Popular Renovations Chronicle _ Year 2023

Over a month since my last post and we even completed yet another orbit of the sun!  Wishing you all a very healthy, peaceful, happy and wealthy new year!  May this New Year, a Rabbit one, be fluffy and cute and with only little turds! 🐇

The main work has been completed, a little before Christmas.  Is it done?  No, there are many (small) issues to be fixed yet.  But the bulk of it all is complete and after cleaning (again!) and putting lots of things away, we can now use our brand new and oh so beautiful kitchen.  The work that was done is beyond our expectations.

This was the kitchen the day we were moving in:

This is the kitchen, post renovations:

Can you see the difference?  Night and day, really!!  We have more cabinets, a bigger island, quartz, and now we can cook and store our shit away!

The other room where we had major work done was the main bathroom:

Haven't taken a bath yet in the new tub, but I will say that having a toilet back on the top floor is very, very nice and oh so practical!  Especially in the middle of the night!

Tomorrow some wallpapering is schedule to happen for the entrance and the water room... As for the last issues Dog knows when those will be addressed, I'm not holding my breath on those, but I will withhold final payment. 😉 

I think they were off still last week, so I'm hoping to hear from them this coming week, if not then they will hear from me!  We were supposed to have a man come in during the Holidays to fix part of the flooring in the basement, but he never called or anything.  Either he forgot or just didn't want to come back.  Since it was "extra" I'm not upset as we also needed the time off to crash, clean and unpack (again!) at our pace.  It was nice not to have to get up freakin' early to open the door to workers banging their way through the house.  The day we removed that blue carpet clingy thingy they had put all over the ground floor and stairs felt so darn good.  Even if the (original) floor is damaged (marks, dings, etc. did I mention animals lived here before?!) it was nice to actually walk from one floor to the other without hearing the crunching of little pieces of dirt, wall or whatever else and this even if we'd vacuumed.  I don't think I ever vacuumed in my life as much as I've done in this house so far!  Washing the floors, walls even (that fuckin' dust of demolition, sanding and wood cutting gets on everything and goes everywhere!) and actually having them stay "clean" for more than a weekend has been nice!  

We were/are both tired not to say exhausted from it all.  Managing our stress and life was/is a bit much at times, but we managed to keep it together.  We are thankful for how everything went overall because it wasn't a small job.  We basically had work in every room but one.  We love the designer's vision and how he made everything coherent from his choice of colors and textures.  We like how he respected our style and work with that.  We love the painter's work and how he repainted (the bathroom completely!) and other areas without bitching about it or overcharging us... We were lucky with the amazing contractor we had and his team (plumber and electrician).  Those men and one gal were super nice, efficient and did nice work all the while remaining helpful.

The one woman was the electrician.  That is her on top of the ladder in the stairs while installing the light fixture in the staircase, after one man tipped over and fell (nothing broken, thankfully)...  That gal was fearless. She got shit done.  She managed to pass wires in the basement's ceiling from one corner to the other side of the house without making any new holes!  It may seem like it's not much, but it not only save time from not having to redo gyprock on  the ceiling (then plaster, sanding, etc.), but the amount of dust we were spared from... that was no joke!  For that I'm VERY grateful!

I actually moved back to my office last Tuesday, to Hubby's delight.  We really don't share well! I'm slowly getting settled in my new space.  I'm setup as far as work is concerned, but for my craft I'm still working on it.  All in due time.  No rush, at least not for that!

So there you have it, the latest news on our Popular Renovations Chronicle!  

Take care, stay safe and watch out for morons!

They're everywhere! 

 

 

Ooopps I did it now!

If you've been reading this blog, you do know I've been toying with the idea to shave it off, my hair that is!

I didn't want to go all Alpha, that's a bit much even for me...  But I think it looks great on her.

When I got up, my hair was a mess, like it always is, but usually within a  few minutes with water and a comb, it's viable... today there was this fold that wouldn't let go. So today was the day!  Yep!



Here is how it went down. 

This is me before the shower...

The clipper is now charged and I go..
.

First clip...

A few more clips, and it's starting to take shape, or rather I'm starting to worry?!

Too far gone, must continue!

My hair wasn't 'that' long, but it is thick... and as I'm stepping it in is is so soft...

All mine...

