My oh my....I've been a naughty and negligent blogger, haven't I?
It hasn't been intentional. Things have been in a pretty constant state of fast forward recently and I haven't been able to stop and take a breath.
So...what's been going on?
Well, as I posted last we have secured a new living space (hooray)! and we are trying to get prepared for that transition. Most of you might think that we have been busy packing. Sadly, no. Packing has not happened. At all. Not one item. Instead, it's all the logistical and behind the scenes stuff we have been focusing on. Booking a mover to get the stuff out of our friend's basement, address changes, disconnects and reconnects.....and of course the juggling of child care. At this point we are still investigating options for Little Man but we are registering Buddy in his new school next week and my fingers are crossed REALLY tightly that he gets a spot in both the before and after school program that is run in his school. Getting in there would be super awesome. There would be no transportation off the school site and it even offers coverage on PA Days, summer, winter break, March Break.....for a really good price. I should find out by next week on that front.
Work is mental busy. I cannot even start on that topic or I might spiral into a 40,000 page synopsis of all that is going on and nobody needs that.
Last week I spent the week in LA at a conference. It was a ton of fun and a nice break from all that is my regular life. I was very happy to return home as I missed my boys terribly, but being away makes you appreciate them even more, right? :)
Not much to report Troll-wise. They are (obviously) still living in the basement. No surprise there. We got another Gas bill (that The Trolls owe 40% of). Super Husband cornered Mr. Troll last weekend and told him he needs to pay up and followed up with, "paying one bill in five months isn't too much to ask, is it"? The Troll's reply? "Talk to your landlord". WTF does that mean? Whatever. I have decided that I'm taking all the money that we are owed and deducting it from our final month of rent. Interestingly, I gave notice 3.5 weeks ago and have heard NOTHING from the landlord since. No response, no viewings....nothing. I know he got the message because he told the neighbor next door we were leaving, but the whole thing is a bit bizarre.
Anyway....that's the quick and dirty.
One more week and we will have the keys to the new pad!!!
May 25, 2012
May 7, 2012
Crazy Busy
Life with a young family and two working parents is always crazy. That's a normal fact of life at this lifestage. This is also the reason why moving is so, so, stressful. Moving is, by nature, always stressful and overwhelming so why do we always like to take it one step further by doing it with young kids???? WHY???
To recap our moves since becomming parents:
#1: Move from House #1 to House #2. Buddy was 10 months old and I was 4.5 months pregnant with Little Man. We thought it would be a frugal idea to do it ourselves. By the end of the day I wanted to kill myself. Really.
#2: Move from House #2 to Toronto Rental (our current nightmare). This was easier in the sense we hired movers but was also horrendous. We doubled our fun bu having two moves. The first move took half our house to our friends' house to store in their basement and the second moved the balance to our current place.
#3....Impending. Now we get to move again. This is the 3rd move in as many years. And again....we get to do 2 moves in one. BUT at the end of it we will have all our stuff with us again (yippee)!!!
AND
No Trolls!
AND
Live in a great neighborhood!
AND
Save Money!
Oh, and for the record....
The Trolls were originally asked to leave on December 20th. That was 4.5 months ago. They haven't been "able" to secure a suitable place as of yet, apparently.
It took Super Husband and I less than a week to:
a) Decide to move
b) Make appointment to view a place
c) View twice
d) Submit rental application
e) Obtain Equifax credit reports
f) Sign Lease
g) Obtain legal copies of lease
LESS THAN A WEEK!!!!!
WTF is wrong with those people???
So now we are on to the really fun stuff. Booking movers, packing, calling insurance, utilities, blah...blah...blah....
That's the stuff I despise. I am really looking forward to picking up the keys and starting to get set up there. Here's what I am over-the-top-kid-in-a-candy-store excited about:
* Dishwasher
* Central Air
* Full size washer and dryer
* Two full bathrooms
* Room for everything we own
* The ability to play music, run around, have fun
* The ability to hang outside (huge yard)!
