Sure.

Buy a house in January.

It’ll be fun they said.

All kidding aside, the purchase was fun. It was a nice three-bedroom with lots of potential with a few massive upgrades.

Which meant renovating.

It’s all good. I am a handy guy. I can just take a couple months to swap a few things out.

It’s not like a pandemic is about to sweep the globe and frustrate me when I just get going, right?

Well, there I was, hammer in hand, wondering if we had made one of the biggest mistakes of our life. We had opted to run with the mortgage all while renting another house to live in. It wasn’t ideal, but it was livable for a time.

But when everything shut down in March, we were already behind schedule for renos, the kitchen was already demolished, and it was a bare room. Tools that were a cinch to rent just days prior were now well out of reach, and our May deadline loomed frighteningly close.

Then the bridges closed, and inter-provincial travel became a bit of an issue. Not that I had anything to worry about though, right? I mean, I was a property owner in Quebec that needed to get renovations done.

Oh, except for that period of time that the police considered it a secondary residence, and unnecessary travel. Don’t ask how I got over those limitations.

It was at this time that Quebec did me a major favour. They began their reopening before everyone else. Trades were able to come back, which led to my kitchen getting a fresh install, and stores reopened to allow basic purchases and some rentals.

Perfect.

But we were still behind. What followed were some hectic 14-hour days of doing the morning show, and immediately leaving to work on the house. Wash, rinse, repeat.

All the while, making repeated trips to a few stores, mask on, to gather the essentials.

It was a wild ride.

But in the end, we made the move date…of June 26.

Sure, it isn’t May 1st, but we were able to hold out just a bit longer to accommodate the delays.

The move was, of course, painful. I still have not perfected the art of moving painlessly, though one day I would love to experience the “movers”.

All that aside though, would I recommend the experience?

Well, if possible, try to avoid moving during a pandemic. It does cause its share of headaches.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to eat a poutine and work on my French.

It is Quebec after all….