We are living in Sherbrooke now in our gigantic house. Morgane has adopted the very top floor which has purple carpet! We are sleeping in one of the three suites on the second floor. We have our TV set up in the living room downstairs and are enjoying the spacious kitchen. Talk about going from one extreme to another. I think we are all getting more exercise just walking up and down the stairs.

I want Morgane to read more in French so I bought her a few books including a cookbook for kids. She was so excited that she made us Guacamole even though she doesn’t like it herself.

We visited the library and got our new cards and we also visited the Museum of Science and Natural History. Morgane loved this little dinosaur nest full of eggs and little babies. While we were there, we made friends with a class that was there learning French. Immersion programs are offered for immigrants and some of the people were from Cairo, Egypt.

Tomorrow night we’re having people over for the first time. Tuesday morning we are having our stuff that’s in storage delivered.

Monday morning we get to move into the B&B where we’ll be staying until they manage to sell it. We are looking forward to having our own space, exploring Sherbrooke, and taking lots of baths. Click on the link to see some pictures. It’s called L’Aurore Boreale. The current owners leave to work in arctic Canada every summer. It should seem quite spacious after living in a van!

Today is gorgeous, blue skies, highs of 24 degrees (Celsius). Not sure what our plans are yet. We still haven’t been to the sugar shack (cabane a sucre). Now that we have our red car, we can drive wherever we want.

Last night the first people came to see the van and after a couple of hours, they bought it. It’s still in our driveway for the moment so we have some time to get used to this. The only part we are keeping is the extra bench seat. We can sell it or maybe we’ll keep it as a souvenir? I am happy and not feeling much else because selling the van was the first step in buying or building our new home!

We’re still in Westmount for a few more days and are keeping busy by going to the park and the library everyday (and the bakery and the video store sometimes, too). Morgane has been drawing lots and Carmanah has been lying in the sun.

Today Ghis took the train to Drummondville to pick up our red car. I have spotted another job on the internet so I’ll be working on my cover letter. There seem to be lots of teaching opportunities in Sherbrooke.

The van is all cleaned up, emptied, and even shampooed, and now we’ve posted it on craigslist and the other main sites. The worst part was taking off our personalized rambling three stickers.

We liked travelling in the van, but for most of our trip, it was a bit too cold to totally enjoy it. A van this size works well if you can spend lots of time outdoors. Often, after a day of driving, I didn’t want to spend my evening in the van and then sleep there, too.

It would be fun to keep it for weekend trips and all, but it’s an expensive toy. I think it will sell pretty quickly and then we’ll be back in our old red Kia that we started the trip with. The absolute worst part will be that we won’t be able to go to VW camp-outs anymore.

I am still happy that we took our trip in the off-season. We were a bit cold at times, but we had so many opportunities that we wouldn’t have had otherwise like playing with the dolphins in Marineland, Florida, or watching a rehearsal of The Very Hungry Caterpillar puppet show in Nova Scotia. We got to visit Mesa Verde and spend time at one of the cliff dwellings with just the three of us and a wonderful guide.

As well, most of the dangerous things in the south were hibernating – snakes, alligators, tarantulas, scorpions, etc.

I’ve been going through a mourning process now that our trip is over. I just can’t believe that it’s true! Is that denial? Maybe we’ll make a lot of money and then we can go to Europe. I’m dreaming of Costa Rica and Ireland and France and all the beaches that we visited…

I don’t feel any urge to settle down!

This morning Morgane had new ideas for inventions. She wants to make a book that you can eat in the library if you get hungry. She also wants to make a sandwich you can read if you get bored.

I found a game of Junior Monopoly at the thrift store and bought it, not realizing that it was missing the game board. When we realized it was missing, we set about making our own. It was so much fun that I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the traditional game! Stink-opoly is much better.You can buy Morgane Land or Ghis’s Office or The Bath.

Ghis and Morgane are gone to Drummondville today to drop off the van and bring back our red car. That will be a change! We are putting the van up for sale. It’s a little hard to let it go, but not so bad. If we need something like this again, we’ll buy one again.

I haven’t taken my camera out lately, so I don’t have any pictures to post. I am enjoying these days in Westmount, although we are itching to get established in Sherbooke.

No news yet about the job I really want. But I am busy for the moment writing about our trip. We visited so many places and met so many people that I don’t even know how to begin to explain it to people who ask us how the trip went. I guess I’ll just say, “Wait for the book.”

We are trying to build our life in Sherbrooke and are one step closer to getting Morgane into the alternative elementary school there. Soon she’ll be on the waiting list and then it will just depend on how much space they have.

The Westmount Library is so nice – I just went there to write for a couple of hours.

We found a place to live in Sherbrooke, at least temporarily. It’s Ghis’s favourite Bed & Breakfast which is closing at the end of the month. They have been trying to sell it for some time. They have agreed to let us live there since it will be empty anyway.

So we have a bit of time to pass before we can go to the B&B so we decided to come to Montreal and our old downstairs neighbour, Martin, said we could stay with him.

Martin was away though, so we took advantage of the time to visit our friends, Denis and Martine and their kids, out in the country near Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

Morgane had fun playing with the kids and the cat. We ate really well – many BBQs on their nice, new BBQ, despite the cold weather. We had some laughs playing silly Wii games and cards at night.

This morning we said good-bye and are now in Westmount. This weekend I am going to a PWAC writing workshop just walking distance from here. It’s on the business of writing. Very practical!

Morgane has several playdates lined up with old friends and is already over at the neighbours’ house eating dinner. Ghis and I are getting massages tomorrow at our old spot and I am planning on hitting the library to do some writing.

Today we stopped at the library and I picked some free New Yorker magazines from the magazine recycling shelf and they are not even very old! It’s good to be here.

I have put my resume in for a couple of jobs in Lennoxville, right near Sherbrooke. I am really hoping to get the job at Bishop’s University teaching spring and summer immersion classes. Cross your fingers for me!

We stayed for a few days with Ghis’s sister, Louise, in Drummondville. It was nice to have lots of healthy food around.Morgane and I had fun in the backyard with the remaining snow and some food colouring.

Louise has two black cats that also keep Morgane entertained. We have been playing with our Wii again including the new games that Louise bought while we were away. Now we can compete at dancing – you have to try to dance like the person on the screen and you can compete with others.

I find it a little depressing after being outside so much, but spring is coming. It’s cold at night, but nice enough to go walking during the day.

We slept near Cobourg and stopped in Brighton for breakfast. It’s a friendly small town that I liked a lot.

Then we ploughed ahead and drove past Kingston and into the Province of Quebec.

We drove through Montreal without getting stuck in too much traffic. Then we continued on to Drummondville and arrived at Ghis’s sister Louise’s house in time for dinner

The next morning, we dropped Morgane off at her Mami Celine’s house (Ghis’s mom) and we went to Sherbrooke to start looking for a place to live.

Oh, and as soon as we arrived, Ghis went to the market and bought some squeaky fresh cheese curds (they do squeak when you chew them) and some maple taffy and maple butter. Yum! As we licked our sticky fingers, it started to sink in. Our trip is over!

Still it won’t feel totally over until we have established ourselves again.