Sorry so slacking...

So, I’ll bet you’re all wondering why we’ve been such slackers on our blog lately. We took this nice trip to Italy and then seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet! Were we abducted in Italy? Did we like it so much we decided to move there? What’s the deal? Where’d we go?

So here’s the problem. The week before we left for Italy, our flat had a meltdown, it seems. First, our shower has been broken since we moved in; it releases no cold water in the stream, so if the water heat is turned to a normal temperature, it scalds us in the shower because no cold water is mixing in. We’ve countered this problem by turning the main water temperature down to a level we can stand in the shower, but the landlady was supposed to have sent someone to fix the problem while we were in Italy. We figured that would be the best option, so that we and the dogs were out of the plumber’s way and vice versa.

In addition to the shower, however, my computer crashed the week before we left. Andrew had been watching a baseball game on it in bed the night before, and we got up and turned it on to check the weather only to receive a loud series of beeps in reply.

The night before we left, we were still trying to finish up some last minute laundry and realized our washer/dryer combo machine had broken, as well. The morning we left for Italy I was pulling sopping wet clothes out of the machine, wringing them out in the sink, and laying them out around our kitchen to dry while we were gone. We had every intention of calling the landlady to ask her to have the dryer fixed while we were gone, as well, but we were so excited about our trip, I guess, that we forgot.

Anyway, we arrive home from Italy, absolutely exhausted, to a hot, muggy London and a messy flat, only to discover that no one had been there to fix anything at all! The shower was still broken; my computer still wouldn’t start, and the dryer hadn’t magically fixed itself during our absence, unfortunately. Katy picked us up from the airport and took us to East Croydon to pick up the girls, and she got to see the Wrath of Andrew as we came in and realized this; poor girl.

Andrew called the landlady, who was full of excuses for why nothing had been done. We never told her the dates we would be gone; she was sick in the bed; she was on holiday, etc. Whatever, lady, just admit you forgot! She eventually let us know that someone would be out the following Wednesday to fix the shower; Andrew was so angry that he didn’t even broach the subject of the dryer.

So Wednesday Andrew leaves for Miami. He’s being put on a new engagement with GM, and he’ll be spending a lot of time Dubai. Yes, Dubai. Google it if you don’t know; it’s paradise, literally. He’ll be spending two weeks at a time there, so I’ll be left to fend for myself on the weekends for the first time here in London. It’s going to be excruciatingly boring without him around the house to crack me up and make messes that we have to clean later, and, meanwhile, he’ll be spending his weekends sleeping at five-star hotels, laying out on beautiful beaches, golfing at famous resorts, and shopping at the amazing malls. Okay, maybe his life won’t be that blissful in Dubai, as he’ll be as lonely as I am, but at least it should be peaceful there. And he’ll have a maid, living in a hotel. Lucky dog!

Anyway, back to Wednesday – Andrew leaves for Miami; I leave for work, come home to find a gigantic hole in my shower. Luckily we have a separate bathtub, so I didn’t panic. I just figured they’d be back the next day. But, of course, they weren’t. I began calling the landlady at 6:30 and called both her house and cell phone once every couple of hours after that until about nine. I think I left three messages total between the two machines. She calls me back the next morning and is pissed with me! I have a hole in my shower for two days because of something she was supposed to have had fixed a week before, and she’s mad at me! She says they’ll be there to fix it on Monday. The plumber comes on Tuesday and fixes the shower so that it works. I’ve still got a hole in the wall; there are no tiles up around the faucet, but at least the shower works. We still have no idea when the hole will be fixed. We haven’t heard back from anyone in two days.

By this time we’ve arranged for the dryer to be fixed, as well. Unfortunately, we have to pay for that in cash, out of pocket, ourselves, and it’s really expensive, so it’s not getting fixed until this coming Monday, the 18th.

Also during this time, Andrew is doing his best have my computer fixed, as well. He had to mail it to Scotland. And now we come to the point of this emergency not-abut-Italy post… Andrew’s computer won’t let us upload our photos, and there were so many amazing things to see in Italy that we don’t want to post them without the photos, which means we have to wait until we get my computer back. Once we do, however, I’ve been working on the postings, and we’re doing three separate posts, one for each city, so that you don’t get too bored because I know I ramble and you all probably just skim through these posts to get the gist and the important things!

Love to you all!