Continued...

Spent the evening doing the last bits of laundry and packing, we had 6 carry on bags and 17 pieces of check in luggage. I weighed everything and it came to over 160kg!
We woke up about 4am and I got all the kids through the shower and dressed. Dianne and Gail came and transported us all to the airport. Gail left and Dianne came inside with us. It took ages to get all our luggage checked in but after that we all went and had a coffee/breakfast as luckily we had plenty of time to spare. Eventually it was time to go through immigration so had a big tight tearful hug with Dianne (just as well tickets to Perth are cheap). Dianne is an amazing lady and has been so kind to our family, I am going to miss her so much.
The flight was uneventful and the kids watched movies most of the way. We had a 7 hour stopover in Bangkok which we spent partly walking around windowshopping, had something to eat, kids played on a little playround we found. By around 9pm the kids were getting really tired and by the time we took off they pretty much fell asleep straight away for the next 2.5 hours of the flight.
They were grumpy when we landed and we waited till everyone was off the plane till we tried to get off. I'm not going to go into the nightmare retrieving the cats was because I am still suffering from PTSD lol...but will do a separate post on that later.
We ended up leaving the airport over 4 hours later....we had hired a 13 seater minivan so all the luggage was on the roof. My husbands cousin in the front with the driver and all of us and the 2 cats in their carrier in the back. The kids went back to sleep and I patted the cats and dozed although that was hard because the driver was a really crappy one who kept on braking hard every few minutes. We got to Ballaldighi around 7am I think....
First priority was the cats so I set up their litter boxes and food/water and let them out of the carrier. They seemed so calm after their huge trip!!
Next job was to blowup our air mattresses and make up all the beds.
The kids were excited to be in Ballaldighi and Vrinda immediately went off to her friends house, I went looking for her and she hid under the table. Her friend's family were cracking up!
Around midday I got everyone back to bed although I kept on waking up to see andom relatives gawking at me I was so tired I just rolled over and ignored them!
Slept for around 4 hours and then ate dinner that my mil and sil had cooked.
Was back in bed around 6pm and slept like a log all night!
The next day was spent unpacking as much as we could and we had quite a few visitors eager to see the cats, in Mallika's words they are CELEBRITIES!
Day after that my husband went back to Kolkata to  start the process of getting our container out of the dock. He had a long day and arrived back late that night. He had to go back in a few days.
OK this installment is done for now, I am off to bed for sweet dreams listening to the howls of jackals...love them.

Updates just now coming...

