Three weeks in

It's been three weeks since we moved in and, well, nothing much has happened house wise. Work has been busy and- I guess it's just nice to be in the house, starting to make it feel like home before we make any changes.

We started looking for paint test pots a few weeks back, since I had a very specific colour in my head of what I wanted for the main living area/dining/kitchen. It's still an off-white colour, but more rosier than the one we have now which is a bit grey/beige-y and just looks a bit dirty. I have plans for a red/maroon splashback in the kitchen and new curtains and whatnot, which will eventually happen.

Paint plans were put on hold when we adopted two rescue budgies, who had to be put in quarantine before being introduced to the six we already had. Since it's a small house, we have the main cage with the six in it in the living room, and the cage that held the two new ones in the farthest bedroom, to minimise any issues. Since budgies are really sensitive to paint fumes, we had to change our painting plans until we could keep them all in together, which would be end of April/May. And since that's unfortunately winter here and I don't fancy having the windows wide open when it's freezing cold, we've decided to postpone painting until the spring.

Sadly, one of our rescue budgies recently died, which was incredibly sad, but we're pleased she had a few days of happiness with us at least. And she encouraged our first spot of gardening- we buried her in the garden with some tulip bulbs above her in remembrance.

Today, spurred on by the fact that we have two uncovered windows in the kitchen/dining/living area (I have no idea what to call it- main room?) where the budgies are and they had been used to flying free every day at the old place, we finally went and bought some blinds. We got them at a great sale price too, which is fantastic as they're not exactly what I want for the long term, but for $40 for two we couldn't really go wrong!

That meant today I went out and bought a cordless power drill so that I could fit the blinds in place. I haven't used one since I was a teenager, so it was a hell of a shock to start with and took some getting used to. A lot of swearing, sore muscles from holding up the heavy drill, and one big row later, and the blinds are up and looking better than I expected.

So that's one task out of a long list done! And the budgies, who are currently soaring around my head when they're not perched on the curtain rail, nibbling at the curtain hooks (I don't know why but they love to do it!) are very, very happy!

A mix of emotions

Today was settlement day. I didn't expect to sleep last night, but I slept soundly. I didn't expect to hear anything until lunchtime, but I got the call from my lawyer at 10!

I wandered up, all of it feeling surreal, and picked up the key from the lawyer, and also the bottle of wine they gave me, and wandered back, not too sure what to do with myself.

My poor roommate was unwell and headed home and since I'd planned to leave early I picked her up, and we stopped briefly at the house.

And I was devastated.

It was filthy. I don't know when the previous owners moved out, but they should really be ashamed of themselves. There was dirt everywhere, more cobwebs and spiders than I could count, and they certainly hadn't taken care when they'd moved- there were marks and scrapes all over the walls.

I have to admit, I cried. This was not the amazing home I had in my head.

Before I could get more upset, I measured up the space for the fridge and left. We stopped to knock on the door of one neighbour, who has a right of way on our drive to get to their house, to warn them that we'd be moving in tomorrow and there'd be a big van. I offered them use of the carport for the day (which is on the road) and there was an awkward moment when we were asked if we intended to use the carport most of the time, as they'd started parking there since the previous owners of our house always parked on the drive. They didn't seem happy when I made it clear I'd be using my carport, thank you very much! So we're off to a good start there.

My poor roommate went to bed and slept for a few hours while I went whiteware shopping, which was a breeze, and I felt tonnes better.

But then we had to go back, and I was dreading it. I left my roommate, who was feeling better, at the house to clean as I went back and forth between the houses with boxes and bags of belongings. I struggled a lot with the drive, and ended up scraping my car on a low lying metal spike I hadn't spotted, so I was incredibly gutted, and had a good cry again.

But, as the boxes started to pile up, it started feeling more like our place. And I started to feel like once the furniture was in, it'd seem even more like home. And smelling clean was a huge help.

Now we're back to our half emptied rented house, with our pet budgies and our sofas and TV, we're exhausted, and I can't wait until tomorrow to get our stuff in and really start living in it.

I had a good long talk with my parents too- it's good to hear when your family is proud of you, I think, and that they understand my emotions about it all.

I'm sure there will be times I hate this house. And I'm sure there'll be times I wish I hadn't bought it. But I think, most days of the year, I'll be thinking how proud I am I took the steps to get it, and how proud I'll be once I make it mine!