Condo Blues, instead of Greens

We are living in our temporary home. After a short stint staying in our 350 sq ft guest home, the decision was made to find better accommodations. So after a week long search, we found a brand new, furnished condo on the island. Now, I have never lived in a brand new anything, nor have I ever had a brand new car. So I was very excited to live somewhere new, updated, not needing any work, but most of all clean. So we sign the papers and make the deal. Here's what we have discovered. When you move into a new home, the smell of a new place that is not eco-friendly is extremely overwhelming. We have kept our patio door open for the past 2 weeks despite cold weather to attempt to air it out. Everytime I open a melamine built cabinet, I get a whiff of the toxic VOCs. The first day that we spent the entire day inside, I started to feel dizzy and as though I was looking out of a dark tunnel. Needless to say that rain or shine, my kids and I are walking downtown and going somewhere else with fresh air everyday. Which is actually a blessing in disguise. Afterall, it is the holidays and the town is dressed up with lights on.

But then, the lights went out. A major windstorm hit the area, and we were without power for 2 days. This is when I discovered more problems with living in our poorly planned condo. Starting the list with a non-manual garage door (thank goodness it was so new it was not closed yet), no lights in the garage or stairwell (yes, we are on the third floor, which is fine for us, but what about the elderly) or hallways (though the boys did have fun with their flashlights), no cooking, and no heat. Electricity is truly what makes this condo go. All this was happening as I was reading "Better Off" (by candlelight, I might add), a book about a couple who goes off to live in a Amish-like community to see what it would be like to live without machines, without electricity. They were a part of it for 18 months, they enjoyed it, and almost decided to live there. I thought how far we are from that life. We need an electric key, to go through the electric garage door, and again use the electric key to go up in the electric elevator to go through our electric lit hallways into our electric heated home.

What would it take to just add enough solar panels to the top of this huge lot of buildings to collect energy for emergency use, or better yet, daily use. In this day and age of big money construction, you would think some agency would make it mandatory.

Husband and I have been talking about this for quite sometime. Ideas such as solar and wind power, electric cars or riding our bikes, simplifying our needs and our life have been a regular part of our weekly Sunday what-we-would-like-our-lives-to-be-like-someday discussions. The construction choices of these brand new condos were not planned for the future, and it really disturbed both of us, how with all the technology and new safer products, that these self proclaimed high end condos were built with a new millennium looking design, but with the structural interiors and products of the 1980's.

Another disappointment in these huge condo buildings is their lack of encouraging pedestrians and bicyclists through design. When they built them, they said that there would be no need for your car, as you could walk to ferry and downtown. Sadly, the design of a narrow walkway on one side of the exit, that does not match up to the stairs, but to the garage, with no markings for crosswalks, has made our everyday attempts of going into town with our 5 and 8 year old a bit nerve-racking to say the least. The extremely narrow roadway that has two blind curves towards the garage, doesn't exactly make you feel safe as fast cars of the 20 year youngs and the elderly (the majority of those who live here) come around the corner. Not to mention a missing bike rack downstairs, near the entrance, instead of inside, at the end of the garage lot. It sure wouldn't make me happy to ride my bike in that small space fighting the many cars for space on the road just to get out of the garage.

It is too bad that construction companies that build these places don't go through a more rigorous design process to create a better plans for future thinking and for those who might want to live green, especially on Bainbridge Island.

Long overdue, I know...

Okay, I knew it had been awhile since I last wrote, I also thought no one would notice, but with my last anonymous comment I am no longer waiting to write. SO with that said, here is what has happened since my last post.

