Belated Season's Greetings

Belated Christmas and New Year wishes to all our family and friends. Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday period.

We have now settled into our new home and have finally finished unpacking all the boxes ... although finding places to put everything is another story altogether! The house we have moved into is smaller than the one we left behind (well the bedrooms are larger but the living areas are smaller), so we are downsizing our possessions and I am busy sorting through things deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.

We had a good, family Christmas. I was so looking forward to Kathleen's first Christmas. She had a great time. Of course she didn't really understand what it was all about, but she had fun opening her presents. At first she didn't know what to do with them and we had to show her how to rip the paper. Which must have seemed really strange to her because I'm normally telling her not to rip things. So we'd start the rip going and then get her to rip it further. Then when she did we would all clap and cheer, and she would then clap too and think it was all over and would crawl away from the present before she'd opened it. It was so cute!

Altogether Kathleen made out like a bandit, and came away with a whole new wardrobe.

We spent Christmas Day with Peter's extended family, enjoying a traditional Christmas lunch and playing games with the kids. Boxing Day we had a BBQ with friends, and the following day we took Kathleen to the swimming pool for the first time. Being school holidays it was very crowded and very noisy so I'm not sure if she enjoyed it or not. I had a fantastic time. We went with Peter's family so we all took turns looking after Kat while the others went and played on the waterslides and in the pool.

New Year's Eve saw us enjoying ourselves quietly at home, sharing a bottle of champagne and chilling out. Quite a change from New Years' past, but still enjoyable.

It is Peter and my tradition to go to the zoo on New Year's Day. We have done this every year since our first New Year together in 1990. Usually we go on New Year's Day, although some years it has been a few days later (E.g. a couple of times we've been away from home and not somewhere that there was a zoo, and we both worked on Y2K). This year we postponed it because of the weather. I can't believe how crappy this summer has been. Instead we went on the 3rd when the weather was nicer. Kathleen had a wonderful time. She loved the animals. Her favourite was the Sunbear. The next day when we were looking at the photos on the computer, she got all excited and waved to the animals on the screen.

This time next week my baby will turn 1. It's hard to believe. This time last year we were sitting around waiting for her to be born. Now she's a real little girl. I still call her "Baby Kat" but she's not really a baby any more. Especially in her new clothes that she got for Christmas, she looks so grown up now.

She's still not walking on her own, but she cruises around the furniture constantly, and walks along leaning against cupboards, doors, windows, etc for support. But when it comes to getting somewhere fast, she prefers to crawl as she is very fast indeed.

I am constantly suprised at how much she understands.

• She knows "open" and "closed", "in" and "out", and has known "stand" and "sit" for a long time. It still amazes me though if I say "sit down please" that she actually does it.
• She knows "clap" or "clapping", "wave", "zerbert" (although now just gives a raspberry when you say it), and "bounce". I was reading her a book in which Tigger was too bouncy and when I said it she started bouncing up and down.
• She knows "nose" and can point to Mummy's nose or the toy's nose. I think she knows "mouth" and we're now working on "ears".

Her favourite game at the moment is pulling everything out of the cupboards and shelves. Good thing we're still unpacking and nothing has a permanent home at the moment, because things keep getting pulled out of one cupboard and put back into another.

The other thing she has started doing is handing things to you. So if she pulls all the CD's out onto the floor, she will then hand them to you to put back (which she will then proceed to pull back out again).

Next Saturday we're having a small birthday party for her with some of our family and friends, but no other babies. All of Kat's friends in Auckland are also turning one, and boy do we miss them. Hopefully this time next year she will have made some new friends here in Wellington.

-Megz

The saga of selling our house

With the sale of our house in Beach Haven going through today, it's time to tell the story of the rocky road that led to this point. We have had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster, and more twists and turns than a corkscrew.

Friday 20 October
Last year when we first decided that we were going to move to Wellington, our neighbours had expressed an interest on buying the property off us. Either as an investment property for themselves (hey, easy to keep an eye on it if it's next door), or as somewhere for her parents to live (they live in Hamilton and were apparently thinking about moving to Auckland). We spoke to them again on the Friday and as they were going away for the long weekend we left them to think about it.

