a baby
Posts Tagged ‘moving’
The timing for our recent cross-town move worked out so perfectly. We closed on our new house on the 10th, and we have the keys to our rental until the 20th. Ten days of overlap. Ten days of selling items that won't fit in our new house. Ten days of meeting people from eBay and Gumtree, and of giving things away to Salvos and via Freecycle. Ten days to do the final cleaning and get the carpets shampooed to fulfill our rental agreement.
Ten days, in other words, of shuttling back and forth between the two houses.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the day we first landed in Australia.
Today we also carried out the final inspection of the house we are buying.
Baba and I checked electrical outlets, air conditioning units, hot water availability, oven functionality, and the jets in the tub.
Tags: moving, preschooler
At our house, a cherubic cupid landed in a box.
Tags: moving
Our sea shipment arrived from Egypt on Thursday. The 20 foot container was entirely full, and later Wridgeways brought another van by with the last 20 boxes which had been held for further quarantine inspection. One item, a basket made of banana leaves, was marked by Australian customs for either treatment (at our expense) or destruction (for free). We went with destruction. Other than that, all 198 of our parcels (boxes and furniture pieces) arrived amazingly intact!
Here is the scene when the movers were halfway through unloading our container. First, a view of the curbside spectators. Next, a view of the container.
Tags: moving
Our Australian visa was approved yesterday!
Eight weeks until we hop on a plane to Perth. Time for an update on our transition.
- Selling the SUV. A few lookers, no takers yet.
- Changing addresses. We have temporary addresses set up in Australia and the US , but they are not yet activated. In the meantime, please hold all letters and packages for us.
- Quarantine for Lex the cat. He will be staying in a pet hotel in Singapore for five months since he can't move directly from Egypt to Australia .
- Inventory for the movers. They've sent us a spreadsheet - all we have to do is fill it in. Here is a video with more information on moving to Australia.
- New employer for Nadia. She has two families who want to split her time. I'm training Nikki and Michael to take over some of her duties...
Almost two years in Egypt, and it's time to move. Sadly, Egypt was never a place we could stay long-term. We came to Cairo on a three-year assignment, plus or minus two years. $100+/barrel oil prices are great for the geophysics job market , and Ben has been offered an amazing opportunity in Perth , Australia . Pending visa approval , we are relocating to the southern hemisphere in November.
Nine years of marriage so far, and this will be our fourth continent, fifth city of residence, and eighth 'permanent' address.
Have we ever visited Australia? No. But we've heard it's great! Here are some things we've been learning about our new city.
Nine years of marriage so far, and this will be our fourth continent, fifth city of residence, and eighth 'permanent' address.
Have we ever visited Australia? No. But we've heard it's great! Here are some things we've been learning about our new city.
- Western Australia is supplying resource-hungry China , resulting in a mining boom
- Perth is the second most isolated city in the world , after Honolulu, Hawaii
- Our cat, Lex, will have to be quarantined for six months
- The weather in Perth is a mixture of Californian and Mediterranean climates
- Perth offers windsurfing and a wide range of beaches
- Perth also has parks and lots of activities for children
- Breastfeeding , home birth , and babywearing are all practiced and have organisations to support them
- If we get permission , we could buy a home and live in it - very exciting for long-term renters like us
- Google has streetview images of Perth, so we can virtually visit before we go. Have a look for yourself:
- go to maps.google.com
- search for 'perth'
- click on 'street view' in the popup box
Tags: moving
We're here in Cairo! I'm writing this on battery power (we need to buy some adapters) using a dial-up connection at our temporary apartment in Maadi, so I have to be quick.
But first, a word from our sponsor...
Our temporary flat is a huge three-bedroomed affair, neutrally decorated and supplied right down to soap in the soap dishes, cornflakes in the cupboard, and fresh milk in the fridge. Even some mystery unlabeled white cheese which is pretty tasty. And a constantly running guest toilet which we refer to as 'our water feature.' We didn't even emerge from the flat the first day; it was wonderful to just put our feet up and recover.
On day two, which was Monday, we used the dishwasher and the tumble dryer - our first time using such appliances in four years! Ben was pretty delighted to have fluffy white socks. I revelled in soft warm towels - even though warmth is something we have plenty of at the moment. It's not as hot here as it was in July, but still pretty warm for late October with highs in the 90s.
Today was our third day, and Ben's first day in the office. He's been working from home quite a bit during our six-week babymoon, spending some time but only a total of a few days in the office. I arranged with our hostess, Julie, to go to the CSA to see the facilities there this morning. The CSA is set up for expatriates, particularly expatriate spouses, and the building houses a small library, a consignment clothing shop, a trinket shop, two workout studios - one for pilates and one for spinning - and a fully equipped gym. I met the spinning instructor who also works as a trainer in the gym. Tracy was very nice and, who knows, may inspire me to greater fitness.
