Blind Enthusiasm. The Blog.

New Beginnings

At the beginning of July we moved into a new home. Sometime in the last few months someone I was talking to or something I was reading compared moving to the act of giving birth. Having done both I can attest that this analogy tracks. It begins with the initial excitement; the declaration that things are about to change. Then, there is the fear of not knowing what’s to come coupled with the self-assured rationalization that many before you have survived this life altering transition and that you will be supported by trained professionals every step of the way. You spend weeks preparing – you make lists of things to do before the big day, you declutter, organize, draw up a budget and even pack an overnight bag. Eventually you awake on the long anticipated morning and declare, “It’s time!” and frantically double check that everything is in order. What follows is hours of back breaking labour where you attempt to squeeze things into spaces they have no earthly business fitting into while silently (or not so silently) cursing all the people who are just there to help you get through the day. It all culminates in a final push that leaves you physically and mentally wasted yet somehow still aglow with the hope and joy of life beginning anew. As you fall asleep, raw, sore and quite probably bleeding, you swear although it was totally worth it, you’ll never do it again.

P.S. – There’s a pretty good chance you’re gonna do it again.

Local Love

What my husband and I have come to refer to as our “Great Adventure” would not have been possible without the hard work of some incredible professionals. You all know just how much I love supporting local businesses and so I’d like to share my gratitude to the folks who helped us along with our move.

Renee Brown – Realtor with RE/MAX Real Estate – Renee helped us navigate a strange spring market and get a good value for our home. She is a kind, patient and steady professional and she worked hard to try to keep us all level headed during a stressful time, which believe me, was no easy task.

Cory Lawson – XCD Engineering – For whatever reason, a home inspector questioned the engineered beam we had in our home, which was installed during our renovation 10 years ago. We called Cory in to inspect and certify the structural beam. He was super efficient and got us his final report in a short turn around so we could get the deal done.

Dumitru Iancu – A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspector – Dumitru performed the inspection on our new home. He was thorough and professional. He even put up with our warped sense of humour when we pointed out a reinforced hook in ceiling of the primary bedroom over the bed and innocently asked him what he thought it was for. (True story! The hook had mysteriously disappeared on possession day, despite the fact that the previous owners swore it wasn’t theirs).

Melody Wilson – Realtor with the reLIFE team – Melody helped us buy our new home and WOW, she is the fighter you want in your corner on a deal. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a realtor battle through a negotiation the way she did for us. She also managed my anxiety like a pro and there were some great little perks we received from working with her like access to reusable box rental via ReBoxible.

Solomon Amer – Flex Movers – Solomon and his team moved all our stuff out of the old house and into the new one. I was in complete awe watching these guys play a giant game of Tetris with our belongings while loading them into the their truck. They were all so polite and courteous and most importantly, they smelled good. Seriously, that’s very important to me.

Damien Meardi – Henning Byrne – Damien is a real estate lawyer extraordinaire. He most certainly earned his money on our deal (actually he probably wasn’t paid enough) as the lender royally fucked up and at one point it didn’t look like the transaction was going to happen. But Damien made it happen, because he’s a badass and that’s what he does.

If you want or need an introduction to any of these fine folks, please feel free to send me an email at janice@camelotinteriors.com so I can hook you up!

BOOKS!

The only thing I love more than sitting down with a cup of coffee and a book is sitting down with a cup of coffee and a book at my cabin, which I did a lot of in July. Here’s what I read this past month:

• The Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown
• Yellow Wife – Sadeqa Johnson
• The Late Bloomer’s Club – Louise Miller
• The Paper Palace – Miranda Cowley Heller
• There There – Tommy Orange
• They Both Die at the End – Adam Silvera
• Less – Andrew Sean Greer
• A Carnival of Snackery – David Sedaris

I liked all of these books. In my opinion you can literally NEVER go wrong with picking up anything by Brene Brown. I’m obsessed with her, her research and her ideas. She’s my hero and I think she should run the world. The Gifts of Imperfection is just one of her many books that I have read and loved. With their graphic descriptions and heavy subject matter, Yellow Wife and The Paper Palace were most definitely not for the faint of heart and The Late Bloomer’s Club was a nice, fluffy interlude between the two very different but very intense books. I read There There for my book club and all of us agreed it was a 5/5 and They Both Die at the End was an interesting story for one to wrestle with their own mortality. I will add that it was not, in any way, ruined because the title literally gives away the ending. I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed Less but I also didn’t dislike it. Upon finishing it I read a review of that described the book as “both confounding and intriguing” and I would have to agree with that statement. As for the final read, I seem to always find myself with a David Sedaris book in my hand on my summer vacation. I marvel at the way he sees the world and his dark sense of humour always makes me laugh out loud, which sometimes makes me feel guilty but not enough to stop reading his books.

May I Also Recommend…

I absolutely love limited series that are based on real life events and I watched two incredible shows this month – Dopesick and Under the Banner of Heaven, both of which are currently streaming on Disney+. Dopesick tells the story of Purdue Pharma, the invention of Oxycontin and how the greed of Big Pharma led to the opioid crisis. Based on the bestselling book by Beth Macy, it stars Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson and Peter Sarsgaard. When my hair dresser and I were discussing the show at my recent appointment she said of Michael Keaton, “I could watch him load a dishwasher.” She’s not wrong.

Under the Banner of Heaven is also based on a book of the same name written by John Krakauer of Into Thin Air fame. Andrew Garfield and Gil Burmingham star as two detectives investigating the murder of a woman and her small child in Utah. It becomes apparent that fundamental Mormonism is at the centre of this crime, which leaves Garfield’s character to wrestle with his own faith. After watching this and tick, tick…BOOM I’m pretty sure I could also watch Garfield do any number of household chores and be happy.

As for podcasts, Malcolm Gladwell is back with a new season of Revisionist History, which is one of my favourites. He also has a new limited series called Legacy of Speed that looks back at the 1968 Olympic Games when two Black sprinters raised their fists in protest. It’s a fascinating piece of history and Gladwell takes us on a journey where we get to know the runners, their coaches and mentors and how this one moment changed the world. Oh, and if you don’t know who Malcolm Gladwell is, google him. He’s a another writer, alongside Brene Brown, that I cannot recommend enough. I think he’d likely make a good second to Brene in the whole running the world thing.