Almost gone

Well here we are just a few short weeks away before we leave. Both houses are officially rented, "whew" . It's such a relief to tie up all the loose ends. These last few weeks with finishing up our Paris house has been exhausting. We were a little surprised that the first person to see the house wanted it and wanted it fast. They were a couple who dropped in right before Christmas and honestly I thought they hated the house by all the husband's snarky comments, but it turns out I was wrong. He's egocentric as they come, a professional sport instructor in a very snooty sport. I got the bad energy vibe off of him, flashing red lights, sirens-- the works, but Seb was too nervous to listen to me. He just wants the house rented as soon as possible so we wouldn't be stuck, which I could understand but I still think it might have been wise to choose the person better so as not to be stuck worse a lot later. I relented against my better judgement, or should I say against feminine instinct--usally a very bad idea. So they're in the house and there isn't much else to say. I hope they just stay quiet, pay the rent and don't wreck the house. So far they're doing one of the three. Complaining seems to be a sport that the new renter also teaches. We have to replace the basement's back door and put in an electronic gate before April *rolling eyes* He told us all this after we signed the rental agreement papers which I thought already showed a lot of underhandedness. When we buy and renovate these old houses I never dream that one day we will rent them. Renting out an old place is just trouble because honestly he can pick the house apart every month if he really wants to. There are a lot of problems in a hundred year old house and he just didn't seem like the type to overlook squeeky door hinges and rooms with "character." My alarm bells we're going off for a reason.

The house looked really nice when we were finished and it was very hard not to feel like we were making a big mistake. I had light switches that worked everywhere and TWO bathrooms. My bedroom extension was completely finished with a modern shower and sink. It was a dream house! After two years of major MAJOR sacrifices and the worst marriage strain imaginable it was incredibly hard to just walk away last week and say "okay let's go, ASIA yay!" I guess maybe it's all the extra baggage of a mature adult that makes adventuring tough. It's the desire for security and nice things. I'm just going to muddle through it though and let the house and all that go. There damn well better be adventure on the horizon or I'm going to be really pissed off. And the light switches better work in our Shanghai apartment!

The Fisherman's house is only rented for a few months to someone we have close ties to. This is giving us time to come back to France this summer. After that we can evaluate things and decide if we want to rent it for a full three year bail or continue to rent it off season. I'm looking forward to summer break already. I think a French Alpine vacation will definitely be in high order after a few months in Asia adapting to expat life.

We haven't done much in the way of preparing our leaving with all the keys being passed and last minute painting (Mister Ego made us paint the living room a third time). I still have a list a mile long to cross off. I'm not even sure that I'll get through it in time. As I said before this is the difficult part of the moving, the details, the stress the waiting in line before the ride. It really bites.

This week I met an American on my street in TLB. She's really nice and I think we'll become friends. She's about my mom's age. I look forward to getting to know her better this summer. She's one of these really interesting international ladies, citizen of the world types that you can talk with for hours.

I'll do a picture post soon with photos of the finished Paris house. As if destiny wanted me to not dwell on it too much my camera battery died on my last visit to the house and I'd brought the wrong Canon charger. I could only take a few pictures.

I better run. I've got a few things to check off my list. brb!