Friday, May 12, 2006

We have a home

Ruud and Jitze are in France for a week now. Yesterday I learned by sms they will need to stay longer since they have an appointment with the bank in Espalion. Last Wednesday they had an appointment with an architect who made a disturbing estimate, jikes, of 69,000 euro! What gave the three of us a real fright was the floor in the living room which is apparently 'unstable' and needs to be replaced.

The living room on the front side

Yesterday they went to the estate agent and put down an offer of 110,000 for the house. The three heirs are being consulted and we hope they will return today with a counter offer. Ah well, 110,000 divided by 3 minus the costs for estate agent, solicitor, taxes and other interested parties is probably less then they hoped for, but always more then what you get from a life of buying lottery tickets on all the lotteries together, so I keep my stand: they cannot refuse this offer.
  
In the meantime I'm at home with the kids. School holidays have been invented to pester parents, that I know now for sure. In a fortnight I have changed from a loving mother to a mean German Shepherd who, for the least little thing starts barking with foam around the mouth. Deirdre especially keeps getting on my nerves. There is one remedy that will pacify the kids under all circumstances and that is the computer. So if I really can't stand it anymore, I send them upstairs and let them antisocially enjoy the known digital shoot and wreck'em games for three hours till their little eyes turn red.

Meanwhile I try to do my work. Before next Monday I have to finish two articles for the Consumentenbond and I have to prepare myself for a course of which I do not know enough yet. I really enjoyed teaching for a number of months, but lately I get assigned to programs on which nobody wants to work, except that one student. I have to prepare several days for just one day of teaching. I'm really fed up with this. I hope in Gods name there is a nice job for me in Espalion as goats herder, flower girl or tombstone seller so I will be released from this hideous teaching forever.

posted by Ruud at 2:02 AM

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