Did you miss me?

I'm Baaaaaaaack!
Just a short note to tell you I am back online and ready to start bloggalating again. yaayayayay

We are moved in, it almost killed me but it's sure nice to be home! Our new home is quirky and homey and still not totally put together but it already feels like home. I am still sore and sooo tired but I am recovering and I had the best sleep in ages last night in our new bedroom. It's so quiet here and I don't miss the sound of the traffic, I now hear the sound of birds, tweety birds, not just pigeons. It's so peaceful.
Our new home has a lot of character and I will be sharing some of these interesting traits with you over the coming days and weeks, maybe you can give me some advice?
We have plenty of time to discuss wood panelling, bad wallpaper, a lack of kitchen workspace and cardboard walls made to look like wood in the basement and carpet in the bathroom. Did I mention I LOVE this house?
I have a lot of catching up to do with all my blogs, I missed you all.
I even got an award from The Blonde Godess that I have to pick up. Thanks for that!
I will slowly get caught up here, but in the meantime I need to unpack some more.
Lots of pictures to come too!
Have a great day!

What to do?

Life is coming at me these days. Not that I feel like I'm not handling it but I wonder how and when it's going to catch up to me and take a bite out of my ass.

T's health has taken a turn for the worse and I'm starting to think of time with her in terms of "the last time..." , the last time we'll share a meal or go somewhere together even though it has only been medical appointments for the last while. Yesterday was to be my day with her but she asked me not to come and her husband came home from work to care for her. He gets 3 weeks of compassion leave. Three weeks. That's all I can say about that.

I started boot camp again yesterday. I was nervous because I felt like I had really lost the plot over Christmas and was feeling achy and out of shape. Surprisingly I was able to keep up just fine and although I feel pretty sore today it also feels familiar and good.

Because we are in such a rush to get ready for our move I decided to go on the advice of my moving company and rent plastic stackable crates to move with instead of trying to find boxes. I used a company called Say No To Boxes and these guys are fantastic! They have package rates based on the size of the home you are moving out of. I chose a one bedroom package because you get to keep the crates for a whole month. That means we can start taking crates over to the new house and emptying them in the next two weeks meaning there is so much less for the movers to deal with. I got 15 75 litre crates a wardrobe box and a huge coffin like container for lighter big things. The nice guy who delivered them also brought me packing paper a big roll of bubble wrap and labels for the crates and a brand new Sharpie. All of the crates are just stacked in the corner of the apartment until I use them and as I fill them they get stacked on a wheeled dolly that comes with the whole deal and soon we'll start moving all our shit from this pile to the new pile. The last time we moved I used rolls and rolls of packing tape and by the time it was all said and done my hands were raw from all of the layers of skin the tape had pulled off. I figure all the time saved by the movers will offset the cost of renting the crates. I hope I'm right.

All that being said am still trying to figure out what's going to happen with our wedding. That's where my obsession also lays and really it's all about figuring out how to do it without spending a lot of money. Right now I'm just doing research. It keeps me busy in my head.

Yes, there's stuff going on with work too. I'll let you know how that's going when the time is right.

Tomorrow I am off to The Sunshine Coast with our store manager for a bonus day and lunch with Lorna at her new place. I hope the sunsssssssssssshines. Ha! that happened by accident but I think I'll leave it.

Got gas?

Well here we go. We are moving in just over 2 weeks. Yesterday I booked the movers and set up all of our utility accounts. I had to think really hard to remember that I would be paying for a gas account and electricity. We haven't had accounts with the hydro company and the gas company since 2003 and it was like not a day had gone by. Luckily we left those accounts in good standing so we didn't have to pay any huge deposits or anything and the customer service agents seemed surprised when they asked if Superman was still on the accounts too and I said yes. It's been six years of worry free apartment living, three different apartments in that time, we've only been at this place for 14 months.
In remembering some of the places we have lived together, and so far there have been 5 in the last 20 years, we realized that they were all great. We moved into every one with a feeling of excitement and anticipation and hope for new beginnings. We didn't always leave feeling that way, sometimes we were more than ready to go and other times , not so much. I always figured that if you are a renter you should explore many different types of lifestyles until you find out what really works for you. The great thing is being able to move when you feel like it. Try another neighbourhood, another type of home. I admit , I find it exciting and I love moving. Not the physical act of packing and carrying boxes but setting up a new household and making it a home and figuring out how to fit it all in and make it work, I love that.
The other day SM said to me, "I love you because you are a girl who likes adventure and if it weren't for you I would have always just stayed in the same place." I love the fact that he still wants to go on adventures with me and by this time he knows we will make it work no matter where we end up. That's trust.

Guess What?

We're moving!!

On Sunday we went to look at this house in our neighbourhood and we fell in love. The owner offered us the whole house for a reduced charge and we have a suite downstairs to generate some revenue and it has a huge beautiful back yard and, and, and...
it has the best music room/rumpus room I have ever seen. It even has a built in bar down there so we can serve them up in style. It has a huge, beautiful yard just perfect to get married in and it is on a pretty street about 4 blocks away from here so we can both walk to work if we want to. This house has a dishwasher and a nice washer and dryer as well as a cold cellar and a built in bar in the "den".
The house is about 2 blocks away from Queen Elizabeth Park and the Olympic curling rink. That means we may be able to get some Olympic goers to sublet from us during the games so we can go live in Mexico for a month and miss the whole fracas.
I haven't had a yard in about 7 years, I'm excited about gardening and sitting on the grass and barbecuing and hanging my clothes on a clothesline. The house is in immaculate condition if not a little dated inside. I think I will go with the decor and stick with a retro look, that's the type of stuff we have anyway. That wallpaper in the kitchen is in perfect shape and it really matches the hanging light fixture. Or maybe I'll rip it all out and paint it white.

The front of the house.

Living room.

Dining room into kitchen with "saloon" doors!

Big eat in kitchen with almost cool again wallpaper.

Stairs to downstairs with built in bar.

Soon to be the rockin'est rec room in town!!