Wednesday 26th November 2008

What a roller coaster ride the last couple of days have been, filled with giddy heights and sickening drops and all the adrenalin I can handle for the next six months.

Having decided to look for properties as our current rent is £1000 per mont, on Monday I confirmed with the agents that I wanted to view a property in Danehill and at the same time discovered a gem of a house in Scaynes Hill, just walking distance from the children's school and comprising 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a huge lounge and garden. I set up appointments for both on Tuesday as I had Megs home sick with me on Monday.

Well on Tuesday I had both Megan and Phillip home sick, so with both children asleep in the back of Auntie Madge (aka the bus) I headed out once again to Danehill only to discover, as I had arrived, that the agent had being trying to reach me to cancel the appointment as the owner had let the house privately.......aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh......huge frustration, annoyance and disappointment, but at least we still had the Scaynes Hill property to look at.

The children and I instantly fell in love with the property at Scaynes Hill and it seemed as though it was destined to be ours. Despite a few decorating quirks it was perfect and I spent time showing it to both the Bratz and my mom and talking about it as if it was a done deal......enter reality......once Si got home from work we sat and really discussed the implications of the move as, although the house cost exactly the same per month as our current one, we needed to consider getting Si a motorbike to get to and from the station as cycling was no longer an option due to distance, hence more fuel expenses....there was also the hefty 1500 pound deposit to consider and the 500 pound administration fee, not to mention the 1000 pound rent in advance - so after working the numbers in just about every way possible, we decided this morning to let the property go and stick it out where we are for the next 6 months and reassess in May next year when we have officially been resident a full year.

On top of all this I have just got Megan back to school this morning and have been up all night dealing with Phil with temperatures of 38.5+ degrees - turns out the poor little man has an upper respiratory tract infection and is feeling absolutely dreadful....so antibiotics for him as well I am afraid and we are all just hoping and praying that the antibodies in my breast milk will be enough to keep Nic well as, at this stage, I don't think I can take many more sleepless nights with sick children.

One thing is for certain as I celebrate the 6 month mark of our time here, we most definitely can't call it boring!