One word.
CRAZY!
This is our second week settling down in our new home and I had JUST managed to really sit down and type this entry. No time even to update this blog!
I feel like everything is just everywhere and I'm tired every time. :(
The following day after we moved in, my siblings came over after breakfast to help me unpack, may GOD bless them! They even bought breakfast as we didn't manage to settle down the basics to set up the kitchen, be it mixing drinks or even scrambling eggs, let alone toasting bread!
Anyway, as we were busy in the room to unpack clothes whilst hubby was outside drilling walls to put up picture frames and our toddler was chatting away with some of our friends, I literally fell asleep amongst a heap of clothes which we took out from some boxes.
Hubby's friends came over to help unpack too! May GOD bless their good hearts for being so thoughtful!
There were others who were busy preparing for a BBQ as hubby ordered some beef patties, sausages and ribs. This time around, instead of hubby himself spending time in front of the BBQ pit, his friends took charge of everything.
Our toddler, on the other hand, was busy being entertained by hubby's friends so it was a good thing that she wasn't clingy and gave me space to unpack.
In the evening, my parents came over with food for dinner and we performed our prayers as a family, led by my youngest brother. We recited some du'a to seek Allah's blessings and protection as we make this new house our home.
Whilst we were reciting our du'a, our toddler laid down on Daddy's lap and fell asleep not long after. Yes, she hadn't slept the entire day so she was literally maxed out!
Over the course of 1 week, we went out for dinner daily (as promised by hubby) and I was busy ticking off items from my checklist and organizing things in the house.
It's not easy.
One fine day, as I was trying to re-organize things in the shelves, I sprained my back ... so my unpacking ceased to a halt as I had difficulty moving around !!!!
It took me 2 days to fully recover and hubby told me to just chill and rest.
I can't really rest as long as I see boxes all around me.
I feel sorry for our toddler as I couldn't really spend time with her as I was on a mission to clear the boxes off our living room floor.
She mostly spends time in front of the TV or iPad whilst I crack my head trying to figure out where certain things went in the house. At times, she'll stop what she was doing and just sit next to me, trying to figure out how she could help as well.
I felt sooooo sad and hopeless, not to mention, extremely tiring too!!!!
Since we had just moved in and haven't set the space for things as yet, we'd normally scramble around the house just to look for things like a screwdriver or some plug point, etc.
We can't seem to locate things straightaway.
AND THEN when you're NOT even looking for it, the item appears out of nowhere!!!!
Ahhh, the "joys" of moving eh?
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
The Move
Over a week ago, it was a Friday afternoon when we arranged for the movers to move our stuff into our new home.
We hadn't managed to grab breakfast in the morning, hubby hadn't slept a wink the previous night due to last minute packing and we were on our way to the new home to collect the house keys from the owner, sign the rental agreement and made the deposit payment for the home.
On our way back which was approximately a 30-minute drive, we stopped by a restaurant for a quick lunch before heading home for more last minute packing and for hubby to attend Friday prayers.
At this time, I was struggling to pack whatever small things around the house into boxes and garbage bin bags (the HUGE ones) and bf our toddler at the same time so that she could catch a quick nap.
Nope, didn't go as planned since she had wanted to help with the packing and I guess the state of the house didn't look so homey anymore.
I got a bit frustrated as the packing seemed endless ... endless ... endless :( :( :( Where on earth did all the stuff come from and how would we ever finish packing?
The movers arrived on time and as they were busy taking out the loads of boxes to the 5-tonne lorry (which we underestimated), hubby soon realized that the lorry would need to make TWO trips.
Considering that it would already be too late in the evening to make the trip back, hubby called another lorry to swing by and collect the remainders of our furniture.
I went ahead to the new home with our toddler as the Unifi people were coming over for installation on the same day.
Bought McD along the way and our toddler finally fell asleep whilst munching on her first nugget.
As we reached the new home, of course, it was empty so the toddler and I both sat down on the floor with the iPad, laptop and McD to keep ourselves occupied.
The Unifi guys came on time, accompanied by one of the security guards.
It was close to 7pm when the lorry arrived bringing our stuff.
