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Spoke briefly with the real estate agent for my new rental and finalised Thurs June 9th to go in and sign the lease, pay the bond and 2 weeks rent in advance and pick up the keys.

Hope to move on that Thursday then clean the current rental on the Friday. Am hoping that since there won't be another tenant moving in (the house is getting bulldozed) that it won't have to be absolutely spotless and that I'll get my bond back quickly. There's no damage, just some marks on a couple of walls that will probably be a bitch to remove.

In the meantime, I have so much to do I don't really know where to start so am hoping a list helps me organise.

-- need to get a move on with sorting and packing. This timing of this move is actually good as lot of my favourite and must-watch TV shows are going on hiatus over the next couple of weeks. Just have to stop procrastinating by reading too many fics.... but I'm finding some really good ones right now, and some amazing authors (all_the_damned_vampires on AO3/all_the_damned is my current obsession right now-- can't stop reading) so will have to use them as a reward: spend a few hours packing and I can let myself read 1 or 2 fics then back to it!!

-- organise skip bin for the junk. Will have to ring council to book one. Thankfully they provide it for free so that's one thing I don't need to pay for.

-- take boxes of unwanted clothes to the Salvos or Good Samaritans.

-- ring a few 2nd hand bookshops to see if I can sell unwanted books for cash

-- give 21 days notice via email to my current property manager

-- ring ISP and find out what needs to be done to get internet at the new place

-- ring power company to transfer account to my name

-- ring lawnmower guy to do the lawns for the bond inspection

-- find a removalist that doesn't charge too much

-- update address for my car rego and licence-- THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS BOTH ARE DUE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS

-- update address for work, banks, mobile, vet, insurance

-- update Sam's micro-chip details

-- notify friends and family either by FB or text/phone

Am sure I'm forgetting something -- just hope it's nothing important!!!

Getting into the sorting and packing this week. Mostly finished the library room, only 2 shelves out of 5 full to over-flowing bookcases left to be packed. Have culled about 1/3 of my collection to be (hopefully) sold to a 2nd hand bookshop chain. Am keeping too many, I know a lot more should go but I just can't seem to do it. I love my books, even though I know I won't read many of them again.

Decluttering is going really well. Feels good to get rid of a lot of junk and rubbish. Took two car loads to the tip's recycling area, 2 old TV's, fridge, 2 microwaves and a few broken and outdated vcr's/dvd players. Still have another free tip pass from the council if I need it but am hoping everything else will fit in the big bulk bin they are providing. But that won't be delivered til just a couple of days before I move.

Removal company booked for 9am. As it's the same morning I'm signing the lease, and I'm working from 4pm that day have asked my dad and step mom to come over and supervise while I'm out. I trust them to keep an eye on things and make sure the removalists do a professional job. Hopefully we can get everything loaded and moved in a couple of hours and with Dad's 4wd, we should be able to fit all the smaller items in our 2 vehicles. Means EVERYTHING will have to be packed by the Wed night and I mean EVERYTHING, clothes, dishes, toiletries, pantry, fridge and freezer cleaned out, washer and drier disconnected, TV's/dvd's/dvr's, computer/printer/modem all unplugged and boxed up. Luckily my bed is just a ensemble mattress in a timber frame that comes apart within minutes. So can take that apart and still sleep on the mattress.

Power company notified. It went better than I'd thought as I still owe the current bill (and can't afford to pay it in full before June 9th with all the moving expenses to be dealt with) and thought they wouldn't connect the new place with that money outstanding. The woman I dealt with was pretty good (despite me being frustrated by the endless red-tape) and has given me an extension until the middle of July, giving me a little bit of breathing space. She still wants me to pay anything I can off the bill but I'm not in any danger of having power disconnected here or not connected at the new house.

Transferring my Internet account is turning into a game of dominos. I can't get mine transferred until my friend vacates the property on the 2nd because it will cut off her internet service. She can't transfer hers until the outgoing tenant at her new place disconnects theirs. So have to ring back on the 3rd and get the transfer started then. Hoping it won't take the 10-14 days quoted but I will be able to cope without internet for a few days. Have a fairly good data plan on my mobile phone so I can still check FB, twitter and LJ. Luckily, most of my shows go on hiatus this week and of those still airing I can wait a week or to download without dying. Maybe I'll take advantage of being off the 'net to catch up on writing. Am really missing working on my fics.

After a very, very stressful 5 1/2 days of nearly tearing my hair out, of sending emails and calling the agents office and leaving messages, I just heard back from the property manager to say that the duplex is mine!!!!

Still have to go over details, when I move in, length of lease (hopefully at least 12 months), etc but it's like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest and my mind. Had actually been feeling quite ill this morning with the waiting and not knowing.

I will miss this place though. It's been home for me and Scully and now Sam for the last 10 years. I'll miss being able to walk him from home to the parks along the river. Will still drive Sam to his favourite spots so he can go swimming but it won't be the same as being able to walk there. I have already worked out longer walks we can take on both sides of the river that will still give Sam plenty of off-lead exercise. There are two bridges a few kms apart that we can use to cross the river safely. It should be 3 or 4km circuit.

It was also here that I discovered what would quickly become my all-time favourite fandom, my addiction and my obsession--- SUPERNATURAL. Can't quite believe I'll be in another home barely a week after the season 11 finale.

So now I can concentrate on getting my current place sorted out and packed up. There is a hell of a lot to be done as I really want to declutter and get rid of a lot of the stuff I've either dragged from previous rentals or acquired in the 10 years (10 friggin' years!!!!!) I've been here. Have bookcases full of books that I will need to sort through and decide which ones I can bare to part with. 90% of them I haven't touched since putting them there, so they should really go to other homes where they'll be used and read and appreciated. Plus if I can get some money for them that I really need right now, then that will make it easier let them go.

Back before CDs and DVDs and the internet I was a compulsive and voracious reader. Wasn't unusual for me to spend a couple of hundred dollars in one visit to a bookstore. Eased off over the years since to focus on buying DVD's but I haven't lost my love of sitting down with a new novel by a favourite author and getting lost in the worlds they create.

I know which authors and books I won't be getting rid: Stephen King, Diana Gabaldon, Laurell K Hamilton, Harry Potter for starters. All my X-Files, Farscape and SPN books, season companions, novels, reference books, full sets of Quantum Leap and original BSG novels. Autobiographies of a lot of my favourite actors and musicians. I may not read them again but they are so dear to me that I just can't get rid of them.

A property on the other side of the road and only a couple houses down from mine has had a For Lease sign at the front for quite a few weeks now and the previous tenants moved out ages ago.

So on my way home from walkies with Sam, I decided to call the listed agent, not expecting it to be in my very tight budget but just curious how much it was renting for. Would really love to stay in the area (because of the closeness to the river) but never thought I would be able to afford it. It's the front house on a block with 3 dwellings, with nearly no back yard. Previous tenants had a couple of dogs but they were kept in a closed in and covered front yard, don't think they ever were allowed inside even when we had bad weather.

Anyways, the property has only just been leased in the last couple of days so it's off the list but the real kicker is that it was rented for $350/week, in my budget and what I'd be paying if I get my friend's place. So I literally had a potential rental within a minute's walk and may have gotten it had I made the call right after getting notice to vacate a week ago.

Oh well!!! That's karma, I suppose. At least it gives me hope that if I don't get friends place, I can at least keep looking around here and not be priced out (cross fingers).