this month

We got a house early this year and we are working on it day and night. We have to finish at least the most important parts of the house before the 28th of February because we should be able to live there by then. Our contract on the flat we are living in now will expire at the end of this month and we decided not to extend it anymore. We only have three weeks from now until we move in to our new house and we are not even done with the painting!

Our target is to finish the painting, the bathroom, the toilets, and the floors before we move in. We also want to finish the kitchen but unfortunately, it will only be delivered and mounted on the 8th of March so for the first eight days, we will have to eat out or be contented with home deliveries.

My father-in-law will come sometime soon to help us with the work because there’s no way that my husband and I can do it before our target date. We need some help. My brother-in-law is already 15 years old and physically, I think he is able to help us but he can’t miss school. And on the other hand, he’d rather spend his weekends driving his new motorbike. He got it on his 15th birthday and he’s really crazy about anything motorbike. He actually already listed things like fox motocross jeans, motorcycle jackets, motorcycle helmet, and other motorcycle accessories on his wish list for the coming Easter.

The house still needs a lot of work–hard work. But to tell you honestly, I don’t mind doing the hard work. I am actually very motivated to work on it because I am already excited to move in!

I am swamped!

I don’t like to sound like I am complaining because I wanted to have this job in the first place and I do really want to keep it.

Teaching is a lot of work. I have a minimal number of classes per week but the amount of work is tantamount to having a 7-5 job. I used to have more classes per week in China but I was always relaxed. I had time for other things like meeting my friends, chatting with my family back home, and partying. Right now it seems that the time I have is just enough for lesson planning and making props. Other tasks like most of the housework are postponed. The pile of clothes waiting to be ironed is incredible… I don’t know if I can ever iron it all to the last piece of clothing.

Hubby understands that since I am now working, he has to help me with the housework and that’s what he is doing but I never dare let him do the ironing (he can’t do it to my standard). I still do the cleaning but at least he tries so hard not to make a mess.

He cooks sometimes. He likes doing it and I let him because he’s a far better cook than I am.

The work brought so much adjustment to our household. I still do most of the work but I noticed that when hubby can help it, he tries to minimize the housework for me.

Feeling secured at home

We moved in to our new flat three weeks ago and we are slowly settling things down. Our flat, although not 100% furnished yet, has all the basics already. I go out almost every day to get to know the city and I must admit that I really like Graz and the fact that we live in the city center where every important establishment is just a few minutes’ walk from our place.

Living in the city means one has to have a certain level of precautions when going out and also when at home. In our case, we chose a flat that is not only convenient but also safe so like many other flats in this city, our flat too has one of those sophisticated home alarm systems. Our flat is in a building that is century-old but has an alarm system that is of modern and state-of-the-art technology.

I think it is important that a home security system  is to be considered as one of the necessities especially when you are living in a city or in a crowded area.

Take Advantage of the Recession

When else is the best time to buy stocks and real estate properties other than now? I believe that the economy cannot get worse than how it is at the moment so whatever you invest now will increase its value as soon as the economy picks up again.

A friend of ours who owns a house in Detroit is now selling his house for a quarter of the house’s original price. That’s to illustrate how cheap real estate properties are this time. If I were to buy a real estate property now, I’d just get one of those cheap houses in the market but for those of you who like to build their homes from a scratch, there’s Schumacher Homes. This company is known for quality home construction, exceptional value and award winning designs so if you want a house that is built for your family,  consider contacting them.

Home is Where the Heart Is

mypinknotes-moving-boxes.JPGIn one of my interviews, I was once asked if I am having a difficulty moving from one place to another, if I hate it, or if I hope that it ends soon.

You see, I do hate moving and that means packing, transporting and unpacking things. I think I moved from one place to another like more than 10 times in my life. Now that I am married, people I know (like my mom) kind of expect that I am more settled and that I should be raising a family together with my husband already. That means we’re expected to have a kid and to live in a place where we can stay for the rest of our lives.

We are on our way to that place but right now, we are still preparing for it. I do hate moving but I’d do it again  because I  can’t imagine being away from my husband. If the situation asks for it, then we’ll move again together and we’ll build a home to whatever that is.

What’s Your Phone Story

landline-phone.jpgWe do have our landline in the living room. Since we just moved in to this flat a few months ago, we have not really accessorized it that much yet and since we don’t usually use the landline, we thought that we don’t need other phone in other rooms. So anyway, when I am in other rooms and the phone rings, I run to the living room to answer it and most of the time I get mad because the calls I am getting are not really important. Calls such as those from telemarketers really ruin my mood.

Do you get such calls? Prank calls? You can visit www.reportphonenumbers.com and share your experience about unwanted calls there. That particular site allows you to comment about calls from certain numbers letting the other readers know what to expect from those numbers. You can also just visit the site and read about people’s phone call stories. You might just learn from them.

A House that is Built for You

Once, I asked my husband why did he choose to continue working abroad when in fact, life standard in Austria is much better. He said it’s because he wanted to be able to buy our own house when we finally settle in Austria. He doesn’t like to be paying a monthly mortgage so he is working so hard to earn a sum that would be enough to buy a house.

I told him that it needed not to be grand. A simple home with a small garden is already great. There are ready built houses in Austria and I think owning one is practical but my husband told me that he doesn’t like such houses because they are too generic. He wants something which is built for us and he would like to help build the house. I don’t know exactly what he has in mind but I do hope that it is within our reach and capabilities.

In the US, there are a lot of custom home builder companies and Schumacher Homes is one of them. This company has over 15 years of experience in this industry and over these years, it has helped over 5,000 families build their dream houses. This company prides itself on the quality home construction, exceptional value, and award winning designs. They’ve got locations all over Ohio and Indiana so if you are from these places and you are planning to get a custom home, you might want to consult them. You may also visit there site at SchumacherHomes-ohio.com.

Weekend Blues

fairIt was a fairly fair day last weekend. We went to the fair and I had my traditional “fried dough”. The temperature was kinda low so it was chilly but the sun was bright and warm so I didn’t have any trouble with the over-all climate unlike in the passed few days. And just like any weekends we had in the past, we also had a blast cleaning the house inside and out. [It was a good diversion from blogging somehow.]

Oh well, that’s a routine. It’s fall so got to get rid of all the leaves on the ground and trim the grass. My driving skill still sucks so it was a great opportunity for me to practice with the lawn mower. LOL.