A Year in the Life of...

girlatplay

beanielou said:

I would absolutely go for the survivership clause.

In my first will, when DS was still at school, I had a clause that he would not be able to access funds from house sale til he was 30!!
Now he is one of my executors!!

Thank you. I think it's a good idea in our circumstances.  I had a search round the house buying boards and although I could only find older information, it seems to match with my thoughts.

I'm now one of my parents' executors too.  I don't like to think about it.

savingholmes said:

Good luck with sorting the window. I think the idea about withholding the £ from the sale sounds good.

Thank you.  I don't really know what else to suggest.  It's very frustrating.

girlatplay

Well we are both crawling and speeding towards the finish line.  Missives are still not concluded so I still don't feel safe yet.  We have everything we need for our purchase, it's just our sale missives which are holding it up.

I would be worrying about it however, the lady buying from us turned up at our door on Thursday night asking for the gas meter serial number.  I don't think we're supposed to have contact before conclusion but she has been asking her agent to ask mine for the number and has not had much response.  I know the two owners of the firm she is using as I have worked for each of them at different times in the past.  I know how they work and I can see how that would happen. She said she didn't know what else to do as she had agreed a really great fix with her current supplier and wants to carry it with her.  I happen to know that there is a small error in the address that is held for the gas supply so I was able to tell her that plus give her the number.  I was also able to explain a couple of other things which should have been passed on to her.  She said she only came to the door because she remembered how lovely I was at the viewing (what a kind thing to say, I did really try and got a great vibe from her).  I didn't let her in; don't have to until conclusion and not supposed to.  She was fine with that.  So, all in all, she seems to think it's still going ahead.

Still got loads to do here.  I've felt a bit rough again the past week or so.  Tried to contact my GP and the hospital yesterday but had no luck with either.  I'm not at hospitalisation stage but don't want to go that far again so I'll try again on Monday.  In the meantime, I've not packed a box in a while so that needs to start again.

Livingroom is packed.  Boxes are sealed.  Sofas have gone to charity.  Footstool is being collected by council on Thursday (it's a lovely footstool and part of a set with the sofas but doesn't have a fire label so council are taking it).  My workstation has to go to my parents' house as I'll be working from there for a couple of days.  I'll probably move that next weekend.  TV and furniture to be moved by removal co.

I've packed 2 boxes in my bedroom.  All shoes and bags.  Sounds a lot but it's actually not.  They would all fit in to one box with room to spare but I look after my stuff so I have wrapped them all which takes up loads of room.  I'll just empty the drawers into boxes and the removers have "wardrobes" that they bring on the day so all hanging stuff will be moved directly from my wardrobe to them.  Just the top and bottom shelves to box which isn't too bad as the main part had the shoes!  Still have under my bed to do (ottoman bed) which I keep panicking at the thought of but then every time I look it's not as bad as I think.

The two cupboards in the hall have to be done but one is mainly coats and the other I have half done.

Bathroom is just toothbrushes, shampoo, etc which I'll pack on the day into their own box ready for a straight unpack at the other end.

LMG's room 😶

I have arranged home insurance.  I have had a refund from the current council.  No council tax to pay this month so I took the refund and the July money and paid the home insurance with that.  There was about £100 left over so I have put that into a spare account, together with £200 from my June salary, just as a little extra in case something comes up.  Of course, we'll have CT to pay the new council from 13th July but I need to contact them to see how they want to work out the payments.  I can do that once we're in.

No broadband organised yet and I haven't cancelled ours but because I work from home I want to be sure there is no cut off if there is a delay in moving.  Also, we are with V1rg1n and we can't take it with us as they don't service the area but according to their terms and conditions if we can prove we have moved but stayed within the UK within 30 days of cancellation then they will refund the cancellation charge.  Since it will be over £100 and we only pay about £22 per month I thought it would be good to hold off as long as possible before cancelling to give us more time to get the proof.

Wow, that's a bit of a brain dump. Reading it back it seems that we are fairly organised.  I just don't feel it.  My folks are coming round tomorrow to help out a bit so that's good.  I've just got a few dishes to do now and then I'm going to bed.  I've caught up on all the other diaries I follow (one week away from here creates a lot of reading!) so I feel accomplished 😁

savingholmes

Glad you are getting some help.

Stay on top of health that's the priority in that list. Hope you feel better soon 

EssexHebridean

You definitely do sound wonderfully organised - well done!

And absolutely follow up the health stuff if it needs it - it's not like your GP surgery etc don't (or shouldn't!) understand that there is a precedent for you knowing when things need attention! 

girlatplay

Thank you SH and EH.

