Having moved in, the unenviable task of unpacking started yesterday. I stopped at 1 something this morning to sleep; lightweight, I know! Rooms are filled with boxes filled with our stuff. Where to put it? What to unpack? And where the hell's that thing I need for the...? We rented some cardboard boxes. We were given others and obtained even more. But we had to put a deposit down on some - that's a great idea. These are the ones I'm emptying first . £60 is £60! A cash incentive to empty boxes and straighten the house? Genius - boxing clever! Today's questions: what will be in the last box? And when will be get round to emptying it? Answers on a postcard to the usual address...!
0 Comments
The removal vans arrived at 08:33 and out house was systematically packed away. And then scrubbed clean (thanks don't seen enough, Due!). And then all the stuff that hadn't been packed. Then the long, agonising wait. By one o'clock we still hadn't heard from the solicitors and stress levels were rising. Deep breath. It could be worse. It can always be worse. It is 14:41 and I am sitting on the kerb outside our new townhouse - actually, truth be told, almost ours! - waiting. The three removal vans are also waiting. The solicitor had just let us know she has received "the funds" and I am blogging instead of pacing a hole in the tarmac waiting for the keys to be handed over. This blogging lark is a good way to vent, relieve tensions and share what's going on with my avid reader (hi!). Take a deep breath. It's now 14:46 and I have officially run out of patience, humour and small talk with the lovely tattooed gentlemen who have all our worldly possessions in their vans! Today's question: will we move in today? If not, where are we going to sleep tonight? As regular readers (snrk!) will know, I've had a busy week (camp, vacation, packing the house) and tomorrow will be busier. Boxes are packed and, once we have loaded cars and vans tomorrow, I understand that we are awaiting "the call"! The one that changes our lives again. No time yet to plan for next week, to make a decent start on report writing or any of the othe things that are normally done in this last week before the final half... But that's a problem for another time...! Today's question: (oh, please use the comments section to post an answer to my daily question and be entered into the prize draw!) if all the glasses are paled ready to move, is it okay to drink Champagne from a mug and the bottle? Wednesday is nearly done, and after a really busy final week of the half term, I've had a really busy start to the half term break - and it's only going to get worse! We put our house on the market on 2nd January - and sold it on the 6th! However, due to complications too many to list in a simple blog, we only exchanged last Thursday (regular blog fans will know I was under water in my tent on Y5 camp!) and we move on Friday! Yay! Having been away from Saturday until this morning (hence no blogging - but I'm back, baby!) it's all going to be very last minute. The best laid plans...! Today's question: why did it ALL have to happen in a 9 day window? (Camp, vacation, moving!) Supplemental question: when am I going to get the reports written? Having had a busy week - and a busier one ahead! - am heading off for a few days out of reach of communication so no blogging for a few days. I know, I know - fans (lmao - as if!) will be upset, but normal service will resume next week. Question to ponder: when told on Wednesday at a Planetarium that wormholes were a device of Science Fiction and didn't exist, would YOU have kept a straight face when one of the 10 year olds said he had seen one in his garden with the worm still in it? Home. Phew! The children went home very, very tired, but in one piece. The rain came, but the only bit if bother it gave us was as we were dismantling the tents. We will live! However, last night we didn't have rain - we had wind. The only reason the tent I was in didn't take off was because I was in it. Even then it moved about a foot. At 03 something this morning I called time and had enough. After checking nobody else was having trouble, I restaked the pegs, tied on of the strings from the tent to "The Jolly Jess" boat and abandoned ship! I slept in my classroom. My thermarest and pillow had dried out (from the soaking the night before) enough for me to sleep on my classroom floor. Eventually. Without the wind howling, all I could hear was the classroom clock. Had a "tick" ever sounded so loud and menacing as when you can't get to sleep? I was asleep just after 04:30 and slept deeply until my alarm went off at 06:00. Still, it could have been worse - I wasn't the adult on camp whose tent attracted all the ants! Today's question: how do YOU celebrate the end of the fifth half-term of the academic year? Yes, yes. "Intense" was a pun on "in tents", so the prize for spotting that goes to @prisoner24601 for calling in with that! Having got all the children to bed and, at five to midnight, all their torches off and voices stopped - and all the adults squared away, I did a last sweep of the camp. At 00:30 this morning, a couple of spots of rain fell. "Time to turn in," I thought. Lying under canvas listening to gentle rainfall is quite nice. Listening to a downpour (well, we were warned!) was less fun. I must have drifted off just after half one... ...only to awaken at a little after half three to find my pillow wet, and water leading from the entrance to my tent, under my thermarest and up to my pillow. I know, I know - I'm camping and taken a pillow? My one luxury! Mercifully, my sleeping bag was dry, but as I started soaking up rain water with blue paper towels and wondering if I'd get back to sleep, my thoughts turned to how the children were getting on. I had had to magic 3 puppets / small teddies out of dark recesses of my classroom for the 3 homesick children - and magically, by asking them to look after the teddy / puppets, they found the courage to go to sleep. (Don't tell - I have an image to maintain and doing nice things would shatter it!) The child who had been telling everyone that they had seen a murderer escape from prison that morning had also been spoken to - and a quick sharing of the BBC News app dispelled all rumours. But how had they all coped with the rain? A couple of adults and children had heard it. One kit tent was a little damp - but by tent inspection time they'd sorted it and their belongings were sorted (they scored an impressive 9.5 / 10, dropping half a point for some grass in their tent that I may have traipsed in myself!). But the only tent to have taken on water was mine. Interestingly, all of the children were in antique-looking, patched-together-with-tape-in-places, held-up-with-prayer tents bought last century (well, certainly 19something) and they were all fine. I was in one modern pop-up number lent to me by a colleague and mother of one of the children on camp. Today's question: did I deserve it? As I see it - better me than the children. They are tired but warm and dry and happy! Camp. It's here. Met Office have issued warning for tomorrow morning in the wee hours, but that's a problem for then. Tents are... Well, "up" is both accurate and optimistic. All activities done so far. Planetarium was great. Treasure hunt concluded with all children back at school in one piece and all with "treasure". Rockets are being built to be launched on Friday in front of parents. And it's now food time. And thirty seconds for another speed blog. Tonight's question: why am I doing this? One more night in my bed and then camp. Forecast for the last two weeks has been shocking. Looked today - cloudy tomorrow. Showers Thursday (whilst we are in an interactive Science Centre and Planetarium) and then cloudy Friday. Storms Saturday. But that's post camp. Got a million and one things to do tonight, but today's question is: what am I going to forget tomorrow? Anyone who has read my blog (anyone? Anyone? Is there anyone who has?) will know that I have my Y5 camp this week. Tents are coming in. Weather looks awful. Trips are organised. Treasure hunts have been set and prizes are waiting to be hidden. And food was bought. This evening. That was not fun. I had a list. Well, 2 lists. Truthfully? 3 lists. However, the best list was the one that had all the items from the other two lists in the order that I would find them in the large popular store. This year we (my trusted assistant and I) left school, shopped and checked out in a sniff under 80 minutes - halving last year's time. Boom! I was hungry - but sticking to a list and wanting to get home (after trying to find homes for all the food items bought!) spurred me on. The real time saver was preparation. Today's question: will all this hard work be appreciated? |