thoughts over tea

I'm sitting here enjoying a cup of tea as I type (basic orange pekoe, Salada, I think), reflecting on a busy weekend.

Friday night was pizza and a movie (date night -- we went to see Daybreakers). We almost gave up when we got to the theatre; a combination of the credit union debit card system being down across BC and the armies of people buying tickets for Avatar (when we arrived at 7, all showings up to 10:30 were sold out; by the time we left, it was sold out until sometime on Saturday) the line-ups stretched almost to the parking lot. We persevered though and saw the movie which, I am not sure was worth the full admission price (now up to $11.50).

Saturday started off nice and lazy but worked up to a small panic when we realized the dryer was no longer working (after weeks of the washing machine limping along, I never guessed the dryer would give up first). We have purchased a new set and are awaiting their delivery later in the week.

We also found time to see another movie on Saturday, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (whole family, at Cinecenta -- btw, you need to check out their new website, it seriously rocks) -- which was better than I had been expecting.

Today, while Hubby helped a friend film a short subject, Kiddo and I went shopping (with a purpose -- she needs some boots with heels for riding). We struck out at the mall (in all of Mayfair there were only two places selling kids shoes in her sizes and neither had anything close to appropriate footwear) and after some consideration, decided to bus into town to check Value Village -- I should have checked there first! We found two pairs of short boots (but with the right heels, hooray!) and a few other things that, together, cost less than one pair of boots new would have cost, even on sale. Yay!

Furniture and appliance compromises

Sigh.

Our washing machine is on its last legs; mid-week I was pretty sure it was pining for the fjords. Before springing for a new washer, we decided to try a small load. Hubby used the perma-press setting and to my surprise, it made it through. We tried another, and another, and decided that this was the way to go. So, for now we just have to compromise and do more smaller loads until we can afford to replace it (and likely the dryer, too). I'm not too concerned, of course; the appliances were all included in the house purchase and the washer dryer were old and beat up when we inherited them.

Sigh #2

Ever since Kiddo was wee, and we bought a non-standard size crib (which she outgrew almost immediately), we seem to have made consistently questionable choices in beds for her. The only really good bed we had for her (well, we still have it, up in the attic) was the captain's bed but in her tiny room here, we felt like she needed more space so we bought the Tromsö loft bed from IKEA. But the clearance from the ceiling once the mattress was in place made it mostly useless. Still, she slept there until she came down with the flu (and flu+ladder=disaster). For whatever reason, we never put the mattress back up on the loft, letting her play up there with the padding of a couple of blankets.

So, when friends of ours let us know they had to get rid of an almost new twin bed because they are moving, we decided to buy it. Today, I manhandled it home (tied it to the top of the van and hoped that we would beat the rain -- we did) and into the house. I shoved things around in her room and heaved her mattress back up to the loft then started to move the new bed into place and wouldn't you know it? it didn't fit under the loft! I was ready to blame it on IKEA and their non-standard sizings (at least not standard in North America) but when I measured it then did a web search for "standard mattress sizes" I discovered that the new bed is an "extra long " twin. Huh. Never knew such a thing existed.

So, we have turned the new bed 90° under her loft -- it'll do for now but there is less than a 12 inches of clearance between the foot of the bed and the wall so it's far from ideal. Like the washer and dryer, we're just going to live with the compromise until after Christmas.

Vacation's End

All told, this was one of the best fall vacations we've had.

This time last year we had just moved in. It seems hard to believe it's been a year, so hard that until I looked it up on the blog I wasn't completely sure what day we had moved in (it was October 9th).

With the getaway at the start of the week off, we got back relaxed for the rest of our week off. We balanced some hang time with getting-stuff-done and some time with friends and family (though Thanksgiving was extra tense this year -- not sure what really was going on there...). Kiddo and I did some crafting together including a "rag doll with Coraline eyes" that she designed and we collaborated to finish:

Hubby made lots of headway on getting the new deck stairs underway (the "deathtrap stairs of doom" have to go -- the new stairs will go down the back of the deck, toward the apple trees and easier access to the bbq. It's the first step toward prepping for the addition.

Today, Hubby pulled down most of the weird carport skeleton over the driveway to reclaim the wood for the project, too. And you know what? I really wish we had pulled that sucker down earlier. After it was down, I moved and re-stacked the wood we had hastily thrown there, and our driveway looked pretty good.

We had an unseasonably warm and dry week, too; tomorrow we are expecting rain with frost forecast for this evening. We turned the gas fireplace on today for the first time in months and I decided I had best get in the last of the cucumbers (the vines were dried up anyhow) and pull out the tomato plants. There were 6 cucumbers left and I don't know how many pounds of mostly green tomatoes... I think I may try pickling them...

Back to work tomorrow. Sigh. At least it's a short (if busy) week.

Change and no change....

Didn't get the job; at least got a call early in the day so I could get on with what I was doing. The person who was hired is likely a much better fit, I feel good about having gone through the process, and now I don't have to fret over upgrading my professional wardrobe; I can continue to wear my sassy Threadless tees. No change is fine.

A large part of the day was spent moving dirt (this is the change part). Hubby had started the process yesterday, I put a dent in it, and he pretty much finished it late in the day. We moved 5 cubic yards of dirt from our driveway into the three beds we'd already built, a new bed I built today (5'x3' for lettuce and spinach) , and a big old pile beside the fence into which we tucked a bunch more potatoes.

