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April 23, 2007 The Stages of Hope-Dampening 
Stage 1: This looks like a nice neighbourhood. It's a few minutes from work by transit, there are nice parks in the area, grocery and drugstores close by.... Oh my god! There are townhouses for rent here! Two bedroom townhouses right at the subway stop. Wow, would that ever be perfect. I could still garden, Frances would have an outdoor play space when the weather is nice, I could probably ride my bike to work.... Hmm, the neighbourhood school is rated very highly too. I shouldn't get my hopes up. There probably aren't any units available. I'll send them an email inquiring about the townhouses and the regular units. Stage 2: There's one two-bedroom townhouse available for July 1! That would be perfect. I could move us in and get us settled well in advance of school starting but I wouldn't have to worry about paying rent for a few months beforehand. Boy it looks pretty. I shouldn't get my hopes up. Just because it looks good on the internet* doesn't mean it's not a dive. I'll make an appointment to go see it. Stage 3: Oh, it is nice. Look at all the playgrounds! Look at all the courtyards and gardens! Look at the kids playing everywhere! Look at all the big old trees. Wow, the school's right down the street. That's got to be less than a five-minute walk. And I'll bet you there are tons of kids from this complex who go there, too, and Frances might be able to walk there with some friends after a while. People have their own gardens--that's nice. Hmm. It's a bit small and no in-suite laundry but I can handle that. OK. I'll put in an application, but I won't get my hopes up. I have no idea how this works and they can still turn me down. They'll tell me Monday morning so one way or the other, I'll know soon. Stage 4: OH MY GOD! It's 12:24 pm on Monday and I haven't heard yet! Ok. Don't panic. This is why you didn't get your hopes up, remember? No big deal. Plenty of other fish in the sea. Stage 5: OH MY GOD! It's 1:36! I didn't get it! I am crushed! I am crushed and hopeless! I will have nowhere to live! There are other houses, there are other houses, there are other houses. Yes. OK. Stage 6: Oh! I got it. Yay! Stage 7: Shit. Now we really have to sell the house. ~~~~~ So I have an apartment. Or, a townhouse. Kind of a hybrid, I guess. It has two floors, a front and back door, two bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor, a living room and kitchen and storage room and half bath on the ground floor, and a patio/yard. But it also has a door on the top floor that connects to a common area, which is where the garbage disposal and laundry room are. It's a complex of eight or nine square-shaped buildings, with courtyards in the centre of each, and no roads between them. Parking is on the perimeter or underground. This means that the entire complex is basically a safe outdoor play area for kids, with playgrounds and gardens and an outdoor swimming pool. It's big, there's a lot of outdoor space, and it's very pretty. It's about forty years old so the trees are big and well-established. Lots of the tenants have their own gardens in their yard space; no one cares if you rip up the sod or paint the walls. Five minutes in one direction is an elementary public school that is rated very well. Five minutes in the other direction is a subway station one stop from my office. In between is a huge grocery store, a drugstore, a dentist's, a doctor's office, several parks and playgrounds, a Chapters, and a mall. I think there's a library in there too. A minute or two north is a very big public park/playground. In other words, I think I'm going to be able to bring the parts of living in a house I like best with me, while being able to ditch the car and live somewhere more convenient for both Frances and me (did I ever mention that Frances did not get in to the junior kindergarten program at our current local school. She did not get in. Period. Not for whole days, not for half-days. She would have been taking the bus--which I suppose could still happen, since I haven't registered her yet). And the rent is (to my admittedly inexperienced eyes--the last time I paid rent I was a student) very reasonable. A few hundred less per month than I was expecting to have to pay, and had budgeted for. Except for air-conditioning. No a/c, given the age of the building. This is going to kill me in the summertime because I have such a hard time sleeping when it's warm, but I'll adapt. Or die. You know. So now my hope-dampening mecahnism (patent-pending) is casting about for something else. We won't sell the house! We'll be screwed! Frances won't get into the junior kindergarten! I won't be able to find daycare! Speaking of school and daycare, I'd better get on that. In thirty minutes. For the next half-hour, I'll just be happy that I got the apartment. ~~~~~ *Besides the photographs posted on the rental company's website, Google showed me a person's 1,400-photograph flickr set of his family living in a townhouse there. It was a strange demonstration of the odd intimacy that the internet can promote between complete strangers. I will never meet this person, but I know he loves books, has a son with a speech delay, likes flowers, owns a small business, and moved at the end of last year into a house in the neighbourhood. And he'll never know that I exist. Posted by Andrea at April 23, 2007 2:24 PM under Decision 2007 EMAIL this entry (comments fields are below this section) Comments I'm so excited for you. It generally seems to me that when you make the hard decisions, (the right decisions...but, sometimes too, the hard ones )things have a way of showing you your on the right path. Posted by: TammiK at April 23, 2007 2:50 PM
Sounds like a great little place! I'm also in the up/down elevator today, waiting to find out things. Accck.
