Today we finally started painting the livingroom! I will definitely post before and after photos when the place is close to how I want it. We'll be utilizing a lot of hand-me-downs from Mark's family -- there are a lot of gems just rotting in a shed behind his uncle's house. I can't wait to put them back in action!

I have other posts in the works, but until I unpack the chord that connects my camera to my computer, I will hold off.

Things I learned: thick bleach is really good at cleaning mold, and these old cement houses are a real bitch when it comes to hanging anything from the walls. I had a curtain rod up with 4 screws (including drywall plugs), and the freaking thing just fell off the wall! So I spackled it all back up, and will try, try again. Not feeling confident about it though.

I can't wait to see how the paint (a tannish brown) looks in the daylight! And now that we painted behind the bookcase, we can unpack the books. This is HUGE! Someday this place will be homey, if it kills me.

Just a note to say HI! I'm still alive! We "moved house" yesterday, and it's been sort of nuts. First, there was having to pack all of our stuff. Considering that apartments come furnished, we had a surprising amount of stuff. We managed to get help from a new friend of ours who has a small van, but it took three trips!

However, our new cool, homey place wasn't exactly what we planned on. Our landlord didn't have time to really do anything to the apartment since the guy before us moved out (the day before, admittedly), but also the guy left a TON of stuff behind. And nearly all of it junk, too.

Additionally, he apparently didn't use the front bedroom, and had shut the radiator off. So there's a bit of a "damp" problem in there. Today we shuffled stuff around all day, trying to clean mildewy spots and move furniture to where it needed to be, which was no small feat considering all the extra crap in here. When we moved the nicer wardrobe from the front room into our bedroom, we realized the extent of the damp problem in that room. It wasn't actually "damp," but "wet." Half the wall was actually wet. However the landlord luckily supplied a dehumidifier for us, and it's working away. My hope is that with some heat and a dehumidifier, cleaning, and a bit of paint, we can say good-bye to the damp and mildew.

But seriously I'd like to punch the previous tenant in the mouth. The filter on the washer/dryer unit appears to never have been cleaned out. The inside of the microwave is RUSTED (yes, the microwave is rusted -- you read that right) -- because the dude never took the plastic off the vent on it, so the moisture has never escaped. It's literally the dirtiest microwave I've ever seen. Every nook and cranny seems to contain some new horror.

HOWEVER, having said that...I think this place has amazing potential. The kitchen is adorable. We've been cleaning it and re-arranging things to get it work-able. The livingroom will be spectacular with a coat of paint and some nice things on the walls. It's just not as much space as we'd hoped. Actually I take that back -- it's just that we have too much STUFF. But it will all fit nicely with some planning (and maybe help from Ikea). We are going to get rid of the bed in the front room, move the small futon from the living room into there, and then snag one of Mark's uncle's extra arm chairs for its place. The landlord said she would pay for paint, so all we have to do is pick some colors and do it. I'm thinking a nice simple caramel for the living room.

But the biggest thing is cleaning. The guy who lived here before clearly never cleaned once while he lived here. The shower is downright disgusting. The only thing to do is re-grout the tiles. But despite all the work that needs doing, when I look around I see a vision of it in my head and I can't wait to execute it!

Tomorrow we start cooking, and won't stop until Friday afternoon. Then it's back to home improvement. Merry Christmas, everyone!

My blog is read by people planning to move to Ireland and people who have recently moved here, so I thought I would give this little tip for those shipping items/having items shipped to them.

Always mark the contents as "Used Goods" or something to that effect. I did this for all the items I shipped to myself, and I furthermore put my own name as both the sender and recipient. I forgot to tell this to my sister when she sent me something I'd been storing at her place in the US since I moved here. She asked the postman at the US post office if she should indicate that it was my own belonging that she was sending to me, but he said no. So that probably explains why I received a notice in my mailbox that I had a package in a post office in Killbarack (nowhere near my house), and in order to get it, I'd have to pay over 46 euro customs. I called the post office who told me to call customs, who told me to go to the post with my immigration card and I could sort out. No such luck. When I got there, they said that was impossible, and they weren't in any position to change customs fees. Basically, if I wanted my package, I needed to pay the money, case closed. So, that's what I did. HOWEVER, when I got home I called customs again, and got a name and address of a person to whom I could mail my receipt along with proof that the item had been my own and proof that I was a permanent resident of Ireland. A couple weeks later, I received a check in the mail for 36 euro. I don't know why they couldn't have refunded the entire amount, but whatever. Still, between train and taxi fairs (the item was too big to walk with) and the ten euro I didn't get back, my mistake cost me well over twenty euro.

So, consider this a cautionary tale!