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:

1. 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.
   
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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!
   

What unexpected gifts have you received lately?

Regrets, I've had a few...

Time for another list. Is all this list-making a form of cheating in the national blog posting month unverse? yeah? Too bad, I don't care, I'm moving in 4 days.

So despite our general jubilation about our upcoming move, there are things we will miss about the locale we are in right now. So I decided to list them, in no particular order, I swear.

1. Fabulous local french fry spot that our very allergic daughter can eat at. It's also supercheap.
2. Living 5 minutes walk from a big & very picturesque body of water, and a big sandy beach.
3. Fabulous local bakery with the best croissants ever. (a certain theme is emerging here).
4. Adorable local Santa Claus parade with lots of candy for the kiddies.
5. Wonderful neighbours, especially the ones next door, a sweet retired couple who have adopted our kids as honorary grandkids.
   
6. Very friendly network of moms--this has been the easiest place to meet people and we have made many friends.
   
7. The beautiful outdoors: summer, winter, spring or fall, we are always close to the great outdoors here and we love it--canoeing, hiking skiing etc..
8. Skating on the canal + Beaver Tails (mmmm....pastry!)
   
9. Strawberry picking, pumpkin picking etc. at the lovely farm just down the road.
10. Local organic market with free horse drawn wagon rides. Granted that we don't buy very much food there as it tends to blow our budget, but love the atmosphere and the kids love the wagon! Oh and the sausages are good too!
    

So there it is, my attempt to sum up 9 years of living in an area in a short list. I've left out many important things, but this is meant to be quick, fun & light. I'd love to hear from you if you think I've missed something important....


Better get back to packing!!
Next post: 10 things I will NOT miss.

honey, what do you think?

After 12 years together, and 10 years of marriage, you'd think there wouldn't be that many surprises left. And it's true, there aren't too many. But there are numerous instances of the same basic differences being played out in a multi-hued kaleidoscope of variations.

Packing and getting ready to downsize is one such variation that is a...hmm...I'm trying to figure out how to work Rorschach test into this sentence but I think I'm becoming much too pretentious and long winded. Moving right along...packing shows me yet again how my wife and I differ in one fundamental characteristic.

I need to think out loud, involve others in my thought process, bounce things off someone etc.

She, being more of the strong, silent type does not.

Which reminds me of yet another mystery of marriage: how come even I know this about her so well, it can still annoy me? I mean really, you'd think I'd be pretty zen about our differences at this point. But if you have been reading this blog for the past few weeks you've learned that I don't necessarily rock the zen.

Anyhow, back to packing. Our differences can be summed up as follows. Upon encountering an item that has some kind of sentimental/practical/monetary value, here's what happens:

(scenario A, I find the item)
Me: "Honey, do you think we should keep this? I kind of like it, and I could see us using it again?"
Her: "Mmmmm (or silence, insert chirping crickets here).

Me: "No, I need to know what you think about it, it' s more yours than mine. I'm kind of worried that if I throw it out we'll find out we really need it."

Her: "Just get rid of it, love, I'm sure it will be fine."

(scenario B, she finds the item)

***************silence except for the following sounds: crinkle of plastic as item is thrown out, screech of packing tape as yet another box is sealed, thud as item lands in our donation bin.

**with apologies to my wife for the gross exaggerations I have made and the artistic licence I have given myself for the sake of coming up with a post.

*************************************************************
For all those who were wondering, we did not manage to sell: the horse, the toddler bike seat, or the bassinet/playpen. Two of those three items have now found a happy home. Any guesses as to what we are still going to end up moving?

Canadian Tire Money, pennies and marbles

What do these three items have in common?
They are THE top three most annoying items to deal when you are moving.
Why? They are small, usually found in all kinds of random and aggravating locations (pockets, bottoms of grocery bags, bottoms of drawers) especially in a less than organized house like ours, and you can't. just. throw them out.
at least not without feeling major guilt about
a) wasting money that could some day be spent on motor oil or a gigantic inflatable motion and light activated Christmas snow globe.
b) wasting money that could be spent on penny candy.
c) wasting money by throwing out toys that your kids like and actually play with and really don't take up THAT much space

Rounding out my list of annoying things to run across when packing:

