STALKING THE HOUSE

Morning!  Today we are off to Hamilton, primarily because we want to look at the house again, and our 2nd choice house too.

There's not much else planned for the day... we just want to get out and about really.

Hopefully we can pop in and see a few grandkids while we are there too.  

It feels weird... because Stew's been home for two days already, I keep thinking it's Monday.
But it's not.  

In 4 sleeps we will be back in Hamilton for the house Auction!  Nerves are frayed!

I can't believe it's the last day of April already.  Archer will be 1 year old on the 5th of May.  I think as you get older, the year goes faster.  
Who else finds that?

So anyway... that's it for now... catch ya later.

ONWARD...

5.45 pm: on our way home.... stuck in motorway traffic.... will update more once we finally get home.

6.11 pm:  And home again.  It was a lovely day, still very warm out.
We went to Cambridge and looked at a favourite house again, then took a drive around several houses in Hamilton, checking them out.

Then we had lunch at Chartwell Square, and popped in to visit Amanda, Kelly and the kids.

 ABOVE:  Miss Muppet was in a shitty mood, but oh well, she still had plenty of loves for her grandparents, as did Rena, Emily and Liam.

 ABOVE:  Totally forgotten what Kelly was laughing over.  *smiles*

 ABOVE: Amanda is finally out of her moon boot, she just has a little limp now.  That is her dog 'Lady' btw.

ABOVE:  Home, and Tallulah is checking out the new nail polish I bought today.  
Both dogs went nuts when we got home, clearly they had missed us.  Hopefully we won't have to be going out of town again till we move.  And then the dogs will be coming with us of course.  *smiles*

It's dinner time, but stuffed if I know what we shall have.  I'm still full from lunch!  No one seems to be starving right now, so it can wait a while.

I'm gunna sign off for the day now and just enjoy a quiet evening in front of the telly. Coronation Street is on... YEAH.

p.s. :  I'm sitting here, and Stew says to me... "What do you want for dinner?"

I reply "Chocolate Ice Cream"

And he said "NO"!!!

Like, ... how mean!  He is getting Pizza instead.  *sigh*

A MOVIE?

Well today we are going to go out and see a movie, not sure what yet.

It's just a day to relax and enjoy ourselves.  No stress today!

We should get our loan documents via email sometime today, which we will promptly sign and send off so the finances are 'in place' for next week's Auction.

ABOVE:  So... we are going to see this movie.  It's a kiwi movie, had very good reviews etc.  
Hope it's good.

Didn't have a good night's sleep, was coughing from 1 am till 3 am, then throwing up at 3 am too.  Ikkkk.  I thought my cough was getting better, but NO.  *sigh*

I hope I don't cough and drive the punters mad at the movies. 

3.00 pm:  and the movie was neat!  I did not expect it to be so good.  If you get the chance, go see it.  It's got some good, honest kiwi humour.  And excellent acting.  

We had planned to have lunch at the mall, but none of us was that hungry after movie lollies/drinks etc.

Stew got some buns and a cooked chook... so I might have some of that soon.

OK... we are all tired and ready for bed... so well... nite nite!

KEEPING IT SECRET

I know you are all interested in our First Choice house, and want to see photos of it.

But I'm being a bit prudent in NOT divulging photos of it, as we don't want the address to be public.  Clearly if I publish photos, the address is easily found by just looking on the 'net.

So, hang in there!  I will show you all once we have secured it, and it's no longer being advertised, address and all.  Or... if we don't get it... same goes for our 2nd choice home.

Stew has taken today and tomorrow off work, to spend a couple of days with the kids before they go back to school.
I think today we will just hang around here, but tomorrow we will probably go to Hamilton for the day... and maybe by then we will have bank documents to sign?

I hope so.

So, that's all for now.  Catch ya later...

ONWARD...

STEP ONE:  Sell house... DONE

STEP TWO:  Get finance... DONE

STEP THREE:  Buy house... next week.

We got our finance.  So, so relieved.  Now we are cash buyers.  Bring on next week!

Gawd it's been a trying time this house move!

So it's been a good evening... so much stress has gone.  But I know that in 6 sleeps we will be bidding on 'our' house and I will be getting more and more anxious as the days roll by till then.

I really can't wait till it's all over and we have a house to move to!

