Realtors in Swift Current

So we're planning on moving back to Saskatchewan to get away from the insane stupid craziness that is Calgary and be closer to our families. Our house is up for sale and Stacey and I have been searching the MLS for homes and acreages in Swift Current and area. Sometimes the listings aren't too clear regarding the location of an acreage in relation to Swift Current.

An example of one said, "Located near a town with all amenities." The acreage looked nice and I was interested so I emailed the listing Realtor asking for more information about the place. You know, minor stuff like, "What town?" I was surprised to get no response. So, I emailed the Realtor again. Again, no response. It is sad to say that I have emailed Realtors in the Swift Current region in the past and have never received one response. It makes a guy wonder what's up. Surely they must want the business? Surely they're not just interested in local clients? Surely they...okay I can't think of a third "surely" but there's gotta be at least another.

So we are heading to Swift Current this weekend as Monday I have a job interview and some testing I have to do for the job. Pretty exciting. Stacey thought it a great idea to email a Realtor we had heard was good and see if he could show us some properties while we are there. So I did. I am still waiting to hear back from him. We decided that if he does not respond to the email that we will call him.
I mean, sheesh! What does it take to buy a place these days?

Childhood memories.

This has got to be one of the wackiest moments from my childhood.

Ahhh, the waiting.

The time passes slow and languid in Curtville these days. The house stares vacantly up the street at the raging hordes pushing and trampling each other in a bid to come in and have a look and, perhaps, make an offer. We even dropped the price in the hopes of adding greater chaos to the drooling masses but so far none have taken the bait.
Friends and family have been a great encouragement in this time. Patience is definitely an easy thing to say but much harder when one has to be a part of it. We feel like a race horse straining to get out of the gate but not being able to. Kinda nutso! There's only so many times a day a guy can cut and trim the lawn.

So today we received a call from the soon to be new Manager of the Swift Current SGI branch informing me that I was scheduled to do the testing required for the position I applied for. Oooh the nerves were just a jumpin' all over the place. Tomorrow night at 7:30pm is when it begins.

This possible job would be an interesting thing if it came to pass. Years ago - like 16 or 17 years - I went to Prince Albert, SK and interviewed for the same position. I was told I would have been hired but there was a freeze on while issues with the union were dealt with. In the two years it took for these issues to be resolved I became a Christian and on the night I decided to attend the Bible School I felt the Lord was calling me to that's when I was informed the hiring freeze was off. Needless to say, I chose Bible School. I find this kinda neat in that all these years later I may be coming back to a job I gave up to go where God was calling me. To quote Darth Vader - "The circle is now complete." Pretty cool if it works out.

For now we must content ourselves with beating back the raging hordes.

Could it be?

The sun has arrived! Yesterday was a gorgeous Sunday here in Curtville. This morning was one of those perfect mornings with the sun waking me up at 6:00am. The brightness in my bedroom was beautiful. I made some coffee and while it was brewing I looked out in the backyard and the birds were chowing down at the feeder and the dew was shining off the lawn. In a moment I will be sitting out there enjoying my coffee and doing some reading.

It's mornings like this that have me longing for the farm. My in-laws have lots of trees and birds and, and, and. It's quiet there and that is what I wish for the most at this particular point in my existence. At this moment in Curtville rush hour is happening. Kids are going to school. Airplanes are taking off and landing. Definitely the exact opposite of the farm. I think it is this place right now that has me appreciating the farm more and more. When we go there is takes a few days for my ears to stop ringing as I am used to all the noise here and there is a steep decline in it there.

That being said here's a tune that aptly reflects my feelings. Enjoy.

It has begun.

Well, we had the Realtor over the other night and it went well - he's such a good guy! Anyone looking to buy or sell in Calgary should call Keith Braun & Associates. Okay, the plug is over.

Keith helped "stage" our house and when he was done with our living room we loved it so much we joked and told him that we were not going to sell anymore but stay here. It's amazing what de-cluttering and rearranging will do to a room. He took a lot of pictures and we had to answer some questions about our place and he ran us through how the process was going to work - pretty cool. So, the place is now up for sale. There was a place in our neighborhood that is now "pending" so the girls and I walked over there today to have a look. Overgrown with dandelions and in kinda poor shape. I was thinking, "If this place can get an offer to sell on what they had it listed for then ours should be a shoo-in." Not nice thoughts. I REALLY hope we get what we're asking for.

So, without further ado. Here's some pics I took of the outside of our place. By the way: Anyone wanna buy a house?

What a week!

It's been a pretty crazy two weeks here in Curtville. Last Thursday I quit my job for reasons that I will not go into here. Suffice it to say the last two weeks I have been walking closer to Christ than I have been for a long time and the book of 1 Peter has been like having Him sitting across from me encouraging and strengthening me. It is amazing how struggle and hardship drive one to Christ where there is a continual sense of His presence and strengthening. Contrast that with how I so often move away from Him when things are going good with no hardships to speak of. The Apostle Peter was so right when he talked about suffering bringing the blessing of Christ.

Stacey and I have been wanting to move back to Sask. for a few years now but the timing just never seemed right. However, what has just recently happened to me coupled with the girls homeschool year ending and Stacey's involvement in the Sunday school program at our Church has lead us to believe that maybe this is God's timing for us to move. We all WANT to move back and have for some time now.

Our rough plan is to sell our place here, move back to Swift Current area and rent a place for a few months. I will be sitting on my butt for a month or two (I may not be able to last that long though) just to recharge from the last 5 years of life here in Calgary working 3 jobs that went in the toilet due to......"employer issues". Then after a month or two I will try to land a job, maybe in the oil industry, and then we'll buy a place of our own - preferably a place out in the country with a few acres to play with. Like I said, that's the rough plan. We are remaining open to what Jesus Christ has for us and we are praying that He will strengthen us to remain open to Him. We really want to move back, and we're pretty certain we will, but...ya never know what may happen.

If we do move back I may bear a similar resemblance to this yahoo.

It's over! It's finally over.

I just completed working for 21 straight hours. The place where I work had to move out TONS of computers, monitors, IP phones, mice, and keyboards along with all the cord and cables associated with the lot. Due to the large volume of stuff my company hired a bunch of extra guys. We broke into teams and then went at it. Myself and another guy removed monitors for the ENTIRE time we were there. I have to say that I have never worked so hard in my entire life! Thankfully the monitors were only 17 inch and not the 19 or 21 inch mutants I'm used to hauling.

We had a great crew and there was lots of laughs, even in the intoxicating stupidity that comes after 15 hours of constant movement. One of the guys that came was Ben, a 2nd degree BB from my Hapkido class. This guy was moving, moving, moving all night long. No complaining just go go go. It was awesome to watch. My teacher/boss' dad was also there helping along with another guy from Regina. The dad, Bill, and the other guy, John, had left Riverhurst, SK at 6:00am the morning we were to start working. They got here after 6 hours on the road, chilled for a short while and then we worked. These guys kept going the whole time - amazing!

The place we were moving all this stuff had crews of their own moving in new equipment as we took the old stuff out. The head people from this company we were in contact with were awesome and they took care of all the workers there. I have never seen so much good food at so many times per night for everyone. No set break times just help yourself whenever. Our crew would go hard for a long time and then someone would do something that made us all realize that we should have a break and then we would all descend on the food room. Man, coffee at 3:00am never tasted to so good.

I finally got home and slept for probably the longest I ever have. It was beautiful. I hope this doesn't happen again for a long time :)