Life @ Our New Place

May 1 was the one-month anniversary of living in our new condo, and Andi and I couldn't be happier. My hardworking husband has said more than once that living closer to work has improved his daily life, and that's music to my ears. The kids and I are equally happy about spending more time with him.

The condo feels more like "home" with each passing day. I appreciate how simple it is to keep clean, how close it is to all the shops I like to patronize and how convenient it is to the major highway. There's construction all around us (on the highway; outside our condo), but hopefully it won't last forever. Crews are working to construct the final two buildings in our condo development, so there's literally a work site steps from our door. Tory and Aden are thrilled to see men in hardhats operating lifts and skid steers outside our kitchen window, but it took me some time to get used to it. Respectfully, the workers pretend they can't see me through the window brewing my morning coffee.

Tory has adjusted amazingly to our new home, and Aden and Chloe (the dog) are finally coming around. I knew they would, but the transition period was tough! Aden, in particular, cried every time we pulled into the condo parking lot for a solid three weeks. "No! I wanna go home!" he'd tearfully plea. Getting him to and from the car and through the lobby proved to be a challenge as well. He'd kick and scream the entire way, then refuse to take his coat and shoes off once we got inside. One of the parent instructors at the kids' ECFE preschool class encouraged me to imagine being a two-year-old through this life change: "It's like a moving truck surprise-attacked by pulling up, packing up his stuff and moving it to a new location. He's not sure when or if it'll happen again, so he's hanging on to everything tangible." It breaks my heart to see Aden hurting emotionally, so I'm glad he's finally beginning to settle. 

We've become fast friends with a couple living above us in our condo building. Jen and Steve have a two-year-old boy named Dominic, and it's been awesome to have a playmate close by. Dominic is adorably smitten with Tory (or To-tee, as he calls her) and they stop by often on their way to + from the garage. We've come together for a few play dates over the past few weeks, and when it's time to go home our commute is literally steps away. Easy peasy!

Having a sense of community was one of my biggest concerns about condo living, and I'm glad to see there's a great one where we live. There are five other units in our building and we've met all the neighbors occupying them. Honestly, I've spoken to our building neighbors more than I ever did in our old neighborhood. It's not uncommon to pass someone in the lobby area, whereas in our old neighborhood, people drove into their drive-way and closed the garage door behind them. 

It's been fun discovering new parks and playgrounds in our area. I developed a long list of parks near us to refer to, and the kids and I have made it our mission to visit each one this summer.

 

 

I'm itching for summer to arrive, so we can really take advantage of our new area. Our rooftop patio; the swimming pool and splash pad nearby; parks and a woodland nature center. Can't wait!