Open Houses - week number 2

So our second jaunt of open houses has just finished and again, I amazed by the things I learn about my husband through such trips.

We started out looking at a small house in Preston, a section of Cambridge that is pretty much located between highway 24 and highway 8. Therefore - close to everything and on the right end of town for our needs. The house we saw was decorated nicely, but we noticed that all the bedrooms were pretty much of the same size and were decorated to a childs taste. There were bunk beds in two of the rooms, and I can only imagine that these parents were getting out because they had outgrown their adorable house. We found the parents bedroom as part of the recroom downstairs and it was hidden away by a curtain from the rest of the room. I know that we all do what we have to, but this seemed to just point out all the flaws of living there. We walked out after a quick chat with the real estate agent about the weather and September weddings and were off to the next house.

The next place was not too far away - but as soon as James saw it he veto'd it. We didn't even go in! He just said "Ew" and pulled a u-turn and drove away. It appears that he is not a fan of four different coloured bricks and houses that look like they were owned by your grandparents. Looking back at the pictures and information on www.realtor.ca I can understand why. It is a small two bedroom with less than 1000 square feet. Yes we are only two people, but we hope to have kids within the next five years and we would soon run out of room.

The next street over was another open house. This was in another small bungalow but had some good curb appeal. Directly across from a city park on a fairly private street, it seemed like the ideal location. And as the real estate agent mentioned in the first open house of the day - one of the best schools in town was nearby.

This open house was put on by Prudential, and they were doing a very good job as it was a VERY busy open house. The floors really were nice and you could tell they spent money to make the kitchen and the bathroom look top notch for what they are. We both really liked the main floor, but the bedrooms seemed a little small and we both knew the kitchen's size would limit our cooking together. The backyard need some tlc and the basement was finished - but seemed odd. We had a hard time as it only seemed to be partially lived in with some rooms being completely bare and other rooms being disshevelled. All in all it wasn't too bad, but for the price, we really couldn't see putting in the work that would be needed to make it work for us.

Onto the next house on our journey. Staying in Preston, we wandered over to the next neighbourhood area. Due to where we were we had to take a fairly snaky street to get to the next house. James immediately pointed out a flaw - in that he'd never want to live in the middle of a suburb like that as he'd get all turned around and not sure where he was. I told him to stick it out, because the house was just a half block down from a secondary road but we had to go through the other neighbourhood to get there.

We showed up and there was definitely some curb appeal. It was a sidesplit, and you could tell they had lovingly taken care of the small details such as the front entry way, the doors and everything in between. It was finished from top to bottom with four bedrooms one and a half baths and a really nicely laid out back yard with two tier deck. The yard even boasted a dog run and a pond - making it your own little oasis. I wasn't so sure about the way the neighbours houses looked in on the yard, but all in all it wasn't too bad.

By the time we made it to the basement James was insisting we find out the price. He was pretty sure it was out of our price range, and I knew it was too. If the house was $20,000 less we'd be putting in an offer, but we knew there is no way we could talk them down to where we'd need to be. The open house was really busy too - so we knew that it would sell quickly and probably near the asking price. Only major complaint was the kitchen - which continues to be the breaking point for us. It was the same exact layout as three other houses we'd seen - was small, led to a deadend and only had space for one to work. You couldn't even cook and do dishes at the same time. I could overlook it but my husband who loves to cook would go nuts. That coupled with the price, led us out of there and onto the final house of the day.

We hopped on the secondary road and made our way up to Hwy 24. My hubby saw that we weren't actually that far out of the loop and it wouldn't be a problem at all for our out of town friends to find us - or for us to get to work. But we were headed to Hespeler, and in fact, our ideal neighbourhood of Fisher Mills. We really liked Fisher Mills because it is the last neighbourhood before you are out of town on Highway 24 heading to Guelph. It's not very far from Kitchener or Guelph where we work. We can easily get to shopping or on the 401 or get to work. When we started our search it was the place where we thought we wanted to be. Throughout our search we've seen other great neighbourhoods so we are still up in the air on things.

