It's been quite hectic since I last posted anything on the blog.
The stress started on the 10th of this month. As if it wasn't stressful enough, the kids had the first two days of that week off! So packing was reduced to the minimal, only the essentials were to leave for the service apartment by Wednesday evening. After the 12th, I was deep in packing, going back and forth between the service apartment and our flat in Westend. It had been a terrible 1.5 weeks for the kids too. I put them in daycare everyday till 5.30 pm. Thank God there was no hiccups, though Kristin was already having a little runny nose just one day before the movers arrived, on the 18th.
It was quite an ordeal... with the packing during the day and the caring of the kids at the end of the day. I can't tell you how much I resented them every time I picked them up 5.30 pm. They were cranky, hungry and tired. Still, Alan and I gritted our teeth, pressed on and fell right into bed every night. So if anyone of you has insomnia, try moving house and caring for young kids all at once. You'll sleep like a babe every night, I promise!
The big day finally came - November the 18th. The men arrived at 9 am. One German, one Ghanian and two Italians. Definitely happy with the combination. In fact, I was secretly happy coz I had good faith that all our things would fit into one 20 ft container. Coz anything above that volume wasn't within our entitlement anymore, and that would mean we would have to dig into our pockets to ship boxes back to Singapore.
The Italians were the best, esp this guy Toni. I think he's a genius. He's like a puzzle wizard. Anything from dismantling to packing and stacking, he used up every inch of space available. That all our things fit into one container, we definitely had Toni to thank for!
Prior to our big day, I heard lots of horror stories about movers. So other than herding our things together, I packed some, bagged some, and even took pictures of the bigger items. Yep... lots of preparation work. And perhaps I overdid a little. In the end, the movers spent 6 hours the 1st day packing at our place and 2.5 hours on the 2nd day. And another 1.5 hours to reload our things onto an actual 20 ft container. They were out of Frankfurt by 1 pm on Nov 19th!
The kids weren't sentimental at all when I showed them the empty apartment that afternoon. Al wasn't at all sad either... I was the only one grieving over the end of my Westend days!
The kitchen - the place where I spent most part of the day in... other than the time I spent at the desk online.
This kitchen was brand new... and I think I left it pretty brand new too after 3 years! :) It doesn't mean I didn't cook. It just meant I maintained it well. And I have my Putzfrau to thank for such a wonderful condition.
The dining area - our family area, where we ate, talked, did homework, craftwork, painted, drew, playdoh-ed, played games, baked, cut cookies, decorated cupcakes, read, wrote, sang, drank etc. Oh... how not to miss this place?
More pics to follow when I find time and space to breathe from this whirlwind...
