I'm not sure why Dante's seven levels of hell didn't include moving, unpacking and decorating.
Personally, I HATE painting and DIY. Can't stand it. *spits* Thankfully, it makes Dan feel macho. And as he's had 8 days off from EA following our move on the 22nd, he's done some excellent work in the house. We've unpacked the kitchen, painted the bedroom, spare room and living room, got my stuff and dining room table shipped over from Toronto, had Internet installed, put shoe and trouser racks in the closet, put together a bed (no wounds for Dan this time), a dresser, a bookshelf and erm, been to Ikea more than a few times.
Downside of wallpapering the bedroom with awesome paper? Running out when you're two-thirds of the way through. We've now had to dispatch the other Mr. Taylor (Dan's brother) to hunt it down in the UK and ship it over. Bless 'im. But right now the Boudoir DanMinky is looking a bit, erm, under-done.
And we're still living in boxes - they seem to grow and breed overnight. Dan is insisting on moving electric baseboards and doing all sorts of shit that just gives me the heebie-jeebies. Okay, call me a girl, but I just want to unpack and relax. This mental pace of moving/unpacking and painting and building stuff has just done my head in and now I'm totally knackered out. Working through all this and being on the diet is making me crazy(er). But hey, nobody said buying your first home would be easy, and these last weeks have been stoopid busy.
On the plus side, we love our new neighborhood, are coming to grips with the constant barrage of traffic outside and the incessant dust-bunnies that have been shagging like rabbits and leaving dust whorls in every corner of our new pad. But being so close to the Skytrain (first I thought, oh Christ, I'm on the tube again - but then I realize, hey, it's quiet and only takes 10 minutes!) and a huge supermarket AND the amazing mom-and-pop shops of Commercial Drive, it's just awesome. We're really happy. Dan's only five minutes away from a home-made fresh ravioli shop and Italian specialty store, which makes him a happy bunny indeed.
We can't wait to have you all round for a visit.
Still, we're living in box hell. Our lack of storage areas is really a problem but Dan assures me he'll find some space-saving robot alien to remedy the situation, but I fear living in boxes may be de rigeur for quite some time.
What else? Well, I've dropped a staggering 32 pounds in two months. That's more than 2 stone.I'm pretty proud of myself - as it gets colder, all I want to do is climb inside a mountain of mashed potatoes and other forbidden carbs, and it's pretty difficult when your meal is finished about a half-hour before your partner's. But ah well. The results are impressive. I can barely wear any of my old clothes - they look like tents on me so I dug up old shirts and trousers that I can now fit into. It rocks.
We went on a Haunted Halloween Trolley tour of Vancouver with our friends Simon and Beth on Hallow's Eve, and visited a graveyard and met a pathologist at the Van Police Museum who explained in graphic detail how they did (back in the day) and do autopsies! Dan was all jumpy through that, and they were worried he was going to faint (apparently they'd had three MALE fainters earlier in the evening) but I thought it was awesome. Natch.We're off to see DJ Seb Fontaine next week for an early Dan's birthday pressie (reminder, it's on November 13th and he's really missing his mates, so be sure to drop him a line if ye can!), and then we're out to his fave burger/fancy resto for his actual birthday. Should be fun.
But all this is to say that for the forseeable future, we'll be a bit overstretched. But we miss you guys and hope all is well. Sorry for the utter crapness at this blog thing, but combined with the move, the first payments, the boxes, the painting etc, oh, and my diet, we've been a bit shagged out. Plus, we don't have our computers sorted yet, so we're doing everything off the laptop and sharing it.
Anyway, hope all is well and dandy!
xM
