We made it to the end of phase one. The kids are in Blenheim, we’ve packed up the house, the house inspection has been done, and now just getting to do a little computer work before heading off to dinner (since all we have to eat right now is marshmallows, chocolate and peanut butter).
We’ve of course packed our bags and here’s the final count.
- Me – 14.4 kg
- Nat 12. 5 kg
- Lennox 17.7 kg
- Alpha 19.9 kg (!)
The kids’ bags will change with the addition and the subtraction of items. It seems that Alpha’s bag is full of books and Lennox’s is full of lego and paint. I love that, it really is a reflection of what we value – reading and creativity. But we’ll see what shakes out after we see the schooling resources from Te Kura.
Does it feel real yet?
Nope, not at all. You think it would feel real with the house empty of stuff (except for our palatial air mattress suite), but it STILL doesn’t feel real.
But there is a sense of ‘we made it’ after a few days of rough ‘goodbyes’.
Friday was a really intense day. It was incredibly hard to see Lennox so upset. He slowly walked around the school saying goodbye to everything while crying “goodbye library”, “goodbye tree”, “goodbye playground” Then there was his friend Jonathan who said “I hope you don’t forget me.” Agghhh. I broke down of course (I’m a cryer after all.) Yeah massive parenting guilt I tell ya. I Know it’s our choice and things have already got much better and it’s going to be AMAZING, but saying goodbye is very hard.
On the upside since the kids have been deposited at Nana’s they seemed to have perked up immensely. They’ve been sick for ages and I didn’t think they were going to make it on the plane, but they did and it seems a bit of grandparent magic was needed to cure their ills. They had colour in their faces when we Skyped them this morning (well actually to be fair, we mainly saw Lennox’s forehead and various toys making their screen appearance) but he seems more animated than he has been for days. So Yay.
Now it’s our turn to leave.
Tomorrow we jump in the car once ‘Grumpy Peter’ collects our stuff. The moving company has been really wonderful and responsive until I had to deal with Peter the operations guy who organises the ‘uplift’. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he just doesn’t have a good phone manner, but we’ll find out tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.
Once that’s done we’re outta here down to Wellington. Hopefully, we’ll make it to Wellington tomorrow and maybe stay a night or two while working, before facing the kids and this new way of living.
Wanna know what my biggest concern is? Being able to work and travel at the same time. Every time we’ve travelled, it’s been for pleasure, this time we have to do it for business too, and that’s going to take some adjustment.
But we did it! We actually managed to live, work and shut down this house while building a business. Still more to do (we have yet another list to attack when we get to Blenheim) but we did! Hallelujah!
Not sure how frequently we’ll be able to blog over the next few days. But don’t worry, we’ll be back.
Alice Rae-Flick
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Well done team! So the adventure begins!
Lots of love coming your way from the nether regions of Utah. Family here are in awe of your plan and wish you well. Give the kiddo’s a hug from me when you reach Blenheim and give Warwick & Dianne hugs too. xoxoxo MC
Hi Mom thank you and tell everyone we are about to start the adventure, movers are nearly done packing our stuff and the landlords have the keys. 😉