All The Small Things

Well, I went out today to pick up Nicky, and to check out the new house.

Lovely place, from the outside. It needs a new garden, and a good clean would do it the world of good, but on the whole, not bad.

On the inside, different matter. The paint wasn't bad, but again, the whole place could have done with a really good clean. That is something I guess is just outside of my comprehension. Why wouldn't you clean a place properly before you moved in?

Like the lightshades were filthy. Filthy. If you are moving into a new house, wouldn't you clean it first, then as you unpack, clean the things you are unpacking, so that everything is beautiful and clean? I would.

The first place I bought, with my ex-fiance, we went in for a week before we moved and cleaned everything, carpets, drapes, kitchen cupboards. We re-lined all the cupboards, washed the windows, scrubbed the walls down with sugar soap, the whole deal. We probably went a bit OTT, because it wasn't really that bad when we bought it, but we knew when we moved in that it was clean and that the things we were moving in were clean.

Every box we unpacked, we cleaned the items as we went. All the dishes were washed as they were unpacked, all the glassware, all the books were dusted, all the furniture was clean.

I will never understand how people, in this case Mr. D. and Shell, could move into a new place when it is noticibly dirty, and not clean it up. And not only just not clean up, but contribute to the dirtiness of it!

They'd pulled up the carpet, for reasons known only to themselves, and the floorboards were gross. There were holes, and cracked boards. I was seriously worried that I was going to fall through (I was wearing heels and watching where I stood!). While I was there, the cat, who was under the house, put his paws up through one of the cracks. Shell PULLED UP THE BOARD, pulled the cat through, and then replaced the board.

Surely this is not normal behaviour?

I can see that the place has potential. Its a beautiful old red brick home, with 12 foot ceilings, wide halls and generous rooms. But it needs a lot of work. The kitchen was obviously done up in the 40's, and is a rather stylish bright blue.

Nicky's room is nice, she has two floor to ceiling windows, and it is a very big room. They've bought her a new bed, and Shells son has one the same. Lovely new bed, with a carved timber bedhead.

I guess its a bit hard to tell at this point, because there were just boxes EVERYWHERE, but I imagine it will be a nice place when they get settled. Certainly the house could be lovely, but its going to take a lot of money and time to get it up to scratch.

 

On that note, I spoke to Mr. D. today about the financial side of our situation. Up to this point, I haven't asked him for a red cent. The Govt. Dept. In Charge Of Such Things dictates how much money should move between the parties in this situation, and when we split, he said he wasn't going to be paying any support. I didn't really want to rock the boat, and I didn't ask him for the amount that the Dept. ICOST had said he should be paying.

This week I am going to put in the forms so that the Dept. ICOST knows exactly what is going on with Nicky, and where she spends what amount of time.

I also said to Mr. D. that I'll be doing things by the book from now on. I can get into trouble if I don't do what is dictated by the Dept. ICOST, and I'm not going to put myself in that position.

This will probably come across to Mr. D. and Shell as if I'm just being a bitch, but at the end of the day, I could have been doing the right thing from the start, and I'd be much better off financially - after all, I've just been wearing the costs without assistance from him, or anyone else for the last 9 months. (Prior to that I was getting some assistance from the Dept. ICOST)

If I hadn't just let the issue slide, they probably wouldn't have the house, and certainly wouldn't have been able to afford all the lovely new furniture for Nicky and Shells son. I don't really see why I should put myself in a position where I have no money to purchase nice things for Nicky, and the very distinct possibility of being fined for not doing the right thing by the Dept. ICOST.

So tonight I'm filling in the forms, and the court paperwork about the access stuff, and I'll be putting them at the end of the week.

I haven't heard from the job yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Hugs to you,

Sass