New House

WE HAVE MOVED!!!

We are finally in our new house after 8 months of living with my parents. The stress of dealing with estate agents, banks and solicitors are over and we can start a new chapter in our life as a family. On moving day we didn't get into the house until 8pm despite legally owning it since 9.30am. The seller was using a transit van to move out of a large 4 bedroom house and must have needed to do at least 10 runs, if not 15. We tried to be patient as we know that moving is a stressful and emotional time under ordinary circumstances but to be moving out as a widow must have been even harder. Her husband had died unexpectedly whilst we were in the process of buying the house so at one point we didn't know if the sale would go through. To be honest I kept expecting her to change her mind and want to stay and even when we had exchanged I still was convinced she might pull out. So you can imagine my relief when I finally got hold of the keys. 

Since moving in it's been a whirlwind of unpacking boxes and trying to get things put away. We managed to get the living room and kitchen just about done after the second day. We had help from family to unpack (who I think are relieved too that we're in and now they can stop worrying about it all!) and Hubby was brilliant at taking charge leaving me to take more of a back seat. I was determined not to overdo it and end up in bed for days so I continued to have my afternoon naps, even on the day that we had the removal firm get everything out of storage. I know it's really unusual for me to hand over the reins but I'm determined to enjoy the new house and not get into bad habits. 

The first few nights in the house were very strange and it was a bit like being on holiday, staying in a rented house. Big Fella asked me one night as I was tucking him in "Mum, when will it stop feeling weird?" But for me now that s week has passed its starting to feel like home. Getting our possessions out of storage has helped because it looks like our house now and we've started having friends round (mine and the kids) so it's beginning to feel like home. We couldn't find any of the bolts needed to build the bed up so we've all been sleeping on mattresses on the floor. When I say all I mean everyone but me. After 2 nights of being unable to get up off the floor when I needed the loo in the middle of the night and waking Hubby up to pull me up he suggested that I sleep in the guest room. This was the only room that had a proper bed and that's because it was left by the seller. Neither of us had any idea where the bolts were and we had to go through nearly all of the boxes before we found them. 

There's still lots to do and I know Hubby wants to get straight as soon as possible but I am determined not to overdo it. One of the things we're learning about at the pain management course is pacing. Being crazy busy one day and then being wiped out for days after is no way to live but doing little and often is a really hard concept for me to grasp. Not knowing if I'm going to have a good or bad day tomorrow means I often try to do everything on my list today incase I can't do any of it tomorrow. So resisting the urge to unpack all the boxes and get the house looking like a show home is a big thing for me. The kids unpacked all their own boxes and decided where their furniture was going in their new bedrooms. After having sharing bunkbeds they're loving their newfound space. Big Fella has all his match attack cards laid out all over the carpet and Big Girl thinks her room is a gym and is constantly doing forward rolls and leaping about. Only trouble is the fact that her room is yet again above the kitchen lights and they shake as she bounces around. No light bulbs have fallen out yet like they did in our last house but I'm sure they will in time! 

NB xx