It has been mighty, mighty hot here the past few days - and it's predicted that Sydney is going to have one of its hottest weeks ever. To that I respond with a resounding 'UGH'.
I don't think I mentioned it here, since I've been so flighty when it comes to blogging, but I went for a job a few weeks ago. I was approached by an ex-London colleague who works in a not-for-profit children's agency, and asked if I would be interested in interviewing for a management position. I went along, mainly for the experience, and was offered the job - except I was told the salary would be higher than what it was (they made an error) and so I decided to hold out for teaching work. The job would've seen me outside of the classroom again, and I really would like to get back into a routine again, similar to what I was in before.
The school year for the kidlets started yesterday in New South Wales, but casual teachers don't tend to get a lot of work then since most teachers are coming back fresh & perky, and because numbers tend to take a little while to settle down. I've been sending out applications, though I've lost a lot of faith in the Department of Education - I swear, the majority of vacancies posted don't exist. It's so frustrating. Instead, I'm just waiting around and keeping myself busy with wedding & house stuff, hoping that I'll find myself in a permanent position soon. I'm not a casual teacher: I work so much better when I'm planning for myself.
Speaking of house stuff... so, we've made some progress on that. Long time readers might remember that Jase and I bought a block of land in our perfect suburb, almost exactly a year ago today. It's sat there in its grassy glory this whole time, while our surrounding neighbours built up around it. We haven't met our neighbours yet, but the house on one side of the block is completed & the other side is nearly there. Our little patch o'grass is one of the only vacant lots left.
We knew when we moved into this flat, that we wanted it to be temporary. Our goal was twelve months - meaning we had that amount of time to work out mortgaging & finance details, choose a build design we wanted, and go ahead to get everything started. That's been happening, slowly. Before Christmas, we found a home design we loved & went ahead to get our block surveyed and soil tested - the start of a very long winded process. After a few ups and downs (our building consultant leaving the company unannounced, our survey results going missing, our agreed inclusions being removed, me going into panic attacks about having to find another house to build) we're finally making some progress. Just this past weekend gone by, we nutted out our inclusions (air conditioning, for the win!) and signed the initial deposit.
It's exciting but it's nerve-wracking at the same time. In approximately four weeks, we'll have our plans sketched up & our appointment to choose colours and designs for the home. In six weeks after that, the plans will go to council, and once they're (hopefully) approved - it'll be time to start financing and building. BUILDING. I'm hoping that by the time the wedding rolls around in June, that we'll have a concrete slab down - and if all goes well, everything will follow on from there. Smoothly, I hope.
I foresee this year being completely mental - but in a good way. We have so much going on, but they're all super-important-life-changing things that I can't wait for. I guess after three years of living in London and feeling like we were being left behind by friends & family.. it's starting to come together for us now. It's a good feeling, even if it means we'll be poor at the end of it.
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11 comments:
hope something comes up for you soon. im content to stay casual for now. but just wish i would get some work soon. x
I'm so excited to see the building process happen for you. It's going to be so exciting. :)
Your End of 2011 post will be epic!
My parents are currently building a house, and it's at times extremely hard and tedious and patience-testing, but it is also just awesome watching it all come together!
Your house is going to be epic. Your wedding is going to be epic. You're going to end up with an epic job... EPIC.
And you're very, very deserving :)
I'll be in the corner, sulking.
um... left behind by friends and family...?
EXCEPT ME!!
I'm still single, still living at home and come home most nights to a dog that wants to jump up with poo on his paws, and a cat that enjoys the taste of human flesh.
Oh yeah. My life. For the win.
When we first decided to build our house, we fell in love with a lot that we loved...and then the community developer told us we couldn't build the house we wanted on that particular lot for a completely ridiculous reason. It was devastating, but the builder felt so bad that they opened up another set of lots that weren't supposed to be sold yet and we ended up with a lot about ten times better than the original one. It's a crazy process, but so far it seems like it'll be worth it in the end.
Like Janet said, you're end of 2011 post will indeed be EPIC! You've got so many big, big things happening this year and it's just amazing!
It totally sounds like an exciting year! Good luck with everything!
Hey Aly, thanks for adding me to your reader :) I am a teacher too so I know all about how hard it is to find work if you don't have a permanent job. I decided to give the state school system the flick and have a job in a private school now, feels a lot more secure. Good luck finding something!
Yay! So many fun projects in the works!! xoxo
Oh this sounds so exciting. What a great year it will be. You're building a house, oh my gosh!
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