Monday December 29th, 2014

The exercise:

Write about: the house sitter.

Because, well...

Mine:

We started packing our things last night and finished this morning. Once (almost) everything was squeezed into the car we hit the road, headed for Kaleden.

We'll be house sitting here until early or mid-March (depending on whether or not we make a trip to Vancouver and Vancouver Island during Kat's spring break from teaching). It's only about a 40 minute drive from Osoyoos, so we'll be going back regularly to visit friends and to make sure Kat's parents still get some quality Max time in.

And to collect the things we couldn't fit in the car this morning.

So why did we agree to do it? A variety of reasons, but I'll mention the top three here.

Number one: this puts us a five minute drive away from OK Falls, home of Kat's teaching position. That cuts over half an hour off her commute this winter, a time when the roads are not always the greatest. So that's pretty important.

Number two: it also puts us about five minutes away from Penticton, with all it has to offer. Osoyoos tends to get pretty quiet during the winter months and with fewer outdoor options due to colder weather, it can be a pretty difficult place to live. Penticton also gets quieter, but its larger population means there are more things still on offer. And it'll be nice to be closer to friends in the area, as well as the larger stores that call the city home.

Number three: space. This is an inside time of year. That means no using the deck to double our living space. That means stuffing ourselves and our rather active toddler into our home. The house in Kaleden is normally home to two parents and two young children and has much, much more space. I'd say more than double but I suck at estimating that sort of thing. Regardless, it will make spending time indoors a lot more pleasant this winter.

On the down side it means Max's grandparents are not a five minute walk away. So he'll see a lot less of them the next two and a half months, and we won't be able to take advantage of all that free babysitting. We'll definitely be making an effort to see them, hopefully at least once a week.

The next time isn't particularly distant, as we're heading back on Wednesday for a New Year's Eve party at our bakery friends home, spending the night at our house, and then sticking around for New Year's Day dinner with Kat's parents and her brother.

Until then, we're going to try to get everyone used to living in a new home. Kat and I have been in our place for almost four years now, so it's an adjustment. Max has only ever known our place, so I imagine his will be a bit bigger.