Handed in my noitce yesterday!

The day finally cames yesterday and I handed in my notice. I thought it would feel fantastic (which it did in a way) but all I wanted to do was to go back home! Gutted that I have to stay there for another month. Can't imagine me having much input there now though - hopefully nobody will bother trying to encourage me to sell, sell, sell in my last month - if they do it'll be a waste of their energy!

I went to bed with a right stinking head ache last night. I can't stop thinking about everything and struggle to relax at night time. Like I've said before, Gray finishes work on 28th October and we hope to fly out on 14th November (no confirmation of flights booked yet) and last night Gray mentioned that the redundancy money may take a little longer to come through - shit! We need to get everything paid off before we leave and we also need the remainder of the money to take with us! On the last day Gray should get two months pay packets anyway so that should tide us over a little while. I think we'll probably end up living on our UK credit card when we first get out there if there worse comes to the worse. God things are never straight forward are they!

Gotta get ready for work now (not happy about that at all). Only 19 more shifts to go though - please let it fly by!!

House is coming off the Market!

After the final viewing yesterday (which went nowhere!) we decided to pull the house off the market and make arrangements to rent it out. To be honest its a lot of my mind and I feel as though we can really start to make plans now. We've spoken to the financial advisor at the Estate Agents and hes come up with a good Buy to Let mortgage for us which we're gonna go for. We've got an appt to see him again next Friday to get the ball rolling. That should give us plenty of time then to get the new mortgage in place before we leave. We plan to let the property from 1st November if possible but given that Gray doesnt finish work until 28th October that may end up slipping a bit. Hopefully not though.

I've got my sorting head on today! Firstly we're unpacking (didn't do it straight away because we had viewings lined up). Thats turned out to be 5 loads of washing (which is great!!), so while thats going through the machine I've been sorting out the wardrobes (ruthlessly!). Anything that I don't fit into (which is quite a lot at the moment unfortunately) is going, and anything that I dont think I'll need in Australia is going too! Time for a fresh start I reckon (probably means that I'm gonna left with next to nothing to wear until we go though!).

Gotta go now cos Danielle is pestering me every two minutes and I've also gotta get Grays butt off the settee!! He gets up late every weekend, takes a few hours to wake up, and then when he does he sits down in front of the flamin' telly!! Drives me mad!!

Busy busy busy!!

Back from Holiday - Thank God!

Got back yesterday morning after travelling all night and I couldn't wait to get here! I wont go into loads of details but the bottom line is that the hotel was crammed full, pools weren't big enough to accomodate all the guests, food was shite (thank god we weren't all inclusive!) and the Greek were really rude! The hotel was in a really quiet resort (just a few Tavernas dotted here and there) but the hotel was almost like a butlins holiday camp! Danielle enjoyed herself though which is the main thing. She really came out of her shell and was up at the front of the kids disco every night which was great to see. She still didn't want to eat out anywhere but we just did food for her as and when and she was happy.

We had 5 viewings on the house while we were away! Two of them apparently are very interested but as yet aren't in a position to put in an offer (great!). We've got another viewing this morning and then another tomorrow afternoon. If after that time we don't have a firm offer we'll be making arrangements to change the mortgage so that we can rent it out. To be honest I'm not too bothered which was it goes now - I just want us to know one way or the other so that we can start planning!

I'm off for a drive to Monmouth today to my mums. Danielle wanted to buy a really cheap looking china doll while we were on holiday and I made the mistake of telling her I had quite a few of them when I was young that she can have. She won't let it flamin lie now so I'm going to drive up and get them for her. The only problem I have now is finding clothes that I can fit into (oh dear!!). What can I say - I was bored on holiday so I ate and drank a lot (and I mean a lot!!).

Two viewings set up for when we're away!

Estate Agents have just phoned and we've now got two viewings set up for when we're on holiday. One of them hasn't yet sold their house so I'm not really thinking about that one but the others are going to rent out their existing hour so that would be ideal - no chain! Wish us luck everyong - reckon we're gonna need it!

Had a really stressful night last night. We lost Danielles favourite teddy (which shes had from when she was a baby!) . Finally located it in the shops this morning - how lucky was that! Going on holiday tomorrow without him would have been a nightmare - panic over now though thankfully!

Gotta start tidying the house now so that its ready for viewings while we're away! We've got a financial advisor coming tomorrow morning too to discuss our mortgage options if we decide to rent it out. Like I said before we'll make that decision when we get back from our holiday. Gonna try my damndest to flamin' relax for a week now - can't see it though to be honest!!

13 weeks to go!

