to persevere to achieve our goals.

The other good news this week, is that Jerry got is work permit through, and it is for 3 years, and is an Open Permit, which means if he does not get work in the Carpentry field, he will still have options. Now that we both have our work permits, we can now focus on working towards our Provincial Nomination.

We have a lot of decorating to do before we move there, but will be able to go there with the dogs on weekends to get work done.

Thanks to everyone for their support, you know who you are. We appreciate all that you do.

Some recent News!

Since I last updated the blog, prior to today, several things have happened.

The first rather important event of course is that Jerry finished his course, and now has his Honours Diploma in Carpentry. The Convocation was a wonderful evening, and Jerry looked pretty spiffing in his gown.

We also have a new arrival here since March, called Branwen, and she is now 5 months old. She is a Siberian Husky, and everyone pretty much is her friend now. It has been quite a challenge having a puppy in the house again, but we are over the worst of it I think.

I received a Labor Market Opinion through my company, and now have a new 2-year work visa based on that, so there was much celebration over that. The aim once Jerry has his work permit through, is to start working towards provincial nomination, which will help us to fast track to permanent residency.

We have come to some decisions over the winter: we realise that to build a house from the ground up, with the price of lumber here in Canada, would be very expensive. We have been looking for property for Jerry's Mum and stepdad who currently live in Spain, and were looking to buy a property here with some land. As we were in that process of searching, the lights went on for both of us, that this was something we should be doing as well.

That is the current situation, that we are looking to buy a property that is within a sensible driving time out of town, which has some land that can be worked. Since Jerry has finished school, we are no longer so tied to the need to live in town. The plan being that whatever we buy, we will make changes to the property, to make use of passive solar where we can. We have equipment that we have purchased since we arrived, which will work as well in an existing house as a new build.

Will update again, when we have made some progress.

Dr. Randy Pausch Passes Away.

Dr. Randy Pausch who gave the now famous 'Last Lecture' lost his battle with terminal pancreatic cancer on Friday morning 25th July, 2008, at the age of 47. He leaves behind a wife Jai and three children, Logan Dylan and Chloe, his sister, and his monther.

His lecture was put on 'youtube' for people who had been unable to attend, but has now been viewed by millions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo The lecture he gave--'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams'--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment. It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. He said he knew what he was doing the day he wrote the lecture, "Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children."

Subsequently, the lecture was expanded into a book 'The Last Lecture', In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

His enduring line: "You cannot change the cards you are dealt, just how you play the hand."

We are very saddened by his loss, but grateful that we have been allowed to share him for a little while.