Fast forward to 2015, let's take a look at what has happened in the last 6 months:
1) The big move - in November 2014, we finally reinstalled ourselves in our brand new home. Over a hot weekend, my husband, cousin, uncle, brother in law and cousin in law helped with moving the many boxes we had prepared. What a mammoth task! I had taken up the kind request of a friend to help mind the kids while we did the move which was a godsend. In reality we could have gotten rid of at least 10% of the boxes we packed. It took us the two weekend days to move everything out. On day 1, we drove the truck a little close to a low hanging branch of a street tree so it actually created a little damage on the front corner of the truck box! This type of damage would have cost over $2K on our rental, but my husband was able to fix it (at close to midnight after a full day of moving!) and the next morning when we returned the truck it passed inspection! The remaining day of the weekend was spend moving in and also taking the remaining boxes in the car. It was hectic trying to establish a living routine out of boxes but now I barely remember the stress. Then on Monday would be the start of the kid's first day at the new school. I drop them off after spending a little time watching them being welcomed into their class and I'm happy. I then spend the rest of the day until school pick up time cleaning the house we had just left.
Admittedly in cleaning up the old house, I am hit with a little nostalgia and remember the fond memories of the house. Sadness hits me as I realise this is the house where the kids spent their early years growing up, running up and down the stairs and sharing birthday parties with friends. They were good times.
It is now 6 months since we have moved in and I can honestly say that the kids are in a great school. I can be confident that their schooling until university should be reasonably taken care of with the local high school being well regarded and within walking distance.
The downsides of the move is that the commute is almost half an hour longer to work though which while expected, took me longer to come to grips with. Also another big downside is the neighbours. One particular neighbour has left us with a bad taste in our mouths, she is nosey, judgemental and things she should be consulted about anything within a 10 meter radius of her new house. We have had several issues with her during the build and a couple since we moved in including a retaining wall, planting of boundary trees and us installing a privacy screen around our pool. We've had several verbal altercations and now try to limit any eye contact with any member of that household.
2) Work - not hard to predict I guess, given my last entry, but I'm now working in a different company and have also embarked on the contracting journey. The new company is also smaller and a little behind in the times but they are nice people and after 3 months, I am enjoying myself. After a slow start where I questioned why I had been brought on, I'm now working across 2 projects and churning through the work. There was also a little scare when 2 other contractors were let go allegedly due to cost cutting but it turns out that they were not performing.
And another lovely surprise is that a friend from my old job will be joining me on my new project so I am expecting fun times ahead!
3) Family - the kids are my pride and joy and I am always happy with them no matter what. My son had a terrible asthma episode and I was really worried at one stage when there were several people surrounding him at hospital and no one was talking to me about what was going on. I got scared for the first time for his life and started crying which he saw. He did get better after 3 days in hospital and asked me why I cried and I told him I was worried about him. My daughter's eczema really flared up as well and both instances of asthma and eczema from the kids seem to have been their worst ever. We are wondering if it is something about the new location and still are not on top of it. I hope they both improve. My kids also admitted that they missed their old friends which saddened me a little but I know they will get over it. They have friends in the new school and it will only be a matter of time before they develop similar friendships.
We also had a nice little trip away on a cruise for the first time. IT was a great holiday and very relaxing for me after a frenetic year last year. We went to South Pacific which had beautiful islands. Noumea was ok but Isle of Pines and Lifou were fantastic and I would love to go back there again.
4) Health - well I'm 41 and feeling fabulous... I am still working on establishing an exercise routine but i'm not overweight, I'm just looking at some more tone. Won't spend too much time on this area of my time.
5) Friends - last year was tumultuous, new jobs, separations etc, this year seems to be continuing the trend, I am attributing it to my circle of friends all entering their late 30s early 40s and going through various cycles of mid life :). One of my closest friends who is going through separation has decided to uproot herself and kids and go to Queensland. I feel I have been out of touch with her for over a year and have little in common anymore. It saddens me but I cannot go on this journey with her as I do not understand it. My cousin and other friend have now had their first babies. I know the road ahead for them in the next few weeks will be tough. My friend who I think is a bit of a perfectionist is also another person I feel I have fallen out of touch with. The baby gives me an excuse to limit contact in the guise of giving her personal space to get through this period of her life.
One funny episode was when I caught up with another friend and her kids... my kids ended up exclaiming that they never wanted to play with them or visit them again because the kids were so naughty! I now use them as a threat whenever my kids misbehave hahaha. I do admit they were the naughtiest, spoiled kids I had met within my circle of friends and hope that when we see them again that they will improve with age :)
6) Finances - our finances are extremely healthy, we are both contracting now and we also purchased another investment property. We now hold 4 properties including our principle home and I am looking to add another one by the end of the year. Our retirement plan is in good shape. I feel we could be more aggressive in our investing but for now there are too many things going on for me to give this a proper look.