Thank goodness I had the boxes labelled AND color-coded so I immediately knew which box went into which room.
Our toddler of course wanted to help so she carried the smaller boxes into the house and I showed her where she should place the boxes.
It took them around 30-minutes to unload everything and help bring the stuff into the house / rooms.
They had to wait for hubby with the second lorry for payment.
It was close to 8pm when the 2nd lorry arrived.
The movers finished bringing everything into the house around 8.30pm before we closed our doors and were left staring at the empty boxes.
I'm utterly grateful because:
1) I had packed overnight bags for all three of us which contained our clothes, towels, toiletries, PJs for our toddler and other basic necessities which were easily accessible on the evening of the move. I had ZERO energy to unpack ANY of the boxes so the overnight bags were a blessing for us to shower, wear fresh clothes, perform our prayers and of course, our toddler's supply of formula when she needed it.
2) I knew where the pillows and bedsheet and comforter were so I could easily set up our bed to crash in the evening.
Trust me, these are the most BASIC things you need to set aside first when you plan to move house.
Of course, the final thing would be easy access to a few cups or mugs and water.
That evening, after freshening up, we went out for dinner and our toddler slept in the car.
Needless to say, we had our dinner with a sleeping toddler in my arms :)
We hadn't managed to grab breakfast in the morning, hubby hadn't slept a wink the previous night due to last minute packing and we were on our way to the new home to collect the house keys from the owner, sign the rental agreement and made the deposit payment for the home.
On our way back which was approximately a 30-minute drive, we stopped by a restaurant for a quick lunch before heading home for more last minute packing and for hubby to attend Friday prayers.
At this time, I was struggling to pack whatever small things around the house into boxes and garbage bin bags (the HUGE ones) and bf our toddler at the same time so that she could catch a quick nap.
Nope, didn't go as planned since she had wanted to help with the packing and I guess the state of the house didn't look so homey anymore.
I got a bit frustrated as the packing seemed endless ... endless ... endless :( :( :( Where on earth did all the stuff come from and how would we ever finish packing?
The movers arrived on time and as they were busy taking out the loads of boxes to the 5-tonne lorry (which we underestimated), hubby soon realized that the lorry would need to make TWO trips.
Considering that it would already be too late in the evening to make the trip back, hubby called another lorry to swing by and collect the remainders of our furniture.
I went ahead to the new home with our toddler as the Unifi people were coming over for installation on the same day.
Bought McD along the way and our toddler finally fell asleep whilst munching on her first nugget.
As we reached the new home, of course, it was empty so the toddler and I both sat down on the floor with the iPad, laptop and McD to keep ourselves occupied.
The Unifi guys came on time, accompanied by one of the security guards.
It was close to 7pm when the lorry arrived bringing our stuff.
Thank goodness I had the boxes labelled AND color-coded so I immediately knew which box went into which room.
Our toddler of course wanted to help so she carried the smaller boxes into the house and I showed her where she should place the boxes.
It took them around 30-minutes to unload everything and help bring the stuff into the house / rooms.
They had to wait for hubby with the second lorry for payment.
It was close to 8pm when the 2nd lorry arrived.
The movers finished bringing everything into the house around 8.30pm before we closed our doors and were left staring at the empty boxes.
I'm utterly grateful because:
1) I had packed overnight bags for all three of us which contained our clothes, towels, toiletries, PJs for our toddler and other basic necessities which were easily accessible on the evening of the move. I had ZERO energy to unpack ANY of the boxes so the overnight bags were a blessing for us to shower, wear fresh clothes, perform our prayers and of course, our toddler's supply of formula when she needed it.
2) I knew where the pillows and bedsheet and comforter were so I could easily set up our bed to crash in the evening.
Trust me, these are the most BASIC things you need to set aside first when you plan to move house.
Of course, the final thing would be easy access to a few cups or mugs and water.
That evening, after freshening up, we went out for dinner and our toddler slept in the car.
Needless to say, we had our dinner with a sleeping toddler in my arms :)
Thursday, 19 June 2014
We are Moving! (The Packing)
Packing is SUCH a tedious and time-consuming process!!!
