Spring Cleaning

"Is it weird being back?" I've been asked that question a lot lately now that I am not only back in Ottawa, but back in my own home. And in some ways it kind of is. My mom came up last week to help me with some home renovations and what amounted to a ton of spring cleaning. I have not lived here in 5 years and I have not owned a cat in about the same amount of time, yet somehow we could have probably made 2 cats out of the hair we found behind the fridge and stove.

Note to self: Normal people clean behind the fridge and stove.

Other note to self: The cleaning service you hired obviously will not.

For the most part, the renovations are done and I am really happy with them. I'm just left with sorting through all my boxes of stuff. Having lived in a suitcase for so long, I am blown away by the amount of "stuff" I have. I can't look at most of it too long or I start becoming sentimental. The donation collection guys at Value Village is starting to know me by name. I'm hoping to get everything done before I leave for Saskatoon on Thursday for a quick remount of The Little Prince.

Things have been fairly chaotic all around this past month. The renos, the family visit, doing my taxes, the juggling multiple jobs and a surprising number of auditions lately have left me feeling a tad drained. All good things, mind you, so I'm not complaining, but I'm looking forward to the opening & run of Re:Union at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival so I can take one thing off my plate. It's a fantastic show that I am incredibly proud to be involved with so I hope you will be able to check it out.

I was hoping to get back to blogging a bit more, but there just didn't seem to be much to write about. June is gearing up to be one very exciting month though so there will be much more happening in these pages soon.

Stay tuned!

Honey, I'm Home!

You told me you were good at running awayDomestic life, it never suited you like a suitcase

- Dead Sea, The Lumineers

It's been over 4 months since I last was in Ottawa. And almost 5 years since I lived in my own home.

About 7 years ago, with the help of my mom, while I was still gainfully employed by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (and no I'm not going to call it by that other name), I bought a condo. About a year later, I quit my job and began my journey as an artrepreneur. The thing is, the starting salaries for both artists and entrepreneurs are really not as high as you might expect them to be. Unable to pay for my mortgage, but unwilling to sell because we would make no gains from it, I started renting it out fully-furnished. And I hit the road. The rest, as they say, is history - or a few years worth of blog posts.

I've been lucky. Throughout all this time, I've only had 2 tenants and they have more or less keep the place in great condition.

I've always wondered what it would be like to be back, to be in my "stuff". At the moment, it feels kind of unsettling. Now that the place is clean, I've been avoiding unpacking. I know what life feels like in a suitcase. There's freedom in that. But closet space? Shelves? What do you do with that?

Maybe that's why I'm taking the first opportunity I can to jump on a train to Toronto. Yes, yes, I'm going to see Morro & Jasp, as well as Kat Sandler's new show, so can you blame me? But deep down, I know it's because I'm scared of settling down somewhere. I have no idea what I'll be doing as of July, so a small part of me says I just shouldn't bother. Thing is, I've spent years realizing that there is usually something very cool on the other side of that fear. So maybe, just maybe, it's time to unpack my bags.