Wow! What a crazy few weeks it has been. I have barely had time to scratch the proverbial, let alone write a blog entry.
Quick update......
It is 28 sleeps until we drive out!!!
We put the house on the market and sold after our first inspection. Thank goodness because I don't know if I would have kept it together if I had to keep the house immaculately spotless like that for much longer!! Cleaning bathrooms and toilets three times a week is just ridiculous!! We actually knocked back our first offer on the house, but then on the advice of our fantastic agent we agreed to their amended offer the next day. And thank goodness we did as while there has been several enquiries since, there has been no solid interest which may have generated an offer. This Wednesday is the finance cut off date for the purchasers and according to the last communication from our agent everything there is on track so we should have a sold sticker on our sign by the end of the week. :-)
So after reaching the end of the cooling off period R has, much to his delight, given his notice at work and as at tonight he has 14 trips up and down the hill to complete and then he can wave goodbye for good!! (Not that he is counting at all!!) R's work have been very generous to us though. R negotiated the purchase of our 40 foot shipping container through his big boss, and he has agreed to us being invoiced for it, so as to allow us to have it before the settlement date enabling us to actually move out of the house. He has also arranged for the yard staff to transport the container up from Adelaide during the week, and has allowed R to use the truck on the weekend to deliver it to our house (and gee, doesn't it look pretty sitting out the front of our house!), pick it up and return it to the yard and finally store it in the yard for as long as we need at absolutely no cost. We are very thankful, and think that it really does go to show that the old proverb of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" really does ring true. Finally R is getting some very handy and helpful recognition for all his hard work and for all the times he has gone the extra mile to help out the boss.
Since my last post we have also put down a deposit on our new house - the one with wheels. After spending countless hours scouring the internet for a suitable house we spent a day dragging three very reluctant, restless and bored children from one caravan yard to another and from one private home to another looking at possible contenders. As we expected, trying to keep children off the beds in caravans is near impossible, especially when your attention is elsewhere. The last caravan we looked at was the one that I had been eyeing off for some time on the internet. It seemed to be exactly what we were looking for, and true to form, it absolutely was!! I was so excited but didn't want to jump up and down like a school kid (or like one of my kids) infront of the current owner. We spent quite some time with the owner talking about all the pros and cons, talking about travel experiences, and tow cars. Finally we thanked him for his time and said we would get back to him. We hadn't even gotten all the way out of the driveway before R and I decided that this was definitely the van we wanted and we weren't even going to negotiate on the price. We stopped the owner in the middle of the street and said we wanted it. We had already discussed that we would not be able to pay for and collect the van until after our house settlement and he was fine with that so we paid him a reasonable deposit and left saying see you after the 24th.
Later that night, while looking at photos of our new house, I decided that it would most definitely need a name. I decided on a name and announced it to R who just smiled and shook his head at me. Anyone would think he thinks I am silly........
Cara it is!!
Cara van -Dyck!!
I thought it was very fitting and very clever, and thus it is the reason for the new name to this blog.
So, what else? What else have we been doing??? More like, what haven't we been doing?? I have now taken out memberships in SA Ambulance, RAA, Big 4, Top Tourist, and Family Parks. I have bought our copies of Camps 7 (the free campers bible) and its companion book Caravan Parks Australia. I have lodged the kids school exemption forms and have given C's notice to daycare. I have made and attended doctor and dentist check up appointments for several of us. I have a print out calendar of may and june and I don't think there is a day between now and the time we leave that doesn't have something on. I have written list upon list upon list of things to do, things to buy, things to pack, and even some lists of things I have to write lists for. I know I like to be an organised kind of person but surely that is getting just a little crazy??
Last Saturday Erin very bravely came with me to take our cats to their new furever home. I was ok with taking them, but poor Erin was a bit upset as I was expecting. Thankfully their new home is on a property so Erin was distracted from being upset by the offer of feeding the hundred or so goats there. I did, however, get a little upset on Sunday when I realised that this was the first time since I was four years old that I have not had a pet in the house. :-(
I have also packed box, upon box, upon box of household stuff that will be going into storage. Poor R is going crazy. I have packed up most of the kitchen with the exception of the things that will be going in to Cara and have stacked it all into one cupboard of the kitchen, needless to say he can't find anything he wants and keeps opening empty cupboards looking for it. Hehehehehe. I am getting quite a giggle out of watching that. LOL. The kids are now sleeping on matresses on the floor. Their beds have been dismantled ready for packing. They have their one tub of toys and one tub of clothes. Everything else has been taken out of their bedrooms except for the empty furniture. Thankfully, they think that sleeping on the floor is kinda cool and somewhat of a novelty.
So, between now and drive out day we have more appointments, car services, moving house, bon voyage parties, family dinners, school excursions, caravan collections, school, day care, work, and crying over the fact that my coffee machine has to stay in storage and wait for me to come back. Enough to keep us busy!!
Until next time........
No comments:
Post a Comment