Week 4

So, it is my 4th week of working in Canberra, it is Mom and the kid's second week of living here and Milord's first week (he arrived on Friday night). I'm enjoying Canberra, it's very laidback.

We have had all sorts of weather: A fair bit of rain. A couple of days ago I scraped ice off my windscreen for the first time since leaving England! And today it is warm and sunny and at lunchtime I took a walk in a nearby strip of wooded parkland and picked tiny alpine-type flowers from the bright green grass under the pines, conifers and oak trees. Very un-Australian!

We are settling in nicely to our pristine 4-bedroom rental house. My Mom loves having her own room, and we are all loving the space! It is so good to be living in a rather new house that needs nothing done to it. The heating is very effective and we are extremely comfortable.

There are just a few boxes left to unpack and each day when I get home from work the place is a little more organised. Mom and Milord are handling the house and kids, and while I sense that they have not figured out their roles in the new place yet and things might be a bit tense when I am not there, it is coming right.

Work is going well, they are a nice bunch and the work is plentiful if not very challenging. Of course, the places with challenging work didn't want to hire someone who had been at home for 4 years, so I am trying to relax and enjoy the lack of stress. The commute (20min to half an hour) is a doddle in my little car. I cherish the time on my own, listening to my choice of radio station! My office is close enough to the center of town to be able to walk there at lunchtime, but still far enough out that I can get a parking space.

Milord has finished off the Sydney house and we have an agent showing it to prospective tenants. Hopefully someone will snap it up soon! We may have to drop the price if no one applies within the coming week.

Milord is running a few errands and getting our new place shipshape and then he intends to jobhunt most seriously as he haaaates being a housedad! Somehow I can't seem to muster much sympathy for his plight though...

Mom isn't all that thrilled about being fulltime Granny-Daycare either, but until Milord has a job we can't afford to place the kids anywhere. I keep getting told to put the kids on waiting lists at all the local daycares, but right now having them home saves me $500 per week. That's almost our rent!

In other news I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for a cold that I couldn't shake. While she couldn't help me with the cold (it's a virus, go to bed), she did become concerned with my blood pressure which was very high.

A week later it was still high, and I spent this Monday wearing a 24 hour blood pressure monitor. OMG was that annoying! Every half hour in the day and every hour in the night the pressure cuff would inflate painfully tight while the monitor took a reading. While sleeping it would startle me wide awake and I was very happy to get the damn thing off the next day.

I see my doctor on Friday for the results. As my Mom and her Mom are/were on medication for high blood pressure I assume I'm going to have to start taking some too. Of course, the doctor has already told me to stop drinking wine, cut out salt and lose weight. But that's not going to happen!

Stepmom is in Australia right now, up the coast about 7 hours away. She has rekindled a very old flame who now lives in Oz and she is over here for a couple of months to check him out. The anniversary of Dad's death was a week ago. Life goes on, right?

Old House New House

Okay, just for my curious cousin!

This is what our little Sydney house looks like when it is dressed for inspection:

Front:

Bedroom:

Bathroom:

Living Room:

Kitchen:

Backyard:

And this is the new rental in Canberra:

Front:

Main Bedroom:

Family Room:

Main Bathroom:

Kitchen:

Backyard:

I won't be blogging much about my office at all, because I'd hate for them to find my blog!

Otherwise, all is going very well over here. the kids and Mom and I are living in a holiday house while the contents of the Sydney house travel to us. Milord is surrounded by boxes and eating takeaways back in Sydney. It is coming together slowly!

New Job

So, my life in Canberra has begun!

The job is good, the people are lovely, I have found us a great rental 4-bed house to move into next week.

I am very busy, full of a cold, a bit stressed but happy.

Milord is going mental dealing with the kids, readying the house in Sydney for renting, and is full of a cold.

Mom is beside herself doing a house-and-dog-and-cat-sit, helping with the kids and helping with the house finalisation. At least she doesn't have a cold!

The kids are oblivious although they miss Mummy a bit.

It is all good over here. I just don't have time to blog about it!

I got a job!

