Frugal Queen

I read with great interest Frugal Queens post tonight. She is one of my hero's and I applaud how hard she has worked to get to where she is now - no mean feat and plenty of self sacrifice, but with an unending purpose, a huge goal in front of her that she WILL achieve.

We know too here at the Little Terraced House how much life has changed in the past two years. Much of it I'm not ready to talk about here yet, some of it is too painful and still real and biting everyday, but one thing I do know for sure, we are not yet totally beaten, I'm still fighting and trying to get some semblance of our lives back. The latest setback with Perth and the littlies being the other side of the world, is still to be resolved, but I haven't give up and like Froogs I will keep going.

Baby Bump

Today my darling daughter in law had her 20 weeks scan. As Charlie, No 1 Grandson has Hyper Plastic Left Heart Syndrome (left side of the heart did not grow), Lewis, No 2 Grandson and Bump No 3 have had detailed heart scans at 20 weeks gestation. Lewis's heart was fine, no problems with that little live wire at all, I am pleased to say.

Bump no 3 had their heart scan today and I am pleased to say no problems found at all, great news.

Oh, and its another boy !

More cuddles for Nana - if I can only get a job back in Perth.

A job which I would have really really really loved (combining my love for my work and gardening) went before I could apply and I am so sad, it would  have been the best job in the world (Sarah, I know you will know what I mean.......) They have at least said they will keep me on file for the future.

All I can do is keep trying....

A Week of Highs and Lows

We arrived back late on Monday night and two hours into an exhausted sleep I had a phone call from a Perth company that I had sent a CV to for a position that was advertised. A Skype interview was arranged for the following afternoon which lasted nearly an hour and a half. A second Skype interview was then arranged for 12 hours later with a panel of 4 senior managers and directors - this also seemed to go OK and lasted well over an hour. I then received an email from the HR department (this is a major international company) to say that their may be a further round of interviews before the decision was made, but that she would be in touch with me early this week to give me feedback on how the interviews had gone. I have to say I was quietly hopeful but refused to get my hopes up.

I hadn't heard anything by this morning, so I dropped a courtesy email through to the HR dept but hadn't heard anything back by close of office hours.

Then, half an hour ago when checking a job search site that I use and discovered what I think is the same job, now being offered by an agency, and only posted 20 MINUTES prior to my logging on to the site !!

I feel gutted, just a simple email saying thanks but no thanks would have been polite and professional, but to apparently have re listed the same job now with an agency - well, that's not nice.

I was already feeling pretty low, but right this minute I feel, well crap.

One Week Later

Last weekend was hard. We spent most of it with my son, daughter in law and Charlie and Lewis. We had moved to a hotel for the weekend and for the first time since we had been in Perth, the family came to us, it just hadn't been practical for them to visit us when we were living in the 'shed'.

Charlie wanted to stay with us and wanted to know where his T bed was (he has Thomas the Tank Engine bedlinen on his bed back in the UK) he was most indignant that Nana hadn't got his bed there at 'Nana's Hotel House'. It was so hard to spend time with them all knowing that soon we would be getting on the flight back to the UK......

Sunday we just chilled out over at my son's house. He had suggested that we go to the beach for the afternoon, but the temperature was nudging 40 degrees again, so we gave it a miss and just spent time together, talking, drinking tea and playing with the littlies - hands, knees and whoops-a-daisy was the order of the day with Lewis booming Tra La La Laaaaaaaaaaaaaa at the top of his voice at the end of each round of moves. He had us all in stitches as he bounced up and down the long hall way shouting his head off.

Sadly the day went far too fast and the goodbyes came at tea time. We hugged long and hard and Charlie got really upset again as he wanted to go with Nana and Grandad to 'Nana's Hotel House' and we had to leave him crying in his dads arms shouting 'Nana Come back!

I drove around the corner out of sight and sat and broke my heart crying, Hubby was teary eyed too but he was trying to be strong for both of us. We were both pretty quiet on our way back to Perth to drop off the car and get back to the hotel. The packing was finished off and we tried to get a couple of hours sleep before we had to get the taxi to the airport at 3.00 am.

Almost 24 hours later we were back in the UK. And my heart hurts.

Thursday

Flights are booked, we go back to the UK on Monday morning. My heart is breaking, I drove home from my son's house in tears last night having left Charlie and Lewis both screaming, "Want to go with Nana!" as we pulled off the drive way.

It had been a fraught emotional evening, Dear Daughter in Law is dreadfully homesick and is getting more and more withdrawn, Dear Son had had a really bad day at work, hates his job, is trying to study for an exam which he has to take in the next 3 weeks, is sick of travelling each day, is pissed off that we are going home and the littlies are picking up on the tensions all round, hence why they wanted to come with Nana and Grandad last night.

I spoke to both of them this morning, Son is still as angry and pissed off as he was last night and is already wound up anticipating another rough day at work. Daughter in Law is tearful and quiet, the littlies are creating havoc in the back ground.

I feel like a traitor but unless something wonderful happens on the job front today or tomorrow, we will be on that dammed flight and my heart will be breaking all the way.

Harley

For the first couple of weeks after moving in here to our bedsit in the cow shed, we were constantly hearing motorbikes revving up late at night. We weren't too bothered by this, we are right next to a busy highway which never sleeps, so we just thought that it was traffic on the move.

But three weeks into our move here we spent the day at Kings Park, which is the most beautiful botanical park in Perth which over looks the Swan River and hidden away in the displays near to the 'wet' areas, I found a sign telling us about Perth's Motorbike Frogs (I am being serious, this isn't an early April Fools Day Joke', so when we got home I googled them and found..

Motorbike Frog

Litoria moorei is a frog well known in Southwest Australia, its notoriety deriving from the call suggestive of a motorbike revving up through its gears which gives it it's common name, the Motorbike Frog. Wikipedia

Now we know what we are listening to we look out for Harley as he become known, but have yet see him.

The past couple of nights he has been joined by Suzuki and Triumph  -  and the evenings are getting noisier !

City of Lights

Yesterday was Australia Day and we spent the evening watching the beautiful fire works display over Perth City.

I love fireworks at the best of times and it was great to be able to step out of how were feeling for a short while and watch the brilliant colours crash over the dark sky. The banks of the River Swan were teaming with good humoured folks enjoying their day, there were picnics and kiddies playing everywhere and even as the evening fell, people were walking, cycling and just sitting waiting for the explosion of colours.

I don't think any body could have been disappointed with the display, Perth City Council certainly put on a good show. Getting out of the City afterwards was another matter.......   :-) but I wont go into that....

Today has been another day of ups and downs. Hubby has had enough and wants to go home now, this minute..I want to wait until next weekend to see if there are any replies to any of the job vacancies that I have applied for and we are not agreeing on anything today. Its one of those days when you get up grumpy (him) and nothing, not anything is right with the world. Everything I say is wrong and I understand, really I do, but I am going through my own personal headaches right now and I cant deal with everything that he is feeling, its all too much to handle at one time. So right now he is sitting in bed watching a DVD and I am job hunting back home on the computer. Peace is restored, but it has been a fraught day and I am tired of thinking right now, tired of trying to work out what is the best thing for us to do.

I really don't know what to do and I keep hoping a bolt from the blue will hit me and point me in the right direction.