Welcome Beau!

He has finally arrived!! After a month from meeting him, he is now finally ours. For those of you who don't know who I am talking about...it's our new West Highland Terrier, Beau!! Coming home on Friday felt like Christmas. I arrived before my parents had brought him home. I anxiously texted my Dad demanding to know their ETA. Fortunately, it wasn't long before he was in the house and cuddling in my arms. I spent the whole weekend at home with him, cuddling him, feeding him and teaching him where to go to the bathroom. It was quite fun and I can honestly say I haven't felt so full of joy in quite a long time. Just holding him makes my heart melt. There is something about puppies that get me so emotional.

Watching him investigate the house and making himself comfortable made all of the family just a little bit closer. It's safe to say, Beau is the best thing that has happened to our family in awhile. I know Dad is simply smitten and Mom and Katrina secretly love him, even though they were reluctant to getting a new dog.

Beau had many visitors this weekend....I think altogether at least 10. He is very popular already. Now I am faced with a dilemma. I live with my grandparents, and have been for the past 6 years. I live here because it is closer for me to get to work everyday, and I *sort of* have my own independence. While I love being at home, everytime I go for a visit, I feel very bombarded and annoyed. It seems to me that my mother can't wrap her head around my being an adult. A grown woman who can fend for herself. I know she means well, but whenever I am at home she is almost TOO attentive and TOO motherly. It's a big clash and I just hate the way things are whenever I visit. I wish things were different. But now that Beau is here, I feel like I want to be at home with him. I've been toying with the idea of moving back home for the past month, and Mom is so excited she is getting my old room all redone. In theory it seems like such a good idea, but I know I will go crazy if I go back. I have some deep thinking to do. I really enjoy the relationship I have with my parents now; I don't want to ruin it by moving back home and cramping their style and vice versa.

This Boomerang Kid thing is tough I imagine for parents and their children everywhere! Once you have lived away from home for awhile, you grow into your own person, a mature adult with a mind of their own. But with parents, you will always be their baby, no matter what. SIGH! What's a young adult to do?! Here is a list of the pros and cons I have come up with for moving back home.

PROS

-getting home cooked meals for FREE

-seeing Beau everyday!

-coming home to a CLEANER house

-closer to my hometown friends

-andddd did I mention Beau?

CONS

-super far and expensive commute to work

-dealing with the overbearring parents

-no privacy (it's a bungalow)

-fighting over the internet with Dad

-far from my Toronto lifestyle

What to do!? What to do!?

Broken

Look into my eyes
and tell me I am the one
The one that can make you believe it's real
And we are the exception

The exception to these rules
That everyone seems to live by
Break them, take me
And tell me it's a joke

You'll never know
Just how much my heart beats
So hard until it breaks
Now look what you've done

I'm broken.

Condo Hunt: Phase 1

So the search for my new diggs is officially underway. I have been humming and hawing over the idea of getting my own place for a while now, but now it is for real! I am nervous/excited/anxious all at the same time. Finding a place to call home is not an easy task. Everything has to be perfect: location, price, space...and just the overall feel of it. Last weekend I went looking at new developments in and around the Toronto area. They were all very nice, however, nothing a first time homebuyer could really afford on their own. On Saturday I went to look at some resale condos which were near the Lakeshore and very adorable. One place we looked at, I absolutely fell in love with. It was a stacked townhouse bachelor condo in Liberty Village with a little patio in the front. When I walked in, I fell in love. Unfortunately there was already an offer on it, and my agent advised me that it would probably go for more than the asking price which I simply can not afford. I am determined to find another one in that pocket or at least something similar.

Of course, everyone is advising me to take my time and not to rush in, which I don't plan too, however, since I am only looking for a small bachelor for myself, I don't think I will have a hard time choosing. I guess my main concern in all this is not having enough money to support my lifestyle. Cutbacks in my spending are definately in order--blackberry bill must be cut in half, no more buying "stuff", no more eating out, and no more going out every weekend. It will be tough, but I see this as a challenge to myself and I think with a positive mindset and strict budget I can definately do it.

Originally I wanted a one bedroom condo, but it seems like now I can really only afford a bachelor. I don't mind having a bachelor because they are perfect for me and it's all I really need. It might be lonlely living on my own, so I think I might get a cat or fish just so I don't feel so alone. Even though I would rather have a dog, cats are lower maintenance and can be on their own for hours at a time. But we will see what happens.....

Right now I am watching the Maury Povich show....oh how I love holiday Mondays! Happy Family Day everyone!

Missing the Arts

If you were to describe yourself to someone who didn't know a thing about you, what kind of things would you say? Would you describe personality traits? Facial features? Ethnicity? Job? Talents? When someone asks you to describe yourself, what are the first things that come to mind? How are we defined and what makes us different than everyone else?

I have been pondering this question because lately, I don't even know who I am anymore. I mean, I know who I am inside, but I often wonder what others think of me or how to describe myself in one sentence or less. When I was younger I used to describe myself as a creative girl with a passion for dance. Nowadays, I don't even know what my passions are because I simply do not have anytime to persue them. I feel like passions and talents are what make us unique and give us a streak of definition.

Yesterday while taking a BodyFlow class at the gym, I felt I had improved a little bit on my flexibility and muscle which made me very excited. This made me think back to my teenage years as a dancer when doing splits, jumps and turns were second nature to me. I miss those days of being full of life and energy. Dance was what defined me. All my life I have had a creative flair. Art was always my favourite subject in grade school and I have been documenting my life in journals for just about almost all my life. I've always had the passion for the arts and being creative has always been a characteristic I love about myself. But these days, I feel like I am missing out. Like I should be making more time to release my built up creative energy.
I have been thinking of taking classes in either sculpting, painting or photography. Or something in the performing arts like singing lessons. Unfortunately lessons in any type of art are very expensive. Thankfully I have found some reasonably priced clay and paint classes through Vaughan Parks and Rec which I think I will sign up for.

So what will the new definition of me sound like? Probably a 20 something fun spirited girl with a creative flair and a love for the arts. Or something like that! Not that I am trying to reinvent myself, more like reconnecting with my inner strengths and passions, reconnecting with the younger Tasha.