There's this strip in the back of my head that I can feel still long, and for some reason can't seem to be able to clip... so I have to call the husband...  I think it scare me more to see his reaction than the end result of this crazy endeavor of mine... When he came in the bathroom, he looked at the hair on the floor and said: "Had a feeling this is what you were doing.  I could hear the low buzz..."
When asked what he thought:  "It's cute! and it will grow back."  He clipped my neck and asked for me to do his hair after, since there was hair everywhere.  He is such a practical man!

I actually kept one strand of mine, that I'm sending to my mother...  Remember as kids, that first haircut and mothers used to keep à strand to put in baby journal and such?  She will freak out, I'm sure, as she doesn't read my blog nor has she been on Bacefook for a while now... Sending it along with a few pictures.

So, here is what a Coronavirus, confinement induce haircut looks like!

To my surprise there isn't as much white/grey as I thought I had.  Even with by fat/round face, it doesn't look that back, me thinks, anyway.  And like Hubby said so well "it will grow back".

Sent a picture to my hairdresser and she loved it.  She didn't think I would do it, but I did!

It is done, and I like it!

Let's make this leap... again.

Ce soir j'écris en français ou plutôt bilingue... my brain feels like it.  Pouvez-vous croire que nous sommes déjà rendus à la fin d'une décennie, non seulement dans quelques jours nous allons changer le 9 pour un 0 mais aussi le 1 pour un 2, c'est fou!  Je me souviens encore de l'effervescence, du Bug de l'An 2000, pas juste parce qu'avec un geek, ou parce que j'avais décidé de le demander en mariage, mais bien parce qu'on craignait ce que l'an 2000 allait nous réserver.  Vingt ans plus tard, je dirais vraiment pas grand chose, mais bon... On est loin des autos volantes, mais pas tellement des villes sous les dômes.  Le monde a changé, et malheureusement pas (vraiment) pour le mieux.

Granted, côté technologie il y a eu de l'avancement.  Si on regarde nos simples cells, petits et plus puissants que les gros ordinateurs qui remplissaient une pièce complète à un certain moment donné.  Ne serait-ce que la caméra de notre cellullaire qui est souvent plus performante que bien des grosses caméras qui en plus pesaient une tonne avec tout plein d'équipement. Les temps changent.  Greta peut bien retourner chez elle, ce n'est pas le fait de marcher qui changera l'attitude des gens.

En ce temps-ci de l'année j'en profite toujours pour faire une introspection, je regarde l'année qui s'achève et repense aux moments passés: lost a dear friend last January, suddenly, which always makes it harder.  Ai repris un ancient client pour ses livres en mars. Looking back at my calendar there wasn't much going on, attended a few meetups, still doing Postcrossing, catching up with some friends and relatives, la petite routine quoi.  Le petit train-train quotidien, qui devient vite le train-train hebdomadaire, etc.  Petit train va loin comme on dit souvent, ou dumoins on l'espère.

I've also re-read last year's post (you can read it here, if you'd like), and despite some efforts on my parts, to remain low key (as in below the radar), to try to play nice and all that, I'm still hurt (yeah, hurt I guess is the right word for how it feels) when I hear about someone not being comfortable talking to me (for no apparent reason, since we've never really spoken) because "you know..."... I don't know, please do tell.  I haven't reach that venerable age (yet!) where I really don't give a fuck about what people think about me, I'm trying to let go and not care, and yet, there is that part of me which needs to know what the fuck did I do to this person for them to not like me...  I know (I fully understand it) I should not care, and yet, there is that part of me that is being tickled by it all.

Mon objectif pour la prochaine année: ne plus m'en faire avec l'opinion (positive ou négative) des gens.  J'essaie d'être une bonne personne, j'aide lorsque que je peux, je contribue à la société (en plus de payer mes taxes et impôts, oui! oui!).  I'm rough around the edges (actually I'm quite round, so there shouldn't be any hard edges, just sayin' ), I call a spade a spade, I'm honest, I try not to lie, and I'm very loyal.  Granted I have no patience for stupidity, so if people fear me because of that, then maybe, just maybe the problem is not me.  I don't want that type of people in my environment.

I MUST remember this:

Sur ce, je vous laisse et vous souhaite une nouvelle année remplie de santé, bonheur et amour!

Wishing you a healthy, happy and lots of love for this New Year ahead.

All the best!
xox

Week Ten: Moved, Cleaned, Deposed, Served, etc.

