WHY????

 Yesterday I spent the whole day and most of the night convincing myself that having access to this house, even if we are basically living in the other house, is good. Financially hard but somehow we will be okay.

There are a lot of small bits and pieces to take to the other house, plus cleaning and tidying the yard will take more than two days. My energy is low, the lads are doing a lot but they are working as well (except for Christopher who has been given most of the jobs).  I still need to finish cleaning the kitchen and do the windows.  The room we use for teaching still has one bookshelf and the tables and chairs we are using.

So being here is good, we can take care of things a bit better.

That's good but of course things aren't that simple!

Mikey's car broke down!! Of course!!  Something to do with the electrical systems. It's fixable but will cost money and also means that we will be back to one car for a few days!!

Just when we need both cars!!

Typical!!

Never mind. We will get through this, somehow.

This morning I went to the other house with David. It is really starting to look like a place we can live in. It doesn't feel like my mother-in-law's house anymore.  There is a lot to organize, especially the kitchen/dining area.  There is very little storage and we seem to have a lot of things.  I guess moving from a house that has 6 rooms plus a large open plan kitchen/dining/living area to a house with 3 rooms and just a kitchen/dining room is going to take a lot of work and thought!

On the way we saw some lovely trees with autumn leaves. The autumn leaves are very late this year, the peak for this area is supposed to be in December!

These trees were in the grounds of a high school.

Autumn colors

I asked David to take the photo, so of course he had to take a daft selfie!

David shouldn't have a phone!!!

The weather has gone cold and rather wet.  I like the cold weather but would like more if we were settled and I could relax with a nice cup of and a good book.

Rainbow

On the way back we saw a rainbow. It doesn't look that bright but it was!!

Oh (Enter Favorite Swear Word)!!!!!

 Messed up again!

The plan was to have everything moved out by Friday, then come here Saturday and Sunday to finish cleaning! 

But of course that hasn't worked out!

Yesterday Mikey called the real estate agent who said that we have to give a months notice, so we have to pay for another month here!

I'm upset by that as I wanted to use the money from the rent to buy some heaters and to go to Costco!

Mikey told them that we don't have money and asked them not to take the money form my bank until the middle of the month. I'm thinking of going and offering half of the rent, explaining that we had to buy new heaters for the other house. Probably won't work but worth a try.  I guess going to Costco will have to wait!

Since we have another month here I'm not going to make myself sick trying to clean everything in a couple of days! I have to come here a few times a week to teach, so on those days I'll come and clean and tidy the yard. 

As much as I don't want to move I do want it finished with.  To be in one house. At the moment most of our things are in the other house but we are still here!! It's kind of hard. I can't cook so we are living on obento's and cup noodles, not nice at all!  

Also it's gone very cold!  I have city gas heaters for this house but I don't want to use them as they are very expensive to run. I'm keeping warm by trying to move round and get cleaning done. My bed is nice and warm but it's hard to get out of it in the morning!  I like the cold weather but I like to have heating available, to get comfortable with a nice hot drink and a cat or two!

Get a bit more cleaned up. I'm waiting for Christopher and David to get back. They took more stuff over plus somebody is coming to hook up the gas. At least we can get hot water!!

Just a photo of the cats sulking!!

They have no where to lie down, so not very happy!!!

Empty Rooms

 Almost everything has gone to the other house!

Yesterday a moving company took the fridge and air conditioner.  David took the washing machine.

Toady David and Christopher took the TV, oven, rice cooker, toaster and another table.

Empty living room

The kitchen is reduced to two very small counters, I feel that I'm not cooking but doing a balancing act.

This move is a lot harder emotionally than I thought it would be. We've been here for 15 years. I have so many memories of this house and area.  

This morning I didn't want to get out of bed, it's cold and raining, all I could think was that if this was a normal Wednesday I would get up to clean a bit, figure out lunch and prepare a couple of classes.  Now I'm having to deep clean every where, pack up the last few bits and pieces, deal with stressed cats, cook in a cramped kitchen.  It all seemed too much this morning. I think I'm over tired.  Plus my allergies are very bad!

By the end of this week we will be living in the other house.  

Still not that happy about that!

Still no gas, no stove top and no Wi-Fi!

The other house is clean but the yard needs to be done. We have dumped a load of stuff in the car port and garage which needs to be cleaned away so the cars can be parked there!

Plus I want to take down a lot of the trees and bushes that have taken over the yard.  I guess I'll be getting a lot of exercise!!

Moving In

 I spent most of the day at the other house.

We have moved a lot of stuff already and the place is starting to feel more like our house and not my mother-in-laws house. That's good and I hope that as we find a place for everything that it will have more that kind of feeling.

This is part of the kitchen.

Need to figure out where stuff goes

The empty shelf was the Kami Dana, the God Shelf, it's coming down!

I need some kind of closed kitchen cabinets because of the cats. The cabinets above the kitchen unit are too high, even David has a hard time reaching them!  The cabinets and drawers below never feel really clean, I don't want to put food there.  Need to think what to do. I guess as we live there I will figure out where the best place to keep things is.

Then there is the why question.

pack of ginger

This pack of ginger was on a bookshelf that's in the room Christopher will be using. Why and how it go there is a mystery.

