We’re really enjoying life in Vancouver so far. Our home, though small, is increasingly more comfortable. To make our home more cozy, we’re finding innovative ways to maximize the volume of space that we have to work with. Extra dining room chairs are hidden in the spare bedroom closet. Suitcases are tucked away on the top shelf of our linen closet. I sold our 40″ TV and bought a 32″ LED LCD TV that is 2″ thick, which we plan to mount either above our fireplace or on a wall in our bedroom.

We haven’t had much time to wander around and explore our new city yet, but what we have spent so far has been wonderful. The weather has been great – even the bad days, with highs of 12 with cloud and rain. It’s nice that we have some decent stores nearby, too: a bank branch, a fantastic Whole Foods, Shoppers Drug Mart, a great Belgian-style pub, Home Depot, Best Buy, Canadian Tire, and of course several Starbucks.

Again, in what seems to have become routine penitence, I apologize for my infrequent updates. It’s been my intention to avoid writing banal personal posts and in their absence I simply haven’t had the time to pen thoughtful commentary on more interesting things. Statistically, this blog is much more attractive when I’m writing op. eds on worldly issues, and that’s where I’ve wanted to spend more time writing. Since moving, I haven’t engaged in the local political scene and am immensely frustrated by our national stage (as I will describe in greater detail soon – the post is already in draft). I also haven’t been very active with my camera in the last two months and need to improve that practice as well.

I turned 31 a little over a week ago, and spent a wonderful day with my wife; the majority of which was on our patio enjoying Champagne and a delicious homemade dinner of Alaskan king crab, asparagus and potatoes. I don’t mind that I’m another year older. Growing up (or old as I’ll soon have to admit) is a state of mind as far as I’m concerned. You get out what you put in. And I take a great deal of pride in how much my wife and I have accomplished in our early married and career years.

It’s funny what the passage of time means to different people. One of the reasons I haven’t been blogging or photographing very much lately is because I don’t feel that I have ‘extra’ time to devote. When I find myself contemplating writing something, I feel that my time might be better spent elsewhere. I’ve always had a nagging issue with needing to be productive (my wife would attest) and yet in hindsight we’ve been awfully busy in the last couple of months. I should feel like I have the time, and that I’m being productive. It’s not my intention to demean true sufferers, but I honestly think that sometimes I have mild ADHD or OCD. Weekend mornings spent sleeping in, for example, are often offset by furious afternoons of laundry, housecleaning and shopping. After a day of what I perceive to be laziness, or longer periods of self-described stagnation, I go crazy. But it’s all relative, and after looking at how friends and family members spend their days it gives me pause to be more conscious of life’s micro moments.