Part one of the move is done!  Yay!  On a really crappy weather day (freezing rain, ice, windy and cold), we moved out of our condo.  We have too much stuff, no joke!  They filled out the truck and had to go unload and come back to finish off the loading.  It took them seven hours, at 3 men.  After I've washed the floor, we meet up with the new owners for a last tour, handed them the keys and that closed a chapter of our lives.

Our temporary apartment is finally acceptable.  The place wasn't just dirty, it was fuckin' filthy!  The counter and cupboards were sticky to the touch that's how bad it was!  After my first visit, with the friend who suggested her friend's place, when she asked what I thought of the place, I had told her it was dirty.  I had no clue it was that dirty.  When I came back with Hubby, to have a tour of the place and get the instructions for the heating system, regarding her tenants, the garage, etc.  Hubby also noticed the place wasn't spick 'n span, but it would do.  The price was right.  We are paying fifty dollars/day instead of one hundred thirty/day for a furnished (electricity, heating, internet, etc. included) apartment, with a garage.  It is not new, and there are some irritants but overall it's not too bad.  The cleaning I did in Bodø was nothing compare to what I did here.  In Bodø, the worst of the place was its smell (leftover from previous tenants who were smokers).  Here, it just was dirty.  Let's just say that when we will leave, the owner will come back to a fresh cleaned place, an early Spring Cleaning!

Since week one things have been moving fast.  We've done things to adapt to the speed of it all.  Despite being in boxes, and running around we managed to do our duties as administrators of our condo association, meet with the new administrators, get the banking in order, and deal with troublesome co-owners.  Thursday night we had a meeting with said administrators.  Like every time we've met this far, it always takes about +two hours.  This time, we weren't hosting it and drove to Laval.  At the end of it, the administrators showed us a document they had received - some of the co-owners of our condo association want us off, not just us (Hubby and I) but all three of us.  I was a bit surprised at first, and then laughed it out.  The other admin took it personal.  She's been on for over two years, and to be deposed like this, hurt her.  I've tried contacting one of the person who did sign the document (upon suggestion of the administrators) to find out the reasons why (which I'm sure is related to the upcoming changes in the condo fees), but I haven't heard anything back.  I will say this, if they do want me out, I will gladly leave, and be done with that.  I wanted to finish my mandate, until September, but thinking about it, I think I want out and really close that chapter.

Friday afternoon I was surprised by a knock at the front door.  There stood a man who handed me a subpoena!  I now have to go, as a witness, to a local court for a case between the tenants and the owner of the condo above our "old" place!  Just when I thought I was about to be done with that place, I'm being dragged right back in!

This afternoon we had lunch with the FIL.  It was a combo of late birthday lunch for Hubby, catching up about the sale of our condo and move to the apartment and some news he wanted to inform us about.

Turns out he will be going for surgery within two weeks, for colon cancer. Just like his wife... wonder if it has something to do with how they fed themselves?  I find it reassuring that Hubby has gone for colonoscopy already and will keep doing so giving his genetics history.

Damn cancer, it's everywhere!

And how about you, is life treating you good?  It is is, enjoy it!  Fully!  'Cause we never know what it has in store for us, that is for darn sure! As I've been telling Hubby, can't wait for the month of May!  Maybe by then, things will calm down some, and we will be able to relax and not constantly run to, for or from something!

One Down, Poke and Gemma

I can't believe that we are already the 11th of the month and that one full week of 2016 has gone by already.  What a week that was! 

We ended 2015 being quite busy, with our move back to our place, with work and with life in general.  The past week was quite the week.  We had meetings every other night.  We meet with potential new managers for our condo association, and in doing so, we all came to the realization that the one we currently have sucks.  It is hard to see that for the past eight years we've been taken for a ride and didn't even realize it.  I had to become an administrator on our condo association to see that things weren't right.  Since September I've been doing a lot, for the condo association, which I thought were my duties as an admin.  Turns out, I've been doing too much and most of it should have been done by the manager.  Let's just say it was an eye opening week. 

We also decided to put our place up for sale.  Yep, Hubby is royally fed up of it all, so we met with a real estate agent and signed a sale contract.  Let's hope everything goes as smooth as it did for us when we sold our house in Rockbottoms.  The market isn't the best, especially not for condominiums but we have to get out of here.  It actually saddens me a little, since I really enjoy our location.  We are so close to everything, but at the same time, condo life and all its problems isn't really for us.  We will see where that move will lead us...

