I realize that this whole time, via the blog and otherwise, I have basically been complaining about a situation that isn't really so bad. I know that we are lucky to have what we do, and that many live in a much worse situation. However, I also feel somewhat justified in complaining because, unlike most others in similar or worse situations, we chose to live here. Well, I guess "we" is putting it rather strongly. Dad chose this as the place for all of us to live, and after he successfully sold our other house, we didn't have many alternatives. This has been a good medium to lash out at him. Whenever he says anything about the Shack being less-than-ideal, or how much the new house project is going to cost him, I say, "you brought this on yourself." To sum up, despite obvious reasons why not to, complain I will! It makes for easier writing for me, and probably more entertaining for you. That being said, let's talk about life in the Shack.
The most noticeable difference between this new reality and my past one is the acute lack of space. In our previous residence, we had a spacious kitchen/dining area, large living room, 3 bedrooms complete with closets, a spare bedroom that also served as a computer area, 2 full bathrooms, a decent sized TV/family room in the basement, etc. Here, we have a very cramped kitchen with one place to sit and eat, a tiny half-bathroom on one end (the creepy bathroom!) and an improvised pantry-ish area. Our living and dining space is synthesized into one, with not much room at all to either live or dine with more than 3 or 4 people. The "master bedroom" is a sectioned off part of the living and dining room (it used to be one big area, now it's 2 rather small ones). They call it the "sleep in closet", and for good reason. Speaking of closets, the total number of those in the Shack is ...*drumroll please*... one! It is situated in the room that is the actual master bedroom, which serves as our TV room, and also Raya's sleeping-place when she's home from university. The other "legitimate" bedroom is mine, my closet-clothes reside on a closet rack with a wire shelf attached, like one would often find in -you guessed it- a closet. My bed takes up about a third of the space in there, but that's all right, because all I really do in there is sleep anyway, or do homework, read or play instruments, all of which I do while sitting or lying on my bed. The computer (where the magic happens re. this blog) is shoved awkwardly into a nook in the upstairs landing, just outside the bathroom door. This nook is also on a different level - about 3 inches above the rest of the floor - so you have to be careful as to how far you lean back. What I have just described is about the extent of the Shack, unless you count the dank (basement). Down there we have storage, laundry, and a room that used to be someone's bedroom, which I now use as a photo studio or place to play fussball in.
The lack of space is basically the center of all the complaints I have about the Shack. If all 3 or 4 of us are in the kitchen, it is very difficult to move anywhere, or get anything, without having to climb over someone, which for some of us, such as Dad, feels like quite an invasion of personal space. If there are more than 5 or 6 people in the Shack for a meal, some people will likely have to eat upstairs, or on the couch in the living/dining room, or anywhere they can manage to sit down. Naturally, we don't do a whole lot of hosting. Another issue with lack of space (or lack of more than 1 shower) is Dad wandering around the house in less-than-adequate clothing either before or after taking a shower. Admittedly I do that was well, but my room is only a few paces from the bathroom, whereas he goes basically all the way through the house on his journeys... it's hard not to come into contact with him at some point. The third complaint I wish to share with you is the inability for me, or anyone else really, to "get away" at times, if I/we are temporarily weary of interacting with our fellow family members in such an intimate setting. I guess this whole thing could bring us closer as a family... miracles have been known to happen.
The biggest upside (and pretty much the only one besides the location, now that I think about it) to the Shack is our ability to do whatever we want with it. I have talked about this before - my walls are covered in colourful permanent marker messages, the best of which is probably my "Shack nights" tally (which is up to 131), as well as host to multiple nails, screws, dents from a hammer, etc. Whenever I feel like putting something in, I need just do it! However, Dad did warn me a couple days ago, upon seeing my array of musical instruments hung up there, not to put nails too close to a certain corner, because there are electrical wires there! Thanks, father, that information was very useful after I hung a flyswatter quite close to said corner! Another example of this freedom being put to good use is the manner in which we hung our Christmas stockings this year. We did it simply by putting screws in the wall! This will be radically different in the new house, of course. Some say we're going to miss this place, but I think I'm willing to sacrifice such freedoms for a little more space (though phase 1 is likely to be another adventure... we'll get there later).
And that is our living situation. It isn't exactly pretty, but we've been pretty good at making do with what we've got so far. Though a somewhat irritating reality, the memories are fairly priceless, and will probably only get better during the whole construction/moving again/constructing more process. What has happened on that so far, besides the construction of the shop, has been a fair bit of destruction, by way of the now deceased porch, attached shed, and large shrubbery that was in the way of the porch. Doing all that was rather fun, though it felt weird to be destroying the house I was living in. The fence has also been rearranged a little bit to better suit the positioning of the hole, but to still prevent Bruce from planning any daring escapes. Now, we just have to wait out the winter, and then the real fun will indeed begin. Look for the final part of my year in review within the next couple of days: the Shack in pictures!
Sidenote: You may also have noticed that the photos on the right side of the page are no longer there. I thought it best, since the Shack does not look like that at all anymore. New context photos may soon take their place.
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