Ladies and gentlepersons! A small alteration to the countdown figures is in order!
We have early settlement! 🙂 Settlement date is now August 14th – I repeat, settlement date is now August 14th!
Nine days to go…
However we won’t be able to actually move in until the originally planned moving date, August 25th. The furniture is still being delivered on August 21st, and unfortunately it’s too late to change that now. However settlement being a week earlier than planned does give us the opportunity to have cables, an en-suite door, and possibly a walk-in wardrobe door, installed before we have total chaos, and the associated bedlam of having workmen and removalists, waltzing around eachother whilst they attempt to perform their very disparate jobs. Not to mention the fact that trying to sooth and appease Flipper amidst all that noise and cacophony would be a next to impossible task at the best of times, especially as the two of us are probably going to be running around in different directions at once, like chooks with their heads cut off! Just as well that the packers are coming tomorrow… 😉
Well, my favourite eldest daughter did come over today – well, actually she came over to the hairdresser, and then she came over here. After lunch (why does my keyboard sound different? it’s not as “clacky” as it usually is, I’m sure!) after lunch, we watched a couple of episodes of “The 100” – oo-er! It’s getting very “bloody” (as in lots of blood and gore getting in the grouting!) I can’t wait for next week – actually, next week is going to be a lot chaotic – Lee comes over on Tuesdays, because her cleaners go there on Wednesdays… Oh! the 14th is a Friday! For some totally inexplicable reason I thought it was next Wednesday (I’ve told you all before – my maths is absolutely and abysmally lousy!) oh, well, that changes things a bit… I have a hairdressing appointment to have my hair cut on the 14th, which I’ll have to change, but that’s the only fly in my ointment… and I did warn them that we thought settlement day would probably be the 14th… I’ll ring them tomorrow and re-schedule my hair cut… It’s all so exciting! I’m sorry – my apologies in advance – because I’ll probably spend the next nine days babbling on about Stillwater, the settlement, and moving in on the 25th, and won’t be able to get back to writing coherently for several days after that!
Writing this afternoon is a little hard – while I’m writing this, I’m mentally constructing lists, of things to do, people to contact, items still to organise, etc., etc., so if I go flying off at a seemingly totally unrelated tangent every now and then, that’ll be why! Tomorrow… we must contact Mr. “I-can-do-that” – our wonderful builder – about the en-suite door et al. We found this absolutely wonderful builder when we were getting ready to move in here. We wanted quite a lot of work done – the carpets were being ripped up and replaced with tiles, the main bathroom had a totally unused spa-bath in it that had to come out, and a teeny shower which needed to be drastically enlarged, we wanted a “cat-lock” door installed at the top of the corridor, a new sink, a new stove – oh, lots of things. We had absolutely no idea who to get to do these jobs, so we rang a few builders at random and got them to come out to give us quotes. When this guy turned up, he kept replying “I can do that!” to everything we said we wanted done, so with our fingers firmly crossed behind our backs (and because his was the most realistic of all the quotes we got back) we gave him the job. He did the lot, from the re-painting and tiling, to the installation of a new sink and stove! Altogether, he did an amazing job on this place, performing well above the call of duty – so much so that when we “re-furbished” (basically a “gut and re-fit” of the whole four bedroom house) Glen Waverley several years later, we called him again – and again, he did a fantastic job… and when I inherited the house in Hampton East, ditto… so he was the first person we called about doing the en-suite door, etc. Julian needs to call the bank to arrange for the Bank Cheques, we need to organise for the clothes dryer to be delivered and installed… (see? I’m babbling, aren’t I! Sorry…)
Where was I? Oh yes… I started late tonight because Lee was here, and it’s now that time again…
+————————–+ * Dinner & Television Break * +————————–+
So, I’m back! I’m not really looking forward to the early start tomorrow morning 
but I think I’ll survive (just!) The place is going to look very different, with no ornaments and all our little bits and pieces around – at least the books will still be here… Flipper really doesn’t like strangers in the house, especially strangers that are going to be making a lot of strange noises, and making things… disappear… No! She will definitely not be impressed… And then, she’ll just get used to the “bare bones” house, when she’ll be whisked off, first for a day at the Vet (to keep her out of harm’s way) and then to a scary new place where she’s going to feel quite lost. Part of me feels that as long as we’re there, and making a fuss of her, she’ll be alright – and there’s another part of me that thinks that it’s terribly unfair of us to put an old cat like her through all this stress and change – but what can you do? Not move, so as not to upset the cat? Sounds ridiculous, when you put it like that, doesn’t it?! But I still feel guilty…
Weigh-in this morning. Not as bad as it could have been – but not as good as I would have liked, either! I went down one point, from 80.3kg to 80.2kg – back to where I was on Sunday! Hopefully tomorrow will be better… Though as far as size is concerned, I was lying in bed this morning before prising myself out into the cold, cruel world, and I realised that simply running my hands lightly over my ribs, I could feel every single one of them! I can promise you, it’s been many, many years since I could feel my ribs – and my sternum feels like a rock under my skin (no, it’s not a “suspicious lump”, it’s a bone!) Never mind the fact that my body looks like badly hung dilapidated drapes – that can, and will be remedied later on, once I’m at the weight I think is right for me, and I’m stabilised (but I’m getting a face lift first! 😛 (oh Vanity! Thy name is Winter!)) So… let’s see what a second day on two anti-fluid tablets can do for me! 😉
We got another email before from our solicitor – settlement is scheduled for August 14th at 2.00pm. Where, I don’t know. We’re told that “we don’t have to be there” – but I think I must insist! I wanna grab those keys and go tearing over to Stillwater to walk around our new home – is that silly of me? I don’t care if it is, anyway! I mean, what’s the point of being a mature, sober adult, if you can’t be silly sometimes?! 🙂 And that, gentle readers, is where I shall once again leave you for the night! Drop by again tomorrow night to find out how the packing went, and how much the two ladies managed to get through in 6+ hours, and whether or not the house looks any different (it probably won’t look all that much different – most of the stuff that’ll be getting packed is seldom seen anyway, because it usually lives inside cupboards and drawers!) And I’ll let you know if I’m still retaining too much fluid, or if my weight’s gone down again… I’m sure there’ll be heaps of other things to tell you as well, so don’t be shy and miss out! 🙂 Until then, though, please try to bee good, remember that perfection might not be attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence! Don’t forget to take care of yourselves, to drive carefully, and to keep warm – but most of all, don’t forget to stay safe! 🙂 ciao, all! 🙂
My Word! 