The Font Family

More good news!

2007-08-01T04:09:00.001-07:00

It seems to be the time for good news in the Font household ("at last" I hear you cry!). There were two viewings on our UK house yesterday and Gemma phoned this morning to say that one of them had gone for it! Over the moon to say the least. We had decided to reduce the rent to 560 per month but the couple who viewed it had seen it advertised at 580 and were happy to pay that. Gemma has also reduced her fee to 7.5% which is great - anything is a help at the moment. The couple who are taking it sound really nice. The woman is a lecturer at Uni and her husband is a full time Uni student. They've just sold their house in Bridgend (not sure of the reason behind that) and are looking to rent for a couple of years - excellent! They're due to complete on the sale of their house on 24th August and will possibly move in slightly earlier than that. The sooner the better for us obviously.

Still smiling with the good news!

2007-08-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Well its still all smiles in the Font household after mums good news last week. I had been living on a lot of 'what ifs' over the last few weeks (as I'm sure my mum had!) and its a big relief to be able to plan things with that worry. I had planned to get the next flight home with Danielle if the results were negative so that I could drive mum back and forth the hospital etc for treatment and to basically be there for her. Grays mum and dad are due out in 6 weeks and I wasnt even sure if I'd be here for that. Thankfully now we can really start planning things. I'm gonna try and get mum back out as soon as possible too. It'd be fantastic if she could come out for Christmas but I dont know how realistic that is. Flights are costly at that time of year and I know that mum might worry about how she would cope with the heat (although last Christmas wasnt hot at all - more like a UK summer!).

TAFE is going ok. The course is split up into 4 modules with 4 different teachers. Two of the lessons I'm really enjoying, one of them I've decided to study full time from home (project management) as I cant spend enough time in the classroom (have to leave early to pick up Danielle) and the other one is a bit of a nightmare right now. Matthew (the teacher) is very very bland - your typical computer geek actually - and his teaching leaves a lot to be desired. We've only had two lessons so far and both of them were spent the same way - the first 30 mins doing a question and answer session (I liked that) but then it went drastically downhill. He just sat us all in front of an online tutorial for the next 3 hours. The tutorial itsself was very basic and it would take a lot for someone to actually 'learn' from it - plus you could work your way through it in a max of 30 mins but we were sat there for 3 hours - not good at all!

Its Sharons daughters 19th birthday today. For her 18th Sharon & Noel had a big get together at their house and I really cant believe that a year has passed since then. The time here has flown by.

27th July - Fantastic News!

2007-07-28T01:27:00.000-07:00

The results are in and they’re ALL GOOD! Mum is now CANCER FREE! Over the moon to say the least. She has to take tablets for 5 years to reduce the risk of it returning in the other breast but apart from that she’s all clear. No sign of cancer in any of the lymph nodes. They did confirm that the lump was cancerous and also that the tissue around the lump was cancerous too so it was definitely a good move for her to have had the entire breast off.

26th July - "D' Day has arrived for Mum

2007-07-28T01:26:00.002-07:00

Well today is the day that mum gets her results. I’m feeling as nervous as hell so I can only begin to imagine how she must be feeling. It’s the longest day ever too because I’ll have to wait until about 1am until I know how it went (this time difference sucks!).

I’m gonna give her a call in a minute and then I’ll update here I think. The update after that will be when we’ve had the results! Fingers crossed its good news.

25th July - Second week in TAFE

2007-07-28T01:26:00.001-07:00

Well this week has been a bit up and down so far with TAFE. Yesterday I had a blinding headache all day and so the teachers just really pissed me off. Both Tuesday teachers are really boring so that wasn’t helping. Today has been better though thankfully and I feel as though I’ve learnt a lot (which is more than I can say for yesterday!).

Mum gets here results tomorrow so fingers crossed for that – not really much else I can say about that. Obviously I’m dreading it but also looking forward to knowing what the situation is.

Mum had some great news this week. Shes finally been accepted as a registered child minder. It was really all down to the doctor saying she was fit enough to work (this was before the cancer was diagnosed) which he obviously did. It’ll be a while before she gets some kids to look after but the great thing is that this will give her the ability to earn her own money and give her a bit of independence which is exactly what she needs.

We have a mortgage advisor come to the house last night. Its looking more and more likely that we will have to sell the UK house as we have no tenants still, so we wanted to check out our options. We were surprised to find that we are in a position to be able to buy an investment property if we wanted to (the rules are all different in Australia) so we’re seriously considering that. Needless to say as soon as the bloke left I was on the internet checking out properties. If I hadn’t have had to go to TAFE today I have no doubt in my mind that I would have been viewing a few too. I’m in TAFE again tomorrow but Friday I might give it a shot!

Grays back on days now – YAY! He did have Monday and Tuesday off though. Monday was just a recovery period – he hardly slept over the weekend as he was so used to doing nights. Tuesday he took off to take Danielle for an Xray. She fell off the horse on Monday night while doing her first proper jump, and the flaming horse stood on her arm bless her. Alls good though, its just swollen and bruised. She got to go to school with a sling today (just to rest it) which she was obviously very happy about!

22nd July - Grays finally finished nights!

2007-07-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

Its Grays first official day off nights tonight and its nice I must admit (if not a little strange!).

I took Danielle swimming today with Sharon & Katie while Gray stayed at home and sorted the garden out (which desperately needed doing!). We then popped into town and picked up a couple of sweater (2 Puma Sweaters for $60 – bargain), and later on we went to Sharon & Noels for tea (and a few beers – very nice!).

I’m just updating this and then I’m heading to bed. Grays gonna throw a sicky tomorrow and hes promised to take Danielle to school in the morning so I can have a lie in (I cant see it happening myself but we’ll see!).

Bed time for me!

21st July - a quick catch up

2007-07-27T04:06:00.000-07:00

Gray worked his last night shift last night – thank god! Its been driving me nuts – although I must admit that its gonna be weird having him here in the evenings again.

My first week in TAFE went well. Pretty boring because it was just orientation but I’m sure next week will be better when we start getting into the nitty gritty of it all. Initially I was going to be finishing at 2.45pm each day so that I could pick Danielle up but I’m a bit worried that I’m going to miss too much work. It would mean me missing over 7 hours per week of a 16 hour course – not good. I’ve managed to work around this a little bit though. Sharon is going to pick Danielle up from school on Wednesdays, take her home and then I’ll finish TAFE at 4.30pm, pick them all straight up and take them to gymnastics. That’s a big help. Also when I went to TAFE on Thursday I found out that that teacher teaches exactly the same class in the mornings, so hes said that I could go to that one if it makes it easier – excellent! So, the only day I have to finish at 2.45pm now is Monday and to be honest I don’t really like the bloke whos doing that lesson so its no real hardship!!

Not long now until mum gets her results – Thursday 26th is the big day. I’m fairly positive that things will go well – haven’t got a clue how I’ll react if they don’t but the chances are I’d be on a plane as soon as I could to ferry her back and forth the hospital and to give her the support she’ll need.

Danielles swimming is going well still. After Tuesdays squads she asked if she could go back down the Sharks because it was such hard work. Thankfully she stuck with it and did really well Thursday – she did an entire hour without using her flippers (very hard work!). She also got to try out her new hand paddles which she was very impressed with.

Gray slept until 1pm today and then we all went for a quick bike ride at Penrith Lakes. That’s where Steve Redgrave won his gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Its lovely there – very peaceful.

Had UK visitors at the weekend

2007-07-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

Well we had a lovely weekend this weekend. Paul Lounds and his girlfriend Paula are travelling around Australia and so they stayed with us for a couple of nights. It was really nice to catch up with someone from home. I showed them a few sights - not much though as its pretty cold here right now plus they werent here for long.

I heard yesterday that I didnt get the job I applied for. Probably a blessing in disguise really because the hours just werent suitable. I've decided to remain focused on my TAFE course now (which I started today). Web design is the way I want to go to try and make some decent money so thats what I'm going to do. Hopefully I'll be able to get a bit of freelance work while I'm doing the course plus my websites will hopefully benefit throughout the course too and start brining a bit more cash in.

