We accepted an offer on our house last night, although we had to drop our price considerably, it seems to be a solid offer, with a pre-approved bond and a large cash deposit, so by the looks of things we are good with this one. Ohmyshatterednerves.... nothing like getting right down to the wire! The relief is enormous, but also weirdly anti-climatic. I thought we'd be giddy with excitement when the offer finally came in, but we just felt.... exhausted... really. It's been a tough, tough few weeks!
Today has been a buzz of activity as all the tasks that had to wait until the house sold suddenly became urgent today - setting a date for the shipping of our goods, arranging the date for the sale of our goods, cancelling our security, our newspaper delivery.... the list goes on and on. All systems go!!!
Wednesday 17 October 2018
Thursday 4 October 2018
The Price we Pay
I haven't blogged much about our emigration journey lately - mainly because I have battled to find the words. I've been feeling really discouraged about many aspects of the process. There have been days recently when I have felt that the price we have to pay to emigrate is just too high, way way too high... I'm not talking about the actual rands that we have to throw into the seemingly bottomless pit that is visa fees, shipping, TB tests, NHS surcharge.... and so on - although that in itself is significant indeed - but rather the price we have to pay emotionally. The things we have to give up, the doors we have to close, the good-byes that have to be said and the long-held vision of the future that now suddenly looks completely different. It's so so hard...
My personal slump began with the sale of our house falling through and it's been pretty much downhill from there. Although we have dropped the price significantly, our agent has very kindly foregone his sole mandate and opened the house up to all the agencies in the area, and we have had a myriad of agents and prospective buyers through, we just can't seem to sell our house, which is really freaking us out as our departure date is looming ever closer. It appears that there is a tsunami of emigration happening and that, coupled with people really feeling the pinch financially, has resulted in an over-supply of houses on the market. Our agent is adamant that our house is priced correctly - he was actually against us dropping the price - and keeps assuring us that it will sell.... but to be honest I don't take much comfort in that, we need it to sell NOW...today! And at the same time, I hate that we are selling our home that we love so much, and have worked so hard on, for less than it is worth in our eyes. It makes me sad. Although this house is nothing fancy, it has been a lovely home to our family and we are deeply attached to it.
To add to our woes, Grant has had no joy on the job front. We know that it is incredibly difficult to secure a job while still in South Africa, but we had high hopes that it was going to happen for us. Grant had a number of very promising interviews for a particular position - and although he has been told that the job may still come about, it is on hold for now. So we wait and he continues to send out his CV and apply for jobs daily.
So those are the biggies when it comes to things that are currently stressing me out of my wits and causing me to pop Biral like Smarties. But then there are all the other "little" things that wound my poor beaten-up heart on a daily basis - and I think this is where personality comes into play. I am by nature super-sensitive and highly-strung, so I think that a lot of things that are causing me real distress may be easier to deal with for those with a more robust and optimistic nature (like Grant and Roxy for instance!) Going through our household goods and deciding what to ship was a nightmare for me. The guy came to look at our items for shipping on Monday and then yesterday the lady from Moving On (the company we have chosen to sell our remaining goods) came to photograph all the things we are selling so that they can be priced and catalogued, in preparation for the sale in early November. Trust me, it's not easy having your worldly goods laid bare and scrutinised by strangers (even though the strangers were very kind and efficient!) Not a pleasant experience.
Friday was my last day at work and that hit me a whole lot harder than I expected. For the last couple of weeks my mantra has been "I can't wait to finish work... I can't wait to finish work..." So imagine my surprise when the day eventually dawned and I woke up feeling nothing but SAD, no joy, relief or elation at all! In retrospect I can see that the reaction I had shouldn't have come as a surprise at all - I have worked for some of my clients since 1990, over the years they have become more like friends than clients to me. My job has become a part of my identity, so letting go was like leaving a little piece of me behind.
We have also begun the ghastly process of saying good-bye to pets. Our chickens, Elizabeth and Catherine, formerly happy residents of Cluckingham Palace in our back-yard, are on their way to their new home as we speak.
