Our little slice of Switzerland

Team Ham-Tin Circa August 8 2011 and then 2012

A year ago today John started his job and I took possession of our apartment. Or as we like to call it, the Ham-tin Guesthouse, we don't rent an apartment, we rent a vacation destination for everyone we've ever met.

After I finished the walk through. After I had received the Ikea  delivery of our futon and chairs. After I closed the door and sat down on the floor in middle of our huge empty space I cried. We were far away from home. We had nothing but our ikea stuff and what was in our suitcases and an empty two floor apartment. It was my first moment of soul crushing, "What have we done?!"

Honestly, I would say we're done pretty okay.

On Monday in preparation for Johnathan's birthday and for our "YAY we've lived in this space for a year" I created a birthday present for him. When we moved we turned the second bedroom into my office. I spend way more time here than Johnathan does so he thought I would like a space where I can close the door on him and a space to write just like Virginia Woolf suggested. "A woman must have money and room of her own to write fiction."

I also felt a little bad that I got the space. John is always welcome in my office. He often hangs out on the futon reading while I write. But it's not the same. He seemed a little displaced. He's always had a desk, a space, an office.

Everyone needs a corner that is just theirs. So that was Johnathan's gift. A man corner.

Complete with pictures of our niece (his favourite person ever) a pin up girl playing the bongos, a licence plate ashtray from the Angola state prison,  and a picture of our godchildren of awesome. Oh and a cowhide rug. One that looks less like a cowhide and more like a rug.

He was pleased. He was more than pleased, he was elated. An emotion Sir NoHeart Von DeadInside doesn't come by easily.

Everyone now has a space. A corner. A piece that is theirs.