We were hoping to get mums results through today but unfortunately they're not ready. We've got to wait until next week now which is horrible. Not much more I can say about that really - its just a case of waiting and seeing. Mum seems to be coping pretty well with it all though and appears to be positive. I hope thats not just a front though.

The cold has really set in very quickly here. We now have the fire in the living room on pretty much all the time that we're in the house, plus I've just started to put the oil burner heaters on in the bedrooms too. Grays still on nights at the moment and he struggles to get to sleep when he gets in in the mornings because it is so cold. It was minus 3 this morning and is due to reach minus 7 tomorrow apparently! Not looking forward to that at all I can tell you.

A busy week in the Font Household

2007-07-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

Grays been on nights again this week (which is a right pain!), and Danielles on school holidays still (even more of a pain with Gray on nights) so I've been trying to keep us busy outside of the house.

Saturday I took her to watch horse jumping in Castlereagh which is just down the road from us. It was really nice - only trouble was that I spent the entire time there (about 1 1/2 hours) waiting for our burgers - it was shocking! One woman actually threatened to sue them because they'd given her some pasta dish with mushrooms in after she told them she was allergic to mushrooms! Not good. We took Danielle swimming later to practice her turns and then it was a lazy night doing nothing.

Sunday we literally didnt do anything. Gray spent most of the time sleeping and we just hung around the house.

Monday I had an interview at Windsor. It was advertised as part time admin work (office all rounder) so I thought it sounded ideal. I was interviewed by two people (a bit daunting) but they were both really nice. They had over 100 applicants for the position and they cut it down to 9 which I'm really pleased about as it means my resume must be effective. The only problem is that the hours are actually 1-5pm not 10-2pm which would have been ideal for me. Having said that though, if I was offered the job I think I would try and work around the time issue because it sounds great. They're going to cut it down to 4 next, then it'll be another interview with another man, and then a decision will made. While I was there Danielle went to Hayleys for a few hours which she was obviously very happy with.

We have also finally sacked our Estate Agents in the UK. Since Gemma left there (the girl who was managing our property) things had just gone down hill. They didnt reply to emails and when they did it was like talking to a child. The boss (Darren) would email in text talk and it would like as though he was pissed - not good - definitely not professional. I was on the phone to them at 10pm Monday evening telling them to hand over the keys to a friend of mine who was collecting them (who was actually going to hand them over to Gemma (the girl who used to work there) as she has now set up her own Rental business. Fingers crossed we'll get someone in soon because we desperately need the money. We struggle to survive on Grays wage here as it is, having to pay a UK mortgage too is just a nightmare. We havent had any rent in for the house for months. Not good.

Tuesday I did a Market Research group in Kellyville for 2 hours. Basically there are a group of you sitting around a table, they are recording the meeting and we discuss the product they're proposing to market. In this case it was BBQ Sauces. I'd definitely do it again as I got $70 for just talking!!

Today I've woken up with a head full of cold and a cough - its been lingering for a while but has really kicked in this morning. I was awake at 4.30am so got up and watched a bit of TV on the settee - managed to fall asleep for two hours there which made me feel better. I think I'm gonna have a lazy day on the settee in front of the TV all day today - probably take Dan swimming at 4pm but that'll be about it.

Mums still in hospital. She'll hopefully be leaving today if her drip comes out. Its taken a little while longer than normal for it to come out - not sure of the reason behind it - just one of those things I guess. Shes also been on anti-biotics and pain killers because shes got a bit of an infection where the drain goes in. When I spoke to her yesterday she said the pain killers seem to have kicked in as she was feeling a lot more comfortable. She cant wait to get home now which is understandable. I'd be happier with her going home too because with her being so far away (in Port Talbot - about 1 hour 20 mins from home) shes not getting any visitors (well actually Tony & Gill visited her on Sunday but they've been the only ones). When she gets home she'll hopefully have lots of people rallying around her. Dave will be due back on Sunday too so thats good. She seems to be dealing with the fact that shes lost her breast quite well I think. At the end of the day she just has to remember that with the breast gone, so too has the cancer (hopefully for good!). She has to go to Bridgend Princess of Wales Hospital (where Danielle was born funnily enough) on Tuesday to get the results. The signs are looking good so far as they only removed 4 lymph nodes during the op so fingers crossed its good news.

Back to my lazy day in front of the TV now! :)

Danielles such a clever girl :)

2007-07-06T01:27:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention that on Saturday Danielle had her gymnastics grading (while I was getting ready to go into Sydney for a hen night!!!). She did really well and came away with the gold (again!). Very proud of her.

Last night she also went to Squads and was put up into the next group - its full on traning now bless her - an hour of flat out swimming - thats a lot for anyone let alone a 7 year old! She did really well though bless her.

Mums just phoned!

2007-07-05T04:50:00.000-07:00

Mums not long phoned - great to hear from her. She sounded really well. Apparently they only took 4 lymph nodes (which is a good sign!) and only has one drain. Others on the ward have had far more removed - one poor woman actually had all of hers removed.

I'm a little concerned that they've told her she might be able to leave tomorrow or Saturday - thats only 2/3 days post op. I wouldnt mind if someone was gonna be there with her at home but Dave has gone on holiday and wont be back for another 10 days. She does have lots of friends to keep an eye out for her but I just wish I could be there to take care of her (mind you my cooking probably wouldnt help!! haha)

Mums just text

2007-07-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

Well after sending 8 texts to mum while she was out of it she finally replied today :)

The op went as well as they expected which is great. Hopefully I'll get to speak to her later on.

Mums up and about!

2007-07-04T18:51:00.001-07:00

I phoned the hospital again this morning (6.30am our time - 9.30pm UK time) but couldnt get an answer. Thankfully my Auntie Carol managed to get through to them and text me to tell me she was doing fine and had just gotten up to go to the toilet :)

The next two weeks are going to be pretty difficult waiting for the results. God only knows what I'll do if it comes back to see its in the lymph nodes - I cant even think about it. For now I'm just happy that she had those horrible cells cut off her! :D

Managed to get through to the Hospital

2007-07-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

I phoned the hospital again at 9.30pm Aus time (12.30 UK time) and mum was sleeping off the anaesthetic in the Ward. I didnt ask any more than that as I assumed that they wouldnt really know anything - plus I want to speak to mum first. It was nice to hear that she was back though.:)

The Big Day has Arrived for Mum!

2007-07-04T03:43:00.000-07:00

Today is the day. Mum is currently in surgery having her breast removed. I've just phoned the hospital to see how shes got on but shes still in surgery. They trying out a new procedure with mum regarding the lymph nodes and injecting dye into them the night before. Apparently this then gives an indication of those which may need to be removed and tested. As its a new procedure theres also a professor from Cardiff there checking it out which is why they believe it may be taking a little longer than normal.

I'll update as soon as I know anything.

Busy Day Today

2007-06-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

Grays still on nights this week (and will be next week too) so I've been busy on the website. Decided to register for an ABN today (Australian Business Number) - been meaning to do it for a while but I finally got around to it. Only took about 10 mins and didnt cos anything so I dont know why I havent done it sooner. I also realised that the Shops in Oz website I've set up is set up using a US server and is .com rather than .com.au - not ideal when you're trying to hit the Australian market. Anyway to combat this I decided to sign up for the domain name shopsinoz.com.au and completely re-do the site - well that was my plan! The web hosts advertised as having a great Site Builder but I was soon to find out that it wasnt that great - not for someone like me with very little website building knowledge. I thought that I actually knew more than I did. Needless to say I'm going to get my money back from the Web Hosts but that means that I now have a .com.au URL but dont know what to do with it! Queue my next bit of info!

I enrolled at TAFE (college) today for Cert 4 Web Design. Its classed as full time (16 hours per week) but I'll only actually spend 10 hours there because it runs over after pick up time for Danielle. They've said it'll be fine for me to finish early each day though and work on what we've learnt at home - that works well for me. Hopefully I'll pick it up quickly and be able to do something with my new domain! Initially I want to just redirect the URL but I'm not even sure how to go about that! Its all fun eh?!

