I don't know what possessed me, I truly don't. The lure of inexpensive meat that is not purchased at No Frills ? (because, ew, really, even our budget can do better than that). The feeling that I'd better use the d!@# membership since I'd purchased it, and wanted to get my money's worth? A deep seated (so deep that I didn't even know about it) desire for a 1/4lb. hot dog for 99 cents? Whatever it was I found myself crawling into the Costco parking lot in Upper Scarberia this past Sunday. Crawling because apparently 10,000 other Torontonians didn't have anything else to do on a Sunday either. From left turn lane to parking lot....20 minutes, with not even a hint of exaggeration. And the parking was not a pleasant Sunday drive either....it was me up against thousands of other drivers, all determined to spend lots of money on lots of REALLY BIG things.
Which brings me to the truly mystifying part of this trip. What was I, of all people, writer of a blog entitled Smaller is Better doing in a store that epitomizes the big box, that justifies the suburban monster home with its 1400 sq. ft. of storage? The last time we lived in a smaller home and I visited Costco it resulted in an elaborate weeks long project to convert an old closet into a spacious pantry (said project was completed by my lovely wife, not me of course). Well in this house, that old closet has already been converted: into a laundry room on the main floor, and into a staircase leading to the attic on the 2nd floor. So what was I doing buying humongous 24 packs of toilet paper and kleenex??? To top it off, I was fighting off a cold or something at the time, so I entered the behemoth business in an already weakened state for extra danger and foolishness.
The good news: We don't have to buy meat or vitamin supplements for the next 6 months. The bad news: it will be longer than that before I recover from my Costco-induced trauma and set foot in the store again....though they did have some great deals on suitcases...and cameras...oh and I forgot to get the bread.....hmm...are you doing anything next weekend??
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
so about this smaller is better thing
I have been totally neglecting this blog, which I realize in large part is because I've been having a lot of trouble feeling the 'smaller is better' love. I mean, in theory I am all in favour of doing more with less, making do, having a smaller ecofootprint and all that. But the reality of a teeny tiny kitchen, one bathroom, a living room full of c@#$ and a bedroom full of s@#$ has been kicking my butt lately. And as a result, I do what I often do in these situations, start getting antsy, dreaming of something better, thinking of buying a bigger house (ha! not with this budget in this city) and thinking of all the things we could do to change the status quo. And frankly doing a lot more thinking than doing...as a result, here we are, almost two months later, and we still have a LOT to do. So I'm relaunching this blog as a way to inspire myself, motivate myself, and ask my readers to help motivate me too. We have decided we want to stay where we are for at least the next two years (breathe in, breathe out). So I am going to do it!! Not just make do, but make it fabulous. Not just do more with less, but do even more, with even less.
So what do we need to do to make this place work?
-deal with the mold problem that seems to keep on making us all sick and may be rotting our basement storage items.
-deal with the FREEZING cold living room...we have recently realized that the charming exposed brick wall is a bit more exposed than we might like, given that it is an EXTERIOR wall.
-deal with our bedroom which is awash in boxes and all the crap we can't find another spot to store.
-resolve the perennial parental dilemma: we have a playroom but the kids don't really play up there but we don't want to turn our living room into a playroom.
-maybe possibly figure out a better place to put overnight guests.
-rearrange our dining room space...we just can't seem to make it work.
-triple our kitchen storage without adding any new furniture.
-quadruple our living room storage without adding any new furniture.
Oh and, get rid of a LOT more stuff!!!
Wish me luck, and welcome to the ride!
So what do we need to do to make this place work?
-deal with the mold problem that seems to keep on making us all sick and may be rotting our basement storage items.
-deal with the FREEZING cold living room...we have recently realized that the charming exposed brick wall is a bit more exposed than we might like, given that it is an EXTERIOR wall.
-deal with our bedroom which is awash in boxes and all the crap we can't find another spot to store.
-resolve the perennial parental dilemma: we have a playroom but the kids don't really play up there but we don't want to turn our living room into a playroom.
-maybe possibly figure out a better place to put overnight guests.
