The exercise:
As November draws to a close and December comes knocking at the door, write about: connecting the dots.
Monday November 30th, 2020
Sunday November 29th, 2020
The exercise:
Write about: shelter.
It's well beyond time that I fill you in on what's been happening behind the scenes.
Uh, fair warning: it got long. I guess that happens when you hold back like half a year's worth of news and try to fit it all into one post.
Mine:
It is not especially difficult to see that 2020 has been one hell of a year for all of us. We get hit over the head with it, seemingly no matter where we turn. Despite that, I'd like to toss another story onto the pile, if you care to read it.
As I mentioned almost a year ago, we moved half an hour up the road to Oliver because we were in desperate need of more space. Also a more central location was nice. So we found a place to rent and moved at the start of this year, before it became *this* year.
And then the pandemic arrived. I stayed away from work (and most everything and everybody else) from mid-March to mid-July, which I mentioned. What I didn't tell you at the time was that our house went up for sale in May.
The realtor told us they would advertise it as having good tenants who wanted to stay and that they would try to find a buyer who wanted to keep us on. Spoiler alert: they didn't.
The house sold in June, at which point we were given the choice to run out our lease and move in January, or leave by September 1st and get paid one month's rent to do so. I told them they could add in moving expenses as well and they agreed. We figured two and a half months to find another place was plenty.
Spoiler alert: nope.
We looked at two, maybe three places. None of them worked for us. So come September... we were back in Osoyoos. Except our cabin had been rented out. So we were actually back in Osoyoos, back in Kat's parents house.
So, like, all the way back to where we started when we first moved from Vancouver. Just, you know, with two kids and the vast majority of our stuff in a storage locker in Oliver. And we both had better jobs and had a bit of extra money from being paid to move out.
We decided pretty quick that we were done with the rental game and wanted to buy a house to call our own and give the boys some secure footing. So we pooled together money we'd earmarked for... like five different things, and started saving the money we'd have otherwise been putting toward rent and utilities and internet and... wherever else our money had been going.
In mid-October we got ourselves pre-approved for a mortgage so that we knew what our price range would be, then got ourselves a realtor. Our first day of actually looking at homes was the day before my birthday - spent mostly in Penticton as there wasn't much of anything that we could afford in Oliver - and we almost put in an offer that night on a townhouse... but then found out it was renters living there, not the owner. Which meant we couldn't move in until February 1st because they needed to be given notice - just like we were - and we wanted to move sooner than that (also didn't really want to do that to somebody else).
Spoiler alert: remember that home.
Over the next few weeks we looked at more places. A couple dumps, a few that just didn't work for us. We did actually put an offer in on one place but lost out to another buyer who went higher than we were willing to go. Then we ended up back in the same townhouse complex as the previously mentioned home, looking at a different unit that ended up not being what we wanted. Which was when Kat mentioned to our realtor that it was too bad the other unit hadn't worked out.
At which point our realtor mentioned that it hadn't sold yet. Which, by the way, was surprising because the housing market here has lost its god damned mind.
Anyway. We put an offer in that night. It was accepted the following afternoon. We spent the next two weeks or so jumping through all the hoops (mortgage going from pre-approval to approved, house inspection, etc). And we signed the papers that removed the subjects on the 21st of November.
So, we're officially home owners. We won't be living there until February - unless the tenant finds something sooner - but we own a home. In Penticton. It's a three bedroom, two bathroom townhouse in an older complex, which means there is a lot of green space for the boys to run around on - the requirement for green space in townhome developments was dropped at some point, sadly. We'll be a ten minute walk to the nearest beach.
And it's ours. Nobody can kick us out. We leave when we're ready to leave. A place for all four of us to call home, with confidence.
We can't wait.
Saturday November 28th, 2020
The exercise:
Write a four line poem about something that is: tumultuous.
Friday November 27th, 2020
The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about: the unicorn's vacation.
Just popped into my head. May or may not have something to do with end of work week tired brain.
Friday November 20th, 2020
The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about: the signing.
Maybe feel free to work the number twenty in there as well, if you like.
Thursday November 19th, 2020
The exercise:
I think it makes sense, timing wise, to return to Hindsight today.
Having just finally added to October's entry, I'll take second turn again this month and aim for mid-December for the finale. I'll see if it makes sense for me to go first or second at that point.
Wednesday November 18th, 2020
The exercise:
Write about: something in the way.
I managed to remind myself of this when coming up with the prompt.
Tuesday November 17th, 2020
The exercise:
Write two haiku about something that is revealed: upon closer inspection.
Now that I finally got around to adding to last month's edition, I expect we shall have to get to November's Hindsight at some point this week.
Friday November 13th, 2020
The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about: a horror.
Happy to report we all made it through a Friday the 13th in 2020 without attracting any (further) catastrophes.
Wednesday November 11th, 2020
The exercise:
Write about: I've got a bad feeling about this.
Nothing like a mid-week holiday to make sure I have no idea what day it is all day long.
Is it Saturday?
No, it's still not Saturday...
Tuesday November 10th, 2020
The exercise:
Write two haiku about: transitions.
Of power, or other sorts...
Saturday November 7th, 2020
The exercise:
Write a four line poem about: blending in.
Happy 8th birthday to Max. I thought we'd found him a pretty good present, but then we were rather soundly outdone.
Friday November 6th, 2020
The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about: count 'em all.
Still not official. But so, so close. Right? Right...
Wednesday November 4th, 2020
The exercise:
Write about something that: rattles.
Things are looking positive south of the border tonight. But it's hard to avoid the thought that it shouldn't be this close.
It should have been a landslide.
Tuesday November 3rd, 2020
The exercise:
Write two haiku about: stress.
No, I'm not at all concerned about the election results south of the border. Why do you ask?
Monday November 2nd, 2020
The exercise:
Write about: finding a fit.
I haven't forgotten about my part of last month's Hindsight, by the way. I'll get to it.
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