* No more green bins being attacked by raccoons (we have a garage)
And let's not overlook the obvious....NO TROLLS! No Drug Busts! Yahoo!
So, all things considered....the benefit is more than worth the effort in this case :)
To recap our moves since becomming parents:
#1: Move from House #1 to House #2. Buddy was 10 months old and I was 4.5 months pregnant with Little Man. We thought it would be a frugal idea to do it ourselves. By the end of the day I wanted to kill myself. Really.
#2: Move from House #2 to Toronto Rental (our current nightmare). This was easier in the sense we hired movers but was also horrendous. We doubled our fun bu having two moves. The first move took half our house to our friends' house to store in their basement and the second moved the balance to our current place.
#3....Impending. Now we get to move again. This is the 3rd move in as many years. And again....we get to do 2 moves in one. BUT at the end of it we will have all our stuff with us again (yippee)!!!
AND
No Trolls!
AND
Live in a great neighborhood!
AND
Save Money!
Oh, and for the record....
The Trolls were originally asked to leave on December 20th. That was 4.5 months ago. They haven't been "able" to secure a suitable place as of yet, apparently.
It took Super Husband and I less than a week to:
a) Decide to move
b) Make appointment to view a place
c) View twice
d) Submit rental application
e) Obtain Equifax credit reports
f) Sign Lease
g) Obtain legal copies of lease
LESS THAN A WEEK!!!!!
WTF is wrong with those people???
So now we are on to the really fun stuff. Booking movers, packing, calling insurance, utilities, blah...blah...blah....
That's the stuff I despise. I am really looking forward to picking up the keys and starting to get set up there. Here's what I am over-the-top-kid-in-a-candy-store excited about:
* Dishwasher
* Central Air
* Full size washer and dryer
* Two full bathrooms
* Room for everything we own
* The ability to play music, run around, have fun
* The ability to hang outside (huge yard)!
* No more green bins being attacked by raccoons (we have a garage)
And let's not overlook the obvious....NO TROLLS! No Drug Busts! Yahoo!
So, all things considered....the benefit is more than worth the effort in this case :)
May 2, 2012
Buh-Bye Trolls
So we are finally able to say good bye to the chapter that has been the lst year of hell living with the Trolls.
What, you ask? Have they moved out? Did the unthinkable finally happen?
Nope.
We fold.
Super Husband and I have made the best decision we could for our family and we are moving. Awaaaaay from the Beastly Basement Dwellers.
The decision came after much (much) careful thought and number crunching. We have half our worldly possessions stored in a friend's basement. We want to remain friends long term, and as such, need to get it out of their basement. Initially we thought we would rent a storage unit but after calling umpteen facilities and visiting one "deal" only to find it under construction and located beside a very sketchy flea market....we started exploring other avenues. Why pay $300/month extra for storage in some seedy place when we can rent a house that actually FITS our crap?
So we investigated our options and found a bungalow for rent in markham. Markham is an area we like and Super Husband works there so it makes sense. The bungalow is located in a nice, mature community and has a lovely big back yard. It's an older house but the main floor was completely redone less than 2 years ago. We viewed it on Sunday and went back Monday for a second viewing. We told the agent, "we'll take it"! Only to be informed there were multiple applicants *sigh*
Luckily, after submitting employment letters, etc the agent spoke with the owner and they decided to take us on!
HOORAY!
So, effective June 1st, we get the house. We have a month of overlap so hopefully we can take our time and not be too stressed.
Now, I must say that moving to Markham is a bit bittersweet. I can no longer wal to work/daycare (boo) but we will be able to save even more money. Even if we finance another (2nd) vehicle! I didn't want to do that, but it makes sense for the situation.
Best news of all....the school is right around the corner, has full day kindergarten and has very good ratings!
We are very much looking forward to having our space, privacy and ability to not worry about The Troll situation on a daily basis.
What, you ask? Have they moved out? Did the unthinkable finally happen?
