Moving update

You know how, when you're about to move jobs, you reach the point where you just don't care anymore about the current job. You are just so OVER it already, and SO ready to move on? Well, I'm there. I am SO OVER school at the moment. I just don't care about the fact that I still have all my marking and comments to do. I really, truly, honestly, don't care. For me, this is quite an unusual situation, because I always care. I'm the type who will come back in after I've left to make sure that things are done properly. Not this time. No way, mate. I'm OUTTA here.

Except I still have just over a week to go. And PILES of marking to do. And I have to care, whether I want to or not, because I'm coming back to this job. This is not the end for me. Sigh.

Part of the reason is that this moving house story has really taken the stuffing out of me. I am so mentally exhausted by the whole deal. I've been very good, actually, about not picking up heavy stuff, about just directing other people to do stuff. Mentally though, I'm finished. All the decision making is almost more than I can deal with.

What's making it worse is that our kitchen still isn't finished. I'm hoping they will finish tomorrow, or at worst on Friday. Until then, we still have piles of boxes that need unpacking, and I don't know where my mugs/ plates/ bowls/ washing powder are. I like a clear space to live in; it's important for my mental state. I'm therefore finding all the semi-ordered chaos stressful to live in the midst of.

Over the weekend our fireplace goes in. I'm also hoping to make a decision about desks & workspaces. Then I can start thinking about shelving/ bookcases and sorting out the books and files. Next week some time we should get the blinds in our bedroom, burglar bars and security gates. That's basically all we're still waiting for.

I'm really hoping though that before I head off to hospital we will be completely sorted. I really don't want to be living with that 20:80 rule (the last 20% of the work takes 80% of the time). I don't need that sort of stress with a new baby in the house.

In the meantime, we're also having to deal with the stress of others. Nellie seems to be adapting well, but still has a few hiccups every now and then and is obviously not yet feeling settled again (unsurprisingly). Worse though, is the dogs, Alyssa in particular. She is COMPLETELY stressed out. Baggins seems to be settling down much more quickly, but (I guess because she's a rescue dog) she is not really settling. She is underfoot all the time, and will jump up at you the moment you so much as look in her direction. She is desperate for affirmation and assurance that we're not about to abandon her. I feel terrible for her, but at the same time, it is incredibly annoying and frustrating.

Actually, yesterday was the first time I noticed Alyssa behaving vaguely calmly. While I was sorting stuff out in the garage she actually lay down and watched me (as opposed to being underfoot all the time). The minute you walk around the corner though, she is right there with you, keeping an eye on you, making sure you don't leave her. Poor thing! It must be terrible to live with that sort of fear all day, every day.

The house itself is growing on me though. There are lots of little niggles - light switches in places I think are impractical, not enough plug points, etc, etc, but all in all, I think what we've done has made it a lovely house. I think we'll be happy here in the long run, which makes me really happy. I don't want to move again for a very long time (which is probably 5 years for me!).

I got a lovely email the other day, which made me stop and take stock, particularly in the light of all the things I want to see sorted and have been complaining about.

"I am thankful for:

• the wife who who says it's hot dogs tonight because she is home with me and not out with someone else.
• the husband who is home being a couch potato because he is home with me and not out at bars.
• the teenager who is complaining about doing the dishes because she is home and not out on the streets.
• the taxes I pay because it means I am employed.
• the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have friends.
• the clothes that fit a little to snugly because it means I have enough to eat.
• my shadow that watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.
• a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, a gutter that needs fixing, because it means I have a home.
• all the complaining I hear about the government because it means we have freedom of speech.
• the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking and have been blessed with transportation.
• for my huge heating bill because it means I am warm.
• the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.
• the pile of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear.
• weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been capable of working hard.
• the alarm that goes off in the early hours of the morning because it means I am alive."

I am thankful for all the niggles of this house, because it means I have a house. When I compare my house to my domestic's, well, this place is a palace. I am grateful for the space we have, the number of rooms, the amount of stuff we have, the boxes everywhere... they are all indicators of the blessing we have in our jobs and in our families & friends who have been so generous in their gifts. So Telkom have stuffed up our phone line and the ADSL line (at first we had a land line and no ADSL. Now we have ADSL, but no land line!), so we had no electricity for a day because the electricity department cut off our supply for a rather ridiculous reason, so our toilet was broken and the taps leak, so what? We have a roof over our heads. We have power again. We have running water. That's a hang of a lot more than many people have.

So although I am VERY tired of this move now, and VERY ready for it all to be over, I am also very grateful for the space we are in. Here's to many happy years ahead of us here.