Like Hubby often says, we poked the Universe, let's see if it makes sense or if it's dangerous...

The weather has been so strange, it's almost scary.  Some days feel like Spring, mild and rainy and then the following day we hit -10 degree Celsius, so much variation from one day to the next.

I've already broke my "resolution" to try to participate less in games re. postcards.  I did send less, but still sent.  It's almost as bad as for chocolate, no will power when it comes to postcards!  I am weak!

I haven't let go of the group just yet... I have to step away, or step down, whatever it is... it's not easy... I enjoy it despite episodes here and there.  I think about it daily, so it will happen.

Today I did a little test/quiz to know which Sons on Anarchy Character I most resemble and oh big surprise, I'm Gemma!  "You are ruthless, and sometimes considered heartless. You will do WHATEVER it takes to protect the ones you love. You have no filter and say whatever comes to your mind, which will most likely cause problems for you, but you can handle your own!" ah!  go figure!
I will admit, the no filter and say whatever comes to mind is true, and like Gemma I can handle my own!

Let's see what the future hold and please send good vibes our way so that we sell this place!

I had a dream...

Postcrossing has been very present in my life in the last year.  I got more involved, I've been sending more and receiving more as well.  I've attended and organized meetups, those meetings where we meet others nuts just like us about postcards.  We all have different reasons to start (and continue) this snail mail journey.  For some it is to meet new people, one postcard at the time, others it is because of a collection, for some it is their way to travel to see the world, but whatever the reason we love postcards.

Because I am the way I am, upon a suggestion, I created a group, for Canadian Postcrossing members on Bacefook.  There are a few groups for French speaking people and there is also one for Québécois,  so I thought having a place for us Canadians would be nice.  We could talk about our cards and our issues, etc. with other Canadians.  It is after all a bigger market than Québec alone.  It wasn't about swaps, or trading, but more a place to go and meet other crazies about cards that might end up being close to us.  It started out well.  I went on a crazy invite fest, basically emailing all Canadian persons I would come across on Postcrossing. I wanted it to work, to be alive!  I will say this, it is going.  We are close to 200 members and it's not been a year yet since I started it.  I've thought  of games to do, to get people involved, of a monthly draw, across Canada using our motto "A mari usque ad mare" as the name of it, I made it ours and shared with all.  I've had some rough times, and still do, when I have to refuse some because they were not Canadians.  I felt discriminatory, but at the same time my initial thought was "for and about Canadians".  I don't want to be closed minded;  I want to remain true to my vision. 

Like everything else in life, things change.  I'm good with that, and I welcome change, I think it keeps us on our toes.  Does that mean I want the purpose of the group to change?  Not really.  I still aim for a place where people will be comfortable enough to ask those "stupid" questions (I write "stupid" because often when we don't know something we think it's stupid), you know like how do I look for a specific user on Postcrossing or where can I get good cards in such a city, a place to share their stats with others about how many cards they have received in the month, or bitch about the price of stamps, etc.  I felt taken aback when some members would only post pictures of cards they wanted to trade, not ever writing a comment or anything just offering trades.  It started slow, once in a while, and then it got to more.  I had to intervene, since I didn't want that to be the only thing on the wall of the group.  Some people did complain about it, I'd say as many from those who wanted to trade as from those who didn't want to be bombarded with offers to trade.  I did try to go about it smoothly, offered other venues, like the Postcrossing Forum is a great place for such, suggested to do it by messages, etc.  It rocked the boat.  To be honest, my true nature (and if you know me IRL, you do know this) came rushing back and simply wanted to remove some from the group, but I also believe that this is now our group, so I tried different options - I wasn't about to become a dictator because of a few people, even if the urge was tickling me big time!


That died down some, but I have to keep reminding people every so often that trades should be made elsewhere. I don't like doing it, but like even less seeing those posts. But like many things in life, when it's not one thing it's another, right?  The past few weeks, actually even before Christmas, I saw some posts that made me wonder.  I know that some people have a visceral need to bitch and moan about nothing and everything.  They are simply miserable when things are smooth, they need commotion in order to feel alive or something.  I've reach a point in my life, where I try to avoid drama. Oh, don't get me wrong, I will not walk away from a good fight, if there is a need for me to fight.  Kumite is in me.  No doubts whatsoever about that! I'm confrontational and I totally assume it, but I will not provoke an argument for the sake of provoking.  I will ask questions, I will do perception check and ask why someone is being rude, or what the problem is, and if I'm attacked I will defend myself without hesitation.  Often my husband will tell me to drop it, whatever it may be, and I rarely do.  I will address the issue then move on. That is my way.  In every aspects of my life.

