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Thursday 16 December 2010

We are here at last!

I am currently at a friend's house, Ken's best man lives four miles away from us, as we don't have internet so this will be a quick update and photos will have to follow as I forgot to bring the camera memory card.

Let me start by saying that I cannot recommend moving with two ill children while you have a temperature of 103/39.5 during the worst snow for the last forty years. The van was nearly four hours late, the ramp kept icing up, I was too ill to do much prior to packing and pretty useless on the day, Ken managed to get a paternity day off and came home 10.00 the evening before, and friends from church and Mum saved the day. They stayed in shifts all day and cleaned the house through, or looked after the children. At six we were waved off, collected Isla from Mum, fed her and ourselves and finally arrived at midnight.

Ken's parents had decided that they would help us move in but that staying with us would be too complicated and probably add to the confusion. They rented a holiday house five miles from our house it was a haven! When they heard that we were going to be so late they arranged with the owner for us all to stay there for the night. We were joined by Mark, an absolute stalwart, who took time off work and drove up from Norfolk in the snow just to help us move in. He did the same helping us move to and from Germany. Either his life is just too dull and even shifting boxes seems like a good idea, or he is a wonderful friend. I think it is probably the latter. The holiday home was bliss - from dark night and cold snow to a warm, wood-stove-warmed living room with a cup of tea. A fresh bed, warm shower and not a box in site.

Actually, there weren't any boxes in site. They were meant to arrive at 8.00 the next morning but as the men had finished so late the day before, they couldn't set off until the following morning and consequently didn't arrive until lunchtime. Irronically, it took them the same amount of time to drive from Derby to Newcastle as it did the day before to drive from Derby to Macclesfield! The van was unloaded, some boxes were unpacked and we withdrew to the holiday house again somewhat exhausted.

I rapidly came to the conclusion that with unpacking it takes 10% of the time to unpack 90% of the boxes and 90% of the time to work out what to do with the final 10%. Two weeks after moving in we are mostly unpacked. There are things we have decided to leave in boxes, like the best china and most of my books, but we are starting to feel settled. We have had a couple of annoying trips to Ikea, (one where the fire alarm went off for three and a half hours and we had to wait in the carpark. Then the child care place argued that since Angus had already been in child care he couldn't come back in! As I had dropped him off and not even walked across the foyer before the alarm started, they eventually relented, but not without an argument), bought random items that we needed in order to shape our stuff to the available storage, and are now feeling that our things have homes. Last night we put up the Christmas tree but I haven't yet written Christmas cards. Angus has started nursery and is already talking about his friends and been in the school nativity. Most of the Christmas presents have been bought and life is starting to develop a pattern. I may even start to like it up here.... That would be turn up for the books.

I will keep you up to date as and when internet allows or offers of internet are given. If I don't write again before Christmas, have a good one and remember Christmas is not about presents, fun though they are, it is a birthday party.

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