Hello all and hello 2020!
Firstly, apologies for the radio silence of late, it's been quite hectic. However I'm now back to kick off 2020 with you all. And may I add, from my dining room table! There's so much to tell you all, but I will first start with the house. Buckle in, this may be a long one.
Matthew and I are now homeowners!
We moved in officially on the 2nd January and before then was the not-so-small task of packing up all of our stuff and transporting it over to the new house- Mulie Manor. We approached the house move in layers as we had the luxury of being able to move in whenever we liked due to there being no "chain". We kicked things off (or should I say Matthew did) in mid-December when we had completed on the house. We'd previously bought some furniture from a charity shop to be delivered on the weekend we completed and from there, things started to take shape.
Next was moving all of my things over to Mulie Manor starting by sorting and packing my entire room/giving half of it's contents to charity/finding somewhere else to shove it in the meantime. Me and Matthew booked a hire van for the 30th December and decided we would do my big move then. As Matthew cannot drive a manual or a hired automatic, the job of driver fell to me. Yes, the anxious one who takes Mr Google Man everywhere she goes.
When the big move day came, the nerves started to kick in. Half of me wanted to show the doubters wrong- I could in fact drive a van. Whereas the other half of me wanted the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. I used the layer technique to get me through the day, I admit but it did help. The van was bigger than I had expected and driving it from the hire place to Matthew's house was, shall we say, interesting. To say the gearbox was on it's last legs would be an understatement. It was clear from that small 10 minute drive that this was going to be me vs the gearbox vs my anxiety. Super fun!
Layer 1 get the van to Matthew's house was complete. The van was safely parking on the up-slope driveway (make note of this, I will return to this shortly) and Matthew loaded the van up with some garden bits and bobs for Mulie Manor with the help of his mum while I sat in the van telling myself how not-scary this would be....about 50 times. This unsurprisingly made my emotional state more fraught and by the time everything was packed up and the time had come to venture off, I was in a state. So much so that the whole skill of driving had gone out of my head completely and this, alongside the uphill reversing manoeuvre rendered me a complete jibbering wreck. All the while I was getting nearer and nearer his house!!
Finally we were out of the driveway and after a few stalls, my driving legs were firmly back on and we were well on the way to Mulie Manor with the first big haul of the day.
Layer 2 was soon finished. We were at Mulie Manor putting the contents of the van into the house. We weren't precious on where exactly due to the fact we had to get the van back to the hire place by 8am the next day and we still had to get to Aylesbury and back with all my stuff in tow.
Layer 3- get to Aylesbury was soon underway and as we got to the higher speed roads, it became clear that the success of finding 5th gear was few and far between. That's when Matthew lent a hand quite literally by leaning over and shoving it into 5th while I handled the clutch. This worked fine and soon the initial nerves of earlier in the day surpassed leaving me feeling quietly confident as I cruised on into more familiar Aylesbury roads. Soon we were at my flat, parked up and ready to commence layer 4, the great packing up.
Layer 4 started in earnest with Matthew unwrapping his rope and ratchet straps ready to secure all of my room into the van. When I got into my room, it became clear that this was going to be a big job. Boxes everywhere and little bits I'd still not packed -and that I couldn't find a new home for- littered my remaining furniture. The plan was to take my bed, my chest of drawers, both my bedside tables and the TV.
I'll save you some reading and now fast forward a few hours.
The bulk of my stuff was in the van all tightly secured and now it was just time to re-fuel ourselves and get the last dregs of stuff in the van before layer 5- get back to Mulie Manor could commence.
We of course saw Maggie while we were packing up. Maggie is a cat from down the road that loved coming in and having a cuddle and a nap, much to mums displeasure. After some discussions with Matthew and mum, the conclusion was drawn that despite how much she loved spending time with me and mum over the past year-or-so, we should leave her in Aylesbury and not take her with us to Mulie Manor. You may think that I was on the 'bring her with us' side, but I wasn't. I love her- don't get me wrong- but she has a family and a home with children that would miss her dearly if she were to suddenly disappear and I couldn't have that on my conscience. And, I also have to show my face back in Aylesbury from time to time and if I was framed as a cat-napper, then my hopes of returning to Aylesbury ever again would be dashed.
