February 8, 2010
Managed to call a technician to come take a look at the heathing today and he even fixed it, woot! Apparently the circulation pump wasn't broken, just stuck really badly, but a bit of wiggling and a couple of thuds fixed that, so now hot water is flowing through the system as intended.
The leaky valve will be replaced/fixed on Wednesday, which would or should end the heating problem.
The seller - who was exposed to Schattie's wrath on the phone last night - has cleaned out most of the garden of his filth and rubbish as he promised, but he still left some things behind, which will need to be taken out as well. We'll handle that tomorrow while signing the final act though. Go Schattie (apparently she's & Goddess and I'm a Wussy)
February 6, 2010
Spent all day at the new house, tearing off wallpaper and trying to get the heating going, which in the end didn't happen. Even though it's not freezing cold outside and the place is rather well insulated, it was chilly to say the least. Working hard helped, but it was pretty cold still.
It seems the circulation pump on the heating has broken down, so we'll need to have that checked, confirmed and fixed, preferably before next weekend when the kids will be at the house as well. Small kids don't do that well in a chilly place.
More working in the house tomorrow, we'll be doing more grinding, tearing down wallpaper and cleaning out the garden. The painting is mostly Schattie's job, as she's pretty good at it, while I'll be taking care of wallpaper and garden duty. I also hope to be able to get some final notes on paper regarding building a storage level in the garage box, which will help us when we move to store things we don't really need every day, yet can't throw away (yet). All that, without losing any free parking space in the garage.
Off to bed now, need to take care of some other things now.
February 3, 2010
The following keywords can be used to describe our day :
kids - school - key - new house - shopping - work - doctors visit - hard work - afternoon - paint - wallpaper - removal - eye - pain - notary - emergency room - french fries - 21h30 - eye specialist - damaged cornea - bandage - eye drops - rest - 2 days off.
That's it for the time being. I'm tired and heading off to bed, once I get my totally exhausted Schattie awake and in bed.
February 1, 2010
After having an enjoyable day (see below, went ice skating with the kids) Siebe wasn't feeling too well, just past two. He got really ill and we ended up scrambling for a bucket. He wasn't the only one, just a couple of hours after we finished having Chinese food, I was feeling bloated and generally not well. Sure it could have been the food, but I doubt it. Just before we went to bed, I got ill and deposited all of my food into the toilet bowl, not following the regular exit though. After an hour or two in bed, the rest followed and I was running a fever.
Called in to work that I wouldn't make it, and I'm glad I did. I'm on the couch right now and feel weak, have trouble staying up and have a terrible headache to go with it.
Schattie has managed not to catch it (for now), and I sure hope she doesn't either. First day at the new office today and not feeling all that well, I don't envy her. Gonna give her a call later today or text her to see how she's doing.
Enough sitting up for me now, I'm gonna lay down and go back to feeling crap now. Laters!
January 31, 2010
I've been getting into moving mode myself, though only recently. I've canceled my land line at the apartment, so if you're trying to reach me there starting February 1st, you'll probably get a "number no longer in use" message, or something like that. I've downgraded my internet access to a light package using raw copper - so I still have access the few times I am there, but no longer pay for a heavy use package as I did before.
In short : my mail will be forwarded to the new house, my phone line has been canceled and if you're trying to reach me, use my mobile number. If you don't have it yet and think you should, ask me in person, or shoot me a mail requesting it.
Went ice skating with the kids today, was fun though a looooong time since I did try. I managed to stay up, lol.
January 28, 2010
There ain't much news for now, but I just wanted to let everyone know that we're all still here and doing fine. Wednesday Schattie is heading of to her doctor to get more info on how serious her illness is, and Wednesday evening the both of us will be at the notary to get some things on paper regarding us buying a house together.
It may not sound or be very romantic to get things in writing, but we're both adults and know it is for the better.
That's all for now, folks!
January 23, 2010
Went shopping today, ordered our new bed and closet and found ourselves a nice set of matching night tables to go with it. Also found several other small things we still needed for the new house. Note : don't take Schattie into Maisons Du Monde, she likes that store way too much ;-)
We also went looking for two different set of lights (one strawberry red, one lime) but both stores were closed on Saturday.
