The last few months - part 1

Why hello, its been a while, no?! I'll be honest, there were some times that I contemplated whether or not I really felt like having a blog anymore. For the last few months, there has been so much going on that I never found the time or motivation to document because there was always something else to take care of. I haven't written for myself in ages, and am feeling quite stunted and uninspired and incapable in that department. With summer here, though, I really want to get back into it. I am disappointed that spring 2011 is a blur in my mind, uncaptured in words and in very few photos. So I will try to go back and fill in the missing pieces, try to tell this story of our move, of the end of the school year, of big life changes and little adventures.

If I take you back to early spring, I was an MLS-addict, obsessed with checking properties for sale, either hunched over my computer or oh-so-conveniently, pretty much anywhere I went with my Remax app on the iPhone. We racked our brains over tons of possibilities, looked into condos, made check-lists and jotted down calculations over and over, tweaking variables to find out what would work best. It was so draining and stressful for a long time, with so many unknowns and what-ifs. You can really get lost and discouraged in the process. But I am happy we toughed it out and did our homework, because it paid off.

Thankfully we found a great agent who understood our needs and eventually helped us find this place. We visited it on a Thursday evening and the following day, she managed to negotiate the price way, way down with the seller's agent. We were surprised and a little overwhelmed at how fast it started to roll from that point on. She stressed the importance of us making an offer right away, before the weekend and the possibility of an open house which would attract more people and offers. We were stunned, I think, when we went to her office that Friday afternoon, not fully aware of what we were launching ourselves into. We told her that we wanted to visit one last time before making an official offer. It was supposed to be my birthday supper that evening, but I dragged my mom away from cooking duties so she could come by again for some advice. All along I knew that I didn't want to let this place go, so after an hour or so of debating, of inspecting the place, of dreaming of the future, I filled out the paper work for the first offer and oh my lord what a feeling...
The next day, on my birthday, we received word that our offer had been accepted!! The only thing they didn't agree to was giving us the table (seen here) and chairs that they had been using to stage the place. We were disappointed at first, but we had already bought chairs a few months earlier and were going to be refinishing my parents' old kitchen table, so it wasn't really a loss. Also, the chairs were fabric, which wouldn't have stood the test of time or dealt well with spills and stains. The table was also glass, and although it was gorgeous, I think it would have been a pain to clean, not to mention that it wasn't the most child-friendly type of material, which would be a concern in the future.
So the next few weeks involved lots of calls, sorting, planning, organizing, and finally packing. Without including any of Pat's things or the kitchen items that were stuffed under the stairs in my bedroom, here is what my parents' basement looked liked (eeek!):

Honestly, looking at this, it still feels surreal. The amount of time that went in to coordinating all of this was monumental, but we did it! I am so glad that I moved in the month of May, before the last month of school and the need to move all the boxes from my classroom back into storage at home... Anyways, we were really lucky to have family and friends helping us a TON. Here we are on moving day:

Everything went pretty smooth overall, and although it was exhausting, it was exciting and fun at the same time. My mom and my uncle were especially helpful over weeks and countless projects, and we are forever indebted to them for all their hard work.

The last little while has been all about settling in, organizing, making it our space, decorating, and getting into a groove together. It has been a learning process. It has been a bit crazy at times. We have learned that a house will always be a work in progress, and that's okay. It was hard for me to accept at first, but I am coming to understand that I need to just let things be and appreciate what we have. I think we have done quite well for being here for two months.

There is much more to tell, but I have to get ready for work at the library. One more day before my vacation time. I will be back sometime soon to fill in part 2.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Big Changes

So I've been a terrible blogger, I know, I know. But I have good reason, trust me! After a long search of condos and houses, we have finally found "the one". Thankfully we're through the worst of it (financing, inspection, pyrite, etc) and all that's left is to sign at the notary's office in a week from now. Then of course there will be the move and everything that comes along with it... but thankfully the place is newly renovated which means that we won't have to do any remodeling or repair work aside from some landscaping and repainting an ugly color in the basement. It is pretty much ready to go!

We are finally starting to allow ourselves to be excited after a very long, stressful period of searching. We originally almost bought a condo, went to sign for it and everything, but then realized that it was incredibly noisy and we couldn't envision ourselves being happy there. That's when we began a house search with a real estate agent that my mom knew from the gym, who helped us to find our house and turned out to be a great match for us. We actually ended up signing the acceptance offer on my birthday two weekends ago, and everything has been a crazy, stressful blur since then. Now that everything is in order financially and with the notary, we can relax a bit and begin the next phase of planning of the move, which will happen in two weekends from now. Everything is rolling so fast, which is a bit overwhelming, but at the same time exciting since we have been waiting for this for a long time. Also, Patrick needed to be out of his apartment by June anyways, so the timing works out perfectly.

It still hasn't sunk in that I am leaving here, the place I've called home for most of my life. I think it will be bittersweet in many ways. I am stoked to live with Pat in our own environment (soooo needed after almost ten years together) but at the same time, I think I will miss my parents and this house.

Anyways, there's more I could go on about but we're having an Easter brunch and grandmother duties call. Have a great weekend everyone!

Currents + Another Page

listening to: the sounds of my house. The new Radiohead.
eating: nothing yet, but craving some cereal.
drinking: again, nothing yet, but coffee very soon.
wearing: pink PJ bottoms with cupcake designs, and Pat's Niagara falls sweater. Very stylish combo.
feeling: worried about my uncle (operation is today).
weather: still cold, with a deceptively bright sky. When will blasted Winter end already?!
wanting: to get a good phone call from out West at the end of today.
needing: to fully appreciate my last day of March Break.
thinking: it's time to start breakfast!
enjoying: scrapbooking!
wondering: what workout should I do today?

