Let's back up to the day we left big D headed for London. I won't go into the logistics of packing up the family, fumbling through airport security with 12 suitcases, three children, and a very large stroller that didn't want to collapse to fit through the x-ray machine, or the 8 hour overnight flight with our little monkeys. Let's just say that we're not planning any other long flights until the boys are much, much older. They may be old enough to fly the plane by the time we try it again!
Needless to say, we arrived in London ready to begin our new life here . . . we felt full of hope and promise, and we had great expectations for what was ahead! Bear in mind that we were heading to a new home that only my dear husband had seen, and he spent a total of 2 minutes touring the property as he had a flight to catch back in November when he found the place. His only recollections of it for me were that it needed a little "updating" and that he couldn't really recall many details about the home because it had stuff just everywhere. This never sat very well with this type A, maybe even slightly obsessive/compulsive planner of a girl!
We arrived at our new home and were eager to unpack and get settled. Within the hour, our small air shipment of necessities from the states arrived and we began to unpack. As we did this, we begin to notice a few "issues" with our home. We first noticed a questionable, black mold-like substance in the kitchen and dining room, which we were planning to use as a playroom. We then opened the door to our laundry room and discovered another interesting brown liquid dripping from the walls and ceiling. The room felt like a steam room and had an odor to it that we could not put our finger on. We then found the cabinet that housed our electrical equipment was dripping with water and the wall was literally crumbling around it.
electrical equipment + water = distress and worrymold and water damage + children with asthma = illness and suffering for us all
This is when we decided to pack it up and stay at hotel #1 for the night. We ended up staying there for several nights while we waited patiently for things to get "sorted out" back at the house.
We had to move back to the house a few days later when little G started at his new school. We do not have an automobile here, so we needed to be within walking distance to school. Here are a couple of photos from G's 1st day of school.
This is where I look back and just laugh! At this point, we know that we are not going to be able to stay at this property long-term. With this in mind, we cancelled the delivery of our sea shipment that contains all of our worldly possessions from home. This is how we were living there:
You might find it interesting that the tube runs just under this home. As the tube would travel by, it would literally shake the entire house, most noticeably when we were trying to go to sleep on the floor! Needless to say, those were some sleepless nights!
We did not have a television, so the boys would watch our video i-Pod. They had to be just centimeters away to see and hear it (notice we are working in metrics now).
We made it like this for all of 4 days. We looked for a more long-term solution and moved the family into hotel #2. This was a 2 room corporate apartment still within walking distance to school. This is how we were living there:
At this point, we were trying everything in our power to get out of our lease agreement. It was also at this point that we realized tenants in the UK have virtually no rights! After a week in hotel #2, we were told that we would have to vacate as they were full for the following week. We reluctantly moved back into the "damp" house and had some temporary furniture delivered to get us by. We were still working with the landlord to terminate our lease.
In mid-February, we got word that the landlord would release us as soon as another tenant was found to take over the lease. Not an easy task with a property such as this! We waited for a new tenant as patiently as we could for several weeks.
A funny little side story . . . during one of those long weekends of waiting, we decided that we needed a change of scenery and took the children to Disneyland in Paris. If you are counting, that is hotel #3.
This next part is not for those with a sensitive stomach . . . sweet little S started out sick on this trip. He came down with a cold before we left Dallas, and it had gotten worse and turned into an ear infection. As it turns out, ears drain a gooey, sticky substance when you have an ear infection and have tubes in your ears. S's ears drained this "ooze" for days. B's tummy was also a little off and he was "oozing" from his bum, if you get my drift! Little G was not to be left out of all this fun! On our 2nd day at Disney, his tummy was upset and his "ooze" came straight out of his mouth . . . over and over! What a weekend!
Once we returned back home, we became desperate to get out of the house so that we could move on and get our family settled. A compromise was reached, and we were out, no strings or new tenants attached. I began the search for a new home and found one on my first day out. We made an offer, and it was accepted by the landlord. We were on our way! G had scheduled cable set-up, and I was online looking at change of address cards. Just as we were toasting this new found luck, we received a call from our relocation agent informing us that the landlord had backed out. Devastation again.
House hunting again. This is when I found that precious little family home in Chelsea, ironically the one we fell in love with in November. And this is when we move to hotel #4 as this home won't be ready for a few more weeks. And this is where we are today!
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