Eight Days

So I've referenced moving downstairs before. We went for another two-year deal in exchange for being given free range to paint and have it paid for. Also, we negotiated $75 off per month to be property managers.

Well, the Dude is going to be the one. He's going to shovel the snow, take care of the garbage and recycling, and care for the common areas, plus repair any small things that need done. Also, we'll handle any onsite service people who need to come in or through the house. This basically means the landlady won't have to come by unless there's a real emergency.

The move starts soon. The lass downstairs (The last of her family to remain) will be out by the 15th. So in eight days time we begin our process of filling in holes, sanding and painting, and tweaking things that need fixing. We have zero things packed, no boxes and no movers. Essentially, we'll be moving room by room as things are done being painted.

It's going to be a hectic and stressful week. Cheapest move ever, easiest move ever, but moving in itself is never enjoyable. I'll never fully understand why I keep doing it. And the Dude being cut from the same cloth as I am, is worse, if that's possible. He's the one who really pushed for this change.

I'm excited to think of a yard and ensuite laundry, a proper office, a normal spacious kitchen, more storage and finally having a better space than the bathroom to store kitty litter. But I'm going to miss this living room. It's been my favourite room I've ever had. It's blood red with hardwood floors, the size is perfect, the shape is easy to work with, and all our furniture, pictures, shelving, books and knickknacks have their place.

Everything else sucks. The bedroom is small, there is a foolishly situated Wal-Mart cabinet hanging on the wall in such a way that prevents the door from opening all the way. The closet goes deep, along the wall, however accessing the space is treacherous and maddening. There is a fifth wall that cuts off where a corner ought to be and that's the window. This has the bonus of making the room smaller and more difficult to place furniture.

The kitchen is made from an old small bedroom. The shelving appears to be an afterthought. There is one sink, one drawer and a small cabinet to the side, and then two cabinets above. The rest of the shelving we installed out of pure need. We still can't house all our kitchen stuff properly, and we have put off acquiring things we need because they'd have nowhere to go.

And off the kitchen is a deck. The door to the deck was not built in properly, and the Dude had to insulate it between the cracks. The flooring in the kitchen is the same flooring as what's on the front porch. It's loathsome.

So I grieve not for the loss of those two rooms. Screw 'em. But we've made this place better and we're leaving it in great shape, nicer than we found it. Time to upgrade. Though we already know there's a handful of things that need doing downstairs, too. I guess we're not looking for perfect, just decent enough and fixable. I think there's something good in that.