As you’ve (hopefully) noticed, I’ve been MIA lately. Things are busy, and for now I’m going to take a break from my written blog.

But I’ll be back soon!

See you then!

Well it’s official: We’ve signed our lease and are slowly rolling towards moving mode. Boxes are being labelled with numbers along with Word documents that describe the contents of each numbered box. Hooray for being organized!

I called up a moving company and asked for an estimate on hiring a couple guys and a truck and the guy on the phone came back with $910-$1487! 

Holy shamoley! It really threw me, but apparently it takes six to seven hours for them to wrap, load, drive and unload a townhome. So right now, I’m trying to formulate cheaper ways of moving all our stuff.

Our good friend Johnny is also getting married next weekend and Hubby was away last weekend for his bachelor cabin outing. They’re pretty low-key, nerdy guys, so instead of a raucous weekend with strippers, they sat around joking, playing D&D and BBQ’ing. (Yep, I can’t say I worried about him too much when he was away. ) For some reason, no one else in this group of guys wanted to take all the excess beer, hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and giant marshmallows home, so we now are uber prepared for Queen Victoria Day and will probably be eating food served in between buns for the next two months.

Next weekend will indeed be pretty crazy: Bachelorette for the bride on Friday (I’ll try not to drink too much), Saturday is their wedding (I’ll try not to drink too much) and Sunday is Comic Con, where I will hopefully meet some great artists and minor celebs (I’ll try not to pass out from exhaustion)

Yesterday, I spoke to someone at the bank about applying for a line of credit and was shocked at the interest they charge. It’s almost criminal! So after some discussion, I think we’ll put off relying on banks for as long as possible.

Apart from all this, I’ve also been busy working on various art projects, so my written blog has been sorely neglected.

Moving…social ceremonies..tuition..art…busy time!

Last Saturday, we finally found a place that is neither clogged with cigarette smoke, tiny or a total dump! We toured around and immediately I knew that it was the one. The main issue is that it’s got a miniscule backyard that backs onto a portion of a parking lot, but frankly, right now, the house itself is more important than the yard. As long as Selena has some grass to do her business, then that’s all we need and there is a park close by for her to stretch her little legs more on walks.

So after our tour, we got the money and paperwork together and submitted our application, which was approved on Tuesday! Hooray!

After finding out we got the place, I called up my mom and she said “Well that’s great honey. Y’know you better start packing”

We don’t move until July, but considering all the stuff we have, she’s probably right! Our last move was total craziness, so I would prefer this one to go more smoothly.

Nepean, here we come!

After a few nights of mixed feelings, we decided not to take the dog poop/smoker’s place and describing it like that definitely makes me feel that we made the right decision. The owner just didn’t seem too enthusiastic about cleaning the place up and frankly, I don’t want to give money every month to someone who can’t be bothered to clean up a dump (even one that’s in a good location) to rent it to the next tenants.

But the main thing that changed my mind is after doing some research, I discovered that indoor cigarette smoke lingers loooong after the smokers move out, even if we repainted and cleaned like crazy (Which, I’ll reiterate, we shouldn’t have to do). I’ve got asthma/allergies and don’t want the pets to get sick either, so it’s a big no.

Smokers-Quit, it’s a filthy habit that is slowly killing you and everyone around you, but if you must smoke, do it OUTSIDE!

The next place we looked at is a small place at a great location. A young girl answered the door and we found similar young people scattered all over the place. Apparently, after going to school and living together, they really don’t like each other anymore and are anxious to get away from their shared house. The place was nice and well located but kinda small, plus the parking was at this creepy garage down the path, and I would prefer our own garage or car port. (Being alone in a shared garage at night makes me paranoid)

Last night, we spontaneously decided to look at a place being advertised by a realtor. The place was really nice inside and the rent was in the $1200′s, which is cheap, but it was TINY and squished in between other houses. We have a lot of stuff and need a bit of space. I’m not expecting a mansion obviously, but a bit more room would be appreciated!

The hunt continues….

Today was our second Saturday looking for places and it felt a bit like we were re-enacting Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but with houses. The first place we looked at is located in Barrhaven, which is nicknamed “Far-haven” by Ottawans and we discovered that it indeed lived up to the humorous title. It was a beautiful house, with nice carpeting and floors, new appliances, lots of space, a whirlpool tub and shower attached to the master bedroom with walk-in closets, BUT it’s many, many miles from the school, downtown and anything other than rows of similar town homes and a mini-mall down the street. The bus service, for some inexplicable reason, is also very poor in that area, despite intensive new home development.

