endings
It’s been quite a program today, on 30 December 2022.
Today was the day we officially handed over the keys to the new owner of the house we lived in for 6 years. Though apparently most people skip on that last official moment, it was nice to be there to show him around the emptied version of the house for the ‘final inspection’, join him for the official signing moment at the notary (and take his mandatory pen photo!), and really congratulate him in person. We met with him a few months ago and were glad to know we’re leaving our old neighbours with a good one 😉
Before he and the realtor arrived, we first had to say goodbye to our car as well – it was going to be picked up at our old address between 8 and 12, so it was an early morning! Of course, they came just half an hour before 12. Oh well – we had plenty to do to keep us busy while we waited. Got ourselves a Canadian phone plan and compared banks, and went over the things we need to do on the first day in Vancouver.
Plans didn’t end with the car and house – while we’re in the area we should take this time to enjoy Rotterdam and what we loved about this place. The city and the people in it! We spent the afternoon at the Zalmhuis with cake (the carrot cake is de-li-cious!) to celebrate the fact that we have now officially sold our house. I’ve always loved this place – not really for its surroundings, but the interior is amazing since it was renovated a few years ago and, notably, they have such a chill playlist. Or actually, I have to correct myself here, playlists. One for dinner, one for after-work drinks time, and one for during the day. Good vibes always, particularly for special occasions. Our time here this afternoon was not the most glamorous though – mostly worked a bit more with a tea to go with the cake.
When the afternoon is over, we’re heading for dinner with a dear, dear colleague of mine – a lovely way to (more or less) end the year and our time in Rotterdam. Located in Katendrecht, it’ll be a new restaurant for us and it’s sounding very promising – can’t wait!
beginnings
And while we say goodbye to the old house, I can also share that we found an apartment in Vancouver! I feel super lucky to have found just what we were looking for and very grateful that we were able to arrange everything on distance. I am already loving our building manager – super helpful and communicative in this whole process. It’s such a relief that we don’t have to arrive in a rush to find a place to live while staying at an expensive Airbnb. And it’s super fun to already be receiving emails from the building and getting a sense of what it’s like living in the building. I must say I also don’t mind scrolling through Pinterest again for furniture and interior inspiration 😉
Just two more weeks until we land and can start settling in!
To close, some random moments on yet another bittersweet day:
- We sneezed a few times in our empty house while waiting. Sneeze arrived at the top floor seconds later. It was hilarious.
- Tom spent the morning working on the floor with his laptop in his lap, while I arranged some practical stuff for our move on my laptop on the kitchen counter. It must have looked ridiculous to people passing by.
- I keep losing my keys, and as I took off our house key this morning I realized it might be because there’s hardly any keys on my keychain anymore. After today all I’ll have left is the blue key chord from work. Which is no longer where I work, so I should probably stop using that as well.
