Just a Gal from Glidden: I swear that I am never moving again!
By Kate Winquist
kate@yoursouthwest.com
It seems like it has been forever since I wrote my weekly musing. In fact, it has been just shy of a month! I feel that I owe you an explanation. Some may say that I am just making excuses or procrastinating again, leaving things to the last minute, when in reality, I think I’m just getting old and worn out!
As most of you know by now, I moved to Kindersley on July 1. I felt fortunate that I was able to find a fully furnished condo for a reasonable price. I signed a six-month lease to the end of 2020. The apartment was only a two-bedroom, which was perfectly fine for my daughter and I, but when it was decided that the rest of the family would be making the move from Gull Lake, we needed to find something to fit three more bodies and a dog.
Luck again appeared to be on my side when a large four-bedroom home came up for rent. It was partially furnished and had a fully fenced back yard. I was able to move in on December 3.
I never used to think moving was that big of a deal. I was trying to figure out how many times I have moved in my lifetime and ran out of fingers to count. Thankfully I was able to stop counting when I got to my right foot. This last move was number 17. SEVENTEEN! That is a move every three years in my fifty-one years on the planet. Considering that I spent the first eighteen years of my life living on the farm at Glidden (1), that makes it a move about every 22 months. That’s insane.
When I graduated from Kindersley Composite School back in 1987, I couldn’t wait to move out on my own. I was heading off to Medicine Hat to attend College, and I was going to be rooming with a girl from High School. As it turned out, her plans changed and I ended up living in the basement of my parents’ acquaintances (2). Not exactly where an 18-year-old wants to be! Thankfully, I met a girl at College that was looking for a roommate. We hit it off immediately, and I am happy to say that we are still great friends to this day. (3)
My roommate moved in with her boyfriend, and I moved to my third place in Medicine Hat - a non-airconditioned, third-floor apartment that faced the west. (4)
After I graduated from college, I landed a job in Lethbridge. I moved into a dingy basement suite that cost $440 per month, which was fairly expensive back in 1990 when I was making a whopping $8.00 per hour as a Junior Graphic Designer at a print shop. (5)
I hated that apartment. The people upstairs were quite amorous and loud! The shower sucked. It just wasn’t where I wanted to be. I moved across the city to a more expensive two-bedroom apartment and advertised for a roommate. The funny thing was that the girl who responded was also a Saskatchewan girl living in the same apartment building. (6)
I left Lethbridge in 1992 and moved briefly back to Medicine Hat, where I got a job at the Medicine Hat Shopper. (7) I worked the night shift in the composing department. I needed to find a better job. I started applying to different newspapers across Alberta and Saskatchewan when I got a call from The Shaunavon Standard. I moved to Shaunavon in September of 1992. (8) I never thought that my move there would lead to so many life-changing moments.
I lived in a couple of shacks before buying my own house for $5,500! (9, 10, 11) Shortly after, I met Robert, and we purchased a house together, got married and started our family. (12) When we were expecting child number three, we sold our house and moved into a bigger home a few blocks away. (13)
I had been running my own business since 2000. I incorporated in 2009, and after three years, our family made a move to Gull Lake to focus on running the Gull Lake Advance newspaper. We didn’t find a place right away in Gull Lake, but after renting an old character home in Shaunavon, (14), Robert was ready to find something and find it quick.
We found a house in a great location close to the school, park and skating rink. (15) We have owned that house since 2012 and have just finished doing some renovations to help to sell it this spring, hopefully.
After I shut down my newspaper in Gull Lake, I rented a couple of different places in Maple Creek while I was the Managing Editor of the Maple Creek News-Times. (16 & 17).
Now wait just a minute. I’m already at 17, and I haven’t counted my move to Kindersley (18 & 19).
I swear that I am never moving again. Well, maybe once more. Then I’ll have run out of toes.