We've bought a house!!!!!!!!!

OMG - we really have actually bought a house!!!

And this is it!

Its right by the lake park, in a little complex with a swimming pool.  It's small but perfectly formed.  And it will be ours.  Ours to paint and make our own.  No-one can force us to clean it, make us leave or put the rent up on us.  Hurray!!!  Its not in a good school area but we've decided keeping the kids where they were and buying cheaper would actually be overall cheaper, and less stressful for us all. So the kids stay where they are and get stairs (this was very important so they have somewhere to drop T's parachute man from apparently!) and a swimming pool so there has been no arguments from them!

We are currently in the process of getting the loan sorted.  Its been a difficult and stressful thing (especially for Ste who has had to sort out all the money side of things) But I think we're just about there with it all and we should get our keys on the 18th.  Happy days :)

Of course the only rubbish thing about the timing is that Mum and everyone come for the first week we have the house.  So we've got a huge cross over period.  Still, it will give us lots of time to get things sorted before we move in.

We now just have to pack and get sorted.  I am being ruthless and am on a mission to chuck everything crap we own (and that's a lot of stuff!) away.  Craigslist is my friend at the moment!

And of course, we couldn't go through something like this on our own.  Good job we don't have to as the Greenes have bought a house too!!!  So this has resulted in many playdates that involve wine for me and Lorraine and many trips to the pub for the boys.  Stress relief!

The blend boy

Instead of eating his tea, Tommy is now engrossed in his alphabet place mat every evening, pointing out all the blends he can see.  To say to getting a lot out of school would be a massive understatement.  He is lapping up the information like a dog!  He really does love it and is a testament as to why children should start school at his age (are you listening you under educated American's?!) He seems to have made friends and plays with lots of different people.  He buddied up with Phoenix for a bit and so I'm trying to sort out a playdate.  Of course. he's now long longer playing with Phoenix and Holden or Alexa seem more popular. Kids are so fickle.  I have to say he always plays with  Sophia too.  Its sweet the way they hang out together. Always within a group of children but I think they take a lot of comfort in having the other on there.

Sophia too is doing really well.  Her work seems a little drier and also easier than last year but a meeting with her teacher has helped quell my fears. Lots of fun stuff is happening in the class, it's just not being written down - which is fine.  The math work is quite easy though and she is coasting along without a care in the world!  It's good for her to be like that every once in a while so we'll see where it all goes.  She has made a new friend called Rachel, a Japanese/American girl who was new to the school.  As Rachel is quite vocal it seems to be helping Sophia with her confidence too.  And as luck would have it we are going to be moving (see next post!) so we are living right near them.  Yuko is already picking the kids up from school for me tomorrow (after a particularly painful playdate in which we scrabbled to find something to talk about for 3 hours - playdates without the adults in definitely the way forward!) and I'll get Rachel next week.  A very happy arrangement for everyone I think.

So at the moment I have 2 happy children. Tired (especially in T's case!), but happy.

The fall switch

Fall is so odd.  Is someways there is no fall.  Its Oct 1st and going to be 25c today.  However a fall 25c is so different from a summer one.  Right into September it's hot from the moment you wake up till the moment you go to bed. Then suddenly it changes, without warning, like a flick of a switch.  That morning when you get up it's cold.  The kid are moaning and cannot for the life of them understand why they still need suncream on.  They go to school bundled in their sweaters.  Yet by lunchtime it's scorchio and everyone is melting in a puddle in the inappropriate clothes they are wearing. California really it all about the layers coming fall time.

Fall is much welcoming in this house - it's great time of year.  Halloween costumes are made (Hermione and Sonic this year!), the pumpkins go out, the decorations go up. It's all quite exciting.  Especially this year with the imminent arrival of Lily and Archie et al and a trip to Disneyland.  Yet a little part of me wishes, after a long hot summer, that I could wear my jeans without overheating. However jeans are definitely a November thing - lots of cold/hot fall days to come!

Wanted......

someone with a 4 year College degree, a 2 years Masters degree and 5 years experience.
You will be doing the following, answering phones, filing papers and all the other shit no-one else wants to do.
We will pay you $2.50 a hour.
Apply with your resume, a 4 page page covering letter explaining why you are a good fit for this role and 4 letters of recommendation.

WTF!!!

Getting a job here has proved to be so hard. I have applied for so many jobs and gotten very little response. It seems for anything to do with teaching, even as a teaching aide position, my British qualifications are just not enough.  Depressing :(

Still, after a month of searching I have managed to bag myself, 2, very part time jobs.  One is with a company called Young Rembrandts.  Basically it's an after school drawing class that I have to teach.  I have two classes to run, one on a Monday and one on a  Thursday. One is so late on in the day that Ste has to come and pick the kids up from school with is not ideal but the other one is just before they get out so much better.  So far I've observed 1 class and taught 0!!  So it's very early days but I think it will be good when it gets going.  The other job is for a company called Envoy and my title is personal grocery shopper!!!  Basically I go and shop for other people and deliver it to them - kind of like Tesco delivery!  Not exactly dream job material but its easy, its pays and its very flexible.  So after online training and doing a pretend shop (I had to take pictures of the food in the supermarket - very difficult not to look like a weirdo) I am a fully qualified Envoy.  Am now just waiting for my first client.

So while it's been very slim pickings and things are still pretty quiet at the moment I'm moving on to bigger and better things!! Maybe :)