Nope.
We fold.
Super Husband and I have made the best decision we could for our family and we are moving. Awaaaaay from the Beastly Basement Dwellers.
The decision came after much (much) careful thought and number crunching. We have half our worldly possessions stored in a friend's basement. We want to remain friends long term, and as such, need to get it out of their basement. Initially we thought we would rent a storage unit but after calling umpteen facilities and visiting one "deal" only to find it under construction and located beside a very sketchy flea market....we started exploring other avenues. Why pay $300/month extra for storage in some seedy place when we can rent a house that actually FITS our crap?
So we investigated our options and found a bungalow for rent in markham. Markham is an area we like and Super Husband works there so it makes sense. The bungalow is located in a nice, mature community and has a lovely big back yard. It's an older house but the main floor was completely redone less than 2 years ago. We viewed it on Sunday and went back Monday for a second viewing. We told the agent, "we'll take it"! Only to be informed there were multiple applicants *sigh*
Luckily, after submitting employment letters, etc the agent spoke with the owner and they decided to take us on!
HOORAY!
So, effective June 1st, we get the house. We have a month of overlap so hopefully we can take our time and not be too stressed.
Now, I must say that moving to Markham is a bit bittersweet. I can no longer wal to work/daycare (boo) but we will be able to save even more money. Even if we finance another (2nd) vehicle! I didn't want to do that, but it makes sense for the situation.
Best news of all....the school is right around the corner, has full day kindergarten and has very good ratings!
We are very much looking forward to having our space, privacy and ability to not worry about The Troll situation on a daily basis.
April 25, 2012
Eavesdropping
Nope, I am not too proud to admit that I eavesdrop on The Trolls. Super Husband does, too. It's really become an evening ritual after the kids are in bed and we have relative quiet on our side.
Typically, at about 10pm Mr. Troll gets on the phone and has a series of conversations. Sometimes we can hear everything clearly and others not so much. Last night, he was quite agitated and therefore very easy to listen in on.
The (one-sided) conversation progressed something like this:
"I've got to get out of this effing place"
"Ya...those idiots upstairs have the furnace blasting day and night and expect me to pay the gas bill"
"The landlord told me I owe $200 in water and all I ever do is wash a frying pan or two and take a five minute shower"
"I have a bacterial infection on my tongue and have lost a patch of my taste buds" (ummm....WTF)?
So....from this conversation I cannot tell if he's secured a place for May or not. I'm guessing not. Clearly I have to do some more listening in to see if I can get some better dirt.
Typically, at about 10pm Mr. Troll gets on the phone and has a series of conversations. Sometimes we can hear everything clearly and others not so much. Last night, he was quite agitated and therefore very easy to listen in on.
The (one-sided) conversation progressed something like this:
"I've got to get out of this effing place"
"Ya...those idiots upstairs have the furnace blasting day and night and expect me to pay the gas bill"
"The landlord told me I owe $200 in water and all I ever do is wash a frying pan or two and take a five minute shower"
"I have a bacterial infection on my tongue and have lost a patch of my taste buds" (ummm....WTF)?
So....from this conversation I cannot tell if he's secured a place for May or not. I'm guessing not. Clearly I have to do some more listening in to see if I can get some better dirt.
April 24, 2012
Mishmash
I have a few updates, all on differing topics and I simply cannot be bothered to do separate neat and tidy posts....so instead I will give what I refer to as the "mishmash" update.
Firstly, I am happy to report as of my last weigh-in, that I am now down 7.5 pounds. Hooray for progress!
Next up is an update on our financial situation. After much (and I mean MUCH) debate....we decided to allocate almost all of my bonus to debt. Yes, this is a good thing but just a teensy bit depressing all at the same time. Part of me dies just a little knowing that the money is gone....and therefore cannot be allocated to getting a new and improved place to call home. More on that next. Anyway, we have now paid off our car and put a couple thousand on the Line of Credit. We are so damn responsible these days!
