Airport Gong Show

With the heightened security that has been put in place for flights to the US, I decided that I would actually head out a bit early 'just in case'. As it turns out, this wasn't such a bad idea.

Flying down to Vegas for work, I headed to the airport on the new Canada Line. It was pretty sweet ~ only 20 minutes from the office and I was standing at the check-in counter. They have check-in kiosks along the way to allow you to print your boarding pass!

I arrived at the check-in and was 3rd in line. I arrived at the counter with my rollerboard, a laptop bag and purse. As I was asked about the checked baggage, I indicated I had one. The check in agent looked at my laptop bag and said 'that needs to be checked as well'. WHAT? Given the rollerboard was full, the laptop bag was checked sans laptop and power supply. As I walked to the luggage section, my boarding card was scanned and luggage tags scanned. With only 10 people ahead of me I thought, jeez this is going to be fast. I should learn that you never say things like that, you only jinx yourself. This is when the wait began. I have never seen security like this before. After scanning your goods through the x-ray machine, going through the metal detector, I was patted down more thoroughly than my hubby pats me when he is feeling frisky. She even got to my undies! They then proceeded to remove all of the contents of my purse, inspect them all and reassemble. The whole process took about 25 minutes which I have to say I'm glad I wasn't in a huge queue.

Overall it has tainted my desire to travel into the US. When I arrived in Vegas, you could see that flying out of the US that there was no issue with carry on ~ which to me begs the question why is it that Americans believe that the threat is going to come from outside of their country? Wasn't it an American who went on a shooting rampage killing a guard at the Federal building in Vegas the morning I flew? And this is suppose to be the most secure building in the US. There is something about the American mentality, and the belief that it is not possible that the problem could be coming from within, but rather the problem must be attributed to those who covet the American dream. I think for the nation to prosper, become safe and remove the big target they have managed to paint on their back, they need to take a hard look at what they have become and how they got there. They need to learn to play nicely in the sandbox and respect that sometimes others may dothings better than America does.

Moving Day(s)

Move day is here. We spent the morning with Krista, Craig and Chloe before they headed out to the airport. The movers were scheduled to come at noon and Telus was going to give us a call ~ so we sat and waited.





The moving company was one which had been used by a friend's co-workers. As it turned out, it was perhaps not the best selection I have ever made. When the U-Haul truck pulled up in lieu of a Moving truck which was decked out with the company name, I had to question the validity of my choice. They continued to pull a bike out of the truck, place it on the lawn and in they came.

Dressed in long shorts and moving at the pace of snails, the guys started to assess what we had to move. We hadn't heard from Telus, so I was beginning to wonder what happened to them. I discovered that they only had our land line, which obviously had been moved to the new place. I gave them a call and made arrangements to head out and meet them. Before I left I asked the movers where the wardrobe boxes were and the photo boxes. I was told that they didn't have any. When I asked how they were going to move the photos, they told me it would be better if I moved them myself. WHAT? Isn't this why you hire movers? To move your crap?

Armed with my framed photos, off to the new place. Telus did their bit and to be honest, they were the most enjoyable part of the day. Once the phone was up and running, I called Akis to see how things were going. Apparently it wasn't so well. One of the movers had some 'tummy trouble' and spent 10 to 15 minutes in the bathroom. I decided to head back and try to light a fire under them. They managed to get everything into the truck, but I was shocked to see that they didn't wrap any of our wooden furniture and I was cringing wondering how it would come out the other side. As it turns out, I was right to cringe.

They packed up and headed over to the new location. Leaving before us, they almost forgot the moving dolly and Akis had to chase after them, and they did forget the bike on the front lawn. Despite leaving after them, driving slowly as we had put stuff in the car the we were concerned with them moving, we arrived 10 minutes before they did. The unloading didn't go much better either. I mentioned to the one mover that I was disappointed on how my things were being handled as I saw my table sitting end up on the elevator floow without any protection. There were scrapes and a cracked table leg along the way ~ after expressing displeasure with how they were moving my things, I opted to head out and leave Akis to deal with it all. In the end, I just wanted it to be over. Eventually they unloaded the last box, and we were left with the task of unpacking.




As it turns out Akis forgot about the locker and the next day Aislynn was gracious enough to help us move the contents. We cleaned out the apartment and were ready to hand over the keys. With the final task of filling the holes in the wall, we started off the new year filling the holes, turning over the keys, having breakfast at Sophies, and saying good-bye to our time at 2020 and Kits. It's going to take some getting used to, but I hope I embrace our new neighbourhood like I did our old one.

We got the keys!

With the Lavery-Loveys crew out, they were scheduled to head back to Ontario the afternoon we moved. We were suppose to get the keys to our new home at noon on the 30th. Fortunatley for us we were able to get the keys on the 29th so Krista was able to see where our new home will be.

The crew took a tour of the house and Krista wants my stove and fridge. The place does look a bit small, so we'll have to see how everything fits in once we get it here!

Visitors for the holidays

With the upcoming arrival of the Chloe's brother or sister, the opportunities to come to Vancouver were somewhat limited. As such, the Lavery-Loveys clan came out on Boxing day to spend 3 days with Akis and I. It was a bit of a chaotic time as the house was in the process of being packed up, however our guests were very forgiving of the state of the house and the cuisine that it offered ~ i.e. frozen pizza! I even managed to get them to pitch in with the pack up.

The Chaos



We did also have a chance to sit and rest.


Unlike Craig and Krista's last trip to Vancouver, we had great weather ~ read no rain ~ and were able to take advantage of this by heading out to the beach and park to play.

