Barry nomination - etc!

rain, cool, temps 16

sorry i haven't blogged in a few days - busy but fun time...lots of things happening. the latest news - just in this morning - is the The Cruelest Month (book 3) has been shortlisted for the Barry Award - decided by the editors of Mystery News and Deadly Pleasure's Magazines in the US. I don't yet know who the other nominated authors are, but I'll let you know when I do. This is a terrifically prestigious award and I am beyond thrilled. It will be given out, along with the Anthony and Macavity at Bouchercon in October. This year Bouchercon is in Indianapolis. Hope to see you there!

In our personal lives, and the reason I haven't blogged, is because we moved apartments in Montreal. A smaller place - fits in with our desire to simplfy and get something more fitting to our needs - but better located.

But what a hassle. We came in on Sunday - the computer and lots of other things had been packed away...Monday and Tuesday we had services hooked up - and went to find garden furniture for our balcony. We ended up with stuff called Plicker. Plicker. Never heard of it. Turns out it's plastic whicker. I was surprised and kind of disgusted. Surgusted. In principle. In reality, it was perfect. Very comfortable, quite attractive, if you didn't look too close - and extremely practical. It could be rained on. Indeed almost anything could happen to it and it would survive. Totally flies in the face of my environmental beliefs - but I'm beginning to suspect some of my ethics are situational. This stuff will never biodegrade and the only thing it might conceivably be recycled into is gummy bears. Which means, in a pinch, I could eat my garden furniture.

Wednesday (just yesterday??) was the actual move. I find waiting for the movers the most stressful. So I sat on the sofa beside Michael - who was calmness itself - trying to remember to breathe. Then I saw, like a burning bush, a message. Written on one of our gazillion boxes. Serenity. Serenity it said. How perfect is that? Exactly what I needed. So I concentrated on that...then looked at the box a little closer...what was the product that it was called Serenity?

Adult diapers.

Which - I have to say - are also useful on moving day.

The fellows came...were on time and polite and strong...and most things went perfectly until we arrived at the new apartment and they brought in the bed. Boxspring was fine. The mattress, however, looked as though James Gandolfini was nesting in it. The middle had exploded out.

The mover - Emille - said he'd never in all his 20 years seen anything like it. It was the moving equivilant of Ooops. They turned it over...nope - Gandolfini was there too. Clearly this was a mattress that was never going to be slept on again.

It was 4pm - and we had no bed. I quickly called Au Monde du Matelas...got Rejeanne, who after some calls said there was a queen mattress we could have - called the Everest.

I thought that was a fun name, and almost certainly hyperbole.

No. It arrived at 9pm - we'd been ready for bed for 4 hours. This mattress is immense...almost square! I swear it's ten degrees colder on top of it. Little snow-capped peaks and milk maids yodeling. OK, no milk maids - I put that in for Michael.

This morning we were up at 5am to drive down to Sutton where some of the excess furniture was delivered.

And now we're back in the new apartment - unpacking boxes and organizing...and exhausted. But happy.

Oh, while all of this was happening I also met a great friend who was in Montreal from Winnipeg - Pat. She was only in for Tuesday and Wednesday - so I snuck away from the packing on Tuesday and we had lunch. She was in town presenting the keynote address at the assembly of Human Rights Organizations of Canada. I'm so proud of her and the important work she does.

Need to head off...thank you to all the people who wrote, worried we'd falled off the face of the earth, or swallowed by our mattress. Or chocked on a piece of plither.

We're back! speak to you tomorrow, I hope. Be well.