Tuesday, May 22, 2012

On the move

After the Big Move here - for a long time - I was unable to deal with the thought of moving again. It wasn't just that we'd made an international move with a newborn and preschooler, but only months prior to that, we'd had to move house in Sydney. I was 35 weeks pregnant with Miss Pie and Sydney was one hot bath of humidity - or maybe it was my pregnancy.

At any rate, I was in no hurry to move again for a while.

The apartment we found here ticked most of our boxes. Fridge, washing machine and dryer included; open living space; outside patio space for the kids to play; no staircases (I sensed that lugging bags of shopping up from the underground parking, along with a young baby and stroller was going to be complicated enough - let alone having extra flights of steps to deal with). The complex is in a convenient location - J cycles to work most days, and there is a supermarket on the next block. It doesn't feel like we live in an apartment because in the complex, all all the apartments have their own entrances - even the upstairs ones. There are no grimy hallways, just paved walkways and gardens.

So far, so good... but not completely.

Our apartment - being on the ground level - is located immediately adjacent to one of the main security gates into the complex. People slam that motherfucking gate from 6 am most mornings, as they leave for work. Consequently, the Faery and Miss Pie start the day early. As for Friday and Saturday nights, it gets pretty noisy out the front too. Even more annoying is the number of visitors (and residents) who think it's perfectly acceptable to call out over the gate for one of us to come open it, like it's our duty. Umm, no. I've become pretty good at ignoring unfamiliar faces at that gate.

We're a little bit over the constant human traffic past our place and lack of privacy (the guest parking is right beneath us, and the lift is just on the other side of the gate). Of all the various buildings in this complex, we ended up in the busiest section.

We're more than a little bit over our sleep's quality being dependent on the upstairs neighbours. Their living room is directly above our bedroom, and their front door and stair case is right next to the girls' bedroom. Whether they're gangsters (true story) or hyenas (also true), we haven't had much luck.

Time for a change, then.

We've been keeping our eyes open for different place within the same complex, but didn't want to pay a whole lot more than we do now. We figured there was no rush, and that when the right place came along, we'd move.

Two weeks ago, we found it - ready to move in at the end of June. It's in a much quieter section of the complex. It has its own external flight of steps (it's above a ground floor apartment) and has two levels. One of the other reasons we wanted a change is that, currently, the girls' bedroom is right next to our living room. The idea of entertaining friends in the evenings has always been a bit daunting - as if we'd be disturbing the girls. The new apartment layout means our bedrooms are upstairs, away from the living space.

(I just need to find some friends to entertain now - joking)

We'll still have a patio, which will be smaller... but at least it's private. We won't have any noisy morons above our bedrooms to keep us awake. Also, now that Miss Pie is bigger, the idea of stairs isn't scary any more. The stroller and groceries are still going to be a pain, but we'll manage. And bonus? A truck will not be required for the move. Just a shitload of going back and forth with some rented trolleys. A few mates to help with the furniture, and hopefully it won't be too bad.

Incredibly, it'll only be $40 a month extra - despite having being almost 200 square feet bigger (whatever the hell that is in metric).

I'm a little amazed at the amount of stuff we've accrued in our two years here. Some serious spring cleaning is order, which I've started making inroads into - trying not to feel too mean for throwing out three large bags' worth of prechool artwork... and counting.

I'm looking forward to being in a bigger, quieter apartment... but I still hate moving. Desperately wishing there was a cheat sheet for it, or at the very least, some family members to materialise out of thin air and whisk the girls away for a day or two.

Luckily, I have the knowledge that we've survived much bigger moves.

It's going to be fine.

6 comments:

  1. Oh that is daunting ... but good luck with it. The new place sounds great. I had no idea your current location was so noisy and I think it would drive me bonkers too.

    It is hard moving with the kids underfoot. R hated the tape dispenser and screamed every time I used it and W kept unpacking the stuff as I was trying to pack it but we got there in the end.

    It is hard throwing out the artwork. I've kept folders with the best stuff and special occasion things in it but have had to be ruthless with the rest. They really do send every little scribble home and buggered if I know what we're supposed to do with it all.

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    1. The gate noise has been one of those things we've just tried to live with and not whinge too much about - it's only bad at certain times of the day. But lately we've decided a bit more space would be nice, and once we got the idea into our head, and realised a different apartment could be potentially a LOT quieter, it's been harder to ignore that gate. It actually used to be much worse, in our first year here, but they fixed the hinge so it doesn't shut so quickly now.

      Still only 2 bedrooms, but I think it'll be nice to have more space between our sleeping and living areas. Not looking forward to packing for the reasons you mentioned!

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  2. That sounds like a good decision! Privacy at home is very important in my opinion. When we looked or houses we saw a few in that type of area where most houses look the same, small gardens and some houses even seemed to almost share gardens with the neighbour, with no fence or hedge in between. I hated the thought of living like that. I was so happy when we fond our house, that has everyhing, privacy, closed in areas and more open areas in the garden. And we have a hedge all around the place.
    How great being able to move house without a truck!

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    1. Privacy is important, isn't it? I'm always amazed - when I go for walks - at the number of people who have their windows, doors, blinds wide open in the evenings. I'm a sticky beak myself and can't resist looking, but I hate the idea of people peeking in on us.

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  3. Great news a good option came up for you guys.....I think we will both me packing and moving boxes around the same time! Packing tape dispenses ready, lets begin xxx
    P.S Sorry don't know how but I originally wrote this comment as a reply to the comment above.

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    1. Best of luck with your move - does this mean your new home is completed now? How exciting! I can't wait to see photos - such a beautiful corner of NSW. Best of luck with the packing - which reminds me, I must get some more packing tape so I can get started...

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