My husband found a street called Fearnwood Street - in which he has continued to call it Fearwood Street. He loves the name and thinks it would be the best place to be for Halloween. Since we started looking not a single house has come up for sale, so I found an open house on the street that ran parallel. This house was an older home and not nearly as big as the last house - at least square footage wise. The main house is a two story with a second section of the house that is one story beside. It had an older charm to it and I really liked certain aspects of the house. It was nicely decorated and the kitchen was a fantastic size. The entire addition on the side of the house was for a kitchen and a main floor laundry. It had a strong homelike feel to it. The walls were very thick, and the house was well insulated. But there were some major drawbacks. The house was boiler heated and every room had a radiator - even just inside the front door. The basement steps were so narrow you needed to walk down sideways to get down. (Well at least me with my wide hips did.) It was a workshop down there - and not much space for anything else. It seemed pretty much inaccessable to us and made the house an out for us. The bedrooms upstairs were quaint but pretty small. But it was made up for by a HUGE backyard, that was pretty much the full length from street to street. I immediately imagined next years Beer Olympics and knew that it would go over quite well. (Yes folks - I am aiming to get a house that will work for next years games!)

As James said, I chat too much with the real estate agents and give too much away. I could see the real estate agents eyes light up when she asked if we liked the house and we said we did. She had told us the requested closing date early on and as we were leaving she asked if we had to sell our house. When I told her that we didn't - her eyes lit up. I had to burst her bubble and let her know that we are actually not sure if we are ready to move yet and that we were leaning more towards the spring. She said we were smart to get a feel for things now - and then asked the ever important question - do we have a real estate agent. To which we sort of do.

James and I met a real estate agent that we both really liked at model home showing a few months ago. We weren't completely looking then and she didn't pressure us at all. Told us she'd love to work with us. After talking to some family we found that some had used her and had nothing but positive things to say. They say she's great and one of the best in town and I've chatted with her husband and her since then. We aren't seriously looking, but when we are ready they are going to bring us in for a "new home buyers" meeting. They pretty much go over the whole process, what to expect, what to watch for. We haven't signed anything, but due to her and her husband's honesty with us, I have no regrets about wanting to deal with them.

So all in all - we did not find "the house" today. We found some good points and some bad points but it was good to see what's there and what's available.

Let me tell you a secret....

psst....

come over here....

let me tell you a secret...

I'm turning 30 soon. And it's almost my one year wedding anniversary. And my husband and I are looking to move in the spring. After we move, we are looking at getting a dog.

Life is so exciting right now I can't almost control myself.

This year has been great - great parties, great friends, great job. It's awesome to finally be able to say that I'm having a great year.

Am I Green?

I work for a company that deals with natural and green products. I try to buy in bulk to save on shipping costs. I try to turn lights off when I leave a room. I carpool to work whenever possible. I believe that we need to try and cut down on our carbon footprint. I admire those that build green houses and use wind power or alternate ways of getting energy. I admire all these things, but at the same time - I really don't think I'm green enough.

But at least my little bit helps right?

Christmas money? Christmas pictures

I've been scheming with an idea in my head for awhile. All involving me taking family photos for friends and family of them, their kids, their dogs, whatever and try to earn some extra cash.

In a previous life, I was a pretty good photographer. People brought their families and their children to me so that I could capture all the happy memories for their family. I haven't done this in a few years - and people have been asking why I'm not doing it anymore.

I'm thinking what I'd like to do is start up my own mini little business where one or two days in say November, I set up the house and do photos for people. Now comes the hard part - how much do I charge? And should I do prints, or give people the right to have the photos printed themselves? I've always been a firm believer that people should have a bit of the ability to get whatever sizes and stuff they need for their prints. Therefore, I lean more to sitting fees.

The studio that I worked in had sitting fees to begin with but soon did without to set them apart from other studios. It seemed pretty fair, considering the fees covered the cost of the photographer - and the portrait fee paid for the equipment and prints. To be honest, I have no idea how they made any money after they got rid of the sitting fees. But it worked - we had so much business that it was easy to grow the company.

To be honest, I do miss the creative opportunities within that field. But at the same time, it was very exhausting. Making people smile every day isn't easy. Amazingly no matter how mad or how sick or how terrible they treated me - I needed to continue to smile and continue to be happy. I realized that it wasn't the new childs fault that the last one had spit in my face, and it wasn't that the baby hated me when they puked all over my clothing. The parent wasn't really angry with my behaviour when their child chose to run around screaming because they didn't want to sit still. It was a hard life - but I loved creating memories for people. It wasn't about the pictures - anyone can do that. It was helping people capture that moment - the first Christmas, the first tooth, the four generations, the cousins, the birthdays, the family time. It was precious to be able to be there for these people and see their smiles when they see the finished product.

I love walking into someone's house only to find that there are pictures in frames or on the fridge of a smiling child or family and you know that you took that photo.

