Big changes

Ok, so I've been just a wee bit behind in posting.  Mea culpa, mea culpa - but I've been busy.  Let me hit the highlights and reassure you all that more will be in the offing.

My sister and brother-in-law bought a foreclosure house in mid-March and spent a frenzied two weeks renovating it.  I spent as much time as they could use me for over there, mostly painting.  To give you an idea, it's a house with a main floor, upstairs and developed basement; they painted all the walls, replaced all the flooring, completely gutted and replaced 2.5 bathrooms, painted and rehung all the doors and changed most of the fixtures and lighting.  It's not all done, but Meg was 8 months pregnant when they took possession...

Speaking of which, she is now one week overdue.  Those who've met her know that my sister is not a large woman - she's 5'3" if she stands up really tall and she married a guy who's over 6'.  She grows big, healthy babies too, so at the moment, her belly looks more like some ill-designed addition than an actual part of her body.  So far everyone seems healthy though, so here's hoping the kid makes an appearance soon!

And the really big news is that, pending removal of conditions, Stuart and I bought a house this morning.  I don't care what the calendar says, I don't feel old enough to be purchasing real estate.  However, after years of living places and thinking, "If I lived here, I'd do this..." there's definitely some cool factor knowing that if I want to spend the money and do the work, I can do whatever I want!  Is it our dream house?  No.  But it's solid, nicely laid out, and in a great location for our current situation.  (The giant off-leash park is a block away and Fish Creek park is a 10-15 minute walk.)  Looking at our original list of "must-haves, nice to haves, absolutely don't wants" - we got about 85% and the missing bits were in the bonus stack.  It even has a gas range!!!   Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really have to try and get some real work done though, so I'm off.  Rest assured, I will try and keep you up to date on developments.