I have been in India 3 weeks now and been crzy busy ever since. I am going to back track and update on how the move happened though so this may take a few posts. We shall see...
Our shipping container arrived on November 15th and we bought 2 huge rolls of bubble wrap, rope and tape from Bunnings and started packing. I had already ordered boxes and bags for mattresses and couches.
We started wrapping everything and slowly packing it into the container then securing each block of items with rope to stop it sliding around. I did quite a bit of research on how to pack a shipping container and this seemed like a good method. I also used a cut up yoga mat and bits of cardboard or foam between items and between the rope and items.
In the end we had a little spare room so we went and bought a laundry tub  and an outdoor table and chairs to fill it up. I took off all the packaging and rewrapped it to try and make them look used so we could avoid higher customs duties.
It took 3 days but finally it was done and the truck came and picked it up.
Now we  were livin in an empty house for the next 4 weeks, sleeping on air mattresses and using the few things I had decided not to ship like chipped plates/cups and 2 old pots.
My friend Dianne lent us a spare TV and fridge to use.
I started cleaning the walls and doing the gardening.
One week before we were due to go and even typing about this is makin me feel sick I rang the pet transport company to ask for their bank account number so I could pay them (as they had instructed me to do) and they informed that they had not booked the cats on the flight as I had not told them to do. Well I absolutely freaked out and cried, yelled and had a total meltdown at them as I just knew that to be untrue. Luckily I was at Dianne's house and she helped me through it.
In the end the pet transport company refused any responsibility and I knew I needed their help so I let the whole thing go and just asked them humbly to help me. There was a few days tense wait until 3 days before we left when they confirmed that the cats would be travelling on our flights but that came at an extra $500 (suspicious much?). Anyway I paid up and shut up!
In the meantime we celebrated Vrinda's eleventh birthday (took her and her friend for a pedicure at a very swish spa!) and my husband arrived back from Port Hedland.
My beautiful friends clubbed together and took me out for a breakfast and then to Annasha Day Spa for a 90 minute relaxation massage.
Four days before we left Dianne, my husband and myself cleared out the house, cleaned everything and we moved into a furnished holiday home for our last days in Perth so we could get the carpets cleaned etc. The pet transport company came and picked up the cats and took them to their cattery for the next few days.
The kids kept bringing home more and more stuff from school that I had to sort through and deal with.
Wednesday night Dianne and I catered for the School Graduation Ceremony and the girls performed in the choir and band while the boys stayed back at the holiday house with their Dad. Dianne decided to cancel school canteen on friday so we could all go out for lunch on my last day in Australia.
Thursday I spent repacking all our stuff and doing some last minute shopping. Also the carpet cleaner came to the house and also cleaned the windows.
Friday I dropped the kids at school, my husband had to visit the bank and sort out the sale of our car. I went with Dianne and we hung out at her house then we went and I paid a speeding fine (oops) and got some prescriptions filled, also bought a few bottles of my deodorant.
Then we went to school and met up with everyone who was coming for lunch and we drove to Genesis in Roleystone which is this awesome totally vegetarian restaurant (I am the only vegetarian so they chose it for me) we had an awesome lunch and I got 2 beautiful cards with heartfelt messages from everyone and a photo of the whole group holding a sign "miss you Em!". Was starting to feel emotional! We got back to school by 2pm for the final assembly of the school year and saw the kids doing their class items and I got called up on the stage by the principal and thanked for all my volunteer work at the school and given a gift. I ws not expecting that and ended up getting really emotional and after that I turned into a big crying snotty mess! Collected the kids and more school stuff (argh) and went round thanking their teachers and saying goodbye to a whole lot of people. Took over an hour and after that I was in a total state, my husband arrived back from returning the house keys to the real estate agent and we went back to Dianne's.
We needed to drop our car at the dealership we were selling it to so I went in Dianne's car and my husband drove the kids in our car and we went back to the holiday house and dropped the kids and my husband there.
Then Dianne and I dove in our separate cars to the dealership which should have been a simple 20 minute drive. Unfortunately there had been an accident on the highway and traffic was at a standstill. The dealership closed in half an hour and it looked like we were not going to make it...plus my husband had left pretty much zero petrol in the car and I was terrified I was going to run out. I got off the highway and drove trying to find a petrol station. I rang the dealership and told them I was on the way and please wait for me, they pretty much told me they closed at 6 and if i wasn't there the too bad! I found a petrol station and put $10 in. Dianne rang me and said she was already at the dealership as the accident had been cleared and she was talking to the people there and they were waiting for me. Got back on the highway and made it there only 10 minutes late.
Dianne dropped me back at the holiday house and we confirmed that she and Gail (another friend) would be there at 5.30am to take  us to the airport.
OK I have to go and shower now before the maid comes and put a pot out for milk... be back later!!!

Eight weeks to go!

Things are moving ahead. The work on  also our house will be finished on the 29th (ish).

The cats are going to the vet tommorrow for their rabies shot and the vet will fill out the forms for the No objection certificate.
Basically I have to take them to the vet who checks all their paperwork and gives them a rabies shot and fills in the forms. Next I send the forms to our relative in India who will take that paperwork to the Customs officer who will grant the NOC which then gets sent back to us.

I ordered some boxes online and have started packing. The shipping container gets delivered on the 6th of november and leaves Fremantle on the 15th of november.
A friend has put us in touch with a customs agent in Kolkata and he has given a quote which seems OK. The only unknown is how much the customs duty and port fees etc will be, I shudder to think.

It is hard to wind up a life in one place at the same time. I'm determined to keep in touch with my friends here though. I'm just looking forward to being moved and settling in.
But at the moment I feel tired and unsettled and there are just way too many things that can go wrong!
Anyways keep on breathing...

Father's Day

But no father here today cos he is still away in Port Hedland working and we are here in Perth. He will be home inn 2 weeks when his 4 week swing is over. The kids are keeping the presents and cards they made at school till then.
Yesterday was a horrific day...the kids fought till I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I ripped em a new one and today so far as been good (apart from the boys waking up at 6am on a sunday and making a huge noise for the next 2 hours so no one could sleepin but that's normal). Vrinda has a friend staying and so far they have cleaned the kitchen and are making pancakes (without a recipe) so waiting on that.
I have been thinking a lot about how life will change when we are in India. At the moment we live in a suburban street which as large bush blocks (ours is 3000m2) and we barely know even our immediate neighbours. The only people I know here are people I have met through the kids school.
When I lived in India before we lived  inside the ISKCON compound in an apartment. All our neighbours were other ex-pats from different countries. It was like living in India but kind of not if you know what I mean My husband's relatives would visit sometimes but after a while he managed to get them to call us before they came over as their unannounced visits were driving me crazy as everytime they came I had to drop everything and host them, go out and get drinks or cook or whatever.
Our new house is right in my husbands village but separate from where the rest of the family live. I know my mother in law will probably be at our house most of the time which I don't mind as she is pretty easy to be around and I like her cooking (I mean I know sometimes I might feel hacked off with her...I KNOW that will happen but I at least can go to my own room or whatever). Because of  having ISKCON just down the road white people are not such an oddity so I don't get too much interest in me because of that. I have a big wall and a gate thanks to my husband so noone can see in from outside. I guess I will get lots of visitors to start with and maybe less as time goes by.
To be honest I don't know but I'm determined to ride out the issues whatever they may be...after all I have to live there and I'm hoping to live there for a long time so burning my bridges isn't going to work.