We've just had an email from Qantas asking for all of our contact numbers so that Pickfords can arrange to call to give us a quote!! Good god its all happening now! I think we need to start decluttering the garage - the house is pretty much sorted becuase I'm constantly doing that and we had a good clear out before we put it on the market. Might be a good idea to start packing a few boxes though! 13 weeks today until we fly (not got confirmation of flights yet though!).

Another Hangover!

My mum phoned me up on Friday evening and talked me into going to my cousins wedding on Saturday. I ended up going on my own to keep mum company and Gray and Danielle stayed at home. Needless to say I got extremely drunk! Been suffering for it all day so I think an early night is called for tonight!

Natalie from the Estate Agents phoned yesterday and theres a viewing set up for Friday while we're away. The person viewing hasn't sold their property yet though so I don't really think much of it as yet. Fingers crossed though she'll love it, sell her house immediately and put in an offer for the asking price! Now wouldn't that be great!

I'm off to rest my weary head now! Busy day tomorrow - gotta pick up our currency for the hols!

We're leaving on 14th November!

Grays boss confirmed today that he has ok'd him leaving on 28th October so the count down has well and truly started now! Its 13 weeks Monday until we leave - sounds scarey when its put like that!

We've had to reassess my finishing date (which I'm gutted about!). Gray wanted me to work an extra month but I've negotiated just two weeks so I will officially finish on Thursday 13th October!

Estate Agents called around today to discuss rental and we had a good chat. She thinks the house is lovely and that we could easily achieve £525 per month. I was secretly hoping for more but I know thats the realistic price. Still no movement on the house so we've reduced to £139,950. When we get back from holiday we'll decided one way or the other what we want to do with it. At the end of the day though we're leaving on 14th Nov so we've gotta sort something out!!

Sat here with a cold bottle of beer now and getting into the holiday mood! Gray is cooking tea (bless him!) and then its time to relax in front of the telly watching the final of Big Brother!! YAY!!

Our house! Please let someone buy it!! 

The Three of us (about 18 months ago!!) 

More Estate Agents tomorrow!

We've got Porters Estate agents calling around in the morning to give us a rental appraisal! Don't think we'll make any decisions until we arrive back from holiday but if there has still been no movement by then I think we'll have no choice but to opt for renting it out. I've had a chat with Alliance & Leicester today who are offering some really good fixed rate deals. Rather than charging an extra 1% for converting to a 'buy to let' mortgage, with them you have to apply for a 'consent to let' which is valid for 3 years if agreed and only costs £125! Can't fault that! If we remortgage it would probably take about 4 weeks to set up and we can apply for the 'consent to let' as soon as the mortgage is up and running! Excellent!

Danielle has been saying 'shes not feeling well' again tonight which drives me mad. I've had a good chat with her though (again!) and it really is just down to the fact that she wants to be by my side all the time in the evenings! The last two evenings she has fallen asleep on my bed with me and there hasn't been a problem. Tonight she was in her room and it all kicked off again. Shes ended up falling asleep in my bed. I do feel sorry for her bless her because she does get so upset but you just dont know what to do for the best! I think over the next few months we're just going to have to go with the flow with her and let her fall asleep with me if she wants to and then as soon as she's settled in Oz we'll start to look at getting her routine sorted again! Kids eh!!

Finally heard from Qantas!

I couldn't wait any longer last night and finally emailed Qantas to ask when we should receive the offer of employment. Needless to say all through the night I was checking for their reply (had next to no sleep last night!) and it finally came! Gray has been given a start date of 28th November 2005 and we've asked to fly out on 14th November. That way Gray gets two weeks with us to sort things out while we're staying in the hotel which works out well. We just need the house to sell now! I've been looking at lots of different mortgage offers to see what we would do if the house didn't sell and its driving me nuts. We would definitely have to change mortgage companies though because the one we're with will class our mortgage as a buy to let if we rent it out and add 1% on top, which is a lot of money! Apparently the larger companies don't do this and just ask for a one off payment of around £100 which gives rights to let the property for a certain period - usually around 2 years, so we'll probably go down this route. With a bit of luck though we'll get an offer of the asking price soon and won't have to worry!!

Taking Dan horse riding in a while. Its only for half an hour but she loves it and I really enjoy watching her bless her.

I definitely need to de-stress now. My head is all over the place!

The holidays begin today!!

Thats it! I'm off work for 17 days!! Really pleased - planning to enjoy every minute of it!