I was flipping through this book and decided to randomly choose one topic to scrapbook about. I looooove this book. It gets my creativity flowing almost every time. Here is what I made this morning. I am quite pleased. These were some feelings I've had for a long while and it felt good to put them into words. Man did I hate hate hate that class.

Happy Friday everyone :)

A new digi-page

Patrick will probably kill me for using this picture, but I like it!

Winding Down

With March break comes the realization that I have not be nurturing the things I love nearly as much as I should. I have been shoving things, both figuratively and literally, into crevices with the thought that I will get to them in time, but all that has amounted to is a lot of clutter. I have been living in this vision of the future, putting things on hold because it's not the time quite yet. But this has drained me more than I realized and is no real way of living. So for the past few days, I have been slowing down in the now.

This past weekend we went to Burlington. We browsed the shops a lot. We tried on nerdy glasses just for a laugh.

We discovered that snuggies exist in various forms. Disturbing, yet highly amusing.


We ate a lot - far more than we should have. One night we went to the Pub and Brewery and the other night we went to the Olive Garden with Julie and Ken. The calorie intake was probably over 2000 per person. Debauchery I tell you, but it was soooo good.

We then decided to go swimming even though we all felt like we were going to explode. The water was positively freezing... We avoided the hot tub with its murky brown water and group of very noisy Quebecers. All this made us laugh almost uncontrollably, which we hadn't done in a while.

Later, Pat and I snuggled on a king-sized bed and watched movies. We browsed the charming downtown square and went to a few antique places, although found nothing worthwhile. That's okay because just looking was more than half the fun anyways.

We drove home in a rain storm on a nearly empty highway. Just us in our tiny car, moving through space and time, the sound of slush and wipers and faint music playing in the background. There is something about the open road that is so hypnotic, so all-encompassing and soothing to me. Maybe it's because I traveled a lot when I was younger and there was nothing I loved more than watching the world zoom by, reading license plates and checking off all the states and provinces we passed through. In any case, the feeling is still there for me as an adult driver - I love the highway just as much as passing through all the little towns along the way.

In the end, our shopping spree was not very successful, but I am fine with that. In fact, I'm a bit relieved since I just had to fix my car brakes before leaving and that was a huge amount that I wasn't expecting. We are happy we were able to get away for a few days. We needed some down time together and it has allowed me to feel calm and peaceful.

Now I am back home and have been taking care of a few necessities, like laundry and organizing files - getting income tax papers ready to go. I actually made a digital page today, which I will share soon. I felt very rusty while making it, but in the end, am pleased with the result. I need to force myself to get back into it and I know the joy will come.

I feel the urge to take pictures, decent-looking pictures, as it has been far too long. Maybe a walk tomorrow will expand my horizons a little bit...

Anyways, I have to go pick up my man after his long day with clients. More tomorrow. Cheers!

100th Day

Guess what? We celebrated the 100th day of school today! I wanted to share some art that my students made. The task was to draw what they look like today and then imagine what they'll look like at 100. I was very pleased with the improvements they made with their self-portraits, since at the beginning of the year it was quit a challenging task. I made a template first, and then modeled how to draw each feature, one at a time. If you let them do it completely independently, in whatever order, I find they tend to make the head way too small and then forget to add detail. We went verrrry slowly. I think they did an amazing job, if I do say so myself. I find them hilarious, actually. The cotton adds a certain charm, no? Ahhh, nothing like kinder-art!

We are more than half-way through the year, which I find hard to believe. 100th day of last year literally feels like it could have been a week ago. Am I in some kind of time warp!? Time really flies. March break is looming in the distance, not far off now... Only two more teaching days, parent-teacher interviews and a Ped-day until my brother's birthday and then a mini -trip to Burlington. So very psyched. I am pretty drained lately, fighting off colds constantly and really busy with both jobs... Some R&R is definitely just what I need. And shopping of course ;) Hopefully even some antique hunting, just for fun. It's not like I have anywhere to store it, but I would resort to cramming something in the corner of my bedroom if I found "the" piece. So if you know of any good places around the area, please let me know!

What else, what else? I bought these boots:

I waited for them to go on sale and they were so worth it. I was doubting myself a bit right after my purchase but since then, have gotten tons of compliments at work. I guess I made the right choice after al. Funny how I am so influenced by external feedback. Silly, really, but I can't deny that it helps to solidify decisions.

I had every intention of writing a longer post but it's 5 pm already, so I need to force myself to workout or else I will crash very soon. Have a good night!

Winter in full swing

So much for my resolution to update the blog once or twice a week. I think I was just a little gung-ho when I put that list together. Ahh, good intentions. I guess I have been pre-occupied with other things, such as:

- Getting financial stuff organized (new accounts, transfers and such... fun stuff)

- Replacing my car battery

- Working a lot (report cards, k screening, and portfolios all due soon)

- Obsessing about finding a house/condo (MLS every night)

- Watching the Pacific (as usual, HBO does not disappoint)

- Hunting down and finally purchasing our perfect dining room chairs (ignore all the crap in the background)

- Attempting to find a new winter jacket (no luck so far)

- Shoveling a crap-load of snow
- Sending lots of positive energy to my uncle who is battling pancreatic cancer :(

- Going on field trips with my class, like this place

- Reading this book

- Having drinks with colleagues

- Going to Darla and Pat's wedding (so much fun)!!

So there you have it, a brief peak into my world at the moment. I am going to unwind now, maybe watch a movie or catch up on my book. I need lots of rest for the upcoming week as another field trip is in store! Cheers.