Part IA, Part UP

UP:  I managed to get the kitchen a little bit de-cluttered.  (as good as it's going to get until DH & I take a weekend to dig stuff out of the cupboards & figure out what we can get rid of, to make room for the stuff that won't fit in the cupboards right now)

IA:  A lot of that clutter (that was in the kitchen) is now in the living room, boxes & such... So just shifting it from one room to another really (until it can be shifted up to the loft, which needs to be cleaned & tidied first = never ending chain/chore of clutter...) 

IA:  And I still feel knackered & despondent.  God I hate winter so very, very, very much. 

UP:  I managed to get the kitchen a little bit de-cluttered.  (as good as it's going to get until DH & I take a weekend to dig stuff out of the cupboards & figure out what we can get rid of, to make room for the stuff that won't fit in the cupboards right now)

IA:  A lot of that clutter (that was in the kitchen) is now in the living room, boxes & such... So just shifting it from one room to another really (until it can be shifted up to the loft, which needs to be cleaned & tidied first = never ending chain/chore of clutter...) 

IA:  And I still feel knackered & despondent.  God I hate winter so very, very, very much. 

My shop will gladly take it off your hands if you guys want to just get rid of it.

My shop will gladly take it off your hands if you guys want to just get rid of it.

I know & I'm working towards that.  Right now, I'm saving boxes & packing materials because we're planning to Ebay some things too.

I know & I'm working towards that.  Right now, I'm saving boxes & packing materials because we're planning to Ebay some things too.

That's good, if you can make a bit of money off of it.  I know your hub likes to hang onto things.  With mine every winter he takes a bazillion winter coats and jackets down from the loft and then only wears a fraction of them.  Then they all go back up in the loft.  There's hardly any room for my few coats on the coat stand.

That's good, if you can make a bit of money off of it.  I know your hub likes to hang onto things.  With mine every winter he takes a bazillion winter coats and jackets down from the loft and then only wears a fraction of them.  Then they all go back up in the loft.  There's hardly any room for my few coats on the coat stand.

Maybe a few should walk you to work one day and just not come back. 

Maybe a few should walk you to work one day and just not come back. 

I've been tempted.....

IA: Completely exhausted. And not quite done unpacking.

UP: Done moving! Survived driving a van around London (minor casualty with a stupid cement block thing by the tiniest lane imaginable, but I don't think the van had any issues, so yay).

IA: Have to trek back north tomorrow to finalise things with the evil landlord, and hope that she isn't evil tomorrow.

UP: The cleaner came today (albeit an hour late) and apparently did a good job (albeit according to my flatmate, who doesn't really care about cleanliness so much). That should mean the landlord has nothing to whine about.

IA: Completely exhausted. And not quite done unpacking.

UP: Done moving! Survived driving a van around London (minor casualty with a stupid cement block thing by the tiniest lane imaginable, but I don't think the van had any issues, so yay).

IA: Have to trek back north tomorrow to finalise things with the evil landlord, and hope that she isn't evil tomorrow.

UP: The cleaner came today (albeit an hour late) and apparently did a good job (albeit according to my flatmate, who doesn't really care about cleanliness so much). That should mean the landlord has nothing to whine about.

YEAH! You are free.

IA: Completely exhausted. And not quite done unpacking.

UP: Done moving! Survived driving a van around London (minor casualty with a stupid cement block thing by the tiniest lane imaginable, but I don't think the van had any issues, so yay).

IA: Have to trek back north tomorrow to finalise things with the evil landlord, and hope that she isn't evil tomorrow.

UP: The cleaner came today (albeit an hour late) and apparently did a good job (albeit according to my flatmate, who doesn't really care about cleanliness so much). That should mean the landlord has nothing to whine about.

I agree you are FREE!! I hope the evil stays away until she signs off that the place is left in the same condition! *crosses fingers*

Good luck EN- There is no better feeling than being free from the landlords/letting agents from HELL.  I had to fight with mine for an extra few weeks for my deposit back.  So good luck and hopefully its all clean and you can be signed off and done!!!

Thanks, guys! She was minorly evil today, but not too bad. Made my flatmate and I go pick up all the trash on the patio that the people upstairs throw down because they're lazy, which I think is kind of dumb (on her part and theirs!), but said the rest of the flat looked good.

She thinks the couch and the bed have scratches from my cat (know the couch does, not sure about the bed). In theory, she claims it should be cheap to "fix", so...whatever. As long as it's not more than £50 or so, I figure it's the cost of doing business. (Ironically, she seemed to think I was moving out because of some change in my life, not in any way linked to her....so I really don't know what was up with her sudden plunge into evildom.)

Sigh. So this new flat may be more short-term than I was planning/hoping for.

Flatmate seems to be intent on "her way" and "her space" for things. I put a blanket on the arm of the couch - the next day it was on my bed. I put my hand weights next to the couch (out of the way, but visible, obviously) - the next day they were on my bedroom floor. I'm also apparently not supposed to keep any bins besides the micro-tiny one provided in my bedroom…instead I'm invited to use the toilet for kleenex and go outside to the main bin for anything larger.

None of these things are *huge* deals…but they are definitely annoyances. If I'm going to pay a monthly fee to rent a room in a flat, it would be nice if I could use the entire flat. And it would be nice if I could have a bin in which to put garbage, and not have to go outside every time I create garbage (in the winter, I go through a LOT of kleenex…and it's cold outside! I don't want to trek outside every 5 minutes to throw things out…nor do I want to trek to the bathroom every 5 minutes, either). And, of course, it would be nice if she would ask/discuss with me the placement of my belongings before just randomly moving them, if for no other reason than I'd like to know where they are before I (literally) stumble over them.

I wasn't necessarily planning on this flat being a super long-term solution, if only because it's farther from work than ideal. I may, however, opt to actively hunt for another flat now and see if I can find one within a month (which is our "probation period" with the flat to see how well we get on).

Really don't want to move again, but I also don't want to be constantly worried about what my flatmate will do with my stuff, or forbid/suggest me to do (apparently washing out my cat's litter boxes is a big priority…because obviously they won't just end up dusty/litter-y in 10 minutes when he uses it again or anything). Perhaps these can be easily solved with a chat, but I'm not sure.

Oooh, equestrianerd, I hope it all works out. My IA/UP is that I can't seem to shake the nausea from my recent flu.  On the plus side, I've lost a few pounds!

Oooh, equestrianerd, I hope it all works out. My IA/UP is that I can't seem to shake the nausea from my recent flu.  On the plus side, I've lost a few pounds!

Thanks, me too! I hope you feel better soon - I hate feeling sick to my stomach.

EN- Why is she in charge of the flat?  Does she own it?  If not, look at the terms of your lease and talk to her politely about how "I was here first" doesn't mean anything in a tenancy.  I had a roommate who had this philosophy (especially regarding our *shared* parking space) and after a few conversations she got it.  Best of luck to you.