Tuesday 24 October
The neighbours got back from their holiday and said that the timing just wasn't right for them, as their second child was due in December, and they just couldn't afford it.

Wednesday 25 October
Decided to list the property with a real estate agency. On advice from several people we decided to leave the house furnished as apparently it helps it to sell better. We also decided that Kat and I would continue living in the house, while Peter went to Wellington to start his new job and new life. Cancelled the moving company who were due to arrive the next day.

Friday 27 October
Signed up with Agent A* from real estate company Barfoot and Thompson. We listed the property with a price range of $1-$10*. Realistically I thought we were looking at $3.
*Note: Names and prices have been changed.

Sunday 29 October
Peter flew to Wellington, leaving Kat and I on our own.

Monday 30 October - Day 1 on the market
A couple of agents came to look at the house first thing in the morning but nothing else for the rest of the day.

Tuesday 31 October - Day 2
Tuesdays are the days that all the Barfoots agents do their "caravan" and go and visit all the newly listed properties. Tuesday was also my coffee group day so I was out of the house all day. We had about 15 agents come through. Two of these agents later brought clients back to have a look at the property.
3pm - I get a phone call from Agent B saying she had a buyer who wanted to put in an offer. I arranged to meet her at 5pm.
5pm - Agent B comes over with a signed offer for $1. I know this isn't a realistic offer so I counter-sign at $7.
7pm - Agent B comes back again with a counter-offer of $5. This is more than I was expecting and am happy with it, but I don't want to sign anything without talking to Peter. Peter is out at paintball practice and not expected home till 10pm. I tell Agent B we'll get back to her in the morning. Agent B is quite pushy.
8pm - I get a phone call from Agent C saying his client is quite keen and would like to come back for a second look in the morning.
11pm - I finally speak to Peter. While we are both happy with the $5 offer, neither of us feel comfortable at taking the first offer we are given. We decide to hold off and see what happens with Agent C's clients.

Wednesday 1 November - Day 3
8.30am - Agent C brought his clients in for a second look at the property. They then went straight back to the office and put an offer in writing. This put us into a "multi offer" situation, where all buyers have one chance to put their best offer forward.
6pm - The multi offers were presented to us, with me in Barfoots office and Peter on the phone from Wellington.
Agent B's client, Buyer 1, offered $5 conditional on 5 days for finance and builders report. Buyer 1 is a recently divorced woman.
Agent C's client, Buyer 2, offered $4 conditional on 10 days for finance and builders report. Buyer 2 is a young couple.
Peter and I accepted Buyer 1's offer. We had a conditional sale after only three days on the market.

Friday 3 November - Day 5
Buyer 1 and her builder came by to do a "structural integrity" inspection. They spent about half an hour looking round the inside and outside of the property, while Kat and I tried to keep out of the way.

Saturday 4 November - Day 6
Our first Open Home. Spent hours making sure the house was spotless beforehand. Only 2 groups came through the house. However it hadn't yet been advertised in the Property Press so the people who came through would only have come based on the signage out front.

Sunday 5 November - Day 7
Our second Open Home. This time 10 groups came through, which is the most we ever had in the whole time our house was on the market.

Tuesday 7 November - Day 9
Got a call in the afternoon from our solicitor, who had been contacted by Buyer 1's solicitor, saying that the builders inspection had found water damage in the garage wall and that it would cost approx $0.60 to fix and therefore she was asking that we reduce the price by $0.60 to $4.40. I was unaware of any water damage in the garage and went and looked but couldn't find any. There was clay and builders mix piled against the outside of the garage wall that I thought they might have been referring to. I replied that I wouldn't reduce the price but I would shift the dirt (this later took me several back-breaking hours in the hot sun while Kathleen napped).

