On The Road

After a busy few months, we (Ron, Judy, Eliot and Troy) are finally en route to New Zealand.  That last week prior to our departure, it seemed as if we would never get to the end of all the packing and organizing.  However, after some goodbye lunches and dinners with dear friends, and plenty of help to load all our earthly possessions, we set off a few days ago headed for Canada.  

Newtown Bible Church were a fantastic help with loading the container.

What a ton of stuff we have collected over the years.  

My piano weighs about 400 lbs.  The new owner of our house kindly brought a few strong relatives and friends to help move the piano into a truck with a lift gate and then into the container.  

Two dear friends helping to leave the kitchen in a reasonable state for the next owners.

We managed to collect almost all our belongings in Brookfield.  At the last minute we remembered a complete dinner set that had been stored in the attic.  Since the truck had just departed with container in tow, we tossed the box in the car and it has a happy new home in Canada.  About an hour after being on the road Ron announced that we had left the bird feeder behind.  It was a special gift that i had received for mother's day one year, designed to foil any squirrels' plans of getting to the seed and it has done just that.  We have had many cute little visitors and all their friends and family; blue jays, cardinals, American goldfinches, sparrows, chickadees to name some.  Let's hope the new owners keep the cylinders full of bird seed.  As a side note, ron's aunt, who shall remain nameless, puts vaseline on her bird feeder pole and has great delight in watching the squirrels tumble to the ground.

Ron (and Eliot, when he is allowed) is very happy driving a roomy rental - Chevy Suburban - with plenty of capacity for all our baggage.  Since we are flying business class from LAX - thanks to accumulated air points from all Ron's business travel over the years - we have a generous baggage allowance.  When we arrive in Christchurch it will be winter so we each have a summer and a winter bag.  

Thank goodness for the ample space in this Chevy Suburban.

Canada has been a very special place for us particularly these last 14 years during our sojourn in the U.S.  We have had many enjoyable camping holidays with the Canadian Snoeks.  There has always been a warm welcome for us at various relatives' homes in Toronto and environs.  This last time was no exception.  All of Ron's 7 cousins (with additional family members) came to a potluck meal, along with his uncle and two aunts.  We are truly sad to leave them all.

One of the groups of friends and relatives scattered around and in Art and Nettie's house the night before we left Canada.  

A lunch stop in Canada at Tim Hortons which is the Canadian equivalent of Dunkin Donuts.  I much prefer it since they make fresh coffee every 30 minutes or so and have more healthy food options.   Apologies for the uncharitable face from T.S. and that is not short for Troy Snoek.

Last night we met up with dear friends, Bill and Hazel at a restaurant in Grand Rapids, MI.  It was wonderful to catch up and reminisce after several years.  Bill was the pastor of our former church in Newtown, CT, before he left to pastor a congregation in Ohio.  

Bill and Hazel and us at a restaurant in Grand Rapids.  

So far after leaving CT,we have passed through MA, NY, Ontario, MI, IN, and are currently in Illinois.  On long trips we often see how many different license plates we can spot.  Thus far we have been too busy with crosswords (me), clash of clans (Eliot), candy crush (Ron), reading and ipad games (Troy), and a competition between Ron and Eliot for maximum fuel economy.  No points for guessing who has won the competition so far at 23 mpg.  Who always wins games in our household (except 'Set')?

Troy would be going into high school if we weren't returning to NZ.  It is customary to celebrate the transition here with a graduation ceremony.  Americans love to celebrate.  Troy attended a small local Christian school for the last 18 months.  Here he is giving the class speech and generally looking handsome.

There were only 4 students in the 8th grade class.

Until the next post,

The US Snoeks, almost to be the NZ Snoeks (except Eliot)

2 weaks left

Well.

I am amazed and delighted that we are now so close to beginging this next stage of life.

The house sale looks like it is going ahead, the contract is clean and has been confirmed by both parties. The inspections are all passed etc. We are just waiting on the confirmation of mortgage finance.

We have a place to live in Christchurch - kindly provided by a colleague from work. With rental properties so tight its a real blessing to be able to know 2-3 months out that we have a place already arranged. We can't move in for a while after we get to New Zealand but we wont have furniture for 2 months anyway!

We even have bridging accommodation arranged thanks to the Watsons!

When we made the decision to return to Christchurch we felt very tentative about it. Since then many things have worked out to help make us feel we are being responsive to the Lords direction, rather than just directing our own course.

