Today and the weeks past

Today was our tenth wedding anniversary. The weather here in Halifax not unlike the weather in Vancouver 10 years ago. It was wet, windy and cool. We started off the day with coffee courtesy of my friend Jesse, who had sent us some Guatemala SHB from Vancouver. Thanks Jesse! You have excellent timing. There was a phone call from my folks, which turned into a teleconference on Skype (yes, I finally unpacked my old computer and got it up and running). A trip to Walmart, window washing, dinner, house cleaning, and laundry. Not exactly romantic stuff I suppose, but we got to spend the day together.

A lot has happened in the weeks since my last post. I probably won't remember everything, but I will attempt to summarize the important bits.

1. I have started working at The Smiling Goat, a small cafe across from the Public Gardens downtown. So far it's just half days twice a week, but those hours will increase later.
2. We spent a week painting the house and getting it cleaned before we moved in.
3. We moved into our new house on 16 May. We're mostly unpacked, although there are a few boxes to go, mostly books and CDs. For those of you who are thinking of visiting, the guest room is all setup.
4. I discovered that our espresso machine had not survived the journey across the country. I suspect there was water left in the two heat exchangers, and that water must have frozen at some point, causing the boiler to rupture. Hoping to get it welded back eventually. Fingers crossed. For now we're using the french press.
5. About nine days after we moved in, Patty left for Regina and Ottawa. This left me, Nate and Snoopy bouncing around in a huge house, an odd experience that will probably take some getting used to. During this time, I spent a lot of time watching Flight of The Conchords. So much so that I found myself speaking with a kiwi accent.
6. While Patty was away, I took Nate for his first dental checkup. To my amazement, he did not throw a fit. Instead he was the complete opposite. He listened and did as he was told, he asked questions, he joked and shook hands with the dental hygienist and dentist. I was so proud of him! And to top it all off, no cavities!
7. My brother completed his tour of Afghanistan and made it back to Singapore safe and sound.

There's probably more, but I can't think of what it might be right now.

Come Wednesday, we'll be getting on a plane and flying to Singapore. I would be lying if I told you I was looking forward to this flight. It will take us some 30 hours of travelling to get from here to Singapore. The longest flight Nate has ever been on was from Vancouver to Halifax, 8.5 hours that seemed too long for him and me! People have suggested we drug him for the trip, but I think it'll work out better if I drug myself.

I hope to be updating this from Singapore, so stay tuned.

The hunt is over

We got the word at around 3pm this afternoon. In all honest truth, I had all but forgotten about the 4pm deadline today. When the phone rang, I was wondering who on earth would be calling me on Good Friday. It was our realtor Ernie, telling me we had just bought ourselves a house.

The sellers had agreed to carry out the repair work and clean out the ducts before we take possession of the house on 4 May. I was in the middle of a nap when the call came and for awhile I wasn't even sure if it was happening. After all the price dickering and waiting, I have to say the end was pretty anti-climatic. After I hung up, I think I turned to Patty and said 'Congratulations, you just bought yourself a house.', and went back to sleep.

That is not to say we aren't excited. We went out to dinner this evening with Jen, and stopped by to see the house on the way. In just a little over three weeks, we get the keys and start making it our own. Now we get to do some of the fun things, like go shopping for appliances, pick colours and hunt for furniture!

The inspection

We did the inspection of the house on Wednesday morning, and overall it went well. There were the usual bits and pieces here and there that needed taking care of, but nothing too daunting or scary.

The one concern was a spot in the ceiling of the kitchen that showed some water damage. The owners had pointed out a problem in this area and had indicated it had been repaired, so we're not sure if this is the same problem or an entirely new one. In any case, we want to have it taken care of before we take possession. The owners seem to be amenable to this, but they are getting their contractor in to look at it first before they give us a firm answer. So we wait till tomorrow evening.

On the plus side, neither Patty of myself seems to be swayed by these minor difficulties. We spent about two and a half hours in and around the house, and I did not once feel like I did not want it anymore. I think it grew on me even more, and I can see lots of potential in the basement and garage. Sure it won't all happen overnight, but I can see the basement getting fixed up over time and becoming a very nice rec space.

So fingers crossed it all will come together by tomorrow evening.

Four weeks in...

