Hello minti world.

My life is hectic but i can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  things are really coming together now.  Most of the assessments of the house cracking are now complete.  i think the general consensus is that its due to soil movment, which is good because I am not liable to fix any structural damage and i dont have to chase the original builder to fix it.  I have had insurance check for water leaks and i am witing on the written report, but verbaly i was advised off the record to not go through insurance, because there is very little they would pay for and it could take up to 2 years to finalise the claim.

so I have already had a quote from a builder to fix it........much much better than my original quote and he seems to be a really helpful guy.  he even offered to get my paving paint for me at tradesman cost!  I am hoping within the next 2 weeks it will be fixed and I can start painting. 

In the meantime, I have been busy working on outside jobs, such as painting the cubby house, paving and cleaning up.......next week i am going to paint all the pattern pave concrete.

Before paving (and after rain)

after paving.......much better

my goal is that within the next 3-4 weeks my house will be ready to go on the market.  I am hoping to have a new place before the kids get enrolled into school (term 1 next year) so i know which school to put them in and they are not disturbed part way through a term.

I am also looking for a new job.  I am a little tired today, as i was up late last night typing a 5 page essay answering questions for one of my job applications.  I want a job where i dont have to start at 7am, so i can get the kids to school next year, a job where i dont have to work weekends, so I can see the kids when they are not in school ( and also so their dad doesn't have to look after them because his supervision and attitude towards their care sux.....go more into that in a minute).  I wanted to stay in the hospital where i work now, but nothing is available now that suits my criteria,......and for the safety of the kids i want a new position sooner rather than later.  I checked with my home loan company, and they said that as long as there is no probation period for the new job, i should be able to get approved for a home loan.

On the negative, it seems like everytime the kids dad has them (when I am at work) one of them gets hurt.  the last weekend i worked, charlotte got bitten and scratched by his pet rat because he left her holding it unsupervised.  then treated it by washing it under water and sticking on a bandaid......needless to say, when i got home from work on a saturday afternoon with no available drs appointments, i had to wait 2 hours with her in the waiting GP clinic, she got put on antibiotics and had a betadine wash.  Thats not the only thing, but i think so far its the worst.  my dad almost reported him when he found out.

I am really looking forward to moving into my own place with the kids, and starting a new life in my own space.  even though i am sooooo busy at the moment, i can see the progress and i am achieving my goals so its easy to keep going.  i know what i am working towards and this craziness is only temporary.  I feel really good about everything at the moment (except for not being able to protect my kids all the time, and it frustrates me that its out of my control until i get a new job).