So I've been in this apartment for three weeks now and I am still very much in a state of flux. I realize that part of my issue is that I'm missing key pieces of furniture (a dresser for instance) in which to unpack but there is also more to it. I have a lot of stuff - even after getting rid of so much a year ago and fitting the rest into a 5x10 space. And I have a lot of stuff I don't need. Stuff I haven't thought about for a year and that I lived quite happily without. So I feel the need to continue the purge. A friend called it "right sizing" which apparently is very trendy at the moment.

I am making myself open each box, just in case there is something vital or precious in there, but it is amazing the amount of junk I accumulated and felt was worthy of keeping during the Great Purge of 2009. Too. Much. Stuff.

(of course I fully intend to buy things at Target this weekend, but that's new stuff so it's different...)

Who thought red was a good idea???

New adventure today at Home Depot. The streetcar at the end of my block in fact ends at Home Depot so one day I was bound to end up there. It's an interesting - and long - journey. The neighbourhoods are incredibly diverse block to block from Corso Italia through a version of Little Portugal to basically the suburbs. Well, it feels like the suburbs all townhouses and big box stores.

Don't go to Home Depot with advice from a professional carpenter if you expect to spend less than $100. I did not. The project at hand is re-painting a cabinet that used to sit in my kitchen (where its old tatty paint didn't really show) that is now the centre of my living room (where it does).

Today was priming.

Today was supposed to be priming and first coat of paint but the priming took forever so we are behind schedule. Which is fitting for a construction/reno project I suppose.

Pictures to follow.

It's been one of those weeks...

where I was having trouble coming up with reasons to be glad to be back and really wishing I was still in DC. I did soon remember that I am being somewhat better financially compensated at the moment :-) however...

Anyway, today after a particularly difficult morning, I decided not to wallow. A small road trip with my BFFs for next weekend and a little DIY project which will make all the difference in the new apartment should help keep me focused on the positive. Baby steps...

I successfully figured out how to set the PVR to record Coronation Street yesterday AND, like magic, it remembers so it also taped it today. Of course I also have time shifting so I had thought I could just watch at 6:30 Vancouver time, but no need. Oh modern technology.

I had a coffee today with another former fellow (not from my year). I shared how I still feel a little unsettled -partly due to the half unpacked state of my life of course - but partly there is some residual wanderlust. She said she was the same. What is the spell that the KC puts us under?

After seeing Scott Pilgrim last night, (awesome Torontoness!!) it's clear I should have left my hair violet. Ah well, missed opportunities.

I got in the mail from the DC ex-roommate yesterday my first US medical bill! Well actually, second I suppose since I paid for the dentist. But this one is the bill for them to tell me that I either had an inner ear infection or a brain tumor and basically time will tell. So $20 well spent!

Or not spent yet, but billed. My insurance fortunately paid $363 of the fifteen minutes of medical expertise. I suppose I will pay it since I've still got my US bank account and who knows what not paying might mess up in the future. Hilariously, ex-roomie managed to open my mail and so in the envelope was a note apologizing - so nothing has changed there it seems.

My hair was briefly purple today. A hairdressing mishap intended to get the yellow out (as I've spent a fair bit of time in the sun this summer and my hair had bleached very yellowy which I didn't like) as violet/purple apparently calms the yellow. My hair sucked the purple in not understanding it was just intended to counteract the other colour. Oops. Anyway, after a brief moment flustering around (which I have never seen my very talented hairdresser do before) the situation was resolved favourably. Though now I think I look a little grey. We'll see what it's like in the morning.

If it had been hot pink I might have had her just leave it. Violet though I thought perhaps was a little too close to the blue rinse for my liking...

Last night through a series of TTC mishaps I ended up walking home after a lovely dinner with friends. I walked from the west so I got to see the slightly less gentrified end of St Clair. What's neat about this neighbourhood is how alive it is. All along the street, people were sitting in cafes and bars and ice cream places - I know it was a warm Friday night in mid Summer and likely it will be less vibrant in February - but it reconfirmed to me how right this choice was. People were bumping in to neighbours, saying hello from their front porches...

Today I get to relive a bit of my past while I help coordinate the wedding of a friend at one of the old Mirv theatres. Just like old times. I'm going to insist o a walkie-talkie!

Homeless no more!!

After 48 hours living like a luddite, Bell has finally successfully installed my wireless internet. It took awhile - 8 hours of waiting for no one to show up, 45 minutes on the phone, 24 hours later an actual technician appears and shazam, here we are.

The move was the least stressful I have ever experienced. It took less than 2 1/2 hours to get out of storage and into my third floor apartment with tiny, tiny stairs. The boxspring had to come up over the balcony as it would not fit any other way. But that they did effortlessly. Everything else - even the cabinet thingy - was not even a slight challenge for them. I probably tipped way too much but they were so freakin' good and friendly. I had budgeted it to take 4 hours! Anyway, it was just great. Of course I basically have no furniture so that makes it easier. I also have boxes of things that I just don't understand why I kept. And then there are other things - bathmat, kitchen garbage can - that I would have sworn I kept, but clearly didn't. So that's all just strange. Oh Target, why are you so far away??

So I see trips to Goodwill to get rid of things I paid to store, and Ikea to replenish, in my near future.

Saturday evening involved numerous Bourbon Sours, Hurricanes, Cajun food and psychic readings. But I almost fell asleep at the table. Soooo tired. The future looks bright FYI.

And you know what? I have the most comfortable bed ever!!

I went up to the new place again tonight and took a few things from the condo (why do I have so much stuff???). I still like it! It's still super cute! I still think it will be a challenge to get that cabinet up those stairs...

And the more time I'm spending in the new hood, the better I think it is. I went to an Indian restaurant with Lortz for dinner and it was delicious. The service was slooow but at least we didn't feel rushed. And, there's a discount for pick up orders :-)

We put up the shower curtain (well she did), and made friends with the neighbour's cat - so all round a successful night.

I waved at America this weekend. It's easy to forget how physically close we are to them when looking over Lake Ontario, but just a bit further east, the water shrinks and there they are. Just out of reach.

I picked up the keys to my new place today. It's still so cute! Everything looks smaller now it's empty so it's fortunate that I have little furniture left! I am slightly concerned about the queen box spring getting up the stairs and the fake art deco cabinet thing I have - which is very solid wood. We'll see. I've already picked out a few things from Ikea (oops) which I think will fit perfectly...It will have been 11 1/2 months since I've slept in my own bed. In that time I've slept in 10 other beds (get your minds out of the gutter people!) and had many adventures (again, out of the gutter!!) and I hope there are more to come. But I can't wait to have a little corner of the world to call my own again.