grumpygirl

Dirt

Right now, right this very moment, my dream job would be an archaeologist. Specifically, one working with the Time Team. In my uni years, getting dirt under my fingernails was nowhere near what I'd call fun; medieval history drew me instead. But as I sit here with my box of tissues (sick again) watching Time Team episodes on ABC's iView, I can't think of any other sort of paid work I'd like more. Still pondering why exactly.

Spot

Spot the big fat mistake?

Remembering

I woke up this morning filled with quiet sadness. My dreams were already hazy and the tears in my eyes had almost dried and I lay there still thinking about Rach. If she had lived, her baby would be about 7 months old and they would be a happy family of four rather than incomplete one of two.

I remember how lucky I am. I want for nothing, really. I am married to my best friend and we have the happiest boy in the world. I have lovely, lovely friends, a house that will soon be our home, and a good  job that I can return to when I'm ready.

And far, far too much yarn. Lucky girl, am I.

One down

So we've survived the first open for inspection. Only 4 more to go.

First we had an couple who decided to come and peek through our curtains an hour before the advertised time. I stood there and stared right back at them.

Then the agents came 7 minutes early. The excuse being that they needed to stick up some signs outside the house. And turn on all my lights.

I sat in the kitchen and fed WB lunch for most of the half hour. He was so distracted by all the strangers walking through that I don't think he realised how much he was eating.

One skanky child seemed to think he could eat a sticky apple with one hand and play with WB's toys with the other. Whilst his parents were on the other side of the house. My stomping and the look on my face soon set them right.

An oldish man thought he was exempt from taking his shoes off, but I set him right. I pointed to his shoes and he shook his head at me and walked off to another part of the house. His wife looked apologetically at me and said something along the lines of 'he's old and it's slippery'. Where the bedrooms, hallway and stairs are carpeted. Yeah. That was the agreement with the agents I said, and his wife made him take them off. I mean seriously, what makes him think his stinky old person shoes are cleaner than everybody elses? I've had a shoes off policy way before I had a baby who likes to crawl all over the house. I'm all for choice - if you choose not to take off your shoes in my house, I choose to refuse you entry. (Unless you're the MIL who insists on bring her 'house' shoes that she sometimes wears inside her house where everybody wears shoes. Don't get me started.)

There was a non-stop stream of people coming through. It's great. They now know the layout of the house and how to get in. And if they can't remember what stuff we have, the really helpful sign at the front of the house with the really huge pictures can jog their memory. Fan. Bloody. Tastic.

I did enjoy hearing most people struggle with the child-safe gate at the top of the stairs. It's the little things, huh?

Idiot

The water here has always been crap, but around noon, it got really bad, so after having it run for a while, I decided to record it and send it to the agent. Who told me that it was perfectly fine to drink. And wash my clothes in. (Because, if you want to clean your clothes, you should wash it in discoloured water. Logical, yes. Idiot yes.)

And no, she couldn't get the plumber to come before Monday because she only found out in the afternoon (er, cause it didn't happen until midday and she took her sweet time getting back to me) After all that, it turns out it was a Yarra Valley Water problem on the whole street which they came to fix immediately, so at least they realised it needed to be dealt with urgently.

Anyway, herewith 3 minutes of fascinating viewing:

Packing

What gave me away? It was the syph comment, wasn't it? I should add an addendum to say I don't want them to infect anyone else. So they should start rotting away before they get the chance.

We're going to pack (and throw away) as much as we can this weekend. And as we declutter the house, I'm hoping it will have the same effect on my mind. This panic and anger I feel when I'm home is getting old.

So hopefully by the first open for inspection on Thursday, people will see mostly boxes rather than my belongings. I really really hate the idea of unwanted and unwelcome people walking through my house (for it IS still my house for the moment). And I really really hate the agents. But I think you already know that.

I should go wake up BD so we can make a start on the rest of our lives.

Real estate agents are Pond Scum

I exaggerate. I've met a few who are quite nice. But the ones I'm currently dealing with now, well, may they and the landlord contract syphilis and then slowly expire. Rather harsh you might well say, but thems the breaks.

Yep, this is the ranty post that I've been too tired to compose. And I was waiting until I'd run out of expletives, but it seems I haven't. But you know what? It feels just as good to use the same ones over and over and over again.

So I could spend the next 2000 words ranting, but you'll just have to trust me about the level of suckiness. I'm hanging out until I never have to have anything to do with these people ever again. Only 24 days + however it takes to get whatever part of our bond back that they haven't managed to screw us out of.

And now we are seven

Or is it six? Or five?

Wot wot you say? Mothers group. We've pretty much been meeting once a week since WB was six weeks old. He's now almost 11 months. I really can't say enough about how great I have found mothers group. Being able to chat with others mothers with babies WB's age has been a godsend. They're all normal - we're really lucky we didn't have any out-and-out freaks.

However.