SLEEPING IN

I am tucked up in bed.... come back later !😊

9.10 am:  And I'm up and at 'em.
The kids are still in bed though... might just leave them there.  It's nice and peaceful while they are asleep.  lol

Today I'm going to get Griffin to pack up his 'stuff' and tidy up his room.  He's a very typical teenage boy... messy.

Sometime this afternoon I have a man coming to give a quote on moving all our furniture and stuff to Hamilton.  That should be interesting.  I'm sure he thinks we only have an average 4 bedroom house contents!  

Little does he know we have MASSES of stuff. ha ha.

Thankfully I'm feeling much better today.  I won't be having any more luncheon that's for sure.  

Better go ... got stuff to do.

STUFF DONE TODAY?

Well Brylee painted me toe nails, and I painted me finger nails.  Ummmm.... I sat and waited for  a 'good' phone call... that's not come yet.

I am so frustrated!  The bloody bank is soooooo taking it's time to approve our finances.
I can't believe it's taking this long.  NOW I see why people ask for 10 working days to get their loan approved by the bank. 

We were on the other side of this process 6 times while selling our house, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

But... the house we want to bid on goes to Auction next week and we have to get our finance approved before we can bid!!!

I feel sick with the suspense and worry that it might not come through in time.  I do have a No #2 house ... but I want my No#1 house!!!

Takeaways for dinner tonight.  I was just too crabby to cook!

Off to bed, feeling a bit better knowing that our first choice house is still available, and we are not going to lose it, unless we get outbid at the Auction... which won't take place till next week now.

WALKING!!!!

Our youngest grandchild, Archer, is walking!
And he's not even 1 yet.  

Steve and Bex managed to get a short video of him for me last night:


ABOVE: our clever wee man.  In 10 days he will be 1 year old.  The time goes so fast.

Today I'm going to do some packing of stuff in the Dungeon (store room under our house), then this afternoon I have a Doctor's appointment.

Need a re-fill of me meds.  And I will talk to her about me cough, cos I really don't want it to linger for months like the last few years.  It IS a bit better than it was last week, but still worth seeing if it can be kept at bay.

Meanwhile... Stew is at work in Hamilton... waiting to hear from our bank.  Fingers crossed we get good news today which will enable us to put an offer on a house in Hamilton this week.

ONWARD...

1.12 pm:  Not heard from the bank yet... grrrr.

Been to the Doctors... but not for me.  Young Archer had a fall and hurt his mouth, so I met Bex at the Doctor's this morning just to be supportive.
Archer is OK, he's got a big gash in his upper gums.  We are hoping his teeth are not damaged.  Time will tell on that score.

When I left, the kids were in bed.  When I got home... they were still in bed! They hadn't even noticed I wasn't here. Typical teenagers.

I went down to the dungeon, looked inside and decided I didn't feel like doing anything!  So... I went and lay on my bed and fell asleep for 2 hours!  

Now I am going to the Doctor's.

Dr visit went well.  She's given me an inhaler to relax my lungs so I don't throw up so readily.

Talking about throwing up.... I had a sandwich for lunch with a slice of luncheon, tomato and cheese.   Since then I've been fighting nausea.  We think the luncheon might have been past it's due date.  Don't you just hate it when you WANT to throw up, constantly feel like you are going to... but then don't!

And on that miserable note, I'm off to bed early.
Hope to feel much better tomorrow.

ANZAC DAY

Today we remember those who died in World War 1 to defend our freedoms.  ANZAC stands for:  Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

There will be dawn services all over New Zealand and Australia today, to mark the day.

Meanwhile in this house... I will be doing more packing.

Steve will be coming back to finish working on his van.

Talking of Steve:

ABOVE:  Some family hilarity last night.  I won't explain what Steve had been doing to poor Bex... but it was grubby!  

ABOVE: Stew was TRYING to watch rugby on the telly, while Dante was trying to constantly get his attention... so Granddad would play with the cars with him.  This wasn't working too well for Dante, and he kept yelling at Stew, then he said :

"GRANDDAD!  YOU ARE DOING MY HEAD IN !"

It was hysterical!

So, I've got me camera out taking photos, next thing I know... I've got a small person at me side ...

ABOVE:  This little one LOVES the flash on my camera!  Weird baby.  But oh so cute.

***HAPPY BIRTHDAY*** SHELLY (my niece in Australia).

Right, time to get a move on and do something constructive with me day.

Catch ya later...

ONWARD...

