All posts by brett

Dogs, Tears and Motherhood.

First up.  Dogs.  This one of the most moving films I’ve ever seen.  I expect everyone that has ever met, loved or cared for a dog before, will be in tears by the end.  Happy and sad tears.  Absolutely brilliant.  Disclaimer: it also deals with cancer, so it can be terribly difficult to watch for some… but it really is beautiful.  Denali was a wonderful fellow.

Denali from FELT SOUL MEDIA on Vimeo.

Next up Motherhood.  This piece is one of my first attempts at art photography.  Not abstract, nor fancy, nor geometric, nor portrait, nor landscape, or exposure… more meaning.  I will be getting it developed for Sara(for her birthday!).

motherhood

“There is something you must always remember.  You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” -Christopher Robin (Winnie the Pooh)

Taken from the observation deck of the Freedom Tower, a mother is teaching her children about the world.  More than half of the shot is shrouded in the fog of life; the unknown.  The rest of the photo reveals the complexity, difficulty, opportunity, awe and beauty we all face.  The quote above sums up what we try to impart in our children.  Such is life.

-Brett

Cold is way harder without a car (and heated garage)

It seems obvious enough, but man, weather is tough when you don’t have a car.

Three nuggets of wisdom for anyone else moving from one of the driest places on earth to a city that rains at least a few times a week.

1) Get a decent rain jacket for your entire family, including your dog.

2) Get good umbrellas.  Our HBC specials aren’t doing the trick.  Golf umbrellas seem to be the way to go.  The kids have awesome umbrellas from this company.

3) Don’t forget about your feet.  Rain boots or waterproof shoes are a must.  I’m still in runners and I pay the price at least once a week.

I’ll have one more nugget once I figure out how to keep my thighs/shins dry! 🙂

-Brett

Life Is Fast, Banks Are Not

We have done everything as well as we could have so far in this relocation, but the one thing that you can’t escape are banks.

We had EVERYTHING setup and ready to go well before our boots were on the ground, but paying rent, moving money and applying for a US credit card have been glacial endeavours.

We went with a very solid Cross Border Banking program through TD and the customer service has been awesome, but everything is taking its’ sweet time to complete.  We’ve got our last few (large) bills in Canada to pay as well as our mortgage payment etc., but getting money across borders and institutions has been a frustrating process.

For any of you relocating as well, make sure you have enough buffer funds back in Canada to account for the month long credit application process south of the border (though TD is using our canuck credit rating for it – which is pretty cool), the 5 business day EFT holds and the “Pending” status on your money that just seems to take longer than it should, given that everything is electronic.  1 or 0 – it’s on or off I tell ya!

While I was googling ways to make it faster, I stumbled upon these gems of wisdom from a fellow expat in the US.

Some sage advice, split into 3 sections.  Visas, Customs and Banking. An invaluable read.

On a completely unrelated topic, my parents returned to Canuckistan this morning.  They had been with us for a week and helped out with the kids a metric tonne!  It was a bit tight in our 1100 square foot apartment  for 6 people and a dog, but it was all good in the end.  My dad and I were able to score tickets to a a rangers game last Friday and it was pretty sweet!

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