Had some great news the other day. Our neighbour has offered to have our cats for us when we go to Australia! I didn't even have to ask her because she offered bless her. I did think that she would be interested because she is a big cat lover but didn't want to ask in case she felt obliged to say yes! This is a big worry off our minds because after taking Lou back to the kennels we really didn't want to have to do the same with the cats. I'm more than happy to leave them with Kim because I know she'll look after them well. I went out and bought Kim some wine, Terry some beer and Katie a nice big teddy yesterday to say thank you!

I came home from work absolutely exhausted again today - don't know what the hell is wrong with me to be honest. I was ready for bed by 6pm but I'm starting to wake up a bit now. I've also got a mouth full of ulcers which is nice! Think I might be getting a bit stressed about everything as it all seems to be happening so quickly now. I'll take the hint and try and relax over my holiday!

Just watched Big Brother where Craig was evicted in the last week. Can't believe hes gone out when Kinga is still in there! What are people thinking????

No more viewings on the house yet. Natalie from the Estate Agents phoned the day after the first viewing just to let us know he had decided against ours solely because the garden was too overlooked. He liked the house though which is good - sod all we can do about the garden! The house is advertised for the first time tomorrow in the property paper so fingers crossed we'll start to get some viewers through the door. If theres no movement by the time we get back from holiday we'll drop the price for a couple of weeks and if theres still no movement renting it out will be the only option.

Still no news from Qantas - we just want to see something in writing now! Gray can't bring his leaving date forward until he has got a job offer in writing and I don't want to resign until I see it either (well actually I 'do' want to resign but I shouldn't!!).

Off to try and relax now and then watch the second part of Big Brother at 9.30pm. I know I'm a sad case but I'm flamin' hooked!

Early night last night - still shattered!

Good morning! I've just woken up and feel like I've still got a flamin hangover! I'm too old for this drinking lark now I'm sure! Danielle and I went to bed at 8.30pm last night cos I was feeling so crap. Shes been awake since flamin 4.30am and here I am still dead to the world! Thankfully shes stayed in her room watching videos until now and has left me to lie in a bit.

Last day in work today before breaking up for summer hols - YAY! Really looking forward to having some time off (not that I do a great deal when I am in work!).

Taking Dan horse riding again tomorrow and then its gymnastics on Friday. I took her to have a chat with the doc yesterday because shes still convinced that she is going to be sick whenever we eat out or go in the car (sounds strange I know!). Shes had 3 bouts of sickness over the last six months and she seems to have a bit of a fixation on it at the moment. The doc said its normal for children to have fixations and to go back to her if things get any worse. Dan seems a lot happier for having spoken to a doc though so hopefully things will start to calm down with her soon.

Still haven't received an official offer of employment from Qantas since having our Visas agreed. We did receive one email asking us to confirm our perferred start date but nothing since. Initially we told them it was dependent on Gray getting redundancy but I've since told them that we would like to move out Mid November if possible. If the house hasn't sold by that time then we'll look at renting it out. We're gonna have a chat with a financial consultant when we get back from the holiday to see what our options are with bringing the mortgage payments down as low as possible!

My brothers girlfriend Kate had her baby yesterday. A little boy called Tyler weighing just 5lb 2 oz born by C Section. I'm pleased for them but its quite hard for us because we suffered our 6th miscarriage at the beginning of their pregnancy so it reminds us of what could have been. No more kids for us now though - we're off to Oz!

Right gotta shake myself now and get ready for work!

Come back for some more exciting entries from The Font Family!!!! (god my life is sooo boring at times!!).

Bit of a hangover today!

Bill and Chris went back yesterday and while I was in work I got a call from my cousin Carl from Monmouth. He was working in Bridgend on a job that was going to last a couple of days so he asked if he could stay the night. Needless to say chatting turned into a take-away turned into quite a bit of alcohol! It was a really good night though I must admit. I can feel the effects of it today though - not too bad, just tired (no change there!!).

Gray was off work last night. He had to go to the docs at 3.40pm and afterwards decided not to go in. I'm not sure if hes going in tonight or not - hope not. I'm in work today and tomorrow and then thats me finished until the end of August. Counting the days now until I can finish on 29th September!

Been having problems with Danielle lately. Very, very clingy and has a bit of a phobia against eating food outside of the house (sounds strange I know!). I think its all linked to times when shes been sick and shes connecting the two and is convinced that if she eats certain foods or in certain places it'll make her ill. Hopefully its just a phase and it'll pass soon. God knows what we'll be like in Australia if it carries on because we'll be in a Hotel for the first month!

Right I suppose I had better drag myself off to work!

Catch you later!

Gray got redundancy!!!! YAY!!!!