5.32 pm:  Whoops!  I have totally forgotten to update today.
Oh well... it's been a relatively quiet day for us.
Steve, Bex and the little boys came over in the morning so Steve could finish of his work van.

Then they left and we went down to the mall after lunch and Brylee got some Thermals.  She will need them in Hamilton!

I did a wee bit more packing, but not much.  I'm so tired I needed a break from it.

Stew is cooking dinner... sausages, hash browns, baked beans and eggs.  Yum!

MORE PACKING, YAAA

So, it's a different sort of busy on Sundays now!
We are slowly packing up the house in readiness for moving.

And we haven't even got a new house yet!  Hopefully we will by the end of the week. Or we might just have a little problem!

With most houses selling via Auction in Hamilton, it means timing is tricky AND TIGHT.  

We are hoping to buy and move into the new house a week before we have to vacate this house... so we have a week to move things to the new house, and can make it less hectic.  

So.. timing.  MUST. BUY. NEW. HOUSE. VERY. SOON.

Steve is coming over today to do some more work on customizing the inside of his work van.  I think he's bringing Dante with him which will be lovely.

OH... it's STEVE'S BIRTHDAY today... he's 29 today.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY  STEVE !

I'm going to be cooking pork belly for his birthday dinner... his choice.  Which is neat as we all LOVE it! 

ONWARD... 

2.33 pm:  Well it's been fairly busy today.  I've been down the road and bought more boxes, and done some more packing.
Lunch with Steve, Bex and the boys here... hot chip sandwiches!
Naughty but nice.

Bex has gone home with the little boys so they could have a nap.  Steve is working on his van, with Griffin's help.

And I've just put the pork belly in the oven.

Should be ready around 6-6.30 pm.

My mind is running around all over the place, trying to keep everything sorted in me brain. What needs to be done now, what can wait, what moving companies to get quotes from, bla bla bla.  It's a big job moving!

And because I'm such an 'organise freak'... I'm getting really tired trying to get everything done.

Stew is way more laid back.  Lucky him.

ABOVE:  Uncooked Pork Belly.   It's the 'belly' strips from a pig.  You rub oil and salt all over it and into the scoured lines.  Slow bake it (around 180 C) for 4 hours, then turn the grill on and crisp up the skin.. being really careful NOT to burn it!

I serve it with apple sauce, gravy and vegetables.  It is amazing how much the meat plumps up.

Photo of cooked pork belly to come...

ABOVE:  Cooked pork belly... it was SO TENDER and moist!  And the crackling was amazing.

After dinner we had a birthday cake:

ABOVE:  Steve, being the dick he is, decided to LICK his candle out instead of blowing it.  
The cake was the nicest, most moist cake we'd had in a long time.  It wasn't too sweet either.  It was a chocolate sponge with layers of chocolate cream.  Yummm.

It has been a really lovely day.  Going to bed early tonight as I'm really tired.  Been doing lots of packing and sorting stuff out.  Tiring stuff.

BYE BYE STORAGE

So today Stew and Griffin are going over to the Botany Storage unit and bringing back all our lounge/family room furniture.
Oh man I can't wait to get my lazyboy chair back!

My feet have been puffing up every day because I can't put them up like normal.

I totally expect that to take them all day though because Steve isn't there to help them this time.
He's back at full time work now.

While they do that, I am going to do more packing inside the house.

ONWARD...

My cough is actually not as bad now!  I'm hoping for a miracle.... and it actually stops on it's own really soon.  That would be awesome.

YES!!!  I finally have my lazyboy chair back! And it's amazing!  So comfortable.  Now I'm happy again.
Stew and Griffin are doing an excellent job of bringing everything back.  They have done one full load, and probably have one and a half to go.

I was really worried Griffin wouldn't be able to handle the heavy stuff, but he's doing really well.  What a good kid.

ABOVE:  The garage is slowly filling up again.

 ABOVE:  Brylee and I have been cleaning out the kitchen cupboards this morning.  Everything in use is going on a trestle in the family room and everything else is being packed up.

ABOVE:  The house is a shambles!

But... I'm not leaving anything to the last minute.  Because we are doing our own packing, I want it all done well in advance.  Then the actual move will be less stressful (I hope!).

Well I'm frustrated ... can't pack anymore today cos... I ran outta friggin boxes!
First thing tomorrow I will be going out to get more obviously... *smiles*

OFF TO THE MALL

We are taking a break from packing today... well this morning at least.