I got a job! I got a job! I got a job!

I interviewed for another job in Canberra last week, but I was so crushed by my last rejection that I couldn't even blog about this one. It is for a nice medium sized software house who deal with mainly government software stuff (Canberra is the capital of Australia and the seat of government). I liked the look and feel of the place, and the blokes who interviewed me were lovely. I reckon I fluffed most of the technical questions, but got by on the strength of my CV and my purely divine personality. LOL.

They did tell me that some candidates were better qualified, but that I was a "better fit". I do love landing a job on mainly persona!

This is probably not the time to mention I was hungover as all hell on interview day - my Irish Canberra buddies are a bit mad ;-)

The money is not so hot, as I had to aim myself at the lower end of the spectrum to get a look in. In six months to a year we should be able to renegotiate - they told me in the interview that they believe in incentives and rewards and they will be open to offering more money to keep me if I make it worthwhile.

I start on Monday!

I'll be crashing with friends in Canberra for a few weeks while I find my feet and look for a rental for the family (I do not intend to be hungover on my first day). In the meantime Milord and Mom will be frantically getting our little Sydney house ready to let. Tomorrow I'll be shopping for a little runabout car to supplement the people-carrier.

It is all systems go!

Milord still needs to find work too for us to get by properly, but at least he can now focus on Canberra.

*phew*

Box Monsters!

I am still very annoyed and tired and blue and cranky. I just want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head and stay there and eat chocolate and drink vodka. But I have 2 small kids so I don't.

On a lighter note: Box Monsters!!!

No Job

I didn't get the Canberra job. After nearly a week of dicking me around they decided "not to proceed with my application".

I am extremely fucked off.

First Impressions of Canberra

I am almost sure of a job in Canberra, so we may be moving there very shortly. Canberra was purpose-built 100 years ago to be the capital city of Australia. These are my first impressions during the 2 days I was there interviewing:

Very dry and sunny and extremely cold - think of a Highveld winter. Frost and brown lawns under a clear pale sky. I know that in summer it gets very hot - we will need central heating and aircon in the house we choose.

Lots of space. Large properties and wide streets. Cycle lanes everywhere.

Not much traffic. The morning rush in the city centre was less than we get in my current suburb!

My friends who live in Canberra find the place a bit sterile and miss the big-city buzz of places like Sydney or London. With 2 small kids I don't exactly experience the buzz of Sydney anymore anyway, so I don't think this will be a problem!

The people seemed friendlier than in Sydney. Perhaps the slower pace lets people connect more.

I like the way the city is planned around lakes and museums.

On the cusp

So, on Wednesday I interviewed for a job in Canberra. I caught the Greyhound coach there the day before and stayed with friends in town. My interview went very well, and I walked out feeling that I'd aced it!

A little later the agent rang me to say they liked me, but had to get approval from the CEO before they could make me an offer. So I waited.

On Thursday the agent contacted me to get personal references from my old team members at the Big Bank I used to work in. This took a bit of doing, as I last worked there nearly 4 years ago and I haven't really stayed in touch with those people! After hours of tracking folk down I was able to give the agent 2 referees. Then I waited.

On Friday I rang the agent to see what was happening. It seems the client has been a bit busy and hasn't even looked at the references yet! Maybe he'll get to them on Monday. So I'm waiting.

I am so stressed!

Until I receive and accept a job offer I haven't landed the job.
Until I land the job I can't househunt for a place for us in Canberra.
Until I have a house I can't look for daycare for the kids.
Until all that is sorted we can't move out and let our current house in Sydney.
Until we are settled in Canberra Milord can't really look for work for himself.


I am grumpy and tired and restless when I should be thrilled and excited and energised.

Bugger it.

Light getting closer...

I have made it past the online technical test, and now am lined up for a face-to-face interview with the employer on Wednesday! Wish me luck ;-)

More light...?

I am halfway through the interview process for a job in Canberra... wish me luck!

Milord's job is still hovering in the wings, although the company is even talking about opening a branch in Canberra - this could be meant to be. We shall see ;-)