-rearrange our dining room space...we just can't seem to make it work.
-triple our kitchen storage without adding any new furniture.
-quadruple our living room storage without adding any new furniture.
Oh and, get rid of a LOT more stuff!!!
Wish me luck, and welcome to the ride!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
so much for November
okay so clearly the one post a day in November thing was a complete and utter failure. Life happens, okay? sheesh.
Moving right along!
I have two deep, dark secrets to share with you today, dear readers. One is the dark, rotten, moldy kind, that should be kept out of sight....one is the kind that looks bright and shiny and clean but inside...well, it's more like the first one. Are you ready for this? These secrets are important, they are the secrets to our downsizing success.
1) The basement of our new house. This is truly one of the most horrific basements I have ever encountered. The walls are crumbling in various places, have been ripped out in others, and speckled with black mold in many others. I have a mold allergy and I can't spend more than 15 minutes down there without starting to wheeze. Evidence of the previous tenants abounds, from someone's sad attempt to texture paint one of the rooms (note: swamp green rag rolling does not improve a dark, dank room), to the *ahem* evidence left behind in another: tinfoil covered window, pile of soil in the corner and stack upon stack of shipping boxes. We hate our basement because it is moldy, lacks a proper door, and feels like the kind of place that makes a happy home for rodents or serial killers in movies starring Jodie Foster. But we also love our basement because it is holding ALL OUR CRAP. All the boxes, and boxes, and boxes of stuff that won't fit in our house and we might want and we don't know what to do with. And as a result we are saving thousands of dollars in storage fees while we figure out what we're doing. So we (or maybe Beth given my wheezing issues) are going to tackle the basement with mold spray, gloves and masks, and put all the stuff in boxes in shelves and in plastic to protect it from the damp we know, and the damp we know will come!
wish us luck.
2) My other dark, deep secret isn't really much of a secret. It's IKEA.
IKEA, shiny blue and yellow Swedish siren, luring me to your shoals of disposable consumerism. You with your crunchy, green, family friendly image, your shining clean ballroom, your cheap meatballs and fries. But really are you any better than Wal-mart or McDonald's ? Despite your shiny exterior, your insides are just as tainted by the pursuit filthy lucre.
I returned to the blue and yellow behemoth, Toronto version, for the first time this past Saturday. By some cosmic miracle both our children agreed to stay in the play place as my wife and I giddily skipped through the store. 3 groggy hours later and many, many dollars poorer, we staggered out into the bright daylight of a North York parking lot...wondering how yet again we had been lulled into consumer complacency and wasted almost a whole Saturday inside.
the secret here? I guess it's just that I keep on believing all my downsizing problems can be solved if I spend enough money on Expedit shelving.
Moving right along!
I have two deep, dark secrets to share with you today, dear readers. One is the dark, rotten, moldy kind, that should be kept out of sight....one is the kind that looks bright and shiny and clean but inside...well, it's more like the first one. Are you ready for this? These secrets are important, they are the secrets to our downsizing success.
1) The basement of our new house. This is truly one of the most horrific basements I have ever encountered. The walls are crumbling in various places, have been ripped out in others, and speckled with black mold in many others. I have a mold allergy and I can't spend more than 15 minutes down there without starting to wheeze. Evidence of the previous tenants abounds, from someone's sad attempt to texture paint one of the rooms (note: swamp green rag rolling does not improve a dark, dank room), to the *ahem* evidence left behind in another: tinfoil covered window, pile of soil in the corner and stack upon stack of shipping boxes. We hate our basement because it is moldy, lacks a proper door, and feels like the kind of place that makes a happy home for rodents or serial killers in movies starring Jodie Foster. But we also love our basement because it is holding ALL OUR CRAP. All the boxes, and boxes, and boxes of stuff that won't fit in our house and we might want and we don't know what to do with. And as a result we are saving thousands of dollars in storage fees while we figure out what we're doing. So we (or maybe Beth given my wheezing issues) are going to tackle the basement with mold spray, gloves and masks, and put all the stuff in boxes in shelves and in plastic to protect it from the damp we know, and the damp we know will come!
wish us luck.
