Greetings from Winnipeg

We're having fun here in the rain and mosquitos (who are as thick as the rain). (I'm actually missing the blazing heat I left behind, just a little.)
We attended a wonderful wedding on Saturday. Everything was perfect and beautiful - the sun was out, a slight breeze kept us from overheating, and the bride was radiant in her dress accented with orange. I can't speak highly enough of the event. Our blessings once again to the newlyweds (who should be heading out on their honeymoon cruise right about now - lucky them).

Have been visiting with family and friends and enjoying our time here. But I've also been squeezing in work. All play and no work would be boring, right? (Humour me here!)
I miss Jenny and Gryphon, who are in good hands at Monica's home. I hope I get them back!! ;) They were quite happy when we left them - after fighting the journey across the townhouse village. Robin has the scars to prove it. I don't suppose they'll be very happy when we transort them to the new house either and they'll be much less happy to stay there at first. Merlin, my black cat here in Winnipeg, is "talking" as usual and reminding me of Gryphon. I look forward to being back home.

There's one more new piece of information to share, but I'd rather show you. So I'll wait until I get home and upload photos.

Speaking of home, we have taken possession of our new home. So we're living out of two right now. We'll be sending notification to everyone of our new address and phone number once we've settled. We can be reached at the townhouse until the end of July, and that's where our phone service is until we can get a tech to come in to the new place (they're on strike, so the wait is long). We'll be cleaning and painting before we continue moving, although we've already transfered a couple van-loads of boxes.

TTFN,
Mandy Moon

Sun isn't all it's cracked up to be!

I know some of you have expressed jealousy over the sun I was enjoying... but trust me, you do NOT want this weather! Inside my house it is over 30. It's over 30 outside too of course, with a humidex of something ridiculous like 39. It's brutal! Everything is hot and sticky in the worst possible way. The UV warning is at 9 - which is "very high" not moderate, not high, VERY HIGH! So I'm not going out for any tan, even though the air moves a little more outside than in. At least inside I have shade. Because of course our new townhouses have absolutely no shade, no grown trees, etc.
We took a couple days break from the heat to visit my grandparents in St. Catharines (they have AC) and cool off by Niagara Falls. We spent a night in the casino hotel on the 27th floor overlooking the Falls. It was an incredible sight! (Hotel was also AC'd of course, and had a pool). Oh how I wish I was back there.

Robin and I will be moving our futon to the new house on June 23 when we get possession, just so that we can sleep that night in our air conditioned home! It's seems forever away, but it's less than 2 weeks now! YAY! And of course as soon as we return from Winnipeg we will move everything to the new house immediately - at least everything we need to live. We can slowly bring the rest of our stuff later as we unpack.
The poor cats suffer the worst; they had to stay here during our Niagara trip and they'll be stuck in a townhouse (with friends here) while we are in Winnipeg. They're trying their hardest now to beat the heat. They don't even want to go outside. They think they do because from the doorway they can feel the air, but once you step outside you enter the sun! I know exactly how thy feel. The outside has tempted me a few times, I figure it MUST be cooler than in here... but alas, it is not. Not until late in the evening.

The pathetic thing is that this is all I have to write about! It's just too hot to do anything. Yesterday we were invited over to Monica's for dinner, and played cards outside in the cooler air as the sun set. (A June bug landed in my hair and got caught in the braid that was keeping my hair off my back! Eww)
Oh how I wish I had a job that required me to sit in air conditioning (like Robin). I even bike into school (into my little brick cell) just for some AC, but the ride itself is almost unbearable and my bike sounds like it will fall out from under me any moment.

So, enjoy whatever cool weather you have!

