Hello from Clapham!

Hellooooo everyone! I'm glad to have internet connection again to be able to write to you all! A few weeks ago, Annelies and I were deeply involved in packing and moving across the river to our new home near Clapham Junction. We were even a bit stressed when it came to the move...which actually turned out VERY WELL.

We used a "man and a van" service to help us move; it's not a full service moving company, and we pay a flat rate for a day's worth of work. Instead of full servince, they basically help YOU to move your items, and the responsibility for packing is all yours. Luckily for us, the movers were early and somewhat motivated to get the job done (plus they sent 3 when we expected 2!). After having a chat with them in the morning, I realized that these guys were paid by the hour and expected to work until 5PM, whereas we paid the company for the whole job. So I essentiallly told them, "look, we want to get this over with, so if you guys bust your butts and get it done early, I'll happily tell your boss that you were here until 5PM." Apparently they liked that proposition and we finished moving everything by 2:15PM! That gave Annelies and I time to set up our bedroom and the bathroom before we collapsed to sleep at 9PM that night...

Anyhow, by Sunday night we were 95% moved in and settled; Annelies took off Monday to tidy up the last few things and now we're all set! This place is a small brick house, over a hundred years old; and it certainly has lots of "character" :) It's bigger than our old place with a nicely sized spare bedroom, dining room, living room, and kitchen, and even some storage space. There is a small yard in the back (which is muddy now from all the rain, but will be beautiful in the summertime!) and it's walking/running distance from Wandsworth Common and Clapham Common. Also -- and this is a key benefit -- it's about a 7 minute walk to Clapham Junction train station. Because of the proximity to this station, both Annelies' and Jason's commutes have dropped by 30-45 minutes each day!! Woo hoo! (all this, and the place is even just a bit cheaper than our last flat...)

If you're interested, here's the view from Google Maps:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=st+john%27s+hill+grove,+SW11&layer=&sll=51.466521,-0.165482&sspn=0.023473,0.058365&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=51.461922,-0.177498&spn=0.01246,0.043259&t=h&om=1&iwloc=addr

Anyhow, things are generally going quite well otherwise. We're looking forward to a nice 4-day weekend in Berlin this weekend. We'll be seeing a Dave Matthews concert there -- 6 years ago we met at a Dave Matthews concert! We'll take lots of pictures and will try to update the blog with good pics sometime next week.

We hope you're all doing well. Spring time is in the air and the tulips are blooming here in London!! Lots of love,

-Annelies, Jason & Vinny