Wednesday 8 November - Day 10
This was the day that Buyer 1's offer was meant to go "unconditional", i.e. she needed to satisfy all the conditions of her offer (finance and builders report).
10am - Get a phone call from our solicitor saying that Buyer 1 is unhappy with the findings of the builders report and therefore the "agreement is cancelled". The sale was off. I was gutted. I got a copy of the builders report from the solicitor and went and relooked at the garage wall and discovered that there was some water damage there after all, that I had never noticed before.
Upon speaking to Agent A later on, it appears that the builders report wasn't the only reason Buyer 1 pulled out. It looks like finance and maybe pressure from her family and friends also influenced her decision. Which is a shame because she really loved the house.

Friday 10 November - Day 12
The property has its first listing in the Property Press.

Saturday 11 November - Day 13
2pm - Another Open Home. This time I'm out at Big Boys Toys watching Peter play paintball. 8 groups of people through.
7.30pm - I run out to the shops to get something for dinner and find Buyer 1 standing in the driveway staring wistfully at the house. She introduces me to her partner who she has brought along to see the house. I tell her she's welcome to have a look around the outside of the property.
9pm - Agent D came around with an offer of $2 from Buyer 3. Buyer 3 was a 65 year old one-legged man who lived on his own and was looking for a new house. The offer hinged on the sale of his existing property. We said we'd think about it but weren't keen to wait that long.

Sunday 12 November - Day 14
2pm - Another Open Home. 6 groups of people come through. Spoke to Agent A who said the interest was very strong and that she expected us to get another two offers the next day (both were waiting on the outcomes of backup offers I think).
4pm - Agent E brought some people to look at the house while Kat and I go down to the park. Through this whole experience we often had to leave the house become people wanted to come look at it. But because there were so many times I haven't included these in this summary. Apparently these buyers were very keen and spent half an hour measuring up all the rooms for their piano etc.
8pm - Told Agent D that we were very sorry but just couldn't accept Buyer 3's offer with the house sale condition attached. However we agreed to leave the offer on the table and he would see if he could come up with bridging finance.

Monday 13 November - Day 15
4pm - Agent E phoned to say that unfortunately her clients could only get finance to $3, and she was aware that our previous offer was for $5 so she didn't want to waste our time putting in an offer at $3. So we had one rejected offer and one offer evaporate and had heard nothing about these other two offers that Agent A said was coming. It looked like we were back to square one.
5pm - Agent A phoned to say we were back at a multi offer situation with at least three offers on the table, and the offers were to be presented to us at 6pm the following day.

Tuesday 14 November - Day 16
Peter has to rush off to Texas to be with his ill grandfather. Kat and I go and spend time with him at Auckland Airport between flights. The multi offer is postponed until 6pm Wednesday.

Wednesday 15 November - Day 17
6pm - The multi offers were presented to me in Barfoots office.
Agent D's client, Buyer 3, resubmitted his offer of $2 conditional on sale of his existing property.
Agent F originally had two offers for us, however one pulled out after having put in an offer on another house the night before. Her remaining client, Buyer 4 offered $3 conditional only on solicitors approval (no builders report or finance clauses). Buyer 4 is a single (divorced?) woman.
Agent G had a last minute offer for us. Her client, Buyer 5, only saw the property for the first time the day before. She offered $4.10 conditional on 7 days for finance and builders report. Buyer 5 is a young woman recently arrived from England.
I wasn't very keen on any of the offers, we had been hoping to get $5 again. However Peter and I had agreed that our bottom limit was $4. And I had already been living on my own for 2.5 weeks and just wanted it all over with. So I accepted the offer of $4.10 from Buyer 5.
So after 17 days on the market we had our second conditional sale.

Friday 17 November - Day 19
Second listing in the Property Press.
Agent G pops around and informs me that Buyer 5 has bought a copy of the builders report off Buyer 1. She also has two requests - that we remove the dirt from the side of the house entirely (I had shifted it so it wasn't against the house but it was still there), and that we change the settlement date to mid-January. After some thought I agree to the latter but not the former.

Saturday 18 November - Day 20
Open Home generates 3 groups including Buyer 5 showing the house to her friends.

Sunday 19 November - Day 21
Open Home generates 5 groups. Meanwhile Kathleen and I go out to the Santa Parade and afterwards to the Parnell Rose Garden.
I get a phone call from Agent F saying her client, Buyer 4, is still very keen on the house but cannot go any higher than $3, and would we consider her as a backup offer.

