More notes on living in a small town.

I may have mentioned before, but the place where I moved is small. Really small. The local paper published the vital statistics, and there are a grand total of 4600 people living here. And, most everybody knows everyone else. Like I've said before, there's a real sense of community here. The other day, I was leaving to go to work, and one of the residents at the apartment here was sweeping the snow off the sidewalk. We exchanged pleasantries about the weather and such, and while I was getting Olivia buckled into her car seat, the man brushed all the snow off my car.

I'm starting to get to know the regular customers who come into the bank, which is nice. One guy comes in and the running joke that we have is when it's free money day. As in, he asks, and I always tell him that he just missed it, it was the last customer...or Free Money Day is the second Friday of the month, and it's the third Friday...stuff like that. Or, there's another woman who comes in and chides me for not taking my vitamins, because it would clear up the eczema on my knuckles. Then she tells me about her boys who are in University, and asks about Olivia.

I have fun at my other job too. Especially when I'm working with Ilaria. She's about my age, and a lot of fun to work with. The other day, we had the day from hell. Neither of us are very competent at replacing watch batteries, and it seemed that every second customer wanted one replaced. We could either get the back pried off and then couldn't get it back on, or couldn't get it off to begin with. At one point, after trying for about 10 minutes to get one watch back together, we were both pretty frustrated. Ilaria got a devillish look on her face, and said, "Ok...hold that f&#*@%, I'm going to fix it". She grabbed the jeweler's hammer, and commenced to try to put the back on. And, since I was the one holding it, I had to throw in, "Jesus Christ, Ilaria, those are my fingers there!"

We both started laughing, and needless to say, that watch did not get its back on that day.

I'm in the middle of having four days off. It's a nice, much needed break. I've been able to unpack some more things, cook real meals, and even work on the same pink/orange/yellow/white sock that I've been working on forever.

I was trying to think up a witty, catchy title for this, but it's early in the morning, and my mind hasn't completely woken up. Plus, I have an awful cold, so that doesn't help. I don't think it's a good sign that I'm counting down the days until the weekend again. I didn't really have much time off this past weekend; it was one of the weeks where I worked six days, and the store where I work is so slow that the days that I work there are very, very long. So, I had just Sunday to do everything administrative around my house, but Olivia and I had to take a break and watch The Fantastic Four on Movie Central. She has this thing for superheroes now. She thinks she is one.

I'm still unpacking stuff, and I've come to a realization. The more I unpack, the more it costs me. Let me explain...the more I unpack, the more stuff I have to deal with, and find a place for...which usually involves some sort of container, or shelf, or large piece of furniture that needs to be assembled. Furniture that comes in a large box, with ninety thousand pieces, and an instruction manual where I think they were charged extra for using words. It's quite liveable in here; it's just that I'm tired of seeing the few remaining boxes sitting around.

Greetings from our new home!

This is my first post from my new apartment. As much as I absolutely hate moving, and the work of unpacking, it is so nice to be in our own place. It's a little two bedroom apartment, but it has a massive in-suite storage room, which is nice. A bit of our stuff is still in boxes, but I've been working on it slowly. Olivia's taken really well to the new place, which is good.

It's really cool to actually have our own space. I even missed cooking. It's something that I enjoy doing. Yesterday, Olivia and I braved the cold, went grocery shopping, and I made my first 'real' dinner in a long time. It's doing things like that that really makes a place feel like home.

Happy 2007!

A lot is happening here. I bought a car. I found an apartment. My stuff comes out of storage and into said apartment tomorrow. Like I said earlier, it would be nice to live in a house, but I process a lot of utility payments at the bank, and when I see monthly heating bills of $250, that's a little steep. It's Saskatchewan. Winters are cold, and this one hasn't been even particularly cold.

I took Olivia over to our new place the other day. I had to do some cleaning, and I wanted her to get acquainted with the idea of moving again. She tried to claim the master bedroom as hers. She's a funny girl...

While we were leaving, we met our new neighbour, Karen. We introduced ourselves, made some small talk, and then left. When I went back the next day to move a few boxes in, waiting outside our apartment door were two gifts. There was a box of chocolates for me, and a hula hoop and a container of M&Ms for Olivia, with a note from Karen, welcoming us to the building. It was such a thoughtful gesture, that I can't help but think that I found the perfect place to live.

I had lunch at one of the local Chinese places today. My fortune cookie was quite apt:

Contentment is just around the corner for you. Look forward!

I couldn't have said it better myself...