First, a little clarification…
Before I continue with our adventure, I want to clear something up because a few people have asked about Wayne’s retirement.
When I say Wayne “retired,” I use that word rather loosely! You know if Wayne had not been injured he would have still been working he would not have “retired”! As previously mentioned WCB made that decision for him, WCB transitioned him from his regular economic loss benefits to the retirement benefits they provide (this is the portion of CPP Wayne lost due to his injury)
Wayne did NOT apply for or start collecting his Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits then because the longer you delay collecting CPP, up to age 70, the higher your monthly payments become, so given our financial situation right then, we felt waiting was the better long-term decision for us. Believe me we did the math!
So, when you put all those pieces together, you can probably understand why selling our Edmonton home wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision.
We had to think about our future, even if it meant giving up something we loved!
Well, hello, Smoky Lake!
So, there we were, our beautiful Edmonton home was sold, the clock was ticking, and we needed somewhere to live.
And wouldn’t you know it?
We found ourselves a new home in Smoky Lake, Alberta!
A mobile home!
Sitting on almost half an acre of property!
Now, the property itself? That had possibilities written all over it. Room for gardening, creating and enjoying the outdoors. A little piece of land where we could make something special and tons of room for the dogs to run out of energy on!
But the mobile home?
Well…
Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly love at first sight.
I wanted to love it. I really did, but walking through it for the first time, I found myself wondering how on earth I was going to make this work.
For starters, there was ONE DRAWER IN THE ENTIRE KITCHEN!
One! And not even full size!
I’m not kidding.
I stood there looking at that lonely little drawer, trying to imagine where I was supposed to put everything. My cutlery? Cooking utensils? The collection of miscellaneous kitchen gadgets that somehow multiply when you’re not looking?
Apparently, they were all going to have to become very good friends!
And that was just the kitchen.
The mobile home was built in 2007, ironically the same year as our Edmonton house. But somehow, it felt so much older. Maybe it was the finishes. Maybe it was the layout. Maybe it was the fact that everything was on one level, with no basement or upstairs.
Or maybe, if I’m being completely truthful, it was because I was comparing everything to the home we’d just left.
And how could I not?
A little honesty about mobile homes…
There’s something else I want to admit, even though I’m not particularly proud of it, I think I had some preconceived ideas about living in a mobile home.
There. I said it!
You hear the stereotypes, the jokes, the whole “trailer trash” attitude that some people have toward mobile homes and perhaps, somewhere in the back of my mind, I had absorbed some of that nonsense myself.
Was I worried about what other people might think?
Maybe.
Was I struggling with the idea that we’d gone from a beautiful house in Edmonton to a mobile home that is half the size and in a small town?
Absolutely!
And I had to ask myself why that bothered me so much, after all, a home isn’t supposed to be about impressing other people it’s supposed to be about having somewhere you feel happy, comfortable, and safe.
I knew that.
But knowing something and actually feeling it are two very different things. So, I tried to look past what the place was and focus on what it could become and there was certainly no shortage of possibilities!
Or projects!
Moving day — where did everybody go?
But before we could get to all those renovations, we had to actually move and that, my friends, was an adventure all on its own. Moving in December in Alberta!
Brilliant idea, right?
Cold weather, boxes everywhere, furniture to haul, and an entire household to pack up. What could possibly go wrong?
Now, here’s something that genuinely disappointed me.
Over the years, Wayne has always been the kind of person who shows up when someone needs a hand. Whether it’s helping a neighbour or lending his time to someone who needs it, he’s usually there, so, I suppose I assumed that when it came time for us to move, some of those people would return the favor,
Well, you know what they say about assumptions!
When moving day arrived, the helping hands we’d hoped for simply weren’t there.
Besides our son and daughter-in-law, there was only one…
A dear friend of Wayne’s, in his seventies, showed up to help us and I haven’t forgotten that. There’s something about a moment like that that makes you appreciate the people who genuinely show up for you.
Sometimes it’s not the number of people in your corner that matters.
It’s knowing who you can count on when you really need them!
December 1 — a new beginning
We took possession of our new home on December 1, 2025.
For a few days leading up to and a couple of days past, we stayed with our son while we worked on getting everything unloaded and settled into the new place.
Wayne was excited about our new place, and a couple of the kids were excited too.
Me?
Well, I was trying to catch up with everyone else’s enthusiasm!
Let the renovations begin!
And believe me, I had plans.
Lots of plans.
The good news was that we’d set aside a decent budget to update the place and make it our own.
The roof needed new shingles, the dogs needed a fenced yard and the inside needed some serious attention. At least, serious attention according to my standards!
Now, I realize that what one person considers perfectly acceptable, another person looks at and thinks, Oh, hell no!
Apparently, I’m the second person.
I could see the potential, though. I could picture what the kitchen might look like, how we could change things, add our own touches, and turn this little mobile home into something special and once my creative wheels start turning, well, poor Wayne! Poor kids! Let’s just say no one didn’t realize how many projects were about to land on their to-do lists!
We worked hard and are still working hard!
Really hard!
And we spent money and still are spending money!
Lots of it!!
You know that wonderful idea we had about simplifying our lives and enjoying retirement?
Well, so far, our version of retirement seemed to involve hardware stores, renovation supplies, paintbrushes, a never-ending list of things that needed fixing and constantly talking to my assistant “Google” about “how to’s” in a mobile home!
Summer vacation?
What’s that?
Trips in the RV? Relaxing by the lake? Fishing? Getting away for a few days?
Ha!
Apparently, we’d traded those things for another exciting weekend of renovations! And while I can laugh about some of it now, there were definitely moments when I thought we’d taken on more than we bargained for.
Looking back, I sometimes wonder whether I pushed for those renovations so quickly because I was excited about making the place our own… Or because I was desperately trying to make it feel like the home I’d left behind.
Maybe it was a little of both.
Same move. Two different experiences.
One thing I’ve come to realize over this past year is that just because two people make a decision together doesn’t mean they’ll feel the same way about it afterward.
Wayne seems to have settled into our new life much more easily than I have and I’m happy for him. I really am.
I wish I could say the same for myself.
Don’t get me wrong. There are things I appreciate about our new place, and I can see the possibilities of what it could become, but there’s still a part of me that misses what we left behind. I don’t always talk about it, sometimes it’s easier to keep those feelings to myself than to try to explain something I don’t completely understand myself.
Because how do you explain that you know you made the right decision, that you’re grateful for what you have, and that you still wish things could have been different?
I don’t want to live in the past.
I don’t want to spend my days wishing for something I can’t have.
And I certainly don’t want to take away from Wayne’s happiness.
I just wish my heart would catch up with the life we’re building.
Maybe it will.
Maybe one morning I’ll wake up, look around, and realize that somewhere along the way, this little place has become home.
But I’m not there yet.
For now, I’m simply between the one kitchen drawer, the endless renovations, learning to live in a small town and still figuring out what that future looks like.
Continue watching as I’ll be sharing more stories as well as some before-and-after photos because, despite all my complaining, we’ve accomplished quite a bit but for now …
To be continued…