Monday 20 November - Day 22
I have a message on my phone from Agent G saying that Buyer 5 has pulled out of the deal. Apparently she said she couldn't get the finance, however on speaking to Agent A it seems more a case of cold feet and her friends saying to her "you paid that much for a house in Beach Haven???". So our second sale was off.
Agent F phoned again and said her client was still keen at $3 but I turned it down. My rationalle was that we'd already turned down other offers for $3 and I knew there were people out there who were willing to pay more.
Later that evening Agent A phoned to say that one of the people who saw the house in the weekend will probably put in an offer tomorrow. I say "I'm not holding my breath".

Tuesday 21 November - Day 23
Agent A brings over an offer from Buyer 6 for $4.40 conditional on finance, builders report and LIM report (which can take up to 3 weeks). Buyer 6 is a couple about our age, with no kids. They are offering a large deposit but don't want to pay it until the sale goes unconditional. That could be weeks away and doesn't commit them to anything and they could walk away at any time. I insist that this be changed to payable on acceptance of the contract. There are other things we want to change as well and I also add a 3-day escape clause. I agree to leave the $4.40 as is, in good faith, as we don't want to scare them off by making so many changes. I kinda wish I'd gone to $5 but Agent A strongly advised against this. She considered that the first two buyers had pulled out because they thought they were paying too much for a house in Beach Haven. I was happy enough with $4.40 as it is what we were offered by Buyer 1 once we took the price reduction into account. I made it clear I would not accept any reductions to this price, and Buyer 6 is already aware of the water damage in the garage. They accepted my changes to the contract.
So after 23 days on the market we had our third conditional sale.

Thursday 23 November - Day 25
Buyer 6 is concerned that the deck that was added to the house by the previous owner is not shown on the official Certificate of Title to the land. We bought the house aware of this, and were told at the time it is quite common. Agent A assured me it is still quite common and not having it on the Title is no big deal.

Friday 24 November - Day 26
Buyer 6's builder came by to do an inspection of the property.
Third listing in the Property Press

Saturday 25 November - Day 27
Another Open Home, only 2 groups go through

Sunday 26 November - Day 28
Another Open Home. 5 groups come through, including 2 on their second viewing of the property.
Peter arrives home from the US. I've now been on my own for four weeks and we are all missing each other. We decide that the time has come for me to join him Wellington and that we will leave the house furnished but unoccupied. It could be another two weeks before the sale to Buyer 6 goes unconditional, or it could fall over like the previous two sales did. In any case it could be weeks until the house is sold and I don't want to wait.

Monday 27 November - Day 29
I start making arrangements for Kat and I to join Peter in Wellington, such as arranging for the cats to be uplifted by the Petman and delivered to Wellington a week later.

Tuesday 28 November - Day 30
10am - I get a phone call from our solicitor who has been advised by Buyer 6's solicitor that they are asking for a reduction in the price by $0.40 so that they can officially put the deck onto the Certificate of Title. I say no.
12.30pm - Agent H presents me with a backup offer from Buyer 7 of $1 unconditional - no finance, no builders report. Buyer 7 is a couple in their late 30's with no kids, originally from Germany or Switzerland.
3pm - After talking with Peter I counter-sign the backup offer at $5.
7pm - Agent H comes back with a counter-offer of $3.60. He says that he doesn't think they'll go any higher and that the woman had to twist her partners arm to even offer this much. I stick to my guns and counter-sign at $4 which is our absolute minimum.
7.30pm - Agent H phones to say that they have agreed to $4.
We now have an unconditional backup offer. This immediately evokes our 3-day escape clause in the contract with Buyer 6. This means that Buyer 6 has three days to make their offer unconditional (i.e. be satisfied with their builders report, property report, and get the finance). If Buyer 6 does go unconditional then the house is sold to them for $4.40 and Buyer 7 misses out. However if they can't do it in time or if they decide to pull out then the house will be sold to Buyer 7 for $4, no questions asked. In either case the house is now effectively sold.
Finally, after 30 days on the market we have sold the house.

