Lying low

I'm feeling a bit fragile at the moment. Can't think why!!

I have had very stiff and snore neck and shoulder muscles and felt quiet achy all over on Wednesday. So much so that I left work early and took yesterday off. Today is ANZAC day and a holiday.

I have tried to relax and it seems to be working. Himself and I went for a lovely long walk around the river path this morning and did some shopping this afternoon. The tension is still in my neck and shoulders and I think I'll get a massage over the next couple of days.

We are over the moon with the price we got for the house and are looking forward to the move but I think I need to be a bit careful that I don't let myself get overwhelmed and therefore susceptible to depression.

On that note I will toddle off and watch some telly. I will be back very soon.

Meet the gherkin.

A great result

A very stressful day but the auction went really well and we were delighted with the price. Settlement terms were fantastic as well and with any luck we will be able to move out of here and into the new place with little, if any, need to stay with friends. And even if we do it will only be for a couple of weeks.


The best bit? We will have virtually no mortgage. THAT fact is still slowly sinking in!

Now to get some normality back in our lives and start to really enjoy our new lifestyle.

I'll be back here a bit more often, too.

Interest

We had 6 lots of people through on Wednesday, 8 yesterday an 19 today. At least 2 families have been through twice and one brought their parents to have a look. They have been looking for a while and this is the first house she has fallen for. This is good as it means they are less likely to buy somewhere else before we go to auction. If they make an offer prior and it's good we will sell before auction.

If not then lets hope that we get at least one other family interested enough to bid on the day.

Now that we are no longer cleaning and fixing and generally stressing over the place we have started looking in earnest at floor coverings and furnishings. All very exciting and the best thing is that we have found furniture that we like that is less than we thought we would have to pay. So it's looking promising for new stuff in the new place.

It's been raining. Normally I would be ecstatic but it does mean that the house isn't being seen in its best colours. But it does mean that those people who came through were keen.

I had hoped to collect my new car (the Gherkin) this weekend but it has been delayed. We are rather disappointed with the salesman for his lack of customer service but with any luck I will have the Gherkin by the end of the week. He said it could be as early as Wednesday but I'll be happy if I get it by the end of the weekend. Phoebe will be going to Two this evening. I had promised it to him and he gets back from Perth this evening and can't manage without a car. Phoebe is more reliable and less thirsty than the car he was driving so I'm happy for him to take it. It will mean that I have to commute with Himself this week. I was thinking of getting personalised number plates " G3RK1N"!! What do you think?

With the rain has come cooler weather. We really don't get much warning that cooler weather is on the way and my wardrobe is lacking in warmer clothes. I shivered through the last few days of last week so went and bought 3 new long sleeved shirts for work and a pair of tracky pants and a hoody for exercising in cooler weather. There was a lovely suit but until I know what's happening with my job I don't want to buy clothes that won't get worn again if I go back into uniform.

The internet connection has just dropped out so I'll save this and post it later.

shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings

• Happy Birthday, Stepson. He turns 35 today. His mother died from a melanoma nearly two years ago. He is a wonderful bloke and I've known him since he was 2. He is now a step-parent himself and a bloody good one. I wish I had been as good as he. And he has a great relationship with One, Two and Three.
  
• 
  
• We had our first open for inspection today. 6 lots of people came through which is pretty good for a Wednesday. The comments were very favourable. The house looked great.
• 
  
• I caught up with my parents and Dr. Teacher yesterday as Dad had to see a specialist. They are both very frail and I admire my brother for being so tolerant with them. He realises now, how much shit I have put up with over the years. I didn't mind that but it was bloody hard on my own. Is it just my parents, or do old people lie? My mother tells me one thing, my brothers another and the doctor something completely different.
• 
  
• The last two mornings I have gone for a good brisk walk followed by some ab work and some arm work. It feels good to be moving again.
  
• 
  
• The reason for this is that firstly, my feet are much better, but more urgently, it is obvious that the weight loss has reversed and I'm getting chubbier again. It's getting cooler and I have no clothes.
• 
  
• The new house is coming along really well. Sooo exciting.
• 
  
• Himself was due to have a cardiac stress test today but his gout has flared up which would have made walking on the treadmill excruciating. He is booked in for a chemical stress test next Monday. I think they inject something to make the heart work harder. Should be fun. Not.

Dinner is ready.

The heading for this post?

Guess! And I bet I know who will get it.

Scary times

The agent uploaded the ad for our house today. I have emailed some of you with the site but, for obvious reasons, I'm not going to just put it out here.

If you would like to see it, please leave a note in my comments and we'll see if I can work out how to send you the link. (That sentence was written many times as I realised that giving my email address here was rather silly, asking you for yours was also rather silly and then my brain exploded and I couldn't work out another way.)

The place looks good. We are very impressed and have periods of wondering why the hell we're selling. But then I'm reminded (thankyou, Suze) that we are moving to a place of equal ambiance. In fact the place we are moving to has a view (or two) so that's even better.

Fortunately, although we have lived at this address for 20 years (*gulp*), we have only been in this house for just short of 9. So the attachment isn't quite the same. I don't have the memories of the kids as babies and all their childhood milestones. Pulling the old place down was harder than selling this one.

One has told friends, Two and GGF are planning on being here, we might invite people ... I think I might plan a big bbq for after the auction. So we can celebrate (or commiserate - but let's not have those thoughts) afterwards.

Other stuff ....

• feet are getting much better. I might get the widening arse out of bed earlier next week and start moving again.
• and whether I do or not, I need to get the eating and drinking back under control
• work is good
• Three got some nasty sores on his face. Was prescribed antibiotics. One developed the same and went to the doctor today. Doctor Mum had diagnosed a highly contagious staph/strep infection and ... was right!! Don't know where the initial infection came from but they have probably shared a towel and that was enough to spread it. I had to suggest that they let certain wimmin know. Almost as bad as an STD!! I said ALMOST!!

And on that note I'm going to suggest that they feed the parents for once.

I guess Himself and I will starve!

little green apples

When the declutterer came through on Wednesday she also gave us tips on decor. Which we dutifully followed.

One such tip was to get a long bowl and fill it with green apples and place it on the kitchen bench. Himself went to the supermarket on Friday afternoon just before the photographer was due to arrive. We had spent the morning searching for other decor items and I was busy filling vases with impressive arrays of floral bling and piling stones around soft mocha candles and rolling hand towels and ... well you get the picture. Granny Smith apples would have to be the one apple that you can get year in and year out.

On Friday there were none to be had in the supermarket. Himself found some in a greengrocer.

Yesterday and today we went to several auctions to get a feel for what's out there and what people are paying. Incidentally it was the biggest auction weekend on record with 1400 properties up for auction across Melbourne.

Every house we went into had a bowl of green apples on the kitchen bench!

we've been decluttered!

Himself stayed home this morning and worked with the declutterer.

The difference already is amazing. An already fairly big house (for this area) looks enormous! There are still several things we need to do to make the place look even more saleable which involve the purchase of things like candles and wicker and shiny stones and tall plants and the like. And the removal of 'personals' ... and the storehouse of toilet paper!!

The photographer is coming on Friday afternoon and most of this stuff needs to be done by then. I asked my boss if I could leave at lunch time on Friday and she told to me to take the day off.

So I am.