Hmmm, there's something about a cloudy but warm day that always gets me into a 'dreamy' mood. So, I decided to take a walk at lunch and ended up at Chapters (dreamy moods always = books for me). Unfortunately, I spent another $50 (which makes me feel guilty) but I picked up two books that I absolutely NEEDED. One being a step-by-step guide for home repair, complete with shopping list, how long it takes to complete the 'project' and best of all, it's written by a woman. I don't mean to be one of those sissy girls who pretends she can't understand things in the 'man's view of the world' but, I have learned that my attention span is short, big tools scare me, and big manuals like the Black and Decker guide to home repair is just a waste of paper and ink in my case (because I honestly can't read it). The book I got doesn't cover a ton of things, but I'm just happy that I can at least go ahead with some of the fix-its on my list that involve things like repairing the siding on our house, (instead of putting a board over it and planting ferns infront of it, which was my first fix), changing the door knobs, and redoing the caulking around windows and in the bathrooms... :)

The other book I got was one recommended to me by my mother, and the reviews led me to realize that it's going to be my new bible once Tigger comes home. It's called 'How to be Your Dog's Best Friend', written by a bunch of monks (oddly enough), who raise German Shepherds (perfect). It doesn't bother with all that fluppy-wuppy BS where everything you want your dog to do is accompanied by a lot of grovelling and treat-stuffing, and everything bad he does is handled with a simple 'look the other way' approach. I can't have my dog going ape-wild in our new place, and he's too damn smart to assume he'll continue to repeat the same behavior flawlessly every time, cookie or no cookie. In my short time with him, I quickly learned that he will have a command nailed in about 5 minutes, after that, he's going to try to outsmart you, and if that fails, he'll bite you or jump on you. This book has more of the 'old way' approach, where a dog is treated as a 'pack member' (no I'm not about to start calling myself mother Wolf or anything so stop snickering). Anyway, so in understanding how he responds to situations naturally, you can get your messages across to him clearly and quickly by mimicking what a pack leader would do, more or less. (So yes, discipline is taught thoroughly so as not to be done improperly). So two good book purchases, if I do say so myself! Now the only thing is I actually have to read them. ;)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to a quiet night tonight. Luc will be in Montreal on a business trip, so I'm planning to do a bit of tidying up before heading out to Winners to (finally) spend my gift certificate that I got on my b-day. I need to find something to wear for the wedding that is coming up this weekend, but I have no clue what (it can't cost very much, that's for sure!)
Well, guess I better get back to work.
xo

Sigh... Well, I'm through with playing 'enthusiastic landlord extraordinaire', or rather, I was as of about 10:30 this morning, moments before our first 'potential tenants' of the day showed up. I can honestly tell you that owning apartments and renting them out is a fantastic investment, but it's a huge one, not only of money (which we are currently very short on!), but of time, of emotion, of risk.. We had several people through last week (I believe we showed it about 6 times over the week, with four of the showings occurring in one evening). All went well, but for the most part, it was young couples who either weren't comfortable with the price or were not really into some aspect of the neighbourhood or house. Luckily, we do have a beautiful little apartment, and we received tons of compliments on our decorating (yeh!), but that doesn't necessarily mean that people will rent (and sometimes, that's a good thing). We held our breath a few times, like when the 30-something divorcee who went through the house with a fine-toothed comb, and started commenting on things like 'hmmmm, I don't like open concept too much' and 'I think I could fit my daughter's bed in here with my queen sized bed' and 'so I would be able to store all my excess things in the crawl space until I find a house?' (read: I am moving out as soon as I can find something bigger)... Then there were a few others who were either incredibly finicky and nit-picky, or had a dog 'but he's such a good dog', or were 18 years old, etc... After four more showings today, we managed to finally luck in with a couple who have one baby, and who are extremely nice. Though I was put in the awkward position after talking to them on Friday evening (to schedule an appointment for this morning - dumb after a bachelorette/bachelor party evening last night), and right after I hung up the phone, got another call from a sweetheart of a girl (single mom to an 18 month old baby boy) who poured her life story out to me and had me chatting with her like we were old friends for HALF an HOUR. She told me she desperately wanted this apartment, she had fallen in love with the pictures, the idea sounded perfect, and she has to be out of her current apartment by July 1. She had me promising to store her stuff while she lived at her relatives while we fixed up the place, and pointing out day cares and things for her kid. We even discussed whether her duvet would match the paint in the bedroom (and it would, lol). She was so excited, she drove around the neighbourhood on Saturday (but looked at the wrong house), and then called Luc to tell him all about it while he was trying to bar-b-que (three sheets to the wind as well). She even told me this morning that she had found a garage sale on our street and she and her friend had bought all the guys' paintings, yadda yadda. Anyway, so naturally, she had wanted to see the apartment before I showed it to the nice couple, however I didn't want to do anything 'sneaky' incase it turned out we didn't want her to rent or something. So she showed up today and was severely disappointed when she learned that she probably didn't have the apartment as they had sat down right then and there and signed the reference forms. We were then stuck with the awkward and stressful task of trying to figure out which one to choose - her or the couple. We finally decided to do the 'right thing' and take the couple first, as they were really first in line. It did involve me having a semi-counselling session with my will-be 29 year old tenant (the husband) about exactly what apartment living is going to mean for them, and were they fully understanding that it will be a BIG transition from a huge house in the country to a small apartment in the city where they will definitely need to learn how to live with other people they don't know in the same house... Anyway, he assures me it's all fine. I'm now exhausted and am taking his word for it, and so we hopefully sign a lease tomorrow (woohoo!).

