Missing On The Blogosphere

I don't know if my absence has been noted, but I've been spending much less time on here at the moment than usual. Because I'm plain and simply exhausted. By the time Calvin is going to sleep, I'm barely able to form a proper thought. My back and neck hurt, there's laundry to fold, papers to sort, cupcakes to bake, costumes to saw, and then there's still this guy called hubby.  I simply need more time in my day, and especially my night!

So, what am I currently up to when I'm not whining:

I'm currently...

... reading:  Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

... trying: To move in a way that is not painful. Trying to get back into shape plus the first sessions with my physiotherapist turn me into a big old pile of Ouch.

...  anticipating: Bedtime.

... buying: Last groceries and accessories for Lily's birthday party on Saturday.

... lusting for: Hot spiced wine, a hot shower and a warm, cozy bed.

... listening to: HIM, the classic radio station in the car, the girls' CDs.

... watching: Rizzoli & Isles (I know, guilty pleasure).


... devouring: Pretzle sticks, dried plums, hot cereal.

... waking up: Whenever Calvin does.

... feeling: Tired, exhausted, drained, but still thankful to have the life I have that makes me tired, exhausted, and drained.


Hoping for a proper night's sleep, and tons of cuddles with the little stinky boy!

House Update - The Final Timeline

I cannot believe that we are finally at this point, that all of a sudden, everything has worked out just the way it should. There were some minor, minor hiccups, but those resolved themselves mostly.

So, Saturday is the big day of the move, and we have a tight schedule till the very end:

Tuesday: Some workers come for final touch-up work; the mortgage agent will stop by to take some final pictures for the bank. More moving of boxes.

Wednesday: Painter will come by to finish up his work (kitchen, entrance way and utility room need to be painted, some touch-up work done); Richard will rent an industrial-grade vacuum and deep-clean the entire house again to remove the last of the fine dust left there (for now). More moving boxes and packing once we receive the additional moving boxes from our wonderful friends.

Thursday (German Father's Day): My dad will come to help Richard putting up all the light fixtures, or as many as they can manage. More moving and cleaning on my part.

Friday: A friend will help us pack and move more boxes. I'll wait for the freezer/fridge and the dish washer to be delivered to the house, move all the perishable food, defrost the fridge in the apartment and deep-clean the kitchen before it's being moved. Disassemble the beds and other large furniture items.

Saturday: Two of our lovely neighbors volunteered to move our kitchen. So they will work there while I will get the transporter and pick up the new kitchen surfaces to be installed. A few of our friends will help us move the bigger furniture items while I'll be driving the transporter, provide food and drinks, organize last-minute items from the hardware store, etc. Re-assemble the furniture at the new place.

Sunday: Have a first breakfast at the new house. Remove the plastic covering from the staircase and enjoy the look of it for the first time. Unpack.

The following weeks will be full of finish moving little stuff, cleaning and painting our old apartment, and getting settled into the new place. Not having neighbors will be weird at first. We'll miss the meadow and hate the construction all around us. But this will pass, and before we know it, we'll not only have a house but a home!

Have a great new week, everyone!!

House Update - The Countdown

Here's my to-do list until moving day (May 31):

- call the communal water department to have the permanent water meter installed
- call the town hall to have the trash cans delivered
- call Telecom to figure out when they will finally have figured out how to provide service for everyone there (yes, it seems that I'll be off the net for a couple of weeks after the move because of lack of service)
- rent a moving truck
- coordinate for the girls' rooms to be measured out for the furniture (and probably re-order the furniture for Violet's room)
- buy more light fixtures
- buy a dish washer and fridge/freezer combo and have it delivered before moving day
- buy a shower rod, shower curtain, towel holder, etc. for the bathrooms
- make sure that none of the workers will get in each other's way
- empty out the attic and move the boxes to the new house
- pack books, toys, and miscellaneous stuff and move to the house
- pack clothes that are not needed for a few weeks and move to the house
- take apart the furniture that cannot be moved in one piece
- buy a new working surface
- move all non-built in kitchen appliances, and the contents of the cupboards to the house; remove the utensil bars, unscrew the working surface


and most importantly:
- try to stay sane until after May 31!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

Missing Something Friday (And Decisions)

Here I was, trying to find the "Finish The Sentence Friday" link-up, hoping for a prompt to take my mind off the decision on hand we have to make. Soon. But then I realized that Janine is somewhat taking the weekend off, so I'm here on my own and you all have to bear with yet another house post.

As I have already mentioned, on Wednesday evening, we've been handed over our house. Now it's up to us to organize the interior to be finished. Walls and ceilings must be finished, floors be put in. A walkway to our house as well as our parking spot must be paved.

Right now, our goal is despite two business holidays on Friday and Monday to give out the contract before we fly to the U.S. on Tuesday. We have two offers on hand:

1. Structured wallpaper on walls and ceilings, twice painted over.

2. Base coat and structured top coat on walls and ceilings with another coat of colored paint on the walls.

Option one is considerably more expensive than option two, but then again, we don't want to save money on the wrong corners here. Some people say that the structured paint is the way to go if you don't plan on changing colors every couple of years (which we don't), others say that it could look sloppy if the walls aren't 100% smooth.

The advantage of the wallpaper seems to be that it smoothes out some irregularities on the wall, but on the other hand, since the house is brand-new, tears could appear because of the house settling that is harder to repair than with structured paint. Plus it's easier to repair little ditches in the paint than in the wallpaper, which may be a selling point with the little ones.

I somehow feel as if we have our decision made, but somehow I still feel uncomfortable, especially since we'll have to say no to one contractor. And I hate disappointing people!  Another issue I may have to work on in the future!  Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!!

House Update - It's Ours!!!

Unbelivable but true: Yesterday, we were finally officially handed over our house. There are still some minor things to be done, and we we're currently on the best way to hire a contractor to paint the interior before installing the floors. I can't believe that the moment of the move is coming so close!

In the meantime, a little review, brought to you by our general contractor:

1. The property before everything started; 2. The foundations; 3. The ground floor is complete; 4. The house is growing; 5. The entrance way; 6. The ceiling supports; 7. The staircase; 8. Our future bedroom; 9. Our HOUSE!!