Danielles been off school the last two days too. Just had a bit of a temperature - nothing much but all her class have been having time off ill so I thought it best to keep her off. Its also her gymnastics grading on Saturday and I really want her to be well enough for that because she was ill last time and missed out. Chances are she'll be moving up a grade this time - the down side to this is that it'll probably mean me sitting around for 2 hours on a Wednesday while shes training rather than the 1 hour I have to do now!

That'll do for now anyway!

Danielles had her first sleepover party!

2007-06-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

Mums op is scheduled for 3rd July so until then (the wait is awful obviously) I'm trying to get on with life as normally as possible. She seems to be pretty upbeat whenever I speak to her, and she tells me shes fine, but I know that deep down she must be in turmoil (as we all are). All we can do is hope that things all turn out good.

Danielle was invited to a sleep over party a few weeks ago and got upset at the fact that she couldnt bring herself to go (shes very clingy to me at night time) so as a way of making her feel a little better I told her we'd have a sleep over party here. Initially she had 5 friends coming but due to two of them not feeling too well yesterday it ended up with just 3 of them. This actually worked out better because they all fit in the one room.

It wasnt as chaotic as I'd imagined it would be which was good. They pretty much entertained themselves all the time. I told them they had Danielles room and the spare room to do with as they liked - this left the TV and living room all to me - I'm not stupid! Gray managed to get himself rostered onto nights - hes not stupid either!

The girls went home at 10am this morning and 2 hours later Danielle is already bored! Gray is still sleeping so theres not really a lot we can do so I think I'll do a bit more work on my website. Things have been going pretty well for both sites. The Expat Store is looking really good and there is a lot of interest in the Australia Online Shopping Directory which I'm very pleased about. It is very very time consuming though which I didnt expect at all.

Off to take my laptop and sit in front of the TV while doing a bit of online work.

The fun never ends here!

Hangover from Hell Today!

2007-06-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

Well to try and keep myself busy last night (rather than sitting in brooding) I decided to go out for a few drinks with the girls! Needless to say I didnt know when enough was enough and ended up getting pretty slaughtered (which I havent done for a long long time!). As I was drinking I knew I was gonna feel rough the next day but I really didnt give a damn - I managed to have a laugh at the same time which was very much needed.

I was right anyway - shocking hangover today - I'll be glad when today is over so that I can hopefully wake up tomorrow feeling better!

Feeling really weird about the 'mum' thing. Dont really know what to feel at all. She tells me that shes dealing with it OK and as I only have her word for it I just have to believe her - nothing I can do about it from over here anyway.

The next 3 weeks are gonna be a very anxious time for all of us. Waiting for the Op to be over and done with and then waiting for the results.

Off to watch a bit of TV now I think.

Terrible News

2007-06-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call from mum this morning. Her annual mammogram has shown up a small cancerous lump - breast cancer. I struggle to even type those words in the same sentence as 'my mum'. At the moment I'm just in shock I think - really cant get my head around it. This is the news that every Expat dreads and I thought I was gonna be lucky enough not to get a call like this for a very long time.

Apparently the lump is only very small. She is having it removed on 2nd July and hopefully will only need radio therapy afterwards. The horrible thing though is that any dealings I (or rather those close to me) have had with Cancer have never had good outcomings. I know too much about this horrible disease and I just wish I didnt.

My mum sounded ok on the phone and kept telling me not to worry - but how can I not worry?? Its my mum, its cancer.......and I'm living on the other side of the world.

Life f***ing sucks!

The rain has finally ended!

2007-06-10T03:58:00.001-07:00

The weather has been absolutely awful here the last few days. Unfortunately 9 people lost their lives in total. Very very sad.

Thankfully it seems the worst is now over and the sun has come back out.

Yesterday was a very lazy day. We couldnt go anywhere because the rain was so bad and so we spent the day in front of the TV and PC! It actually worked out quite well because I got a lot of work done on my websites.

There has now been a store added to the Expat Forum (http://www.expatforum.com/expatstore/) which links to products from my site. Its looking really good and I'm really pleased with it. Its great for Expats too because it saves them having to try and find UK Shops which deliver overseas - I've done all the hard work for them (and trust me it has taken a looooooonnnnggggg time!!).

We went out for a meal this afternoon and our friends son Jordon came with us. A couple who moved out to Australia from the UK 2 years ago are returning to the UK so it was a farewell to them. I've got a feeling they'll be back in time but they're quite young and miss family which is fair enough.

Jordon is here for a sleep over tonight which has made Danielle very happy. As yet shes not managed a sleepover at anyones house but we're hoping she'll try to stay at Jordons sometime soon - shes pretty clingy to me in the evenings (cant blame her though I suppose!! haha).

No work for Gray tomorrow and no school for Dan. They've got a Queens Birthday Day off!! Not sure what we're gonna do but I'm in the mood for spending money (that we dont have!!).

Well as we havent done much over the last few days I dont really have much more to say.

Bye for now :-)

Its been raining for 2 days solid :(

2007-06-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

Firstly........sorry.........I forgot about the photos again!! My memory is shocking!

Well its been raining very heavily for the last two days.......non-stop!! This wasnt in the brochure! Whenever it rains every Aussie says 'Oh we need it though dont we?'!! This may be true (well its very true actually) but I DONT LIKE RAIN!

I've been keeping myself busy this last few days setting up a new website. Its still in the very early stages at the moment and I'm really just playing about with it - feel free to check it out though www.shopsinoz.com - its a directory of Aussie online shops. Its taking quite a long time just to get everything on there at the moment - then it'll be time to work on getting traffic to it! its all good fun though :)

I applied for a job today - it was advertised in TAFE so I thought I'd give it a go. Just part time casual (as needed) during school hours - admin work in an accountants I think (dont really know too much about it to be honest). The only problem is that Aussies arent generally in any rush to let you know if you've been successful or not so it could be a few weeks before I get the 'thanks but no thanks' reply! :) You never know though.

Gray and Dan went to see Shrek 3 last night at the flicks. Said it was good but not as good as the first two apparently? I wouldnt have minded going but they never get any time on their own together so its nice for them to have that for themselves.

Grays been working loads of overtime lately. I dont complain when the money comes in but I wish he didnt HAVE to. Thats why I'm working on the websites and trying to get a part time job. That little bit of extra money would make such a bit difference to us.

We still dont have any tenants in our UK house. For some reason our agents were slow getting it all cleaned out but they've said it should be ready by 9th (which is tomorrow) so hopefully we'll get someone in soon. If we dont then our money worries are going to become a lot more serious. Dont even go there!!

Right its time for the school run now.

Cya!

Another thing

2007-06-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have been asking me for photos - rather than email individually I thought I'd post here - I'm going to have a good look through my photos sometimes this week and starting posting a few.

Be patient - they're worth waiting for - honest gov!

Another gorgeous day in........paradise apprently??

2007-06-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've woken up a lot happier today - the wine definitely helped last night - I can highly recommend it to anyone feeling the same! :)

Today I've just gotta do the normal everyday boring stuff.......shopping.........washing.........cleaning........and sorting out Danielles TIP of a bedroom! She spent almost 5 hours in there yesterday, apparently tidying it, but only managed to clear the top of her cupboard - in fact I'm sure its messier in there now than when she started! Not really sure if I'll tackle it today or not actually because I just know that it'll take all day.

Might do a bit more work on my website actually (www.ukshoppingworldwide.com - for those who've forgotten!). I'm really enjoying doing it and I'm sure that when I start this course in July I'll enjoy it all the more. I didnt realise just how much there was to know about setting up a website - all good fun though!

Ok....the shops are calling.......back soon :)

Happier now! :-)

2007-06-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

After a lazy day in front of the TV.......and a glass (or 3!) of wine.......I'm feeling a lot happier! :-)

Feeling a bit flat today :-(

2007-06-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

Not really sure why but I'm feeling really flat today. Its 2 weeks today since mum went back after her six week stay and I think all the stress of it has suddenly hit me. It'll pass I'm sure but at the moment I feel like crap!

Forgot to mention about our property in the UK!! Nightmare!

2007-06-02T00:48:00.000-07:00

When we left the UK we left our property being fully managed by an Estate Agents. They gave us the impression that they had a family all lined up ready to move in. Anyway it turned out that that family fell through and so they ended up putting a different family in who were on Housing Benefits!! Not that I have a problem with housing benefit tenants.....but it would have been nice to be consulted first.