That means I can move on to stressing about everything else in our life - like where we're getting the money for the house, planning (and hopefully doing) all the repairs on this place, settling into our new place (and cleaning and painting and fence building), finding appliances and furniture both for here (to replace the washer/dryer that we're taking with us) and for there (new fridge and stove and furniture for the entire finished basement), plus bringing the dog back into our busy lives and dealing with his 'transition period' where he'll invariably piss on the floor infront of Luc who will have a heart-attack and probably try to kill him (with the help of our psycho cat who has to actually be drugged with anti-depressant 'stoner' meds to make him not jump on the dog's back and sink his teeth in as far as they will go), all the while I'll be upstairs crying on the phone to my mom and having a nervous breakdown... Sounds like fun eh? Welcome to the life of 'the smart thing to do' where all you have to do is be in a constant state of stress and someday, they assure you, it will ALL PAY OFF BABY!!! ;)

No seriously, I am doing alright with managing the stress, mostly because it still seems kind of like a 'dream' and not like we're actually moving. I was looking at our place this morning, thinking to myself how much I'm going to miss it. And I really will. When we bought it, I made a promise to myself not to get too attached as it WAS an investment property.. and I know that one day our new house will have the same feel for me, but right now, this is HOME. I love the paint colours, the neighbourhood, all the quirks of the house, our tenants, the location, everything. I'm going to miss it! But you have to make sacrifices in life to get where you want to go, so while I am finding it all a little scary right now, it will eventually all work out and we'll be smiling on our brand-new two-tiered deck overlooking the gardens and pool, while my well-trained dog lies at my feet and MAYBE two little kiddlets are playing in the yard... In like 15 years, lol... ;) (see how good I've become at the self-pep-talks? Makes you want to vomit, doesn't it?)

Anyway, I need sleep. I'm going to have to go cut the power wires leading into the trashy next door neighbours' house though because they have AWFUL music pumping out of their basement that is practically vibrating the walls (did I say I was going to miss this??) .... ;o)

xoxo

Okay, better late than never!


Beeeautiful Beltane: (excerpt from my Herbal) Celebrated April 20 and May 1, Beltane (or May Eve and May Day) is a time to revel in life's absurdities and have fun. The sun is gaining strength and thought to hold the characteristics of youth - playful and mischievous. Flowers abound, waiting for you to enjoy the beauty of life's physical pleasures. Smell the flowers or dance in a secluded part of overgrown wilderness, as you relish the light and laughter of faeries and children. Traditionally, the holiday represents the marriage of the divine masculine and divine feminine, as seen in the maypole dance. Weave together the magick of the male and female aspects of yourself. Honor the collaboration and patchwork that is you. Respect the soul's journey, and always remember to take teh ride of life lightly - it is only a dream, after all.
(Strawberries are a symbol of Beltane).
I found a neat site - (check out the pics) - the Beltane Fire Society (http://www.beltane.org/) puts on a festival every year at Beltane (of course) where they have a theatrical performance involving a lot of costumed people and dancing and fires - looks really cool - someday if I ever get to Scotland, you can bet I wanna see it! :)

So in keeping with the spirit of 'reveling in absurdities', we did just buy a new house and that was just brought on because I bought a dog that didn't fit in our apartment. Well, no there are many other more important reasons why we did, but it is crazy and exciting (and a little scary) all at the same time. The biggest thing I have to realize is that we will own it for a long time, so projects can be worked on slowly, and with thought, instead of being slapped together at a moment's notice (and thousands of dollars later having us realize we should have invested more thought and planning into it).

I definitely will have enough to keep me busy over the next few years though, between outdoor summer projects like gardens, patios, fencing and dog houses, plus the essentials like roofing, siding, and general maintenance, to inside projects like new flooring, painting, new furniture, refinishing our dining room table, and completely renovating the kitchen (including knocking out a wall), I'm sure we'll never run out of things to do (and sink our money into).

We were walking around the neighbourhood where we live now and I"m happy that we do still own a house here, because, honestly, there is something to be said for our quiet, small, older neighbourhood right smack in the middle of the city (though our neighbourhood in Aylmer is beautiful too). I will miss walking around our home and looking out over the river at Ottawa with all its buildings shining in the setting sunlight. I love looking at the city, with all its trees - it seems like there are no houses down there, but I know under the trees there are streets filled with people and garbage and houses and buildings and cars, but you can't see any of that from where I look at the top of the hill near our apartment, so it's really pretty. Always reminds me of when I first came to Ottawa after high school, how beautiful it was and how excited I felt, not knowing what was 'under all the trees' nor really caring anyway, just filled with joy and hope.. :)

Where we're moving is very pretty - we're kind of close to the river, (can't see it but it's a 15 minute walk to get there) surrounded by parkland, golf courses, and older 'Victorian' style neighbourhoods complete with a marina (looks like PEI!) and quaint shops. Our neighbourhood is more 1960's and 1970's houses, but the trees area all big and mature and there are parks everywhere, so it's also very pretty. I took a stroll down our street the other night when I bused from work, and everyone keeps their yards immaculately cleaned and manicured (ours is currently not, and I'm not typically known for my 'attention to detail and order'). Interesting side-note actually, the couple who live there right now are Pagan (from what they were wearing in their wedding photos - not that I looked ;) ), and they seemed to have planted a whole bunch of different things around the yard. So it'll be fun to see what all she has - I'm hoping maybe some herbs (though I'm hoping to move mine with me anyway). Not that being Pagan means you grow herbs, but hey, you never know... ;)

Anyway, lots to think about. It's getting harder and harder these days not to lose myself in a daydream, but soon enough we'll be in full work-mode, should be interesting to say the least.

Well off to do the dishes!

xo