Day One at the beach




Day Two at the Beach:




Chloe did get up early and dad did a great job of keeping her entertained with her puzzles. She is so inquisitive and can hang out just about anywhere.

We did take a trip out to the Aquarium ~ a first for Chloe. A car had been rented as Auntie Carrie's car doesn't quite fit everyone. Perhaps the rental doesn't either, but we made it. Good thing Akis is a huge guy and we didn't travel long to get there!







I enjoyed our visit a lot ~ even if it was in the midst of the chaos ~ it's always good to spend time with family.

Christmas Day

Christmas day began at home with gifts arriving from Santa Jim. Akis has been looking to get a drawing tablet for some time and we have been looking at various options. Akis was very excited to see a box for him appear under our non-existant tree.




Beth invited us to Perry's (her dad) for the traditional Christmas turkey. We arrived in the afternoon so we could hang out, celebrate the news that Bethy is pregnant and due in July, and enjoy some good food. Akis was a lucky guy as Santa seemed to find him there as well and he ended up with a new pair of snow pants to take up to the mountain.




Perry the host with the most:


It was a great day just hanging out.






And the dinner which was spectacular ~ it even came with Christmas crackers. Complete with hats, jokes and toys.




Santa did not leave me out of the gifts. Santa Marcus brought me a lovely gift from Bali. So the word of caution, be careful when you ask for the opener at my house...

Christmas Eve

With Akis being in school and having just purchased a home, we decided that this year we would spend the holidays in Vancouver. We were fortunate enough to be included in the families of good friends we have here.

Christmas Eve saw us travel to Aislynn's sister's house where we took part in the Radley Christmas traditions. Akis and I arrived to find that the evening involved may small gifts. We were a bit concerned that we had overstepped as the two of us ended up going home with more of the loot than the Radleys.

Dinner was fantastic ~ traditional meat and tamale pies with wine and beer. Who could ask for more?

Prepping for the move...

With the official date of possession being the 30th of December, we are now looking to get everything lined up and in order. The calls have been made to change over the services, and we are now on the hunt for movers. I did get an initial quote, however I just about fell off my chair and have been making some calls. Hopefully this week it will all come together.

We did have the deficency walk through ~ I guess this is the nice part of getting something new, you get to be picky and tell them to fix their mistakes! In seeing the house, we have become excited all over again on where we will call home in 2.5 weeks. Here's Akis taking a look.



We do have a view of the mountains ~ the best view is from the second bedroom, but you can still see them and know they are there! The first one is from the living room and the other is the 2nd bedroom.



The Master bedroom. It is a bit small, but it fits the bed and has access to the balcony.

The Kitchen



The livingroom which is the open space off the kitchen


The balcony off the livingroom


The second bedroom


Our Bathroom


And 'yahoo' for the in-suite laundry


They do have communal plots which are just out the back. It is a small gardening spot that will allow us to plant the tomatoes. One of our first things will be to check with the Strata to see what we need to do to be able to use one of these.


When it was all said and done, we headed out for coffee ~ to sit and ponder our new beginning.

Owners of a big mortgage

This is where we will now call home. It is not in the same neighbourhood where we are now ~ it is about 5 km east on Commercial Drive. It is close to transit, close to 'the drive' which has a number of coffee shops and is known for showing a lot of European Cup games.

We are on the North side of the building and if you look between the trees, you might see downtown and the mountains. Being close to transit, Akis is a 5 minute train ride to school. We are both excited about the move and realize that we now own 63 square feet ~ while the bank owns the rest, we are excited to make it our own. Akis is excited as the space is a bit small and this makes a stronger case for him to get a flat screen.

The move is on December 30th ~ here's to all the arranging!

Weekends of Open Houses continue

Despite our best efforts last week, we fell victim to the ruthless real estate market.

Our realtor came by on Sunday, went through all of the details of learning what it takes to put in an offer. She left at 3:30 with the signed offer in hand and was going to head over to present to the selling agent. Unfortunately she wasn't able to reach him and when she finally did he said that he wasn't going to be able to find the seller this evening. So the plan was to present the offer Monday morning.

It was presented, the seller accepted all of the subjects and the only objection was to the price. We went in under asking and the seller was ready to sign it back to us at 1,000 under asking. Prepared to sign it and finish the deal, I waited for the paper work to appear in my inbox. I wait, waited and then heard that the selling agent has received a call and someone else wanted a second viewing. The seller decided not to sign it back to us but waited to get the second offer.

The other offer was for more than asking, and we went back offering a few thousand over the asking price, but it still wasn't as high as the other offer. So it was not meant to be.

It was a bit of an overwelming day as we waited to see if things were going to turn out. There is the sense of disappointment that we are moving into the next 'phase' being home-owners but I also have to believe that if it was the place we were suppose to be in, it would have happened. So we are back to the hunting, and there are some moments when you wonder if you are going to find what you are looking for. This is where you need to believe that persistence will pay off. We have seen a lot of houses in Vancouver ~ here's hoping we don't have to see them all before we find the right one!

A new house?

It's a rainy Vancouver Sunday. Akis has been working a lot and I have been sitting at home contemplating our afternoon. I went out earlier this week with our friend/Real Estate agent and saw a place. I took Akis to go and see it yesterday and we are on the brink of putting in an offer today.

The home is not in our current neighbourhood. We have come to realize the space we want is not something that we are able to afford in our neighbourhood on our current budget. The new location is a neighbourhood that does have character and activity. Moving here will allow us to get into the market and start building some equity. There will neeed to be some renovations done as the cabinets are OLD and the kitchen is SMALL. So we are going to need to have some creative solutions, but it is also something that will be ours.

We'll see what transpires, and keep you posted.