Everything was going smoothly with them for the first 6 months. Housing benefit paid around 2/3rds of the rent leaving the tenant to pay the remainder - simple you'd think, only the tenants changed their minds. Instead they decided not to pay anything! Cutting a long story short we gave the tenants notice in January that we wouldnt be renewing their tenancy agreement at the end of March. They were fine with this and made lots of promises to repay all their arrears by the time they moved out. Moving day came and they didnt answer the door......and didnt move out. After lots of pestering by our agents they finally moved out leaving behind a garden and garage full of furniture and garbage and a dirty house with stinking carpets. Thankfully they didnt trash any of the fittings and fixtures!

By the time they left we were down by about 700 pounds (sorry no pound sign on this keyboard) - we managed to use their bond of 550 pounds to get most of the work done so all in all we're probably down by about 1000! We're just waiting for the house to be cleaned right through now and hopefully we'll have tenants in by the end of the month!

The joys of being a landlord from the other side of the world!!

Its a beautiful Autumn Day!

2007-06-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Not long woken up to a beautiful Autumn day! Grays working today so I'm thinking of things to do with Danielle. She wants to go Ice Skating but I dont think its fair for us to go off spending loads of money while Grays in work trying to make us some for next weekend - its a public holiday next weekend - they get a day off in Australia for the Queens birthday would you believe!

I'll probably end up taking her swimming and then maybe for a bike ride. Its great for riding around here because its so flat and the roads are pretty quiet.

Although the sun is shining it is still really cold - well cold for Australia anyway. Theres a real bite in the air. Having said that I very rarely have to wear any sort of coat/jacket and if I do its usually just on the school run in the mornings. At most I get away with a long sleeved top and a padded gillet. We are gonna head to the shops in a little while to get some gloves for Dan and a scarf. Kids are quite funny here. They go to school in just their normal clothes (no jacket etc) but have scarf and gloves - so Dans jumped on the band wagon too. Last year she also took to wearing black tights to school and.......get this.......white sports socks over top!! God the Aussies really do do fashion!! haha. Anyway I thought that phase may have past but unfortunately not. Shes back on it this year too. Kids will be kids eh?!

Its strange (and nice) in Australia because they really dont seem to have the 'class' structure that we have in the UK. It doesnt matter what you own, wear or drive....you're not judged for it. Us Brits should hang our heads in shame really because that seems to be what we live for - what we own and look like. Sad really.

Right I'd better get myself sorted and do something constructive with this beautiful day.

Have a good one everyone and I'll catch up tomorrow - see arent I being good now! :)

My thyroid is no more!

2007-05-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

Before moving to Australia I knew I had a thyroid condition but was told that it was fine and that I could move to Australia - which we did! When going through the medicals for our PR visa it became apparent that further tests were needed on my thyroid - scans, bloods, more scans and a few more blood tests.......which eventually brought me to the decision to get it removed - it had grown A LOT in the 6 months since our move and the chances were it wasnt planning on stopping - so out it had to come. This was something I'd been expecting as my mum and two of her sisters have also had theirs removed. I had the option to get it done through the Health System (with a probable 6 months waiting list) or to go Private. Although we didnt have the money....we opted for Private to get it over and done with. I'm glad we did too because when they took it out I was told it was HUGE and a pretty difficult operation. My vocal chord nerve was cut during the Op which meant I couldnt speak for a while afterwards. Everyone made lots of jokes about it but I must admit that it was very scarey - my surgeon actually thought that it would probably be permanent which in turn gave me that belief too. Thankfully she was wrong and I now have my voice back fully - although it does get a bit weak at times. I also had to take lots & lots of calcium for a few months post Op too as the Parathyroids were effected......this again could have been permanent (my auntie is on 15 large calcium pills a day for life!) but thankfully thats all come good too - I've been lucky! My scar isnt great - very noticeable but that doesnt really bother me. Having that big fat thryoid out was my main concern and now its gone! :)

In the last 12 months - we got our Permanent Visa!

2007-05-31T17:19:00.001-07:00

I said a lot had happened - and its all coming back to me bit by bit.

As I mentioned in my posts 12 months ago we had our Medicals for our PR visa in June last year. After a lot of messing about (they wanted lots of information from my medical records about miscarriages and thyroid disease etc) our medicals were finally given the OK. I was really worried about this I must admit but thankfully it went well. We then got the all important phone call on July 28th 2006 telling us we had Permanent Residency. This didnt make much differnce to our everyday life to be honest but it just gave us that bit of security that we needed. When you move to Australia on a 457 temporary Visa (which is what we were on) then bascially it means the visa holder can 'only' work for that employer (although I could work wherever I wanted). If the job was no longer available or he was sacked then we would have 28 days to leave to country - scarey! It also meant that we would no longer have to pay school fees ($4500 per year) and that we could claim family benefits. This is something that I really had no intention of doing but with the wages pretty low and the cost of living the same (if not higher) than in the UK then needs must.

So thats it - we've now had our PR visa for 10 months and will apply for Citizanship when we've had it for 24 months :)

Another little catch up!

2007-05-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

Mum came over for a visit at the beginning of April for 6 weeks. It was great having her over here - especially for Danielle. The only problem is that it was really hard when she left (for me more than for Danielle actually). It was the longest time I'd EVER spent with my mum since I was about 18 so to see her leave again was awful. I actually felt as though I was pushing her away and the guilt for separating her and Danielle again was awful. Thankfully everythings back to normal now though which is great. Mum loved her holiday and took a ridiculous amount of photos! We took her to as many places as we could think of cos for her it was the 'holiday of a lifetime'. We're gonna try and get her out here as often as possible but off her own back it'll probably be once every 2 years because she just doesnt have the money. I wish we were in a position to be able to pay for her to come out once a year but unfortunately we're not :(.

When I get chance later I'll go through my photos (they're all on CD now) and upload a few of us throughout the year. I now have blonde hair (well streaks!) and wear contacts rather than glasses. Its really difficult if you were glasses over here because you really need to be wearing really good sunnies and prescription ones just dont cut it. Plus its a pain when you're in and out of shops if they're prescription cos you cant see a thing when you take em off!!!

I've just been reading at the school again today. I like doing that and Danielle likes to see me get involved too.

Oh I'm thinking of loads of things now as I sit here.

Pets - well we started off with a rabbit and a guinea pig. Patch & Fiona. Patch started to get a little bit too 'friendly' with Fiona so we had to separate them as he was also getting agressive to anyone who went close to her. As guinea pigs like a companion we decided to get her a friend so I headed to the pet shop and got a cute white female guinea pig - which we called Sam (after Danielles cousin!). A few weeks down the line it became apparent that Sam (the guinea pig not the cousin!) was pregnant! Great! Gray wasnt impressed at all I can tell you. Anyway apparently guinea pigs get very 'friendly' with their brothers and sisters from 3 weeks after birth and if they're not separated them more babies appear - this must have been what happened with Sam bless her - pregnant by her brother - sick! I was actually quite excited at the thought of having baby guinea pigs and watched her like a hawk until the big day finally arrived - 3 little babies. I couldnt bring myself to give them away so a friend took Patch the rabbit for us and we kept all the Guinea pigs - so we now have 5 guinea pigs!!

We also treated ourselves to a Cockatiel a couple of months ago which we're trying to teach to talk - hes called Charlie and is full of character. I'm the one who feeds and waters the little bugger but Gray is the one he loves! Charming!

I'm thinking of loads of things to catch up with now but I'll break them up into separate posts I think to make it easier to read!

Onto the next one!

Forgot to mention the car!

2007-05-31T02:56:00.000-07:00

I knew I'd miss out something really important! When we first arrived we boughta Toyota Corolla station wagon - nice car but we were still hankering after a 4WD. Anyway after 4 months we sold it and treated ourselves to a Holden Jackaroo - lovely car but heavy as hell on the petrol. Might end up trading it in again soon for an unleaded but I cant see us changing back to a 'normal car' again - I LOVE my 4WD :)

How embarrassing - 12 months since my last update!

