Montreal Day 3 Part ONEThis day has been very stressful

It's Monday and Garrett's first day at work. We've been here a mere 36 hours and most of that was overnight or church. I am afraid to get my feet wet. I am scared to just jump in the car alone with four kids and go exploring. I don't have my normal things and space. I don't have an outside to send the kids too so we are cooped up. Baby is super sleepy and I'm not motivated to wake him up to be brave and go explore. I'm fighting back my exhaustion and my feelings of being alone-very alone. Everything looks dark when you haven't hardly slept, but add that to everything being new and in French and husband at work and unreachable and it's possibly going to be a very bad day. So, I give myself pep talks. Walk myself through how I just need sleep and food and things will be more clear. I feel the need to write to get all the craziness in my head out on digital paper. The need grows until I can't ignore it anymore. Luckily baby is still in his sleepy mood and I pull out the computer and just type. I type and get it all out. Kids need something to do and have finished math so I call them in for writing time. I tell them that every day this summer we will be spending 20min. writing in our journals so that we have a record of what we have done. In the end I edit it as much as I have time for and put it all in order and perspective. In turn it puts my thoughts in perspective and I-without food or sleep-am able to see clearly. Thank goodness for the written word and the healing it can bring. A friend texts me about wanting to come visit, a sister-in-law does too. I feel less alone.

Then Garrett texts and it's decided. We no longer are walking to meet him at a bank. He will come here and we will drive. I put on my brave face and make a decision that I am going to do all the driving today so that I can get over my fear of driving here and get out and do things with the kids. I drive and it's bad. These people are the worst drivers I have ever encountered. They are cutting you off from the right and the left and driving in lanes that don't exist and they are bobbing and weaving in and out and all around me. I don't know where I am going but I do know that I have to find a parking spot when I get there and that isn't going to be easy. But G finds it on the GPS finnally and we have an easier time. We get there and guess what? There are several open parking spots along the street. I pull into one. we pay. we get out and walk and soon we encounter a very yucky building on a bright and happy and family friendly looking street. It's a male strip club to the left. I divert their eyes to the right and G says no not over here uhhhhh looook over...there's no where to look. Very unsavory pictures are on the right and on the left and so we turn and we walk back to check our address again. G leaves us in a safe spot and goes to find out where the bank is. We soon realize we didn't put East into the GPS and so it took us West. We walk the other way with only 30min. left until our apt. at the bank, because here you have to have an apt. to open a bank account, we rush back to the car and I drive again. We get more and more to the city center full of shopping and high rises and more and more crazy pedestrians running in and around the car on busy streets. How do they not die I wonder as I try not to get hit by crazy drivers. We find the bank for real this time and it is right at the time of our apt. 4:30. I drop G off and I look for parking which I find. But after we all unload, baby, stroller and all, I realize I have no Canadian money and no way to pay for the parking. Plus I am suspicious of my good luck finding so much parking on the street today. I realize that I am probably about to have to give a sob story to a stranger and ask for a Canadian dollar. I think to myself that I must really have lost it if I am about to do that. I text G and tell him I have no Canadian money. I pop into a shop and ask if she speaks English-she does- I ask for info about the parking and how it works. She tells me. I am right about my good luck. I am actually not allowed to park there. G comes running up to me with money for the meter. I tell him I am parked illegally and I must drive around for another spot. He takes all kids running back to bank and I face the crazy drivers alone. I get lucky and find ANOTHER spot. This time legal. I look and there is no meter on that block. I ask a lady peddling jewelry where it is and she points. It's on the other block. I run. I put in money and numbers ad run back to place the ticket in my window. Then I run to the bank and almost pass it. I come in and can't find my family but follow the sound of a screaming Beckett. They French-Canadian/Dominican banker lady yells to me to "bring the boob and come". "Baby is hungry". I think I must be dreaming and hope that I will wake up and it will all be over but no. We cram all 6 of us into her little office and she and G chat while I sweat and nurse baby and try to relax. I find a lull in the conversation and ask G to get me a cup of water. I drink it down and ask for another. Finally I can start to relax. She asks what I do at home in the states and I get the cold shoulder for not "doing" anything. Later when she tells me how great Canada is because mothers get a whole year to stay home with their babies I point out how lucky I am that I NEVER have to leave my babies and she changes her tune and shows a little respect.
When it's all over G only has 15 min. before his work day is over. There is no point in my driving him to work since we wouldn't get there by 6pm anyway so we drive home. But we are happy. We have a Canadian bank account. It's empty, but it's there. We can worry about filling it tomorrow. This day has been very stressful for both G and Myself and we need to relax, SO, we decide to go to COSTCO :) That was an adventure best saved for another post.