Front door of our new house
Someone else's fugly decorating sense
How ambitious of us
It was a good weekend. We bought another house.
No, seriously. We bought the good house, the one we had originally wanted, but was already conditionally sold with a "95% chance" of the sale going through. However, it didn't, so we won. The conditions expired Friday, but a friend of the owner's had died, and she didn't want to deal with the house right then, understandably enough. On Saturday at 1, she changed her mind and was prepared to accept offers again. By 2 pm, John, myself and our parents were at the house, and by 4, we had submitted. By 5, it was flat out accepted and we are in conditionally in possession of the house we really wanted! And for 9k less than the asking price, too.
Here's the description:
Wonderful four bedroom, Makio built family home on possibly the best street in West Southwood! Huge private lot 84x120x124x51. Original owners have raised their family here... now it is someone else's turn. 3 out of 4 bedrooms with hardwood floors, Big kitchen retains its traditional Makoi design & looks out at back yard..perfect for a young family. Three bay windows across the back of the house. Lots of tall mature trees..very park-like setting. Professionally measured by Mr Measure. Ask for a floor plan. Step out onto your own private balcony off master/mistress bedroom. Roof& dormers replaced 1994. Alarm system/Lennox furnace 2002/painted in and out 2004/H2o tank 2001/skylight 2002/Large picture window in living room replaced 2002; Beautiful treed lot. All ready for you. Short possession possible.We take possession on June 1. This house is closer to the train, needs way less work, has had only had one owner (quite the character too) who has put a lot of work into this house over the last 35 years.
According to our real estate guy, we should be able to get out of the other house without much of a problem.
I am SO MUCH HAPPIER about this house than I was about the last one. So is John. Also, it will need SO MUCH less work than the other house, and for that alone, I'm pleased. I also just love the house more. Sure, the kitchen isn't as nice, and it doesn't have a south exposure, but it's big and has 3 fireplaces and a sauna and lots of space and really? After we walked through it the first time we both went YES! So I'm pleased. Happy. Giddy.
Utterly terrified by what comes next...
If I was going to be honest, I would have to admit I'm afraid, but not for the normal reasons. I'm afraid of what might happen next. That's normal enough, I suppose, but it's more than that. My life is going so well, so according to plan, that I'm afraid of when it will all start to go wrong. Life is supposed to never go according to plan, but without a ton of effort on my behalf, it is. And that really, really scares me.
I have a good job that pays me a lot of money.
(Okay, I'm under-stimulated at it, but who isn't?) I have a fabulous boyfriend who loves me very much, and has a good and very high paying job. We met in university, fell in love, dealt with our shit and stayed together. After graduation, we moved out of our parents houses and in to our first apartment. A year (and promotions and raises) later, we're buying our first house. In a year or two, we plan to get married, and then a while after that, we're planning on having kids. Everything is going according to my childhood life plans.
Every one else dreamed of being an astronaut or a ballet dancer. By the age of 8, I knew I wanted to graduate high school, go to university, meet a boy, graduate, work in a shiny office tower downtown, get married, buy a house, have kids, live happily and normally ever after. (For the record, my own parents did basically that, except for my dad started working from home in '82 and my mom in '91.) So far, I've basically followed along that path, just switching up the marriage and the house. And I'm happy, don't get me wrong. I like my life! I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for things to start going wrong.
For John to die in a car accident on his way home. For me to lose my job in an economic downturn. For someone in my family to get sick. To be hit by a bus no the way home. I'm afraid of the big, scary, unstoppable things. I'm very much afraid of those things so far beyond my control I can't do anything to stop them. When John's more than 20 minutes late from work, I start to worry, and I know it's irrational, and it's probably either bad traffic or he had to work late, but I still worry. Because I'm afraid this wonderful life I'm building will crumble away. I'm so used to things not turning out the way I hoped (junior high years? that's you I'm talking about...) that I'm almost afraid of things going too well.
You know, I really should deal with this fear, because it's completely irrational. At any rate, they accepted our offer of 272 on the house. Yay!
That's one hell of a shopping spree...
Well, this is a good day. The cleanse is over, so I had 6 mini eggs and a cranberry scene for breakfast. Tasty sugar goodness. Now that my need for sweets has been satisfied, I feel a lot better.
Also, in other news, we kind of bought a house this morning. Yeah. Gosh. This was in no way in my mental plan for this week, let alone this year, but there we go. We just bought a house for $272,000. 4 bedrooms, 1600 scoffed above grade, hardwood everything, new windows, 60s rec room in the basement, jetted bathtub, plus several original and ugly toilets. It's a big, grown up house. It's the kind of place where you have kids. (Yes, during house shopping we took that into consideration. Because we're freakishly mature for 22 and 23.)
You know, that's one of my big troubles with this whole thing: how grown up it all feels, when inside I still feel about 12. I know I am a boring, responsible person at heart, and that there's nothing I can to do change that. I am the kind of person who pays their bills on time, never carries a balance on my credit card, doesn't buy things when I have no money, has no debt (until next month, anyway) and cooks most meals because I'm too cheap to eat out regularly. I am a boring, fiscally conservative child of two accountants. Buying a house is logical, even to me, with out a having an iron ring that sends out telepathic brain waves to its owner saying "buy real estate". (Hey, all Canadian engineers get iron rings. And basically all of them want to buy houses as soon as they can. You got a better theory?)
One year ago this week I was writing the last of my final exams. This year I buy a house. Where on earth will I be next year??
So I might be buying a house tonight
I'm very tired today. I had my first true 'Oh my god, I'm moving to the suburbs and I'm 23' freak out last night. We're going to go meet with our real estate guy tonight to draft up an offer for a big 4 bedroom house in the suburbs. 99th Avenue south east! I grew up on 3rd Avenue north west. My mental map of Calgary didn't even extend that far south until I was, well, with John.