So, we said no to that place and went to our next property which had the exact opposite problems: The location was great, but the house was nowhere near as nice, and the cost of the rent was high. The area was basically a student ghetto, with garbage piles on every street corner, most of it consisting of pizza boxes and beer. (Our host told us that they would be switching to garbage cans soon)  The houses themselves were fairly small, with no carpeting and cheap flooring. The walls were stark white and it was cold as heck, and with a very old furnace, it made us worry about how much we would have to spend just to heat the place.

Don’t get me wrong: The homes weren’t “bad” and the area seemed fairly well managed (Except for the garbage part), but they just didn’t feel very “homey” to me and the costs were prohibitive.

Our last stop was a bit further out, but much closer than Barrhaven. The landlord introduced himself and we walked up to the front door and he rung the bell several times. A Jack Russel terrier barked at us from the front window but no one answered the door, so we went in and the dog proceeded to jump all over us with kisses. The current tenant was apparently MIA, but more interested people, all young couples, like us, also arrived at the same time to look at the place. (I didn’t like this and felt crowded, but what can you do?)

The place was messy and filled with cigarette smoke and the dog had relieved himself in multiple areas of the house, but after looking around, we discovered that if we cleaned the place up, it could be a great home to live in-Spacious, fairly central in a (mostly) great neighborhood and the rent was very reasonable.

So we’re going to apply to rent the last home and fingers crossed we get it and love it!

Photo:http://elegyandirony.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/househunting/

Animal House image: http://www.rounds.com/blog/50-films-watch-die/national-lampoons-animal-house/

Hi guys and gals,

Just wanted to wish you a belated Happy Easter! I hope you enjoyed your time off and got lots of chocolate. (We each received cute bunnies, pictured above, along with other candy and stuff from Mexico, including obligatory hot sauce) Sorry I haven’t been posting so much lately, I’ve been more focused on my art site, so you may want to check there soon because fingers crossed, there will be loads more content. (Let me know if you want the link and I’ll email it to you)

But I’ll also be posting more stuff soon..We’ve started looking for a new place to live, so I’ll be talking about that.

Anyways, I hope your week is short and enjoyable!

Last Friday, I was feeling restless and wanted to take advantage of the nice weather while it was still around, so Hubby and I went to Trio Lounge in the high gentrified, hip and urban yuppiesh environment of Westborough. Trio Lounge is a nice place to hang out, with a turntable, cushiony chairs and nice paintings on the wall. The menu consists solely of snacks, like a tappas bar, but they are surprisingly filling and delicious:

I know the photo is blurry, it was taken with my phone, but this was the best “cheese on toast” I’ve ever had! It was cottage cheese and local honey on delicious bread. The other item was mushrooms on toast, almost as delicious.

The back of the menu has an amusing article called : Are you a Douche? and lists the Douchey criteria, one of which is that if you don’t tip 15% every time you’re at a restaurant you are a douche. Funny, last time I checked, tipping was for good service. I am polite to those in the retail/food industry because I know how much it sucks, but if you’re a jerk to me despite my being nice, you don’t get 15%-20%. Do you guys agree or disagree?

The rest of the douche criteria seemed fairly spot on though. As for the other aspects of the restaurant, the service was good, though our food took awhile, which was weird considering there weren’t that many people in the restaurant, ah well. But overall, I recommend this place, it’s pricey but worth it!

The bridal shower was good, but crazy intimidating. The groom is Catholic and practically every single female member of his family was there, all chatting and laughing about the fam. For a shy, non-relative, it was incredibly awkward, but the hosts and most of the guests were friendly and welcoming. (Thank God! I would’ve hated to be around a bunch of judgey, cliquey, uptight and mean spirited women, no thank you!) There was one other token, non relative and she was thrilled when I mentioned enjoying gaming, so it looks like we’ll have some more people to play with soon. Which is great because I’ve been waiting to play Arkham Horror for awhile now! 

How do you guys feel when surrounded by strangers who all know each other? Are you shy or outgoing?

Well that was my previous weekend! This weekend probably won’t be as busy, have a good one!

Guess who’s coming to Fan Expo?

