Life is never straight forward

I knew that moving Phil’s mum and dad out of the house that have lived in for over 40 years wasn’t going to be easy but I hadn’t factored in stress levels times by four.  We had gone down on Saturday, thinking we would have loads of time to pack up ready for completion day on Monday but in reality, we were literally packing boxes all weekend.  Phil’s mum has done her best over the last few months, chucking stuff at the tip as well as taking loads of bags to the charity shop.  I’ve lost count of how many car loads that me and Phil have taken to the dump.  The problem with moving was due to the fact that Phil’s mum and dad flatly refuse to get rid of stuff.  Even ‘stuff’ that they haven’t used in the last 10 years needed to be kept, just in case.  Bless them, Phil’s mum and dad knew that they were moving to a bungalow which was less than half the size of their old house and just where they thought their stuff would be stored when they got in their new place, god only knows.  It was a big problem but more about that later.

The weekend went quite quickly, we mostly spent it packing boxes and eating left overs.  Phil’s mum had got rid of the spare bed which meant that Phil and I had to sleep in the lounge.  I was okay because I slept on the sofa which was pretty comfortable but poor Phil had to sleep on an air bed. He hardly managed any sleep for 2 nights and it also made his back ache.   On Sunday afternoon, we did get away for a couple of hours to see Phil’s Aunt Phyllis which was nice.  Phil’s mum hadn’t seen her for a couple of months and the last time we saw Phyllis was at Uncle Derek’s funeral a couple of years ago.  Phyllis was fine, she’s in her 80’s and has her aches and pains but she looked well and is still managing to drive her car.  It was sandwiches for tea when we got back to Melton, I made a lasagne and we finished our Sunday evening by watching Strictly come Dancing which is one of Phil’s mum’s favourites.

On completion day, we were up at the crack of dawn.  And as it happened, we needed to be because there was loads of stuff to do, like make sandwiches, pack up the rest of the kitchen stuff and clean the downstairs toilet and bathroom.  We were just about finished by the time the removal men turned up at half past eight.  I was surprised that there were only 2 of them but they were loaded up by 11am.  This was probably because they had sent another removal van on the Friday before to collect up the boxes that were made up and believe me, there was a lot of boxes for them to take.

Whilst the removal men were packing I took mum into town so that I could go with her to take passports for identification into the bank and I also wanted to check that the newsagents knew they had to deliver their daily newspaper to the bungalow.  On the way back home, Phil’s mum popped into the doctor’s surgery to pick up her prescription and I popped into Morrison’s to get a loaf of their favourite Polish bread.  When we got back, the removal van had gone and the house was empty.  Whilst we were out Phil had had a bit of a drama.  He broke the fitting on the hose when he was disconnecting the washing machine and water was going everywhere so he’d had to turn off the water at the mains.  No water meant no tea and not being able to flush the loo. 

I made a call to the agent to see if they would release the keys early but they wouldn’t.  I chased to the solicitor to see what was happening and she said that it wasn’t happening because no money had been received anywhere in the chain.  This wasn’t good news and from experience, we knew then, that we wouldn’t get the keys before 2pm at the earliest.  This meant a couple of hours sitting around in an empty house without even a chair to sit on.  There were a few more frustrating phone calls and a few other minor dramas which included an hour and a half sit in at the estate agents but eventually we unlocked the door to the new bungalow at sometime just after 3pm.

The BT engineer had been waiting for at least an hour and so had the removal men and van so everyone was very relieved when we turned up with the keys.  As it was so late in the day, everyone had to work like Trojans, it was all systems to go.  The removal guys left at half six, Phil set up the TV and together we made up beds and laid out nighties and nightgowns and even managed to locate hot water bottles.  Our last job before heading back to MK was to serve dinner, lasagne with baked spuds and shop brought garlic bread.  Phil’s mum and dad were dead on their feet and I did wonder about staying over but Phil was anxious to get back to work and I don’t think he could have stood another sleepless night on the blow-up-bed.