Wow. One year ago this week I was writing my last final exams. It's been one hell of a year: graduating university, getting a real job, moving out, buying a house... John has promised that after this, we don't have to make any more big changes for a few years and the have kids, which will change everything. Of course we'll get married in the mean time, but after living together for a few years first, I'm hoping it's more like a great party than a massive lifestyle change.
I'm not good at change. At all. Which is probably why I ended up sobbing last night in bed about how I don't want to move to the suburbs. (I grew up a 10 minute walk from downtown, on major transit routes. I have a slightly unstable fear of suburbs - especially those new, ugly, uniform ones which you know you could easily end up trying to get in the wrong house because it looks exactly like yours.) Of course, the proponent of rational thinking I share a bed with talked me down and with his annoyingly logical and rational approach to life, made me feel better, and we talked about all the founded fears I could have instead of the unfounded fears which are so much more dramatic.
My boyfriend keeps me sane and loves me anyway. I really do win here.
Even if I could
kill for a cookie right now.
My yoga instructor didn't last more than 10.5 days...
"so I figured, why not? It's only 12 days of my life." <-- Ha! The why not is because, on day 10, I'm now DREAMING of eating chocolate chip cookies. I have never wanted sugar and bread so badly in my entire life. It's completely ridiculous. Normally, I can take sweets or leave them (though, I'll admit, it's more on the take side) but now? All I want is to make cookies from scratch and read dough. I want to make fresh foccacia bread and eat it soaked balsamic vinegar (another thing forbidden). I want a scone. I want Chinese dumplings and every other good thing. I'm not normally a person who craves food. Like it? Sure, quite a bit. But dream about it, fantasize about it? No. Sure, I think about food a lot, but that's manly the 'what should we have for dinner this week' type of thought. Not 'I must have tasty treats NOW' type of thoughts. 2 and a half more days... How am I going to manage? I've already been fantasizing about what I'm going to eat on Thursday: a scone and some chocolate for breakfast, fresh bread with dinner, shortbread for dessert... I'll make cookies the next day, and then I’ll eat... See, I know this defeats the whole purpose. I also see why dieting never works. I have never wanted these foods so badly in my life, and I know it's because I can't have them - not even a nibble. All it makes me want to do is binge, and I never want to binge. Of course, as it was a cleanse (and boy am I clean on the inside!) and not a diet, it's okay, I guess. I'm pretty sure I've broken my sugar habit, of just eating it because it's there and I've learned that I quite like brown rice. I've got some good new recipes, and noticed I really don't miss milk, even the fake soy stuff I'm used to. But I miss crunchy carbs. Those are my favorites, and I'm glad I only have 2 and a half days left, because otherwise I'd cheat my ass on right now.
Cleanse
So I'm doing this cleanse thing - Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox. Oddly enough, John was the one who pushed for us to try it. At my company's Christmas party, we sat next to a couple who had tried this cleanse, and the man claimed that after 12 days, he stopped being lactose intolerant for almost two years before it "wore off." Now, John and I are both lactose intolerant but have a strong love for good cheese, so the promise of being able to eat lots of cheese with out problems is, I believe, what tempted John in to doing it. My yoga teacher really liked it, and said all sorts of good things, so I figured, why not? It's only 12 days of my life.
There are some really good parts about it: in 7 days, I've lost 8 pounds (some of that is, well, shit, but still), I'm feeling pretty good, I have somewhat broken the sugar habit (I'm only wanting really high quality dark chocolate; I want to throw away all the crap I've been given) and goodness knows, my bowels are cleaner. I can eat lots of different things, and because I like to cook, it's not that hard. On day 4, I felt *fabulous!*
The cons don't outweigh the pros, but they are there: on day 2 it felt like I had the flu, on day 3 I was so nauseous I couldn't eat, I poo constantly and the pills are completely, utterly vile. They taste horrible, especially the bile one. The drops aren't as quite as bad. If you're used to eating dairy, it would be hard to stop. (Goodness knows it was insanely difficult for me to give up milk and cheese. Still is hard, most days.) No flour and no sugar, either.
Oh well. I'm still feeling good, and only have 5 more days of nasty pills and potions to take. Next Thursday, I'm having a scone for breakfast and a loaf of (homemade?) bread with dinner, and a piece of good dark chocolate for dessert. Mmmm bread. I miss bread by far the most...
A New Beginning
After 4 years and 1488 entries in another blog, hosted somewhere else, I've decided it is time for a change. When I started that blog, I was 19, single, in first year of a management program at the UofC and worked in a travel agency. Now, I am 23, I have a degree in International Relations, live with my boyfriend John, have a job at an Oil company and am planning on buying a house soon. Sometimes the past can get to be too much, and so start again with a fresh slate.
People in my life you'll probably hear about:
John: the boyfriend of 3.5 years. We've lived together for the last 9 months. He's a civil structural engineer.
Mom and Dad: self evident. Self employed and work at home. Some of my favourite people.
Courtney: my sister, who's off at UBC doing a science degree. She's insane, but I like her now that we live in different provinces.
Cathy and Vince: his parents. They're crazy, and entertain me for all the wrong reasons. On the whole nice people though.
Christine and Will: John's sister and her British boyfriend who lives in their basement.
Tina, Bonnie, Nathan, Phil, Luke, Darren, Mike, TinaJ, an a few others: group of friends. We're all nerds and have eclectic interests. We see less of each other since most of us have graduated, but still get together for birthdays and the occasional dinner.
Life is fun, and exciting, and really scary. Growing up is hard, and never quite like I expected it to be. I like documenting it, and hopefully, without the 4 years of embarrassing entries attached, I can motivated to keep this one going.
