February 2026

Roses are red,

Violets are blue;

Will we find the right property for you?

Same old heart, new young love. For four, in this month of love I discovered I could fall again. This time with a duplex with a grey and white and marbled aesthetic that suited my desire for minimalist and clean. A hint of calming blue with the back patio fence. Sigh. Though admittedly a desire contradictory to the family lifestyle. Kids and toys and mess. Barbies currently taking over our living room. I am grateful to be in this phase. I know it is all too brief.

The walking trails basically attached to that duplex also had my heart sing. The fall was fast, took my breath away, caught me off guard. This duplex and I, we met only last month, just up the road. Our meet cute an open house with free chocolate bars. Two of the things I love most. But alas, someone else has already made on offer on this one. I don’t think any amount of chocolate will ease the ache, though don’t judge me if I try.

I will say goodbye to this duplex and recycle the floor plan layouts I have spread all over our current home. Even went so far this time as to cut out mini couches and a table from my youngest’s craft supplies. I wanted to play with the lines as I moved the little bits of paper around atop the printed open plan living and dining room, basically a large square.

Not wanting the couch or couches to block the windows, wanting to face the fireplace, the television, the dining table for ease of conversation. And somehow also the kitchen. So much needed to happen in this one area. Maybe a revolving couch was needed.

Tip for future home designers: with a truly open living-dining plan such as this, consider skipping the low hanging dining room light and just using pot lights throughout. The low hanging light restricts where it makes sense for the table to go; put a couch there and one’ll knock their head when they stand up.

Though my heart aches, I have managed to find gratitude in this pain. Knowing that I can fall in love again, that perhaps this duplex was just a rebound. That maybe my next love will be truly and deeply, and as forever as a home can be.

And, in the meantime, having loved and lost again, I feel a fire in my heart. A motivation to re-list our current abode as soon as possible, so that my family and I don’t miss out on the next one. Because it’s not just me that I want this housing love for, but for my whole beautiful family.

January 2026

A new year and an old me. For three, I am settling into a new office space in our current “forever home,” I am getting over a cold and I am decidedly grumpy.

I’ve moved from a semi-private area of our basement to the completely private basement office. Why this space didn’t become mine when I was sent to work from home at the beginning of the pandemic nearly six years ago, and why this space still was not mine three years ago when I was awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant is complicated. And probably at least partly to do with the fact that I was not keen on the idea of being in a “cave.” But it turns out this room is very un-cave-like. Plus, it is just plain my turn. Equality.

With a huge, dreamy window (I love a good window) looking out into the heart of the trees in behind where sunlight filters brightly through in the mornings. And a baseboard heater that keeps me much toastier than my previous space allowed. This is a good space for me.

But I am not quite settled yet. For one, my spouse’s stuff is still taking up a third of the space (that’s okay, take your time, just not too much). For two, the walls are too white and bare, and so I am working on obtaining inexpensive art prints to rectify this (impressionist and post-impressionist are what I’m being drawn to, I have eclectic and highly emotional colour-focused tastes). And for three, it takes time to settle into any space and given that we might at some point be moving, are actively looking to upgrade (though we’re currently off market), I struggle with settling into this space when it may be so temporary.

Then again, we are mortal, and therefore, all our spaces are temporary. There is really no such thing as a “forever home.” Just like the infamous “jumbo shrimp.” So, maybe for now, I will just go with it. Take my counsellor’s advice and lean into the positives of the discomfort of the limbo state. Because this is where dreams are made.

December 2025

I have been busy with more things old and new. For two, I still do not know where my family and I will end up. I am working on building a new dream of a future dream home for us. It seems that all is fair in love and real estate, and before we could sell our current home another buyer swooped in like a seagull to a sandwich and snatched the one we wanted. The triple decker we had worked so hard towards that we could almost taste it. Alas.

But all is not in vain. The adventure is not over. Thus far this journey has led us to our amazing new realtor, and a few other people we’ve really been enjoying working with. Ask me and I’ll tell you who. Relationships are very important to me. And hey, now my spouse and I get to look at a heck of a lot more real estate. And I do like looking at real estate. Almost as much as I enjoy reading books, and that’s saying a lot. Pro reader here.

The other benefit of this adventure is the abundant learning opportunities for my children. Learning to distinguish between wants and needs and learning to be flexible with your dreams. Side note: I recommend IN YOUR DREAMS on Netflix; we’ve watched it three times so far.

Learning how to stage a home. My youngest enjoyed helping my realtor and I stage our home, and on my birthday too. (Side note: this was my choice to spend time on my actual birthday day this way, and yes, I am a little weird, but I am also wonderful.) Though perhaps my daughter did more chatting than helping. She gets her chatty-Cathy-ness from me. Just don’t call me Kathy.

Learning how mortgages work. My oldest asked me why we couldn’t just leave our home unsold and move into the new one and only pay for the new one. I explained about home ownership and how you pay for the home(s) you own, whether, or not, you live there. There is so much more I want to teach him about mortgages and real estate, so much more even than I yet know. And the key word here being “yet.” Things I do not know “yet.” But I am excited to learn. So, I will watch for the windows of learning opportunities with the light of knowledge keepers shining through.

May the light find you in these darkest days as we slide towards the winter solstice. The light of laughter with family and friends, and the seasonal/Christmas lights on all the homes in your neighbourhoods. May you have time for peaceful naps, good books, and decadent chocolate. And may you have plenty of time to dream. See you in 2026! 

November 2025

I have been busy with new and old things. For one, my spouse and I are trying to upgrade to a better townhouse for our family. More bathrooms, on a quieter street, closer to our younger kid’s school, which she’ll be in a lot longer than our older kid in his school. Where have the years gone? There would be a lot of benefits to this move. But someone must buy our current home first. That is the only thing standing in our way. We have done all the other leg, and all the other arm, work. It’s been quite the workout. I do recognize how fortunate we are to even be in the position that we are in. I do not take that for granted. But I am tired of living in a staged home with no personal photos on the walls. I am tired of living in limbo. One would think as a writer of many years that I would be used to the waiting game. Nope. I am feeling impatient.

On the bright side, while we wait to find out if we can move to our dream home — emphasis on the word “our,” as our dream home is not the same as your dream home, just as our normal is not your normal — I have been having a lot of fun with floor plans. As a wannabee interior-design-hobbyist, I’ve been sketching and planning out how exactly we would arrange our furniture in the new space. I took a lot of measurements around things like heaters last time we were at our potential new home. I want to find ways to optimize flow and best support my family’s lifestyle, current and in the not-too-distant future. Again, where have the years gone? I also dream of some new furniture and art pieces to collect over time to further support this vision. I want more for my family, and I want more for me.

I went from thinking of our current home as our forever home to — “thank you, current home, for your time, but it is time for your next family, and where the heck are they already?” — in a very short span of time. While truly this feeling has been building for a while, in the moment of recognition it felt like a light switch. Like I finally saw the wall of shadows for what it was. Like I took a bite from the apple and cannot go back. There is so much more out there. And so, my family and I have embarked on this trying-for-a-better-home adventure, and I’d like to think I know where we will end up. But the truth is that I do not. And that is the same with my writing journey. I do not know where I will end up. But I have hope. And I will try. Because I want more. For me. And for you.