Living in a house with no stuff but with two children

The next two weeks are going to be a challenge. No microwave, no tin opener, no oven tray, no computer printer, no corkscrew.

The children are bored.  I am bored of them being bored.  No Wii, no dvd player, no radio, no toys, no CDs.  My daughter has just suggested playing Scrabble but the games have been packed also.

House is tidy without the dog and husband.  No husband trying to organise.  So peaceful but a little dull.

My daughter has just asked for a Nutella sandwich.  Usually I would refuse point blank but as she just reasoned with me quite rationally "we need to use the food up in the cupboards, we cannot take it with us".  Fair point. My daughter is not too happy with me, I have packed her red nailvarnish.  She is nine years old.

My son has just thrown something past the window, a ball I think or a stick.  He likes to throw.  He has been outside for the last hour, he is covered in grass cuttings.  He is quite green. 

Time for Bleach

Now that our belongings have been packed up, our house looks tidy.  I can see the attraction with being minimalist.  I am going to bleach the bathroom today and clean skirting boards and cupboards.  This is what I really am planning to do.  I have really good intentions today. My husband is downstairs getting ready to drive down to Southampton to put his car and dog on the ship.  I have to make him think I do actually have productive days when he is at work and the children are at school.

This rmorning I had to dry my hair without a mirror.  All the mirrors in the house have gone apart from one in the bathroom and the hairdryer cannot be plugged in there.  My son suggested that I switch the portable TV off and look at myself in the reflection.  He is a bright little boy.

On the way to school today he had little tears in his eyes "Mummy I am trying not to cry because of the dog going on the boat".  We will see her at the other end.  She knows something is up.  She keeps looking at me with those sad dog droopy eyes.  She has been on a plane, she will be fine.  I wonder what she will do when she comes across a penguin.

The Island of Doom

One of the removal men today packing up my belonging described the Falklands as the Island of Doom.  He was only there for 3 days and said the pubs in Stanley are very good.  Apparently it is very cold and windy and people become manic depressives.  I am sitting smiling to myself in wonder. How did I get in this position?

My husband is frazzled downstairs.  He thought the packing would be finished by lunchtime, it went on all day.  One drawer full of stuff has been missed out.  We bickered today, he had one way of organising things which was complicated and unorganised and I had another.

The house looks lovely and tidy.  I will spend most of tomorrow dusting.  (Actually I won't, just trying to convice myself). Borrowed a pan, tin opener, wooden spoon, sieve from my mum.  Thank goodness for screw top wine!

Traffic

Went to town today to get away from husband "organising" our stuff for the move.  He is just making a mess.  The traffic was unreal.  Two people beeped at me, why do they do that, it just makes me drive even more slowly than I do already.  The Falklands will have no traffic.  Bliss, total bliss.  Only sheep will be getting in my way.

I am about to scream, I hate moving house, I hate all the stuff we have and I hate boxes. Everything is so annoying at the moment.  My son has found some popping paper, If I hear one more pop I may just explode.

3 weeks to go. minus 16 in Stanley on Thursday

Packers arrive tomorrow to pack 14 cubic metres of our stuff ready to ship.  The children are not going to be happy when they get home from school tomorrow and realise that the television has gone.  We were all engrossed in Horrible Histories this morning before school and both my daughter and son have resorted to taking the remote control to the loo with them so the other one cannot change the channel.  I think there are 4 channels in The Falklands so there should be less argument about what we will be watching.  Have of it is probably in Spanish anyway.

We will be waiting at the other end for our boxes to arrive for 3 weeks after we arrive.  My children will have to use their imagination and read books, draw pictures, talk to their parents etc.

My husband has the afternoon off work today, he has this fancy plan about putting all the stuff we want to be shipped in the living room and on the dining room table.  It sounds complicated to me. I feel like hiring a skip from Stirling Council and putting half of our house in it. 

As long as packers do not pack passports, important paperwork, mobile phones, computer, supply of Winter clothes for 6 weeks (yes 6 weeks living out of a suitcase!)

Less than 4 weeks to go

I have a headache today because I had a large glass of chardonay last night.  I have just written shopping list for after school.  My children want me to give every child in their class a goodbye party bag - so far I have thought of putting a penguin biscuit in and maybe a balloon.  Children love balloons until they burst that is and then they start crying.

I also have to buy a large supply of nappy bags for the dog's poos.  They may not sell them in the Falklands and they come in very handy.  I always have one hanging out of my jean's pocket which is so very stylish but not very Bridge of Allan.

Planes are now flying in the sky again so with any luck in 4 weeks time we will have arrived in our new home.

Stuff for the skip

I really need to hire a skip and get rid of 50% of the stuff in this house.

Inventory is as follows

Sofa has a hole in it.
TV cabinet has one door, the other fell off and chipped when my son was playing on it.
Dining room table has scratches on it.
Dining chairs have paint on them
Chest of drawers in my room - drawers keep falling off
Piano is way out of tune
Printer works only sometimes
Computer too slow for Skype
Ikea bookcases falling apart (because I never put them together properly in the first place)

 Old toys, clothes that do not fit, garden pots, papers, food that is out of date.  The list goes on and on.  I actually found some spices I had bought in Cyprus 10 years old that I still had in my spice rack.  I also have a tin of pears that I move around with me.  They are still in date but I should just open the tin and eat them.  I will soon be able to donate them to a museum.

The packers arrive to ship our stuff for Falklands in a week's time.  I have to decide what to take. It is exhausting.  I have to make sure I leave stuff here because we will be living out of a suitcase for 6 weeks.  The TV and Wii is going next week. The weather is good so my children will have to play outside a bit more than usual.

Going to the doctor tomorrow to get a tenanus booster.  They have recommended that the children and I get the swine flu jabs but being the worrier I am I am worried (funny that) that the injection has not been tested enough.  It might give me swine flu for example.

The car needs its MOT and then my sister is having it on loan while we are away.  I really need to pick off the melted boiled sweet that has stuck the the seat in the back.  There is always tomorrow.

My son's passport has arrived so that is one less thing to worry about. 

The two boats belonging to my husband are giving me a headache.  One has sat in the garage for about a year and the other one in the garden.  I should have put my foot down with my husband when he said he wanted a boat, totally impractical but he gave me that "look".  The look that I cannot resist.  It gets him away with all sorts of things.

It looks like we will not be going anywhere overseas until the volcano in Iceland stops erupting. Maybe I will have to be shipped there with the car and dog.  Three and a half weeks on a ship.  I need some chocolate.

I do not really want to go to the Falklands now - do you think I could change my mind?

Well back in Scotland now after 8 days down South. Everything up here seems to be in slow motion. As we drove into Stirling my husband wondered where all the people were and the cars seemed to not be moving, all seven of them. We did spend yesterday driving and lunching in SW1 no less and have visited family in Cornwall, Surrey, Dorset and Berkshire. My husband is pouring a glass of wine for me as I type, children in bath and will soon me in bed. Have a lot I want to write but will do it tomorrow. News is I have decided that I do not want to really move to the Falklands after all. It is all a bit far. I am wondering if my husband will be able to get a job somewhere else. Only 4 weeks to go.

Daddy's Defender

My husband is happy, he has what he always wanted. A blue Land Rover Defender, 19years old a bit rusty with a leaking back window but he is in heaven.

The children like it too. It is very high up, I have to sort of throw myself in and hope for the best. There is no step on the side. It is quite noisy too, like a tractor. Think it will be quite fun in the Falklands.