There's No Way But Up From Here

Wow it gets hot and humid here! While I enjoy it very much (I love the heat) I know that Jay doesn't particularly like it, and I think it makes the kids a little grouchy. Yesterday was the first fairly hot day we've had yet, and today looks like it's going to be really sunny and warm as well. I can't wait for my truck to arrive, so that I can take the kiddos to the beach on hot days! There is a lake only 2-3 minutes away and it has a lovely sandy beach and swimming areas, which I think the kids will enjoy a lot.

Our house in Airdrie STILL has not sold. Oy! We dropped the price again on Monday, so it's now listed at $459,900 and our realtor has been getting a lot of calls and we've been having a lot of showings. However, not even an offer yet. At this point, to be honest, I don't even care. The company takes it over on the 1st of August, and since it doesn't look like we're going to make substantially more than the guaranteed offer, I'm just as happy to let them have it and not have to worry about negotiating a sale.

This weekend Jay was thinking of taking us to a Blue Jays Baseball game! That could be really exciting, even though I find baseball terribly dull. It's more about the experience than actually watching the game, and I doubt the kids could sit through all those innings, so we wouldn't plan to stay for the entire thing. Even if we don't go this weekend, we will eventually get tickets for at least one game this summer.

Today is our first 'garbage day' here and let me tell you, their system is interesting.

Guelph has a city-wide curb side recycling program. All costs involved are included in our monthly garbage fee and apparently our new city has it's very own recycling plant for certain materials.

So here's how their system works:

We buy three different kinds of garbage bags - clear green, clear blue, and regular clear.

Compostable stuff (this includes all food scraps/diapers/tissues/etc) goes into the green bag. Also known as 'wet recycling materials'

Recyclables (all plastics/tin/cardboard/glass/etc) goes into the blue bag. Also known as 'dry recycling materials'

All the rest (such as fabrics/grocery bags/dryer lint/etc) goes in the clear bag. Also known as 'waste'

Wet and Dry bags are picked up every week. Waste bags are only picked up every second week. There is a weight limit for each bag, but you can put out as many bags as you want (provided they each fall within the weight limit) unlike Airdrie, which only allowed two bags per week.

They also have special rules for things like light bulbs, broken glass, and batteries.

Personally I think this system, while it takes some getting used to (standing over the garbage bags for half an hour trying to remember what goes where) is actually really awesome. I like that they use food waste for composting and it doesn't just go to waste. I also appreciate not having to sort my recycling and take it in myself.

Guelph also promotes back yard composting for residents and you can buy your own back yard composter right from the city services building at a reasonable price. They even have all the instructions for getting started and maintaining your composter right on the city website. I plan to get one for our yard next summer, and I can use the compost for our trees and flower beds.

All in all things are going well here. It's starting to feel a little more like 'home' and less like a foreign land, HA HA.