To all the blogs I've read before, To all the blogs that I adore..(insert music here)

Well, the weekend is upon us! Last night I went to my first 'strata' meeting. I met most of my new neighbors, and was pretty happy overall. The key won't actually be in my hot little hands until tomorrow, but the completion date went through yesterday, so I was allowed to go and vote on such things as repairing the basketball hoop etc. Oh ya baby!
So, back to the point of this post, I am now totally immersed in boxes and packing etc. Not much left to do here, but as of tomorrow, we are starting to load things over in the car. The moving truck is booked for Wednesday for the big big stuff, but since it is only two blocks away, there are alot of things I can get there before then. I don't know how much comp time I will have between now and then, so if I am not commenting on your blogs, I will still be reading when I can, but may not have time to impart my words of wisdom,, hehe,,
I will be documenting the move with some pics, and will post when I can.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Can I wake up now please?

I want this over, but I know later I will wish I savoured the moment more. As you know, I woke up one day, and thought hmm, maybe I should own a home again. I made a call, stressing the fact I was 'just looking',, you know, can't do any harm to see what the market is doing, what is out there, what my options may be in the future. From there, it has snowballed into an avalanche! It has only been, what,, 6 weeks or less since then? Once I get an idea, it is like blinders go on, and I don't always see the big picture. I only saw one place, and when I walked through the door, I just knew, ya know? I am like that, if I think "well, hmm, maybe, hmm, let me think about it" then I already know I don't want it. In one way, that is a good thing, less regrets that way, but,, when it comes to big things, it can be a scary trait to have. I knew I could afford it, I wouldn't have bothered even looking if I couldn't, cause I don't 'tease' myself with "oh, if only...." I don't think there is anything wrong with having goals to work towards, things to save for, but I also know I am very impatient. (going back to reading the back of the book first etc etc). I just prefer not to look if I can't touch,, lol. For being such a short time it seems like an eternity, limbo has set in. The papers are signed, the money has changed hands, the boxes are piling up, and I have to wait another 4 days to get the keys. I woke up thinking one week from today, I will own a home again. Ever since Saturday I have woke up the same way, this is the last weekend before I am a home owner,,,, you get the idea.
There has been the headache at the bank, the furniture shopping, the kitchen designing, and worse of all , the guilt. I have friends struggling right now. Their financial situation is not good, their work/kids not good, and here I am in this time of recession moving ahead while so many are falling behind. How am I suppose to enjoy that? My friends are happy for me, because they just are those kind of people, and that explains why they are my friends. If the roles were reversed I would be happy for them too. At the same time though, there is that little nagging guilt in the back of my head. That is why I wish this was over. Have you ever been at a Christmas thing when your cousin/sibling/friend gets the socks, and you get the 60" plasma screen tv? Ok, I haven't either, but the idea is the same. It is hard to enjoy the plus when the people you love are fighting the negative. Therefor, I just want to wake up please, and have things back to normal.

The collection of 'stuff' is getting bigger!

Just to clarify, that is NOT NOT NOT me in the background with the shiny purse and shiny outfit on, ,gahhh, she just happened to be furniture shopping too. So, with out further ado, let me introduce the new reclyning chair and loveseat! Even though we did buy the couch already, as I mentioned it is a fairly hard sofa, which I need. Other people though, do not need,, lol,, so of course to accomodate all, we had to go for something else as well. These are not bad, they are not too big or 'over stuffed', and the recline button is on the right and left side, so I can actually use the damn thing. Most recliners have a lever, or button etc on the right hand side, and I can't do that. A few we checked out were 'body propelled' where you use both arms to push back, but once again, I can't do that either. I can only use the left, and my body weight isn't enough to keep it going. We also grabbed some black bookshelves, and the coolest thing of all, an entertainment centre with a built in electric fire place! I wasn't able to grab a photo of it, as the one they had in the showroom wasn't the one we went for, it was in a Buhler catalogue they had there. Everything with the exception of the fireplace is getting delivered next week, the fireplace/entertainment thingy will be a few weeks after that. I CAN'T WAIT!!