Our moving day is 15th of December so not  long to go.

Shit happens...

The last week has been a tough one and I'm still dealing with the fallout. First of all I am just really really tired, at the moment I just want to run away to a quiet place and not have people wanting me, needing me, expecting me. I am tired of parenting alone and I need a break.
So when I got the news that our project manager is no longer able to help us with our house, well the shit hit the fan. I really could not see how we could continue...I am still pretty upset about it but have started forming Plan B and I think it will be OK.
I do have to say though that my husband (and me in a support role) work really hard for our money and because of that we don't want to waste it. I know how our little house and family is not a number one priority in everyone's mind but when I'm paying someone to do a job I expect honesty and to stick to what you said you would do (RANT OVER).
 Anyway onwards and upwards!

Here is a pic of my kids... on our recent trip to Denmark.( Denmark is a small town in Western Australia)  Not a very good photo I know but I like the huge tree trunk they are posing in!
For now my husbands cousin is going to help us put in a new septic tank at the house and do a few minor bits and pieces. I am going to order all the bathroom fittings and then a guy is going to come from Kolkata to install everything so we wont be without a bathroom for too long.

I am on a search to find these tiles for my kitchen...if I have to I will buy them here and put them in my shipping container.
Well it is school pick up time. Im off but I might do another post tonight...

Going on...

My husband has just been home for a week after 4 weeks away for work. It was a hard week, we are both tired after a busy 4 weeks and the amount of details to work out before we move led to some snippy moments! I find the 4/1 rota to be the worst as it takes a good few days to get adjusted to having him back around again and by the time that has happened it is time for him to leave again. Once we are in India he will be working 2 months and then home for 1 month. I think this will be much much better. Plus in India we will have the luxury of not having so much of the housework/garden maintenance to catch up on while he is here.

The day before he came back was Janmastami so the children and I went to the temple for a few hours in the evening. It was very crowded there and we struggled to even get inside the temple but we did in the end and we saw the cultural programme and some dancing. Then we had some prasadam and came home around 9pm. It was a shame that my husband missed it. I am really tired of him missing everything!

I had  received an email from the Indian Visa and Passport Office saying that the kid's OCI had been approved so we took their passports in there and they will put the sticker in and courier them back to us. My husband also needed his OCI transferred from his old passport to his new one so we got that done too.

I have been looking at  a few indian tile websites and not having much luck finding anything nice. They are either throwbacks to the 80's with pink and grey floral patterns or an indian interpretation of modern/contemporary. So not what I am looking for! Maybe I need to put a few boxes of tiles in my shipping container...

My MIL rang up and just hearing her voice I missed her so much...she is unconditionally caring and no matter what I do (and she has seen me really freak out) she is still my biggest supporter. Shed a few tears and made me feel really good that we will be so close to her soon.
I chased up the pet relocation company again...he is meant to be getting back to me (sigh).

Kitchen nightmares...

We have been trying to figure out a few things to do with the kitchen recently. Because the kitchen is presently 2 small rooms and a verandah there is quite a bit to do... First we need to decide where the water will be which means deciding where the windows will be.
It is harder than you think especially when I am just going off a floorplan and can't see how the light is and all the small details like that.
Looks like we are just going to be in camping mode for quite a while when we arrive as unless I  can sneak in a quick visit before we all actually move (unlikely) I am just not prepared to make too many decisions which could turn out to be expensive mistakes.
So it looks like there will just be an empty room with a sink, a stove and a table. A friend of ours has a gas stove that looks really good and she has found it good so she is going to buy one for us in Kolkata and get it in the house before we arrive http://www.sunflame.com/CookingRanges.asp hopefully the top one if we can get it.
I'm also hoping to be able to have a walk-in pantry/scullery area with a 2nd sink...

The kitchen that is there now!



What I want