Life after Christmas
It may seem that I’ve been silent since our fateful Christmas day, but I assure you we have not been still! We were able to get away to the lake for a wonderful 3 day-2 night stay in a ‘beach-front’ villa complete with kitchen, living room, and house-helper who washed our dishes and swept up the sand the kids brought in. LOVELY! The place was situated between two villages, so our beach-play was curiously watched by hundreds of kids and not a few women washing clothes and men bathing, but that’s what Africa’s all about, after all!
After an uneventful time, we drove home, deciding to stop at a small game park along the way. We got all of 1 km into the park when Chad stopped the car, and said in all seriousness, “If I go another foot, I’m going to get stuck in the mud. If I reverse out of here, I’m going to get stuck in the mud. What should I do?” We opted for reversing…and we got stuck in the mud. To give him the due credit, Chad did an amazing job and almost made it before the mud finally won. But there we were, stuck. The last people to come through the park had done so a week before, so we weren’t counting on much traffic! Given the vacation we were on, we were in flip-flops, shorts, and had no tools. After rigging chains out of a piece of rope (“In point of fact it did not [work], but I’m convinced the theory is sound”…Ghost and the Darkness) and trying to push, we found a number to the game warden and our cell phone had a signal. The first man to help arrived on a motorcycle with no tools. We asked him to go back to get a shovel (!). A second man arrived…on a bicycle, with no tools. We asked him to go back for a board (!!). Chad was covered in mud, feeling frustrated, and said, “It couldn’t get any worse!” to which Anya said, “Uh, dad? It could be raining.” I also couldn’t resist pointing out that at least the game-park didn’t have any lions, as we watched the greater kudu and bushbuck walk across the road behind us!
Anyway, we got out after only 2 hours, and were none the worse for the wear after a good long shower. We got unpacked and laundry done just in time to find out that our permanent house was almost ready to move into! We just had to pack up the one room for the family who is moving out (they are in the US right now). So for 2 days we packed up their things, then we just had to move their things to the storage barn, clean the house, and move our things in! Since there was nothing driving us but our own excitement at being in our real home, we did it in a lazy 5 days. Then today we did virtually nothing, leaving the cleaning of the old house for tomorrow. The dirt’s not going anywhere, I figure.
But we’re in. Unpacked, things on the walls, and loving it to death! The yard is amazing, the wood floors shine, the kitchen is spacious, my washer and dryer can both plug in INDOORS, and I have rose bushes! We could not be happier.
So that’s how we spent our Christmas vacation—enough playing around, time to get back to work!
After an uneventful time, we drove home, deciding to stop at a small game park along the way. We got all of 1 km into the park when Chad stopped the car, and said in all seriousness, “If I go another foot, I’m going to get stuck in the mud. If I reverse out of here, I’m going to get stuck in the mud. What should I do?” We opted for reversing…and we got stuck in the mud. To give him the due credit, Chad did an amazing job and almost made it before the mud finally won. But there we were, stuck. The last people to come through the park had done so a week before, so we weren’t counting on much traffic! Given the vacation we were on, we were in flip-flops, shorts, and had no tools. After rigging chains out of a piece of rope (“In point of fact it did not [work], but I’m convinced the theory is sound”…Ghost and the Darkness) and trying to push, we found a number to the game warden and our cell phone had a signal. The first man to help arrived on a motorcycle with no tools. We asked him to go back to get a shovel (!). A second man arrived…on a bicycle, with no tools. We asked him to go back for a board (!!). Chad was covered in mud, feeling frustrated, and said, “It couldn’t get any worse!” to which Anya said, “Uh, dad? It could be raining.” I also couldn’t resist pointing out that at least the game-park didn’t have any lions, as we watched the greater kudu and bushbuck walk across the road behind us!
Anyway, we got out after only 2 hours, and were none the worse for the wear after a good long shower. We got unpacked and laundry done just in time to find out that our permanent house was almost ready to move into! We just had to pack up the one room for the family who is moving out (they are in the US right now). So for 2 days we packed up their things, then we just had to move their things to the storage barn, clean the house, and move our things in! Since there was nothing driving us but our own excitement at being in our real home, we did it in a lazy 5 days. Then today we did virtually nothing, leaving the cleaning of the old house for tomorrow. The dirt’s not going anywhere, I figure.
But we’re in. Unpacked, things on the walls, and loving it to death! The yard is amazing, the wood floors shine, the kitchen is spacious, my washer and dryer can both plug in INDOORS, and I have rose bushes! We could not be happier.
So that’s how we spent our Christmas vacation—enough playing around, time to get back to work!
I would LOVE to see it if you find that you can post pictures soon!! So happy that you are settled!
ReplyDeletewow what a buy time. happy new house! hope you settle in soon.
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