Moving (PM)

There is both nothing worse and nothing better than moving house.*  The packing, the sorting, the deciding what comes and what's trash. The lifting, the carrying, the more lifting and more carrying. The cleaning. And that's just for the good moves. Once when moving house in the pouring rain, the heretofore perfectly fine bathroom roof leaked and flooded the bathroom. Not our problem. But really it was. In that move LB and I didn't even have a real house to move to, we just had to get out of that shoebox and away from our crazy landlord who lived next door. That night at a party at Miguel and Legsly's, very tired and very drunk LB and I had a terrible fight, then slept on our mattress which was on a pile of our belongings in the back of the car out the front of Miguel and Legsly's place. Another time when we were moving house in the pouring rain I drove a car load of stuff and 2-month-old Baby to our new home while LB drove a truckload of stuff plus our mattress strapped to the top of the truck. This is one of those stories where it is worth noting that at the start I mentioned the pouring rain. Somehow the mattress fell off the top of the truck in peak Punt Road traffic and was by this stage so waterlogged all LB could manage was dragging it to the side of the road before driving away hoping no one took down his plates. I guess that mattress would have been good for nothing anyway after the amount of water it took in.

But, when the moving is all done and you are in your new place there is so much promise, promise of a new lovely space to organise and beautify, not yet overwhelmed by the debris of everyday life, promise of all the good times you will have. Last year when I moved house right about now I was so happy. The move was smooth and it didn't rain at all. Everything arrived at the new place in tact. The space was clean and fresh and, back then, fit all our stuff. When the house you move to is good and it's a new year and exciting things are gonna happen and all your walls are white, that, that is pretty, pretty, pretty good.



*Not an actual fact. Actually it is absolutely untrue, so many things are worse than moving house and many things are better, but you didn't come here for facts right?

Moving (PM)

Even the good moves, the ones where you can leave a bunch of stuff behind at your parents house, are exhausting. They are preceded by all that packing and cleaning and I don't know about you guys, but packing and cleaning are two things that really make me want to go zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The weird thing about sleeping in a new house is that all your stuff is there, but it doesn't feel like yours. That's what I reckon. But I'm not Doctor Move, so don't take that as the definitive answer.

Regardless, I can't wait to visit the new house! In addition to coming over when I am invited, I am also going to do the old drop in with afternoon sometimes. I love doing the old drop-in.

Before I go,  I just want to show you all the new household accessory I got for my birthday.

Isn't it great? It's both a very pretty thing AND it helps me feel like an adult because it's a place to keep my keys. Thanks G-Force.

Moving (AM)

Whoa you guys. When was the last time you moved house? For me it was yesterday. I know can you believe it, after all this talk and time. But shit you guys, it is really tiring. And I did it in the most easiest way ever. That is I took a bunch of stuff from one house to another, left a bunch of stuff behind to get later and had a nice clean organised new house by the end of the day. This is the blessing of moving out of your folks' place I guess. No keys to hand back to real estate agents with nothing but steam cleaned carpets left behind. And yet it's still totally freaking exhausting. 

And weird. I've already spent lots of time in my new place but moving in, staying the night, it's weird. Why is it so weird? Staying over night in a hotel isn't weird but staying over night in your new house is totally weird. Is it just because you're really tired by the time night falls? Or is it because you have a whole unprecedented chunk of life ahead of you? Dunno. 

What I do know though is that whbklpggxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This year (PM)

Hey, yeah, hi everybody! And hi, 2014! I mean sure, we met 20 days ago but I guess I just wanted to publicly say hi and we here at Miss Soft Crab are really excited about you. We've got some big things planned.

Of course it's not going to be all beer and Christian Bale mind you.

 

I have what is essentially a Welsh brother-in-law and he has lived in Australia for more than 10 years and I still have trouble understanding what he is saying half the time. Especially on the phone. So mate, let me advise you to double check everything! Especially in your line of work. But seriously folks, Wales is going to rule!

 

Wales! That's some pretty shit right there.

Me, I’ll just be here in Australia all year. Most likely. But I’m going to do some exciting shit too, you know. First up, move house. Oh yeah it’s been a long time coming but it is actually going to happen in about 3 or maybe 4 weeks.

Scenes from my soon to be new home

And while I’m confident I’ll be able to understand everything being said by my new neighbours moving is not going to be without its challenges. Just this morning I was looking at a pile of shoes that I own and never wear and wondering what the eff to do with them. I mean, I have some great shoes but will I ever wear them again? A pair of black and white striped pointy-toed, kitten-heeled ankle boots I coveted for so long in my early twenties, finally bought and haven’t worn in a decade,  is it time to say goodbye? And all the other things I own like that? I’m not going to have the storage for them anymore. I think 2014 may be the year I have to become an adult and move the fuck on with my life and my belongings. It's time to say goodbye to things. No, I'm not talking about my collection of rare silverchair releases that I never look at. They are coming with me, but other things. You know like shoes and clothes trinkets I was given 15 years ago that sit in the bottom of a drawer. Yeah 2014! I'm going to grow the hell up during you! That is some pretty exciting stuff right there!

Like K I also have some pretty exciting things planned for March, but I am so exhausted after making that resolve to grow up that I'll have to talk about that another day. Gimme a break, it's the first day back at MSC headquarters.

Cheese dreams (PM)

You know last night I had pretty intense dreams and even though I woke up thinking about last night's cheese it didn't even occur to me that I'd been having cheese dreams until I read about your Beyonce dream! That dream sounds awesome by the way. I kind of love celebrity dreams. What a shame you didn't get to go out and party with Beyonce. You guys would have had the best time.

