Naked on Jasper

Just read on Twitter via @GigcityYEG (you can read their article here) that Naked Cyber Cafe and Expresso Bar lost their lease (too many "unwelcome clientele", apparently), and will now have to move (hopefully, they just move and don't close. Also, fingers crossed they find some other cool spot downtown). This makes me pretty sad as not only was it a great spot for artists to hang out and play, but it was the location of mine and Emma's first REAL date (sans friends to act as buffers). And it was a GREAT date. We spent 3 hours there! Maybe even longer, and we were never told to leave or hurry up. We just sat there drinking tea, I think I had a puffed wheat square as well, and chatted all night! That was also the night that I locked my keys in my car and had to ask someone at Wee Book Inn for a coat hanger to try and force it open. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work so Emma got to meet my dad when he dropped off a spare key for me. Add to that the -30 temperature and throw in a couple games of Connect 4 and Guess Who, and all in all it made for a slightly embarrassing but amazing night. I swear it was that night that made me realize that this person was incredibly special and I'd be a fool to pass this by. And I ain't no fool (right, Mr. T)!

Best Birthday Present Ever?!

***This is a post that I wrote on Monday, March 21st  about two hours before Emma and I got into a head-on car crash that broke my ankle in 2 spots, requiring surgery and 3 months of staying off it entirely. Besides that Emma had a minor fracture on her nose, a cut above her eye, pulled some ligaments in her knee, and generally we're just incredibly sore, bruised, banged up, and VERY LUCKY! Any changes to my original post have this beside them: ***

Finally! Today w heard back from our real estate agent and lawyer that the condo that we had been waiting for since late January is ours! *weight lifts from shoulders

Cambridge Lofts here we come! Look at it! Isn't it pretty!?

Now this might not seem like a long time to wait for a new home/condo. I'm sure may people have 60 day waiting periods for houses, but we were not sure that we were ever going to get it as the seller had a mortgage shortfall AND was unable to clear the property title because of a loan that still listed the property as collateral. He said he had it paid off but since it was a "personal loan" the seller had to track down the person he borrowed money from and get them to clear the title on the property. If this were an episode of Property Virgins, it would have been a good one! Because the seller didn't give any indication that anything was going to go arwy for the original possession date in mid-Februrary, so we gave notice at our apartment for the end of February - thinking that this would give us tons of time to move all of our stuff from one building to the next. When the deal fell through we were pretty devasted (being first time buyers we had no idea what to expect) but we extended the closing date to the end of March (right around my birthday) and moved out of our apartment to my Grandfather's house just outside of Gibbons. That's right, Gibbons - the town of my youth. Not that I say that proudly. Gibbons is an okay place, it's just not where I want to be for an extended period of time. Plus, my Grandfather just passed away in December so being in his house without him is still a bit raw. There are so many memories in that house that it's hard to not feel sad when I'm there and he's not.

Also, I'm a city person. I like being in the heart of the city. In fact, when we lived in Oliver we felt that it was just a bit too far from the downtown for us. (yes, I know this seems ridiculous. I've told people this before and they usually just shake their heads and probably think I'm crazy). Plus, Emma doesn't drive and this is the only residential building in the city that has the LRT literally in its' basement. The pedway is also a huge perk - it basically allows us to avoid winter in Edmonton! Isn't that every Edmontonians dream? Minus, when it's a nice winter day and you'd like to go sledding. Yes, we do have to take our dogs out on walks but they are tiny dogs who HATE the cold and we have a massive patio that we can let them do their business on (and then clean it up, of course!). We'll just chase them around the condo for exercise. We've even solved the parking issue at Cambridge. My employer provides a parking pass for the parkade on Rice Howard Way. Done and done! (***My car is a total write-off. Having no car solves our parking issue, I suppose).

So goodbye Gibbons! Goodbye 12-13 hour workdays (I start work early and Emma finishes work late)! Goodbye 2 hours of commuting/day (***a commute that literally could have killed us)! Goodbye 6am wake-ups! Goodbye NOT spending our weekends hanging out with friends!

And hello...5 minute indoor walking commute to work! Hello spending lunches with our dogs since our condo is so close to our jobs! Hello massive patio! Hello hanging out with our dear friends on weekends! Hello finally making a space exactly how we want and envision it! Hello the hustle and bustle of the city! Hello underground pedway that connects to movie theatres, restaurants, our banks, the YMCA and all that other great downtowny stuff!

This will be one of the best birthdays ever! If this deal falls through again in a couple days...well, there will be a post probably along the lines of: I hate birthdays or maybe just a sad face:   :`(      

***Despite being in a car crash my birthday was surprisingly okay - think I was mainly just happy to be spending it in our new condo and with my lovely wife! So, maybe not the best birthday ever but definitely not the worse, either!