Now, we all know all work and no play makes people nutters and do crazy things like attack random people. I don't want that to be me. And I'm heading in that direction. So as a preemptive measure we have decided to book a little family fun for the summer. We decided to take a week off and spend a couple of nights camping in Algonquin Park at Mew Lake and then head over to Niagara Falls to spend one night at Great Wolf Lodge and then another two nights at The Mariott (which is much more budget-friendly). We are so, so looking forward to some family time away from our apartment!
Speaking of apartments....this brings me to everyone's favourite topic: The Trolls.
Overall....not much to report. Mr. Landlord called this morning to advise me he is now officially "Pissed Off". Wow. Took long enough. I hit that stage about 7 months ago. Either I am far too easily aggrivated or Mr. Landlord is far too easy going. Maybe a bit of both. In any case, it's about time he got pissed! He called and spoke to The Trolls this morning and apparently even yelled! Now that he is paying for their utilities he has some serious motivation to extract them from the premises. To date Mr. landlord has:
1. Given them a free month's rent (March) to help them come up with a deposit at a new place ($1,100)
2. Covered their water bill ($186)
3. Is now giving us the outstanding amount owed to us by The Trolls for Gas ($300)
Now, I know Mr. Landlord is doing all this to help grease the pathway to them leaving but part of me has to wonder: Why the fuck would they leave when they have such a sweet deal going here????? Like seriously. They have everyone else covering their asses. I am terrified they will never go.
Anyhow. Mr. Landlord indicated they are seeing another place tonight at 6pm (ya, right). He is supposed to call with an update right after. I am banking my money on the fact it will not pan out.
And we are really getting close to the end of the month.
If this is a bust we are essentially stuck dealing with them for ANOTHER month.
Shoot me now.
Firstly, I am happy to report as of my last weigh-in, that I am now down 7.5 pounds. Hooray for progress!
Next up is an update on our financial situation. After much (and I mean MUCH) debate....we decided to allocate almost all of my bonus to debt. Yes, this is a good thing but just a teensy bit depressing all at the same time. Part of me dies just a little knowing that the money is gone....and therefore cannot be allocated to getting a new and improved place to call home. More on that next. Anyway, we have now paid off our car and put a couple thousand on the Line of Credit. We are so damn responsible these days!
Now, we all know all work and no play makes people nutters and do crazy things like attack random people. I don't want that to be me. And I'm heading in that direction. So as a preemptive measure we have decided to book a little family fun for the summer. We decided to take a week off and spend a couple of nights camping in Algonquin Park at Mew Lake and then head over to Niagara Falls to spend one night at Great Wolf Lodge and then another two nights at The Mariott (which is much more budget-friendly). We are so, so looking forward to some family time away from our apartment!
Speaking of apartments....this brings me to everyone's favourite topic: The Trolls.
Overall....not much to report. Mr. Landlord called this morning to advise me he is now officially "Pissed Off". Wow. Took long enough. I hit that stage about 7 months ago. Either I am far too easily aggrivated or Mr. Landlord is far too easy going. Maybe a bit of both. In any case, it's about time he got pissed! He called and spoke to The Trolls this morning and apparently even yelled! Now that he is paying for their utilities he has some serious motivation to extract them from the premises. To date Mr. landlord has:
1. Given them a free month's rent (March) to help them come up with a deposit at a new place ($1,100)
2. Covered their water bill ($186)
3. Is now giving us the outstanding amount owed to us by The Trolls for Gas ($300)
Now, I know Mr. Landlord is doing all this to help grease the pathway to them leaving but part of me has to wonder: Why the fuck would they leave when they have such a sweet deal going here????? Like seriously. They have everyone else covering their asses. I am terrified they will never go.
Anyhow. Mr. Landlord indicated they are seeing another place tonight at 6pm (ya, right). He is supposed to call with an update right after. I am banking my money on the fact it will not pan out.
And we are really getting close to the end of the month.
If this is a bust we are essentially stuck dealing with them for ANOTHER month.
