Back from the depths!

Hey, everyone! Long time no talk, I know.

Last year was nuts. I came back from a conference in May that finally busted through the inertia I’d felt after my husband’s death. I was unhappy where I was, and I was DETERMINED to do something about it. I wanted to be in a place where I felt more at home. And that was NOT Alberta, Canada.

At first, I was intent on moving back to the states, and in particular, to Minneapolis. But I was going to have to convince my company to let me work fully remote, and it looked like there might be state rules about working remotely that my company wouldn’t agree to. I considered Denver, where we have a branch, but everyone in Denver hikes, and it just isn’t my thing. At the last minute, I balked at losing my Canadian healthcare, and threw a Hail Mary for Winnipeg. My company said sure.

Many people think I’m crazy for moving here. Coldest winters imaginable, hot humid summers, and seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Well, originally, I’d planned on doing some cross-border shopping because Grand Forks is only a few hours away. That’s out now. The most important consideration was cost of living. It’s super cheap here compared to other provinces, and also, my bestie’s sister, daughter, and granddaughter are all here, and she visits constantly. So I still get to see her a lot!

The first winter was BRUTAL. I moved in in early September, so barely had a chance to explore or see anything other than what I had done on my househunting expedition in August. The house I bought was an estate sale, and it needed a LOT of work to make it livable. Tons of plastering, lots of grading outside for proper drainage, and a kitchen reno that nearly sent me around the bend. I slept on an air mattress for the first month until my goods arrived in the moving truck, then had to wait for wallpaper scraping and re-plastering in my bedroom before I could even begin painting in there. I slept on my mattress on the floor of another room for 4 months.

The horrific crack hiding behind the wallpaper in my bedroom. Plasterer had to talk me down off the ledge, as I thought this was structural. The lathe had just pulled loose from the studs!

I packed on the pounds out of depression, from the weather, and mostly from not having a functioning kitchen! I had a coffeemaker and a microwave in the dining room. I had to go downstairs to the basement to wash dishes and get water at one point, because all I had was a stove and a dishwasher in the middle of the kitchen. That was it. I lived on Skip the Dishes and ramen.

I didn’t have any functioning closets until February and March, when I got them painted and put in storage units for all my clothes. Storage was the most important consideration, trying to squeeze all my stuff in here. It’s a two-story house, but as you know, old houses have TEENY TINY closets, so I’ve had to paint and squeeze every ounce out of what I have.

THEN, just as I began to make the leap into wanting to visit coffeehouses to begin writing again in March, I was stepping over a snow berm out front of one, I didn’t see the giant icy patch on the other side and fell flat on my back in front of an entire coffeehouse full of people. THAT was fun for my ego, but it turned out, worse for my ankle. I suffered a “dorsal talar avulsion” fracture (the ligament separating from the bone and taking a tiny piece of bone with it). I ended up in a boot for 3 months. So right at the beginning of gardening season when I wanted to be out tilling and planting, I was stuck in that thing. Boo.

It took until summer arrived to fully appreciate how much I love it here. Y’all, my neighbourhood is the best. It’s full of huge gorgeous houses from the 1920s, tall shady trees, and it’s full of lovely, caring people and friendly cats, dogs, and squirrels. I can walk everywhere — the cute cafe, the organic co-op, the farmers market, the juice bar, parks, the little German grocery, the little Italian supermarket, the Middle Eastern market, the woo-woo bookstore, the craft brewery, block parties… I ADORE it. It even got a shoutout from Bob Odenkirk when Hollywood arrived several months ago to film 1963 here. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Winnipeg/comments/1mq6wa8/bob_odenkirk_on_winnipeg_amazing_and_interesting/)

I’m still painting. This winter, it will be my dining room and the basement (which still needs a TON of work). But the GOOD part is that I’m WRITING again, at last! I can walk to a little coffeehouse in my neighbourhood, and that is fast becoming my favourite spot (like Cafe Blackbird in Edmonton, which was my second home around 2016-2017. RIP). I’ve cranked out quite a few pages on several new projects, I’ve added more research books to my collection, and I’m starting to put my health first too. I’ve lost 50 pounds over the summer from a modified Mediterranean diet (good farmers market produce, Greek yogurt, lean fish and chicken) and the Weight Watchers app. Plus I joined a gym. My ankle can still be troublesome from time to time, but I’m doing OK.

I’m also starting to visit nearby bookstores and hand out cards to many local new friends and acquaintances so I officially become a Manitoba writer, as opposed to an Alberta one.

So all the works-in-progress I’ve been carrying around are finally seeing some progress! I had to get to a place where I was personally happy with life before I could continue to write. Despite everything going on in the world right now, I’ve found a good place here.