We have wheels!

I think the highlight of my news this time would have to be that we have a car. I never thought I would ever be so excited about having a car but I truly am! Its been a rather long palaver to get this precious vehicle and we very nearly got ourselves into a pickle with a certain car garage, who tried to railroad us into buying a vehicle we didn't want! The rather pushy salesman even had the cheek to call me "rude"! Since, I was merely rejecting his offer, without I might add any swearing or shouting, I didn't really see where he was coming from. Let's just say he didn't take our rejection too kindly and his manager even offered to sue us. A word of warning - when in Western Australia DO NOT SIGN any car purchase agreement unless you are 200% sure you want the car! Oh yes and don't go to Kia Wangarra! Anyway we now have the car we want from a different dealership who were far more accommodating.

The second highlight of my post would have to be my WACOT registration!! I am finally registered as a teacher in Western Australia, albeit rather late in the year. And so,I think I shall remain a lady of leisure until school starts back in February next year. That is, of course, if you care to call a "mother" a lady of leisure! In the mean time, I shall busy myself with Christmas preparations and such festivities. Not a bad thing in my eyes as I am quite keen on the odd shopping trip!

Paul, whom I shall refer to as the sole "breadwinner" seems to be enjoying his job! He's somewhat of a celebrity at the moment as the word has spread that he was a professional footballer before. The council where he works is rather large and he has even had visits from people in other departments. Quite sweet I thought - its nice to be liked!

And so, after nearly 3 months in Australia I think we are starting to find our feet and settle into life as we know it. It hasn't all been plain sailing and I have had a few days when even gloomy Wales seemed a better place to be. We didn't realise the many benefits of living in the UK until we actually left. I have come to realise that there is no "perfect place" to live in this world and that life is what you make of it! We shall do our very best to make this a good place to live for our family!Especially now that we have ironed out most of the settling-in issues!

PS. The attached video is my attempt at capturing Gethin's baby talk. At first, he just stared strangely at me and then when he did start saying a few words Madison and Ross were jabbering in the background! But if you listen carefully you'll be able to catch a few of his cute words like hello, nose, ear, daddy, Ro (Ross) and bye. xxx

Good News!

At last I am able to report back with some "good news". In fact, its quite a lot of good news. Firstly, Paul has a job! Actually he's had 2 jobs in the last month. Let's just say the first one didn't work out too well. Its a long story so I won't bore you with the details. He started job no. 2 today so as I'm writing this I'm hoping all is going well on his first day. He will be assistant drainage engineer at The City of Stirling which is a local council in Perth. I'm sure he'll do a "sterling" job!!! Excuse the pun!
The second bit of good news is that we have moved into a rental property in Canning Vale, which is much closer to the city. Its a lovely house with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We've been having (well I have) so much fun in the last month shopping up a storm for all the new house goodies. As you may or may not know, we sold most of our worldly possessions in Wales so we're basically starting from scratch again. We've been waiting for 7 years to have nice things again so I think we deserve to treat ourselves. The house is still a little bare as it is virtually impossible to get everything done in one go but we're getting there.
Today was also Ross' first day at school. He was very brave and seemed to be ok when I left him in the capable hands of his new teacher, Miss Matthews. She seems very sweet and I'm sure my boy will settle in just fine. The school is literally across the road from our house which is very convenient as I can just pop across there to drop him off and fetch him.
My job situation has had a few speed bumps along the way. You can never imagine how much stress 2 very silly letters can cause. Add to the mix some postal strikes and you have one rather annoyed lady waiting 4 weeks for them to arrive. Hopefully this is the end of all the hiccups and I shall soon be registered with the College of Teachers. I'm hoping to start supply/relief teaching once school starts again after Christmas.
And so, on this rather cheerful note,I shall say good-bye for now....