I also love black, so going with this light a colour wasn't what I ever thought I would do, but I am going to get a few small black throw pillow for everything and that should tie it all together, as well as an area rug with some black/grey in it. I sometimes forget when your shopping for more than one, the word 'compromise' gets used alot, lol.

Couches and Countertops

First off, the counter tops. I have a small kitchen island thingy, the top is half butcher block and half marble (shown in pic). In picking my countertop, I had to make sure they wouldn't clash, or have the design be to 'busy'. In a small kitchen that can be a disaster! The sample I am holding is the counter we have picked, I think they should compliment each other pretty well, and the cabinets/drawers are the same light wood.

As for the couch, ok, the picture horrified my kid when I emailed it to her. Right now, I have a black futon for a couch, and it hurts my ass! Seriously, I swear that metal bar will have to be surgically removed from my posterier one of these days. The futon will be going in the basement and will double as a guest bed, but I still needed a decent couch. I saw this,, and yes, I fell in love! After visiting many many many furniture stores I was getting frustrated, the majority of couches out there right now are the larger over-stuffed style. The sad thing is, I love them, I love to lose myself in a couch, flip/flop/flap all over the place. Since the car accident though, I can't sit on one for very long, I have huge issues with my neck and shoulder if they are not supported properly, and therefor I needed a firmer couch than most people. Looking at the picture, it does not look comfortable, but really it was perfect. In the showroom I sat on every cushion, I laid down both directions, they were looking a little worried,, lol. I hate the throw pillows they had for display, so I went and found some solid black ones from another display (but forgot to take the picture with them instead) and it looked really good. I am now on the hunt for two black chairs to go with it, and an area rug. I did find a recliner I liked, it was not to big, and supported my neck perfectly, but it was brown. It was at a Sears furniture outlet store, so you got what they had, there was no fabric or colour choices, and I just can't do brown. I have find chairs I liked that would compliment the couch perfectly, but either they weren't comfortable, or they were going to hurt my neck. I tell ya, a pain in the neck really can be a pain in the ass,, lol. Today if I have time I am going to extend my search to Coquitlam for furniture, but first I have to go put the deposit on the kitchen stuff, sign off on the final design etc, go to the lawyers, drop off papers, box hunt, and confirm the carpert for the stairs and the paint colours for one of the bedrooms, did I mention I am ONE WEEK AWAY from my possesion date? Booooyahhh!!!!

A design in the making

This is so far the concept for the new kitchen. Above the stove is a microwave/range hood thingy, and we had them raise the cabinets above the sink and add a shelf. We have yet to decide on knobs vs handles, but I want the cleanest lines possible, soooo,, I will let you know! Yaaayyyy for progress! The crappy part is, it will take more time than we thought for them to come in, and I was hoping to have it done before the move. Oh well, dinners out I guess, lol.

An old kitchen, a new plan!

This is the 'old to them, new to me' kitchen. We went today and got it all measured up for new cabinets/counter tops etc. Sooo exciting! I will not be putting a table in there, I have a butcherblock island that is going where the table is, which is right beneath the kitchen window. We are putting in black counter tops, and a light wood set of cabinets. The stove is being moved over one cabinet space, so it will be to the right more, and on the left of the stove we are putting in drawers instead of a cupboard. The drawers we have picked are really awesome, they are 'unslammable', lol. After a certain distance, they close themselves, how cool is that! One thing missing from the kitchen is a vent above the stove, but we found a built in microwave that goes over the stove, and the vent is attached to the underside, so no microwave on the counter. I wanted a passthrough knocked through above the sink, but there is an issue with something in the wall there, so we are having cabinets a bit higher than the ones in the picture, and I am going to have shelves installed for some of my glass canisters (coffee/sugar/tea) to sit on. I hate counter clutter, and in a small kitchen it can be very cluttered very fast.
Soooo, that was my day today,, fun fun fun! Possesion date is Feb 28, and hopefully everything ordered will be in by then, and then the massacre can begin!

crayon creations from Badness Jones!