The kids and I are going to the mall to meet up with Bex and the boys.
Bex is having an haircut, so while she's in the chair, I will mind the boys for her.

I'm quite looking forward to the break. I've been so busy these past few days.  Add the cough from hell and I'm due for a relaxing morning.

We have a long weekend coming up, so Stew will get a nice LITTLE break from work.  But not from ME!  I am sure I will be giving him a job list a mile long!  Poor bugger.

UNLESS some new houses show up online today, and we decide to go and look at them.  I'm sweating buckets that we are not going to find (and buy) 'THE HOUSE' before we have to move!

I really thought selling our home would be the end of the stress.  How wrong could I be?  It's totally down to the Hamilton market selling 90% of homes via AUCTION.  It means you have to have your money up front... instead of at settlement date.  

And we are STILL waiting for our bank to approve our finances before we can bid on a house.  It's totally doing my head in.

ONWARD...

2.57 pm:  And whoops!  Forgot to update.
Went to the mall, spent time with Bex and the boys, did some grocery shopping then came home.

We had lunch then I crashed on the 'couch' in the lounge!  By couch I mean the spare bed!
Hopefully Stew and Griffin will get everything home from the storage unit tomorrow, then we will have a real couch to sit on again.

I'm now looking at all the dinner plates that were on the dining table for 'display purposes'... I will bubble wrap them up soon.
I also plan on getting the laundry cupboard packed up today too.

Trying to get 2-3 areas packed up each day.
Our spare bedroom is slowly filling up with all the 'last minute' things you have to keep out from the packing... vacum, cleaners, dog stuff, bathroom stuff etc.

It's a real JOB packing your home up!  But it's progress.... POSITIVE progress.

Stew said we MIGHT hear from the bank today about our finances too.  Fingers crossed for that happening.

How typical for us.  Nothing seems to be easy or straight forward ... the Bank Loan officer did not read our application fully, and therefore did not do everything she needed to do to approve our loan today. 

I'm not going to panic though.  Even if the Vendors of the house we want to bid on gets an offer in the next 3 days, it won't stop us from bidding, as the Auction will probably only be brought forward to next Friday, which gives us plenty of time to get our finances approved.

It will happen.  And if the house is meant to be ours... it will be.

And on that positive note, I'm going to sign off for the day and enjoy a lovely evening in front of the telly watching Coronation Street.

COUGH....

COUGH...

COUGH....

VOMIT.

THEN VOMIT SOME MORE.

Yes, it's that time of year again.  I started coughing 2 days ago. And I'm already at 'that' stage.

As I KNOW I will probably be coughing for months (like I normally do), I rang the Doctor's yesterday to make an appointment with my 'Doctor of choice'.

I am trying to stick with just one Doctor in the practise we go to... cos if you don't, you don't have continuity of care.

Then things get stuffed up.  I hope we can find a nice Doctor in Hamilton...

Anyway, I digress.   The earliest I can see Dr Kate is NEXT TUESDAY.  So, OK, I can wait.  What's a few days when I will be coughing for months anyway?  *lol*  But... not really laughing.  I'm hoping she can give me something to stop the coughing/vomiting.

It may sound like a good thing: "Hey, I will lose weight vomiting all the time" ... YEAH... NAH.

Not fun.  Not anything LIKE fun.

Today I will be packing up linen.  Leaving only the bare essentials out for our day to day use for the next 5 weeks or so.

After linen, I am going to start on the kid's rooms.  God help them.  I'm gunna be RUTHLESS.  ha ha ha.

ONWARD...

Our Estate Agent in Hamilton told me to look at this house:

ABOVE:  Apparently it WAS a plaster house with issues, but has been totally re-clad and re-listed.  She says it's in a lovely area, with a park next door.... and thinks we should look at it.

I have this HUGE aversion to anything with PLASTER in it's write up!!!  I know if you look after your plaster house it will be just fine, as our home is... but still.

I really don't think I can even bring myself to look at it!  I just want to run a mile.  So, maybe we will pass on it.  *smiles*

I love that funky fireplace in the centre of the room though.... *sigh*

I stayed in my bed till almost 10 am... but still feel like shit.  OH and the kids are gunna love this:  I have almost lost my voice.
I tried calling Griffin (who was in the lounge) to do something for me and he simply couldn't hear me.

