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What Blogging Means To Me

August 14, 2012 by 16 Comments

I’ve been distracted.

There was the buying of a house, which was way more emotional than I expected. Then there was the cleaning and staging of my house, which was exactly as dull as I expected. Then I went to BlogHer, which was not as fun as I expected. Then there was the offer on our house, which was harder than I expected.

It turns out that selling your house feels a little like throwing out a member of your family. There might be something in there about expectations too, but that’s another post.

And through all this I had Olympics to watch.

Like I said, distracted. When your emotions are on a rollercoaster and you have to shine your bathroom fixtures every 3 hours, you need to empty your plate a little to keep your sanity. What I mean is I had to take a blogging vacation because I couldn’t fit everything in.

Blogging takes time and it takes work, it’s like exercise that way. It’s easy to take a break, not so easy to get started once you’ve let it slide for a little too long.

I like blogging. I like it because it reminds me of who I am and who I want to be. I like sharing my stories. I like the reminder to be open and vulnerable. That reminder stays with me long after I’ve left the screen.

When I stop blogging, even just for a week, I forget about sharing my story and I forget about being vulnerable. Very quickly I become somebody I don’t want to be. Someone who withdraws inside of myself.

For me blogging isn’t about who is listening. I love comments and retweets as much as anyone but that’s not what is most important to me. For me blogging is a reminder to share who I am, all the time.

So I am going to carry on blogging. Through the packing and the move and the unpacking because to give it up and take a break means I am taking a break from who I want to become.

No new house is worth that.

 

Filed Under: launching into greatness, Life as I know it Tagged With: , , ,

Clean Like Muggles

July 26, 2012 by 13 Comments

Our house is officially on the market. It is both a blessing and a curse that people are calling and wanting to walk through my house.

In readiness for all these visits we spent the weekend cleaning and packing. Then packing and cleaning. For your viewing pleasure I videoed it. You are very welcome.

 

Once we finished all the packing we had to shove it all into the crawl space. I videoed that too. I’m generous like that.

 

 

 

If you can identify where I took the title from I will give you a hug. And you have to be more specific than Harry Potter.

Filed Under: Cleaning my act up, Moving to a new house Tagged With: , , ,

Consumed (And Obsessed)

July 18, 2012 by 20 Comments

I am lost to MLS. To the insatiable need to find the house. The house that is mostly perfect for us. It’s taking over my life.

To be fair it is really hot out and it’s doubtful that I would be doing much cooking or cleaning anyways. Chips for everyone! And coffee, lots of coffee.

School starts in September and if we are going to move this year I want to be in and settled before school gets going. Or close to it. We’re on a new house deadline. I can’t say that this deadline is making me fun to live with.

I’m learning that house shopping is 5% determination, 25% imagination and 70% dumb luck. Come on dumb luck!

Part of the problem is I am shopping for a house that has it all. And I do mean all!

  • Acres, with a pool.
  • Private and away from the hustle and bustle but still close to school and town.
  • More space but self-cleaning space.
  • And for the love of all that is Holy, please a kitchen at the back of the house. Preferably overlooking the pool.
  • A rec room for toys and playing.
  • A craft room for me.

All that with an ensuite and a mudroom. Wrapped with a bow if you please. Oh ya, and an office for Ken to work in. I guess we need that too.

If you are singing “You can’t always get what you want” to me, you wouldn’t be the only one and I won’t be insulted. It’s the theme song at my house.

 

UPDATED: It’s very possible that our house searching is coming to an end. The stars have aligned and we’ve found a house. A house with a pool and a creek. The pool hasn’t been functional for 3 years and it’s very possible that it is in danger of falling down into the creek. But those kind of engineering details will not sway me.

It has nearly everything we need and want, and the whole thing needs gutting and renovating. I”m overjoyed! And hysterical with excitement. Or it could be the excess coffee.

We are getting an offer ready this morning. Stand by friends, stand by. Send pixie dust or whatever you’ve got.

TO COME: A blog post, or maybe vlog, series called “OMG, my house is a freakin’ mess and it has to go on the market for sale tomorrow!” Followed by a few posts about “My house is beautiful and in a great school district, would you like to buy it?”

 

Filed Under: Moving to a new house Tagged With: ,

The New House Update

May 23, 2012 by 8 Comments

Sometimes things don’t go like you’ve planned. And sometimes being a grown up stinks.

I'm going to BlogHer '12

Filed Under: Life as I know it, Moving to a new house Tagged With: , ,

I’d Like That With A Pool Please

May 3, 2012 by 7 Comments

This moving business is getting me down.

First- There’s get my current house ready to sell. Which…well… I don’t want to think about it. Have I mentioned the 36 buckets of gravel sitting on my patio leftover from Ken’s thesis experiment?

Second- There’s new house shopping. It’s hard work and I have no idea what I want. Or I want everything. Acreage but still walk to school, pool but still lots of green playing space, more living space but self-cleaning.

House shopping without a wish list leads to distraction, quickly. “Ooh look, a pink toilet. That’s cute.” No Kristin not one bit cute, stay focused.

So I’m making a drastic decision to save my sanity. You know those crazy people on HGTV that walk around house hunting with a checklist and an complicated scoring system? That’s what I’m going to do. Make myself a house shopping list.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. (Probably because the host always makes fun of the couple with the scorecard) I don’t go to the grocery store without a list, a house is a much bigger purchase. I need a list.

