Free time

Too good to be true is all there is to say about our new renters. I'm learning, I'm learning. Anyway luckily we have our insurance because they do in depth financial background checks and the new renters kept giving us the runaround. We heard it all, ... "my e-mail is broken" and "we accidentally exchanged telephones my wife and I, oops" and even "my sister is pregnant and I missed all your messages in all the excitement!" and then two week more of excuses of reasons why they didn't have all the documents ready. Finally Seb just got firm and said "tomorrow is the deadline, sorry but that's it." And of course they haven't called us back since which is quite nice of them considering they asked us to hold the house for them and stop showing it. I should have known with their going from their small place up to ours, that the big step up in rent made no sense. And they had a lot to say about their finances, --too much really. They talked about how they wanted to buy a bigger car and maybe even a second one and about how they were doing really well, --money money money, that I should have known and I guess I kind of did. So our new rule is no more people from the village and we're definitely using the agency because two weeks of telephone tag and their phone calls about coming over to take a second look at this or that was very annoying.

The agency on the other hand isn't all butter and cream. They called me this morning and said "can we show the house in twenty minutes or so" and I looked around at all the tools and laundry scattered on the floor, the makeshift bed for Charlotte and my dingy coffee cup rings on the desk and said, "umm, I need more time--it's a little sudden" and the women got all huffy. "They're here from London TODAY and they need to see the house because it's exactly what they're looking for." I sighed and proposed the afternoon, and she sighed harder and said "they'd really like to see it before lunch," but I stayed firm. Finally we made a three o'clock appointment and of course they never showed. At four the agent called. They'd changed their mind but she had someone else who'd like to see the house Friday at maybe two. I told her fine and she said "of course I'll have to confirm it with the client but I'll let you know." I think if we have to go through this until the first of the year I'll lose my head. We have so much work going in in the house and because we have two small kids it takes HOURS to pick up the mess and make the house presentable.

We move in about three and a half weeks and I'm so ready to get that over with. The stress is building up and weighing on our family like a great stone around our necks and I just want it done. I'd love to be just enjoying Christmas but it's nearly impossible with all the planning for the move, the plane tickets, where the kids will stay, seb's new job contracts, homeschooling, pet passports. Today a mom friend of mine came up and asked me if I wanted to make wreaths with her and a few other moms on Monday and I just stared off in space and muttered something. I'm not even sure what I said because it just struck me as absurd. I suddenly realized that everyone else's life is going in slow motion and mine is whizzing and whirling like a tornado but I can't really even explain this to anyone. It's all very Alice in Wonderland and I thought as I drove my car away from her "How odd that people have time to do craft projects." I want my free time back and it's all I can think about.

*we move our things in three weeks but we're in France a little longer...