• Broken jewelry....I really used to like that earring/bracelet/necklace until my toddler ripped it up. Maybe someday my wife will fix it for me? Until then I will store it in a ziploc baggie with other broken jewelry until it turns into a hopelessly mangled Gordian knot.
• Half empty containers of stuff....ketchup, hand sanitizer, lotion etc. I don't want to waste it, but how many multiple half empty bottles of the same crap is it really worth moving? Especially hand sanitizer which seems to multiply like rabbits around here as we try to convince our handwashing hating kid to stop spreading germs (nope, doesn't work).
• screws/bolts/nuts and other little metal and plastic thingies that I cannot correctly label (see cordaround post)--these paralyze me. I mean what if I throw out the one thing that holds our shelves together, therefore requiring a trip to IKEA to stand in their miles long customer service line? And if my wife is not around to ask about them I have to save them in my pockets or little ziploc bags until I can find out if they're okay to throw out.
• Batteries. I can't throw them out or else the silent screams of fishies, bunnies and other wild creatures who will be maimed by their corroding acid echo in my head. I know of two places where they can be recycled in this area: 1-my office 2-IKEA . Neither of these places is convenient when I am packing. Enter ziploc bags, that eventually have to be taken somewhere else.

I'd write more, but I'd better pace myself for the rest of the month. If you don't hear from me, I may be underneath a pile of ziploc bags filled with tiny pieces of crap in my basement. Send help.

a few good things....

Life really hasn't been just one big ball of stress lately. I have in fact had a number of positive things happen, many of which have been a pleasant surprise, including:

• we got two offers on our house within 7 days....even our agent was surprised by this--apparently all our decluttering worked.
• Our older daughter has generally been coping much better than we expected with all the changes in our lives.
• We've found all the necessary paperwork for the house! something I certainly wouldn't have expected to be so easy given the state of said house a few months ago!
  
• I finish work in two days...not a surprise, but definitely a good thing. I've had to restrain myself from skipping through the hallways singing lately, which I suspect would not be appreciated.
• Other than a nasty cold that mainly hit my wife (sorry honey!) we've generally managed to keep sane, stress free, sickness free and even actually had a lot of fun.
• We've sold most of our big items! (with the notable exception of Pinkie Beauty, our beautiful spring horse, perfection in plastic horse form, only $50).
  

reality sets in.

Okay, so I am still very excited about this move. In fact I am more excited than ever about the fabulous urban neighbourhood we are going to be living in! And the possibility of good schools! And the fact that we might eventually be able to buy a house there!

But I think I am also starting to panic a bit about how tiny it is. Really, how tiny is it? Maybe part of the problem is that I don't really know...I only have a general idea from looking at some pictures, taken by the landlords a few years ago, with someone else's furniture in them. As a result, I find myself obsessively reading the IKEA catalogue (there must be some way IKEA can help us, right?) or poring through the selection of storage bins at our local department store.

The good news: my dad (aka superdad!) has offered to go to our new place this weekend to measure, take pictures and paint the girls' room and playroom! So hopefully by Sunday we will have a much better idea of the (gravity of the) situation.

In other news, our PODS storage unit arrives today. Whee! I am actually very excited about this, as one of the things I hated about our last move was filling up our entire living room with boxes such that we couldn't move. Not fun.

We have thrown out a whole bunch of stuff so far, including: drop side crib that is now illegal, grotty old booster seat, cheap & wrecked IKEA end tables. I do feel a sick undercurrent of guilt about that stuff going to the landfill.

We have also given away bags & bags & bags of clothes, and I have three boxes of books from the living room that are all set to go. All very satisfying, with a soupcon of 'oh shit, what if I got rid of something we need'.

And of course then there's the moment every parent dreads: 'Mama, where's my special pink sweater that I wore to the wedding last year?' When confronted with questions like this, I never know whether to:

1. Blatantly lie ("I think it's in the wash")
   
2. Tell the truth....sort of ("It was too small....so we put it away for your sister")
3. Tell the bald faced truth ("sweetie, you haven't worn it or noticed it in 6 months. I gave it away)
   

What do you do in situations like this??

Downsizing and downshifting

I am now officially downwardly mobile, and I couldn't be happier about it.

In the next six weeks, I will:

• drop my salary
  
• move from owning a home to renting (at least for now)
• move from a 2100 sq. foot, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom suburban home to a tiny downtown row house with 2 functional bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a tiny sink with no dishwasher. (the horror!)

And yet, I couldn't be happier. According to my family, I've smiled more and laughed more in the past week than I have in at least 2-3 years. And yet, I know we have our work cut out for us, and I am definitely anxious...anxiety being something that runs in my family in a serious way. More on that later.

Follow me as I try to get rid of a whole lot of stuff, and try to make our current home and family fit into our new reality. Follow my kids, an anxious five-year-old who feels "ambivalent about moving" (direct quote), and our happy go lucky two-year-old who's biggest challenge is not breaking all our stuff before we pack it. And of course my lovely wife, who is working like crazy to make this all happen for us.