It's been four weeks since we left Vancouver for Halifax. Well, four weeks and a day I suppose. I was going to write this yesterday, but it just got away from me. As far as moves go, I guess this one has been pretty smooth sailing.

All our stuff arrived from Vancouver two weeks ago. It's all stowed away in mum and dad's basement. As far as we can tell, everything made it in one piece, although we haven't as yet unpacked.

Nate is settling in to his life in Halifax very well. He loves being around his grandparents, and is always telling us how much he likes it here. He is best friend to the bird, even if the feeling isn't mutual. It is quite a sight to see the bird, dog and Nate all follow dad around when he comes home from work.

We've finally found a house we both like. It doesn't give us everything on the wish list, but we always knew it was going to be hard to find a house that did. This one comes very close indeed. We did the house inspection this morning, but more about that in another post.

We've only been downtown a couple of times so far, once to go to the farmers market, and the other time to do some window shopping. Tomorrow we're going to take Nate to the Museum of Natural History. $82 buys you a family membership for a year, and is good for 27 museum locations throughout Nova Scotia, including the Maritime Museum. Not bad.

Myself, I am missing my old routine, but also enjoying not being the only set of eyes minding Nate. It's much easier getting Snoopy out for walks now. I occasionally feel I should be doing something more productive, but not enough to actually make me go do something about it. Besides, I think the house will provide me with lots of projects to keep me busy once we take possession. Every now and then I get homesick and wonder what everyone in Vancouver is up to. Otherwise I keep myself busy with Nate, Snoopy, and making to-do lists for the house. See, smooth sailing.

The house on Stuart Graham

kitchen kitchen dining room

living room

master bedroom bedroom built-ins 2nd bedroom upstairs

main floor bedroom bath bath

I didn't get too many pictures, because it felt weird taking photos of the place with the owner there. You know,...weird in a creepy kind of way.

Just when you think you have it figured out

We went to see the house on Edward Arab Avenue again Tuesday evening, to see if we liked it as much as we thought we did. And we did. So Wednesday morning, we called our realtor and got him to draw up the papers to make an offer on the scarey house.

While he did that, I went looking on the internet and found this house. It's in the same neighbourhood and almost the same size as the house on Edward Arab. It's carpet free, has a fenced yard, and their asking price is more than $40,000 less.

Another phone call to our realtor and Wednesday evening we went to see the house. It's had quite a few upgrades, most of the windows are new, there are four generously sized bedrooms, a half bath downsairs and a full bath with jetted tub upstairs. Long story short, we like it a lot.

Each house has its pros and cons. The house on Edward Arab is on a quieter street, with an unfenced backyard that looks out over a football field. It's got hot water radiators and a working fireplace. We would have to remove the carpets upstairs before we move in, and probably have a new tub installed as well.

The house on Stuart Graham is on a corner lot and bordered by a busy street to one side, church to the back and a short dead-end street in the front. It's got a fenced yard, a garage and is practically ready for us to move into. We would need to paint, but there isn't much else that needs to be done right away. It's got forced air heat as well as a working fireplace.

After a lot of back and forth and a rather sleepless night, we woke up this morning and put an offer on the house on Stuart Graham. In the end I think the extra money in our pocket made a strong argument for the house. While we like the house on Edward Arab, the higher asking price, coupled with the extra work we would need to do made that option less appealing.

Of course now I worry if I've made a mistake and chosen the wrong house.

The scarey house

View from backyard Kitchen Bedroom

office Master bedroom Bedroom

Rec room in the basement Living room Living room

When I first saw this house on MLS, I told Patty that this house scared me. It was big and ominous looking and just didn't look like the house I wanted to live in. We went to see it without much hope of actually finding anything worth our while.

It's a little oddly laid out. The front door opens up directly into a living room. Up three steps to the right and down a hallway is the other living room with working fireplace. Adjacent is the dining room and kitchen. There is a large master bedroom with en suite and deck, and three more good sized bedrooms with another bath upstairs. Finally there is a finished rec room in the basement.

The house is situated in a nice family oriented neighbourhood, with lots of walkways and parks. The school Nate would go to is a short walk away. It's very close to groceries and the mall, as well and the bus exchange.

It's practically a no-brainer. It's not quite the neighbourhood we were thinking of, but in many respects it is so much better than what we had in mind. We'd still need to do some work on it, and who knows if it would even pass inspection, but it's looking promising.