Here it is

  • Pool, and not a pool that takes up the entire backyard. Or an above ground pool, that doesn’t count.
  • Space for a vegetable garden and some fruit trees.
  • Kitchen at the back of the house.
  • Main floor walk out to the backyard, preferably from the kitchen.
  • Kids bedrooms at the back of the house or on the 2nd floor.
  • Mudroom space or potential for a mudroom space.
  • Sewing and craft space that isn’t the dining room table.
That’ll about do me. Oh, ya and an office for Ken. We’ll need that too. If a house can offer all that we’ll take it. They can even throw in the pink toilet.
*This post is the modern day equivalent to wishing on a star. If you write it on the internet it’s sure to come true.
Filed Under: Life as I know it, Moving to a new house Tagged With: ,

Cause When You Want To Move, You Should Make a Mess

April 18, 2012 by 11 Comments

You all must know by now that I’m moving. I don’t know when and I don’t know where but I’m going. My family is welcome to come too. 

The idea of getting our house ‘show ready’ terrifies me, more than a root canal or cows. In preparation for this tidy-a-thon I decided not to grow seedlings for our vegetable garden this year. Only the kids didn’t ask me, they asked their dad, who of course said “yes, seed growing is an excellent scientific pursuit.”
And the bay window was covered in tray of seedlings. Seedlings that were being cared for by little girls with a spray bottle. There was a flood in my bay window. Daily.
New rule: he who says yes to growing seeds must then descend to the crawl space to unearth the grow table in order save the white window sill from a fate of mould and filth.
And ok, I might have a tray of plant cuttings in there. I am a plant expert after all.
I had hoped to have our house on the market this week.

Because who doesn’t want to buy a house with this in the front yard? Even if there’s a flock of seagulls dropping cherry stained poop all over the driveway for 3 weeks in July.
We’ll just have to aim to get all that selling business done before that happens.

It’s Wednesday- Join #iPPP

iPhone Photo Phun

Filed Under: Moving to a new house Tagged With: ,

Out With The Old And Ugly

March 21, 2012 by 9 Comments

You know those people who live in a house that’s in a perpetual state of renovation and then suddenly they decide to move and they finish up every project and the house looks great? Well, I’m that person. Only by the house looks great I mean the house no longer has drywall mud exposed.

So very grown up.

The whole family got in on the painting act.

Before you get up on any high forced child labour horse, let’s review the evidence. And besides they were happy, they changed into their painting clothes without even being asked.

Reason #1 the basement needed painting: crayon on the walls. Who coloured on the walls? Well, I am damn sure it wasn’t me but no one else is fessing up.

Reason #2 the basement needed painting: We installed new cabinets 14 years ago and we redid the walls. That white stuff, that’s drywall mud. The orangey/beigish colour, that’s the old wall colour and the gray is the new colour.

As I didn’t colour on the walls or install new cabinets, I put my feet up and sewed badges. Cause you know it’s my most favourite Saturday afternoon activity.

I’m kidding, I painted too.

And remember this ugliness. The fireplace that won’t because of the melted plastic beads in it. There are tiles behind it, floral embossed bathroom tiles. Super pretty.

Obviously it needed painting too.

Ready for the big reveal…

I can hear you “oooh”ing and “ahhh”ing from here. Thank you all for your kind words of support.

Would anyone like a freshly painted house? OK, we didn’t paint the whole house. We left the crayon on walls in the other rooms to give it a “lived in” quality.

iPhone Photo Phun

Filed Under: Cleaning my act up, Moving to a new house Tagged With: ,

In The New House

February 29, 2012 by 12 Comments

One day I will have a new house. One day soon. When you say something on the internet it means it’s true, right? 

What I will happily bring to the new house-
Art work included.
What I will grudgingly bring to the new house-
fish
What I will be sad to leave behind-
my lava sizzle tile wall
 the prettiest front door ever
What I will happily leave behind at the old house-
 gas stove full of melted plastic beads and blue carpet
You guys aren’t going to tell anyone about the melted beads are you?

iPhone Photo Phun

Filed Under: Moving to a new house Tagged With: ,

Grown Up Window Treatments

February 1, 2012 by 13 Comments
We’ve lived in our house for nearly 10 years. And you see that table below, that’s our dining table, right in the front window. For 10 years the whole neighbourhood has been part of our family dinners. 
It’s fun. Especially the ones where everyone is losing their cool and kids are screeching and lifting their dresses over their heads. You totally want the crazy lady across the street peering in for that quality family time.

I am overjoyed to report that we’ve finally remedied the situation. It took about 10 minutes to choose a curtain rod. Not counting the 30 minute drive both ways, and the fact that Ken had to go back the next day to exchange it because he we bought the wrong size. He also had to bring back the beautiful curtains we’d picked out because they were too narrow. Curses.

IKEA to the rescue. Again. We might as well just pack up and move into the showroom. Took about 20 minutes to decide and search out curtain panels. Assembly took about an hour.

We are thrilled with our suddenly grown up living/dining room.

I expect it will take another 10 years before I manage to clean off the window sill. But on the bright side, at least I can hide it now and it gives the crazy lady across the street something to look at.

It’s iPhone Photo Phun Day.

Taming Insanity

Filed Under: Life as I know it, Moving to a new house Tagged With: ,