Yes, I'm still alive... AKA, moving SUCKS!!
Back in June, our (old) landlord's lackey came to the house with an envelope for us. Of course, he left before we'd even had a chance to look at it. When I saw what it was, I nearly had a heart attack. It was an official "notice to quit." An eviction notice.
According to the letter, he (the old landlord) wanted to sell the house, so he wanted us out. On the face of it, it wouldn't have sounded like such a big deal. He was giving us 2 months, after which time he would be able to take legal action (taking us to court) to get us out of the house. And the fact is, we wanted to move anyway. But there was one problem.
Where the hell were we going to go?????
Like I said above, we wanted to move anyway. We'd wanted to move since the day we arrived in this country and entered that house. It was too small even for the 6 of us, never mind the 11 of us that there were in the house when we first got here (before his mother and her boyfriend and his sisters moved out in August '03). But we had a hell of a time finding any properties that were big enough for us. What we really wanted was a council house - a home owned and kept up by the town council - but they wouldn't let us have anything smaller than a 4 bedroom, and if they had 1 4-bed house available every 3 months, that was a GOOD 3 months. All the private houses big enough for us were too expensive.
So I went to my friend and neighbor, May, to ask if she'd gotten the same thing - my landlord was her landlord as well. Apparently she'd gotten hers weeks before that, and already had another property lined up. She said she'd talk to this new landlord and let me know if he had anything available for us.
Well, within less than 24 hours of getting that letter, she'd already spoken to the new landlord and he'd said we could have the house next door to her. I didn't really want to count on it until I heard from the landlord's own mouth that we could have it, but it sounded promising.
Within 3 weeks of getting that letter, we'd met with the new landlord, saw the house, signed the paperwork, and paid our bond (deposit). A week later, we moved in. That was July 17.
It's been 2 months, and we're still not totally unpacked. We are unpacked enough that it feels like home, but not completely. There are still some things that we don't know exactly where they are. And there are some things that we still need to get for this house.
The terror twins don't have a closet in their room, so they need a wardrobe. At the moment, their school clothes are hanging on "over-the-door" hooks on their bedroom door. It'll do for now, but it's not ideal. And they desperately need new beds. We couldn't get their bunkbeds apart, so we just took the mattresses, and they've got those on the floor right now. They don't seem to mind - they actually started cheering when they found out they'd have to sleep on the floor. *lol* But I, of course, feel like one of the worst mothers in the world knowing that they don't have a proper bed to sleep in.
I managed to buy one wardrobe for myself on credit, but it's not enough. My clothes are absolutely squashed into this thing, and there's no room for Blake's clothes at all.
We really want to get some new bedroom furniture, too. We're still using the white dressers that my mom bought me when I was 12 - and they were old when she bought them!!!!
Caitlin could use a new bed... she's got an old American-style bed (box spring and mattress), but without any sort of frame. That got rusted lying out in the back garden (because we didn't have the hardware to put it together), so we had to throw it out.
And finally - and I'm absolutely dying to get it - we need a kitchen table. We finally have a kitchen (well, 2 of them, actually) big enough for one, and I want it so bad I can practically taste it.
As for this house itself, it's as close to a dream house as we could possibly get in our situation. There are 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, and 4 cupboard/closets. The problem with the cupboard/closets is that nobody in this country believes in putting hanging rails in the damned things. They're just open, empty space. That's why we still need the wardrobes.
The reason for the 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms is this: this house was split up into two flats (apartments). A 1-bed flat downstairs, and a 3-bed flat upstairs. But because of the size of our family (and because of the fact that one of the upstairs bedrooms is tiny), the landlord is letting us have the entire house. Yes, we have to pay more, but according to the government's own website, we are eligible to get full housing benefit for the entire property. So WE shouldn't actually have to pay a thing. But they still haven't sorted out all the paperwork. Typical, really. It took them months to sort it all out in the first place for the old house.
I really hate moving, I have to say. But on the other hand, I'm so happy to have moved. This is a much better house, and we're in a perfect spot. There's a doctor's office across the street, the library's on the corner, we're a 5-minute walk from the kids' new school, and there are so many shops between the house and the school, if there's anything I need, I can pretty much get it there. Even the post office is close, and they sell so many things in there that I'm in there practically every day. I can get the kids' snacks and juice and even things like cereal in there!
Oh yeah - AND we're within walking distance of not 1, not 2, but THREE parks. Needless to say, the kids are loving this new house.
