Current temp: 2C (36F)
Forecast high: 10C (50F) with 60% chance of rain or snow

It is dawning cold, gray, and wet. Almost an exact mirror of how I feel. Last night was the final night the kids slept here. When they leave for school and daycare in a couple of hours, that will be the last time I see them until I go to their new house to visit. Kyle is picking them up at the daycare later this morning and taking them for the weekend, so unless something happens and that doesn't work out, I have only a few more hours with them in this house. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well last night.

Yesterday, Karis' friend Statler came by with his truck. He, Karis, and Roger loaded up almost everything from the office, and a bunch of stuff from downstairs, and moved it over to her new place. I think more stuff is being moved over tonight after Karis gets home, but I'm not sure. Tomorrow is the big - and final - move; Verna is coming in with her truck. Between her, Statler, and Roger, the remaining boxes and all the furniture will be loaded and moved. The last thing to be moved will be Cujo, Karis' beautiful boa constrictor.

I thought I was ready for this. I guess I'm not. I know Karis will only be a phone call and a few minutes' drive away, and I know I can visit whenever and for as long as I want to. But I guess I'm not ready for her and the girls to move out, after all. Despite all the challenges and frustrations we've had to deal with over the past two months, now that we're down to the wire, my heart is aching, and I'm having a hard time coping with the move. Karis is trying to understand and be supportive, but until she goes through this herself, she can't fathom the emotional chaos going on inside of me. I love and appreciate her for trying, though.

I hope that in their time here, I have managed to give the girls - and Karis, too - enough of myself to help them continue moving forward with their lives. I have strived to teach them to dream big and to reach for those dreams, to love and respect each other's differences as well as their similarities, to be compassionate, and so much more. I wonder if these are the same goals most grandmothers have for their grandchildren. I would like to think so.

Karis and the girls are going to be getting up in a few minutes. I want to spend time with them before they leave the house...

Weather on the Alberta prairies has always been unpredictable and difficult for meteorologists to accurately forecast. For the last several years, the May long weekend - the official kick-off for the summer camping season - has been cold, wet, and gray, and this year is no different. Right now, it's only 4C (39F), it's gray, it's wet, and the rain is expected to turn to wet snow over the course of the night. "Cool and damp" is the forecast for the entire weekend, except Monday, when the sun and warm temperatures are expected to return. Not a great weekend for either camping or moving, but that's life out here.

Karis has been slowly moving boxes to her new place. And I mean sloooowwwwly. On Tuesday, Julio and Roger each took a load of boxes to the house. Yesterday, they did the same thing. Both of them figured they would take at least a couple of loads, but Karis said no. Neither one of them understands that; she was in a big rush to get the keys to her place so she could start moving stuff in, but when she has the means to do that, she only goes for one load? That makes no sense to me - nor to Julio and Roger.

Karis also made arrangements with Verna to borrow her truck on Saturday to move furniture. However, she didn't make any calls to get people to help her. Julio can't help her because he has to work, and instead of asking Roger if he's working on Saturday, too, she assumed that because the car is available for transporting stuff, he is also available. I asked her last night if she confirmed that with him; I told her I don't know if he's working on Saturday or not. She just looked at me with a kind of deer-in-the-headlights expression. And when I asked her who was going to drive Verna's truck, she gave me that same look, and then she said, "Ohhhhh shit...."

So, here she is with a truck, but no one to help her move. Roger will probably help her, but she's going to have to actually ask him. Her habits of assuming people will help her, and waiting until the last minute to ask for help, have to be broken. It's going to be interesting to see how she handles this conundrum she's gotten herself into. She got herself into this position; she's going to have to get herself out of it. Hopefully, this will teach her that not only is she not the center of the universe, but also, that making assumptions about what people are able and/or willing to do for her is not a good idea. It's going to be an interesting weekend...