Friday 22 April 2016

Friendships in the Neighbourhood

In my last post, I mentioned what an awesome neighbourhood we live in (Victoria). For a number of our out-of-town guests, they've commented that being in our community is like a throwback to the 70's (think: everyone actually says hi to everyone, there's an annual block BBQ, neighbours come over to your house for a random chat...). For that, I am entirely grateful.

While it is my husband's dream to live on a farm (not mine yet, anyway) we're pretty happy with the location we've chosen, given the rising cost of real estate in the area. I'll never forget the day we went house hunting and finding our dream home during an open house (the last house to view for the day!). The house and neighbourhood is a little bit older than what we'd hoped for (1980's-esque). But what really struck my attention were the open gardens, trees, basketball hoops and kids bicycles/skateboards/scooters strewn across the lawns. While the house had great curb appeal, I found the appeal of the neighbourhood more enticing. 

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Trending in Victoria: The one car household

Springtime is really here! I can't believe we've survived another winter with only one car in this household. It also doesn't hurt that we have access to my parents' vehicle when needed - a big help at times.

We are a one-car household:
I think it is a common trend among young families today. Cars are so expensive, and the insurance is too! Fortunately, we live in a community where most of our amenities are within walkable distance. For instance, we have two large grocery stores, two pharmacies, our family dentist, my optometrist, banks and restaurants all within 2 km walking distance from our home. If we need to run out to the big box stores (i.e. Walmart, Costco, Superstore...) we'll plan our trips out there, or tag along with my parents if they happen to be heading that way.

Travel time (is relatively minimal) in Victoria:
There are amenities in pregnancy that I wish were more walkable. For instance, the midwife is a 15 minute car ride, the chiropractor is a 5 minute ride (on the way to the midwife), and our family physician is 15 minutes away. Did you notice a repeat pattern here? Most of our travel isn't more than 15 minutes to anywhere worth going to - with the exception of the ferry, which takes us only 20 minutes to get to! We probably spend $100 or less on gas each month.

Ten days ago, I flew (yes, FLEW) to Vancouver in 20 short minutes. Literally 10 minutes of that was spent in the air. Several friends and fellow colleagues asked me if I would ever move back to Vancouver.
My sweet ride - only 7 passengers onboard!
Had they asked me that question 2 years ago, I might have said yes.

Today? No way.

Friday 1 April 2016

Putting a Pause on a Conversation

Foreword: as I write this I have missed my opportunity to actually write up an April Fool's post. Seems planting jokes on this auspicious day expires at noon!

In this household, changing hearing aid/cochlear implant batteries is like second nature to our daughter.

Me: "Hold on, my batteries are dead, can we pause our conversation? I need to change them"

Rachel: (nods her head)

Me: "Ah! Now that's better - let's play our conversation again"

***Rachel resumes whatever she was saying... amazingly enough she's pretty patient for a 2-year old (sometimes)*** Plus, it helps that she understands that when we pause, it means the conversation isn't quite over.