I've not completely settled down at the new flat yet. The cleaning, tidying and furnishing is still work-in-progress. Here's me, all suited up to perform the cleaning on the weekend before i moved in.
Being somewhat a cleanliness freak, i'm really cleaning every inch of the place, or at least whatever areas that i could see and reach. That explains why the progress is slow, especially when i'm doing it all by myself. It is time like this that i truely appreciate mom being around. The last time when i moved, she was with me and hence she did the cleaning and tidying up for me while i was at work. Now i could only do it after work and on weekends, and that certainly drain my energy out.
I am still sleeping on the air bed and haven't bought a bed yet. I went to quite a few furniture shops last weekend but realised that beds are really expensive here. If i wanna get something decent enough to warrant a good sleep, the price range for a mattress and bed frame is more than NZD1K. I've spent close to NZD1K already on weekend on a new heater, a few pieces of new furniture and household items. I am still thinking of getting a few more pieces of furniture for the living room and some appliances. Hence I don't think i'd wanna spend NZD1K on a bed, especially when i am really not sure at this stage if i'd stay more than 3 years here.
Anyway, the hunt for a cheaper bed is still on and in the meantime i'd still have to make-do with the air bed, placed on the carpeted floor in this winter time.
Now, talking about furniture, i'm totally becoming a handy-woman now. Last round when mom was around, I assembled a new desk with some help from her (like passing me the screws or holding on to some of the parts). This is the desk for which I installed the legs and drawer (pardon me for the messy boxes, as this is the area where i've yet to tidy up):
This time 'round, I bought a new dining set at a good promotional price (NZD150) and assemble it all by myself!
The dining set comes with 4 chairs and one round glass table. It was packed in flat panel. Here's when I had assembled one chair (see the new heater i bought behind the carton box) :
Here's the completely assembled dining set, which took me about 1.5 hours:
The glass table top is very heavy and lifting it up to place it on top of the stands was the most challenging part. My boss had helped me to deliver the cartons from the shops to my rented flat because my car is too small to fit it in, and he knew how heavy it was. He was very impressed when i showed him this picture of fully assembled set and wondered how i managed to lift the glass table top up. I jokingly told him that i popped a few steroid pills and then was able to lift it up without problem (this was actually quite amusing when i have the time to relate another incident that happened the week before).
Well, the truth is that i didn't turn into Popeye; i wasn't able to really lift it up and put it on top of the stands on one-go. I gotta lift it up half-way and placed one side of it on my luggage first, and then took a deep breath and lifted it all the way to place it on the stands.
Here's another piece that i assembled last night. This was easier and took me about 40 minutes.
I am sure there will be more handy work for me in the future, as everyone here seems to be able to fix their own things one way or another. My boss even built his own shed and greenhouse at his backyard. I will have to DIY for most things -- well, after all, i am here all alone and I have no one else to depend on most of the times.
To be honest, i'd be lying if all these sourcing for new furniture and fixing things on my own didn't bring back some nostalgic sorrows. The last time i needed to do all these was in a joyful situation when i was going to welcome a new chapter in my life together with the love of my life (or so i thought at that time). I did not have to do all the heavy lifting and fixing for he took care of all of these tasks. Now, i'd have to do it all by myself and gotta rough it through no matter how tough it is. The big contrast between then and now really is an irony that often overwhelms me with melancholy.
Oh well, i'd better stop thinking along this train of thoughts lest i get all depressed again. The gloomy and cold weather with lesser daylight time now certainly doesn't help in spirit-lifting. It is time for me to take my bath (which i dread nowadays because the bathroom is so cold!) and then continue with my house tidying chores.
Labels: life