Upcoming Events

As you can imagine, we have been very busy since signing our house agreement. But everything is pretty much settled in that area for now. There is still much to keep busy with though! I have 2 research jobs this summer which require many hours of staring at a computer - and just when I thought I was done for the term! (The university doesn't pay me over the summer, so I needed additional income.) I also have an "Advanced Reading course on the Sociology of Religion" this summer, which is great, but inevitable requires a lot of reading. On the plus side, the books that I have to read are all drawn from my comprehensive exams reading list - so I'm really just getting a head start on my reading for next term. I'm hoping this means things will feel a little lighter in the fall. And of course I have to prepare my research and grant proposals and applications. Sigh... it never ends. no, really, never.
Speaking of light - wow, have we ever had a long string of beautiful days! I'm getting a half-decent tan reading outside. Unfortunately, Robin works during most of these sunny days. And we don't have AC in these oven;-like townhouses. (But our new house does!)
Travel Plans:
I just returned from a 3 day trip to London for the Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities. (That's London, Ontario)
There are a three trips upcoming. First, we're going to St. Catharines and Niagara Falls for a couple days to visit family. We'll also be staying in the fabulous casino hotel overlooking the falls for one night!
Second, we'll be flying home to Winnipeg the day after we move into the new house. 10 days of running around trying to see as many people as possible... :)
Third, I'll be flying to Bielefeld, Germany at the end of July for a 2 week workshop on research methods. Unfortunately Robin has to stay home so I can afford to go. :( We'll travel to Europe together one day...

Blessings, Mandy Moon

House Photos

The post everyone has been waiting for! Let the tour begin. (I'm about to test how many photos I can post to the blog at one time...)

First let's see the outside:












Then the backyard and deck:










Step inside:




The kitchen is to your right:





You can see the front yard from the bay window:




Straight ahead is the livingroom/dining area:







We're keeping the couches for the living room. Putting the futons downstairs.

Upstairs you'll find a bathroom at the top of the stairs:




We don't have good photos of the master bedroom, but here's a hint:






There are two more rooms upstairs:











And now down the stairs...





To the basement.







There are hookups for surroud sound built into the wall. This will the the entertainment/video gaming/TV room. Complete with a gas fireplace.






There is also a second loo down here:






That's the quick tour. Hope it wasn't too confusing. We'll post again in a few months (say, September) once we have our own furniture set up.
So, when can everyone make it for the house-warming BBQ? :)

Things for the house

When we get the house, it will have plenty of green growing things to put on the deck and in the sunny living room. (I have 6 more plants around the house, but these are the new ones.)








I can't wait to pick some fresh herbs from our garden... if they ever stop baking outside first! I thought plants were supposed to like the sun... And yes, I give them plenty of water. And yes it drains properly. I'm keeping them in partial sun now.

Mandy

House Buying

Well, the negotiated offers have been accepted. We've agreed to purchase the house pending a home inspection by engineers. We hope to do that Tues or Wed when Robin does not have to work. We'll bring our camera then and be able to send photos as soon as we get home :)

The possession date is July 15, which will give us a couple weeks to move and do any painting etc we might want to do. Well, it will give me one week and will keep Robin busy while I'm in Germany. (That's another unconfirmed story)

I suppose this series of posts is rather anti-climactic for readers... you don't get the full sense of the tensions... lol You get the end before the beginning.
Mandy

House Hunting - Part Two

Our second time out looking at homes was far more successful than Tuesday.
So successful that we have put an offer on a house.
Our agent took photos, but we don't have them yet. However, we will know by 10pm if they have accepted/revised (but doubtful that they will refuse) our offer. :) It's very exciting!!!
Robin is at work right now. I wonder how he can sit there waiting... at least he has something to do.
So why did we pick this house? Great location, quiet cul-de-sac, decent yard (sloped, but terraced and fairly deep), nice porch, large sunny living room, finished basement with rec room and gas fireplace, 3 bedrooms, dining area, decent kitchen, appliances fairly new and included, and in our middle price range.
I'll add some photos as soon as I have them.
Mandy
(V, sorry you didn't get to vote. )

