assorted ramblings

Thank God it’s the weekend. Another week closer to retirement!!

We had friends over for dinner last night. They were knackered. They’d spent all day helping a friend move her stuff from her ex’s place. But we had a great evening, with delicious lamb shanks and my favourite impressive dessert – a coffee meringue roulade. It was a big hit. Plus, they headed off before 11pm, so we had a reasonably early night. Typically, dinner with this couple finishes some time in the wee small hours, so 11pm was an early finish.

It was a great night. This couple were the only people at our wedding, aside from the officiant and the photographer. They are very dear to us – they’re the loveliest people. They were married young and had their two boys young, and the boys (who are now 16 and nearly 19) are great to be around too, just very nice teenagers.

The units are all progressing. Well, apart from the Glendalough unit, that is. Our reno project is moving along – the bathroom is finally finished! Now the kitchen cabinets are being built. Hopefully it’ll all be finished in a few weeks’ time.

We’ve organised a tenant for our other unit. There’s only been a gap in tenants of about two weeks. It wouldn’t have even been that long, but the previous tenant lift the place unbelievably dirty. I’m talking sugary drinks spilt and not cleaned up at all, therefore catching every piece of dirt to stick; liquid dribbles down all the walls, and some of the ceilings, as if she and the boyfriend had been throwing drinks at each other; broken furniture; absolutely filthy kitchen; a broken towel rail in the bathroom; curtains marked as if they’d been used as bedsheets. There were cockroaches, and cockroach poo, everywhere. It was unbelievable. I’ve never worked so hard in my life, cleaning it up.

Still, it’s spotless now, and we have a tenant moving in on Thursday. He seems quiet living and like a reasonable person. He also wants a long lease. As long as he looks after the unit, it sounds like a good arrangement to me.

Our Glendalough unit hasn’t even been looked at. SO went past today and showed it to his dad and stepmum. Apparently they were quite impressed with it. Well, impressed with its potential, at any rate. Hopefully we’ll get in there tomorrow and get started. SO was originally wanting to rent it out in its current condition, but after seeing it again today, he agrees that some work does need to happen before we can rent it. The bathroom particularly is disgusting – the ceiling is peeling, and it’s been painted blue, very very badly. So yes, some work needs to happen. Luckily, I’m an expert in scraping and painting. I even know how to get paint out of my hair with minimal hassle.

So yes, tomorrow we get back into it. Same shit, different unit.