nickydwuk
31st October 2008, 09:45 PM
I was late with my 1 week post so I thought I would follow suit and be late with my 1 month post :). I thought the first 2 weeks were busy and that we had done most things but with starting work and moving onto our own house there are a lot more things to be done. I have now been at work for 4 weeks and apart from the really early starts :eek:(I have to get up at 4.50 on an early shift!!) I am coping well. I do feel a bit left out as I am at work & OH and the kids are at home together exploring things and just being together but I do get to come home to my dinner cooked for me and the house work, washing & ironing done. So there is a silver lining to it all!! Before we moved we had to get the telephone & internet sorted. I did some research online to try to find the best package but as we had unlimited internet in the UK it is difficult to know how much we will need. We have gone with almost the biggest package we could get within our budget but I think it will still be too small. The kids will have to rethink their internet usage. We arranged to have the furniture we had bought delivered the week before we moved in. The living room, dining room & bedroom furniture arrived but the fridge/freezer didn’t. After a few calls to Harvey Norman they managed to deliver it the next day (Thurs) even though they ‘only deliver to Oxford on Mon, Wed & Fri’. We also had sky installed (so OH & the boys could watch the football) and we had a new fence put up ready for the dogs. As it is a new house and OH has not got his tools we have arranged for someone to supply & fit new curtain rails & curtains but as these have to be made we are living in a goldfish bowl at the moment. Sleeping on an air mattress is no fun either – they do not keep you warm and it is not easy trying to climb from the floor when you are still half asleep. Still, our container should be here by the end of November so only another month to go!!!
We are getting used to the shopping and where to go for food. Clothes’s shopping is an unknown yet – DD and I have to go shoe shopping next week so that should be fun :raebanana. I have signed the boys up for school – Mark (nearly 17) won’t start until next February as he will start in yr 13 (a year above the UK) and yrs 12 &13 finish in about 2 weeks but my youngest starts yr 9 next week and will start yr 10 in Feb (the same as he would have been in the UK). We have had to go shopping for school uniform which wasn’t cheap – nearly$70 for a jumper!!!!!! But he will have 2 years wear out of it. Just glad the eldest doesn’t need to wear it. DD & OH are feeling a little homesick – DD especially and she is trying to find ways to save up the money to fly back next Easter to see her boyfriend. She has an interview for a job next week so fingers crossed for her and OH has an interview for a part time job tomorrow. Money is a little tight at the moment. Just living off my wages is not easy so I hope they get their jobs soon!! The dogs arrived safely – courtesy of Golden Arrow. GA rang the day they were due to remind us to collect them and again the following day to make sure they were ok. Picking them up from Chch airport was straight forward and the dogs – once they recognised us – were in fine form. We have still to find a really good place to take them for walks but we are working on it. Now we have the family together.
We have had some good weather recently and the long drive home is stunning as I can see the Alps & hills in the distance as I approach Oxford – it really makes you feel good. I don’t feel settled here yet – I think once our container arrives and our cash flow is a little more liquid I will feel different. But I am staying positive for OH & the kids as they always seem to look to me for support & strength (stupid people!!).
We are getting used to the shopping and where to go for food. Clothes’s shopping is an unknown yet – DD and I have to go shoe shopping next week so that should be fun :raebanana. I have signed the boys up for school – Mark (nearly 17) won’t start until next February as he will start in yr 13 (a year above the UK) and yrs 12 &13 finish in about 2 weeks but my youngest starts yr 9 next week and will start yr 10 in Feb (the same as he would have been in the UK). We have had to go shopping for school uniform which wasn’t cheap – nearly$70 for a jumper!!!!!! But he will have 2 years wear out of it. Just glad the eldest doesn’t need to wear it. DD & OH are feeling a little homesick – DD especially and she is trying to find ways to save up the money to fly back next Easter to see her boyfriend. She has an interview for a job next week so fingers crossed for her and OH has an interview for a part time job tomorrow. Money is a little tight at the moment. Just living off my wages is not easy so I hope they get their jobs soon!! The dogs arrived safely – courtesy of Golden Arrow. GA rang the day they were due to remind us to collect them and again the following day to make sure they were ok. Picking them up from Chch airport was straight forward and the dogs – once they recognised us – were in fine form. We have still to find a really good place to take them for walks but we are working on it. Now we have the family together.
We have had some good weather recently and the long drive home is stunning as I can see the Alps & hills in the distance as I approach Oxford – it really makes you feel good. I don’t feel settled here yet – I think once our container arrives and our cash flow is a little more liquid I will feel different. But I am staying positive for OH & the kids as they always seem to look to me for support & strength (stupid people!!).