It's all done

Everything's all systems go, now!

Tuesday the movers came at +-9:30 in the morning, and started just about straight away to pack up our stuff. They worked solidly until 4pm, with just 1 smoke-break and 1 lunch-break. I'd say more than half our stuff was packed up on day 1. We're both very impressed with how well everything has been packed, how thoroughly they packed everything.

Wednesday they arrived at 9am and worked solidly til just past 4pm (with smoke+lunch break). Packing everything else up, like the fridge and washmachine, and all the furniture. They left past 4 because they couldn't get the bed down the stairs and out the door: they'd packaged the mattress and base together into one package. They had to slit the package open, pull the mattress out, bring the base+box down the stairs and repackage it and tape it all back together again afterwards.

On the whole, we have a good feeling about the whole thing. Everything went smoothly, our only 'concern' is that everything was packed so all-together and mixed that we wonder how customs/AQIS would ever find things easily. We didn't get to varnish the ornament odds and ends, so hopefully they won't have a problem with them. We do need to fill in the customs declaration form though, which we hand to the Aus office of our moving company.

Other than the move, today we went back to the house to take the furniture odds + ends and also to clean up and hand back keys. It was so strange, looking at the place all empty, and virtually spotless! It almost felt like we were about to move in!

In other news, Dude has pretty much settled in at his new home quite well. He's fascinated by the finches and loves yakking away to the room in general: his cage is alongside the finches' cage and is across the room from the Amazon parrot's cage. He just ignores the parrot for the most part, but loves watching the finches.

I felt very sorry for him over Xmas time though, as everything was so new and startling, AND the whole room was full with family, and the dogs were rushing around outside the windows and doors behind his cage. EVERYTHING was too stressful!

I'm going to miss him so much. It was very emotional on Xmas eve day and Xmas day. I felt sad and teary at the most random times. Boxing day and the days after have so far been fine. We've been very busy though.

On a whole other front, things aren't going so well between Mom and Sis these days. Again. What's new. This time, Sis is housesitting. She left just after Boxing Day lunch and popped home yesterday evening to get a change of clothes (she's housesitting til Saturday). She smsed to say that the dishes etc from Sunday lunch were still in exactly the same place (on the tables in the lounge), unmoved/uncleared/uncleaned. I gather that Mom's been sitting watching cricket the entire time, doing nothing else. We left before dessert was dished, otherwise I'd have helped clean up, but that's just crazy. Sis was extremely unimpressed, because it ultimately means that SHE has to clean the whole lot up by herself (no help from Mom). While I'm fully aware that Sis isn't one to selflessly volunteer to do things which would inconvenience her/cause her discomfort, she still does what's necessary... and to have to do that after cleaning up after herself while house-sitting... that's a bit crazy. Specially considering it's the height of summer...

I don't know what to think. Nor what to do. It wasn't like this when I moved out... and yet I still feel bad about it. I can't help but project into the future and envision Mom, in an eBay house. Sis phoned for a chat before supper and we just commiserated... but there's not much we can do. She desperately wants to move out, I desperately wish Mom would 'come right'. But I seriously doubt that would ever happen. So I guess the only thing is to 'wait it out' until she's old and senile and able to be put into an old age home and we get to attack the mammoth task of clearing out the house. Apparently in October, when Sis was house-sitting the whole month, she came back to find that the poop-scoop hadn't been done the entire month. Delightful.

It's now 9:30pm, and time to head to our room. We used to go to sleep past 11, but these days, since the family goes to bed about 9, we end up heading out at around that time too.

I will blog more when I think of it - my brain is tired and it's time to zzzzz.

Ciao