DISNEYLAND

All I can say is, what a trip! So much commercialism (most rides exit into a store), so much white bread and fries (no natural foods for miles -in or out of the park), so much energy used in lights, rides, and I don't even want to know what that amazing fireworks show does to the air since they do it everynight and yet, we had a blast and started talking about what we would do differently next time. It is hard to help it. When my family went on our first ride, Star Tours, we all had the biggest smiles on our faces. They mean it when they say it is "the happiest place on Earth." I mean let's face it, if you actually have the spare money to go to such a place and spend a day filled with excitement from the rides, captivated by all the eye candy surrounding you, and relaxed as you are treated with so much respect and happiness from everyone (even from the street sweeper staff), what would your worries be? So, if you can forget about the pollution, garbage waste and bad nutrition for a few days, and want to be a part of the magic of denial, here's how to enjoy Disneyland:

Get there early. I mean when they crack the gates open. It is fun as everyone in line starts the last 10 second countdown until the park opens which around the holidays is 8am. Even though the line may be long, there is not enough people in the park to slow you down and it is the only time you will see Main Street empty. We found we had until about 10-11am before the real long lines started. We walked straight on all the big attractions like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. If your kids loved the ride, instead of going on it again, get a fast pass for later and continue to hit new rides. If you want to experience every area of the park like we did, make sure to use your map and mark off what you have done and do one area at a time. We left each day about 11 to head back to our hotel for lunch, swimming and a nap. Going back to the park in the afternoon or evening, you will find the place so jam packed, it is hard to walk. The only way to beat the crowds is to get fast passes or do what we did, see the shows. My kids loved all of them and we were happy to be sitting down longer than the 2 minute rides. Doing the park in this way, it took us 3 days to do everything - rides and shows - in the whole park. We spent the last 2 days at California Adventure, sleeping in (as that park opens at 10am), and doing souvenir shopping.

My family enjoyed being together with their cousins, aunt and uncles and grandparents and it was a lovely Thanksgiving holiday that I am sure we will never forget. Thank you, mom and dad!

The Drive Home

At some point, we all started getting colds. My husband and youngest were first while at Disneyland, then I got it after the first leg of our trip home. When we left LA it was about 80 degrees. In Sacramento, it was about 50 degrees. We made it to Ashland, Oregon where it was cold enough for the first snow warnings. We tried to make it home, but we were so tired from our colds, we stopped again in Salem where we woke up to the seasons first snow. Beautiful. They were big, fat flakes that fell thick like a curtain, but disappeared into the ground. If it didn't stick, we could make it home. The snow slowed, then stopped, so we got in the van and continued our journey, but then it started again. From Salem to Olympia, then up the Peninsula we hit patches of thick snow on the ground to very little, and by the time we were in Silverdale, it was so thick, those of us with 2 wheel drive, were cruising along at 20 mph on the freeway. The snow was so deep when we got off, we saw numerous cars abandoned on the side of the road. Finally across the Agate bridge and onto Bainbridge Island. Back to our little 350 square foot guest cottage that we had to move into prior to the trip, since the furnace in the main house needed to be serviced and it was the only place to stay warm. Luckily for us we were snug as bugs as we awoke to 25 degrees and snow and ice everywhere. Icicles were hanging from the eaves of the house. The next day was even colder dropping to 18 degrees! Were we in Alaska?

The kids had a blast in the snow, seeing their neighborhood friends as Husband and I relaxed into his last week of vacation and our last week owning our home. On Friday, it was final. The house was no longer ours and we were homeless. Luckily, Thursday I had found a furnished, all utilities paid, condo rental right downtown and we move in, in a few days.

So not exactly homeless, more homeownerless.

We are going to enjoy our Winter holidays on the island without a worry of busting pipes, filling the propane tank, finishing our remodeling project, or high energy bills. Better than that, we are looking forward to a gift giving season that is simplier, since we have no place or use for much more than books, cds, and edible goods. I like the way it feels keeping the holidays so simple. We were done shopping for the kids within 1 hour and now the we all can focus on the fun. Playing with our friends, making cookies, decorating our gingerbread houses, planning with the kids which organizations to donate to this year, ice skating in Seattle Center, seeing the lights, burning the candles through the night and just spending time together.

Just being so darn grateful that we are together.