Looking back at the plan from a few months ago, we have actually managed to hit most of our deadlines. Abi found a job much more quickly than we had anticipated, but they were cool enough to wait until the beginning of July for her to start. After we got back from California in April we decided that it would be more prudent to rent a house for the first year instead of buying one, so house hunting has been a little different, too. We found one place, lost it, and then found another. Now we’re keeping our fingers crossed until we sign the papers (11 July) that nothing weird happens to derail this one, too.
So we’re still running according to schedule! The big move will be happening at the beginning of August. We’ll be loading up a rental van on Wednesday 1st August, and I’ll drive it across to the Netherlands. (Overnight ferry from Newcastle to Ijmuiden.) On the morning of Thursday 2nd August, Abi and the kids fly to Amsterdam, and we all meet up again around lunchtime in Oostzaan. Then we hurriedly dump all the stuff from the van, and I take the overnight ferry straight back to the UK again. I’ll fly back to Amsterdam on Friday evening or Saturday morning. In either case, by first weekend in August, we will be living in the Netherlands. Wow.
There’s still another month to go before then. Just as planned, Abi is blazing the trail: she flew out this morning, and will be spending July in Amsterdam, getting used to the country and her new job. (She’ll be coming back to Edinburgh for the weekends, though.) Which leaves me as single parent for a while.
Oh dear…
