Inn of the Wandering Dragon

So far it has been an eventful summer - and I have been lax in my posting so over the next little while I am hoping to amend that with some postings of the various events I have attended and things I have been up to. I have chosen to stay put and unpack everything that I had previously packed so my house is more or less back in order. My plan is to continue to sort and purge so that I have less to pack and less to move in a year's time. Chalk is definitely feeling better about this state of affairs. And the timing has worked out well for me, since I had to put a rather large amount of money into repairs on my car. I am quite thankful I did not have that on top of damage deposits and other moving expenses!

So for the past few weeks I have been checking the rental listings, visiting (viewing) prospective sites and in a couple of instances I even submitted applications. I have never heard from those I applied to. It is rather like a job search in that way.

I have been scavenging boxes from work and attempting to purge, sort and pack only what I really want to keep - with mixed results of course. ;) The end result is that my house is a huge mess.

And just the other day, there came a knock on my door and a rather embarrassed landlord.

It seems they did not think things through in a thorough enough fashion. They still need some rental income since one of them will be going to school in September. I have been offered a one year stay - naturally my rent will go up, that is a given. It is also a given that rent will be closer to what I will be hypothetically paying somewhere else. But the message is clear, they are hoping I will stay and they promise no more flipping around on the subject.

In truth it is the switching back and forth that is most annoying to me, more so than the time and energy swallowed up by my search. Although really, do I honestly want to unpack everything I have packed only to re-do it all 12 months from now? Conversely, do I really want to leave a big mess of boxes stacked around for the next year? This is going to take some weighing of the pros and cons for me.

I told them I would think about it ( I was in no shape to make snap decisions that evening) and let them know when I return a week later. I need to take an honest look at what my opportunities are and figure out what's best for me.

1 - Is there sufficient room for my art studio? Art Studio sounds fancy but really I just need space for my work table, bookshelves and room to open up my easel for painting. Having a dedicated space to be creative is very important to me as I know how irritable and moody I get when I have to constantly pull everything out and pack everything back up again. And I'm even worse if I have no space at all.

2 - Is it above ground? I have lived in various basement suites for almost 10 years. To be blunt - I want light! I will admit that if the suite has decent windows and does not feel like a dark dungeon then I could sacrifice being above ground if the space meets the first requirement. Although to be honest, the basement suites I am finding are all charging the same as a ground level or higher apartment. So why stay below ground?

So far my top two choices are a two bedroom condo with the longest commute to work and a one bedroom apartment that is a bit shy for space but is in a pretty good location. I shall see what Saturday holds for a potential 2 bedroom basement suite and then hopefully make a decision this weekend.

It's nothing personal, I have mentioned before that I live in a small space but it is practically a palace compared to the same small space upstairs that currently houses 3 adults, 2 large dogs and a cat. For them it is about having breathing room.