Busy, Busy

After we moved back home in April we began the process of getting rid of most of our stuff. 

Contents have always been a huge struggle in this situation and not having clear guidance has been difficult. We decided to play it safe, although this hasn't always been easy. Rob has needed to remind me time and again that we need to do it right the first time so that we don't end up having to do it again.  Or he will help me to realize that it would be more costly to go through this a second time then to just do it right the first time. 

We purchased an enclosed trailer to store the items we would be keeping but didn't need in the house, such as memoriables and the theological books.  Items were labelled Ontario or Alberta.  Alberta being items we would keep no matter what and Ontario the items we would have to make a final decision on before leaving for Alberta or if we decided to stay in Ontario they would have to be stored outside the home.  As I started the process of cleaning out the house I adpated more of an Alberta mindset and so very little ended up in the trailer and most we ended up getting rid of.

We debated how to get rid of things. Get a dumpster and dump it all?  Was that really necessary? Knowing the mold levels in the area we live, it seemed ridiculous to be throwing out so much good stuff.  So we settled on selling things.  Our thought behind this was based on the fact that the mold in our home is hidden.  Our items have not actually come into contact with mold.  They may have mold spores on them,  but they have not actually physically been in contact with the mold or had mold growing on them.  For our family, to take all of these items and move them to a  new house we could be creating an issue since the kids are sensitive to the mold and we are unsure of their sensitivity to mold spores and since we are taking ALL items, which means a lot of spores at one time and a high concentration of these spores could mean a greater chance of them reproducing in a new home.  On the other hand for these items to be taken one or two at a time to different locations it is pretty unlikely that they are going to cause problems unless you are really sensitive to mold, and if you are you would not be buying used items in the first place. 

If you've ever shopped at a thrift store then you have likely taken home a variety of not so nice mold spores and if your items come out of an older run down thrift store it likely had ample opportunity to gather mold spores from the building alone, let alone the other items that were brought into the store.   The major reason we are opting to get rid of most of our items is because it will give us peace of mind at our next home knowing that old spores are not causing continued health problems. If we took everything with we might end up constantly questioning whether the surroundings are effecting the kids health, especially Matthew's.  This also means for the next while, until we have a clearer indication on how much mold effects each of us, we will have to stay away from most second-hand stores. Buying new is a foreign concept in our house,  but it does a really good job on keeping us as minimalists as we cringe at the price differences.  Basically the idea is to create a bit of a safe haven at our new home, so that if mold continues to be a problem there is a least a place to go for 8-10 hours of the day where the body does not have to struggle as much.

So the end of April and all of May was spent clearing out the home, in between driving kids to and from school and to appointments.  With Matthew feeling a bit better we were slowly able to reintroduce him to the bus at the end of the day.  I continued to drive him to school in the morning so at least he had a better start to his day. A few times he called me to pick him up at the end of the day as he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle the bus, but often I wasn't home and he had to manage on the bus and then rest when he got home.  We continued to receive help with people driving Marietta to and from school but on days that one of the kids had appointments before or after school (or during) then I still ended up driving, which was usually twice a week, sometimes three times a week.  In between that I tried to sell large and more valuable items online, which was time consuming but necessary in order to gain as much income as possible from selling everything.  We also had a garage sale for the smaller items and items that had not yet sold online.  We sold a lot through the garage sale, but since we had so much we also had a lot left. We considered doing a sale again the following week, but with limited time and lots to do before we left for Edmonton, we instead just posted everything for free and this helped us to clear our more of it.  We did sort through what could be sold online yet, but whatever else was left at the end of the day went to the thrift store.  Selling online is definitely a better way to bring in money as people expect things dirt cheap at a garage sale but are willing to pay more online.

Our pediatrician pulled some strings to get us in to see some specialists  before we left that we had been waiting to see. This added a variety of McMaster (aka long) appointments in the last weeks, but unfortunately nothing that opened some windows or doors into some better or different insight into what is ailing the kids.  The only appointment that offered some possible help was that we finally got to see the sleep consultant with regards to Rebecca's sleep study done in September.  We were advised that Rebecca has obstructve sleep apnea syndrome where she is waking up often during the night, although she has no clue that she is, and she is not getting enough deep sleep.  She also is not always getting adequate air when sleeping. It was recommended she try CPAP for 4 weeks to see if there is any improvement in her fatigue.

This appointment was the day before we left, nine nothing months afters the initial sleep study was done.  It left me with a few moments of doubt on our trip to Edmonton .... maybe all she needs is CPAP!?!?  But Rob put me back into perspective by reminding me of her other tests results indicating Lyme Disease and that she has other symptoms, even though fatigue is the most significant.  Since you need a respiratory therapist to fit you and monitor you for the first weeks with a machine we were unable to trail this theory before treatment.  We also cannot use the script in Alberta since it is a different healthcare system, so this is something we will have to look into further once we settle into a home at the end of the summer.

By evening on June 15th, the day we were scheduled to leave (Rob wanted to leave at 8pm and I said 10pm was more realistic), I still had not really done much packing.  There was a long list of last minute things I was working my way through that day, making sure I had all that was necessary to manage things away from home for the next couple months and dealing with some computer/technical/electronic things that are meant to make life easier (if you can get them figured out).  Much of the previous weeks had been lived in the moment, often not knowing what to do next or what was higher priority and I had to shift my brain to set aside what was left at home as there was no more time for me to do more there and shift the brain into packing and Edmonton gear. 

Part of the reason I had not done much packing was because there was not much to do.  I had made a brief list and all we needed to take with was a coupe days of clothes and very basic items to get us through the first few days.  We planned to leave Ontario behind when we left to spend the summer in Edmonton and that also meant as much of our belongs as possible would be replaced.    Needless to say, we didn't leave until 2am on June 16th. 

Leaving was a weird feeling. It mostly felt like leaving for holidays, and in a way it was, but yet we (especially the kids) have no idea if we would be back to see the house again.  For myself it was a bit of a relief to be somewhat closing the house chapter and hopefully able to focus more on the health end of things for the next little while.  But the reality is that the house chapter isn't really closed until the house is sold and we have a new place to live.  I'm just a bit more removed from it now, which might just make it more stressful as decisions have to be made and I'm not there to help process things anymore.  Yet, we go forward, one day at a time, one step at a time.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes for the LORD, who made heaven and earth"  Psalm 121: 1,2