So this year, I'll talk to my mom - see about using her tree and her fireplace, decorating a little early perhaps - and helping capture some memories again. Good times. Good times.

the klan

Controversial topic today = The Ku Klux Klan

Due to ignorance, and mob mentality, I can completely understand how the Ku Klux Klan was started and grew so large.

I personally try not to be a racist.

I try to get to know people for people's sake and don't want to judge a book by it's cover.

But going back several years, the world was a different place. One simple generation ago, it was not acceptable to be friends with someone outside your race. You could not even be seen talking to someone of a different race, unless it was in a service situation. People of different colours were not welcome on buses, and in schools where white people were. Even those of different religions were ostracized - different sexes were excluded from doing each other's roles. Men had manly jobs and females had womanly jobs. The poor didn't socialize with the rich and the world was a completely different place.

The Ku Klux Klan was able to grow and continues to have members due to a lack of knowledge of each other. They wanted to belong, so they joined their brothers and stood up for what they thought was right. They became a mob and grew to really become something so filled with hate. These people were our neighbours and our coworkers and people that some would call friendly. What made them so different? Ignorance.

I am a white female, born from white parents. But as a female, I have faced prejudice from certain activities that I could've excelled at. Certain sports were deemed inappropriate for my sex. And although I could skate circles around most of the boys in my power skating class - they looked at me as too feminine to be a real challenge on the ice. They would tease and taunt and insult me because I was a girl. When in reality, I was a human being. But I had it easy compared to most.

I look at how far our world has come, and I see wonderful human beings from all walks of life and it makes me so proud. Your skin colour doesn't really matter anymore. You aren't judged by your religion and you aren't looked down apon for who you talk to and what your interests are... much. I had to add much because we are not a perfect society. But we are working to learn about each other, and to get past the ignorance and the intollerance that once ruled our world.

I thank god that I was not around in an area or a time when the Ku Klux Klan were king.

My own personal doll house

My husband and I are starting to look at the daunting task of buying a house.

Everyone told us to start with getting preapproved. We've done that and both feel that it's a little higher than we both wanted it to be. Apparently this is quite common and we need to really think about what really works for us.

The city we are looking at living in has three towns that amalgamated to bring it all together back in 1973. Galt, which is the biggest of the three was a city already. Preston was a town and Hespeler was a village. As both James and I work in Guelph we are both looking at something that will allow us ease of travel. Also, he has family that lives out of town in the opposite direction, so he wants whereever we live to be fairly easy to find from a major highway. Essentially, he wants to avoid the subdivisions unless, it is something just off the secondary or tertiary roads. I can understand that.

With our price limit that we've voluntarially set upon ourselves, we are a little limited. But we've come to understand some of our likes and dislikes for what we are looking for.

Here is a brief checklist of what we want:

• Two or three bedrooms minimum
• If only two bedrooms, must have a den or a finished basement as we need to have an office
• Kitchen space is very important - as my hubby loves to cook
• Outside space for entertaining is important, but does not need to be overly large and does not need to be overly landscaped
• We do not want a pool or a hottub - even though they'd be fun - the upkeep is just too much
• We do not want to live on a major road, but wouldn't be against living just off of it
• We need to have parking for two if not three cars - as Cambridge does not allow you to park on the street overnight
• A fenced yard is preferred as we want space for a dog to run
• Closet space will be neccessary - we've lived without closests and it was a nightmare
• Our house must have a bit of cute factor
• Although we'd like the convenience of a newer house, we really like the look of older homes
• We've decided not to build new
• We would prefer to not have a townhouse or a semi - as we'd like to have our own property
• We want to have mature trees, or some other way that our yard has privacy - we do not want our neighbours staring in on us and we don't want to stare in on them
• More than one bathroom would be ideal, but is not a dealbreaker
• We are not afraid to put in a few changes to make the house our own, but don't want to have a complete fixer upper either

It's such a long list, and it will be interesting to see our journey.

This weekend, we went to some open houses. We saw a 30 year old home that needs some updating. It was a sidesplit and very open concept with original hardwood floors. There were lots of bathrooms and a finished basement recroom area. The house was okay, but the kitchen needed a full overhaul and potentially a few walls knocked down. The people were already out and were open to offers. But there was something about the house that I just didn't like. It was a bit dark and the neighbourhood isn't my ideal. The price was really high too - being $15,000 over where we wanted to even look. James liked it though, and saw the potential. I just think it'd be too much work needed before it really felt like my home. Does that make sense? The yard had a great big tree, but he front just looked neglected. I know with some love it would look better but the curb appeal just left me wanting more. It was a corner lot, so you saw it from both ways down the street. I was a bit disappointed for the price and the amount of work needed.

