Not-So-Country Mouse

We put an offer on a house today.

Don't want to give out too much info yet 'cause I don't want to jinx it but it ain't the house in the country. I couldn't go through with moving out of town. I just ain't a country mouse.

Country Mouse and Not-So-Much Country Mouse

When we left our lives in Vancouver to find our new home in the Okanagan I knew there were going to be adjustments needed. I had grown accustomed to walking out my door and being a block or 2 walking distance from Starbucks, sushi, grocery stores, bakeries, street life, etc. (god, I sound like one of those chi-chi city folks). I was prepared to be making some changes in how I lived my daily life, and frankly, in how I saw myself. I was going to at long last let that vision of the swank city-girl die; my swank city-girl image had been languishing on shoddy life-support for quite some time. Moving to Vernon was the compassionate way of unplugging the ventilator let's just say.

So the question becomes, just who the heck am I anyway? I have a general idea, I'm a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, would-be-writer, knitter, cinephile, waaaaay overly anxious, waaaaay over analyzing, just trying-to-do-the-right-thing, Lady In Waiting. And now I'm working on translating that into this new, and frankly very much appreciated, phase of my life.

All this self-analysis is trying to go somewhere here... I am standing at the precipice of another major life style decision here. The question that begs to be answered is just how country am I willing to go?

There's a really lovely house that we looked at yesterday, we're in the process of house hunting. It's one of those standard 70s rectangle boxes, very family oriented and utilitarian, just what we need. The price is great (way below what we thought we'd pay for a house). It's in a great little neighbourhood full of kids. There's plenty of opportunity for the kids to ride bikes, and adventure, and play, and explore. BUT it's smack dab in the middle of cow country. And I mean Smack Dab In The Middle. This little 4 block by 4 block suburbanesque oasis is surrounded on all 4 sides by ranches. It's also a 15 minute drive from town, which I know doesn’t sound like a lot but in the last 7 weeks I've gotten used to the closeness of everything. I love that the library is 4 minutes away!

I am now wondering if I am up for the challenge of rural living. Can I relax and just enjoy the peace and tranquility of the country? Or is this just all too much for an ex-city girl? The angst-ridden and often annoyingly loud part of my brain is screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! But the more logical and sensible part of me thinks it may be worth a try. Hmmmm, I wonder which part of my brain will win...

When The Party Girl Matures

It’s been exactly one month since we moved here from Vancouver.

We left the small 2 bedroom downtown condo that my husband and I bought when I was pregnant with our oldest. We left Stanley Park. We left the hustle and buzz of streets that never sleep. We left prolific, cheap, tasty sushi. We left the 2 block walk to the spectacular views of English Bay. We left the uncompromising, unabashedly beautiful diversity of the West End. We left the rain. We left our standing super-fun family outing of taking the little taxi boats across the mouth of False Creek to spend the afternoon shopping and eating and bird feeding/chasing at Granville Island. We left our amazing friends. We left the home my children were born in. We left our community. We left the only place in the world until now that I ever really called home.

I miss Vancouver.

But I am very happy and at peace with our choice to move to Vernon. I love it here. The peace and quiet. The happy and friendly people. The slower pace. The lakes. The mountains. The wineries and orchards. The freedom that comes from not having to worry about what the neighbours are thinking as my kids leap off the coffee table and thud onto the floor for the 16th time thus rattling loose what I am sure are huge chunks of ceiling from above my very patient and tolerant former neighbours' heads.

I'm as surprised as anyone to hear myself say this but, life is good here.

Why I Am Loving Living In A Small Town

1. When in line at the supermarket, people actually offer to let me go ahead of them when they see I'm wrangling 3 boisterous children with my left hand while balancing the cantaloupe, jug of milk and deli bbq chicken with my right.
2. I can drive my oldest to kindergarten, my younger son to preschool, my husband to work and get home before the babe realizes it's been a whole 20 minutes since she last nursed.
3. When we go to story time at the library there is actually room for my kids to sit and participate without having to elbow the smaller and weaker children out of the way.
4. People are actually friendly, no kidding, for really and truly, sincerely friendly.
5. A flock of quails meandered down our street... like they belonged there.

My Smaller Heart

I am now on week 3 of small town living and I am surprised at how much I am loving it!

Life has definitly slowed to a mellower, less insane pace here in Vernon. It's funny how you don't really realize how manic and harried life can get. We were definitly operating at a pace that no one was liking, but none of us quite knew what it was that wasn't working for us. In Vanouver I was sure I was doing all the "right" mommy things. I had my kids at good schools, had them in enriching after school activities, set up play dates and outings throughout the week. And we were all exhausted. It wasn't until we got here in Vernon that I realized just how over-filled our days were. How over-stimulated the kids were. How way too much coffee I was consuming. It's no wonder I was turning into the snarky, grumpy, your-gonna-have-fun-and-love-this-or-else crazy mommy my children were learning to tolerate.

Here, we know no one. We currently have no friends to visit and the one activity the boys are registered in is a 6 minute drive from home. And it is surprisingly peaceful. And the children are happy. And so am I.