I woke up this morning and looked at the clock which also shows the date. It was at that moment I realised that we have been in North Carolina for one whole year.
In some respects it's been a long year but in others the time has flown past so much so that this anniversary snuck right up on me.
I haven't been a very good blogger this year but this has more to do with a lack of time than material so once again I will make a note to self to try harder.
Not by way of a celebration but more of a coincidence we are preparing to fly home. This time tomorrow we will be enroute to RDU International Airport to board the return flight of the one that brought us here with all our, was it 9, suitcases? Only 3 allowed this time if I'm lucky! We will spend the next 2 weeks seeing family and friends, feeling the chill and probably getting soggy feet. Oh the joys of home!
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
We Are Not Alone
When we moved into our house last September we moved into a new 'sub-division'. Three houses had been completed and were on the market. Three were almost finished and one was half finished. There are also several plots on which building work is yet to start but the developer of the whole site has gone to the wall and so three of the almost completed houses had been taken over by 'The Bank'.
For four months we were here alone with the deer, squirrels and many strange comings and goings during the darker hours. Alot of them were more than likely local high schoolers looking for somewhere to 'hang out'. We had the case of the 'Big Black Pick-Up' that would regularly cruise slowly past our house before dashing off to the other end of the sub-division and then cruise back again - obviously up to no good. We also had the strange case of 'Is There or Isn't There a Body in the Woods?' which came about because we spotted another pick-up in the driveway of the semi-finished house next door and it looked like the driver was unloading something into the woods at 1am in the morning. More than likely stealing materials but when I told a friend about what had happened she immediately jumped to the aforementioned conclusion which set my pulse racing and imagination working overtime. We can laugh about it now!
One of the houses had alot of pipes stolen and another had all the appliances removed one night although I'm not sure whether that was before or when we were here. So you can see that for a couple of months I was on tenterhooks. Then I decided that it really wasn't my problem and if the bank/developer/whoever wasn't prepared to be security conscious then I wasn't going to give myself anxiety or high blood pressure and I relocated my bum to a different sofa so as not to be distracted by any headlights coming and going.
In time, either I just got used to not noticing things or the suspicious traffic declined as 'the bank' completed the three almost finished houses and lights got switched on.
Then one week before Christmas a removals van pulled up and a family moved into one of the first houses in the sub-division. One week later and another removals van and another family move into another house and I can honestly say that I have never been so thankful to have neighbours!
I still haven't met the first family properly but the second family have a son the same age as Ellie and twins of 18 months. Me and the kids all enjoyed a great play date and getting to know you afternoon with them. It seems that some other strange comings and goings will now cease....especially as the mother of the new family, while checking her mailbox esrly last week happened last week to 'catch' a couple enjoying each other in a car on their lunch break. 'It was 3oF that day', she laughed (below freezing in new money) 'And I don't think they'll be coming back this way any day soon'. You tell em! This is a family neighbourhood now you know.
For four months we were here alone with the deer, squirrels and many strange comings and goings during the darker hours. Alot of them were more than likely local high schoolers looking for somewhere to 'hang out'. We had the case of the 'Big Black Pick-Up' that would regularly cruise slowly past our house before dashing off to the other end of the sub-division and then cruise back again - obviously up to no good. We also had the strange case of 'Is There or Isn't There a Body in the Woods?' which came about because we spotted another pick-up in the driveway of the semi-finished house next door and it looked like the driver was unloading something into the woods at 1am in the morning. More than likely stealing materials but when I told a friend about what had happened she immediately jumped to the aforementioned conclusion which set my pulse racing and imagination working overtime. We can laugh about it now!
One of the houses had alot of pipes stolen and another had all the appliances removed one night although I'm not sure whether that was before or when we were here. So you can see that for a couple of months I was on tenterhooks. Then I decided that it really wasn't my problem and if the bank/developer/whoever wasn't prepared to be security conscious then I wasn't going to give myself anxiety or high blood pressure and I relocated my bum to a different sofa so as not to be distracted by any headlights coming and going.
In time, either I just got used to not noticing things or the suspicious traffic declined as 'the bank' completed the three almost finished houses and lights got switched on.
Then one week before Christmas a removals van pulled up and a family moved into one of the first houses in the sub-division. One week later and another removals van and another family move into another house and I can honestly say that I have never been so thankful to have neighbours!
I still haven't met the first family properly but the second family have a son the same age as Ellie and twins of 18 months. Me and the kids all enjoyed a great play date and getting to know you afternoon with them. It seems that some other strange comings and goings will now cease....especially as the mother of the new family, while checking her mailbox esrly last week happened last week to 'catch' a couple enjoying each other in a car on their lunch break. 'It was 3oF that day', she laughed (below freezing in new money) 'And I don't think they'll be coming back this way any day soon'. You tell em! This is a family neighbourhood now you know.
Wednesday, 2 September 2009
The House That Greg Built
95 days8,208,000 seconds
136,800 minutes
2280 hours
13 weeks
....since our lives were packed back up into boxes and the contents shipped out of India. We have stayed in two hotels, 2 holiday cottages (1 twice), 1 villa and spent numerous nights in the spare beds of good friends and 1 apartment, travelled on 4 aeroplanes, driven 4 different cars and lived out of 6 suitcases.
Tomorrow - I hardly dare say it in case I tempt fate - we finally move into our new home which we hope will be ours for the next 3 years...and I LOVE IT!
It's brand new and has been built by a colleague of Ian's who has been unable to sell it like so many people in the current climate. He heard we were coming here and let us know he was willing to rent it to us, we saw it, fell in love with it, looked at at least 15 other equally nice houses but this one ticked all the right boxes and although it is further from school for me we decided to take it.
So tomorrow the removals company will finally arrive with all our stuff 'n' boxes. It will be like Christmas for Ellie and Luke seeing all their toys again and having a rather large playroom in which to unpack and rediscover them. As for me, I am so looking forward to our lovely bed and my own kitchen knives and utensils - sad really!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)