Saying Adieu

It was harder than I thought.

A lot harder.

Alex and I met at the house last night to do one final sweep through - we made sure everything was gone, vacuumed one last time, mopped the floors and cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom.

And it was hard to leave. Like saying good bye to a family member or friend who you know you won't see for a very long time, or possibly ever.

But the sun came out today, so that must mean that this is a good new beginning.

So goodbye Blue House and your ghosts...like those far away friends, we have happy memories of the Blue House...thank goodness for that!

Snow + ice + Vancouver = CHAOS

It snowed yesterday. Lots, for Vancouver. Then it warmed up just a little so the snow started to melt. Then it froze.

Remember last spring? I was in a bus accident? Well, last night the bus I was taking home had an argument with the ice that led to an argument with a street post and a sign. Which led to me walking home. Granted it was only three short blocks, but man, it was super slippery and I feared for my back! Oh well, I made it. And this accident wasn't nearly as spectacular as the last one...barely even a bang!

Oh the joys of living in a city that can't cope with snow (too bad we get a few good snowstorms EVERY winter!)

The logistics of moving

or how it will be different the next time.

Because no matter how much I stamp my feet and make noise about never moving again, well, since I'm not currently housed in a pine box or a house with yard and some trees and some storage space, it's inevitable that sometime in the not too distant future (which at this point in my life could be a few months or a few years) I will have to move again. And as a reminder to that future self, this is what worked, didn't work, and must be done differently the next time:

Do this again

• thoroughly clean and disinfect the new place
• borrow bankers boxes from work for books, dishes and other breakables
• use lots and lots of tissue paper
• hire movers
• set up the bedroom and bathroom ASAP before unpacking anything else. Then when bath time, naptime or bedtime comes, well, you can get clean and have a comfortable place to sleep, now, not after you unpack and assemble stuff!
• have company come a week or two after the movers move everything...motivation to get unpacked!
• make sure horrible old furniture stays away from the new house...motivation to replace it. If the nasty stuff moves in, well, it's never going to leave
• give any and all things that are not important, useful, or needed to charity
• use original packing boxes whenever possible
• forward mail

Don't do this again

• move on someone else's terms (okay, sometimes there's no controlling this)
• prolong the move over a three week period
• be a presenter at a conference the weekend of the move
• move while recovering from the nasty winter cold
• edit March 2008: move while suffering from morning sickness

Do this next time

• move somewhere that has parking, preferably assigned.
• move somewhere that has storage...Christmas decorations and spare tires need to live somewhere else for most of the year
• move in one day...prolonging the inevitable is stressful and makes everyone sad (especially when no one wanted to move in the first place)

I don't remember the last move being so stressful and horrible and unpleasant, but that might be because I was moving from the Hobbit Hole to the Blue House (i.e. from about 550 square feet, half a closet and no storage to 1300 square feet plus a deck and storage) and this time the move was from the Blue House to the Pink Palace (latter place to less than 700 square feet, no storage). Hmmmm....yeah....

MIA due to move

So, posting, yeah, it's not happening. Mostly because we're in the midst of the chaos of moving...moving that's taking weeks to accomplish...many loads of belongings have made their way to the Pink Palace and there are still a few more to come, but the Blue House, well, it doesn't feel so friendly anymore. I don't like going there. The Pink Palace doesn't feel like home yet...there are boxes and piles everywhere, but I think hope that it will feel happy once we get everything unpacked and pictures on the wall and things organized.

Until then, well, posting will be sporadic. Like the last time I moved, the computer got to live where there was no internet connection for quite a while...oh, and it's still living there...sigh

Hope to be back soon....

Confused buds

Dear Mother Nature,

I know, I know, you've been doing this kind of thing for many, many years...many years more than my lifetime quadrumpled, and I'm sure you have a very good idea of what you're doing, but I just wanted to bring something to your attention, just in case, you know, you missed it or something.

As I wandered my daily path to work in freezing cold temperatures (which means, oh about -3 because I'm now a west coast wimp), I noticed that besides all the frozen puddles that were still frozen, and frozen quite solid, there were a number of trees that looked like this one:


Now, all the sunshine and blue skies are a bit deceptive because it's definitely *NOT* warm...I'm just afraid that the poor little buds and the poor little buds that have blossomed will get too cold.

That's all.

Now I'll get back to my regular job and leave the plants and the weather to you.

Polar Express experienced with D.

On Sunday, Alex and I went to Canada Place and got some tickets to see the Polar Express, in 3D, at the IMAX with our friends Heddy and D.

Alex, Heddy, and D. had a great time modelling their glasses.

3D Alex

D and Heddy eating popcorn

Now this was an experience...not just because it was in 3D, but because we were with D. If you've been to a movie (or Cirque du Soleil) with D, you know that he gets into the movie completely. Special effects? He loves them and sitting near him you get to hear a whole bunch of whoooooaaaaaa, that's cool, woooow! and other such exclamations! It's actually quite entertaining sitting with him. Now, normally, I would have warned Alex about this as it can be a bit surprising sometimes to people new to watching movies with D, but I forgot that Alex had never been to a movie with D before. Alex found D pretty entertaining...I think everyone should go to a movie with D at least once in their lives. It definitely opens your eyes and lets you see the movie in a new and sometimes unexpected way!

