Home, Sweet Home

Wow what a busy week it has been! We arrived at the house at about 9:30am. I already had the keys as the landlord had left them for us previously 

Entered the house and found some of the owners stuff still here! So i whisked around, collected everything up and put it in the garage. I will give him a call on Monday so he can come over and collect it all!

The furniture was due to arrive between 11 and 1. They called me at about 1pm to say they were about 10 mins away. No problem. Then the heavens opened and dumped a crap load of rain! Not the kind of weather you want when unloading a truck full of furniture! Anyway the truck turned up and just like that the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds Yay!!!

The drivers jumped out, introduced themselves and set to work. The more furniture that was coming out of the truck the more concerned I became.....hmmm this isn’t the stuff we picked out off the website. When 2 BRIGHT red lounge chairs came off the back I knew something wasnt right! LOL I called the consultant who was dealing with our order and she explained that some (ok almost everything) was not available yet, so substitutes had been sent until it was all ready. Ok that makes sense and she had mentioned it ‘may’ happen for a few items. Out of a house full of furniture the only items that arrived as ordered was the formal dining set and formal lounge suites! I told the drivers they could take the ‘lovely’ red chairs and brown 2 seater back with them! Lol

There were 2 x 2 seaters and 2 x arm chairs that I could not figure out what they had substituted. Turns out it was in place of the cane outdoor furniture! Ummmm these were brand new, tags still attached and I had to un wrap them from the packaging! I was NOT putting them out on the uncovered patio. So I put them in the living room instead (given the red/brown combo had left the building)! The consultant then emailed me a list of all the furniture that had been delivered and I had to go through it and let her know what we were happy keeping and what we still wanted as per the original order. We have decided to keep a fair bit like our bedroom suite, all the kids beds, side tables, drawers etc. It is mainly the living room stuff and bed heads for the kids that we want. Oh and our outdoor setting!

The electrical appliance pack for the kitchen had been left out of the delivery, so Maria was quick to get it sorted and had it arrive the next day by express post.....along with a $100 amex gift voucher for the inconvenience  Hobby Lobby here I come lol

We have had to do some pretty big shopping trips as you do when you move into a new house on the otherside of the world! We are pretty sure, short of a few more pantry items, that we have all the ‘needs’ covered! We will start shopping for a few ‘wants’, like a pool table for the basement next week!

So a quick run down between Monday and today (Friday)

Monday: Moved into the house, furniture arrived, made up the beds and had a GREAT sleep in the new house.....no more small Hotel room! Met 2 more neighbours, Tammy who lives at the end of the Court and her 2 children Amanda & Logan. They are 7 & 4. So the kids spent ssome of the day up there playing with them. Mitchell loves having a little mate as he misses his friends back in Oz. Bernadette & David who live in the Court that comes of ours and their 2 children Aiden and Makayla. They are 13 and 11. So they came up for a little while and played basketball with the boys while Bernadette and David chatted to me  They seem really lovely and the kids are all so well mannered over here! It’s great to have nice neighbours that are so welcoming!

Tuesday: Our delivery of stuff from Australia arrived, which meant lots of boxes (73 in total) to start unpacking. The kitchen was the worst! The boys went over to Tammys for a play in the sprinkler and then Aiden and Makayla came over to play basketball for a while. David popped over and met Col and gave us some poison Ivy in a bag to show us what it looked it! It was good to show the boys so they can keep an eye out for it, especially when playing war games out the back bushland! Then he called over a little later on and invited us over for dinner on Sunday night! They are British and lived in Brisbane for 7 years, they plan to move back in about 2-3 years time! They have another couple of Aussie friends, so we will meet them on Sunday night too.....a bit of an Aussie get together!

Wednesday: Went to the local Doctors with the boys so I could make an appointment for their ‘pre’ school medicals. I needed to show their immunisation records, which were in our air freight, just to get the appointment! Turns out all 3 boys have appointments on different days, with Rhyces later that afternoon. 2 needles and nasal spray (instead of a flu shot) we left 2 hours later! Headed to the school and completed the enrolment for the boys and then did the same for Mitchells Pre school! Yay kids schooling all sorted!

Thursday: Another morning of unpacking and it is almost all done. Mel and the kids called over and brought us a gorgeous peace lily plant as a house warming gift. Not sure if Mel realises the significant of this plant to me. I brought one on the first anniversary of my Dads death last year. It was going strong before we left Oz, so Mum is looking after it for me  I miss my Dad so much as we all do, so this is a nice little thing for me to have in his memory whilst we are over here.....now to keep it alive! Col finished work early so we headed out and did some more shopping, picking up a few final pieces for the house and a grocery shop!

We also met another neighbour today, Chon, and his 10 year old son Cole who live directly across the road. Cole plays soccer and goes to the same school as the boys will be starting at! He is in Koreys year (4) but not sure if they will be in the same class yet. He also came over to play a bit of basketball with the boys! This basketball hoop has been GREAT!

Friday: Well that is today and thus far (10am) not too much has happened! Lol We have Koreys medical this afternoon and hubby is certain he will be home early again 