Layer 5. The Great Return. Matthew was again a great help with bullying the ageing and stubborn gear stick and soon we were back Mulie Manor with all of my stuff safely awaiting us in the back. I was hugely relieved at this point because despite the huge task of unpacking and sorting ahead of us, I had made it back. I had driven the old, stubborn van.
Enough layers! If I put anymore layers in, it'd be a monster Victoria Sponge that even Mary Berry would find excessive. We've been in for over 4 weeks now (I think- time has gone very fast and slow at the same time recently!) and apart from the odd spat here and there, me and Matthew have got on OK. As we've not started decorating and there are still a few boxes here and there, we still feel like we do when we've gone away for a week. We still feel like we're in the honeymoon phase. Things still don't quite feel like our own yet and we've not fully put our own stamp on the place completely.
As for my mood and mental well-being, I'm doing OK. As Matthew and probably even my mum may attest, my anxiety is still there and depending on the day I'm having, it can have a big or small presence but I'm managing even so. I expect to get better when me and Matthew have properly settled and we've got routines properly in place. Mum came over a couple of weekends ago and it was lovely to see her and her reaction to our new house. I felt like I had to impress as I really wanted her to like the place as much as I did. Me and Matthew had inflated her bed for the weekend and she had her own room. As she went back home on the bus on Sunday morning, we both figured the journey wasn't going to be as bad as first thought. 2 hours and a bit from door to door. We'll be welcoming her again soon- on my birthday and then again probably on Mother's Day, and hopefully by then we'll have things in the house more "figured out".
In other news, I'm trying to lose a bit of weight. I've been putting it off (and on and off and then back on again) for a while with very little success and I know I don't eat as much fruit and veg as I should do. Matthew however does eat a better diet than me and he cooks some amazing stews, curries and stir fry's that are jam-packed full of all the good stuff. So, I'm hoping that this time I'll be more successful. I'm already noticing I'm snacking less, eating more veg, and craving sugary foods less so I've got to be heading in the right direction, surely! As of today I've signed up to do 'Sugar Free February' all to raise money for Cancer Research. It'll be difficult at points, but I'm determined to do it. I want to be healthier, fitter and stronger.
Until I write to you all again, ta-ta for now!
We moved in officially on the 2nd January and before then was the not-so-small task of packing up all of our stuff and transporting it over to the new house- Mulie Manor. We approached the house move in layers as we had the luxury of being able to move in whenever we liked due to there being no "chain". We kicked things off (or should I say Matthew did) in mid-December when we had completed on the house. We'd previously bought some furniture from a charity shop to be delivered on the weekend we completed and from there, things started to take shape.
Next was moving all of my things over to Mulie Manor starting by sorting and packing my entire room/giving half of it's contents to charity/finding somewhere else to shove it in the meantime. Me and Matthew booked a hire van for the 30th December and decided we would do my big move then. As Matthew cannot drive a manual or a hired automatic, the job of driver fell to me. Yes, the anxious one who takes Mr Google Man everywhere she goes.
When the big move day came, the nerves started to kick in. Half of me wanted to show the doubters wrong- I could in fact drive a van. Whereas the other half of me wanted the whole thing over with as quickly as possible. I used the layer technique to get me through the day, I admit but it did help. The van was bigger than I had expected and driving it from the hire place to Matthew's house was, shall we say, interesting. To say the gearbox was on it's last legs would be an understatement. It was clear from that small 10 minute drive that this was going to be me vs the gearbox vs my anxiety. Super fun!
Layer 1 get the van to Matthew's house was complete. The van was safely parking on the up-slope driveway (make note of this, I will return to this shortly) and Matthew loaded the van up with some garden bits and bobs for Mulie Manor with the help of his mum while I sat in the van telling myself how not-scary this would be....about 50 times. This unsurprisingly made my emotional state more fraught and by the time everything was packed up and the time had come to venture off, I was in a state. So much so that the whole skill of driving had gone out of my head completely and this, alongside the uphill reversing manoeuvre rendered me a complete jibbering wreck. All the while I was getting nearer and nearer his house!!
Finally we were out of the driveway and after a few stalls, my driving legs were firmly back on and we were well on the way to Mulie Manor with the first big haul of the day.