It was sometime after 9pm when we got back home and Sue, bless her, had a glass of red ready and waiting for me on the kitchen counter and she had even cooked a beef-in-red wine casserole and a big bowl of mash.  She had reckoned that we would be knackered and may want something to eat which was really thoughtful.  We didn’t need to eat but I needed red and Phil had to get up early for bed so he, more-or-less, went straight up to bed.   Although I was tired, I was too fired up to sleep, so I stayed up very late regaling all the stresses of the move.  Sue was very good and listened patiently while I told her all about the dramas of the weekend and the moving day itself. 

I decided to take it easy on Tuesday, and instead of going to the gym, I stayed home to do a few domestics and also, to make phone calls on mum and dads behalf.  I put on some washing and my first job of the day was to phone Bet and George to find out, how they slept on the first night in their new home.  The phone rang and rang I knew almost immediately that there was a problem.  The BT engineer had put in new wiring for their BT landline and assured me that they would go live first thing on Tuesday morning.  I spent hours on the phone to BT and discovered that there was a fault.  The person at the BT call centre said that they would send out an engineer and promised that mum and dad would have a working phone within 24 to 48 hours.  I went up the wall when I heard this and said that I wanted someone out straight away.  I did stress the point, that the parents were old and unwell and didn’t own a mobile and it was a matter of life or death that they had their landline.  I was also concerned because I wanted to warn them that I had arranged a handyman to visit to plumb in their washing machine.  As it happened, my moaning at BT did the trick and Phil’s mum phoned mid afternoon to say that the line was working and she said that the washing machine was working.  I was very relieved to speak to Bet but I was also upset to learn that Bet was unwell.  She’d been up being sick in the night and she was throwing up for most of Tuesday.   I think it was all down to the stress of the move.  It couldn’t have been my lasagne because me and Phil and dad were all fine.  I think the stress and worry of the move had got to her, plus she had worked very hard over the weekend despite me and Phil telling her to sit down and take it easy.

It was a big day at number 2 on Tuesday because it was the day that Sue’s new sofas were being delivered.  They are black leather with electronic recliners and are very comfortable plus they look very sexy.  Lunch was easy on Tuesday because we just had to heat up Sue’s beef casserole.  And it wasn’t any old plain casserole because Sue used rump steak and it was delicious. After lunch, Sue came with me and we went to look at one of the OB flats.  The tenants had moved out on Monday and I had arranged for Harriet to go to the final inspection as I was in Melton Mowbray.  I know that Phil briefly mentioned something about the flat in his last blog, if I remember rightly he was rather vague and light hearted about the subject, but I can tell you that it has been another nightmare in my life.  Basically the tenant hasn’t paid rent for the last two months and we have had to serve court papers.  I was worried that they wouldn’t get out and I was pleased to get possession rather than the unpaid rent.  The agent did phone me to say that the property wasn’t in a brilliant state but they expected it to be far worse.  Their attitude rather pissed me off; why should I be happy that the tenants have not only owe me over thirteen hundred quid in rent but they get to trash the place as well and this should make me happy??  I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the OB flat and I was glad I had Sue for moral support.  It wasn’t good; the front door, which is fairly new, was warped and didn’t want to open.  The flat was dirty, burn holes in the lounge carpet, the kitchen was grubby but the biggest problem was the damp.  There is damp in the bathroom, damp in the hall and both the bedrooms were covered in clumps of black mould.  It made me feel quite disheartened and depressed.  This flat, a year and a half ago was revamped and was spotless. I normally would have got stuck straight in but I need to find out first, what is causing the damp before I can start on redecoration.  There obviously is a big problem and it needs to be sorted. The trouble is, I am not really sure of where to start.

