We've been waiting 4 months for this piece of paper.

It’s been almost a year. I’m feeling introspective.

We knew the move out here was risky. Moving to a new town and getting settled is always difficult. Buying a new home usually ends up costing more than one expects. The same goes with starting a business.

We were setting ourselves up for trouble.

And trouble we’ve had...

Here in Saskatchewan Tyler and I have faced some very real fears. I can still clearly recall nights spent home alone in Dana with Tyler working miles away. Whether it was a windstorm, lightning storm, howling coyotes or neighbors brandishing chainsaws, I felt vulnerable in a way I never did living in the city. Perhaps some of those fears were imagined but it certainly didn’t help that the nearest police station and hospital were two towns away. There were no stores, no businesses at all, and I had no way of leaving. Tyler’s 100 km commute from Bruno to Saskatoon during the long harsh winter left him fearing for his life on many an occasion. Most recently we’ve faced suffocating credit card debt in the face of trying to live on a single low wage income for far longer than expected.

Today, we went to the bank, consolidated all our debt and turned our once brag-worthy initial investment of $6500 into a 10-year mortgage of $14000 (perhaps still brag-worthy to Vancouverites).

All the hard work and stress at least feels like it’s moving us forward. We’re homeowners! We’re going to be business owners! Now we can pay off all of our credit cards and we can afford to buy some inventory for the café. The mortgage will take about a week to process, then we can order some coffee beans and other goodies AND THEN we’ll be opening our doors… yes, FINALLY.

This photo has been declared Image of the Day by CBC Radio 3. Yippee!!

Not Quite Every Building on 500 Main Street, Bruno

This is just a test. I stitched together several different photos (with a nod to Stan Douglas' Every Building on 100 West Hastings [in turn nodding to Ed Ruscha's Every Building on the Sunset Strip]). I'm going to be doing both sides of the street in full.

And yes, our shop sign needs to be much bigger.

I took this photo of Rupert shortly before leaving for Edmonton. He used to take full advantage of the ladder we had leaning against the back of our house in order to sun himself. While I was away the weather warmed up and Rupert suddenly disappeared. Was he out chasing field mice (is that what strays do?)? Not only has Rupert disappeared but all the stray cats that used to roam the alley seem to also be gone. Did someone round them all up and escort them out of town (or worse)?

I miss Rupert.

After just over a month long stay in Edmonton I arrived back in Bruno on Wednesday. I managed to reschedule our health inspection for the day after I arrived (originally it had been set for February 13th). We passed with only a couple small recommendations: buy a thermometer for our fridge and shatterproof covers for the fluorescent lights. We'll get a certificate in the mail in the next week or so at which point we're free to open. I have to admit the months of delays have left me a little exhausted (our plan had been to open in December and now it's midway through March!!!) but this is good and I imagine we'll open our doors within the next two weeks.