Layer 2 was soon finished. We were at Mulie Manor putting the contents of the van into the house. We weren't precious on where exactly due to the fact we had to get the van back to the hire place by 8am the next day and we still had to get to Aylesbury and back with all my stuff in tow.
Layer 3- get to Aylesbury was soon underway and as we got to the higher speed roads, it became clear that the success of finding 5th gear was few and far between. That's when Matthew lent a hand quite literally by leaning over and shoving it into 5th while I handled the clutch. This worked fine and soon the initial nerves of earlier in the day surpassed leaving me feeling quietly confident as I cruised on into more familiar Aylesbury roads. Soon we were at my flat, parked up and ready to commence layer 4, the great packing up.
Layer 4 started in earnest with Matthew unwrapping his rope and ratchet straps ready to secure all of my room into the van. When I got into my room, it became clear that this was going to be a big job. Boxes everywhere and little bits I'd still not packed -and that I couldn't find a new home for- littered my remaining furniture. The plan was to take my bed, my chest of drawers, both my bedside tables and the TV.
I'll save you some reading and now fast forward a few hours.
The bulk of my stuff was in the van all tightly secured and now it was just time to re-fuel ourselves and get the last dregs of stuff in the van before layer 5- get back to Mulie Manor could commence.
 |
| Everything in the van ready for Layer 5! |
We of course saw Maggie while we were packing up. Maggie is a cat from down the road that loved coming in and having a cuddle and a nap, much to mums displeasure. After some discussions with Matthew and mum, the conclusion was drawn that despite how much she loved spending time with me and mum over the past year-or-so, we should leave her in Aylesbury and not take her with us to Mulie Manor. You may think that I was on the 'bring her with us' side, but I wasn't. I love her- don't get me wrong- but she has a family and a home with children that would miss her dearly if she were to suddenly disappear and I couldn't have that on my conscience. And, I also have to show my face back in Aylesbury from time to time and if I was framed as a cat-napper, then my hopes of returning to Aylesbury ever again would be dashed.
Layer 5. The Great Return. Matthew was again a great help with bullying the ageing and stubborn gear stick and soon we were back Mulie Manor with all of my stuff safely awaiting us in the back. I was hugely relieved at this point because despite the huge task of unpacking and sorting ahead of us, I had made it back. I had driven the old, stubborn van.
Enough layers! If I put anymore layers in, it'd be a monster Victoria Sponge that even Mary Berry would find excessive. We've been in for over 4 weeks now (I think- time has gone very fast and slow at the same time recently!) and apart from the odd spat here and there, me and Matthew have got on OK. As we've not started decorating and there are still a few boxes here and there, we still feel like we do when we've gone away for a week. We still feel like we're in the honeymoon phase. Things still don't quite feel like our own yet and we've not fully put our own stamp on the place completely.
As for my mood and mental well-being, I'm doing OK. As Matthew and probably even my mum may attest, my anxiety is still there and depending on the day I'm having, it can have a big or small presence but I'm managing even so. I expect to get better when me and Matthew have properly settled and we've got routines properly in place. Mum came over a couple of weekends ago and it was lovely to see her and her reaction to our new house. I felt like I had to impress as I really wanted her to like the place as much as I did. Me and Matthew had inflated her bed for the weekend and she had her own room. As she went back home on the bus on Sunday morning, we both figured the journey wasn't going to be as bad as first thought. 2 hours and a bit from door to door. We'll be welcoming her again soon- on my birthday and then again probably on Mother's Day, and hopefully by then we'll have things in the house more "figured out".
In other news, I'm trying to lose a bit of weight. I've been putting it off (and on and off and then back on again) for a while with very little success and I know I don't eat as much fruit and veg as I should do. Matthew however does eat a better diet than me and he cooks some amazing stews, curries and stir fry's that are jam-packed full of all the good stuff. So, I'm hoping that this time I'll be more successful. I'm already noticing I'm snacking less, eating more veg, and craving sugary foods less so I've got to be heading in the right direction, surely! As of today I've signed up to do 'Sugar Free February' all to raise money for Cancer Research. It'll be difficult at points, but I'm determined to do it. I want to be healthier, fitter and stronger.
Until I write to you all again, ta-ta for now!
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