Many times - likely more than I could begin to recall - throughout my life, the skills and lessons I learned during my years in Guiding have served me well and helped make a wide range of situations easier to navigate.
Few circumstances drill home this point better than when I'm getting ready for to move houses, which I'm very pleased to share with all of you, my husband and I will be doing at the end of this coming February.
After nearly six years of living in Ontario, following a great deal of thought, planning, and consideration, we recently decided that the best step for us at this point in our lives (for a number of important reasons) would be leave Toronto and move to my home province of British Columbia.
Though I grew up (and enjoyed all of my Guiding years) in B.C., this will be the first time that my European born and raised husband will get to call Canada's most westerly province his own.
As anyone who's ever prepared for a cross country move (in which you pack up all your belongings) knows, there's a significant amount of work involved with such a major life change. From detailed checklists to weeks of packing, finding a new home, organizing transportation, and following a budget, a long distance move like this requires careful preparation and well coordinated efforts on everybody's parts.
At times like this I think back to days spent planning for Girl Guide camps, several of which involved weeks or even months (as in the case of SOAR 1998) to prepare for. Then as now, there was planning, budgeting, task division, and plenty of packing involved. And of course, you have to be as prepared as possible for the unexpected - one of the cornerstones of the Guiding philosophy for sure.
When we arrive in B.C. we'll have about 7 to 14 days between then and when the moving company delivers our belongings, so for a little while (though we'll be graciously hosted by some of my relatives) we'll be channelling a campout vibe by living out of our suitcases (in a nod to camping packsacks) and adapting to a different environment than the one we're used to.
Fortunately we see this move as a positive one and we’re both extremely excited about it - as well as for the many prospects the future holds in store for us in British Columbia.
As there's only about a month left until our moving day, this is likely the last post I'll be sharing here for the next few weeks. Once we're settled into our new home and have the internet set up (sometime in March), I'll be sure to let you know how things are going.
During this time, though you can always email me with your patch trading and other Girl Guide/Girl Scout related queries, please be aware that I may not respond to you as quickly as usual and that I won't be able to send out any patch swaps (as my all of patches have already been packed up for the move).
I appreciate your understanding about this and hope you'll join in my excitement regarding this exciting new chapter in my life.
Until we chat again, Guiding and Scouting friends, may you all have a wonderful rest of the winter – and lots of terrific patch swaps!
