I haven't written on here in a long time, and for good reason - I've been swamped with 'things to worry about' and 'things to do', which seems to be the norm in my new life as a suburbanite with two apartments and a 'budding career'...

That being said, at least the Fall has finally started to decend upon us and I find that every day I'm faced with something beautiful that helps me to appreciate the 'bigger things' in life (beyond all the little things that stress me out). The leaves on the trees have started to turn, so every now and then, in the midst of all the green, you see a brilliant scarlet and gold tree that, to me, is truly heart-warming. I adore the Fall colours. :) Last weekend, I was taken by a 'fit of inspiration' and despite the fact I was battling a horrible cold, I managed to take what was left of the apples and make two pies, once which I fed to the boys and the other I froze. It is a recipe my Mom has made often for us, combining the best of both the apple crisp and apple pie worlds (it's a pie with a crumb top). I was happy to see they both turned out well (if anyone ever sees how I roll out dough, that'll be the end of my pie-making days, let's just say it usually involves lots of wax paper, a rolling pin, way too much flour, various heavy objects in the kitchen, and a few curse words).
Anyway, I plan to bake a pumpkin/cheese cake loaf this weekend to celebrate the first day of Fall, and I'm hoping to get out to the local farmer's market for the FIRST TIME this year, to buy some seasonal produce that I can use to make another batch of cabbage soup (mmmm so good). I am sad that I haven't been able to go to my parents' farm, where they have a litter of 6 week old puppies to play with, however it's been a really tough few months and we're still ploughing through the tough stuff to hopefully get to a place where we can relax and actually have SPARE TIME in which to ask ourselves 'gee, what do we feel like doing?' instead of running in eight different directions to get things done. I have to paint the apartment, starting this weekend, which will be a project that spans over the next two weeks (primer has to dry, coats of paint have to dry, not to mention the taping that has to go on first, which is my least favorite job).

We finally got the contractor to show up (not a great sign that it took him TWO weeks to actually come in and give us an estimate, and due to a poor communication between him and my significant other, I was stuck there yesterday morning, waiting for two and a half hours, and he never showed up). I do have some false sense of hope that he might be able to get the work done before our tenants come in, as he did say it would only take three days to fix the drywall, put up tub-surround, put in a new window (with the possibility of making it smaller which would be good) and if there wasn't one in stock, just getting rid of it altogether (I don't mind!), and installing a fan. Then all I have to do is slop some oil-based paint on there and away we go.

We were talking to him about owning a rental unit, and he was telling us that he used to do that but sold them. I hear that from a lot of people. Up until now, we've been fairly blessed that our tenants haven't destroyed the property in any way, or left with 'doors, curtains, lightbulbs and anything else that wasn't nailed down' as the contractor was telling us his tenants frequently did. However, the amount of stress that is coming between Luc and I (me screaming, yelling, planning, setting expectations, managing the money, nagging, and crying and him trying his best to get things done but generally overlooking the little things that ultimately come back to bite us in the ass and then having to deal with my nagging, etc) and I don't think it's worth it anymore. Sure, it's a great investment, however I was thinking yesterday of where I truly want to be, and it's totally not where we are.

I think that if we were to unload the apartments and just concentrate on upgrading our own house (new floors, new front and back doors, some painting and decorating, new kitchen), we could make a decent enough profit on it in five years or so, and then go move south of Ottawa somewhere, in a smaller community, where I might be able to find a charming older home with old barns, a couple acres, and expansive 'pastoral views' to greet me everyday. When I think about places we've lived, like New Lowell and Qu'Appelle - small towns, where 'everyone knows everyone', one thing I miss is the sense of all being in it together. Sure there's the gossip, the neighbourly fights, the 'outsiders syndrome' that I know all too well, but there are also dinner theatres, country fairs, home-town hockey games, community dances and parties, things to bring you together with your neighbours to socialize! And then there's the dream I have of owning a home with something like this:

where I could have a pottery room, painting loft, maybe a few chickens, etc. and really feed my artsy side in a more inspiring setting. :)

Last but not least, I don't like the idea of our children growing up in the city. Kids will be kids and they'll find less than desirable things to do to keep themselves entertained, but there's a big difference between rolling hay bales onto people's front yards for a joke and hanging out at the local crack house somewhere in the city.
Anyway, back to reality here... So tonight I'm 'treating' myself with a trip to the Nicholas Hoare Books bookstore, with my brother (who invited me), to attend a 'book launch' by one of his professors. I was very honoured that he thought to invite me as he figured I'd be interested in checking out what exactly a book launch is like, as both he and I have never been to one. So that'll be fun! I was sad to hear that Diana Gabaldon was in Ottawa last night, and one of Luc's coworkers had an extra ticket, but it was mentioned at dinner, half-way through an argument of sorts and I didn't pursue it. Oh well, I do love her books but I had no idea what she was there to speak about. Will have to google it later!
Anyway, better get to work now... S