jessikast

Gaaaah. Two beers and half an hour of sitting down doing NOTHING and I'm starting to relax a wee bit.

But, omfg, what a DAY.

The gist of it comes down to: settlement went through, we picked up keys, I am now a HOMEOWNER and I also owe SO MUCH MONEY, ahahaha jesus.

Mum and Dad have come up to Auckland to help me pack and move. Packing has been going sporadically, but the majority of my furniture and books and things are good to go, and anything left over will fit in the back of the car.

We started today by trekking out to the Warehouse in New Lynn where Dad bought me a little outdoor table and chair set (hurrah January sale savings) and while we were there we got the call that we could pick up the keys.

So we did!

And it wasn't just two keys like I thought it would be (front door and under the house) it was a giant huge keyring, which turns out to be three front door keys and one under-the-house key and about a gazillion keys for the locks on the french doors and sash windows.

We grabbed some food from a French deli and took it around there for the Inaugural Lunch, during which  time I had a lot of fun figuring out which keys did what and measuring things and generally running around having a brilliant time thinking of ALL THE THINGS I CAN DO now that I can. And no one can stop me! (Except maybe the bank, because they own my soul and also don't want the house to lose value.)

From there we went to buy whiteware, and since Hill & Stewart are closing down we got such an excellent deal from them, including free delivery and installation. So, at some point tomorrow morning I will proudly own shiny new whiteware. My own fridge! Clean and new! And able to chill my vast quantities of diet coke! (And also milk and vegetables and stuff, I hear people like those.)

After that, Dad and I went to the new place to start trimming back the over-grown plants in the garden and I MADE A TREE BRANCH COME DOWN, BOOYAH. I had a SAW. I felt so mighty! I also shed blood when I had to deflect the basketball hoop falling down from hitting Dad's car, so I think I've made a sacrifice to appease the spirit of the new place.

Then: back to the old place, met my friend who was taking away the books she had been storing at mine, she gave me peanut butter cake and it was excelletn; the real estate agent turned up to give me a gift basket; Dad hared off and it turned out he was buying me a bbq (awesome!) and then had gone back to set it up, so Mum and I followed with a load more stuff and we pottered around while Dad tried to set up the bbq. (He ran into problems. I solved them by reading the instructions, Revolutionary!) We got takeaways for dinner and had the First Dinner sitting around the outdoor table and then we went hunting for a new set of sofas. (And failed.)

Also:
- We met one of my neighbours, doing up the house in front of mine. They have a dog who is lovely and who is going to be disappointed when I fix the hole in my fence which lets her in to poo on my lawn.
- Between throwing out old clothes and buying a clothes rack for my jackets, my new half-the-size wardrobe isn't that bad. Except for my shoes, I have NO IDEA what I'll do with them.
- My kitchen has so little storage, I'm going to need to get creative. And by "get creative" I mean "get more shelves".
- I have so many shows I'm not caught up on yet.
- Does anyone know anything about plants? Because I have no idea of what is in the garden, beyond "it's kind of green".

I am so tired, and it's not even been proper moving day yet. But it is going to be SO EXCELLENT when I'm all moved in and settled. Photos and details for any potential flatmates forthcoming.