2007-05-31T01:45:00.000-07:00

12 Months!!! Now that is embarrassing! After all the promises I made to keep this up to date.....I failed miserably!

Well here I am trying to make amends - how on earth I am going to catch up on 12 months worth of updates I dont know but I'll try my best.

We stayed in the house we first moved into for only 3 months after. It didnt have the storage we were after and was sooooo cold during the winter (yes believe it or not it does get VERY cold in Oz!) and had next to no storage.....so we made yet another move.

We're now in a 3 bed single storey house with double garage in a street with a communal pool and tennis courts (god dont we sound posh!). The house is nice and the garden isnt a bad size - just a bit of an awkward shape, but otherwise its good. The rooms are all a good size too which I love. During the summer holidays ( January) myself and Danielle were in the pool everyday because it was so hot (god I love the hot weather!). Danielle was like a little macaroon - very very brown (lifes not fair sometimes!!). She looked more Aussie than the other kids here - blonde hair, blue eyes and golden brown skin!

Its pretty much all been about Danielle now I think about it. She tried Tennis lessons for a while but didnt get on with that......so she moved onto Dance lessons, but got bored with those. Shes now settled with swimming, gymnastics & horse riding. She moved through the swimming lessons really quickly and is now training twice a week in Squads and swims for her school in the annual Swimming Carnival (very proud parents we are!). Gymnastics is just at the beginners stage so far so no big movements there but shes got a grading at the end of this month so hopefully she'll move up and start doing 'proper' gymnastics then. Horse riding has only just started but she loves that and is desperate for her own pony (dont know how to tell her but that is NEVER gonna happen!). She has been saving for almost a year to buy one for herself and has achieved a massive saving of.....wait for it......$31!! :D Shes been doing fantastically in school (well that goes without saying really with parents like us ;-)) and we're really proud of her. Shes got lots of friends and gets on with all the teachers. Unfortunately she seems to have a big following of boys too - not much of a worry while shes 7 years old but in a few years time I can see its not gonna be as CUTE!!

Grays doing well in work. He got promoted a few months back which was great. Not a huge pay rise but definitely a step in the right direction. Hes getting a bit bored now though and is thinking about doing some colleges courses to help him get into the Design side of things. He hasnt been able to do as much golf as he'd have liked (hardly any to be honest) because he does have to do a lot of overtime. The time that we do all spend together now though is quality time and we do lots more things as a family which is great.

Now its onto me! Ok here goes! I volunteer to deliver Meals on Wheels once a month with Sharon (the Aussie mate I met when we first arrived - her and her family have been brilliant and we're really close now). It only takes about 2 hours but its nice to go out and meet the old folk and also feel as though you're having some input in the community - very important when you move to a new country I think. I also do a lot of volunteering at Danielles school - reading a couple of times a week and help out whenever I'm needed. Its great to get to know Danielles school mates that way. I started TAFE (College) a couple of months ago just doing a part time Statement of Attainment course in Admin Skills - you need a certificate to wipe your own ass over here so I thought I'd better give it a go. I'm glad I did too because I've been really enjoying it. The new semester starts in July and I'm going to do either a Certificate 4 in Business Admin or a Web Design course. At the moment I'm inclined to go for the Web Design course because I've recently set up a new Website called UKShoppingWorldwide and I'd love to be able to understand all the jargon more. I was lucky enough to get chatting with a bloke from a Forum I use - Expat Forum who is helping me out so much with my site - he understands all the jargon which is great!

We went camping about 4 or 5 times during the spring/summer and absolutely loved it. There are some stunning places to visit here and everything is so kid friendly. The stunning beaches usually only have a handful of people on them and the surf is loads of fun (well for Gray and Dan it is - as you can imagine I'm much more of a whimp!!)

We've been here 14 months now and although its flown by it also feels as though we've been here forever. Very strange. The minimum time we had to stay here was 2 years so when that time elapses we'll assess our options. We all love the beach so much and with us being where we are (just over an hour from the coast) it can seem a bit restrictive in the peak of summer.

I'm sure there is lots more that I could add to this update but I dont want you all falling asleep!

Take care all and this time I 'promise' to keep it up to date!

Rach xxxx

Its been a while - sorry!

2006-06-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy getting on with our new lives that I'd forgotten all about updatig this - sorry!

Ok so we've been here 2 1/2 months now and its pretty much just everday life! Danielle is absolutely loving school and is doing really well there. The school is scruffier than the UK one but they apparently dont get a great deal of funding so thats to be expected. The teaching is great though and Danielle has come on leaps and bounds since we arrived.

Grays work is going ok. The money is pretty crap though which means that he HAS to do overtime simply for us to pay the bills etc. He still gets to finish by 6pm each day though so its not too bad and he finishes at 1pm on a Friday.

We had our Medicals last week for Permanent Residency. Its not the we necessarily want to stay here but it just gives us that bit more security if we have PR. We'll also be able to claim back some of the $4500 school fees we paid when we arrived plus be able to claim child benefit etc (something I had no intension of doing but needs must).

Everyone has been really friendly here. I met a mother at the school and we've gotten really friendly with their family. They're so welcoming and my life a lot easier for us.

It hasnt been easy by any stretch of the imagination and I've certainly had some bad times as well as good. The lifestyle however is great (even though its winter) because we get to go out on our bikes most days and there is a part right opposite the house. The roads are much quieter than the UK and so Danielle can easily ride her bike on them (obviously with me riding close by!).

The weather is extremely strange here. With it being winter it gets extremely cold in the evenings and mornings. Some might say that its not a patch on the UK (which is probably true) but in the UK most houses have central heating and double glazing - in Oz there is none of that. The doors have huge gaps around them and the standard of the building is absolutely shocking. At the moment I sleep with a heater on next to the bed, bed socks, big thick dressing gown and a nice thick duvet. The cold is something I did not expect thats for sure. It wont last long though and soon enough we'll be having the air con on 24/7!!

Gray is having a lie in this morning. To pay for our medicals he has worked 13 days solid bless him. Needless to say hes shattered.

Danielle is having swimming lessons at the moment and is enjoying them. They're very strong on learning proper swimming strokes here rather than just doggie paddle! Its really strange to see the young kids (younger than Danielle) swimming front crawl perfectly (head in water and everything - even I cant do that!! ha ha!)

We've got just over three months left on the tenancy of this house and we're still unsure as to whether or not we'll move on. The location of the house is great and so is the garden but I found the house a little depressing at times. Its very dark and always looks dirty to me because the windows are all wooden and it really needs a good paint everywhere - unfortunately when you're renting you cant do anything like that so we just have to live with it. We have seen other houses which are nicer but the location isnt there - personally I think the location is more important so we'll probably just keep looking. We're happy here for now though.

Right I think thats it for now!

Sydney Show and a lovely train ride afterwards!!

2006-04-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

Well it was Grays last day of freedom today (starts work tomorrow) so we thought we'd get the Easter show in before he started! Jesus Christ it was so busy it was unbelievable - if you havent been before it is absolutely HUGE and there was barely walking space today - crazy! A great show though with loads to do (loads of money spinning schemes too!!!). We spent 4 hours walking around it and still missed loads out.

To top it off on the train ride home there was a flamin druggy on the phone to all of his mates trying to score some more gear!! Couldnt believe it - he was obviously speeding his head off (couldnt sit still and was almost chewing his own face off!) and was trying to get hold of a gram of weed to bring himself back down (his words not ours! he was making no secret of it on the phone - the entire flamin train could hear him!). We were considering living in the village next to us but thats where this lad got off the train so we're reconsidering now!!!!

On that note I'm cracking open a bottle of beer (or 4!) and gonna try and relax!

Have a good evening all!

Two weeks into our new lives!

2006-04-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well we arrived in Sydney on 1st April (can you believe it!) and things have been moving pretty quickly since then. The amount of stuff you have to do when you first arrive is absolutely crazy! We arrived at 8am on the Saturday morning and tried to stay awake as long as we could but Jesus our heads were all over the place. I expected to feel tired but not to feel so physically exhausted and actually ill! It was very strange. Gray and I were both the same - cold, shivery and light headed. It lasted a good few days too - thankfully that stage has passed now. Weather has been great - only one miserable day in two weeks - cant really complain at that for Autumn can you?!! We moved into our house a week after we arrived and found it to be a bit tattier than we'd expected - no worse apparently than any other rental property in the area though!! Its in a great location though with a park right outside, the school around the corner and more importantly a great entertaining area outside!

