I'm Home and I'm Ready to Decorate!

Well, I made it. I survived the move. The last month has flown by and it has just sunk in that we're here, really here and here to stay. Yesterday we picked up our new car and the internet was finally connected. Fingers (and toes and anything else that can be) crossed, DH may have a job to start next week.

For the past few weeks, I've been in a non-committal daze. I had one day of tears, wishing we hadn't come back (it's quite a shock how expensive everything is here), but mostly it has felt like we were here on a holiday and I'd be back on a plane soon. Yesterday, it all started to feel real and now I'm ready to nest!

The new place, a townhouse (photos to come soon) has been filled with a mish-mash of a few things we had stored (we sold most things before we left), things borrowed from my parents (they had things stored with us while they are living overseas), pieces from secondhand stores and some new. Something old, something new, something borrowed and certainly a few things blue. It's quite a challenge making it all work together.

The living room was today's challenge. We bought a funky rug to cover the old carpet and now I'm trying to work everything around it. I've been looking at how to make my own sofa cover, as the upholstery is looking rather tattered. Next to the entertainment unit, we have two large spaces spare. Trying to keep the apartment baby-friendly, I'm umm-ing and ahh-ing between artwork on the walls and wall decals. I don't know anyone that has used them before, so am a little apprehensive. Here are some of the ones I like....


Forest, from artwallproject
Wildflower, from MarkJamesDesign
Bare Tree, from circlelinestudio
Dandelions, from janeymacpress

Don't think I haven't also been considering the baby's room.....

Leave a Trail of Happiness, from singlestonestudios

Caterpillar, from lewasdesigns

Speckled Lolli Tree, from byrdiekids

Colorful Robots, from designfruit

Baby Clothes

The movers have been and gone. The apartment is now looking rather bare and a lot bigger. Early in the packing week I managed to get my camera out to shoot some of my baby clothes collection. We're still waiting to find out if the kicking bump is a boy or girl, so the collection is a little mixed. There is a distinct lack of pink in these photos, but that's only because I was given a lot of pink hand-me-downs that were packed earlier.


And this photo I'll leave you with I call "Baby Belly meets Packing Mess"

Another Half Off

So much to blog about, but sadly, much more to pack. We're in a packing frenzy here with the movers arriving in less that a week and me discovering that packing up a house while pregnant is a bit harder that I expected. Honestly, I thought it would be easier, not having to lift anything heavy, but it seems this pregnant body doesn't like all the getting up and down.

I'm going to finally close my stores on Monday night or Tuesday morning-ish. So, if you'd like anything before then, as one of my wonderful blog readers, take another 50% off the marked price (not the postage though sorry, but my usual postage discounts do apply). Let me know either on the Etsy sale or via eBay messages that you've read this post. If you're buying through the Etsy store or a bit from both Etsy and my eBay store, let me know your Paypal email address and I can send you a new invoice through there.

I still have fabrics that I never got to list, so some will be going into my personal stash and I'll send a bunch to Re-stash a Crafter that I found out through Handmaiden.

See you! I'm back to packing!

March

It doesn't seem like that long ago that this month seemed so far off in the distance. It was too far off to get either excited, nervous, sad or all of the above about.

But now, March is here.

For me, this year, this month is a big one.

March means that I've now finished teaching. I still have a number of scattered days left at work over the next two weeks to mark exams and such, but Friday was my last day with the students. It was a lovely day and I got through it without too many tears. I was spoiled with letters and presents of thanks. I will really miss those kids.

March means that I have done my last shop at the kimono flea market for quite a while. I said my goodbyes to many of my usual suppliers and even a number of shoppers that I regularly run into there.

March means that I'm about to be another year older (tomorrow). It's a very happy and exciting birthday this year, unlike the last when I was horribly down about not being pregnant.

March means that when I talk about leaving Japan, I say "this month".

March means that I'm off on my last trip to Tokyo for a number of years (leaving in about half an hour actually). I'm so excited and can't wait to visit some of my craft shop haunts.

March means that I get to see Cirque Du Soleil. We're having dinner with one of the performers (DH's friend) tonight. DH is really looking forward to catching up with him, he hasn't seen him since we left Australia.

March means that I'll be getting to meet my gorgeous new niece for the first time. I'll get to catch up with my brother and his wife when we stop over in Cairns. I'll then see my parents in Brisbane as they come over from New Zealand to help us with the move.

March means that I'll be saying goodbye to many good friends and saying hello to many more back in Australia.

March means that we'll be moving into our new Brisbane townhouse. After living in Japan for three years, we'll feel so blessed with the extra space. I can start nesting and setting up the nursery. It also means that I get to eat many of the foods I've missed over these last few years and craved over the last few months.

March in Japan, also brings my favourite flower, ume plum blossoms, the harbringer of spring.

I'm A Lean, Mean, Organising Machine

Well, truth be told, I'm not so "lean". I feel like I'm getting more and more rotund by the day. In the course of about a week, I've gone from having what I thought was a cute little baby bump to having almost lost my waist and looking like I've eaten too many Timtams. I'm not sure where it's all coming from, I've put on almost no weight since I got pregnant (I actually was losing some for a while when the morning sickness was at its worst). Dh says that I must be "redistributing", though I can see any part of my body that looks thinner as a result.

I'd also like to think that I'm not mean.

BUT, I am an organising machine! I have... wait for it... only nine weeks and two days until I leave Japan. It's really snuck up on me! Until the new year hit, I was always able to tell myself that I wasn't moving until "next year". The panic hit on New Years Day, the move was no longer "next year", but instead could be counted in weeks.

In a matter of days I have: booked and paid for flights home; booked a hotel for a stopover in Cairns to visit my brother, sil and to meet my new niece on the way through; procured quotes and decided upon a shipping company (I'm in the process of booking); had what turned out to be a very stressful, but worked out in the end type of conversation with my health insurance company in Australia; booked the hospital for the birth (I'd already booked the doctor); arranged recommendations for a thyroid specialist for when I get back; arranged for quotes for a moving company for our belongings that are in storage; arranged the move in date for an apartment; spoken to the Australian Customs Service about the kimonos I'm importing into the country; and started sorting out our apartment for things to be sent, things to be thrown away and things to be given away.

Funnily enough, I didn't do any of this (except some sorting) while on holidays, but have been madly doing it around my full-time job.