Because the group is getting bigger, the variety of it kicks in every so often.  Not everyone share the same opinions, and that's the part I enjoy, the differences, but I'm realizing that for some the difference of opinions means something more.  I agree that people can disagree, that one can't please everyone, that we're all entitled to our opinions, blah, blah, blah,  but it comes a time in ones life when one realizes that life is short and that we should enjoy it.  When I see people getting upset about futile things like a blank profile or a receiving a card that doesn't match their profile, I can't help and wonder the importance of Postcrossing in their lives.  When I get a blank profile I see it as an occasion to send any card I like or not.  When I get a card that I really don't understand why it was sent to me, since I don't care about dinosaurs (as an example), I'm thinking maybe the sender did really like dinosaurs and wanted to share his liking.  I will thank him the same way I would any other members.  Since I've started Postcrossing, I only got one "empty" message from someone on 365 cards registered, so overall I'd say members are quite polite ans respectful.  I've had more issues with some members of the group than on Postcrossing directly, granted with Postcrossing it is often limited to a one shot deal. I understand that we all have frustrations, and we all express them in different ways.  Some will take the direct approach and will voice their opinions, others will walk away without saying anything, and some will observe.

I believe that in everything we do we have a choice.  Unless you have a gun pressed against your head, you ALWAYS have a choice.  You may not have the guts to make that choice, you may not have the strength or the will to take that first step towards that choice, but we always have a choice.  When I felt that my parents rules were too much for me, I moved out.  When I felt that I wasn't having the same interest or passion about something, I've looked for something else.  When I thought that things weren't going the way I felt they should I did something about it.  I don't understand how someone can be unhappy, miserable or upset and choose to stay.  I've asked people to come aboard and never thought I've had to ask people to leave.  If you're not happy with what is being done in/for/with this group, then go.  Start your own group and stop bringing everyone down.  I've once told my mother who complained about my father's past behavior that the moment she decided to stay with him she relinquished her right to bitch about him.  She had made a choice, and now had to assume the consequences of her decision.  It's the same for this group.  You decided to become a member.  You don't like the way it's run, or the games we play, then leave.  I'm not holding anyone down.  I will not like to lose members, but if it is an unhappy member maybe it will be for the better of the group.

This group was created with good intentions, lots of ideas and expectations.  I'm proud of it and I truly enjoy it.  I don't want this to become a bore or even a chore.  There are some really cool people among the group and I truly wish that we find a middle path where we can shoot the shit about our empty mail boxes and not getting any rare countries in so long, and those damn expired cards, and not waste so much valuable time about piddly little things.  We should embrace our differences, and rejoice in the fact that we can send postcards to complete strangers who get a kick out of our card, or not, but no matter what it was fun...  'cause after all Postcrossing is:

The goal of this project is to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world, for free. Well, almost free! The main idea is that: if you send a postcard, you will receive one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world.
Why? Because, like the founder, there are lots of people who like to receive real mail.
The element of surprise of receiving postcards from different places in the world (many of which you probably have never heard of) can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises - and who wouldn't like that?

Something to remember on my way to get the mail, surprises are way better than bills any day of the week, right? Right! 

We have to answer for it...

Today while I was at the salon, I was asked how I felt about the recent events, the terrorists attacks that have occurred within the last few days on our soil. At first I didn't think I should really express my opinion. But then again...

You see I have an issue with how loosely we use "terrorist attack", how fast we call a violent nut case a terrorist... It upsets me to see people jumping to conclusion about a violent act and blaming religious beliefs,  or whatever else. Why can't we just say a crime, a violent attack or act?  To say terrorist and throw in Islam is just turning things around so that we get scared and worried. 

The media is to blame for a lot of it, but there is also the authorities, how they manipulate the information that is being spread, shown.  They're leading us to believe certain things, and to be honest I'm not convinced we are told the truth.  It would be irresponsible of me to completely trust the system as it is.