While I'm typing this, Ben is telling a fascinated Nikki all about baseball and how Albert Pujols "makes everything good." We have satellite TV in our temporary flat, and while we haven't turned it on yet, it looks like we have some middle-of-the-night viewing lined up for as long as the Cardinals are in the playoffs. Fortunately the World Series coincides with Eid , the feasting holiday at the end of Ramadan , so Ben will have a few days off of work.
This evening I contacted Donna Hill, who is the longest-serving BP expat wife here in Egypt - she and Doug have been here 6 years. Donna is the very kind lady who set me up with our host family here in Egypt. Anyway I called her mobile and didn't get an answer, but later she called me back. When she returned my call, I couldn't remember what I was going to ask her. She asked, 'do you need a maid?' She had read my mind. Donna gave a glowing reference for an Egyptian woman named Nadia who has worked for BP families out here for years. Nadia is looking for afternoon work as she already has a family in the mornings. Long story short, Donna gave her other employer, Barbara, my number and soon enough I was on the phone with Barbara receiving directions to her place to meet her and her maid tomorrow morning. We could have a maid very soon! And cleaner feet!
But first, a word from our sponsor...
Our temporary flat is a huge three-bedroomed affair, neutrally decorated and supplied right down to soap in the soap dishes, cornflakes in the cupboard, and fresh milk in the fridge. Even some mystery unlabeled white cheese which is pretty tasty. And a constantly running guest toilet which we refer to as 'our water feature.' We didn't even emerge from the flat the first day; it was wonderful to just put our feet up and recover.
On day two, which was Monday, we used the dishwasher and the tumble dryer - our first time using such appliances in four years! Ben was pretty delighted to have fluffy white socks. I revelled in soft warm towels - even though warmth is something we have plenty of at the moment. It's not as hot here as it was in July, but still pretty warm for late October with highs in the 90s.
Today was our third day, and Ben's first day in the office. He's been working from home quite a bit during our six-week babymoon, spending some time but only a total of a few days in the office. I arranged with our hostess, Julie, to go to the CSA to see the facilities there this morning. The CSA is set up for expatriates, particularly expatriate spouses, and the building houses a small library, a consignment clothing shop, a trinket shop, two workout studios - one for pilates and one for spinning - and a fully equipped gym. I met the spinning instructor who also works as a trainer in the gym. Tracy was very nice and, who knows, may inspire me to greater fitness.
While I'm typing this, Ben is telling a fascinated Nikki all about baseball and how Albert Pujols "makes everything good." We have satellite TV in our temporary flat, and while we haven't turned it on yet, it looks like we have some middle-of-the-night viewing lined up for as long as the Cardinals are in the playoffs. Fortunately the World Series coincides with Eid , the feasting holiday at the end of Ramadan , so Ben will have a few days off of work.
This evening I contacted Donna Hill, who is the longest-serving BP expat wife here in Egypt - she and Doug have been here 6 years. Donna is the very kind lady who set me up with our host family here in Egypt. Anyway I called her mobile and didn't get an answer, but later she called me back. When she returned my call, I couldn't remember what I was going to ask her. She asked, 'do you need a maid?' She had read my mind. Donna gave a glowing reference for an Egyptian woman named Nadia who has worked for BP families out here for years. Nadia is looking for afternoon work as she already has a family in the mornings. Long story short, Donna gave her other employer, Barbara, my number and soon enough I was on the phone with Barbara receiving directions to her place to meet her and her maid tomorrow morning. We could have a maid very soon! And cleaner feet!
Tags: months 1-3, moving
Things are coming along so well for the move! Nikki had her BCG jab just a few hours ago and has hardly batted an eye over the whole affair. We hope she doesn't end up with a scar on her arm from the wound at the injection site (the area usually gets puss-filled and takes three months to heal) but we think it's more important that she has some protection against TB. We've delayed our flight to Cairo by two days just in case Nikki shows any reaction to the immunisation.
We spent a lovely afternoon and evening with Ken and Robin in central London on Sunday. It was their last full day in the UK and I am so impressed with all they managed to see and enjoy during their holiday. And they even brought over some lovely weather with them from Arizona!
Right now we're at BP printing some change-of-address forms and showing off our little bundle to some of Ben's colleagues.
And I'm stealing a couple of moments while Ben is meeting with an expert to update you! This has been my only time online since my last post, so my optimistic idea of e-mailing this past week hasn't worked out...
But lots of other things have been working nicely - we've put our house onto the lettings market with the estate agent Dexters . Plus we've managed to get everything into the car, a Ford Focus. Currently we're in transit from a lovely stay at a Hampton Wick hotel to a Heathrow hotel , pictured below. We plan to do almost nothing tomorrow, then fly on Saturday. Next update should be from Cairo!
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- mourning
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- we’ll miss you, Grandpa
- Vi’s birthday breakfast
- celebrating Vi
- Aileen: Simply beautiful - I have never heard this song before but it is so touchingly beautiful, all the more so at the image of Ben with two of his children
- Poppa & Grammie: Happy Father's Day to you, Ben. So grateful that you are following your heavenly Father's leading in love with your children!
- Jen: Happy Father's Day, Ben! The video is great and you are amazing for multi-tasking so well!
