What seemed like The Neverending Move.

I've been meaning to jot down my thoughts for awhile now but i've just been super busy. But yesterday was a rather quiet day which involved tidying up and a trip to the laundromat which is just a few blocks away.


On the 29th of September, J and i celebrate our anniversary. It's our 2nd year together. Well technically if you add the 3 years that we knew one another between the age of 13-15, then it would be 5 years. But we base it on the day we met again, so two emotional, adventure-filled yet enriching two years.

We opted for a quiet evening at home with a home-cooked meal. But J surprised me with a simple yet beautiful little white gold pendent with a diamond in the middle.

We've been so tired lately trying to adjust with the 5:30am wake up calls that we pretty much passed out after we had our glass of prosecco courtesy of Christ [pronounced Chr-ist].

And since the 12th, our weekends have been reserved for the 160 km drive to Düsseldorf to pick up whatever boxes can fit in the company van that J was allowed to borrow. And with all the furniture we inherited from the ex and with other items we bought along the way, there would be no way it would squeeze in a big van.

The first of 5 filled to the brim vans.

The brothers.

J's brothers drove down 3 hours to help us with part of the move on the 12th. And we are very grateful as there's no way we could have done it without them. And we're also very thankful that his old and new boss were kind enough to let us use the company vans. We saved a lot of money since one company quoted us about 200 Euros/day.

So if my calculations are right, since the beginning of the month we've driven back about 8 times. So 8 x 160 km = 1,280 km. Now multiply that by 2 [since that includes the way back] and it comes to 2,560 km... at least!

I fully agree that 'Moving' is one of the most stressful things in a persons' life. So much so, that J and i have sworn to stay put and not move for awhile. And if we do, we're hiring professionals!

And i reckon if you really want to see how strong your relationship is, try Moving and starting a new chapter together. Ones' true colours definitely come out and nerves are definitely tested. But hats off to my parents who have moved way too many times from one end of the world to the other. And i'm sure with each move, their marriage got even stronger.


I said my farewells to the apartment [for the 3rd time] and soaked in the Autumn view from our living room. And by the time we were done unloading our things into the new home it was already 2am on Monday morning. And since J had to be in Düsseldorf for an event in the morning he drove back 4 hours later to clean the old flat up and hand over the keys to the caretaker.

So yea, the past few weeks have been a bit brain numbing and stressful.

More so for J since he hasn't had a moments rest. Between balancing his new job, our move and the lack of sleep, it's no wonder his immune system is down and he wasn't feeling well. So not only were our Grumpiness levels sky rocketing but our nerves were definitely stretched and arguments broke out.

But it's all good.

We've voiced out our issues and i shed some tears. But this weekend we can finally rest and take some time out to refocus on ourselves and on our relationship.

...




Oh and this is the house we're staying at. There are 3 other families living there, one of which is the owner of the service apartment. Ours is a 40 square meter apartment. Our bedroom window is the one on the far right and on middle floor. Originally built in 1896. The house has a relatively old odor to it - think 'Grandma'.



View from the top of the steep stairs that squeak and the front door.


The house is directly on a T-junction and the bedroom at the front of the house faces the small street outside. There really isn't that much around there except for a pizza place, a few bakeries and a small supermarket.

We've been here since the 14th of September and will be here till the 17th of October. I'm just looking forward to not living out of my 4 roll-away suitcases and having our own things at arms reach.

...


And today we went to the City Hall [Rathaus] in Guetersloh and registered as residents. So according to the system we have officially moved and are no longer living in Düsseldorf. And as part of the completed registration, we received a welcome pack to the the city which includes a one year free pass to the local library. Let's hope their English section is a lot bigger than the one in Düsseldorf [all 4 book cases]. My guess is 'yes', seeing that there is a British Army base stationed in Guetersloh. Plus i've come across a number of strangers in the city speaking English, so i can only assume there must be a demand.

Seriously, we've been starved of hearing the English language that each time we hear someone speaking, J and i catch ourselves nudging each other and simultaneously saying, "OMG, he/she/they speak(s) English!"