A few odd things have happened over the last few weeks and I've been mulling, mulling. Perhaps I was trying to be nice or not unsympathetic. Totally out of character, I know, but there you have it. But tonight, I've decided that rude is rude now matter how you dress it up, so that's that.

It's not the rudeness of one individual that bothers me really, it's more what it's doing to this group that has been such a large part of my life this past year. Perhaps time may have wrought changes anyway, but we can't blame time in this instance. And it makes me a bit sad, and consequently a little pissed off.

There has always been a core group of six of us that are regulars. Two others were less frequent. B only came to one class (family issues) and the other S, also skipped a few and then went o/s for 3 months (also familyish issues). So I never really got to know them. But I never really warmed to them either.

S is not someone I'd choose to hang out with in the 'real' world anyway. And B, definitely not. B likes to be the alpha. And whilst I have no desire to be the alpha myself, I totally suck at being told what to do. So kept my distance and my mouth shut (as much as I could, anyway). I watched her rotate through the group, picking new favourites once the originals didn't turn out to be what she needed them to be.

I could see that she was organising mini get-togethers. I didn't mind not being included because then I'd have had the dilemma of needing to find an excuse to weasel out of it. But I can't say I would have minded a bit of discretion. Like the time we were talking about the local shops and she said that she'd been meaning to check out the cafes so she could lunch with some of the other girls. Subtle, yeah.

And whilst I'm being honest about it, a few other things that annoyed me:
- always wanting to host
- the offers to bend over backwards with the tinge of martyrdom
- the knowing everything about everything
- the awkward 'too much info' moments
- the need to be the authority figure
- the need to be in control.

It was rarely overt, but always...there. Anyway, it's no longer an issue because a few weeks ago, she decided she wasn't doing mothers group anymore. There was a text to one person saying something along the lines of 'can you bring my SIL's toys to MG and give them to A as I'm not doing MG anymore'. Which was more than someone else who didn't even get that last bit. I think the person hosting that week was told that B wasn't coming anymore, but I think that was it.

Fair enough if you don't want to do it anymore, but a group text saying bye and even a pithy reason would have been polite. As she'd made it clear that she was still seeing A, I asked A if B was alright. I didn't really look me in the eye when she said she thinks B is just 'over it'. After trying to host MG a few times and an attempt to organise a nursing home visit, she just got 'over it'. Hmm. Whatever.

But that week of the texts (or the non-texts), A, who had said she was coming to MG, didn't turn up. And then this week, A said she was probably coming to meet some of us at the shops for MG, didn't turn up. But, we then saw her and B in the shops together. So maybe B's setting up her alternative MG. Same day, same time, same venue. Subtle.

And today I learnt that S had received an invite to B's bub's birthday party. (L, your invite must still be coming...).

So the rest of us MUST have unwittingly done something to piss her off. So unfair though. If I'm going to piss someone off, I'd MUCH rather have done it deliberately. Much more fun. 

Who needs office intruige?

Alternatives

We caught up with some people from high school today. It was better than I'd anticipated, but the husband of one girl in particular is still not someone I actually want to engage in a conversation with. I quite successfully managed to tune him out most of the time, but there were two conversation threads have stuck in my head.

It always irks me when people have opinions which they expect everyone else in the world to agree with unconditionally. More than an expection, it's as though it has never occurred to them that alternative views exist.

His first statement was that he's done the maths and that rather than go to the UK to work and travel, people should stay home and just travel during during their annual leave. Because after you take into account the relocation costs etc. it just doesn't work out financially. Huh?

But the thing that really annoyed me was his statement that he'd decided to give up overseas travel for 10 years whilst the children were young because it was too much of a hassle. His sister is a paediatrican and drugs her kids, but he doesn't want to drug his, so it's no travel for them. Double huh?? 

So many retorts ran through my head, but I kept quiet. There just wasn't any point in arguing with such a person. Does this mean I'm becoming more tolerant? No wait, I had some very intolerant thoughts when, after we told him what WB's name was, he questioned us bout it being a girl's name. Because, once again, there is no possibility that he was thinking of a completely different name which sounds similar to WB's is when the latter is pronounced incorrectly.

Perhaps I should have said 'Oh dear, you're right, why didn't someone tell me this 10 months ago?' Or maybe just 'Wow, you're stupid. And incredibly rude.'

Should

I should be grateful, really I should. I mean, had they not told us in early March of the plans to sell, we would have had a nasty surprise today when the real estate agent rang to tell us of the notice to vacate this rental property we are in on 14 June. Our settlement is currently scheduled for 12 June. Yep.

Like I said, I should be grateful. But I'm not. I'm thinking of open for inspections and prospective buyers traipsing through our house at least twice a week for the rest of the time we're here. grr grr double grr. I should also probably consider not being home during the inspections, but stuff them - I'll be more stressed wondering about what is happening. So unless they pay me to leave, I'm staying put.