So in the time we've been here we have:-
Got our Visa put in our Passports
Registered with MedicareApplied (and paid!!!!!) for schooling through the NSW Education Dept
Registered with the school
Moved into the house
Bought a car
Trans the registration of the car (and paid the stamp duty that we'd forgotten about!!)
Applied for our Aussie drivers licences and got them there and then - great service!
Set up our home phone
Set up Broadband (very important!)
Visited the Blue Mountains (only 30 mins from us which is great!)
Visited Featherdale (kids can get so close to the kangaroos its fantastic!)
Had our first barbie party!!!!! (many more of those to come!)
Bought Fridge, TV, Hoover, Microwave and Kettle (all in one go from Good Guys!)
Bought Beds (and got all the bedding including - great idea!)
Bought BBQ & Patio Set from BBQ's galore - fab shop!
Visited Mona Vale Beach (on the same day that it flamin rained - typical!!)
and finally seen our first WOLF SPIDER!!!!! trying to gain access to our house - a couple of sprays from our trusty destroyer though and he was history! Wheres the rest of his family though thats what I want to know!

I'm sure we've done much more than that but that'll do for now I think! We're enjoying it so far but we know that its not going to be easy. We're very fortunate to have a group of friends already over here who are more than happy to offer help and support when needed.

Waiting for our washing machine is a flamin nightmare!! Should really have gotten all the washing done at the launderette before Easter - can't believe almost EVERYTHING closes for the full Easter Break!!

The evenings are very strange here. As soon as its dark everyone seems to stay in their houses - very wierd! We walked back from our friends house last Saturday night at 10pm and didn't bump into a sole. There are hardly any street lights either so its pretty dark!! The days more than make up for that though! The wildlife is great! Seeing parrots just flying around is unreal - all shapes, colours and sizes!

More from us soon! Bye!

We're in Heathrow!

2006-03-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

We arrived at the Hotel at 1pm today and to be honest as soon as I saw the 'apartments' my heart flamin sank! It mentioned on the website that there was building work going on but Jesus Christ this was something else! We couldnt even work out where to park or where the entrance was. It was a pleasant surprise though when we got to the room and found that it was actually a full blown apartment - brilliant! Washing machine, dryer, fridge freezer, tv, dvd player - the whole works!! We've also got free wireless connection which for me is a bloody dream! ha ha. The apartment is really modern and so comfortable - a really nice way to spend our last night in the UK. We drop the car off at 9am tomorrow morning (just across the road!) and then get a shuttle bus (we think!) to terminal 4 - planning to check in at 10am ready for the 12 o'clock flight. Not sure when I'll next get chance to update this but I would imagine it wont be long after arriving - internet will be top on my list obviously (sad I know but what can I say!! ha ha).

Wish us luck - we're finally on our way!

We've moved onto the final furlong!

2006-03-28T01:08:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Monmouth yesterday and are at last on our final furlong of goodbyes! Me, Gray & Steph went out for a few beers in town last night - we did invite Dad but as it was raining he didnt fancy it (charming or what?!!). Gran came down for tea at mums too which was nice.

Today we've got quite a bit to get through - the main thing being I've got to treat myself to a new outfit for the plane!!

I'll catch up tomorrow when all the goodbyes are over and done with - can't wait!

We're homeless!

2006-03-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

The last week has absolutely flown by! The shippers arrived on Wednesday and started packing the house at a ridiculously fast rate. We were rushing around like blue arse flies trying to sort out the kitchen ready for them to pack up too because they were well ahead of us!

Thursday the packers were back and pretty much finished up - they left us with the settee, tv and mattresses though so we weren't completely at a loss. That evening we went around to our friends Deb & Jays for a meal and a few glasses of wine which was just what the doctor ordered - lovely food, nice and relaxing and a good laugh. The kids had a wale of a time too.

Friday was time for me to say some goodbyes and I've gotta admit I didnt enjoy it. Thankfully most of them were done via text (sign of the times eh!) but they still reduced me to tears. When I saw Deb it really choked me up and I decided I couldnt do any more goodbyes. I went to my friend Sues grave to say my farewells too and god that was hard.

The house was finally empty and spotless by 8pm on the Friday evening so we got ourselves a take away and headed for the hotel. We were all absolutely shattered and were zonked out by 10.30pm!

Saturday morning then it was time to give the house one last check over, wave goodbye to a few places (school, takeaway & off licence!! ha ha) and then make our way to Monmouth to drop our luggage off. We only stayed at Monmouth for about half hour and then carried on the mammouth journey to Holyhead. On our way we stopped off at Llangollen for a bite to eat and then finally arrived in Holyhead at 6pm. Within an hour a big farewell party had kicked off at Jay & Sharons and the booze began to flow!

Its now Sunday and we're off to the in-laws to say hi and then for a nice walk before going for a farewell meal this evening! God its been non flippin stop - nice though!

We're then heading back to Monmouth tomorrow for two days so I'll update there!

Another emotional Day!

2006-03-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

Danielle and I went up to Swansea yesterday to say goodbye to our friends Lisa and her little girl Bethan. It was a lovely day although I was feeling quite emotional most of the time - dont know why but my bottom lip has been quivvering quite a lot lately!! We had lunch and the girls played nicely but when it came time for us to leave Bethan got really upset bless her. Hopefully Lisa will get her webcam set up soon so the girls will be able to see each other. Lisa gave us lots of pressies bless her - all Welsh memorabilia which was lovely (no wonder I'm emotional!!).

When we got back it was time for me to get ready to go out for a meal with the girls I used to work with at LTSB. Yet more presents and yet more emotions! Good god what is wrong with me?!! We had a good laugh and it was nice to get together again - I hadnt seen Jackie for a few months so that was good.

This morning Sharon came around with her little girl Rebecca to say good bye to Danielle. They got her a lovely Bear Factory teddy which says 'I love you' when you hug it and also two necklaces 'best' on one and 'friends' on the other. Rebecca's wearing one and Dan is wearing the other. So sweet!

Danielle has still been taking it all in her stride which is great! I'm sure there will be a few ups and downs as we go along but thankfully things are ok at the moment. When she has to say goodbye to her cousin Sam next week though I think things might change somewhat! Hope not though!

What a day today!

2006-03-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

The last 24 hours have been hectic to say the least! A friend of ours in Oz has been viewing loads of properties for us (bless her - shes been great) and just as I was about to go to bed last night she told me the house she had just viewed was perfect for us and if we wanted to put in an application it needed to be done straight away! Sounded quite simple I thought but I was wrong - 3 1/2 hours later I finally finished completing forms and scanning them back and forth each other. Michelle then got the application straight down to the Estate Agents and it was a case of waiting. We didnt expect to hear anything until next week but when I got up this morning (after 4 hours sleep) there was an email stating that our application had been successful - we're really pleased because the house has got everything that we're looking for.

Today was also Grays last day in work and Danielles last day in school. I wasnt sure how Dan would take it but she was absolutely fine. I was pretty emotional because she had some lovely presents and cards from her friends and teachers. They also made a big fuss of her and the theme for the day was 'Australia' - how nice of them?! She took my digital camera into school with her and took lots of pics and the entire class put painted hand prints on a T Shirt for her to keep. One of the little girls was sobbing her heart out when we picked her up which started me off. I told everyone not to make a big fuss because I would have been a jibbering wreck! It was very emotional but also nice to know that Danielle was so highly thought of.

We also got the Gas Certificate done today ready for renting the house out - the Electrician was supposed to come around too but that was obviously too much trouble for him! I'll get the Estate Agents to sort that out after we've gone because I really cant be bothered with it anymore!

Grays beloved TV is now on Ebay! He ain't happy with that as you can imagine. He only bought it in December but it would be pointless taking it with us as we wouldnt be able to use it to its full potential. He can treat himself to a shiney new one though when we get there.