I have fallen in love with Badness Jones blog http://badnessjones.blogspot.com and she had this on her blog today. Crayon creations rock!

I started off with some busted up crayons, peeled and ready to go..

then into the oven at 350 degrees sitting in a pan of water. They sat for 20 minutes, then I pulled them out. After looking at them I thought I screwed it up,, but,, then I flipped them over, and TAAA DAA!!! Pretty awesome, so thanks to Badness Jones blog for this!

On a semi-related subject, why can't I move my pictures around? I would like to have them show up throughout the post, so I can explain each one as it comes up, but once they are loaded on here, they are stuck where they are. Anyone know?

MINE,, ALL MINE....

Well,, drum roll please,,, I GOT THE HOUSE! Yup, today I was approved, signed, sealed and delivered, I now own a new home again! The headache was worth it, and what a headache it was! My bank, that I have dealt with for almost 20 years has taken over a week to still not give me an answer. Yesterday,, and yes, I said YESTERDAY, I went to someone else, and today, YES, TODAY, less than 24 hours later, they gave the approval. Go figure how far loyalty with the bank gets you these days. I even got a much better interest rate! Sooooo,, WOOOOT WOOOT!! I am too hyped to blog more right now, but ya,, did I say WOOOOT WOOOT???

One of my ALL TIME FAVOURITES!

As pictures go, this is by far one of my faves! We have the PNE in Vancouver, and it was the first time Tela was tall enough to go on the rollercoaster. After the ride, she was mad because she lost her gum. Andi paid what ever it was for the photograph they take when your on the ride, and low and behold, they caught the EXACT MOMENT Tela's gum was flying out of her mouth. I only hope it shows up on here, but you can just see the gum in the corner of her mouth as it is going bye bye,,lmao!

Introducing,,,,, "T" and "A"

So this is Tela (pronounced tayla) and Andrea (known as Andi), just to put a face to the names! The second picture of Tela is not the most flattering, looks like one side of the head is shaved, but really, it's just tucked back, really!!

Mish-Mash, part duex

Part of the problem of "T" being here is the logistics. To get back and forth from here to the island, first off is around $10 in gas per trip to the ferry, then if I chose to walk on, it is $10 for day parking, and another $13.00 to walk on one way for me, and around $8.00 for "T". That adds up to $54 to get her here or there if she is only traveling one way. If I chose to drive on, and stay for a few days, the ferry then jumps to over $100 round trip, they don't make it cheap to take a car, so that really adds up! The trip takes 2 hours, and if it is round trip (pick up/drop off) then it is 5hours when you account for unloading/loading on the other side. It is an hours drive there and back to the terminal, so pretty much a full day of travel. When "T" is here, my daughter talks on the phone every night, and we have MSN and webcams, so the connection is still there, but really not the same. Of course, that is done in reverse with me when she is there.
My daughter and I have discussed it, and she is going through the same feelings as me, as a mom, she wants her daughter home with her, but,, she also knows what I am like as a mom, which in turn is what I am like as a grandma, and as I said in the last post, it comes down to guilt on both our parts. Is Tela,, yes,, that's her name,, lol,, better off home but with not a lot of contact with mom because of work, or here, where I can give her all my time, but she will be missing the bonding time with mom even more. I have put thought into moving back to the island a few times, but as I have also pointed out previously, I need to move on with my life, and moving back I feel will just put me back, not move me forward. It was a huge thing to start the buying process on the townhouse, as that pretty much cemented the staying here.
Tela's dad lives on the island, he has 4 other kids, and she stays in contact with him when she is here (phone and msn etc), and when she is home she sees him as much as he can take her, so that contact isn't broken. He is fine with her being here, because he thinks I am pretty awesome,, lol. He has known me since he was 15, so he knows me really well. The good thing here is no matter where Tela is, she is happy, safe, loved and all the things you can wish for a child. I sadly know grandparents who have grandchildren in unsafe homes, and are fighting to get them out. I have the peace of mind that isn't the case.
On a really good note, I have a full pot of coffee on the counter, and Coronation Street on the tv, so I am off to enjoy both,, have a great Sunday!