Posted by: rachel at April 23, 2007 2:58 PM
Yay! That sounds great! So excited for you! So the house will go on the market soon? And you're going to get rid of your car completely, or just use it for things like getting groceries and outings? And you could get a window mount A/C unit. I couldn't live without our A/C either, and it would bother you even more. Actually, I saw some really neat portable ones that don't go in a window at all. As long as they are near a wondow so you can vent it...like a dryer hose type thing. And you can roll it to whatever room you need to! Posted by: Tanya at April 23, 2007 3:00 PM
One by one your ducks are finding thier place in the row. Posted by: LauraJ at April 23, 2007 3:25 PM
Phew. This was a suspenseful one! Not relevant anymore, I know, but how can the JK not let in a local student? It was the public school system, right? Posted by: bubandpie at April 23, 2007 3:39 PM
Sounds ideal, all in all! Congratulations! Hrm. Did you say "outdoor pool"? *raised eyebrow* Posted by: Miche at April 23, 2007 4:36 PM
That sounds really, really nice. I love the idea of being able to give up your car. Very cool. About the A/C - You could get a window model, but there's also something called a Mr. Slim, made by Mitsubishi. It's a ductless a/c unit and allows you to cool just certain areas of your house, compared to central a/c, which cools the entire house. If you can live with just your sleeping area being cooled, I'd go with one of those. http://tinyurl.com/pjwds Finally, listening to TCBIM blather on and on about plumbing stuff has paid off. Posted by: julia at April 23, 2007 6:05 PM
Congrats on the new place - I hope it is even more wonderful than it seems. Posted by: Chris (mombie) at April 23, 2007 6:08 PM
Many congratulations to you and Francis - the place sounds great. And, you know, kind of eerily meant to be. :) Posted by: Zany Mama at April 23, 2007 6:34 PM
Bub&Pie, I know. YOu'd think. But the j/k program filled up, and there were no spaces left. On the first day of registration. After waiting in line for 3 hours. Crazy. Posted by: Andrea at April 23, 2007 6:50 PM
I had no idea it was _possible_ for public school j/k programs to fill up. So so strange. But congrats on the new place! It sounds splendid, and so perfect for you two. Posted by: parodie at April 23, 2007 7:16 PM
Congratulations! It really sounds like such a pleasant place to live. Posted by: kermitthefrog at April 23, 2007 7:21 PM
Congrats! I'm glad you got the townhouse! Posted by: Aliki at April 23, 2007 7:23 PM
Hooray! I'm so glad you got the townhouse! Posted by: liz at April 23, 2007 8:17 PM
I'm so thrilled for you--I've been reading your blog for a while and following your life's events. This one, while daunting and a little scary, is also exciting to read about. The townhouse sounds lovely, and the other comments about the a/c situation are spot on. I'm a realtor; I know that the amenities you found are worth their weight in gold and the a/c is something easily remedied. Congrats!!! Posted by: Mary at April 23, 2007 9:24 PM
Yay! Posted by: Casey at April 23, 2007 9:35 PM
Congratulations on the new house, soon to be home... Posted by: suze at April 23, 2007 9:41 PM
Glad to hear you've found a place. Might I suggest investing in a few good oscilating fans? That's all we've got but I know that it's often not enough in this new freakish summer that's been advertised as coming on the heels of spring. Posted by: Mad Hatter at April 23, 2007 10:25 PM
Great posting - the mounting tension, the win! the back to the bottom of the ladder. Posted by: mcewen at April 23, 2007 11:00 PM
So glad that you've had some good news. Things can only get better once you have a nice, clean slate to start from. Plus, you get to hog ALL of Francis' time cause she's your roomie! :-) A Posted by: Amy at April 24, 2007 4:47 AM
Thanks, everyone. Especially for the a/c advice. I had no idea that there were windowless options! I'll have to look for them if I find the summer nights truly unbearable. Posted by: Andrea at April 24, 2007 5:59 AM
Hooray Andrea and Frances! You deserve such a good find. :) Posted by: amy at April 24, 2007 6:51 AM
I too am both thrilled to hear that you got such a lovely little place, but shocked - truly, shocked - to hear that you simply did not get a space at a public school. WTF? Our school (albeit in the Separate system) guarantees a space for all eligible children, or so I was told when I angsted over Tristan's registration last year. Posted by: DaniGirl at April 24, 2007 8:22 AM
Yay!! It sounds like a terrific place!! Walk to everything is worth so much. We gave up lots of living space in exchange for being walking distance to school and Metro and shops, and I don't regret it a bit. Add to that the big trees and the communal play areas and the pool - what a find! Posted by: Genevieve at April 24, 2007 8:56 AM
Congrats, Andrea! The townhouse sounds really lovely. And no one over you walking loudly, or under you complaining if Frances runs around early in the morning. Fabulous. For those confused about the school spaces, I think I can explain what's going on: we have a provincial cap on students-per-class kicking in this fall. 20 students per class, K-3. Since there are a set number of classrooms in each school, they can only take so many kids. My daughter's school will have only 20 kids per class K-3, so they are admitting fewer JK and SK students. But they need to keep all the other kids they've already admitted (this is French Immersion with SK-only start) but where will those extra rooms come from? Classes in 4-6 will have more students. My daughter will be in Grade 2 so I'm happy for now. This year, her class is 26 students and the teacher is overburdened. Posted by: Madeleine at April 24, 2007 8:59 AM
YAY! Congratulations!! Posted by: Kristina at April 24, 2007 9:02 PM
Congrats Andrea and Frances! It sounds awesome!I'm so happy that this part of the transition will be a good one. :) Posted by: Nicole at April 24, 2007 9:09 PM
Hooray! It sounds much like your new place is going to be very similar to mine, except mine's a 1 bd., with the upstairs being a loft bedroom. If it gets too hot upstairs, we put a big box fan in the window blowing out, so that the hot air is sent outside. I bet Frances is the cutest swimmer in the world. Posted by: Abbey at April 24, 2007 9:23 PM
That's great news w/ the house! It sounds really nice (and love all the ammenities nearby!! ) If you're ever in the mood for a hybrid-warming BBQ let me know ;) Posted by: Dawn at April 24, 2007 10:31 PM
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