Some more updates. Judy is still feeling well, although the hot weather slows her down a little. To put that in perspective the hot weather slows me down a LOT. We have shifted attention from preparing the house for sale to getting ready for the move. We have a good supply of boxes and wrapping material from 14 years ago. Some of you will have received emails from me 14 years ago mocking Judy for saving the boxes, the cardboard padding, and even ironing the packing paper flat! I guess I still think that was pretty funny, but as in nearly everything, I now am the beneficiary of her foresight.

We have maybe 50% of the house packed. I suspect that as we delve deeper into the various corners of the house that I might need to revise that percentage downwards. Fortunately I do have a new stress management tool available.





 There is a little more mud on it now :-)

Judy has also had some delightful stress management in the form of her piano pupils. Indeed they  have been a great source of pleasure over the years. Lessons have finished now and we pray that each of you find a new teacher to develop your undoubted skills.
A bunch of her piano families unbeknown to her, arrived after one of the children's last lessons this past week.  They presented her with a photo album with several snaps of past recitals and other piano related photos, and some gift cards. Cards from the children were delightful including the spelling errors.  

We are sure that none of these pupils are thinking "No more lessons this summer"!

As we count down the days before we head out to LA, we also have been reflecting on 14 years of life in the USA. It was good.

Some of it was very good. Bill and Hazel taught us so much in the short time we had with them. The congregation of Newtown OPC also extended our understanding of being in the body. Many friends we have made over these short years have made an indelible mark on our lives. America is a beautiful and blessed country. Don't credit all the bad press it gets (both internally and externally).

This brings me to the subject of sadness. Initially I was going to write that we are sad to be leaving but have no regrets. That seemed to be the right thing to say. Thinking about it a little, I can't say that at all. The opposite is true -  I'm not sad to be doing what I think is God's plan for me and my family. I have a hundred and seventy four regrets though.

speaking of numbers - how do you make Seven even?

Remove the "S".

One more! There are 10 sorts of people, those who understand binary and those who don't.

We attended Eliot's graduation ceremony in an enormous theatre and because our assigned seats were at the top almost in the back row we could have taken a picture of any student (800 graduated) receiving their degree (actually, the folder itself is empty - they receive the certificate in the mail later) and said it was Eliot.  Except, he had decided to wear flip flops, which helped us identify him, only barely though.  Thus, Judy took new photos at home of him with his graduation paraphernalia.

The weeks ahead look like this:

June 17th we drive west (via Canada, another very special place!), We hope to see some of the sights as we drive to the airport in Los Angeles, leaving the USA on July 3rd. Eliot will be coming with us to the airport so we are looking forward to unbounded strangeness.

Once we get to NZ - I don't really know. Our container arrives in NZ on August 19th and will take some time to clear customs I think so we will be living out of our suitcases for a long time!

Broken Glass

Well the house is on the market at long last. That is to say that we are relieved. The market itself seems quite unmoved by this achievement. After a week and a half we have received 0 calls or visits. Oh well....

Yesterday however was our first open house and there were 3 couples who viewed the home, all were apparently impressed with it. We'll see what the color of their money is before we get overly excited though.

We think the garden has come up rather nicely and just at the right time. Some of the spring flowers are a bit sprung though!

A special note of thanks to Bob and Colleen for the work they did to make our property look as nice as it does. They drove out here, crossing nearly 1/2 of the continent and got stuck in to all sorts of hard labor. The lawn looks so much better and we can actually see through all the windows in the porch for the first time in a long time.  Its fitting that as our time in the US draws to a close that we remember with equal gratitude the loving support that Coleen was to Judy during a different period of adjustment to life in 'merica. You (pl.) have been a blessing to us both.

With the house on the market we are now really starting to focus on getting ready to leave - the countdown is speeding up. June 17th will be our last day in Connecticut. So much still to do! However Judy was able to relax a little for the first time in a long time on the Saturday after the Open Home. We are very grateful that her health has stayed as well as it has. Sola Dei gloria.

 Now - Broken Glass? Firstly as we were getting ready to visit Eliot and Chana before Church this evening Troy dropped an Arcoroc plate (sort of like Pyrex). It shattered in a quite spectacular manner and I could hear glass shards sliding out of the kitchen, through the lounge, even down the steps to the front door. That was a good plate and had served us well for at least 25 years.

Secondly, we went to another spectacular concert at Yale on Friday night. Bach's Mass in B minor is a truly beautiful piece of worship. To be honest though most of it is way beyond me. For me it's like a glass of really great wine. I can't tell you why the wine is special, but I will take a second glass.

Our trip home after the concert was full of discussion about the different soloists, the instruments used etc. The Alto was sublime and the tenor also had a beautiful solo with flute accompaniment. Then we called Troy and he told us that 'Doug' had my iPad. That was all the information Troy had. Things slowed down for me at that point.