John Carpenter and two Walking Dead stars!

When I texted Hubby with this news, along with an “eeeeee!!”, he texted right back with an unenthusiastic: “Have fun”

It appears that one Fan Expo was enough for him, but he promised that he would still accompany me to Ottawa Comic Con, so he’s not getting out of all the hyped up, overpriced, crowded geekery completely. Sadly neither Carpenter nor anyone associated with the Walking Dead will be coming to Ottawa, but my brother has agreed to get their autographs for me at the Fan Expo. So yay! Speaking of which, I really need to frame and hang Malcolm and Lance. They’ve been sitting on a pile of dvd’s in our living room since last August.

In other news: We’ve been experiencing an extremely weird heat wave in Ottawa this week, as in record highs of PLUS 20-30 C! Normally the temperature in March around here is 0-10, so it has been very strange slowly wearing less and less clothing as the week progresses and whining about the lack of air conditioning. But, of course, now that it’s the weekend, it has gone back to cold and rainy. Figures!  But on those incredibly hot and sunny days, I was mighty tempted feign illness, so I could stay home and fly a kite or go swimming or something! When the weather is beautiful out, even freakishly so for March, it’s hard not to want to flake off!

This weekend, I’m going to a bridal shower and it has been awhile! I haven’t been to one since I was 16 and grossed out seeing my second cousin unwrap “joke presents” of lingerie. This time, thankfully, it’s for a friend and I had a hell of a time figuring out what to buy, and I didn’t want to buy her underwear. After asking a coworker, I decided on a table linen/napkin holder set. Here’s hoping she likes it!

If I was having some kind of shower, it would be John Carpenter and Walking Dead stuff all the way!

Pictures: http://www.hollywood.com/feature/2011_Comic_Con_NYC/7845600

http://blog.media-freaks.com/rick-shane-walking-dead/

http://www.andyerupts.com/2012/01/this-day-in-horror-january-16-happy-birthday-john-carpenter/

Things have been quiet at home and work. There have been continous “technical” issues at work, preventing me from doing one of my duties, so I’ve been kind of bored. There is a project due at the end of the month, but instead of being able to work on it, I sit twiddling my thumbs.

I’m trying to enjoy this free time as much as possible, because when school starts, things will be crazy busy, but it makes me think of all the more constructive things I could be doing at home. But at least it lets me keep up with my reading and gives me time to clean out some of the ancient papers that have been sitting in my office forever.

Anyways, earlier this week I discovered the physical Letter of Offer letter in our mailbox and it listed the following steps:

-Confirm with Ontario Colleges-Check!

-Pay tuition for fall term by July 15.

July 15! That’s soon! I know the date shouldn’t surprise me, but it’s been awhile since I’ve been in school. The approximate first year cost is $7,911 plus the cost of a fancy laptop.  The remaining two years combined together cost roughly $12,096. (This is based on 2011 costs, they haven’t released 2012-13 yet)

So we’ll probably have to start budgeting and spending more wisely, but there is a world of temptation out there! I mean all the trips to the grocery/pet supply stores alone really add up! Our monthly rent is also going to go up when we move, anywhere between $300-600.

But despite the additional costs, I’d really like to go somewhere this summer. Obviously it won’t be anywhere foreign, but it would be nice to go somewhere we’ve never been, we’ll see how it goes.

And to make things even more interesting-There will be TWO Sci-fi/fantasy/horror events coming to town! CAN-CON in September and The Ottawa Comic Con is coming up in May with Neal Adams and Patrick Stewart ! Yay! Two geekfests that don’t require traveling all the way to Toronto!

Today I checked the Ontario Colleges site and discovered a letter of offer from Algonquin for the Graphic Design program! Yay!!!

So, after all that work, I’ll soon have lots more work but I’m looking forward to it and hope to God that I like it!

After learning that I had been accepted, I proceeded to call my mom, husband and tell work friends all about it. Hubby promised to take me out somewhere special after he’s over his cold.

The next steps will be:

-Figure out how to approach HR about going on leave, since I am going to try to hold on to this job as a safety net, just in case.

-Talk to a financial advisor about student loans. I’m hoping I won’t have to wait in a giant line in September to do that.

We’re also planning on moving closer to the school in spring or summer, so that will take some planning as well. It’s fun looking at places though.

Anyways, that’s it for now. I’m so excited!!