Was pumped for the fight and then....

1998

What a good year.  Jonathan was almost 2, Stephanie was 6 and we bought our first home.  Our first house and we were scared and excited.

 

 

So far 2017 has been a spectacular year.  We are officially MORTGAGE FREE!!

Now we know how Colonel Potter felt.  In case you need to refresh your memory, it is Season 11, Episode # 7 of M*A*S*H

I was primed to go to the bank last week to fight them on the fees they charge to discharge a mortgage ($260 + filing fees) but when I got there, the woman was so nice that she said she would waive the fees before I even asked.  Took the wind out of my sails I have to say.  I’m still looking for a fight somewhere J.

 

What happened in 1998?

The closing for the house wasn't until January and unfortunately the ice storm happened in January.  We lost power where we were renting.  All we could think of was that the new house had gas and we could have at least been warm.  Bunking with family for a few days wasn’t so bad though.

Great Ice Storm of 1998 - http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/remember-the-ice-storm-of-98-it-was-the-most-devastating-and-least-ferocious-of-disasters

Titanic and MIB were great movies

        

Candle in the Wind by Elton John was a hit

I’ll be Missing You by Puff Daddy was playing
Un-Break My Heart by Toni Braxton hit the airwaves…whatever happened to Toni?

January 25 – Super Bowl XXXII – Broncos 31, Packers 24

January 26 – Bill Clinton publicly denies Monica Lewinsky allegations.  For those of you who weren’t there at the time,  he said:  “I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”  Turns out that Bill’s idea of sexual relations is not the same as anyone else’s idea.

March 23 – 70th Academy Awards – Best Picture - Titanic

May 14 - Frank Sinatra dies

June 19 - Mulan is released

Aug 15 - Apple Releases the iMac G3 - https://worldhistoryproject.org/1998/8/15/apple-releases-the-imac-g3

September 4 - Google Is Founded – My Favourite!!!

October 21 - Nintendo Game Boy Color Arrives in Japanese Retail – Jonathan’s favourite!

December 31 - FDA Approves GD Searle's Celebrex – wow, and I’m still using it.

The early years were very lean:  we had green lawn furniture for the living room and white lawn furniture for the backyard.

         

 

 

 

            The dishwasher that came with the house broke early and stayed that way until we eventually took it out and put in a three drawer plastic cupboard (very classy); the fridge that came with the house broke almost immediately which was followed with a green beer fridge from someone’s garage; the washer constantly flooded; the butt ugly used City of Ottawa truck that I was driving was horrible.

 

 

 

Going out for dinner only happened on special birthdays.

We rented a cottage for a week over a few summers but we didn’t have our first real vacation until Steph went to England for a year at the University of Birmingham.  Thanks Steph for starting what would be a year of amazing trips for the family.  Thanks as well for helping me improve my shoe collection.

 

So many celebrations have taken place in our home:

→ Jonathan’s kindergarten graduation (Steph sadly did not get one – but she did pass J).
→ Steph and Jonathan’s grade 6 graduations
→ Steph and Jonathan’s grade 12 graduations
→ Steph’s first post-secondary degree
→ Jonathan’s first post-secondary certificate
→ Steph’s second post-secondary degree
→ Jonathan’s second post-secondary certificate
→ Steph and Arun’s engagement party
→ Many, many birthdays
→ Many Easter egg hunts
→ Many, many holiday dinners with family and friends

The years have really be good to us.

We have fleetingly thought of moving over the years but we live in a great neighbourhood (despite neighbour Frank the ass and the guy with two wives).  We can walk everywhere we need to go which has given us time for some great conversations with the kids and their friends.  We started doing some renovations a couple of years ago and thanks to Kyle at @ Cardinal Carpentry Ottawa (613-293-8585) we have a beautiful fireplace, gorgeous hardwood floors, ceramic floors and even a new kitchen floor.  We hope to put a deck in the back at some point but this year is the year of the roof.  It sheltered us for 20 years but is looking shabby (not shabby chic).  Anyone have any roofer contacts?

While we didn’t go on our first ever winter vacation this year we are so excited that Steph and Arun are getting married (and that is way better than a week at the beach any day).  We can’t wait to celebrate with them throughout this year.

Mother of the Bride shoes perhaps?