October 16, 2011 by Rae

Sunday Brunch

The weekday time I have gained through the loss of my flier routes and commutes has slowly trickled into weekend time. This was the first Sunday morning in a very, very long time that I had the time to make my favourite Sunday brunch:

pita (I was out of sliced bread), scrambled tofu, sausage, tomato, coffee

I had a full day of work to do this weekend and stretched it out over two days. So I got up this morning, did an hour of work, then stopped for brunch. What a lovely way to define today as being about having a freedom of choice in how I parcel out my time. I’m not sure I’m even going to get out of my pajamas today. 😀

October 14, 2011 by Rae

Special Deliveries

I was thrilled to have Jody stopped in yesterday afternoon for a quick visit. She brought me some of her addictive banana-chocolate chip muffins. I terribly miss raiding her kitchen for them in the late evening. 🙂 It was nice to sit and chat for a bit. I think I surprised Jody when I pulled some pop out of the fridge for her. I don’t drink the stuff, but I figured that I’d have her over at least a few times during the winter, so I bought a case of a type I see her drink often.

This morning, I was sitting here working on some stuff and trying to ignore the sound of the contractors going about their business a few doors down until it was closer to my starting time of 10. I’m working really hard at drawing that line between work and home right from the start. But the inevitable knock on the door came… I was still in my pjs, so I quickly threw on a long skirt, a sweater, and a kerchief. I checked the peephole and it was one of my minor maintenance guys. Oy, I hate starting my day like this… I opened up and he handed me a Tim Hortons cup! That was all, he was delivering the Friday treat from our boss and figured there was no reason to wait another half hour.

Between muffins for breakfast and overly sweet (but yummy!) ‘French vanilla cappucino’, I have come to realise that, hey, it’s Friday! I’ve just about survived my second week in The Apartment.

October 10, 2011 by Rae

One Down, Twenty-Five To Go

I have been living in The Apartment for a full week now and definitely back to as normal a routine as exists for me. While I am pretty much settled in, I still need to get my really cold weather gear out of Miranda’s basement and figure out how to plug in the rig. The Apartment is surprisingly cozy and looks much better than I would have expected. It’s amazing how I was able to get everything to reasonably coordinate! My colourful bedspread is definitely making a huge difference:

The biggest advantage to living here is that I have so much more time now. Yes, I did stop delivering the fliers, but I’ve also gained the hour I spent commuting every day. The best part of living here is being able to walk to the services, especially the grocery store. I needed English muffins and fresh fruit for the week, so I just ambled on over the Safeway and took in a lovely crisp October afternoon. Coming home, one of my tenants/friends was on her deck, so I stopped for a chat, the first chance we’ve had to talk where I was really off the clock.

Yesterday afternoon, a tenant saw me come out of Miranda as he went to throw garbage in the dumpster and he came to ask me about a non-urgent maintenance matter. I firmly told him that I will see him on Tuesday morning, refusing to even go into the office and write down his query. I have to draw that line right now because word will get out very quickly that, hey, the manager’s living on site and available for the asking! Nope!

October 4, 2011 by Rae

Settling Into My Temporary Abode

This has been my second full day in the apartment and I am slowly falling back into my normal routine. I made my first home cooked meal this evening, which meant scurrying down to the rig for onions, a sharp knife, a cheese grater, and a colander. 🙂

Here are some bits of the apartment so far.

First, the bedroom area with the absolutely awesome headboard/bookcase Jody had in storage. Also make note of the little side table next to the bed on which the lamp is resting. It’s the perfect height!

bedroom area (my pretty comforter is in the wash pile!)

Next is the office area. Telus was supposed to send a tech between noon and two to figure out why my hardwired connection wasn’t working. The tech showed up at 11!!! It was a simple fix and now I have 500GB of bandwidth a month! The speeds aren’t actually any better than the cellular connection however. That says a lot about cellular speeds in southern Canada!

office area

The dining area reminds me of a school cafeteria (the floor tiles don’t help!), but the chair is super comfy!

dining area

I like that I have the storage room for the cats. Litter doesn’t get tracked everywhere and the food dishes are out of traffic areas. Neelix was okay with me stepping over him in the dressing room, but Tabitha would bolt if I tried to do that, interrupting her meal.

the cat condo

Here’s Tabitha’s nest under the sink. She’s been going in and out of there since she discovered the spot. I think she appreciates the blanket since she’s moved it around a bit to make more of a nest.

Ms. Bitha’s nest

Finally, I have to say I LOVE having a one-piece pantry. That’s one thing I found hard in Miranda, trying to remember what I had in the various cabinets.

pantry

The pantry is pretty full tonight since today is 15% off day at the Lethbridge grocery stores. I got some awesome deals including two boxes of falafel mix!

October 1, 2011 by Rae

Apartment Preview

I’m still hoping to move into the apartment tomorrow, but there are a ton of things still left to do here at Jody and Gary’s to get Miranda ready for travel! But I have pulled off bigger miracles, so I’m not saying it won’t happen. 🙂

Today being the first I needed to put in an appearance at work to collect rent and be present to do move-out reports with tenants. I put in about three hours in the morning, then put up a sign saying I’d be back for an hour or so in the afternoon. At about 11:30 I went upstairs to scrub the hell out of my apartment!

It only took about an hour and a half to wash every inch of that place. It had been sanitized, but there was still plenty of grit on door trim and light fixtures. I now feel that it is truly clean and ready for me to move in.

Here are some shots of the apartment empty. I will post shots of it furnished when I get it to that stage!

I should be getting some furniture from work on Monday. The bed will be going in tomorrow if I manage to get out of here and I have accepted Gary’s offer of a nice cloth recliner and ottoman instead of having work buy me something. I also need to go pick up some plastic drawers for my clothes; work will reimburse me for those.

The goal is to be comfortable while spending the least amount of money possible since this is very much a temporary abode! I spent $60 today on a shower curtain and floor coverings. There is no way I am stepping foot on that disgusting carpet (yes, it has been cleaned) so I bought a huge thick plastic drop cloth that does the whole apartment ($9) and clear plastic runners for creating foot paths ($40). Not the prettiest solution, but it’ll work and, best of all, it was cheap!

The loft curtains are going to be perfect to cover the patio door and the window, so I don’t have to worry about window coverings.

I won’t pretend that I’m particularly enthusiastic or excited about moving, but I have accepted that this is what needs to happen. I also keep telling myself that this is temporary and I will be back in my cozy motorhome soon enough.

Well, back to work I go. Thankfully, I have awesome friends who think about me, so Gary is making me supper. :::awwwwwww:::