I managed to get an appointment with my GP today.  She was brilliant!  Really took it seriously.  I have another 28 days worth of antibiotics.  She took bloods and asked for stool samples 🤮  She is writing a report to send to the consultant at the hospital saying I need a proper follow up.  She is asking them to refer me to the dietitian again as I might need some supplements while I'm going through this again.  She weighed me and it doesn't look like I've put on any weight since May (I did, but the minute I start feeling ill again it falls back off).  She gave me a direct number to the hospital, of specialists I can call when I'm not well.  She told me I absolutely did the right thing going along to see her today.  She also said that the health conditions I have, they see as an emergency so I should always call straight through and ask for an appointment.  They will see me the same day even when they say they have no appointments.  Why has no one told me this in 20 years?

In great news, both sets of missives have now been concluded so we are on track to move a week tomorrow 🎉  On track on paper that is, not so much in cardboard.

My parents came round on Sunday and helped with some clearing/packing.  I feel like we did make some progress.  I do think I'm going to be throwing stuff in boxes at the last minute though.

Boiler has been serviced.  He fixed the timer too.  He is also coming back tomorrow to fix a bit in the toilet cistern which has been leaking.

This might be a step too far but I'm typing up notes for the new owner, of things that I think will be useful for her to know.  We are leaving the dishwasher and I cannot find the instructions anywhere.  I've suggested that she could find them online if she searches but told her the cycle we use and how long it lasts, etc.  I've noted the details of the boiler guy and the local garage for if she has a car.  She's not from around here so I'm just saying things I'd like to know if it was me moving here.  I've collected the instructions that I can find for appliances that we are leaving and I've also collected takeaway menus as no one wants to cook the first night in a new place.  We have really good takeaways around here.

Three more extremely busy days of work then it's the last mad dash to be ready.

beanielou

So glad that you got a GP appointment & they were on the ball.

Blimey, that is not long.
Exciting times ahead 

savingholmes

So glad your GP came through for you and you finally should get the support you need.

Good luck with the move. So close now.

EssexHebridean

Did you ask the GP why you'd never been told all that before? Sounds to me like it certainly should have been mentioned! I'm so glad that you have finally got some proper support on it though - hopefully that will really help with managing things from here. 

girlatplay

Yes, I asked but more in a statement kind of way than a question.  However, some tears did spill out at the same time and I was embarrassed at myself so I didn't push the point.  Maybe I should have pushed harder in the past.  I just don't like to be a pest, I can't help it.  Worst thing, we are moving out of the surgery catchment area so I'm going to have to deal with new GPs.  The surgery we are going to is the one that bf goes to and for all he moans about the struggles to get an appointment, he says they're the best in the area.

The plumber fixed the cistern problem today, just waiting for his invoice to come through and I'll pay that right away.  Will be in the region of £200 but that's for boiler service, new timer part for the boiler, new part for the cistern and a half hour labour charge for fitting.  He wasn't going to charge me for labour but I told him he needs paid for his work.  He has been in my flat 3 times in 3 days, turned up when he said he would and done a great job.  Such a nice guy.  As a little extra note here, he's not supposed to be working this week as he's on childcare duties (wife works too and can't take kids to work) so he brought his son with him.  Lovely wee boy, about 8.  It was so refreshing to hear them interact in a proper father and son way.  The guy has so much patience, never told his kid to shut up, never told him he couldn't ask a question, just really lovely.  I forgot that people could actually be nice to their kids because where we live that doesn't happen.

Can't remember if I said but I contacted the council about the broken window in the stair.  They were really unhelpful and said they would pay their share if we jumped through all their hoops but refused to organise it.  I called the HA to find out what their hoops were and they, firstly, told me that if I had organised it and sent them their bill they would have paid it; and secondly, said that they would organise it and contact the other owners in the stair too.  I thought they were going to get quotes and let us all know the cost before doing the work but yesterday LMG let a guy into the stair to measure up and today there was a whole load of banging for about half an hour and now, magically, the window is fixed, as are the three small panes in the back door, two of which were broken when we moved in!  All good news but I need to know what my share will cost.  Tried to call them today, left a message, not heard anything yet.

This time next week we will be sitting in our new livingroom which, actually,  won't be unlike this, with garden loungers to sit in and boxes all around us.  Same mess, different scenery.  At least we won't have to listen to the schemies shouting in the stair, like they are right at this very moment.  Also, if the weather is like this we'll just open our doors into the garden.

beanielou

The countdown is on