House Hunting - Part One

We took our first house hunting tour on Tuesday (two days ago).
OMG. It was scary! It wasn't the thought of investing a lot of money, making a big committment to a place etc. It was just the houses. Some of them were VERY scary!!!
One house obviously had an unneutered male cat... the basement reeked of cat spray. Others were not as described. Some we didn't even bother to enter. If there was no yard, then it wasn't even a consideration.
But one house topped them all: it had shag carpeting ON THE CEILING. Yes, on the ceiling. It was musty and dark. Carpet everywhere (despite the add saying hardwood floors, apparently under the carpet), including the bathroom. And there were two covered porches, front and back, very old. The back one was clearly rotted our beneath the carpet. One jump and it would be gone! I ran away. Almost literally. But mostly I was just shocked. ANd then very disappointed. It seemed we would never find anything we really liked. :(
Then we did find an amazing renovated home. Great fully finished basement. Lovely eat-in kitchen. But, it's on a busy road, akin to Jubilee (in Winnipeg; for those in KW it's Victoria St).

So we are off again tomorrow morning to see more. This time we'll be looking at semi-detatched homes (ie, they share one wall with a neighbour). All the Tuesday houses were single detatched and older homes. The worst feature of older homes is the teeny rooms upstairs with sloping walls - nowhere to fit furniture even if we could get it up the narrow stairwells.

Jen, I hope that is a sufficient update for you.
Veronica, we didn't take any pictures yet because there was nothing we are seriously considering. But we will place pictures of our favourites when they arise and everyone can vote/comment :)
I wish I had a photo of the shag ceiling to share though...
Mandy

Excitement

Oh, so much excitement... where to begin??
First, May is almost here. And I'm seriously hoping there will not be any snow in May!! We were doing so well here too. I even had a tan from reading outdoors in the mornings. And the herbs had just started staying outside overnight... and now there's been almost no sun and all precipitation! But the herbs are on the step now soaking in whatever sun comes their way! And of course May 1 is Beltane so there's fun stuff to celebrate with my Pagan friends.

Second, all my papers are in for the term and I finished grading 120 essays last night. Now I get to start reading for a summer course. So I'm not quite done. I do still have 3 years left...

Third, and this is the best part, Robin and I are house hunting!! We've got an appointment with an agent tomorrow and we've been browsing online listings. Many good options... Now we just have to start visiting these places! Ideally we'd like to move by June. I'll be sure to keep you updated. I can't wait to be away from these walls, literally. I hate the paint (or really, it's just primer) here - hate the colour and the texture and the fact I can't wash it. I hate the "bomp-bomp" noise at the base of the stairs. I hate the carpets, yuck. And I hate having the living room with my work computer and Robin's XBox all together! Oh, and I hate that we don't have a yard or anywhere to plant a garden or let a dog run. Otherwise I like this place :) It was a great starting point, and a very good option for grad students. And of course, my friend Monica is just down the street... Moving will make it difficult to get together spontaneously as we usually do. And then there's the proximity of the university, but I don't have to be on campus that often.

And a related fourth - once we have a home we can open it to a dog! But we won't do that until July when we return from Winnipeg. Then Robin will have his pet and a reason to get out of the house (read out of my hair) and go for a walk. :) And I've told Jenny that the dog will keep Gryphon busy, but I'll train it to leave her alone! I'm not sure she's buying it.

As for new events: went to a surprise birthday party Tuesday evening for Laura and it was a great success, ie, we REALLY surprised her. But poor thing, she'd been sent up to her apartment on the pretense that her cat was sick and not moving on the floor. So she was freaking out and then we yell "surprise!" Of course, she still had to find the cat and make sure he was okay :) Robin and I were the decorating committee and hosts for arriving guests. And Robin spent a lot of time preparing yummy foods in the kitchen - some M&M party pack stuff and home made antijitos (VERY good!!!! Better than at Montanas!)

And I just learned that one of my friends in Newfoundland is engaged. Congratulations Sabrina.

I think that's about it for now.
Blessings,
Mandy

Spring Cooking

One more thing...

It seems I forgot to mention that we got the BBQ a while back - a couple days earlier then expected even.  So, everything is cooked on the BBQ - from Pizza to Quesadilas (I have no idea how to spell that) to good ol burgers.  Already had one couple over for BBQ, but it's an open invitation friends. Robin will fire up the grill without hesitation.

We may not have gotten around to the full spring cleaning - but we are well into the spring cooking.