Grays car is also on Ebay - thats due to end next Monday and then we'll be getting a hire car until we fly to Heathrow - I think Grays more excited about the hire car than he is about Oz!

I think thats about it for now!

Its getting close now!

2006-03-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

I had another 'leaving do' last night! Well I say leaving do - a friend of mine who I dont get to see very often (Jules) came around the house for wine and a meal (take away obviously!!) with her daughter Emma. It was a really nice night and it was great to catch up. Hopefully she'll be coming out to visit us in Oz sometime.

Its only 10 days now until Pickfords are here and then we leave 8 days after that. All of a sudden it seems to have come around really quickly. The house is like a tip constantly as we have very little furniture to store clothing etc and so it is stacked up in the bedrooms! We've now made the spare room our 'items to go on the ship' room and so everything else is banned. Although this means the spare room is fairly organised it also means the other two bedrooms are even more disorganised! I'm planning on tackling that this week though so all should be in hand by the end of the week.

Danielle finishes school Friday along with Gray finishing work. Shes coping really well with everything at the moment bless her - I'm really proud of her.

The packers will be here 22nd 23rd & 24th March. We're staying in a hotel on the 24th and then driving up to Holyhead on the 25th - back to Monmouth on 27th and then onto a hotel at Heathrow on 29th ready to fly on 30th!!

I'll try and keep this up to date as much as I can but obviously we're going to be pretty busy the next two weeks. Not sure what sort of internet connection I'll have when we arrive either. We're sending the desk top by ship but I'll have the laptop with me.

The car has been sold!

2006-03-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

Well my car has been on Ebay and the auction ended today - final price of £1260 which we're pleased with. Its being collected on the weekend as long as the weather holds out - we had snow today!

Another Goodbye over and done with!

2006-02-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

We've just gotten back from a great weekend in London. First time there! Thought we'd better do it before we go to Oz! We met up with friends of ours and saw all the sites of London (good god our feet were killing us!). Danielle coped really well though bless her. It was strange seeing all the things that we normally only see on the telly actually in the flesh so to speak. The great thing too was that my mate had a PC so I didnt have to ween myself off Ebay too much! ha ha. Lots of food, lots of wine, lots or shopping (great charity shops!) and a good laugh - what more can you ask for? The next time we see them will hopefully be in Oz when they come and visit us!

Just got back from mums

2006-02-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

I've been staying at my mums for a few days this week. She was in hospital last week having an operation so I went to keep an eye on her. Thankfully things seemed to go well for her and shes on the road to recovery now. Danielle came with me too as its half term and she had a great time. She got to go on Lels thoroughbred horse so you can imagine how much she enjoyed it! We were looking after my mums dog while she was in hospital and it seems strange now that hes gone back. The cats have also officially moved across to our neighbours too so we are officially a pet free zone!

We're off to London for the weekend tomorrow to visit friends. Should be a good laugh. Lots of site seeing, shopping and drinking - YAY!

Let the leaving parties commence!

2006-02-19T04:42:00.000-08:00

I had my first leaving party on Friday night. I met up with all my old school mates (some of them I hadn't seen for about 18 years!). We went to see a queen tribute band and had such a good laugh. Dont really remember much about the band because we were just laughing so much amongst ourselves - it was as though the last 18 years had disappeared and we were right back to our school days (and mentality!). I haven't laughed so much in a long long time. Brilliant! Now bring on the next one!

Medical Records - what a rip off!

2006-02-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

I spoke to the doctors surgery today about getting hold of our medical records to take with us. We have to pay for a photo copy of them to be done. For Gray & Dan its £15 each but for me (because I'm some bloody medical phenomenon!) its £40! I tell you what it doesn't pay to go to the docs too often does it! ha ha

The garage is looking pretty clear now as loads of furniture was collected at the weekend. We're trying to establish now whether or not we're able to take our table and chairs with us because the seats are wicker (a big no no apparently because they may be fumigated and cost us a fortune!!!!). I'll be quite happy to go and buy a new set in Oz though if push came to shove!! ha ha.

The Letters have gone out!

2006-02-10T01:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I spent most of the day on the PC sorting out letters to send to companies to let them know about the big move. I've posted them this morning - so thats it - its all official!! I'm hoping that with some of the companies (TV Licence etc) we get a rebate - a couple of cheques in the post certainly wouldn't go amiss right now!

Today I think I might hit Danielles room (again!). It seems to be no matter how many times I sort it out it still fills up with more rubbish! Shes been quite good at getting rid of things (selling them on Ebay!) because I've told her whatever money we get for them she can have to buy herself new ones in Australia - she defo likes that idea!

I'm off to do some house hunting online now! I've seen one that we really like but theres no way of knowing what its really like until we see it in the flesh so to speak! Only time will tell!

All our furniture is disappearing!

2006-02-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

Selling has been going well on Ebay. The only trouble is that we've still got 7 weeks left and hardly any furniture! Oh well at least it means we'll have less to sort out when it gets closer to the time to leave. My car is going on Ebay next week - it'll be walking to school whatever the weather then. I'm sure the exercise won't do me any harm though!

Update on Rental!

2006-02-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

The Estate Agent only came around two days ago and we got a phone call today saying that they've found someone who wants to rent it without even seeing it! Its a family moving down from Cheshire - and they want it for a minimum of 2 years - fantastic.

I'm off to get a bottle of wine and a chinese now. Gray is out for the night in Cardiff so its a night in with Dan for me!

Busy Busy Busy!

2006-02-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

8 weeks today until we fly! 6 weeks tomorrow until Danielle finishes school! Its all happening!

The last two weeks I've been flat out selling as much as we can on Ebay - its gone quite well too! We're not taking too much across with us - they've got an Ikea in Sydney so we figured we might as well sell what we've got now and buy new in Oz (cos I love shopping!!). This way we don't have to wait around for beds etc to be delivered - apparently it can take up to 12 weeks before you get your hands on the stuff - nightmare!

So anyway the house is looking more and more bare. The garage is only half full now and the attic is completely empty!

I'm going to try and keep this up to date now (remembering is the difficulty!) - especially when we get out there so that everyone can see how we're getting on and also so that we can post a few pics.

Danielle is looking forward to the move more and more as the days go on. Shes looking forward to feeding kangaroos and koalas which is sweet. Not sure she appreciates the fact that we've gotta get a car, and a home before we can do anything though! It'll be good fun though and a nice new start which I think is definitely what we need.

We had another Estate Agent come around yesterday and they're going to start advertising it next week and are hoping to achieve £550 per month which is good.

Right bed time for me!

Night night!

Its all change!

2006-01-19T02:46:00.000-08:00

I went in to have my thyroid removed on 11th January - spoke to the main consultant and he decided that he didnt think it needed to come out just yet after all!!!! So after waiting 2 months and delaying Oz I came home with my hospital bag untouched - at least I got some new smellies and pyjamas out of it though! I've gotta go for another scan on 2nd Feb just to check the effect of the thyroid on my wind pipe but I think thats just a formality (hope so anyway!).

Anyway Gray now has a new start date of 17th April and we're hoping to fly out on 30th March. I did speak to Gray about bringing the date forward but he wants to try and get as many contracting hours in as possible to build up the ever dwindling Oz fund! Danielle will finish school on 17th March and we'll go up to Holyhead and say our goodbyes and then its away!

Pickfords are coming next Friday to assess how much stuff we've got so its time for a good sort out! Deciding what to take and what to get rid of is not going to be easy!

I'll try and keep this up to date now - honest gov!

Things are never simple!

2005-11-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

Things never seem to flow smoothly in the Font household these days! I had to visit my thyroid specialist last week and it has been decided that my thyroid should be removed. I explained to him that we were due to fly to Australia on 10th January and he has said the chances of it being completed by then are pretty remote. Even if they do operate on me before that time I will still need to be monitored for a number of weeks/months afterwards to check my thyroxine & calcium levels! Gray is absolutely gutted understandably because he just wants to know one way or the other what our future holds (and where!).

On the upside Danielle had her 6th birthday this weekend and we had a great time. She had her birthday party on Thursday (26 children in total!), we went to Cardiffs Winter Wonderland on Saturday and then on Sunday she had a friend with her for the day and we took them to a farm to feed animals - really nice time had by all!