We finally got the news we've been waiting on Friday that Gray got redundancy! Needless to say we are over the moon. His official leaving date now is 1st Dec 05 but we're hoping to bring it forward to 28th October. After much begging on my behalf hes also agreed to me finishing on 29th September (our wedding anniversary!!). We're then hoping to move out to Australia mid November if possible. Obviously this will be dependent upon the house sale but we really don't want to be moving out any later than early December. If we did then we wouldn't be able to visit Danielles school before her starting at the end of Jan 06 as they'd be closed for their summer holidays. If theres no movement on the house by that time then we'll probably end up renting it out. Thats something we really dont want to do but we're not going to let the house hold us up.

Off for a bath now and hopefully an early night! Bill & Chris (Grays mum and dad) are here at the moment and we've had a busy day in Cardiff today and quite a few drinks over the course of the weekend! I'm absolutely shattered and I'm in work tomorrow - only for 3 days though thankfully because then I'm off for 2 1/2 weeks for our summer holiday! When I go back then I'll only have 4 weeks before finishing for good!! YAY!!

Catch up soon!

Redundancy Board Tomorrow!

Finally the redundancy board is sitting tomorrow and I must admit to feeling extremely nervous! If Gray gets this it would make a huge difference to our finances and would take a lot of stress off having to sell. It would also mean that if we did sell then we would be able to invest all of the equity thus reduce the risk of us being priced out of the market when/if we return.

I'm already shattered from getting very little sleep these last fews weeks and tonight is no exception. I feel dead on my feet at the moment but I know that come 10pm I'll start to wake up and start checking my PC every five minutes for emails from Oz! God I wish I wasn't so flamin' obsessive!

We were hoping to have an official offer of employment from Qantas prior to the redundancy board but unfortunately it hasn't arrived in time. Hopefully it won't jeopardise things too much though.

Still no viewings on the house but then it still hasn't been advertised in the Property News yet. It will be in next weeks paper so fingers crossed they start queueing at the door then!

I have a bottle of wine already cracked open and I am now off downstairs to start to drink it (and to watch Eastenders!).

Catch up soon!

Sleepy Tuesday!

I'm feeling absolutely shattered today! Danielle was awake at flamin' 5.30am for some reason and always feels the need to make me aware of the fact as soon as she wakes up! That combined with the fact that I'm even checking my email through to night to see if there is any news from Qantas equals very little sleep! We will hopefully hear from Qantas this week (thought we would have done already to be honest) and as soon as we do things will feel a lot more real. At the moment I think it still feels as though we're planning for a holiday rather than planning to move across to the other side of the world!

I've told work that I will hopefully be finishing at the end of September (Grays redundancy permitting) and I must admit that I can't wait. If Gray doesn't get the redundancy then we will both be absolutely gutted. Its a lot of money and would take a lot of pressure off if he was to get it. If it doesn't come off though we won't let it stop us from going. This is something that not many people get the chance to do and so we've got to try it. At least we get to see a bit of the world - if we don't like it then we'll come back - simple! I must admit to worrying about Danielle settling in though. Shes been extremely clingy these last couple of months and hasn't wanted to go to school. I know that I'm going to have to go through it with her in Oz too and I'm really not looking forward to it. At least I'll know though that its not necessarily Oz thats the problem but just that she loves mummy!!

I've just filled out the forms to open up a Commonwealth Bank Account. Seems to be pretty straight forward - download the forms, fill them out and send them off with various forms of ID. Apparently the account can be opened up within about 5 days which is great (not that we need it in the immediate future but its nice to know its done!).

God I'm waffling now - tirednes and irritability are kicking in too which is nice! Time for a strong coffee I reckon!

Bye for now........

No Viewings Yet!!

As the title suggests we haven't had any viewings yet (although in all honesty it hasn't really been advertised yet!!). We've bought another large pot for the front to give it more 'kerb appeal' and Danielle and I have just spent out in Tesco on some flowers to make the house smell nice!

I had to go back to work today after having 4 days off - can't stand it! Gray is on nights this week so he's looking after Danielle while I'm at work, then I get home at 2.15pm and he goes to work at 3.15pm! He took Danielle to a new gymnastics class today at the Rec which is running during the school holidays. She seems to have really enjoyed it and came home with a certificate!

We haven't heard anything from Qantas yet with an offer of employment. I would imagine that will come some time this week. It would be good if it could come before Friday so that Gray can hand it to those sitting the redundancy board - it may make his case look a bit stronger!

Off to get Danielle to play hairdressers now!

Catch you soon

xxxx