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?

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?

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.

holy crap

this new house is small!
but we made it, all our stuff made it, and we are safe & sound.
More later!

taking the smaller the better to the extreme!

Not a real post, but a friend linked me to this incredible website of a house designer who designs truly tiny homes, anywhere from 89 to 800+ sq. ft.


Now there's some inspiration!

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.

selling stuff still sucks...but freecycling is fantastic

So I'm really way too tired to post tonight---this should be interesting.

But I did want to relate my views on the difference between selling stuff and freecycling:

Selling stuff:

Process:

• Wait foreeeeeeeeeever to get the tiniest bit of interest.
• Carefully coax slightly interested prospective customer, wooing them with attentive emails, flashy photos and flexible pick up times, or even offers to drop off the item.
• Exchange multiple phone calls and emails about why the item is so perfect and how you are available for them to pick it up

Outcome: About 10% of the time, they buy something and you get good money for getting rid of something you don't need. The other 90% they don't show up, give up on you, never get back to you and you are stuck with the item, which you eventually freecycle.

Freecycling:

Process:

• Post a quick two-line email about something giving the minimum of details and emphasizing the need for you to get rid of it as quickly & conveniently as possible.
• Sit back and wait for the dozens of responses to pour in, each one more polite than the last.
  
• Sift through sob story after obsequious sob story and pick out the one that either makes you feel most warm & fuzzy or the one that seems most likely to pick up the item within the required time frame.
• Feel a warm glow of benevolence as the person arrives, usually promptly, and gratefully picks up said item.

Outcome:

• Hope that the warm glow of benevolence compensates for the fact that you didn't actually earn any money. But hey, at least the item isn't in the landfill or clogging up your storage space!