In my dream LB and I were checking out a flat to move into. It was huge and full of a big Jewish family, lots of brass instruments and European things.

Perhaps to make up for the fact I did not have celebrity dreams I kept seeing celebrity doppelgangers this morning. First I  saw a woman so beautiful it made me want to cry. She looked like this:

  

Let me just say that I think my mild hangover largely contributed to my emotional response to her beauty. 

Then I saw a man that looked like this:

 

So weird.

It's Haiku Thursday again!

Isolated Showers

Bad enough you're rain.

That you're also all alone

Really breaks my heart.

#96

I've tried 1 and 8

But you. You're a cut above.

Let's stay together!

Chocolate Ripple Cake

Just cream and biccies

You might as well be White Wings

But you call to me

Removalist

"Are you bionic?"

I asked. Seemed likely. You said

"No, I'm a Kiwi."

See you in Buddha hell

I guess I'm glad that the Chutney Club meeting I mostly missed was pretty much the best one yet. I guess I can overcome my jealousy and feel glad that you guys got to enjoy all those delicious things.

I mean, if watching the Dalai Lama on Masterchef taught me anything, it taught me not to be jealous and to be thankful for the...oh, wait, watching the Dalail Lama on Masterchef taught me NOTHING AT ALL because the Dalai Lama has no place on Masterchef! The Dalai Lama has totally jumped the shark! Honestly Dalai Lama, I just don't know why you would do it!

But seriously. What have I got to be jealous about, really. I mean, things are pretty shit-hot for me at the moment. I managed to take time out from my busy moving and cleaning schedule to drop by the club and exchange jars of the lemon pickle I made for jars of everything everyone else made.
I have a new bedroom that looks like this:


A fridge full of chutney that looks like this:
and I got to spend my first night in my new home watching Harry Potter 5, followed by the Dees beating Port Adelaide, followed by hilarious hunks on Graham Norton.
It's practically l'age d'or pour moi.
And now I am going to post this early, because J and I are going to Ikea to get some things to make our lives, I mean our houses, even better.
Hooray!

Belated goodbye, house

I know we have said this already this week, but moving house really is hard to do. Apart from the cleaning and packing and all the boring stuff, there is also the sentimentality.

Last time I moved house properly was about a year ago. Baby was only 2 months old and I was still very much in a post-labour/shit i have a baby now fog. It meant the whole moving experience was both more and less painful than usual. Thanks fog. If I had been a bit more clear headed I am sure I would have felt a lot more sentimental. As it was I just felt foggy.

We lived in that house for about 3 years. And it was a really great house.


It had three big bedrooms, two living spaces, a good back yard. We had many happy years there, many happy times, and some good parties.


It was where Baby first came home to. If I had the presence of mind to get emotional during that move, I sure would have.

Thank god I was in that fog. Oh no. I promised myself I wouldn't cry.

Goodbye house

I'm moving out of my lovely house this weekend. This means that all I am doing with my time is either packing or feeling guilty about not packing. Because I am a sentimental girl, I am also thinking about how much I've liked living in this house. There are so many great things about it, including a very effective heater and an awesome shower. I feel a little sad to be saying goodbye.

Goodbye front bedroom, with the nice morning light and the nice view of the street:
Goodbye garden. Remember when I grew all those tomatoes and eggplants in you? Such a good one. Sorry Doggy buried all those bones in you over the last few days.
Goodbye lovely housemates. You are the best housemates ever. Readers, do yourselves a favour and share a house with Rumpy and Paws at some point in your lives. You'll thank me.

Goodbye Monday curry night. I think I will miss you most of all.
But hello little flat!
You and I are going to have the best time!

Everything K says is true*

I could not agree with you more. Moving house sucks the most. The packing, the cleaning. Nor could I agree with you more about the awesomeness of Doggy. I would go so far as to say he is the best dog ever, though some may say I am biased.

Of course I never knew Hachiko personally, but I have drunk many beers and chu-hai by his statue and thought about his lovely story. And I have no doubt he was an awesome dog and I always enjoyed drinking by his statue. But Doggy, he is so loving, so thoughtful, so sweet, so smart. World's first smart Irish Setter, some might say. He is a real top dog.

Here he is on the day we moved out of our last real house. An awful day really, but there was Doggy by our side.


And here he is in the sunshine. Just looking really handsome.


Doggy really is the best.

*Everything K says in her post from this morning is true. I am not vouching for the rest.

Moving house is annoying

I'm moving house next weekend.
It's been about 2.5 years since I last moved. Not much has changed.
You still have to pack up all of your stuff. It's still really annoying. It's pretty much how I remember it.
At least Doggy is here to help this time round. I love Doggy. J doesn't like to show off, but Doggy really is one of the all time top dogs. Hachiko is another good one. But Doggy is definitely up there.
He is the whole package: super handsome, with a really great personality. He is elegant and graceful. He never gets bothered by the stream of people who want to pat him every time you take him for a walk. He is a cool guy.
He stayed over last night. I let him sleep on my bed because he kept putting his front paws on the bed and it looked really cute. I know that J and LB let him sleep on their bed, indeed, bought a new, lower bed when Doggy's arthritis made it hard for him to climb up on their old one.
Who am I to say no?
I discovered that when Doggy sleeps on the bed, he really sleeps on the bed. He pretty much took up the whole thing. To give you an idea, imagine that my bed is like the Australian flag. Doggy occupied all the part that is blue and has stars on it. All of it! I got the stupid union jack in the corner. But he was asleep, what could I do?
I also discovered that he woofs in his sleep a little. Just enough to be cute, and not annoying.
Here he is, right now, by the way.
Hey, this post isn't about moving house at all!