Wednesday 29 November
The sold sign went up on the board outside our house.
I had been planning on leaving today and driving down to Wellington, however the last minute development meant I had a few more things to do and pack before I could leave so I ended up staying another couple of days to get it all done.

Friday 1 December
Heard from our solicitor that Buyer 6 had made their offer unconditional (and had dropped the request for the deck to be added to the Certificate of Title). Our house was sold, to Buyer 6, for $4.40.
Kathleen and I hit the road for the long drive to Wellington.

Wednesday 20 December
Three weeks later Peter, Kathleen and I are settling in to our new life in Wellington. Our stuff has been packed up and delivered to us in our new house. Through friends from coffee group in Auckland I managed to get the house in Auckland cleaned and made ready for handover. The keys were handed over to Buyer 6 today, and the money deposited into our account. It's been a long and stressful journey but we are finally here and can start moving forward again (well, once we stop tripping over all these boxes).

Cheers,
Megz

Relocated

Kathleen and I have now joined Peter in Wellington, and we are back together as a family living in our new house.

It's been six weeks now since Peter started his new job in Wellington. Kathleen and I stayed on in Auckland with the intention of being there until the house sold. The impression we got from the real estate agent was that it would sell quickly, as other properties in the area had done. However it proved to be quite a saga which I will document in a later blog when I have more time.

So after being apart for a month we decided that that was enough, and Kat and I would come down to Wellington whether the house in Auckland was sold or not. On the day we left Auckland the house sale went unconditional, so that was a weight off my mind.

Kathleen and I drove from Auckland to Wellington over the course of two days. Normally Peter and I would do the nine-hour drive in one long day, but with Kathleen along I had to stop more often to give her breaks.

On Day 1 Kathleen slept while I drove from Auckland to Hamilton. I haven't been that way for almost a year and it's great to see the roadworks have finally finished and the dual carriageway almost all the way to Huntly makes a huge difference. We stopped for lunch in Hamilton and had a play at a park where Kat had great fun chasing the ducks. We then continued on to Taupo and once again Kat slept the majority of the trip.



Spent the night in Taupo at a motel. Kat was pretty well behaved although I still kept shhh-ing her every time she squealed so she didn't annoy the neighbours. Then there was the bachelor party who came back to their units at whatever time in the morning. And the guy who knocked persistently on my door at 5am only to find it was the wrong room.

Day 2 we hit the road nice and early, and Kat immediately fell asleep all the way from Taupo to Waiouru. We continued on for another 45 minutes to Flat Hills where we stopped for lunch and Kat got to see the pigs and goats and sheep and cow and chooks. Once again she fell asleep as soon as we left there. We stopped in to visit friends in Palmerston North for a late lunch and another play. Then there was the final drive from Palmy to Wellington.

With all the stopping it was 7.15pm by the time we arrived at Peter's mum's house in Island Bay. A very long day and a very long drive. Kathleen handled the drive very well, only complaining when I put her into her carseat.

It's great to be back together as a family again. We stayed with Peter's mum for a few days until moving into our own house. Peter is absolutely loving being back in Wellington. He says he has run into people he knows on the street every single day. His social life is very busy. In the week before Kat and I arrived, I think he was out every night. In the four nights we have been living in this house so far, we've only cooked one night. I have yet to catch up with any friends as I have been busy on house stuff, but I hope to do so this week.

It's great to be back in Wellington, but I have to admit there are some things I miss about Auckland. Like summer for one! Haven't seen much of summer yet here. But I'll save those things for another post.

Cheers,
Megz

Col. (Ret) Harry M Kemp

It is with much sadness that I have to report that Peter's grandfather, Col Harry M Kemp, passed away this week after a short illness. Thankfully Peter and his mother were forewarned a week ago and flew immediately to Texas and were able to spend several precious days with him.

I only met Grandfather a couple of times, but he was a very lovely man and just what I imagine a grandfather should be like (never having known mine). He was a quiet man but when he spoke it was with great thought and worth listening to. He taught me to understand and appreciate Gridiron, I'll always remember watching the Rose Bowl on TV with him and Peter when we visited in 1999.

