MOVED!

i have no desk yet, and my condo is packed with boxes and chaos, so i haven't had time (or space) to blog about the move.

but it's done.

and now i'm in my new home.

:-)

more later!

easy come...

last week, we found out the retail magazine for which i was entertainment editor has been axed. after one issue and months of negotiations, it imploded. so, that was the end of that.

today, i found out that i've been turfed by the entertainment magazine for which i've been writing for the past three years. the new editor, whom i never liked and who (i suspect) has wanted to phase me out  from the get-go, called me to say that she'll be absorbing my monthly column. so that's the end of that.

and i just bought a condo.

urf.

the next three months will be fine, because i'm on the mat-leave gig until the end of june. after that, though... ???

oh! i forgot one key sign from the universe...

the previous owner of my condo was named violet.

her nickname, though, and the name by which other residents called her?

val.

no joke.

condo update!

* i'm exhausted. i haven't slept properly in days, my neck locked on thursday night, i threw my back out on friday night and i've been eating crap... when i have an appetite. i'm still all nerves, all the time, and i don't know that it'll settle until i've moved.

* work on the condo has been slow. it feels like a mountain of stuff that needs to be done, and i'm moving it one pebble at a time. i tried to remove the painted-popcorn ceiling myself, but gave up 2/3 of the way through my first room. i've hired a pro plasterer to finish the rest of the ceilings. he starts on tuesday, and should be done next weekend (including painting the ceilings).

* in related news, i've gone from saying, "i want everything done before i move in!" to "as long as the ceilings are done, i'll be happy."

* mom and trix have been TREMENDOUS in terms of helping out. they're the only ones pitching in, so without them i'd be completely lost. i'll admit that i'm a little bummed none of my friends here have offered a hand. on the upside: i know the ones who live far away would all be picking up paint brushes, shuttling boxes or unscrewing stubborn doors with me if they were here :-).

* today, i met my other-side next-door neighbours. they are LOVELY! a couple, probably in their late-60s, who moved in two years ago. (you'll recall my former arch-nemesis lives on one side of me.) they were very welcoming and warm, and told me all about their kitchen reno. when i apologized in advance for any noise they might hear while the plasterers work, they said, "no problem! don't worry about it." they told me it's a great building, which is the refrain i've heard from everyone i've met there so far.