We've ruled out the house on Connaught, it's just a little out of the way for us. So for now the two contenders are the house on Almon and the scarey house on Edward Arab Avenue.

A house in the North end

This is a house on Albert Street, in the North end of the Halifax peninsula. You can see our friends Kevin and Karen's place from this house. They have 2 boys and a girl, which would be nice for Nate.

From the outside, a pretty uninteresting house. A rectangular block of brick and siding. Some nice touches inside though. I like the little teardrop windows in the door, and it's got a wood-burning insert in the fireplace. Good size kitchen and a dining room that looks out onto the backyard. There are four bedrooms upstairs, with attic access through one of the closets. There's also a one bedroom apartment in the basement, although we didn't get to see it.

For some reason it all felt a little cramped to me, I'm not sure why. Maybe it was just the incredibly small bathroom. Whatever it was, I'm not sure it's the house for us. It isn't close to any groceries and maybe I just had my heart set on an old Halifax house. Still I haven't ruled it out altogether. I'm trying to keep an open mind and keep our options open.

Stalking houses

I'm afraid the bulk of the postings for the next little while will be more of the same. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're even a little nosey like me, you'll probably get some mileage from them. I mean I've even asked to go see houses I know will not work for us, just because every once in awhile, one of them will look like this. Sadly that property was already under offer and we didn't get to see it.


The picture below are of a victorian house on Willow Street. It didn't look all that interesting from outside, but it all changed very quickly once we stepped inside





These photos don't do it justice, then again neither did the photos on MLS. It was a beautiful house. Large kitchen, one and a half baths, 3 bedrooms, good location, large yard and deck. Unfortunately, it was short a den or office space. I think our realtor saw us trying to make it work for us, and put a stop to it. She was right. Maybe we'd talk ourselves into it now, but we would be miserable a year later.


So when do you know you've found the right house? How do you know something even better isn't going to come on the market the very next week? Do you keep waiting for that absolutely perfect place to come along, or do you settle for the one that sorta fits the bill cause it's the closest thing out there and you don't want to lose it? So many questions. No answers. Maybe it wouldn't matter so much if I wasn't planning on dying in this house.

More from the hunt

The house on Connaught Street. We've always referred to this property as the purple house, because that's what it looks like on MLS. It didn't look anything like purple when we pulled up to it, and we're realizing that most colours on MLS bear no resemblance to the real thing. White balance people! Check your white balance!

Three bedrooms(carpeted) and a den upstairs. There's a living room, dining room, half bath, office and kitchen downstairs. We quite like this house. It was listed as a three bedroom, so we were pleasantly surprised by the office and den spaces. Access to two bedrooms are through the den, but it would make a nice sitting room/library/play space. The only real drawback is it faces onto 4 lanes of traffic, and the back yard is not exactly spacious. Nevertheless, at 334,900 it's pretty appealing.

The wish list

In no particular order:

• a character house that isn't falling apart
• at least 4 bedrooms, or 3 bedrooms plus a den.
• a working fireplace, bonus points if it's already got a wood burning insert
• a kitchen that's not a country kitchen, and has room for the Wega
• at least one and half baths
• a good size yard
• a living room and a family room
• cast iron radiators as opposed to hot water baseboards
• easy walking distance to groceries and services

So far the only properties that even comes close to fulfilling the wish list are the houses on Almon and Connaught Streets.

We were hoping for new listings today, but it's still just the same old properties out there. I keep telling myself that's it's only been a week, but the lack of anything new coming onto the market is pretty discouraging.

West gone East

Monday 16 March 2009. Our last morning in Vancouver was a blur. Shelley came to pick us up and take us to the airport. Between wrangling dog, boy, bags, and sorting out who went with Shelley and who went in the cab, I don't think I even said goodbye to Marcia. Not the exit I was expecting, but such is life.


The flight was mostly good. Nate's TV screen was working this time, so he was mostly distracted by Treehouse and Discovery Kids. We didn't lose any bags this time and Snoopy was reunited with us before the first bags started coming out.


Tuesday morning we brought the 21st century into the Ginn homestead. The internet got connected together with out new phone line.

