Last night...

It's our last night in our first home and it feels like I am taken back to five years ago. Lying in an empty bedroom, boxes littering all levels of the house waiting for their new placement.

 It's strange how the end often has the familiarity of the beginning. I remember our first night sleeping in the new home, our first meal in the new home, our first sunny morning starring out into a grassy backyard for the first time. 

The first time that freaking neighbour's dog barked or shat on my lawn. The first time their lovely recycling flew aimlessly into my backyard, holding onto my fence for dear life...Taunting me....ahem. 

 Now we leave our little slice of suburbia paradise for a condo in the sky. Big city lights and bustling traffic. Colourful passengers meandering to their work or school through the city streets like mice in a maze.

 I will miss our "Mysteria Lane" but I have to say I am not completely sore. Those who know me well remember five years ago when I said, "One day he will loathe the grass cutting and will want to return to urban cement and conveniences."

The girl who preferred condo shopping to home shopping (wink).

It's a lot like shoes...the black flats are practical but colourful heels make life more interesting.

 Firsts of newness are now replaced by, it's our last meal, it's our last time to put out our own recycling bin, our last vaudreuil party, it's our last kiss in our first home.

You know what, it's ok. Life is full of important firsts and not so vital lasts. What matters is the memories made, the growth our couple grew, the friends, the successes, the ability to have courage to create and turn the next chapter of our lives. 

What is most remarkable to me is the finesse in which my man and I step to the beat of our crazy drum. 

With such synergy, grace and respect. I am so lucky to commence this journey with him tomorrow and always, until death do us part. 

Rock and roll baby, let's do this! 

Mini ménage á Toronto.

Leaving on a Saturday morning at the ungodly hour of 6:45am to drive to Toronto for a weekend full of cleaning our new condo! (Wait for the cheers...) 

Well at least we can say the 10 hour (5 hours each way) drive would not be a total loss, as Mike never saw our new home before. He was pleased with the space, albeit small, it seems I made a good choice for us. Phew! 

I know what we will be doing at night, gazing out at the Toronto skyline. Reminiscent of what we like to do in South Beach, Miami (thank you Iman and Robert).  

The broker who met us to provide the keys to our condo and run off with tens of  thousands of dollars in rent cheques laughing their ass off and yelling "start the car!!" ....Yes it's that bloody expensive! 

She showed us our newly installed laminate flooring and explained how they cleaned. Ah hun.

I noted the island stools were gone, she explained they clear the apartment before the new tenants arrive. Note to self, ask to keep obviously useful items in deal. Sigh.

Then this woman proceeded to clear her conscience by asking me, a grown woman, to keep my animals space clean because when she went into another tenants condo she found the cat smelled. 

You know when you think of all the clever things to tell people after the situation passes? Yeah, I was on fire this morning!  (the morning after)

What I actually told this bitch is, "Don't worry I am a very clean person, thanks".

 

The goal Saturday after all was to clean the entire condo, but first we had to drop off some seasonal items at our new storage unit. 

Driving through the neighbourhoods surrounding us I remarked as if we were in the streets of NDG or Outremont. We took a detour to avoid traffic.

First lesson in Toronto, find the road less travelled and add 20-30 minutes to arrive to your destination.  

We found our inexpensive storage in a less than desirable neighbourhood. Second lesson in Toronto, cheap means cheap. Expensive is everything else.

I digress on the rest of my storage unit experience. I will leave you with this, it's a good thing I don't have a strong attachment to our Christmas tree!

After what seemed like an eternity at the storage due to poor customer service, ok ok I am over it...we went to get lunch, starved and somewhat irritated we both could use a break from the drive.

That nagging fact that now we have nothing to sit on was also a new preoccupation in our minds. 

We stopped at a Lowes to see if they had furniture and to eat at their convienent SUBWAYs. 

Every time I eat at SUBWAYs I think it's for the last time and then these situations arise. Jared and his oversized jeans are filthy rich sure, but their sandwiches are really not that good.

Fastforward, Lowes has no furniture. Nor did the Brick or this strange no name place I entered desperate for cheap bar stools. No one was home in the musty smelling, dilapidated store. A tv was playing a soap opera and the radio was playing classical music.

Remember cheap is cheap. Apparently, I am not that desperate!

Last stop Walmart! The king of "you need it we got it out of a Chinese shipment container". You can't go wrong and we did not, we bought the same bar stools our bitchy greeter removed from our kitchen. 

I need a drink, next stop LCBO and luckily found next door, thank you Google Map gods. A lovely red to go with dinner.

It's late afternoon and still no cleaning has begun. 

Low on energy but high on spirits we make our way back to our side of town.

After three good hours of elbow grease we made a dent in the beige dust that littered doors, hinges, cabinets and every crevice due to the floor installation. 

Bathrooms, ceilings to floor and kitchen cupboards. Starting to feel more like home. 

Exhausted, it's finally time to relax on our new stools and order some new local pizza and calamari to go with our wine.

Nothing to watch we listen to the Habs game on the internet radio. Our favourite team made the trek with us to Toronto! So sweet. They lost 5-3 to our hated rival Maple Leafs. 

Next time we will be at the Air Canada Center to cheer them on! Go Habs! You can move the girl from her beloved Montreal, but you can't change the girl!  ;-) bisou mes amis! Xo

Cat at work....

I often wonder what are Vickie and Ellie going to do without three floors to set cat boundaries on? Will I wake up in the middle of the night to constant territorial battles? Will they claim war on the kitchen island? Will the bathrooms be Switzerland? Perhaps smaller living quarters will bring them back to harmony as they once were when they were two years old.

I am not certain, but at least for now it appears that my bed is a kitty spa... Groom on Ellie...Groom on.

Saying goodbye...

It's strange saying good bye to people who have been in your life in other ways than your friends and family. 

I just said goodbye to the wonderful nurse Mary who has been taking my blood for years. She shared stories of her successful son and daughter and even her butter chicken recipe. She taught me the importance of the ingredient Ghee. Our hug goodbye for the last time was heartfelt and strong. 

I said goodbye to my nail girl Kim of 10+ years, I have watched her young son grow up and shared so many laughs and memories. My hair colourist Tracy who understands the trials and tribulations endured throughout the years. The myriad of souls that support my journey. They're not just people who have serviced me, they are teachers in my life. The connections made with everyone I see is a different light into my heart. I will miss them all.

2.5 weeks and counting

Well judging by my last post, 4 years is about right! That's all about to change though. 

What better way to inspire blogging again than to pair blogging, with adventure! 

I promised a few friends that I would blog about Mike and my experiences in Toronto. 

I shall begin this journey with emotion and tales of the Montreal countdown to Toronto. Hang on and enjoy the ride! 

Remember you're loved. Xoxo