And really, if you can't enjoy a movie, then why bother?!

Games, games, and more games

So...yesterday before our crazy hanging out with friends, looking for a couch, hanging out with more friends day, we took another load over to the new house.

Because there's no furniture, we're a bit limited on what we can actually unpack right now, but we thought we'd put the games in the guest room closet. We know we have a lot of games, but in the blue house they lived in the wardrobe which has dark shelves and is deceptively deep or they lived under the guest room bed.

With the exception of the table hockey game, all of them are now in the closet. And they take up more space than we thought.


So, after we move, you're all invited to come over and play games...seriously, if we have them, we better well use them!

Sunday in the city

It was a beautiful day...once the nasty rain stopped. We do live in an incredibly beautiful place! Check out Granville Street!

Waterfront Station

Canada Place...Alex and I both said that hiking up the stairs was like being at Expo all over agian, just 22 years later without the crowds!

Rainbow in Coal Harbour

more Canada Place

Stanley Park

The ghosts are mad

In the past week, we've had a bunch of light bulbs burn out - some really old, some recently replaced, some in the mid-range of light bulb life - the faucet in the bathroom go nuts, the tap-tap-tapping has come back but stops when we ask nicely, and there has been a lot of noise from the suite upstairs...the empty suite. I think we've upset the ghosts with all the move activity. And it's not just one suite, we're all moving. When K. moved out the ghost activity picked up a bit - the tapping came back, but this is more.

Sigh...I should go buy shares in GE.

And no, I'm not crazy. Really.

Aren't we lucky!

So, when we discovered we had to leave our beloved Blue House, Alex and I had some decisions to make about where we were going and what we wanted/needed in an apartment.

We decided

• we could move down to one bedroom if we had to if there was some storage
• staying close to our current neighbourhood was a necessity because of Alex's job and hours
• we could give up a deck/balcony if necessary because we live in a great city and there are lots of parks in the neighbourhood
• we should try to be far away from a White Spot because far too often we cop out on making dinner
• we would be looking at a fair chunk of change more for a two bedroom than we're currently paying, and if we were lucky only a few hundred less for a one bedroom

Well what do you know, we scoured craigslist for anything and everything. Made a few contacts, saw some pictures and decided EWWWWWWWWW and then found the Pink Palace. And we took it right away.

Because

• it had two bedrooms and three closets even if there was no storage in the building
• it was only eight blocks from the Blue House which means a five minute each direction increase in commute time for me and at least a 25 minute reduction for Alex (that's bus versus foot travel)
• while it had no balcony, there is school right behind it and really, it's only about ten blocks from the beach
• there is no White Spot nearby, but we did discover when we actually took the time to look that there is a pub a block away, an Earls, a Moxies and they all have patios so it's okay, because it makes up for the missing deck...yeah, that's it!
• it's only a bit more than what we're paying now, even when utilities and laundry are factored in (and the storage unit we're going to have to get), but it still has two bedrooms

We sort of seconded guessed ourselves and could both be heard wondering out loud if it was the right decision...to take the first place we saw...I mean, it was completely redone inside, it's close to everything, the only real downside besides the storage issue is there is no reserved parking, but well, it's okay.

I'M SO GLAD WE TOOK IT!

I was looking at what's available this month, and well, it's not pretty. Thank goodness we went with instinct. We would be able to find somewhere, it just would not have been an easy thing to do and we probably would not have been too happy. Thank goodness we started looking early.

Now on to the packing (and major decluttering!)

Shannon's 2008 movie viewing

What I've seen in 2008...off to a slow start!

• Love Actually
• The Nanny Diaries
• Music and Lyrics
• Juno
• Superbad

Shannon's 2008 Reading Material

No side bar this year. We're starting the book list off right with its very own page. I'm always looking for new books to read, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

books in progress

• From Time To Time
• What to Expect When You're Expecting
  
• What to Expect The First Year
• Everything is Illuminated

books just finished

• Knit Fast, Die Young: A Knitting Mystery (January)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (February)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (February)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (February)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (March)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (March)
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (March)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (March)
• The Bonesetter's Daughter (March)
• The Other Side of the Story (April)
• Time And Again (April)
• Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging (April)
• On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God (May)
  
• Persepolis (June)
• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (June)
  
• Atonement (July)
  
• Stanley Park (August)
• Pursuit of Happyness
  (August)
• The Flying Troutmans
  (October)
  
• Sway (November)
  

Shannon's 2008 knitting

knitting in progress

• baby blanket one (with no designated recipient). Started fall 2007
  
• baby blanket two (for the cub if it's a girl). Started May 2008
  
• baby blanket three (for the cub if it's a boy). Started May 2008
  
• magic scarf for me
  
• a bag without a handle
  

knitting projects completed

• scarf for Bret (finished just in time for New Years...so technically a 2007 project!)
  
• scarf for Kamiah. Started January 2008, completed May 2008
  
• surprise wedding gift for Christy and Rob. Started November 2006, completed May 2008
  

Shannon's 2008 movie view

What I've seen in 2008...off to a slow start!

• Love Actually
• The Nanny Diaries
• Music and Lyrics