2017 in Review

Odiyar’s Year in Review

2017 has been a very busy year.

In the fall of 2016, someone driving by noticed our big property, he call and asked if it was for sale.  I told him “everything is for sale for the right price.”  Long story short, after months of negotiations, we did sell, but not to him, as he wouldn’t meet our asking price.  We ended up sub-dividing off the irregular corner and sold one acre, which included our house, but not my parent’s house, where my cousin Darla lives.  The deal was complete June 15, they gave us 6 months to pack, clean the yard, and move. 

Needing a place to live, we decided to build the last of the 4 houses on the lot down the road, so we could move into it.  We struggled to get the plans completed in April, permit in place, home warranty, a builder, etc.  Of course all took longer than we would have liked.  Our goal was to have it complete to move into by Dec 15.  Finally got the footings in by Mid-August. 

I made 2 ice cream cakes, and we celebrated Leah and Bapa’s Birthdays Jan 7th in Seattle, Hector’s brother Wailu, sister Ruth and niece Arlene, came from Florida for the celebration. 

In April, Hector and I celebrated our 35th anniversary by babysitting Jadon and Leah while Ronald and Tiffany went to Arizona to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  We had a great time with the kids, they were so good!! 

Early June, we went to Florida for our niece Marsha’s marriage to Kenny.  We had a nice time.  Upon arrival back in Seattle, we waited 2 days for Royce and Michelle to arrive, and then we traveled back to Canada together, stopping in Vancouver for a friend’s son’s wedding.  Back in Kelowna Royce and Hector started working on cleaning the yard, and Michelle did a great job, of taking care of the kitchen, while I took care of other business, like getting quotes for all the trades of the new house.

 Mid-June, the 4 of us went back to Vancouver to pick up Mai & Matt, and then we all went to Ronald’s for about a week of “Family Vacation”.  There we celebrated my Birthday by going to Crystal Mountain and riding to the top by gondola, and later stopping at Baskin Robins for Ice Cream.  At the end, we all returned to Kelowna. 

L-R: Matt, Mai, Leah, Michelle, Royce, Hector, Beth, Jadon, Ronald, Tiffany

The July long weekend, was the 100th anniversary for our Adventist school, which I attended for 10 years, and my kids attended for 12-13 yrs.  We had a great weekend.   Mai & Matt were the last to leave on July 7th.  I was not able to start packing until after the family had all left, as you can’t have the house 1/2 torn up when you have 10 people for a weekend.  But when I started it was “pack till you drop”!!  I counted rooms, and scheduled one room per week and systematically stuck to it.  By the end I had pain in the ankle, knees, hips, shoulders, and neck, nightly I had to take pain killer to sleep. 

As summer flew by, it became apparent we would not meet our building goal.  Just when the stress of not having a place to move was getting extreme the boys that were renting the house we built last summer gave notice to move out the end of Oct.  That was a great blessing, as it is a larger house, and it gave us 6 weeks to move.  We relaxed the building push, and concentrated on the flood of chimney sweep appointments that were coming in.

  Picture below is the stage it is at right now, inside the gyproc is done, and ready for paint, flooring, and finishing. You can see the corner of the house we are in on the far right of the picture.

Mid Sept we thought we had a buyer for the business, who we trained, but last minute, they changed their mind, leaving us with the extremely busy month of October doing chimneys, instead of packing and cleaning.  I was able to keep my packing on schedule, but Hector fell way behind in yard cleaning.  Thankfully he was able to find a helper for about 6 weeks, then in Nov when it slowed down some, between jobs, they both came and worked on the yard, or on moving stuff I had packed.

We took our last load out of the house about 11:30 am on Dec 15, and by 2 pm, the new owners were knocking down trees, and in the next couple days all the buildings except the house were demolished, and carried off in a bin.  If you google “Taylor Place” Kelowna BC, you will find the concept drawings, which still have to be approved by the city. 

This move was an overwhelming job.  We are now in the new house, but definitely not settled.  Just getting here was such a long stretch of never ending work and stress that at this point, I don’t care how long the boxes stay packed.  It seems like everything needs to be done at once, but I do what I can and skip the rest.

Hector had carefully stored some items that he wanted to keep or that he intends to sell when there is time to do so, on the property that we kept back, which boarders the property sold.  The purchaser, decided that he doesn’t like the looks of the stuff stored there, so he called the city, and now we have to meet their requirements and clean up all of that.  Hector has found a garage he can store some of the stuff, and we are taking more out to our rural property.  Unfortunately, it has now snowed on all the stuff, and things are frozen down, or together.

Royce had wanted us to come spend Christmas with them in Michigan, but we had to complete this move, (and now this extra clean-up).  We were not sure how it would all work out, and didn’t have the time to search for tickets.  So we are not going until we know we have met the requirements, and are sure we are free of trouble. Hopefully we can leave by early Feb??

Thank-you to all of you who have already sent out Greetings, and newsletters. 

Our new address is:  (and picture of the house we are now in)

374 Taylor Rd, Kelowna BC V1X 4G2