| The plan...I was going to drop Moons off for her first day at school with Steve. We were then going to drive to his work, I was going to leave him them and drive home. I had a few things to do, but there was no hurry, I figured I'd plod along enjoying my few days of free time before entering into the workforce once more! The reality was so different, it was NUTS! We drove to Moons school and were horrified by what we saw, I did inspect the school once before and was happy with what I saw. I knew it wasn't located in a particularly great area but decided not to 'judge the book by its cover.' I won't go into the details of what I didn't like about the school as we all have our different standards and perceptions, but suffice to say this was not my cup of tea! I spoke with the Manager about my concerns and to be honest, she wasn't very bothered. Steve quickly ushered poor old Moons into the playground while I stood in the corner weeping like a baby. There is no guilt like a working Mother's! Steve in his calm, logical way tried to quickly find a resolve, 'are we taking her out or what?' while I said sobbed, 'Am I over reacting? what should we do? I'm an awful Mother for working and leaving my poor defenseless little Moons here, this is awful...' And so on...As Steve stood rather awkwardly in his suit and I, not expecting to get out of the car had thrown on my old holey trousers and mishaped hoodie (don't ask, I've got no idea how its misshapen, Steve says it looks like I'm trying to conceal a baby rhino!). We peeked in at little Moons playing in the sandpit, oblivious to her Mother's breakdown outside the gates. In the meantime, loud, rude kids with mouths that would make a Prison Officer blush charged passed me. In the end we decided to head off and drive around Welly frantically searching for a new school. Our first stop at my ideal School for Moons proved fruitless - not space until Jan 08. I offered bribes, even blackmail but to no avail. Something about licenses, etc. They recommended other places and they in turn offered other places. Like Mary and Joseph we chased around. Only the donkey is a Falcon, I'm not pregnant and we needed room for our BIG baby! Finally we found the cutest little school, they had room for one more! YAY! So we filled in the paperwork and she starts in two weeks. The reason for two weeks is that the other school requires notice of that. And over $300 is a lot to lose as we have to cough up deposit and school fees in advance for the other school, not to mention all the other costs we have in setting up in Welly. Its awkward, but we've explained to Moons as best we can that this place is a temporary play house until she starts her new school. Which incidentally we took her too later on and she loves it. If this current school gets even worse or Moons is very unhappy we'll take her straight out. Then it was off to the courts, the Real Estate Agency didn't reimburse us the amount that the Judge awarded, so we had to give the information to the collection department. It was such an interesting experience. I don't know if it will get us anywhere, but its the principle. They really have treated us so badly and then they didn't have the decency to pay out what the Judge felt was fair. We'll see what happens. Then to post my passport for my residency stamp which took forever, the girl was training and there was this huge debate about the correct postal service to use, etc. Tried to find a Doctor, no luck, most local places aren't taking new patients! Had to pick up a new kennel for the dog, so had to hire a trailer. She of course, has removed all the bedding and is sleeping peacefully in the garden! That splinter was for NOTHING! Bit of an emotionally charged day! But we're sorted now, moons will go to a nice school and then onto an even better primary school which will get her a place in a really nice high school in the city. Just took a long soak in the bath, with my gossipy magazine, bliss! God I love this house! It is SO nice to get home and relax. Oh, time for Nip/Tuck.... |