Farewell Party - What a blast!

Saturday was the day for the farewell party and party we did! At one point there were five parties going at the same time; one in Caitlin's room, one in Alan's room, one on the front door step, one in the lounge and one in front of the TV watching the rugby. Go Crusaders! Of course this did lead to Uncle Rory going into hiding to avoid the bragging nephew.

We had friends popping in and out all day and it was lovely to catch up with everyone although saying good-bye was not so easy. The last two party-hearties, Fiona And Rachel, finally gave up sometime bewtween 3.30 and 4am. Totally mad but it had to be done. Patch made it to 1am which was a big effort.

The 'sheep dip', now a PatchFi tradition, was served as per tradition in a large plastic bucket. Knowing there were to be a number of teenagers at the party Fiona got sneaky and hardly put any alcohol in - the kids thought it was delicious and stole the bucket eventually. Little did they know they were only getting about a teaspoon of alcohol each!

The evening progressed from social chit-chat to rugby mayhem and on to a sing-along challenge. The winner by a mile was definitley Patch and the 'leg' guitar. Unfortuneatley we couldn't convince Uncle Rory to repeat his 1977 classic performance of 'Black Betty' with bare chest and 'tennis racquet' guitar. The kids were stunned to find that the adults all knew the words to 'Rasputin' and a couple of other recent hits. Hee hee little do they know the oldies heard it first.

So - that's another step on the road to Italy. Two and a half rubbish skips, one signed rental agency agreement and a sold spa pool means we are ever closer to our destination.

Friday - two weeks to go

What a busy day today. Been talking to the insurance company, the bank, the rental agency, the dog movers... So many decisions to make and at least some progress is being made.

Mum has arrived with us. She flies out on Tuesday and will soon be with the family in Nth Ireland. Next time we see each other will be in Italy. How exciting - and a little weird!

Okay - now it's really happening

Turned out we didn't have the actual final definite 'Yes' last time I posted. We got that yesterday morning. Bit of an anti-climax in the end as it has been such an awful wait whilst decisions at the top were being confirmed.

So in 12 days time the packers arrive and four days later we are on an aircraft. There is still so much to do and so little time...

We are onto our third skip bin. Those of you who know what hoarders we are will appreciate what that means. Lots of stuff has been thrown out - or sold on TradeMe - or given away to charities - or has found a new home with friends!

It's really happening

We are off to Italy. In one month and one day we will be landing at Malpensa airport in Milan, Italy. A whole nother chapter of life is beginning for us.

We hope that this blog will be an easy way for family and friends to share our journey.