2) My other dark, deep secret isn't really much of a secret. It's IKEA.
IKEA, shiny blue and yellow Swedish siren, luring me to your shoals of disposable consumerism. You with your crunchy, green, family friendly image, your shining clean ballroom, your cheap meatballs and fries. But really are you any better than Wal-mart or McDonald's ? Despite your shiny exterior, your insides are just as tainted by the pursuit filthy lucre.
I returned to the blue and yellow behemoth, Toronto version, for the first time this past Saturday. By some cosmic miracle both our children agreed to stay in the play place as my wife and I giddily skipped through the store. 3 groggy hours later and many, many dollars poorer, we staggered out into the bright daylight of a North York parking lot...wondering how yet again we had been lulled into consumer complacency and wasted almost a whole Saturday inside.
the secret here? I guess it's just that I keep on believing all my downsizing problems can be solved if I spend enough money on Expedit shelving.
Monday, November 22, 2010
unexpected gifts
our new, smaller home has brought with it a number of logistical challenges and minor and not so minor annoyances (freezing windows, quirky electrical, lack of fans in bathroom AND kitchen).
But it has also brought a number of little gifts. Gifts that at first masquerade as major annoyances.
Some of the unexpected gifts:
But it has also brought a number of little gifts. Gifts that at first masquerade as major annoyances.
Some of the unexpected gifts:
- No dishwasher. For the first time in 8.5 years, we have no dishwasher. As we like to joke that our first dishwasher saved our marriage, this hardly seems like a gift. But it is...we are rediscovering the zen-like relaxation of doing the dishes by hand. And we are discovering that we have grown up a lot in the last 8.5 years--instead of arguing over who will do them and making large passive-aggressive piles of dirty dishes, we just get them done and move on.
- No TV. We do have Netflix on our desktop so we are not completely screen free but the lack of tv means we have to be a lot more conscious about our viewing. No channel surfing, no turning on the tv just because. And as a result, more time spent reading, baking and doing all those wonderful TV free activities.
- No need to drive the car everywhere. This is more obviously a gift, but we are all appreciating the ability to walk many more places we need to go and get lots more exercise along the way. We love not using our car every day!
- One bedroom & two kids...we worried this would be a disaster, especially with our 5 yo who likes to have things exactly to her specifications and likes her space. But they seem to really enjoy sharing a room , lots of giggling, fort building and two sisters who are growing closer every day is the result!
Friday, November 19, 2010
our new place
so a few people have been asking me about our new place.
Some great things about it:
-It is not as small as I feared
-our bedroom is huge, and our king size bed fits in easily
-the attic playroom is delightful and features a secret floorboard for hiding cool things (hopefully nothing valuable...)
-the kitchen is workable, especially with the generous loan of a lovely butcher block topped island from some great friends!
-there is LOTS of storage space in the basement.
-the bathroom is freshly redone.
-we back on to a pretty ravine with a train track running through it. The girls, especially our youngest, LOVE watching the trains go by. Which they do at roughly 10 min. intervals during rush hour.
-wonderful neighbourhood & dream location!
Some not so great things about the place:
-it is FREEZING...windows need replacing, some spots need caulking. Overall I feel like wrapping the whole place in shrink wrap for the winter. I shudder to think of our heating bill. Actually I just shudder.
-the kitchen counters were designed at a time when the height of the average Torontonian was about 5'
-the fridge light is broken & hence is always off.
-the window in the playroom is lexan, not glass, and half of it is an air conditioner. I'm sure that's great in the summer....
-we're right beside a train track, and the whole house rattles each time one goes by.
-it's an older home, hence it does not have enough plugs. And about half of these plugs don't work. And when my LW (*lovely wife) tried to change an ancient fuse, sparks flew. We are calling an electrician.
-the previous tenants had 3 large hairy dogs. The place was not properly cleaned after they left. The dogs scratched up the floors and either the dogs or the tenants punched a hole in the bedroom wall.
