Monday, October 16, 2006

Landed

Hi again. We're now firmly in Toronto, starting to get settled, and have time to sit and reflect and breathe deeply. Ahhhhh.

The trip across Canada was long but much easier than either of us was expecting. The cat behaved (save for one incident that almost killed us), the drive was interesting taking us through places neither of us had ever been before, and we passed the time with long conversations and reading the newspaper to each other. After four days we were both ecstatic to get out of the car and we really haven't driven much in it since.

Our neighborhood is amazing. We live on a street lined with lovely brick houses that have been around for a lot longer than anything in my old neighbourhood. We live a block away from St. Clair Avenue which is a busy street filled with shops selling anything and everything you could ever need. In a one block radius from our house is a knitting cafe, a hardware store, fruit stands, a mexican restaurant, a thai restaurant, a paint store, a pet store, various coffee shops, etc, etc, etc. Also outside our doorstep is a streetcar stop that runs 24 hours and can take us to the subway or anywhere else in the city that we would need to get to. I'm starting to realize that there is little need to drive...ever.

Our house is lovelier than I could have imagined. It is HUGE by Toronto standards and even with three of us living in the house, we still have lots of space and privacy. We spent yesterday painting our bedroom from a disgusting sponge-painted mess to a gorgeous latte/mocha colour. It is my favourite wall colour that I've ever had. In the next few days we're going to get started on the living room and then we'll be able to really relax.

Everything feels like it's coming together, including the fact that I have a landed a great job. I will be working in the same field that I was which makes me incredibly happy. For a while, I felt like I was going to have to compromise what I wanted to do by coming out here but as it turns out, Eli and I will both have jobs that we are excited about. The one downfall is that my job is located in Oakville which is a fair commute each day. Still, there are trains that I can take which will take the stress out of commuting and will give me time to wake up before work and wind down after work. I don't think I'll mind the commute so long as I don't have to drive each day. I figure I'll get a chance to catch up on lots and lots of reading.

It still feels like we are on vacation but it's slowly sinking in that this is home. Eli starts work in a week but I still have two weeks before I'll begin work. In that time, I hope to find a gym, a yoga studio, get more familiar with the city, and explore!

The weather was absolutely freezing when we first moved here but the sun is shining today and I feel like today is reflective of the fall days that I was dreaming about.

I am feeling more homesick than I anticipated but I know that it's normal and is just me adjusting to such an enormous change. I can feel the stress dissolving with each passing day and I do believe deep down that I'm going to like it here.

I would love to hear how *you* are doing. It is so nice to get emails from friends at home (hint, hint, hint)...

More soon.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
-Bob Dylan

4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Glad to hear you two are safe, sound, and settling smoothly.

Alliteration is fun. Good luck!

10/16/2006 3:58 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

24 sleeps till i come explore with you...
i'm glad you finally updated your blog today, i was going to say something soon... *wink*
talk to you soon!!!

10/16/2006 6:02 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It sounds lovely, and so nice to have some time to get your bearings before starting work.

Here's to new adventures & meeting new fabulous people!

10/17/2006 11:01 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is a very interesting website about the TTC and Toronto St. Clair streetcar line.

11/01/2006 9:44 p.m.  

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