I told the kids last year that I wouldn't put the sprinkler out unless it got to 70 degrees. Last year, it never happened. The kids were miserable and hated me. But today, we hit 70 and they are overjoyed.
...although, at the moment it's only 64. They're still happy.
*gulp*
Sassy presented me with her shop stall. She's got herself in full groove to have this stall set up, to sell her toys. For the move. She's spent a good amount of time getting the "table" level and choosing what's going to sell. Which is everything on the table top. Not a very wide selection. I've talked her out of running outside today. She says she'll have her stall on August 1st. she's even made advertisements.
I had the home improvements guy around last night and listed up what I wanted done: bathroom, closet in bedroom removed, new kitchen. I asked him about the shed in the back yard - whether we could fix it up or should we scrap it. He looked it over, shook it...a lot. He thinks it'd be best scrapped. I agree. that thing was moving quite a bit when he shoved at it. He'll get me an estimate. Kind of bricking that one.
Today I had the garden guy come around. I told him I wanted the shed out, pave it over. He suggested decking would be cheaper. Fine I'm okay with that. He then proceeded to walk around the shed, thinking. Then he began to shove it. A lot. No really he seemed to be having an awful lot of fun shoving this shed back and forth. "Quite a lot of movement in this." you don't say. Stop fucking doing it then! He asked me my budget so I under estimated the budget and he sucked teeth a bit and began to haggle. I'm not very sure I liked him very much so will definitely be looking for another landscaper. At least for competition sake. The guy may be much better with decks and plants than he is with people and sheds. I will admit that after his visit I broke out the gin. There was only so much shed shaking I could cope with.
I also had the representative come around from the international movers to look over a few things. She was nice and I'm certain I'll go ahead with them, regardless of the fact that I've had more competitive quotes. they were the only ones to call me directly and their customer service has been brilliant. Plus they have offices locally and in Melbourne so it feels like a door-to-door service.
Ugh. just called another landscaper from the yellow pages and the number was obviously a home number and the girl who answered the phone was rude. The guy who was the landscaper then took the call but didn't introduce himself just said "yeh-lo?" and I had to initiate the whole damned call. Doesn't bode well! You'd think and landscaping school they'd have done a module on business etiquette. For one don't let your bitchy wee sister answer the phone. Especially without a script. But I didn't lie and say I'd had the wrong number like I damned well wanted to. After saying what I was looking for (shed down replaced with decking) he said we could help each other out as he'd just an order canceled and had a bunch of decking he could use and give us a discount. YES - alarm bells are ringing. I'm not an idiot. But I'll hear him out and meet him. Maybe he's a brilliant landscaper but again; better with plants than people. *heavy sigh*
I'm going to finish moving the lawn and pull the nastiest of weeds - that would be thistles and this awful dandelion/thistle hybrid. I was quite embarrassed by the state of the garden when garden guy came over. fuck fuck fuck. Like I care what he thinks. Shed shover.
Where's the gin dammit?!
I got Private Arrangements from JMC in a book-swap back in May, but haven't had the luxury of time to get down to it. In some ways I'm so glad I waited because the book is really good! Then I'm annoyed because I did spend time reading things that I was pretty disappointed with and had gotten to a state of: There's nothing for me to read. Thank god that pity party of flaccid novels is done with and Sherry Thomas has saved the day. I loved this story. I liked it a lot when I finished it on Saturday night, having taken me two days to read it - that may not sound like much but I have constant distraction and finding a half hour to read non-stop is rare and it often takes me four days to finish a book and not because I'm a slow reader, but the interruptions. Now I've been left in its wake and have time for lingering thoughts about it: I love this book. I love it. Present tense because I'm not ready to part with it yet and even have the rare urge to pick it up and read it again. Only other books I have that with is The Stand by Stephen King (which for its size I could never do now - oh how those college days are so far gone now) and P&P (stop gagging Beth *wink*).
The story: (taken without permission from the Sherry Thomas webpages but I'm raving so I hope she won't mind)
To all of London society, Lord and Lady Tremaine had the ideal arrangement: a marriage based on civility, courteousness, freedom—and living on separate continents.