Shoot me now.
April 16, 2012
Still Here
I realized it's been a couple of weeks since I've last been in here and even longer since I've updated on the Troll situation.
Mostly, I'm afraid, because there's no (good) updates to give. Boooo!
Mr. Landlord called me about a week and a half ago to give the latest update. He tried to call The Trolls but they were screening his calls. So, being crafty, he decided to drive to the area and call from someone else's phone. Bingo. Troll answered on the first try. So Mr. Landlord asked if he could "stop by" and Troll responded with "I'm heading out in 20 minutes" thinking that it would take Mr. Landlord longer than that. Surprise! He was just around the corner :)
So he paid them a visit and managed to collect some rent money from them. He also demanded some payment for the gas bills that are in OUR name that we have paid in full every month and have not received reimbursement for (they owe 40% of the bill each month). They haven't paid in MONTHS and now owe us > $300 in back payments. Sigh. The Troll coughed up $100 and claimed that the rest would be paid Easter weekend. Well guess what? That was 1.5 weeks ago and still NO MONEY has come our way. I sent a not so happy email to Mr. Landlord this morning indicating that I want him to take over the Gas Bills and I'm tired of footing the bill for the squatters. We will see how that goes over.....
On the positive side Mr. Landlord reported back that when he showed up at The Trolls they had a pile of boxes there and looked ready to pack up. That's an exciting development in the saga. He also promised (ya, right) to be out by the end of April.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Mostly, I'm afraid, because there's no (good) updates to give. Boooo!
Mr. Landlord called me about a week and a half ago to give the latest update. He tried to call The Trolls but they were screening his calls. So, being crafty, he decided to drive to the area and call from someone else's phone. Bingo. Troll answered on the first try. So Mr. Landlord asked if he could "stop by" and Troll responded with "I'm heading out in 20 minutes" thinking that it would take Mr. Landlord longer than that. Surprise! He was just around the corner :)
So he paid them a visit and managed to collect some rent money from them. He also demanded some payment for the gas bills that are in OUR name that we have paid in full every month and have not received reimbursement for (they owe 40% of the bill each month). They haven't paid in MONTHS and now owe us > $300 in back payments. Sigh. The Troll coughed up $100 and claimed that the rest would be paid Easter weekend. Well guess what? That was 1.5 weeks ago and still NO MONEY has come our way. I sent a not so happy email to Mr. Landlord this morning indicating that I want him to take over the Gas Bills and I'm tired of footing the bill for the squatters. We will see how that goes over.....
On the positive side Mr. Landlord reported back that when he showed up at The Trolls they had a pile of boxes there and looked ready to pack up. That's an exciting development in the saga. He also promised (ya, right) to be out by the end of April.
I'll believe it when I see it.
April 4, 2012
Holy Crap
I don't often associate the word crap with yummy food but for this, I will make an exception.
A work friend recommended a cereal that is Canadian made called Holy Crap. It's hard to come by but went to my favourite natural food store - Ambrosia and found it there. Now this stuff does not come cheap but you only eat a small portion - 2 tablespoons per serving. I've been eating it with 1/3rd of a cup unsweetened soy milk. You mix them up and let sit for 5 or so minutes before eating and it's surprisingly filling.
Best of all it's so healthy! And, as the same suggests, has lots of fiber!
So far I have been unable to get Super Husband to try it but that's okay....I get the whole bag to myself now.
A work friend recommended a cereal that is Canadian made called Holy Crap. It's hard to come by but went to my favourite natural food store - Ambrosia and found it there. Now this stuff does not come cheap but you only eat a small portion - 2 tablespoons per serving. I've been eating it with 1/3rd of a cup unsweetened soy milk. You mix them up and let sit for 5 or so minutes before eating and it's surprisingly filling.
Best of all it's so healthy! And, as the same suggests, has lots of fiber!
So far I have been unable to get Super Husband to try it but that's okay....I get the whole bag to myself now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)