Going live

I wrote the blog's address on my Facebook page, wonder is anyone will notice and come have a look (I sort of hope/believe not!).

I just want to get going now, but we still have three days left at work and a week worth of visiting relatives before our first flight (to Sydney on 12 January).

We are about to move out of Tom and Diane's house (thanks again guys :) just 3 days to go and we are leaving London for one year! Woohoooo!!!

C.

It feels weird...

Once again I have spent the whole day packing boxes, and well, that's it - I am waiting for Gary to get back from work and we are moving out - to our first housesitting stop, Clive's.

I must admit I feel a bit tearful, leaving the flat after living here for over four years. I'm sure I'll get over it pretty quickly though! Probably by tonight when I am out drinking with Kirstie in Cambridge :)

C.

Tough choices to make

Plans are firming up and the moving out date is getting closer and closer. We will both finish work in 4 weeks and 2 days (not that I'm counting!) and spend the first week and a half in January visiting our respective families, before taking our first flight on 12 January 2009 en direction de l'Australie! I can't wait to catch up with Aurélie and Shane over in Sydney.

The flat's now pretty much all empty except for the furniture we're leaving behind. We're thinking of moving into Clive's early next week end, so we'll have to make do with paper plates and plastic glasses and cutlery for a few days.

I have to admit that, although it's a fantastic feeling to pack away your life and streamline your belongings down to a backpack, I am slightly freaking out at the idea of only having 60 litres worth of space for my stuff (by the way is it just me or does it sounds weird that they define space in litres?? Yes, it's probably just me). Gary has made it quite clear there is no way on earth I am taking my hair straighteners anywhere with us.

I'll stop moaning now, as obviously I can think of much worse situations to be in! Like, not having camembert ready available wherever you go... ... ... Doh!

C.

D-52

So the end of our holiday is looming, and I have to say we have made some good progress with our sorting out plans.

We went out to a couple of estate agents on Tuesday, to get the flat looked at. RSK came around straightaway and were very enthusiastic about the place. They organised a viewing the next day (youngish couple, expecting a baby in March) and we received a phone call a couple of hours later, with an offer! Fingers crossed it'll go through- if everything goes according to plan, we'll be moving out of here on 9 December and squatting holidaying friends' houses until it's time to set off.

I've packed all our books, CDs, DVDs and the decorative bits and pieces scattered around the living room. It's looking very bare now and I suppose it'll feel a bit weird to live in an empty flat for the next four weeks, but I figured there's no way I'll be in a mood to pack things whilst under the influence of my usual work stress. Although I have plans to not get myself so worked up about everything when I go back on Wednesday. After all they've just survived 2 weeks without me - I think - and I'll be leaving in 6 weeks. Aah, feels so nice to write this :)

C.

Holiday and sorting out time

I am on holidays today, very exciting - trying to forget all about work, it's been a stressful few weeks so it may take a few days to get it all completely out of my head.

We have got SO MUCH stuff to sort out before we go... getting the flat looking nice before we rent it out is something we'll be working on in the next couple of weeks, as well as sorting out all our belongings and sticking them into boxes. It's amazing how much rubbish you gather over the years (when I first came to the UK, all I had with me was one suitcase. How on earth did I end up with all these clothes, books and other various clutter??).

Made an appointment with the doctor this morning to get my vaccines done... the prospect of needles in my arms doesn't bother me as much as it normally would when I think of the reason why I am doing it!

I really hope we manage to get loads done before we go back to work in mid-November, as by then we will only have 6 weeks' left before D-Day and when I am at work, I don't usually do much else. Thank God I have Gary doing everything around the house - he's really an accomplished little housewife, I am very lucky to have him :)

C.