We went to another open house and from the street it was amazing. James said "There's no way we can afford this house." When I told him the price was $20,000 less than the one we had seen previously he was surprised. It was an older home, and pretty narrow but two stories and red brick, which seems to be my dream lately. It was decorated really nicely and had original hardwood floors that had loving wear and tear but were in good condition. The backyard was amazing and even had a little playground for our future kids. It was landscaped well, and wouldn't require much work due to stones and mulch. But there were problems too. The bedrooms were SOOOO tiny. The master was only 8x10. The bathroom wasn't bad - but I liked the clawfoot tub - I'm a sucker for old houses. There were no closets really to speak of. They had finished the basement with a rec room and had two little storage rooms. But it was so cold and musty down there that I don't think I'd feel comfortable down there. The staircases were very narrow, and it made me wonder how they got the couch down there in the first place. The kitchen was very small and had very little counter space. It was very cosy, and pretty much move in ready - but there was no chance to fix the problems there. Can't even expand any bedrooms as there just isn't any space in the house.

All in all, it was a sad day for open houses. But it allowed us to really talk and get a feel for neighbourhoods and the size of rooms. We were able to see what we didn't want, and that to me is a positive outcome. James has been avoiding, because he wants to move in the spring. I'm glad he's starting to come around and we can start to learn about each other and what we really want. Hopefully, we can find our find what we want and can really honestly find that sweet little gem that we can call home.

Porno?

Porn.

I know, I know. Not something I talk about much.

I've always been pretty progressive, knowing that men like it a lot and that there is not a hell of a lot you can do about it. One thing I've always held onto is that it should be out in the open if you like it. No need to sneak around. There's something about sneaking around that seems almost like cheating.

In the past, I've spent time with men from different ends of the spectrum. One boy that I knew was very disgusted by the thought of it. He liked looking at tasteful pictures with some sexy bodies but clothed enough that you don't see anything. The thought of watching a video interested him, but then wasn't that into it when it was on.

Another guy I knew spent his entire life talking about it, seeking it out. He came by it honestly - his father was also addicted. I believe he would be what you call a nymphomaniac. The boy - not the dad. He used to laugh when you'd walk in the house late at night and his dad would be sitting in the dark watching the weather channel. His dad used the music from the weather network to hide the music that he was listening to moments before on the video.

Then there was a completely different guy that I knew. He was ashamed because of his little internet porn addiction. I think he felt that I would fear it dirty or be ashamed. When I walked in on him the first time he had a look of pure guilt. But I just asked what he was looking at and kept on walking towards him. We had a very honest and frank discussion about girls that he was looking at and he told me that he liked seeing the pictures and that they made him feel good. I was cool with it and told him, and let him know that it didn't have to be a secret. It was something that interested him and I understand the need to take care of yourself.

All three of these guys had different feelings and opinions on porn and sitting here tonight made me start thinking about what my thoughts and feelings are on the matter.

I personally, am not against porn. I've just made the decision not to seek it out.

I like men, and like looking at men - but frankly the male penis is not something that I need to see flaunted for the world to see. I would prefer for the shots to be tasteful and perhaps with some sort of garment, or towel or something to hide this part.

I really like brunettes, and if I had at some point to give a fantasy to my partner where I was involved with a female - she'd have to be completely hot with long brown hair. Any other fantasy chick just won't fly and I'll lose interest much faster than he will.

I do not like the idea of someone I am with looking at amateur internet porn. My reason is this - the girls that are all done up and airbrushed and everything are not real. But the amateur stuff - this could be someone that they could really meet and really be with. I do not like the idea of chatting online with someone sexually - unless that person is completely unattainable. Say your Jenna Jamison's.

I also do not want to make any videos of myself in the act... of well anything sexual. Especially now that I'm married. I have to much respect for my husband to be wanting to have anything like that hanging around - even if he is the main star in the show. We're planning on kids someday and I don't want anything like that falling into the wrong hands.

Porn shouldn't be a secret between two people that care about each other. If you like it, you like it. No need to lie. The only time it will ever be a problem is if the time spent with the pictures or movies is preventing me from having a good time too - or if the person they are looking at becomes too real.

And that ladies and gentleman - is what I think about porn.