Grandfather was an officer in the US military during World War II. He has written a book about his experiences. He ordered the evacuation of the town of Diekirch in Luxembourg, and this is commemorated in the National Military Museum in Diekirch which Peter and I visited on our trip to Europe in 2004. (See virtual museum tour Showroom 7). He also liberated the town of Colmar in France from the Germans. He has since been honoured by both the French and the Luxembourgers (?) for his actions.

Grandfather will be dearly missed by all, but especially by wife Margey, children Peggy, Dick and Buck, and grandchildren Peter, Richard, Mardie, Jessica, Morgan and Bryan.

Below is a picture of Grandfather with Peter, Richard and Mardie at the Alamo a couple of years ago.



-Megz

Food

I took Kathleen to Plunket for her regular 9-month checkup three weeks ago. They weighed her and found her to be in the very bottom weight range for her age. Their advice was to feed her more, make sure she gets enough iron, and let her have dessert as well.

Up until then Kathleen had been eating pureed and "slightly-chunky-but-still-pureed" food that I had cooked up in big batches and frozen into ice cubes. Things like pumpkin and potato and carrot and spinach. For her lunches and dinners we would defrost two or three cubes for her. She seemed quite happy with this arrangement and never seemed to ask for more food when it was all gone.

As we were intending to be moving house a week after the Plunket appointment, we used up all the ice cubes of food so that there would be none left come moving day. But then moving day got cancelled and suddenly Kathleen had no food in the freezer.

She ate tinned baby food for a few days and then I decided to try something I'd been thinking about for a while. One of the main reasons for making Kathleen's food myself has been so that she would get used to eating the same things Peter and I eat, so that one day we could all sit down together and eat as a family. (But the main reason for making my own food is to save the waste of tins and jars - what a Greenie!).

Then I found out that from 9 months she can eat just about any food that the rest of us eat. I had thought it was 12 months and was aiming for that. But when I found out it was 9 months, and she was now 9 months old, and we were all out of frozen food anyway, I knew it was time to experiment.

And so with Peter away living in Wellington Kathleen and I have now settled into a new routine. We both sit down together at 6.30pm and eat our dinner together. We eat the same thing, with hers chopped into small pieces. Usually I let her try to feed herself. Often there is a big mess afterwards. But she has really surprised me with how much food she will eat (sometimes).

The benefits of this new arrangement are:

• Kat is learning to eat more foods, and meals that Peter & I like.


• Kat is eating as much as she wants, rather than as much as I defrosted. I just keep giving her food off my plate until she says no.


• Kat is putting on lots of weight.


• I don't have to worry about wasting food / defrosting food she doesn't eat, because what she doesn't eat I will.


• I am actually making time to eat as well, which I haven't been doing much during the day.


• I don't feel quite so lonely without Peter here, as I have someone to eat my meals with - even if she's not much of a conversationalist.

Meals that have so far been successful are:

• Beef and Lamb casseroles. More successful as leftovers for lunch, but still enjoyable.


• Macaroni Cheese. With luncheon instead of bacon.


• Moroccan Lamb with Couscous. She loved the couscous even if she had trouble getting it into her mouth. I think more of it wound up on her face, down her bib, down her top, down her nappy, in her hair and on the floor than in her tummy.


• Mini Meatballs in a Tomato Sauce. Very messy but very yummy.


• Chicken and Broccoli in a Cheese sauce. She loved it the first night. Didn't want to know about it as leftovers the following night.

Meals that haven't worked:

• Fish Fingers & cooked carrot sticks. In fact anything she can hold one end and chew the other she doesn't like. I don't know if it's the size or the feel of it that's putting her off. Cut it up into tiny pieces and she'll consider eating it.


• Rice Risotto. Homemade, not out of a packet. Doesn't like the rice, I think it's too hard to eat.

That was the first couple of weeks, however in the last few days Kathleen has started going through a very difficult phase. Doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to drink, doesn't want a bath, doesn't want anything. Just wants to sleep and be held and scream a lot. I think it's probably either teething or missing Daddy (or probably both).

Anyone got any other meal ideas that are yummy for adults and babies, please leave a comment.


-Megz