I added up our total square footage of raised beds -- we have 136 square feet of garden space (a little less, maybe because the 8x8 plot is pretty large and hard to get into the middle) plus the weird tire-beds in the front and a few more piles of potato growing craziness around the yard. Now I have to plan where everything is going (I have a good idea, but need to check things like soil acidity and various other tolerances) and get ready to garden! Even with all this, we still have plenty of room in our back yard:

I love our yard. :)

Celebration and organization.

Interesting (long) weekend. 

Friday was my first flex day of the year and I used the morning to pack up Christmas, at last. In the afternoon, I spent some time with my Mother-in-law. Later in the evening, we had friends over, doing some last-minute editing for what we would premiere Saturday.

Saturday morning we went out for a nice brunch at Floyd's Diner 2 after dropping bottles off for Kiddo's bottle drive then, on a whim, decided to renew our Costco membership. Then spend a chunk of cash on bulk buys (actually a third of the bill was for a variety of fresh, frozen and canned seafood). Saturday night, we celebrated a birthday -- this is the year when most of my friends hit 40 (and I will, too). To honour our friend, four of us conspired and conscripted many others to make a video (it's now on YouTube). It was well received (and I have to hand it to Hubby who managed to get the local morning show hosts to participate, albeit unknowingly).

Today started quiet and then I got a proverbial bee in my bonnet. By the time I was done whirling through the basement, I had cleared out or stowed about a dozen boxes, organized, and rearranged enough to be able to vacuum most of the carpet.

Now I'm settled in, watchching the largely surprise-free Golden Globe awards. Though I am now convinced I will have to see Slumdog Millionaire; I already watch the show that seems to be taking home all the awards, 30 Rock.

Technology lives at our house.

It's pretty clear, we have a tech habit. I don't think it is possible to be more than 5 feet from an electronic device in this house -- even our fridge and stove contain "smart" electronic control panels. (Sometimes I worry about this, but we do have hand-crank lights and a radio plus we have the bbq outside on which we can cook when power is out.)

Anyway, this evening, I have been continuing to try and add content and apps to my iPod (more specifically, some video podcasts and an e-book reader application -- the e-books will come later) while Kiddo and Hubby are trying not to come to blows over LEGO Indiana Jones on the Wii.

Really, it's a pretty average and comfortable Friday night.

E is for Exhausted.

After being sick most of last week, we still took Kiddo out trick-or-treating. It was actually really nice to do a fairly quick route around the neighbourhood, meet some of our neighbours, and then sit around while Kiddo answered the door for the dozen or so trick-or-treaters who showed up here. Oh, and she looked great in her costume... as Sarah Palin.

(Yes, she chose that costume and I think she will actually be sad if the McCain-Palin ticket fails to get to the Whitehouse. Sigh.)

I also think her trick-or-treating years may be numbered; it already seemed like she wasn't interested and yet she had heaps of fun working the door and handing out candy to other kids.

Saturday we popped up to Nanaimo and got a wardrobe for the bedroom plus a nice electric lawnmower that was being cleared out at the end of the season. I still have to put together the lawnmower, but there's no rush until the rain lets up enough to dry out the lawn a little.

Today we finished putting together the wardrobe (we started last night... it's a bit of a beast even as flat-pack furniture goes, but it looks good in place) and did some shuffling downstairs. Hubby took a load of construction debris out of the basement to the dump then we cleaned and moved boxes while he framed in a closet.

Anyway, I am still tired but determined to go back to work this week, even if my mind keeps drifting to thoughts of preparation for the craft fair at Kiddo's school at the end of the month -- I've committed to a table and the organizer from the PAC was very excited to hear that I would be bringing plush toys and finger puppets.

Our New (old) Neighbourhood.

For the entire time we have been together, hubby and I have lived inside the boundaries of the City of Victoria, despite having moved several times. Most recently, we lived in VicWest, right on the edge of the border with Esquimalt. Now we live in Hillside-Quadra, near another boundary (we are not far from the Saanich border).

We lived in this area once before -- from 1999-2001 -- right on Quadra Street, about 6 blocks from where we are now (or as one friend said "within mortar shelling range"). At that time, we were "renting to own" but it didn't work out. More annoyingly, the landlords kept our deposit and, even though we won it back through a residential tenancy hearing, they disappeared and never paid up. It's all water under the bridge now. Our time there had plenty of ups and downs but there were good memories and I didn't dislike living in the area.

That said, six blocks makes a HUGE difference. Our street gets a fair number of cars but they all seem to be residents so they aren't going terribly fast. Sirens are still audible but don't race past our front door (touch wood) and buses are nearby without stopping right outside.

There are oodles of cats in the neighbourhood (including a doppelgänger for our own cat -- so close we've actually had to double check our cat was still inside), a few dogs, lots of squirrels and birds -- especially crows. I suspect there are raccoons, too. I haven't seen deer, though they are never too far away in Victoria.

As the settling in continues, we have found the garbage collection and recycling pick-up schedules. It's hard to adjust to a single garbage can after having access to a dumpster for so long, but I set up a compost bin in the back yard and am being a recycling hard-ass in order to make sure we aren't overdoing the waste. (That said, we will have to head to the dump once we clean up after the renos... though Hubby is doing well re-using whatever is possible along the way.)

I think, once we find a sofa, I'll be able to relax -- both literally and figuratively -- but overall, I have to admit I am very happy with our change of address.