But once upon a time, things were quite different for the Tremaines…When Gigi Rowland first laid eyes on Camden Saybrook, Lord Tremaine, the attraction was immediate and overwhelming: she simply had to have him. But what began in a spark of passion ended in betrayal the morning after their wedding—and Gigi wants to be free to marry again. Now Camden has returned from America with an outrageous demand—an heir—in exchange for Gigi’s freedom.
Gigi’s decision will have consequences she never imagined, as secrets are exposed, desire is rekindled—and one of London’s most admired couples must either fall in love all over again…or let each other go forever.
Endure me a moment while I get a bit boring. This is one of the most professionally written books I've come across in a few years. The voice is friendly, almost as if the story is being told to us by a gossipy best friend that we love to bits for her best stories. Plot is airtight and expertly executed, characters are well rounded and shown in all lights - they are believable people. All be it spoiled hoity-toity people when really, ahhhh! They're not. There are many moments when you think you know them and then - you didn't know about that now did you! No loose ends. Granted the plot was predictable but I wasn't let down by that - I was quite happy to go along with it. It's the difference between Colombo, where you see the murder first and have to watch Colombo figure it all out, and CSI where all the facts are meanly given for suspense throughout the show. I adore Colombo. I know I'm rambling but there's a four year old on my lap and she's annoying me.
Well now I've lost all train of thought in the tantrum over my rejection of huggy-hugs while trying to write - see why I'm not getting a MS done any year soon. Oh! The secondary plot of Gigi's "Stage Mother" Mom is almost more enjoyable. In my head I was casting the roles. Not very well mind, as I ended up with Goldie Hawn and Patrick Stewart.
Anyways, I loved it. Very well written - jealous of how well written. Even more jealous when I found out English isn't Sherry's first language. Actually after learning that I just felt a bit pathetic. On the blurb link if you scroll down you can read an excerpt of the story where you get a sense of the playful narrative that comes with the book.
I'm going to go find Delicious now and become a proper fan girl. Shame I missed out on the freebie on SBTB. Sorry this review isn't better. I blame the kids incessant need for Mommy attention. I hope I get across how happy I was with this book. Thank you JMC! Thank you Sherry Thomas! If you're reading this and haven't read Private Arrangements yet: Go do it now!
I'm trying to watch Dr. Horrible but my fucking server keeps crashing every three minutes. Unfuckingbelieveable! It's insane. Absolute nuts. I just want to watch what everyone's raving on about and Zen keeps crashing and I'm now pissed becaue it's done it again. Sure I could just let it go and wait until tomorrow but I'm into it now.
N.O.W.
I think the grown up Doogie Howser is awesome! I love that show "How I Met Your Mother". Does anyone else think He looks a bit like a younger, less angry, less char-pei-ish Gordon Ramsay? Anyone? Just me then. I'm fine with that.
Come back you fucking server already and let me watch another three minute dose.
You Kunts! Two minutes?! Bastards! Bastards! And I just got to the "The Hammer is my penis." line!!
Bastards!!!
Shorty was coughing at 4:45 this morning, but she settled herself back to sleep. I wasn't so lucky. Wide awake. Thoughts. Thinking. busy busy busy. Starting to talk myself out of being so severe on the cull. I always do that. "Throw it all away!" "Keep it! You can clear it later. You may find you wish you hadn't tossed that out." Bleh. As it stands I'm still firm about tossing most of it. When we got such a reasonable quote for the shipment I started to think that maybe we could take more. What would the whole house cost to move including furniture? Thing is, we're needing to replace most of it anyways. Our sofa is broken and has a saggy bit (kids). The recliner broke and wont recline (Me). Our bed ruins mattresses and hurts my back - it's a slatted base. Not even a super Sealy lasts on it. Dining tables and chairs are cheap...everything is cheap if you have time to buy them. That's the thing - we'll need to buy a lot all at once. Sure we could sleep on inflatable beds on the floor for a while. We can live simply. We're really ok with that. We've done it before. "But why should you? Just take your stuff."