Remember Denis Lortie, back in 1984 - the lunatic who walked in the QC Parliament and shot people?  He did kill three people.  Funny, how to this day, I've never heard anyone refer to him as anything other than a crazy man you blew a gasket.  There was never any mention of terrorism - granted back in the 80s it wasn't a world as popular as it is now.  Nowadays every damn crazy act is labeled terrorist. That does get to me.  It makes me mad, that we're being scared not only by actions of crazy people, but by words.

I think it is very sad to see so many of us, being scared, outraged, etc and at the same time somewaht unconscious or refusing to see that if you mingle in other people's business there are chances you might get involve in it too.  If one stirs a pot, you will not only smell what's cooking but you might get burned as well. 

As Canadians we've always been "nice", "peaceful", good citizens of the world.  We used to mind our business.  Lately, we've been following our Southern neighbors maybe a little too much, and now we may be starting to feel repercussion of it all. Until now, we've always felt safe. 

Last week, I've met an old man who did the Korea War and we talked some.  I was telling him about this idea I had to send postcards to our deployed soldiers, as a thank you and encouragement for their sacrifice (and yes, even if it is their choice), idea I shared with other Postcrossing members on Bacefook.  This week these sad events happened, yet again reminding me that I do support our troops, even if I'm not sure they should be where they are.

I don't do politics.  When I saw this, I liked the message.  I like the message on how to react.  Let's not be scared but think.  Let's not jump to conclusion but evaluate.  Let's not turn American (sorry to my US blends) and remember that we are Canadians, and what it means...

Everything is melting and it smells like shit!

This time of year always sucks for me, in some way or another... It dates back to a long time ago, I've questioned myself as to understand if it was a learned mood/behavior from my father or if, like him, this time of year just suck... I think it's a little bit of both. 

The past few weeks I've been struggling with an idea to drop some clients, and maybe keep one or two and that's that.  I've been adding a few new ones lately and even if they seem like good ones a part of me is fed up of having to pick up other people's shit.  While talking with a friend last week, I came to realize that  I really was a pooper scooper for many of them.  They fuck things up and I fix them.  I do enjoy what I do, but having to pick up after others is getting to me.  I chose not to have kids because I didn't want that job, and yet I put myself in a position where I play mom (in ways) for clients.  Is it all because I can't say no? 

I've been wondering why I'm having a hard time dropping clients; other than the financial aspect of it all, a part of me likes to be needed.  I don't want to disappoint my clients.  Some say it's my professionalism, it is but it also more than that if I'm really honest about it.  I did manage to fire (indirectly) a client recently, and when she informed me of her decision I felt relief and at the same time that I was letting her down in some way.  I'm over that feeling now.  It is good. 

Spring always bring up new things right?  We often think of Spring as a beautiful season with blooms, the colors coming back to life, etc., but when I think of Spring I think of dirty snow melting and having a really dirty car, and of all the little turds showing up here and there because of disrespectful dog owners who don't pick up after their dogs...  It looks dirty plus it smells. Argh.

That being said, I do enjoy the thought of warmer weather, even if this year we are not that blessed with that yet.  One day is nice and sunny and the next it's back to winter, it sucks!

I'm in a mood for change, so I've made a few format change to this blog and I'm toying with the idea of changing my hair color, to go lighter... Let's change the things we easily can to start with and let's see where that leads us.

Cheerio for now!

Just like that.

Funny how fast things can change. Here are some examples for our lives:

1. We, despite working with computers, etc, are not really trendy when it comes to gizmos. We like our toys, but computing wise we weren't up to date. Hubby got a tablet from his client and according to him, I've taken very quickly to it. I will confess that yes, I'm addicted to "Angry Birds". I love it! I love how easy it is to check something on the web while sitting on the coach while watching a movie. Yes I could have used my laptop, but the tablet is faster when it comes to turning it on, etc.
    
2. We both had old cell phones, the type we can make calls with. That changed recently when we decided to get ourselves intelligent phones. Since we had practice with the tablet, adapting to the phone was fairly easy. I'm even adding some Apps, go figure!
    
3. From being quiet at home with no real plans other than to relax and do some chores, our "social agenda" went from blank to busy, in a question of firing off a few emails.
   
   Yes, things can change fast, let's not forget that, and enjoy it while we can!