moving

Two weeks before we were to renew the contract on our apartment, we made a last minute decision to move. We looked at several apartments but were lured to a house close by in a very quiet neighborhood. We signed the papers in the hospital they day after Winston was born--just to make sure we had enough going on at the moment.

The house is just down the street from Dan and Amy. In case you're unfamiliar with our experience, both times we've moved close to them, they've moved away. So we were unsurprised when our moving van finished unloading us and drove straight over to help them pack up. Just kidding, that didn't actually happen...yet.

We hope they stay awhile because we really like the neighborhood and we're a bit sick of having to always move to keep up with them.

The great thing about moving in Thailand is that labor is cheap. For the first time we were able to hire someone to help us--instead of just making our siblings do all the work--no wonder Dan keeps moving. When we moved to Switzerland two and half years ago, we had six suitcases. When we moved from Switzerland to Bangkok two years ago, we had two boxes and six suitcases. We now have over two truckloads. Just watching them was exhausting.

Luckily we had spiderman to help out. Too bad they didn't stay to unpack. 

I had forgotten how much more work a house is than an apartment. The oven/stove in our new house was broken. Since a new one was one of the things we had given up while bartering for a lower rent with our landlords, we knew buying a replacement would be on us. If we lived in the U.S. we would  run down to a local home store and picked up a new one, no problem.

After scouring the internet to find stores that sold ovens (a fairly rare appliance in Thailand), we found that none would fit in our spot. If fee standing ovens are the Narwals of Thailand (I learned yesterday Narwals are not actually mythical) then freestanding ovens that fit into our giant space are the unicorns.

All these things, electronics, making big decisions, trying to barter with strangers in a foreign language, they are all things that Rocky usually handles but it was up to me and I decided to buy a built in one and just hire a carpenter/handyman to build it in. I found the cheapest, fastest labor I could and I think it's a solid win.

It's totally safe to have styrofoam underneath your electric oven, right?

We're enjoying all the perks of being in a house--more space and a yard.

And all the neighbors' toys.

And we're learning fast to keep the gate closed and the front door locked to keep Violet in.