-someone painted the lovely exposed brick wall in the living room white. I mean really??!!
Overall, I'm feeling conflicted on the whole home ownership thing. After owning our own place for 7 years, it's kind of nice to look around and think that all the maintenance on this place is NOT my responsibility. But I also love this little place and kinda wish it was ours so we could take it in hand & whip it into shape...if we ever got around to it!
So far, I have been here for 8 days, and I have not, I repeat NOT gone to IKEA. Aren't you impressed?
Some great things about it:
-It is not as small as I feared
-our bedroom is huge, and our king size bed fits in easily
-the attic playroom is delightful and features a secret floorboard for hiding cool things (hopefully nothing valuable...)
-the kitchen is workable, especially with the generous loan of a lovely butcher block topped island from some great friends!
-there is LOTS of storage space in the basement.
-the bathroom is freshly redone.
-we back on to a pretty ravine with a train track running through it. The girls, especially our youngest, LOVE watching the trains go by. Which they do at roughly 10 min. intervals during rush hour.
-wonderful neighbourhood & dream location!
Some not so great things about the place:
-it is FREEZING...windows need replacing, some spots need caulking. Overall I feel like wrapping the whole place in shrink wrap for the winter. I shudder to think of our heating bill. Actually I just shudder.
-the kitchen counters were designed at a time when the height of the average Torontonian was about 5'
-the fridge light is broken & hence is always off.
-the window in the playroom is lexan, not glass, and half of it is an air conditioner. I'm sure that's great in the summer....
-we're right beside a train track, and the whole house rattles each time one goes by.
-it's an older home, hence it does not have enough plugs. And about half of these plugs don't work. And when my LW (*lovely wife) tried to change an ancient fuse, sparks flew. We are calling an electrician.
-the previous tenants had 3 large hairy dogs. The place was not properly cleaned after they left. The dogs scratched up the floors and either the dogs or the tenants punched a hole in the bedroom wall.
-someone painted the lovely exposed brick wall in the living room white. I mean really??!!
Overall, I'm feeling conflicted on the whole home ownership thing. After owning our own place for 7 years, it's kind of nice to look around and think that all the maintenance on this place is NOT my responsibility. But I also love this little place and kinda wish it was ours so we could take it in hand & whip it into shape...if we ever got around to it!
So far, I have been here for 8 days, and I have not, I repeat NOT gone to IKEA. Aren't you impressed?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
No wire hangers ever!
Or plastic ones, or wooden ones. Sheesh. This new house has one useable closet for adult size hangers, plus a smallish closet for the girls' special dresses and a kid-size dress up closet in the attic playroom. Our last house had...hmm...5 full closets ready to be filled with hangers. I have unpacked roughly 25 hangers today alone. The last straw...coming across a box marked 'hangers and clothes'
No. more. hangers.
Oh and I should mention we love our new place...it's not quite as tiny as I had thought based on my first impression. More on the new place, its quirks, and the previous tenants who were smokers with three LARGE dogs, in a later post.
Aren't you glad I have access to the internet again? I will do my best to catch up on my many days arrears of Nablopomo.
upcoming posts:
-10 things I won't miss (as promised)
-Moving day
-Annie's tribute to our old house
-The trials and tribulations of our new house
-I love Toronto....but....
stay tuned and apologies for the hiatus.
No. more. hangers.
Oh and I should mention we love our new place...it's not quite as tiny as I had thought based on my first impression. More on the new place, its quirks, and the previous tenants who were smokers with three LARGE dogs, in a later post.
Aren't you glad I have access to the internet again? I will do my best to catch up on my many days arrears of Nablopomo.
upcoming posts:
-10 things I won't miss (as promised)
-Moving day
-Annie's tribute to our old house
-The trials and tribulations of our new house
-I love Toronto....but....
stay tuned and apologies for the hiatus.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
holy crap
this new house is small!
but we made it, all our stuff made it, and we are safe & sound.
More later!
but we made it, all our stuff made it, and we are safe & sound.
More later!
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