Updating

7/9/11
I'm still working on the laptop and the keyboard drives me nuts so this'll be short.

We are staying in Mandurah for a week and a bit with Chris, Teresa and Kaio. After putting in applications for a three places we got turned down for the one we liked and pulled out of one that we got cold feet on and started to feel worried about the third. Finally we came down to C & T's to get an independent opinion and went home with the offer of a place to stay and a plan to pull the application on house three and put in one on a place we saw in the first week that was yet to have a top coat of paint, floor coverings or a lawn. So that's what we did, and our application was accepted yesterday- and we expect to move in next week- which is about the same time as our gear should clear customs.

Mandurah is about an hour from Perth so Les is currently doing the big commute each day while the kids and I enjoy the sights and sounds of the local area.

13/9/11

So it's hard to blog at the moment! I am so glad I set up a bunch of posts to keep things going. I made the posts go all the way to October- just so I had time to unpack and get sorted- I never expected that we wouldn't be in a place at this point!

We have a house to move into but it's brand new and they are still finishing it off- we expect to have the keys on Friday (16th) and we think our gear will be ready for delivery on Monday or so. I will be so relieved. The house here is lovely and Teresa and Kaio are great (Chris has gone back to work- he does FIFO up in the Pilbara) but I am a homebody at heart and I'm not comfortable being 'homeless' for so long- I need to get settled and get into a routine. I'm also seriously stressed about making sure that this house and the things in it don't get trashed by the 3 year old which is hard to manage when you also have a 11 weeker!

Tama has become a great sleeper which is great even having some day time sleeps in a bed, which was unheard of till this last week I almost don't know what to do with myself... almost.... there's always washing, tidying up behind hurricane Will and things like eating and getting dressed. :-)

On Saturday we were heading into Perth City to return Les' rental car and pick-up his new car- Les was following me out of the lane- we'd only made it 3 houses down the road when Kieran and I had to wind down our windows due to petrol fumes. I expected them to clear by the time we got to the main road but they didn't so we pulled over and Les pulled up behind us thinking that the car was pouring water at an alarming rate. It wasn't water it was gas so our plans for the day changed. K and I walked home with the little boys in push chairs and Les drove back with Merenia. In the end M went with Teresa and Kaio away for the night and Les, the boys and I squeezed into the rental and headed into town. We swapped the cars around and then went to confirm our furniture choices and get another quote for our whiteware- which all got sold in NZ and therefore is going to be replaced. Then we headed back to Mandurah with a plan to drive the car the short distance back to the house. When we got back to the car we found that some passing idiot had decided that it would be a good idea to throw his beer bottle at one of our rear windows smashing it!

We had the excitement of a police visit on Sunday morning and then a tow truck yesterday. The petrol thing was fixed in the space of the afternoon- it turned out that when they had serviced it before we picked it up they had forgotten to replace the clips on the fuel hose. The window is apparently going to take a week as it has to come from 'out east' a term I think we may hear often while we are living in WA. In the meantime our movements will be restricted as the car is not secure with it's plastic bag and danco tape window. That puts paid to trips into Perth to sort schools and furniture and such- and even a quick trip to the supermarket will mean leaving the biggest kid/s in the car as security so I guess we are done exploring the beach and canals of Mandurah and surrounds. :-(

I have had so little time and energy to write about the last couple of months- something which I am going to be sad about as there has been so much to think about, so much new and exciting, so much change and lots of things left behind or even gone forever. I tried my very best to savour time with our last newborn- so much so that I didn't take time out from the savouring to write down my thoughts and feelings and Tama has changed so much and my head has been full of so much stuff that I don't really remember that time at all. I'm sad about that.

On that note Will tells me that 'T-bone' is crying so I best be off to gather him up for cuddles and fun.