Sunday, August 19, 2018

Countdown to moving day

Cragside House and bridge

This will probably be the last post I’ll write in our flat. It’s now Sunday and we’re scheduled to move to our new house on Wednesday. Our movers are booked for 8AM, I was able to swap my Wednesdays off, and we have a hotel room to keep Jake (the cat) out of the way and relaxed (somewhat) while the moving chaos ensues.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – moving is a complete pain. I mean, I’m super excited, don’t get me wrong, but when you have no control over the aspects of if the solicitors will get the paperwork from everyone in time, and if you can or can’t get the day off just to sign your contracts, it’s sort of a quiet anxiety. You want to get upset and panic, but there really is nothing you can do but wait on things to fall into place.

But, it’s done for the most part. The last bit of paperwork the solicitor needed from us was the house’s building insurance that we transferred from the flat. The insurance company finally emailed that to us yesterday, so that’s been forwarded on to the solicitor’s office. Now, on Monday, Mister Pick has to give them the deposit on the house and we’re good to go.

We haven’t ordered any new furniture yet because I want to be there and get an idea of what color couch I really want and how high of a dining room table I’ll need. I do know that I need a washer, a dryer, and a refrigerator when we first get there, so we’re going to look at PC World for those today.

In the meantime, we’re packing. Massively packing. We’re only going 3.3 miles down the road, so it’s not like I have to worry about anything getting lost in the mix or anything. I’ve labelled things so far (basically, all of my clothes).

We were going to go to the Brontë Parsonage this coming bank holiday weekend, but with the move, we’ve cancelled that. This is still a big one on my list, so maybe Mister Pick, Daisy and I can travel down there on a regular weekend, just to nose about and spend the night. That would be nice.

Other than that, I’ve seen the BBC iPlayer documentary on Sylvia Plath, I’m still watching OITNB S6, and I picked up Fear Street: You May Now Kill the Bride last night.

So, yeah. Next time I post here I’ll be at our new house (or some random public place, let’s be honest).

Until then, enjoy your last days of summer before school starts (for those in the UK). I’m scheduled to go back to my MSc in Computing and Information Science in September too (plus going to Florida!) so I’ll be right there with you.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

A rainy Sunday for packing and doggie sitting

Photo

So, it's Sunday and a lot has been going on lately.

First off, we having an official moving date scheduled so hopefully everything will be sorted by the time and we can get out of the flat and into our new house – the future Pick Manor!

For those of you from the United Kingdom, you’ll know what an absolute pain it is to move. You’re never sure if anyone will really, really buy your property, so even if they say they’re buying the place, they could potentially pull of of the sale at any time. We’ve looked at a handful of houses where the owners have said, “Well, it was sold and we spent two months packing and finding a new place, then the buyer changed their mind or didn’t get the funding.” That’s why I didn’t let myself get too excited about any of this until they had an actual date set. I’m still going to wonder if things will fall through because we have an appointment next week to sign contracts. (Pray for us, ya’ll.)

Aside from the two weeks to get our act together, our goldendoodle girl, Daisy, has become an official teenager. She’s now 11 months old and gone into season. Now we spend most of our days keeping her in the computer room (where I sit now, typing this up for you) while we keep her company. She’s peed on the bedroom carpet and the mattress, which I’m still trying to get clean. (Try baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and dishwashing liquid if anyone is reading this.) If we don’t sit with her, she barks and barks and barks. Apparently, according to the internets, she’s feeling vulnerable and needs us to be around to reassure her. Also, she’ll pee more often (no kidding) and she’s marking her places that are hers which is our bedroom, mainly.

I guess we’re her humans and she’s protecting us? Who knows what’s going on in her doggy brain, but I’ve told her that she’s not getting a boyfriend, so she can forget going to the park or doggie daycare for a while. I just hope this is over by moving day time. (Again, send the prayers and good vibes!)

Today we’ve been packing and my job is to tackle the closet where all of my precious clothes are kept. (This is all while I’m trying to scrub out pee smells here and there in the bedroom.) It’s been raining a lot and with the heat, it’s still humid, so our plan is to hit the gym and try to keep up the training. How I’ll ever get marathon ready, I don’t know. Heck, I’ll walk if I need to. Screw it.

Also, I’m now loving Will Smith’s Vlog (I’m totally motivated to create a vlog now. Don’t care how cliché it is!) and OITNB Season Six. My current books are Stephen King’s The Green Mile, Holly Bourne’s Are We all Lemming and Snowflakes, and R.L. Stine’s You May Now Kill the Bride (Return to Fear Street #1) because holy crap did I love love love these books in high school!

Speaking of which, on kind of a melancholy note, it really makes me sad to enter into autumnal new school season and not be able to feel the excitement of wearing a new tartan skirt and tights, and have the feel of Fall being new and full of opportunities. I was looking at clothes in the MetroCentre yesterday and feeling down about how there’s never going to be a reason for me to want or need to dress up like I used to. I know at any age you can wear what you want and feel as good as you allow yourself, but, honestly, does anyone care if you look cute after age 40?

Anyway, I’m sure that once I get this weight off and I’m feeling healthier, I’ll be way more inclined to attempt at looking nice. And with that said, I’m off to the gym in the pouring rain.

Have a great week, everyone!