It's all coming rather close now, and we're so looking forward to it!
January 21, 2010
It seems all good news is rather quickly compensated by some bad news. We were able to convince the sellers of our new house to hand over the plans already and we hope to get the key on or before the 1st of February. The sale itself will be finalized on the 9th of February, so we should be able to get everything in order and ready before April 1st. Yes, I do know that seems like an eternity, but after having a look at what Schattie has planned, we'll need that time and maybe even more, though it shouldn't prevent us from actually moving in April 1st. Definitely exciting times, ain't it?
We'll be calling in help for sure, so if anyone is up for it, let us know. We'll need at least a painter for the kids' room and may need someone experienced in electricity to read the plans or check things around the house. I've got little to no experience with it.
Wednesday morning Schattie went to the clinic to have her blood sugar levels measured, but she was turned away before the testing even commenced. Apparently her sugar levels were so high they couldn't give her any more to actually perform the test. Off to the doctor we go again to have the reading verified and off to a specialist later to confirm or test further. As soon as I heard when she called me around 09:25AM, I went over to the paramedics at work to request some info and hear their opinion on things. Sure enough they said they couldn't give individual advice since they ain't doctors nor do they know the levels, but they were able to give me broad information about diabetes and what can or can't be done about it, but more importantly even, they were able to put me at ease that even though it is a serious illness, it is not totally life rupturing or altering. Food is still allowed, so is sugar or candy, fruit and exercise. Key is to measure regularly and know what a certain type of food or exercise will do to your blood sugar level and to anticipate.
Definitely things will change in all of our lives knowing this, but none of that scares me. I'm here to help, aid, love and take care of those I love.
January 10, 2010
I've had an very nice and enjoyable weekend, once again. Yes, it seems to have become a constant factor in my life, so I think that's good. I guess that's what happens once you are happy. Friday evening we headed off to friends where we had a very nice home cooked meal and played singstar on PS2 till 02:30AM, probably much to the disliking of the neighbors, coz none of the four of us would really make it as a lead singer, lol. It was a ton of fun though, and all those song that seem soooo easy, definitely are harder as then look when you try getting the words, the rhythm and tone correct. But it definitely is a lot of fun!
On Saturday the two of us went out on a shopping spree, got ourselves a nice new garden table, and - believe it or not - we even found a clothing cabinet and a nice new bed. Our style when it comes to furniture is sometimes quite different, yet we we both rather fond of this set we spotted. I think we'll be heading off to the shop again later this week (well, next week since I'm writing this on Sunday evening) to have the order taken and a deposit made. Then we can have it all delivered at the new house and enjoy it as well.
While we were over at the new house - we had to take a look at the garage - our soon to be neighbor popped his head out of his door to see what was going on, and immediately invited us in to meet the family. We accepted and sat down to meet Mehdi and his family, had coffee - which I normally never drink, but it just didn't feel right to refuse their hospitality, so I finished my cup while talking to them - and fresh dates (dadels in Dutch for those who wonder). Mehdi is Iranian and has been living here for years, and the whole familiy was eager to know who would be moving in next to them in a few short months (67 days and counting we think).
I think we'll have great neighbors there and hope they had a good an impression of us as we had of them.
Saturday evening I was thrown to the lions as I was about to meet two aunts and an uncle of Schattie, but - as you can read - I wasn't eaten alive. In fact, I was accepted it seems. It was quite a fun evening as well...
Off to Sunday (them weekends sure look longer than 2 days, don't they?). We got out of bed rather late (that's what you get for spending time with family on Saturday evening) and I went out to get some food while Schattie cleaned up in the house a bit. Later in the afternoon when everything was more of less tidy, we faced the snowy roads to head of to an erotic fair where we did some shopping (mainly clothes, massage oil that doesn't taste bad when you happen to taste it "by accident" (editors note : according to Schattie, I should have just written "lickable" and be done with it) and a couple of toys, before we returned home to wait for the kids to return home.
Had food, showered the kids and now we're ready to take a shower ourselves. Tata!