Also was thinking about the full packing service where they catalouge items in each box for faster customs clearance and I thought - maybe I'll post my toy box separately. Can you imagine?
I've been told we won't be able to bring our fossil collection either because they could harbor organisms that could be harmful to Australia's ecosystem. Heavy Sigh! It's a fossil. By definition it's a dead thing. So dead in fact it's become a rock.
Today I'll pull things from our bookshelves that will go for sale. Now that the full packing service is available, I'll just just clear what we're keeping/selling and that will make the packers job all the easier. A manager for the moving company is coming out next week to have a look at Husband's comic book collection and make decisions on the best way to pack and transport them so they aren't ruined. It seems mold and mildew is rife with these. Perhaps a sepearte shipping via airplane would be better. We'll have see. Funny enough, no sentimentality has figured on my part. I guess if I have a strong enough emotional tie to something I'll keep it, but then again I've only been clearing the kitchen so I guess I'm all right in that I don't have emotional bonds with lesser used frying pans. We're also knick-knack haters. Crap - just thought I'll have to pack some of our Christmas tree ornaments.
Have got ten bags for charity all ready. I'm getting more and more listy every hour. Make a list for this, make a list for that. This morning I was making a cup of tea (It was 5:30) and I thinking I should make a list of groceries Husband should have ready for us when we arrive in Melbourne - months from now! For fuck's sake Lyv - chill. Tell me to chill a bit. Reign in. One list/task at a time. Start small, work up. Yadda yadda.
I have to go get ready for the morning now. It's 7:37am.
Just got a quote for a full move service including packing/unpacking and insurance for under £800. That is awesome! The woman was brilliant and even offered to send me links to fun things in Melbourne, estate agents, nice neighborhoods with best schools - you name it. Really nice service - which is rare in Scotland. Feel buoyed!
Today I'm gutting the kitchen. Putting out all things that aren't needed on a daily basis. It's great that we kept all the boxes from our last move. Scouring. Tossing outdated foodstuffs which won't take too long as I did this in April. Clearing the top of the Fridge.
Keeping:
Four plates
Two mugs,
Cutlery for four,
Four cups,
One fry pan,
Two sauce pans
One cookie sheet
Blender
Kettle
Storing:
All non essential cooking pans and crockery.
Selling:
Three tier steamer
Drip coffee machine
Toaster
Two kettles (We have an extra in the garage)
All this stuff
Tossing:
Microwave (it's got rust in it)
Leave for house sale:
Fridge
Washing machine
Oven
When we get closer to shipping the boxes, I'll pack up the keeps and ask my Mother-in-law to lend me kitchen goods until we move. She has tons. In fact, I may do that anyway and save myself the double packing. I'll decided later.
To Do:
Find cheap built-in kitchen units and counter tops. Budget is £2000-£2500.Have carpenter fix left side of kitchen and add storage cabinets. Incorporate with units and I'll just hammer out the broken counter myself.
Get plumber to put spigot out to garden from kitchen pipes.
Paint.
Need:
Bubble wrap
Fibered packing tape
After a bit of discussion, port, whiskey and nervous babbling we decided that it would be best to sell this house and not keep for rental. Reasons being the economy is going downhill here. Interest rates rising, house prices dropping. We don't want to end up with a property that'll be too expensive to rent and lies empty for long periods. Paying a GBP mortgage with AUD. We're not planning on returning to this particular house. If we ever did come back to Edinburgh, we'd move into the city and leave the countryside. We miss our urban life. Seaside country is wonderful too, but we liked and miss having the city on our doorstep. At least in Melbourne, we can afford to have both. Melbourne is looking better every minute.
We are practicing saying "Melbun" as opposed to "Mel-burn" because the Scots just love their rrrolling "R"s and rrrelish it. But here, my New England "R" dropping wins out. Another reason to love Melbourne.
Spent a lot of time looking at properties in Melbourne. I'm loving Altona and want to live on the Esplanade. Oh yes! Look at this!