It's quite ridiculous how attached we are to those girls and saying good-bye to them was HARD. We have made the dreadful decision to have our elderly cats put to sleep later this month - we feel they are too old and highly strung to cope with the flight and change of environment. I can't begin to describe how I am dreading that day and how awful I feel about it. Heart-breaking!
So yes, I am feeling that the cost of our decision to move to the UK is very high indeed. And while I don't for one minute doubt that it's the right decision, it comes at a price. I am sure that as we get closer to our departure date I will have many days of excitement and anticipation and I suppose there will be many days - like today - when I feel the pain that comes with letting go.
My personal slump began with the sale of our house falling through and it's been pretty much downhill from there. Although we have dropped the price significantly, our agent has very kindly foregone his sole mandate and opened the house up to all the agencies in the area, and we have had a myriad of agents and prospective buyers through, we just can't seem to sell our house, which is really freaking us out as our departure date is looming ever closer. It appears that there is a tsunami of emigration happening and that, coupled with people really feeling the pinch financially, has resulted in an over-supply of houses on the market. Our agent is adamant that our house is priced correctly - he was actually against us dropping the price - and keeps assuring us that it will sell.... but to be honest I don't take much comfort in that, we need it to sell NOW...today! And at the same time, I hate that we are selling our home that we love so much, and have worked so hard on, for less than it is worth in our eyes. It makes me sad. Although this house is nothing fancy, it has been a lovely home to our family and we are deeply attached to it.
To add to our woes, Grant has had no joy on the job front. We know that it is incredibly difficult to secure a job while still in South Africa, but we had high hopes that it was going to happen for us. Grant had a number of very promising interviews for a particular position - and although he has been told that the job may still come about, it is on hold for now. So we wait and he continues to send out his CV and apply for jobs daily.
So those are the biggies when it comes to things that are currently stressing me out of my wits and causing me to pop Biral like Smarties. But then there are all the other "little" things that wound my poor beaten-up heart on a daily basis - and I think this is where personality comes into play. I am by nature super-sensitive and highly-strung, so I think that a lot of things that are causing me real distress may be easier to deal with for those with a more robust and optimistic nature (like Grant and Roxy for instance!) Going through our household goods and deciding what to ship was a nightmare for me. The guy came to look at our items for shipping on Monday and then yesterday the lady from Moving On (the company we have chosen to sell our remaining goods) came to photograph all the things we are selling so that they can be priced and catalogued, in preparation for the sale in early November. Trust me, it's not easy having your worldly goods laid bare and scrutinised by strangers (even though the strangers were very kind and efficient!) Not a pleasant experience.
Friday was my last day at work and that hit me a whole lot harder than I expected. For the last couple of weeks my mantra has been "I can't wait to finish work... I can't wait to finish work..." So imagine my surprise when the day eventually dawned and I woke up feeling nothing but SAD, no joy, relief or elation at all! In retrospect I can see that the reaction I had shouldn't have come as a surprise at all - I have worked for some of my clients since 1990, over the years they have become more like friends than clients to me. My job has become a part of my identity, so letting go was like leaving a little piece of me behind.
We have also begun the ghastly process of saying good-bye to pets. Our chickens, Elizabeth and Catherine, formerly happy residents of Cluckingham Palace in our back-yard, are on their way to their new home as we speak.
It's quite ridiculous how attached we are to those girls and saying good-bye to them was HARD. We have made the dreadful decision to have our elderly cats put to sleep later this month - we feel they are too old and highly strung to cope with the flight and change of environment. I can't begin to describe how I am dreading that day and how awful I feel about it. Heart-breaking!
So yes, I am feeling that the cost of our decision to move to the UK is very high indeed. And while I don't for one minute doubt that it's the right decision, it comes at a price. I am sure that as we get closer to our departure date I will have many days of excitement and anticipation and I suppose there will be many days - like today - when I feel the pain that comes with letting go.
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