Who was Doug? Why does he have my iPad? Thinking back through the day I hadn't really left the house at all. Was senility setting in that fast? Had I really gone to visit my good friend, lent him my iPad and then forgotten even that I know him?

Well Saturday morning answered all my questions. 'Someone' had left the iPad on the roof of the car. There it stayed for 5.5 miles until it decided enough was enough. Doug came  past a little while latter and saw this sad sight on the side of the road, stopped, picked it up and then managed to find my phone number and return it to us on Saturday morning. Here she is. 

You can see the glass is shattered, the case (the black edges) is shattered as well. It now rattles. It also still works! This picture shows Mum de Vries calling us on Skype. The touch screen still works, the speakers, the internet. The only thing I'm not sure about yet is the camera. That area is really badly damaged (you can see into the case there), but I'll have a play with it in the morning. Right after I make an emergency trip for a replacement!

Thirdly;

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us - if at all - not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

I do love this poem!

HELLO .. Hello .. hello

A short post just to record the progress on our activities.

We finally found people to do the floor. Initially they didn't return calls, then missed appointments so we had quite low expectations. When they finally showed up to give us a quote we were happy to arrange to have the floors done the following Friday. 2 large vans arrived, filled with enthusiastic flooring people, bright and early on Thursday morning! Sorry guys try again tomorrow when we've actually moved all the furniture out!

The floors have now been sanded and 2 coats of varnish applied. Monday will see the final coat and hopefully Tuesday will see the furniture returned to more normal places. Until then we live in the basement, somewhat perched on top of our furniture and clothing. We spent Saturday trying to avoid the pervasive smell of varnish, so were camped out at the mall and various furniture stores.

I really should have managed things a little better on Saturday though. The mall was safe enough but visiting a couple of higher end furniture stores resulted in a small but financially impact-ful group of items added to Judy's shopping list. I had pretty well talked Judy out of this shameful, flagrant consumerism (our furniture has lasted us nigh on 26 years!) when I compounded my foolishness by letting Judy know that our tax return had arrived. And a small bonus. If you're sitting there (smugly) thinking 'how could 1 man be so stupid?' I will admit that today I also allowed Judy to speak to a family member about these planned purchases. Oh well. Any Americans want a Rimu dining suite? Going cheap.

Tammy update. We've had a bit of interest and are pleased to let you know that a home has been found for her. While we are not leaving for a few months yet we are keen to get her relocated sooner rather than later. An attitude that seems to confuse pet people. We really aren't pet people!

Judy is well. Well enough to be cheating at WELDER actually. Really.

ticks

The clock has been doing far too many of them, with no word of progress or regress from us. I do apologize.

Firstly, we continue to celebrate Judy's continuing good health. She is feeling some of the side effects of her hormonal treatment but is bearing up pretty well. Her blood tests continue to be nice and stable and the Dr is happy that her disease is remaining nicely out of the way.

So what have we been up to in the past months? The main item is still selling the house. We had Art come down and 'help' out for a week. That week amazing things happened to our house. Words cant express our gratitude and admiration for all Art did that week.  Every item on Judy's extensive to do list was done. Then on Wednesday we had to make a new list. By Friday we nearly had him working at the neighbors. Things slowed down since then but we have carried on with the smaller jobs, painint doors, windows,m ceiling, walls, the back porch etc. Now that Spring is crouching at our door we are ready for a few more outdoors activities, more painting and cleaning, repair the driveway a little more, planting and lawn maintenance etc.

The last major item to tackle is sanding and varnishing the floors. True to  form and history we attempted to do this ourselves. We got one room done and decided it really was worth pursuing a professional to come and do it for us. Hopefully this guy turns up on Friday! It is a clear sign of an improving economy when it's hard to get tradesmen to come to your house. Art being exceptional in this respect as well as many others.

We have also been getting ready for the move - sorting out 'stuff', throwing away all that we don't need, boxing books (the old fashioned paper type). Judy is inordinately pleased that we are able to use the boxes she saved from our move TO the States 14 years ago. They are in surprisingly good condition! The wrapping paper that the movers used is also still available. I'm pretty sure I was not supposed to mention that Judy IRONED this flat 14 years ago, so lets skip that.

We have a section of the garage cordoned off for the 'sell this stuff' pile. Pretty soon we will be dedicating the entire garage to this category. Lots of electrical goods need new homes. The Keurig has already been promised to  a good home. I confess that I'm missing it already and it still sitting here on the desk next to me. Addicted? Moi?

Also in need of a new home is Tammy. Any American residents interested in a very lovely dog please let us know. She has 2 bad points - she sheds hair and has so far killed 3 skunks as well as sundry other rodent family members of similar sizes. Otherwise she really is a great pet, companion, and house guard. Whle she is getting a little grey in the snout (and what's wrong with that!!!) she still behaves like a puppy when we take her for walks.