Nate is all about his nana. and Patty and I might as well disappear. Nana has become his default go-to person when he needs something or when he doesn't get his way.


We've been to see 11 houses now, of which maybe a couple have possibilities. One of them is especially nice, but I'm not so sure about it's location yet. Our realtor tells us there will be lots more houses on the market come the end of March break. Hurry up and end already March break!


Thursday and Patty's office is all set up and ready to go. We've got a wireless network in the house now. Suddenly the back room is tech central and the house has gone from zero computers to three.

Friday now and I'm starting to realize that we are not here on vacation this time. For the most part it still feels like we're on vacation, but then I'll get an email or Facebook message from someone in Vancouver and it doesn't feel so much like a vacation. The enormity of what we've done is slowly starting to seep into my conscience, but it will take some time to process. I do miss my friends though, even if they don't feel that far away on the internet. I have always thought my friends were amazing people, but the emails and messages I've gotten since moving have really reinforced this. Sometimes the smallest things make all the difference, and it's nice to know that my friends feel the same way and have taken the time to let me know.

And finally, a short word on old Halifax houses. There are lots of them. Some of them are alright, some of them are very fine, and then there are those that are just crying out for love and attention. Stepping into one of those houses always makes me wonder how they got to such a state. It's a little sad. It can also be dangerous because I want to be that person who showers it with love and attention. I know I can't afford it, but it never stops me or Patty from seeing the potential and imagining what it would be like if it just got a chance.

all done

So the movers have come and gone, we are almost all packed up and tomorrow we get on a plane to Halifax.

Oddly enough, it is snowing today in Vancouver...an ominous sign of things to come perhaps?

I was hoping to say more on this last post from Vancouver,but my brain is all but shot after days of packing. I am exhausted, physically and emotionally and I haven't even had time to really say goodbye to anyone.

I hate goodbyes, so it is probably just as well.

I'll be offline for a bit...but hope to start posting again soon.

I am probably wrong, but this is going to be the last move I ever make. I have famously told Patty that she better like the house she buys in Halifax, because it is the house I am going to die in.

Thanks for the last 10 years Vancouver, I hope to come visit again.

Sure you can make plans...

...just don't expect them all to work out.

We had all sorts of plans for our last few months in Vancouver. We were going to do some touristy things, see some places we haven't been to, and revisit some old favourites we haven't had much time for in the last few years. Patty and I were going to go eat at some of the restaurants we knew we were going to miss, and while we did get out for a date one evening, the rest of our plans have mostly been just that. Plans.

Other things happened. We got sick. Nate got sick. We lost a week of daycare because Kristi's little girl got sick. There is a lot of sick going around here right now.

And of course we're also packing. Packing and also throwing birthday parties and going away parties. At this very moment the kitchen is full of cupcakes, and there are still more in the oven.

We've been busy, so this blog hasn't been seeing much action. Neither has my flickr photostream. I'm now three months behind in my pictures, and I fear that number will just keep getting bigger. Well, at least for the next few months anyway.

Some of the stuff that's happened in the last few weeks:

• Patty and I went out for a dinner date one Friday evening. Our friend Jack very kindly offered to sit for us, and we took ourselves off to Salt tasting Room for a very enjoyable evening.
• Nate turned three. He went to daycare that day and had a great time at Kidzone then work up from his nap not so happy. It got a lot worse before it got better, but by late Friday morning he decided he had had enough and pronounced himself well. I didn't quite believe him, but he was true to his word. Quite a neat trick.
• We threw an almost kid-free birthday party for Nate on the evening of the 28th. Really it was mostly for us to say goodbye to friends and give aways bottles of alcohol. But Nate didn't seem to mind, he got presents and he got to eat cake.
• And on Sunday Nate will get to go eat more cake when he gets his kid-friendly birthday party at the Roundhouse.
• In other news, by brother is halfway through his tour in Afghanistan. It seems like it's gone by fairly fast, but I'm sure that mostly because we've been busy with other things here.
• We thought we found the house for us, but it's already under offer and we're waiting to see how that goes. There will be other houses, and the whole process will be much easier once we are in Halifax.

So we are down to our last 12 days in Vancouver. I'm sure I won't get to do everything I had planned to do before we leave, but it's not really that important. I have had a great time here in Vancouver, and those touristy things, they'll keep for when we come visit.