I'm not a particularly assiduous blogger at the best of times, but it surprised me how just one week of not being able to blog broke me of the 'habit'.
My week in the countryside of Tasmania was lovely. I didn't even have phone coverage most of the time. I had excellent plans to get up early and meditate and do yoga before starting on my baby-wrangling duties, but although I woke at about 5 every morning, instead of getting up, I luxuriated in the silent comfort of my bed until about 7am.
Most days I just planned and cooked meals, did laundry and housework and grocery shopping, cuddled/pacified/took away the baby and annoyed the toddler (by saying 'No' occasionally), and reassured my friend that the screaming baby was not ill, just a baby, and the feral toddler was not ill, just two years old and angry about the new arrival ... I also drank many cups of tea and went for a few walks. I wanted to work on their veggie garden as well, but I felt that I was already being enough of a bossy nanny-type person, so I resisted the urge.
I came back, and suddenly it was December. I hate that. I love Christmas, but I am staggeringly unprepared. I haven't even got the lights up on the house.
The other house is at a point where the end might just be in sight, but I don't want to jinx it. Come Christmas itself, the process of moving begins.
In the last week I have learnt several things about building/renovating a house. Here are my top three, which are no doubt familiar to anyone who has done the same thing:
1. Everybody says you will go over budget. They are right. How on earth are you supposed to factor in things like escutcheons if you don't know that they exist or how much they cost? (But it's a cool word, isn't it?) And why are taps so expensive?
2. This is not the time to have faith in everyone. There is always someone out there who will try to take advantage of any trust you put in them. Most people will do the right thing, but not all.
3. Skilled, scrupulous tradesmen are valuable. Pay them well, praise their work and pass on their details.
How I amuse myself when I should be working
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Echo, echo, echo...9 years ago
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Under the greenwood tree9 years ago
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1 comment:
Yikes, Christmas and the last stages of moving all in one tiny month -- how will you fit it all in? Christmas is such a crazy time when your kids are at the ages yours are, and moms take on most of the stress. That week of just concentrating on the moment, on very defined needs of very little people must have been so different -- hope you can remember that rhythm to get you through the next month!
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