We may have a house rental sorted out for Christchurch through a colleague at work. It is only available on September 1st though so we would still need temp accommodation when we get there. Lots of details are coming together, lots more to do!

We are also planning our trip to the west coast. We leave CT on June 17th and will head to Canada, Chicago, and a Canyon. Any other suggestions that we should see while we are passing by would be helpful.
 We need to be in LA by July 3rd and will then head fairly directly to CHC.

In summary: Judy feels well, house is looking very nice. Please buy it, or anything in the garage.

Love love

Cat is out of the bag

With apologies to Stella as clearly cats dont belong in bags!

Yes, we have finally come to the decision to return to New Zealand. We plan to let Troy finish off the term at school, sell the house and return to Christchurch in June this year.

Work will have a job for me in Christchurch but otherwise are really taking the line that it's me wanting to go there, so I have to fund it myself. Given the way the respective housing markets have moved over the past few years, and the exchange rate, I have been walking around the house like a grumpy, wounded bull witha thorn in it's paw(hoof). Appearances are deceiving however as money is not a factor in our decisions. Yes it's useful stuff to have but we see that the Lord has put an opportunity in front of us to be closer to family, church, and friends. A few dollars doesnt get in the way of that :-)

So we are very excited although not without sadness at leaving our friends in the USA. We have actually lived here longer than we have anywhere else in our married lives. The logistics of the move back are also pretty daunting to us right now. We will be looking for a rental apartment or home in Christchurch in June/July (as well as a school!). If you know of anything available please pass on the details. Also if you know of any one who wanted a freshly painted house in Connecticut .....

From Animula (TS Eliot)


Issues from the hand of God, the simple soul,
To a flat world of changing lights and noise,
To light, dark, dry, damp, chilly or warm,
Moving between the legs of tables and of chairs
Rising or falling,
Grasping at kisses and toys,
Advancing boldly, sudden to take alarm,
Retreating to the corner of arm and knee,
Eager to be reassured, taking pleasure
In the fragrant brilliance of the Christmas tree
Pleasure in the wind, the sunlight and the sea'
Studies the sunlit pattern on the floor.

The pain of living and the drug of dreams
Curl up the small soul in the window seat
Behind the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Issues from the hand of time, the simple soul,
Irresolute and selfish, misshapen, lame
Unable to fare forward or retreat,
Fearing the warm reality, the offered good,
Denying the importunity of the blot,
Shadow of its own shadow, spectre of its own gloom,
Leaving disordered papers in a dusty room;

Pray for Floret by the boorhound slain between the yew trees,
Pray for us now and at the hour of our birth.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

I had planned a post to update you all on things in the Snoek household over the past weeks. However there were so many goings on that I really don't know where to begin.

We have been busy (in a very relaxing and blessed way) with family and friends visiting. People have asked if it was tiring to have visitors - but these visitors were a blessing, an encouragement, great support, and domestic super heroes.

Here are the Sistas being an encouragement and general life-of-the-party

As the dust settles (now that you understand that phrase correctly) our next oncology scan was done this week. Judy came home with a nice certificate explaining to officials that her radioactivity was entirely due to medical reasons. Apparently the isotope they used had a half life of 2 hours and would be undetectable after 20 hours. Pretty spooky stuff if you ask me!

Well that was a few days ago and we've let Judy back into the house. Fortunately there was no snow that night, only light rain.

Today we had the report from the oncologist and it was perhaps a little confusing, but mostly good. So the Good : Judy's tumors in her spine are reduced and there was no sign of spread to any other bones. The scan also showed 'stuff' around both lungs, consistent with the disease but the oncologist said that he thinks this is due to the surgeries on both lungs. Certainly Judy is feeling no pain, suffering shortness of breath, or coughing. So the oncologists more cheerful conclusion has our endorsement. Another confusing (and maybe 'bad' part of the report was that the liver lesions appeared to have increased. The initial PET scan didnt show very clearly what was going on in the liver so a CT scan was performed which showed 7-9 lessions, 2 of which were significant. So we don't THINK this result stands. Again Judy feels well (she even put on a few more pounds!), and that counts for a lot.

The oncologist really did feel this was a good result, confusion not withstanding and not altogether unusual. He said it was days like today that got him into this business and we were quite happy to have made his day for him!

As for the ugly, that is clearly the events in Newtown. While we celebrate and praise God for his answers to prayers regarding Judy's health, the events of last Friday cast a pall over all around us. Please continue to pray for all those affected by this horror.