Phil went out for a couple of hours on Tuesday evening and Sue and I were trying out the new sofas in front of the telly with a glass of red.  The plan was to have just a couple of glasses and an early night but of course this didn’t happen and it was several glasses and another late night.  We always have the best intentions but once Sue and I get chatting and putting the world to rights, we can’t seem to stop.  Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

I went to Tesco’s on Wednesday morning, I wanted to get some supplies for us and I also wanted to get a few bits for mum and dads new bungalow.   Lunch was easy on Wednesday, left over casserole and ham rolls for me as Sue as me were eating later in the evening.  I did get to the gym on Wednesday afternoon for a quick run but there wasn’t time for a mega workout.  I do need to get back into my gym routine because on Tuesday morning, I got on the Sue’s scales and was alarmed to find, that I’d put on six pounds whilst I was at mum and dads.  I have been overdosing on pooh tea and I have managed to lose 7 pounds this week.  I am the first one to admit to being all full of shit and it turns out I was right!

On Wednesday evening I went with Phil to pick up Jan and Steve; I dropped the boys off at The Ship Ashore and then brought Jan back to Sue’s for supper.  We had a lovely dinner of salmon in a watercress sauce which Sue served up with new potatoes, carrots, green beans and baby snap peas.  Of course, a girlie night with lots of catching up has to involve lots of wine.  It was a nice evening, only spoilt by me knocking over my red wine which ended up all over the candles and on one of Sue’s newly painted dining room walls.   And no, at this point, I hadn’t had too many, it was an accident (honest Sue) just me being clumsy and somewhat too enthusiastic with 2 of my favourite chums.  It was good to catch up with Jan and I was really sorry to hear about some of Jan’s family problems.  I knew she had a lot of crap going on but I hadn’t seen Jan for a couple of weeks, I hadn’t quite realised how bad things were.  I think I have got my problems what with worrying about the oldies and the damp in the flat but sometimes it takes listening to someone else’s problems to get things into perspective.  One of my biggest fears about myself, is that sometimes I can be up my own arse.  I would hate to think I come across, as being me, me, me, I sincerely hope not and if I do, that I can only apologise.  Let’s hope things get better, not just for Jan but for all my friends and family because me and mine and close friends all seem to be having their fair share of shit in 2012.

Yesterday I drove down to Phil’s mum and dads to help them some more with the unpacking.  I was a little late in leaving and a little anxious about driving to Melton all by myself but I took it slowly and eventually got to the bungalow just before 10am.   I was surprised to see a slight falling of snow on the grounds in Melton but it was only a smattering and not enough to make it dangerous to drive.   Phil’s mum was glad to see me; unfortunately I had to spend 40 minutes on the phone to Jim who very kindly phoned me to update me with Aunt Daphne’s progress.  She is okay, she’s staying another 2 weeks in the home and we will go down to Lowestoft to see her just as soon as we have mum and dad sorted.

Mum still wasn’t feeling too well and I was didn’t want her to overdue it with the unpacking but we got stuck in and ended up unpacking about 12 boxes.  I did some sorting in the garage; I tidied up the empty boxes and flat packed them in a neat pile.  We had pea and ham soup for lunch and my last job of the day was to take mum down to Tesco’s for some supplies.  I had a cup of tea when we got back, and after loading my car with stuff to take to the tip, I left Melton at 3pm.  On leaving, I felt that I had achieved what I had I set out to achieve for the day; there is still a way to go; I need to organise a shed in the garden, the council are coming out to carry out a survey today for free cavity wall insulation and I need to get an Argos catalogue so mum can choose herself a new wardrobe.  We’ve got a couple of days grace in MK but both Phil & I are back down to Melton on Sunday to help them.   The flat is going to have to be my next project but right now,  my priority is getting mum and dad settled.  All I want to do is to get the bungalow sorted so that everything is to their liking.  It’s been a major move but I just want to see them happy and settled and want to enjoy their twilight years.  They have been so good to me and Phil, me particularly over the last 12 years and for Phil, practically for all of his life. It’s no less than they deserve and I will do everything in my power to see them right.  Its’ payback time Clairabella, so best you stop you your moaning and just get on with it.