Aw. Thanks, Louisette (and her most-similar-in-age cousin in the background – my sister and I had overlapping pregnancies, and may well do so again in 2014).
Speaking of pregnancy, another person asked me if I was pregnant today. She was a nice elderly lady obviously trying to be nice, so I didn’t tell her to fuck off and die.
Kids, don’t ask someone if they’re pregnant. Ever.
In unrelated news, here are four reasons our settlement (ie when we get the keys to our shiny new house, yay!) may be delayed indefinitely:
1. The owners, who are living there (and have several children), are unable to move into their new house because the renovations are not yet done.
2. The owners have a “problem with their bank” and are unable to settle on time.
3. Our first home buyers’ grant – $7000 – will not be ready in time for settlement. This is of course a fairly important part of our “This is how much money we have to buy a house” file.
4. Our stamp duty is not yet ready to be processed, but must be processed a certain period of time before settlement.
Some of the reasons we need to get those keys:
1. Our landlady released us from our rental agreement (which was a fixed lease because our unit was sold with us in it and at the time there was a risk of us being thrown out) on condition that there was no gap between ourselves and the next tenant. We have made arrangements with the next tenant accordingly. Also, the professional cleaners.
2. We have already changed our addresses pretty much everywhere. The new house probably already has some mail for us – and we certainly won’t get any more here. Also, our internet will be switching off shortly.
3. We have arranged a truck, three days of babysitting at a variety of locations, time off from three jobs (because my boss very kindly offered to give me a day off, which means SHE has to get the day off and/or leave her 4-year old to fend for herself), an 8-ton truck, a friend who can drive an 8-ton truck, and numerous friendly friends and relations to do the physical moving on the same day as the truck and driver. 90% of our stuff is in boxes, and our meals and outfits are all planned out so that there is virtually nothing left in the fridge or on our shelves. Louisette is sleeping in a portacot and CJ and I are sleeping on our mattress on the floor.
4. Louise doesn’t like uncertainty. Louise reacts to uncertainty by having a mental breakdown. Louise will kill you dead if you keep saying, “Oh, just one more thing. . .”.
The good news is that all of the paperwork and financial stuff on our side should be finished on time – despite suspiciously slow movements on the seller’s side (every time they needed to do anything – generally putting a piece of paper in an envelope – it took a week, which is why OUR stuff is running late). The even better good news is that we should be able to move in on the planned day, and simply pay rent until settlement finally happens. Which is fine by me – in fact it’ll probably mean we get to move in six hours earlier, which makes it great.
We’ll just see.