Que faire?

Since announcing (twice) our impending move, and my impending unemployment, the most frequently asked question has been, "What are you going to do?" This question has been directed at me from both co-workers and friends. It's a fair question. While living in Green Bay, I had a job that I loved...it actually spilled over into other parts of my life. My response to this question was usually, "I'm going to read a whole book."

I love to read but don't actually make the time for it. Since moving here in mid-January that has not changed much. I have actually finished two books-one that I started on our house-hunting trip and one that Maddie gave us for Christmas. It is hard for me to make myself sit down and read for fun. There are so many other things that need to be done!

In no particular order, here's what I'm going to "do" instead of "going to work".

• Our garage and basement still resemble scenes from the "Hoarders" tv show. This needs to be rectified.
• J'ai besoin d'apprendre le français.
• I'm still enrolled in Module 4 of the Watershed Management Certification program through MSU. This is the last module, and my certification will be complete in May. 
• The school that we will hopefully send our petit garcon to next year has a "global" focus and an "eco club". They probably need a volunteer to organize a watershed management exercise for the group, no? Maybe I should offer that as incentive to take him off of their waiting list and put him on the enrollment list.
• Home office administration. This is not as easy as one would think when you're a citizen of one country and a resident of another.
• TAXES.
• I need to return to a regular exercise program. My knees have been feeling a bit stiff lately. I bought fenders for my bike yesterday (it's REALLY muddy and dirty here during spring melt) and it's going to be 6 degrees ABOVE ZERO tomorrow. I can't wait to experience the famous cycling-friendliness of Montreal! I just have to watch out for the potholes.

  
  

  That should be enough to fill my time until Maddie gets here at the beginning of June. My mom has been visiting this week, so we've done some "touristy" things like walking through Old Montreal and going to Atwater Market. Of course, we are only 15 minutes from the nearest IKEA.  This may either dramatically help the first two items on my list above, or hinder progress on the whole list. While looking for ideas to build a bike rack in our garage, I stumbled on this website: http://www.ikeahackers.net/. So much for my list.