My very first visitor!

Today, my very first visitor has arrived here in Canberra!  This morning, my mom finally touched down after a 17 hour flight and I must say she did very well today considering that she has basically been awake for two days.  We have lots planned and I think this will be a great visit.  I will keep you posted and put up photos as we go along.

My stuff is here! My stuff is here! WHOOO HOOO! Now where will I put it all?

I have been here for three months and I feel like Im settling in ok.  When my air shipment showed up, that helped a little.  When the kitties got here, that helped some more.  But now I have MY STUFF.  My clothes, shoes, towels, and most important, my cookware!  I am so very excited.  When the company called to let me know my goods had cleared customs and would be delivered, I almost cried.  Instead, I took three days off so I could make sure I was here when they came.  The sweet little tradies (thats what they call blue collar workers here) who brought my stuff were a little stuffed at having to climb two flights of stairs but I tried to make it as easy as possible, letting them know when they could just leave stuff on the second floor.  Consequently, my apartment looked like a hoarder house when they finished.  Part of the service is that they also help unbox your goods and haul away the empty containers.  I got rid of a lot that way but I had them just leave the 30 boxes of clothes for me to sort out later.  So my house now looks like this:

There's a kitchen in there somewhere.....

These are just the boxes you can see from the door....yes, they are all clothes.

The office on the left, guest room on the right.

My "helpers"

As I unpacked, I found the little gifts the movers in Texas left among my things.  Im so glad they managed to pack their candy trash rather than some things I actually wanted.

After two days of hard work...the Guest room!  

Boxes EVERYWHERE!

Once I unpacked the beds and toys, that was all she wrote.

"Its about time you found my bed, Mom."

So now its just a matter of finding places for everything.  I have high hopes that once my reinforcements get here (MOM!) things will go faster.  I did come out of the gate swinging hard but ran out of gas about day three into it.  BUT, this place is almost livable now.  Just look at how inviting the guest room looks....

And, as an added bonus, there is a television in there as well.  :D  Once I get everything sorted, I will post pictures of what my apartment ACTUALLY looks like.  For now, all you get is the hoarder preview.  Sleep tight America.  :D

Im the only Fool this April.

As I relaxed and enjoyed my long Easter holiday, I spoke to my family, did a little shopping, lots of laundry then had a minor heart attack when I realized that Oscar's registration (or REGO here) had EXPIRED.  *GULP*.  Since there was a public holiday (Easter Monday) the rego place was closed.  Tuesday morning, I hustled to the office and retrieved some paperwork that I needed then beat feet directly to the rego place.  Two hours later (lighting speed for Australian customer service), Oscar had some new flash!  If you remember, the plates I had were yellow and from New South Wales.  NOW, both Oscar and I are official residents of the Australian Capital Territory.  These are not Oscar's actual plates, but aside from the number they look exactly like these:

Aren't they spiffy?  They cost me $605.  For that kind of money, I think they should drive the car for me.  Evidently here, if you register a car, you also buy insurance.  You do not get to choose the insurance provider, you just take what they give you.  Then, you must get another private policy to cover other stuff.  I don't know how I feel about that.  On the one hand, you know that if some bozo hits you they are definitely covered with insurance.  On the other hand, I don't like being told what I will take (or how much it costs).

BUT THATS NOT ALL!

I also had a house inspection today.  They do these every 6 months, just like my property manager at home. I thought it was odd that they decided to do one after Ive only been here for 3 months but whatever.  I feel like I spent the day driving to and from my apartment and finding parking.  The property manager came and checked out everything and seemed fine with it.  Of course Jackie and Franklin turned up the charm, loving on the lady, allowing her to scratch their ears, meowing sweetly.  I wonder who switched my cats while I was at the rego place..... the amount of sucking up they did was epic.

Once that was over, it was time to return to the office for the 3rd time today.  Only it wasn't the third, it was the 4th.  As I pulled into the driveway at the office, I realize, I forgot my badge at my apartment.  DOH!  So back home I went to retrieve it.  Good thing I did because I met another neighbor....and he was NOT creepy.  :D  I definitely hope to run into that neighbor again very soon.  So back to the office I went to finish the day.  I feel that I have only spent the day going in and out of the parking lot.  Hopefully the rest of the week will be much less eventful!