Take care all!

Bad news!

2005-10-18T01:13:00.000-07:00

We had some bad news last Friday. My friend Sue, who had been fighting cervical cancer for 18 months sadly passed away. It was a lot sooner than expected and she was in a lot of pain bless her but at least that pain has stopped now. Her funeral is on Friday which I really am not looking forward to at all.

We got in touch with Oz and asked if we could delay the move until January and they've come back to say thats fine (big relief!). Gray starts work on 17th January and we're hoping to fly out on 10th January - flights not confirmed yet though. This has given me chance to sort my head out and it also means that we'll be here for Christmas. If we'd have left in November we wouldn't have had our furniture or any of Danielles toys at Christmas so its probably better this way.

I'll try and be better at keeping this up to date in the future!

Just had Rental Appraisal!

2005-09-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

Thats it! Rental appraisal has been done and we're going with Payton Jewell & Caines Estate Agents. We should hopefully be looking at achieving £525 per month. Survey for the new mortgage has been done too (which went well) so its all systems go now. We just need to speak with Danielles school now and give them the heads up on whats happening!

I had another restless night last night - the anxiety seems to stem from what happened to me after taking the tablets - I'm not flamin anxious about anything else - very frustrating! I'm sure it'll pass soon though! (flamin hope so anyway!).

Mum has been staying at Trecco Bay in Porthcawl this week with her friend and my niece & nephew. I've been taking Danielle down there after school each day which has been nice. The first night we went to the beach and last night we went swimming - lovely pool! Weather is rubbish today though so not sure what we'll do. It gets us out of the house though which is never a bad thing!

Time for brekkie for me now!

Another restless night last night!

2005-09-12T01:18:00.000-07:00

I've not updated the blog for a few days because I've been quite down. Anxiety is a flamin horrible thing and sooooo irrational. What really freaks me out is that I'm being anxious about becoming anxious - work that one out!!!! Its a viscious flamin circle I tell you.

Basically what happened was I had the one panic attack as I explained previously. That was on the Wednesday evening and after that one I was absolutely fine. I knew that I needed to start relaxing and let Gray take over the Australia business and thats exactly what I did. I cut out caffiene (sp?), cut out alcohol and started to relax. So on the Friday I went to speak to the doctor who 'lovingly' prescribed me anti-depressants (citalopram/celexa)!! I took one on the Friday and one on the Saturday and then the Saturday night was absolutely horrendous!! My heart was pounding like nobodies business and I was a complete tremor. It was very very frightening. This continued until the Sunday when I finally went to see the Emergency doctor who gave me 2mg diazepam to calm me down. It seemed to do the trick but I still wasn't 100% and wasn't eating or sleeping. I did a bit of research online and found that this had actually happened to someone else who had taken just two of the tablets. By Tuesday I was completely exhausted and a nervous wreck. I again went to see the doctor who didn't know what the hell to do with me! I could tell that she didn't agree with me that this was an effect of the tablets and she was on the phone straight away trying to get me assessed at the hospital, telling them that I had acute Anxiety Disorder symptoms! This was true I know but I really wanted her to take seriously the fact that I believed it was the tablets that had caused it. Listening to her on the phone made me worse as I knew that she actually believed it was all me and that I needed help. I left with another prescription of Diazapem and ended up taking two that day and was also given sleeping pills (which thankfully I didn't need!). All day then I got so stressed because I had to listen to the doctor talking to the hospital and telling them how bad she believed I was. It played on my mind constantly that I was a complete basket case and was going to end up in hospital!

Anyway I am getting better day by day but what really infuriates me is that I wouldn't be experiencing this anxiety had it not been for those tablets (I firmly believe that!).

I'm not taking any medication now except for herbal Kalms every now and again and I'm feeling a lot better for it. I am still having anxious times and it is constantly playing on my mind but it certainly isn't going to beat me! Australia is still on hold at the moment but we're not due to got until 10th November so hopefully things will be a lot better by then.

Thats enough rambling from me for today!

Handed in my noitce yesterday!

2005-08-29T23:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-16T03:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

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!!

2005-08-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our house! Please let someone buy it!!

2005-08-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

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

More Estate Agents tomorrow!

2005-08-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-11T00:12:00.000-07:00

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!!

2005-08-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

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!!!!

2005-08-07T13:05:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-08-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

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!!

2005-08-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-31T00:56:00.000-07:00

Danielle on her first Horse Riding lesson July 2005

Panic Stations!

2005-07-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

The 'For Sale' board has arrived and the panic is starting to set in! So much to do!

Firstly we need to re-home the cats before we go on holiday in two weeks time (bit of a tight time scale!). Sully has got to have his jabs before he's rehomed and I'm not sure if he can have both within that time?

Then we need to think about what to do with the house while we're on holiday? Shall we leave a key with the Estate Agents?

We've already appointed a solicitor to act for us on the house sale so thats all sorted. We're using David Prosser Solicitors in Bridgend, basically because they were the cheapest!

We checked out the housing market yesterday and unfortunately there does seem to be quite a few houses around which are similar to ours but cheaper. On the plus side of that though, after driving around and checking the houses out, ours has more 'kerb appeal' (in m opinion anyway!! ha ha).

Our house is now listed on the Internet and has a 'virtual tour' too which is really weird to see. I just hope we get some interest in it quickly otherwise I know that we'll be really down hearted. One good thing though is that if Gray does get redundancy it takes the pressure off the house 'having' to sell. We would be able to afford to rent it out if the worse came to the worse and at least that would mean we had a house to come back to if we decide not to stay in Oz!

God I'm waffling today! Its 7.21am and Danielle has had me awake for almost an hour already on a Sunday morning - the joy of parenthood!

Think I'm going to check out a carboot in a bit. Weather isn't good but there's an indoor one quite close by.

Think thats enough rubbish from me for now!

Take care

xxxx

We got the Visa!

2005-07-30T00:46:00.000-07:00

Well its been a good couple of days!

Firstly I found a web page where we could track our Visa application. I got a little obsessive with tracking it (as you would expect for me!) but thankfully I only had to track it for a further 24 hours! Yesterday, 29th July 2005 we got our 457 Temporary Visa granted. It is valid until July 2009!

We've had four valuations on the house and they range between £136k - £150k! We decided to shoot somewhere in the middle and have put it on with Gareth Edwards for £144,950. The great thing is that they're selling for us at reduced fees of 1% +VAT which will save us a lot of money (around £800 probably!). The board hasn't been put up yet but as soon as it does I know the nerves will start to show. Still very exciting though!

Weather has been awful recently which is a shame as its the summer holidays.

Took Danielle horse riding the other day too for the first time. She was fab (in my opinion!). As soon as I suss out how to add photos here I'll post one - she looked so cute! She went with her school friend Eve and they actually trotted which I thought was really good considering it was her first time!

Thats all I can think of for now!

I'll update when anything exciting happens!

Byeee

Thought I'd try this'Blog' thing out!

2005-07-26T11:53:00.000-07:00

Well here goes! My first attempt at setting up a Blog! (thats a diary to you mum!!).

Its the 26th July 2005 and we've been told by our Immigration Agent in Sydney that we should have a decision on our 457 Visa within the week hopefully. The house was valued last week at £140k and as soon as the Visa is through it'll be going on the market. Gray has once again applied for redundancy (not successful in July!) and we should hear the outcome of that on 5th August so things will be a bit tense then!

We got a bit bored yesterday and to pass the day we decided to book a holiday!! We're off to Rhodes on 17th August for a week - can't flamin' wait! No time to diet unfortunately so I'm afraid it will be flabby tummy all round!!

Time to go and keep Gray company now as hes downstairs watching telly on his own (no doubt with a beer in his hand!). There are a couple of cold bottles of Strongbow in the fridge so I think one of those will be cracked open very shortly!

I'm going to try and keep this up to date on a daily (if I remember!) basis until we get to Australia and then as often as I can when we get there. I haven't yet found out if there is a facility for loading photos but hopefully there is as it will save a lot of emailing time!

Take care all!

The Font Family!