So I rang the home phone and he answered it!  Only then could I get him to do me bidding.  
Bloody cough, my chest is already starting to hurt.

3.43 pm:   Well I've managed to pack up the linen and a few other bits 'n' bobs from that area.  It took longer than I thought it would.

I've not done anything in the kid's bedrooms at all.

But, I do have a few weeks to get it all done.

So far today I've only vomited when I woke up, so I'm doing well!
Came close after lunch... but fingers crossed it doesn't get coughed up later.  *ikkk* tmi

I've not heard yet whether the lovely house we have our eyes on was sold at Auction or not.  Still waiting to hear from our Estate Agent.

I'm also waiting to hear from me hubby... his job was to bug the bank!  lol
I can't wait to be in the position to buy something!

So... that lovely house sold. I'm pissed.  If we don't get our finance approved by very early next week we might miss out on my other top favourite house. Then I don't know what we will end up with... cos there's nothing else out there that I love.  Feeling very down right now.

Going to bed with me dinner intact!  Almost lost it for a while there... bloody cough.

GOODBYE FURNITURE

First thing this morning we are expecting the House Stager to arrive and take away the furniture we 'borrowed'.
I can't wait.

I will also be buying the gorgeous flower painting from her.  I'm really happy about that.

One of the houses right at the top of our list goes to Auction today, but as we won't have our finance approved by the bank till next week, we MIGHT lose it.

I'm going to hope and cross everything that it doesn't sell, and ends up with a fixed price... so I can buy it next week!

This is it:

ABOVE: It's in an area we are very familiar with, and I love it.

I did LOVE the house on River Road, but after having another good long look at it yesterday, I realised it just wouldn't work for us.  The stream was at the bottom of a gully... access was steep, and it was more of a river than a babbling brook.  I didn't think it would have been a good idea with little grandkids visiting.

ABOVE:  well all the  borrowed stuff is gone.  I've taken down the pictures in the lounge, it looks NAKED!
We will be sitting on the single spare bed until the guys get our lounge furniture back from storage in Botany.

12.41 pm:  I don't know all I've done today... it's already a blur.
But I DO have one of our green lazyboy chairs and my laptop desk back from storage... so I'm comfy in the lounge.

I've also been tidying up the garage in readiness for all the other furniture to come back from Botany storage.

The spare bedroom is slowly filling up with stuff that has to stay till the last minute, like cleaners, vacum, our personal stuff etc.

I will have to start thinking about getting quotes from moving companies soon.  That will be as soon as all our stuff is out of storage.

There's a mountain of stuff to do, and we haven't even bought a house in Hamilton yet!  Slightly freaking out.

ABOVE:  A bunch of boxes ready for tomorrow.

Time now to wind down for the night.  Dinner tonight is roast chicken 'n' veges.  It smells delish.

PLANS ARE TENTATIVE

All going well the kids and I will be going to Hamilton again today.

I've got a few more houses lined up to look at.  We can't put all our balls in the one basket... so have to keep our options open.

I'm also going to take some hand me down clothes to Kelly, for Rena.  She may not fit them right now, but she will eventually!

Waste not, want not and all that eh?  *smiles*

Well, that's my tentative plans anyway.  I have to wait for our Estate Agent to confirm she can work with us today, before we jump in the car and go down.

ONWARD...

5.11 pm:  What a day!  
We looked at about 6 houses today, and one of them is a definite possibility... so now we have 2, possibly 3 houses that we could buy.

But we can't do a thing till next week when our finance is approved.  *sigh*  Always waiting.

I am now knackered, so tired I feel sick.  Oh hold on... I'm already sick.
Got a cold, sore throat and thumping headache.
I tried to take a Panadol at Amanda's, but it made me choke and throw up.  Very unpleasant.

Still got the headache.

How about a few happy snaps of the kids at Amanda's....

 ABOVE:  Emily, a big school girl now!

 ABOVE:  Sisters.  Brylee and Keera.

ABOVE:  Griffin riding around on Amanda's kneeler/walker thingee...

ABOVE: 'Girl Power'.... the little girls were pushing Griffin and Liam around the house!
Liam was squished into the basket on the front!

He didn't seem to mind.

Well, I'm going to take a break for now and think about dinner a bit later on.

Takeaways for dinner, thank you Darling.  Off to bed early tonight, I feel rather ill.