I'm taking a break right now just to catch my breath. Keep asking myself "Where on earth did ALL these stuff come from?"
Imagine that there's only THREE of us in this house, 2 adults and one toddler and I don't remember using ALL the stuff every day or even every other day for that matter. Sheesh ...
My 3-yo toddler is such a gem as she insists on helping out as much as she can.
Packing, taping boxes, sweeping the floor etc She even handles the huge pair of scissors, under my supervision of course, and the packing tape like a pro! Woo hoo! :D
I color code the boxes according to which room it should go to ie kitchen / room / study etc
I even maintain an inventory list just so it would make unpacking easier.
Kitchen 1 - Plates / cutleries & kitchen utensils
Kitchen 2 - Pots & pans
Kitchen 3 - Glasses / mugs & serving dishes
Room 1 - T-shirts / Shirts / Pants / etc
So on and so forth
Needn't be too detailed else you'll end up spending MORE time listing out the items for the inventory list as opposed to the packing itself! hahaha
I make sure that each box is filled to the top, filling in any empty spaces with paper or tissue or kitchen towels or towels, etc so that it provides "cushion" to all the items packed, especially when it gets loaded onto the truck and is stacked on top of each other.
I mark the boxes as FRAGILE or EXTREMELY LIGHTWEIGHT.
I even packed our toddler's baby stuff ie clothes / pants / socks / toys etc in a separate box and marked it with "Baby Stuff - Unpacking Not Required"
Of course, there are those days where I had to juggle between packing, business, house chores, cooking and a clingy toddler ... I often thought that I would pass out any instant!
Which I did, not literally. But that one day, when my toddler took a nap, I took a 2-hour nap too and felt refreshed after.
Hubby has been a gem, making sure he buys us dinner after he returns from work or we go out for dinner. I only prepare breakfast and lunch for my toddler and I.
Hubby had already mentioned that for the entire week next week, I can rest and that we'll go out for dinner :D :D :D
Ok .. did I mention packing was tiring? No no no ... it's manageable (whilst thinking of the list of restaurants to hit next week) kekekeke
I'm taking a break right now just to catch my breath. Keep asking myself "Where on earth did ALL these stuff come from?"
Imagine that there's only THREE of us in this house, 2 adults and one toddler and I don't remember using ALL the stuff every day or even every other day for that matter. Sheesh ...
My 3-yo toddler is such a gem as she insists on helping out as much as she can.
Packing, taping boxes, sweeping the floor etc She even handles the huge pair of scissors, under my supervision of course, and the packing tape like a pro! Woo hoo! :D
I color code the boxes according to which room it should go to ie kitchen / room / study etc
I even maintain an inventory list just so it would make unpacking easier.
Kitchen 1 - Plates / cutleries & kitchen utensils
Kitchen 2 - Pots & pans
Kitchen 3 - Glasses / mugs & serving dishes
Room 1 - T-shirts / Shirts / Pants / etc
So on and so forth
Needn't be too detailed else you'll end up spending MORE time listing out the items for the inventory list as opposed to the packing itself! hahaha
I make sure that each box is filled to the top, filling in any empty spaces with paper or tissue or kitchen towels or towels, etc so that it provides "cushion" to all the items packed, especially when it gets loaded onto the truck and is stacked on top of each other.
I mark the boxes as FRAGILE or EXTREMELY LIGHTWEIGHT.
I even packed our toddler's baby stuff ie clothes / pants / socks / toys etc in a separate box and marked it with "Baby Stuff - Unpacking Not Required"
Of course, there are those days where I had to juggle between packing, business, house chores, cooking and a clingy toddler ... I often thought that I would pass out any instant!
Which I did, not literally. But that one day, when my toddler took a nap, I took a 2-hour nap too and felt refreshed after.
Hubby has been a gem, making sure he buys us dinner after he returns from work or we go out for dinner. I only prepare breakfast and lunch for my toddler and I.
Hubby had already mentioned that for the entire week next week, I can rest and that we'll go out for dinner :D :D :D
Ok .. did I mention packing was tiring? No no no ... it's manageable (whilst thinking of the list of restaurants to hit next week) kekekeke
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