As announced in Patrick’s Daily Gossip article earlier, I have accepted a job opportunity/transfer in Toronto and will be moving there some time in late August. While I’m truly excited about this new opportunity and the adventure it will bring (and equally terrified at the same time), what has really been amazing for me is the experience of the last few months that led me to this point.

The last couple of months have been a complete roller coaster. At one point I basically felt like my life was just falling apart around me and I was losing control of everything… only to have things pop back into place in an even better way. The whole experience has renewed my belief in the old adage, “Everything happens for a reason” and here’s why…

At the end of April, I FINALLY heard something back on my Canadian Residency application, which was submitted in October 2007. That’s right- 18 months prior, but I finally received preliminary approval telling me to go and have my medical exam completed and to submit updated paperwork. Hooray!

One of the pieces of updated paperwork that needed to be included was a letter from my employer stating that I was still employed with an indeterminate end date. This was required because the company sponsored my residency application and thereby gave me enough points to qualify under the Skilled Worker classification. Little did I know that while I was busy being poked and prodded by Doctors (easy… not that kind of prodded), bomb #1 was about to drop.

On May 5th my employer announced that the decision had been made to close the Vancouver office, and let us know that we’ve all been laid off. Shit.

While this was a big enough shock for me since I’ve worked for the company the last 9 years of my life, and they are how I moved to Canada, it also cascaded into bomb #2: Because the employer who sponsored my Skilled Worker residency application had just laid me off, I no longer have the minimum number of points required to qualify for the Skilled Worker residency application. F*ck.

On the bright side, there is a portion of the application process that indicates something to the effect of stating that a person who has been in Canada for at least 2 of the last 3 years and has established themself in Canada, etc…, the agent processing the application can use their discretion without regard to the actual point value of the applicant. So there’s still hope, but no guarantees (since it’s  basically just up to some person’s discretion). F*ck Crap.

As I was processing my current situation, I received a phone call from my landlord a couple weeks later, letting me know that they are going to be buying a home in Nelson and in order to do so, will need to sell the condo I am renting from them. And we’re back to F*ck.

It sold in a matter of 3 weeks and I was told I had to vacate the apartment by Aug. 31. Piss.

It was at this point that I decided the universe had it out for me. I got laid off, so I have no job. My residency is now in question because I have no job- which means I may be kicked out of Canada. I also will have no apartment, and will have trouble replacing said apartment without a job- which I can’t get without residency (unless I moved back to the US). Shit. F*ck. Piss.

Talk about the perfect storm… I was frantically rethinking my past to find some heinous thing that I may have done for which Karma was now extracting her vengance, and it was through this process that I realized a couple of things about myself:

First, I learned that in situations of extremely high stress, I’ve become shockingly good at ignoring everything and pretending like everything is just fine.

Second, I shortly after realizing lesson #1, I learned that it actually leads to sporadic emotional breakdowns that make me about as much fun to be around as a toddler who has just shit his pants and decided to use it as finger paint on the walls. (Thanks to Stephen for putting up with that!)

But I digress… At any rate, that gives you a the basic gist of the situation, hopefully without making me sound like a whiney heifer.

Now on to the making of the metaphoric lemonade. While I generally enjoy balls headed towards my face, three giant lemons wasn’t really what I had in mind (A- because they’re lemons, B- because there are three of them, and that’s just wrong). I have to admit that I spent a good few weeks in a state of alternating shock and panic not really knowing where to start putting things back together- and then this opportunity came up in Toronto.

I knew that I would/should apply as soon as I was told about it, but really only felt that way because I didn’t think there were any other options. At the time, I really had no desire to move to Toronto (or leave Vancouver at all for that matter) and was contemplating whether or not I really wanted to even continue working for the company at all given the events of the previous months- but I applied anyway and found out 4 days later that I was being offered the job.

It’s funny the way that things just seem to work out…

• If I hadn’t been laid off, the position in Toronto never would have been created and my residency wouldn’t have been put in jeopardy.
• If my residency hadn’t been put in jeopardy, I wouldn’t have any reason to leave Vancouver and consequently wouldn’t have even considered the position in Toronto, even had I been laid off.
• If my apartment hadn’t been sold by my landlord, I wouldn’t have had any motivation to move (anywhere). What’s more is that the fact that I have to be out of my place by Aug. 31 regardless is what really allowed me to meet the tight timeline my new boss wanted to follow to get me out to Toronto.

On top of all of that, the new position is a promotion, it’s a huge opportunity, it’s a new adventure (which I can say my Vancouver “adventure” has been the most rewarding thing in my life thus far), and provides me with more security & job experience than I ever would have been able to find elsewhere in today’s economy.

And voila: you have lemonade.

Now, thankfully all I really had to do in this situation to get “lemonade” was dare to take a chance… but all the same- things really DO happen for a reason. And finally…

Dear Karma- please don’t EVER do that to me again.

Related Stories:
• Daily Gossip: Wednesday July 22, 2009
• Homorazzi Hawt Topics: eBay Office Closure & Recently Watched Movies
• Karma Cent My Way?