Monday, September 17, 2012

Starting New

Tomorrow our little house goes up on the market. It will officially be for sale.

As much as I'm excited about the prospect of getting our new place and having more space for our growing family, I'm sad. I'm sad to say goodbye to this little place. This place is special for both Geoff and I.

We have both seen this little townhouse as a fresh start. We both had fresh starts independent from one another. This townhouse has been good to us and it holds a lot of great memories.

When I was a newly single mom to Mira (she was just over a year old), I lived on my own in a rented apartment. My father urged me to buy a property to call my own and to start building my equity. As much as I was all for that, I was concerned about the costs of a home. I took a walk one afternoon with Sasha and I walked through the neighbourhood where I now live. I fell in love with it because of the established forests and the quiet streets (perfect for a small girl). I fell in love with the park and the feeling that my child could be safe and happy here.

I found a property that was for sale that backed right onto the park. It was just too good to be true when I found that the place was well within my budget (especially since it was the start of the recession). It was the perfect size for just Mira and I. I made an offer and *presto!* it was mine. It was my pride and joy. It was my first solo trip into home ownership. I had owned a couple of houses with my ex-husband, but there is something to be said about owning a house all on your own.

Eventually Geoff came into the picture and he was looking for a place to be happy and heal from his own past. It became what he calls "his sanctuary". It's where we first learned about one another and grew close together. It's where we dealt with sorrow with the loss of Dudley and Sasha. It's where we have celebrated our first Christmases together. We held our first Boxing Day party (10th annual). It's where Mira and Geoff came to realize that they were family for one another. It's where we welcomed our little Grayson into the world. We have spent countless hours snuggled up watching movies together, on the back deck with our neighbours and its just home. Our sweet home. As small as it is, it is home. I will be sad to leave it. It has meant so much to us and has contributed to our own personal growth stories. Now it is time for someone else to experience the same. I'm sure that the right person or family will come along and want the same that I did.

Time to move on with my family.....move onto the next chapter.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Lessons Learned

I am so proud of my little girl. Yesterday she learned a very important life lesson. Yesterday she made some very grown up decisions. As a result, she got to school and back home again safely.

At 9:30am, I was trying to put Grayson down for a nap. I didn't hear my phone ringing. When I finally got him sleeping, I checked my voicemail and it was a message from Mira's vice-principal asking me to call her. I immediately panicked. I knew that Mira was not the type of kid to get into trouble and she was well behaved. So why else would the principal call? It must be something wrong....

I called the vice-principal and she advised me that Mira had been dropped off by the bus at the wrong school. I immediately felt a lump in my throat. The vice-principal told me that Mira was fine and was not upset.

The story goes as such:

Mira takes the bus to school every morning. Her bus drops a bunch of kids off at the Catholic school before proceeding to Mira's public school and dropping the rest of the kids. On the first day of school, the Catholic board had a PD day, so her bus didn't make the Catholic school stop.

On day 2 of school, the Catholic board was back in school, therefore, her bus stopped at the Catholic school before continuing on to Mira's school. However, Mira got off at the Catholic school, not realizing it wasn't her school.

So, Mira gets off the bus at the Catholic school and her bus leaves, continuing onto her school. Mira wanders the school yard before she realizes that something isn't right. She approaches a teacher in the yard (who actually ended up being the sister of her Dad's best friend) and asks if it's her school. The teacher replied "no" and immediately brought her inside to sit and wait for her bus to come back and get her to take her to her school.

Mira didn't panic and she was smart enough to ask for help when she wasn't sure what was going on. It meant that my little baby girl has learned some street smarts and has confidence in her decisions. Mira needed to make some decisions that really impacted her safety and well-being. It makes my heart soar to know that she was able to handle this challenge brilliantly. I'm so proud of her. It was scary for her but she said "getting lost is part of the fun". Oh, the optimism. :) 

Mira

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Preparing

We have a big task ahead of us. We have to get our house ready to sell. The little townhouse that I've called home for the past 4 years will soon be up for sale. Since our new place closes January 22nd, we should get our place up on the market in time for those interested in closing by Christmas (the likely scenerio I think).

I have been working hard at cleaning and de-cluttering. I've been slowly packing up stuff that we likely won't need until next spring/summer and purging the house of the items that we no longer need. Whew! What a job! Trying to do it with a 10 week old is definitely a challenge. Luckily for me, Grayson also has lots of naps so I have an opportunity to get quite a bit done.

The new house is slowly being built and I'm so excited to see the finished product. Lots of things to do before that moment comes. Back to work....

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Last Night of Summer

Tonight is the last official night of summer. On Tuesday, Mira will go off into Grade one at a brand new school with a brand new teacher. She will learn a brand new language (french) and make some brand new friends. My little girl will now be a full time "schooler". I will no longer have my days off with her during the week. She will learn the meaning of a full week.

With Mira going back to school, it also means that I have a brand new schedule and routine to contend with. It'll be just Grayson and I during the day as Mira and Geoff will be off at work/school. Grayson and I will now fill our days with naps (I've waiting 10 weeks for the opportunity for naps-impossible with a 5 year old at home on summer vacation), workouts and other such things. 


Tonight, Geoff and I decided to really take in the last official summer night with a long walk through the old part of Georgetown with Grayson and the dog (Mira was with her Dad for the week).

We loved our evening stroll. We took in all of the historic homes, the warm air and the smell of bbq and bonfire. We dreamed about the day when we could own such a big beautiful home in our favourite part of town. Each home we saw we would talk about what we loved about it and what we'd change.

We loved the quiet of the street. We loved the history (many homes are from the 1800's). We loved watching Grayson eye up the sights. He loved watching the trees contrasting with the dimming sky. What a fantastic evening. It was so simple, yet, so amazing. The perfect way to say thank you and good bye to a fantastic summer that went by way too fast, but was filled with so much that is new. New experiences for Mira and the beginning of a new lifetime for Grayson.  Perfect. Just perfect.