I'm just glad we don't feel like a can of sardines anymore!!!
According to the letter, he (the old landlord) wanted to sell the house, so he wanted us out. On the face of it, it wouldn't have sounded like such a big deal. He was giving us 2 months, after which time he would be able to take legal action (taking us to court) to get us out of the house. And the fact is, we wanted to move anyway. But there was one problem.
Where the hell were we going to go?????
Like I said above, we wanted to move anyway. We'd wanted to move since the day we arrived in this country and entered that house. It was too small even for the 6 of us, never mind the 11 of us that there were in the house when we first got here (before his mother and her boyfriend and his sisters moved out in August '03). But we had a hell of a time finding any properties that were big enough for us. What we really wanted was a council house - a home owned and kept up by the town council - but they wouldn't let us have anything smaller than a 4 bedroom, and if they had 1 4-bed house available every 3 months, that was a GOOD 3 months. All the private houses big enough for us were too expensive.
So I went to my friend and neighbor, May, to ask if she'd gotten the same thing - my landlord was her landlord as well. Apparently she'd gotten hers weeks before that, and already had another property lined up. She said she'd talk to this new landlord and let me know if he had anything available for us.
Well, within less than 24 hours of getting that letter, she'd already spoken to the new landlord and he'd said we could have the house next door to her. I didn't really want to count on it until I heard from the landlord's own mouth that we could have it, but it sounded promising.
Within 3 weeks of getting that letter, we'd met with the new landlord, saw the house, signed the paperwork, and paid our bond (deposit). A week later, we moved in. That was July 17.
It's been 2 months, and we're still not totally unpacked. We are unpacked enough that it feels like home, but not completely. There are still some things that we don't know exactly where they are. And there are some things that we still need to get for this house.
The terror twins don't have a closet in their room, so they need a wardrobe. At the moment, their school clothes are hanging on "over-the-door" hooks on their bedroom door. It'll do for now, but it's not ideal. And they desperately need new beds. We couldn't get their bunkbeds apart, so we just took the mattresses, and they've got those on the floor right now. They don't seem to mind - they actually started cheering when they found out they'd have to sleep on the floor. *lol* But I, of course, feel like one of the worst mothers in the world knowing that they don't have a proper bed to sleep in.
I managed to buy one wardrobe for myself on credit, but it's not enough. My clothes are absolutely squashed into this thing, and there's no room for Blake's clothes at all.
We really want to get some new bedroom furniture, too. We're still using the white dressers that my mom bought me when I was 12 - and they were old when she bought them!!!!
Caitlin could use a new bed... she's got an old American-style bed (box spring and mattress), but without any sort of frame. That got rusted lying out in the back garden (because we didn't have the hardware to put it together), so we had to throw it out.
And finally - and I'm absolutely dying to get it - we need a kitchen table. We finally have a kitchen (well, 2 of them, actually) big enough for one, and I want it so bad I can practically taste it.
As for this house itself, it's as close to a dream house as we could possibly get in our situation. There are 2 kitchens, 2 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, and 4 cupboard/closets. The problem with the cupboard/closets is that nobody in this country believes in putting hanging rails in the damned things. They're just open, empty space. That's why we still need the wardrobes.
The reason for the 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms is this: this house was split up into two flats (apartments). A 1-bed flat downstairs, and a 3-bed flat upstairs. But because of the size of our family (and because of the fact that one of the upstairs bedrooms is tiny), the landlord is letting us have the entire house. Yes, we have to pay more, but according to the government's own website, we are eligible to get full housing benefit for the entire property. So WE shouldn't actually have to pay a thing. But they still haven't sorted out all the paperwork. Typical, really. It took them months to sort it all out in the first place for the old house.
I really hate moving, I have to say. But on the other hand, I'm so happy to have moved. This is a much better house, and we're in a perfect spot. There's a doctor's office across the street, the library's on the corner, we're a 5-minute walk from the kids' new school, and there are so many shops between the house and the school, if there's anything I need, I can pretty much get it there. Even the post office is close, and they sell so many things in there that I'm in there practically every day. I can get the kids' snacks and juice and even things like cereal in there!
Oh yeah - AND we're within walking distance of not 1, not 2, but THREE parks. Needless to say, the kids are loving this new house.
I'm just glad we don't feel like a can of sardines anymore!!!
Labels: moving
posted by nukkingphutz at 5:00 pm
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