The other thing that keeps moving around is the toy lizard, it keeps turning up in different places.

Toy lizard

Today it was in the tatami room above the door, I wonder where I'll find it tomorrow.

Also David and I went to the other land just to have a look. The weeds are taller than David!

I like this land and want to use it for something but I don't know if I have the energy to cultivate it properly. I asked David if he was interested in growing things to sell but I didn't get an answer.

Monster weeds

I like this view

Tomorrow the fridge and air conditioner are going.  

We took the sofa today and a lot of other bits a pieces. Mikey went back and forth three times today.  Looks like doing the same tomorrow as well.

I'll be glad when this is finished!!

This Is Definitely Moving Week

 We got our dates mixed up last week!

This week is definitely moving week, but there is so much to do and I'm really not coping!

I'm trying to break things down into smaller, more manageable blocks of work but even doing that things are taking a lot longer than I thought they would. 

This morning I thought it would take half an hour to finish cleaning out the walk in closet in my room, took over an hour! I never thought of myself as a hoarder but after seeing how big this space is I need to rethink that!  At one point you couldn't walk in here at all.

Bigger than I remember

Christopher scrubbed under the stove. I've never used that cupboard as the oil seems to drip from the stove. Cleaning it is a real pain and one thing that I couldn't do.

I've also started on the pantry, I'll try and finish it tonight!  I have two big cooler boxes to put food in until Tuesday when the fridge goes.

I really hope we can get everything done this week. I just don't have money to stay here any longer.  Most of our students are staying with us but some have quit, kind of no choice.  

I need a different income. I've looked at sites for teaching on line in Japan but most ask for a degree or a TEFL qualification, which I don't have. The ones that don't ask for qualifications seem a bit ify!!

Hannah seems settled into her apartment. One week today! She calls everyday, usually asking about cooking.  She is cooking for herself but cooking for one is hard, she ends up with too much and has to eat the same thing for two or three days. I'm glad that she is trying to cook and not living on ready made meals. That would be so easy as there is a convivence store very close to her apartment.

Some of her meals from this week.

Yesterdays dinner

pasta lunch

one of her first meals

just a little something before bed.

I have no idea when I'll have chance to write again, I hope in a couple of days but who knows?

One problem is the Wi-Fi. We will finish with the company here the end of the month but won't have it set up until December 5th or 6th. Help!! How to survive without Wi-Fi!?

I Want To Scream

 Last Sunday David said that a moving company was coming today, November 21st, to take the fridge and air conditioner.  Those are the only things we can't move ourselves.

I spent most of Sunday and Monday cleaning out the fridge. It isn't that big but the top shelf is difficult for me to reach, especially when things get pushed to the back. I threw out a load of half used sauce bottles and some things that I have no idea what they were!

This morning I was up early as I wasn't sure what time the moving company was coming and I wanted to empty the few things that were left in the fridge to take to the other house. 

The plan was for David to go to the other house and wait for the people to come, Christopher and I were going to stay here and give the company directions.

David came back from work just after 9 o'clock, I told him that the fridge was cleared out and that a crate was full of food from the fridge.

He then checked his calendar and said that he got the dates mixed up, the moving company is coming next week!!

So I had to unpack the food and put everything back in the fridge.  

I could scream, I didn't have to get up early this morning. I had a bad night because my allergies have been playing up, I could of slept a couple more hours!

Never mind. The fridge is nice and clean. 

I'm really trying not to get stressed out. If I can find humor in something I am, otherwise I'll go crazy!

My blood pressure is too high, even though I'm taking medicine. I know that the cold weather makes blood pressure a bit higher but it's really not that cold, it's 14C at the moment, which is okay for me!

Still a lot to do. I'm pushing the lads to do as much as possible. I figured we should do what we can. I know that I can't lift anything heavy but the lads can, I can cook and kept things tidy here, do the cleaning that needs to be done before we move out, so that is what I'm doing.

It will get done, we will be out before December. That's my mantra at the moment!

The cats are freaking out, they seem confused and maybe picking up on the stress.

I'm not sure what Alan got up to the other day, he came out of the kitchen looking like this.

Alan's disguise!

It was either pancake mix or flour!

Better go and do some more cleaning! It really feels never ending!!

Moving Week

 The goal is to get out of here by the end of the week!

The reality is that it might take a bit longer!

I've spent the morning cleaning the fridge and emptying one food cupboard. I'm making progress but it feels slow. Plus I keep going dizzy, not sure if it's because of my diabetes, high blood pressure or the allergy medicine I'm taking!  

Mikey is doing his room and taking stuff over. David and Christopher are also going to take more stuff. After I've finished the kitchen a bit I need to sort things in my room. There is still a lot of Hannah's stuff there, she'll come on Tuesday to pick up more, but there are things that she wants to keep but not at her apartment!

She sent some photos of her room last night.

She says she needs more bookshelves

Her futon, she'll get a bed later

kotatsu table to keep warm

A little something before bed

She says it's too quiet! She is used to being around people and cats so it must seem strange to be alone. She watched some videos and went to bed early.

She called this morning and said she was going to put together her kitchen cabinet, that should be interesting!

Back to work, more cleaning and packing to do!!