Our ship is sailing

Our container gets packed on Wednesday and sails a week on Saturday to arrive in Sydney 1 day before us and then it should clear customs around 11th September which is when we hope to move into our rental house.  We fly 6 weeks on Wednesday.

Mum told me that she copes with the fact that we are leaving by thinking of us just going on holiday.  An extended holiday but not for the long haul.  I suppose in my head I am not thinking about it permanently or for ever as I can't really until we have lived it for a while.  At the moment it is a little of an unknown quantity as we have only ever holidayed in Australia, for 6 weeks which is a while but still not the same.  I hope that it is all we want it to be for the 4 of us.  Mum then went on to say that she is also so excited for us that we are going off on an adventure.  To try something new and different.  Where there are new experiences and challenges to be had.  I think it really helps that she did it herself in the 70's so can understand a little of what we are trying to achieve.

I don't think I will be able to see it as a move for life until we have created our lives over there again and we are settled.  I feel a little like a nomad at the moment and that isn't going to change for some while yet.

I mentioned to Andy the other night that hopefully in around 9 to 10 weeks time we will have moved into a new home, unpacked all our stuff and will be about to welcome our first visitors and dear friends, Marky & Kat from Perth who we haven't seen since Christmas.  I am so excited about seeing them.  Marky is a dodgy car salesman (hope he reads this one!) and has offered to negotiate a price on a car when we find one we want.  After all he does this for a living so should be pretty good at it!  He even offered to buy one in Perth and drive it over to us, now that is dedication at 3000 miles or so!

I have wobbles of confidence as the day gets closer but on the whole it's all good with us at the moment.

Blog fodder

Oh, where do I start, my cup runneth over!  I have to be careful to moderate what I write on this blog as my muse in this case is also an avid follower of my writing.  Which introduces a whole other subject matter: censorship, a topic for another day.  I feel she will only have so much patience for my chortling at her expense.  Anyway, onwards and upwards another blog inspired by the ups and downs from living with my Mum, or in Andy's case 'The Mother-in-Law'!

It is fair to say that my Mum (and her husband!) are pretty stuck in a routine.  Having lived sans children for a considerable while they have been without criticism, moderation and ridicule.  This has led to a pretty strict regime at 'The Old Stables' which we are now victim too.  A classic demonstration of this was witnessed by me this morning as Andy finished his shower in the very flashy newly installed bathroom and felt obligated to use the window cleaner squeegee to remove any water residue from the extensive expanse of glass shower panels which is helpfully left in the shower for just such a job.  I will elaborate.  It hasn't been requested of him but he has felt the need as we are gently reminded of the MIL's fastidiousness!

There is a large list of idiosyncrasies that I could list which would be comprehensive, verbose and pretty amusing but I do feel I may already be pushing my luck.  So I shall end it here and save the MIL's blushes and just drip a few choice other anecdotes over time.  Poor Andy though!

The packers have finished at Iona today and most of our worldly positions are now wrapped to within an inch of their lives in a warehouse in Avonmouth.  I have to say they have done a sterling job and so far I would happily recommend them.  Our house is bare and all that remains is to have a hoover and general clean up tomorrow before completion on Friday.

We left the packers to it this morning and spent a very lovely day at Bristol Zoo en famille in the rain.  We discussed that this time next year we will be doing this at Taronga Zoo, I'm sure that we will be slathering on the sun tan cream but after a wet and grey today that does seem preferable.  I have to say though that we have had a lovely day and it's nice to be getting back to doing things as a family again.  It seems like all we have done for 2 months is pack up our lives in preparation for the big move.  Finn & Isla had a great day looking at the animals and both have been very animated and conversational.  Bristol Zoo is great for little legs as there is plenty to see over a relatively small acreage.  Good times.