I skipped a few weeks of madness, because of the madness of packing up, but I thought I might update now... now that I've had nearly a whole day of leisure - chatting, reading, a french lesson, a movie, a nap... it's been lovely.
The whole moving-to-france plan has been in the pipe-line for a while but we had no specifics as to when until just before Christmas. We only got flight dates sorted just before new years, and were still under the impression we had to do our own packing, so spent most of that week sorting and packing... then found out that, for insurance purposes, the movers have to pack the stuff. Sweet, right? Except it was half-done already. Anyway... in the midst of all this was another wolloping earthquake, christmas, new years, and a visit from Luuk's parents. Little Louis is coping remarkably well with his constantly fluctuating routine!
Once upon a time when we still had furniture (above), before we sold/gave away/stored all our possessions...
The furniture was gone, boxes everywhere, but the wee man got on with his milestones, picking up a pen and starting drawing! On paper! I'm so proud. Writer or artist? Both? Either. Usually pens are used as drum-sticks or lolly-pops...
Who needs furniture to have a good time, anyway?
Opa and Oma visited for a few days - a few very hot, summery days, in which we endeavored to eat the contents of the freezer, and made significant progress. The home-made ice blocks were a winner, for sure.
On the last day of their stay we had a garage sale and pawned off a lot of our stuff on friends and total strangers. Made a hefty stash of cash and got rid of about two thirds of the stuff. The rest went to book shops, salvation army and the tip (some of it recycled, some not) on Monday. Noteworthy moment: throwing a perfectly functional Rimu desk, piece by piece, into the pit at the dump... It didn't sell and we didn't want it. What else could we do? Still feel a bit bad about that...
We stayed with Mum and Dad for the last few days in Christchurch, while our house got packed and sent to storage, and we cleaned... ick. Was such a relief to have that behind us.
Last evening in Christchurch, after a delish(!) dinner of Lamb with feta and lemon and rice (Mum went through a Mediterranean phase, that, thank god, she never quite got over. Love it.), we set about the mission of taking some half-decent family photos... Good luck getting everyone smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. Getting Louis to look at the camera isn't so difficult. It's getting everyone else to stop looking at Louis - that's the trick!
And now, we are swanning around the Waikato and surrounding regions. We have 3 mammoth suitcases and a baby backpack. Somewhere in the world, between Christchurch and Paris, is a half-cubic meter of stuff we shipped over. We are semi-homeless, semi-jobless wanderers! Only technically, however, as we've got the apartment we were hoping for, come mid Feb, and there's a temporary apartment booked for us for the first few weeks in Paris. And, of course, Luuk has a job, it's just that he hasn't signed in France cause we're not there yet, and he's resigned here, because though he'll be working for the same company, it's a separate office... anyway, boring technicalities. I quite like the idea of being wanderers, but I suppose it's better this way, what with having a baby about to start walking, and another one cooking (and kicking).
