Is anyone up to just talk for a mo?

[Unlikelyamazonian]

Feeling a bit bad. not sure why. doesn't matter Is anybody up?

He is an Aussie - I think you're right about being back on home soil, yes. He definitely seems to have got worse here and he has completely forgotten that I am a fish out of water here - and doesn't like to be reminded of it, because I should be "embracing Australia and our new life" not whinging about it. There you go.

Hey ho, night night!

UA - I can't believe it was that long ago!! But as your friend said, it's 2 years since it started, not since it ended.

I have to say though, your little one is absolutely beautiful, he just makes you want to cuddle him so tight - is he a cuddler??? Lots of women take what you have been through to end up with a wee one like that.

It's awful that you are still having nightmares. If you can't face councelling, why don't you try some NLP books?

... and hang in there... it wont always be this bloody awful x

Here's hoping you got some restful sleep last night, UA - dreamless at least.

I did sleep thanx. Feel shite this morning though. Have you made some decent friends in Sydney thumb? I have a couple of good mates there I could put you in touch with.

I remember the Easter show - it was amazing. I think it was easier for me when I moved to Oz because I was single then and could do what I wanted - although I had to work hard to get a circle of friends going and it was lonely sometimes. You do need a good social life if possible as the whole, strong, 'family' thing that exists out there - heaps of them sprawling around in gangs on the beaches etc - can feel isolating. yr DH needs to be a little more worried about something going wrong with you and your feelings for him imo. You could very easily make a case for leaving him out there and coming back to the UK with ds to live if you felt you had to. Support network back here etc. He wouldn't like that now would he.

Hugs and thanx. xx

He does know that too, UA - the last thing in the world he wants is for me and DS to go back to the UK, it would break his heart. So yes - you'd think he'd be a bit more forward-thinking and supportive, wouldn't you?!

I am a bit far out of Sydney - 2hrs by train, 1.5hrs by car North of Sydney but am just starting to make acquaintances with people in toddler groups etc. Some of them are very surface-only - but a couple seem really nice and genuine. So far I seem to have to do all the running though, which can be hard work because I don't want to impose on people.

MIL has recently started taking DS out on Fridays by herself to give me some time to myself - although I think she's doing it for herself as much, so she has one-to-one time with DS. She is lovely though - but I can't whinge too much to her about her precious baby boy, especially as she could see it as implied criticism of the way he was brought up (which it is but she had good reasons for maybe giving up on certain things - very sick DH herself who died when my DH was nearly 18).

Anyway - here I am hogging your thread with my whinging now! Sorry

I know what you mean about doing the running. It takes time and perserverence and also you have to sort the wheat from the chaf...I met a lot of people (mostly the aussies) who were superficial or just not my type - concerned about appearances, possessions, no sense of humour etc. I had no worries/shame about seeking out more British people to be friends with. Not that they were all ok.

You have to create a history with people. I threw quite a lot of small dinner parties and organised quite a few spurious 'celebrations' to get people to come out and get sloshed/go to the beach/hang out for coffee etc. It paid off in the end. Are you there for the long-term? I got a part-time job in a deli too, which was a good way of seeing faces and learning how the aussies tick. Maybe that will be an option when ds is older. It makes you feel more part of the community. x

I have to go and clean toilets now! xx

ooh thumb thats scary about the red back in LO buggy!!!!!!!!....DS1 was up near Cairns and he was at (i think) Magnetic island in one of those beach huts with some mates and saw a red back crawling across his back pack!!!!!!!!!!

When he came home i double bagged his back pack for 3 days and kept dosing it with insect spray before he unpacked it

He went swimming with the sharks,rain forest,syney harbour bridge walk,melbourne prison,met some amazing people from new zealand who have invited him there too. I think he wants to go back to do pharmacy which is what he was doing in melbourne.

We're having quite a run of noxious pests at the mo - one of the mums at our toddler group has just had their place fumigated because she found a redback in the kitchen, and a white-tip spider in the living room.
The minute I see one in the house we're getting this place done as well - at least it will kill the fuck-off enormous cockroaches we have as well

The weather has not been kind this summer - great for the pests, not great for the humans.

I did think about getting a PT job but we are ttc #2 at the mo so there didn't seem much point, especially as mat pay is non-existent here. However, if nothing happens on the baby front then a job would be a good plan. There is even a shop I would like to work in - a health food shop. I have made friends of sorts with the owner, we chat every time I go in, he knows my background so it's an option but....

never heard of the white tip...is that a killer too.[yikes]

Not necessarily but it's not fun!
here is a lovely list for your edification - put your hands over your eyes first if you are an arachnophobe, it has pictures!

OMG........i hate spiders.....DS has to throw them out of my house.I would be paranoid

I never had a problem with them before but now... plus we have always shown DS wildlife when we find it but now we always have to add the rider "Don't Touch!" to everything. MIL really doesn't help with that when she helps him pick up moths and things...

i would still love to live out there but i think i am too old to be allowed in and im single so unless i meet an aussie bloke im snookered.

depends on your skill set though - you might be "useful" to them.
But if you are older than 50 then you might have to have a certain amount of money to bring with you, in case you become an elderly drain on public resources (or that may be if you are retired, not over 50, not sure)

Don't do it anyway - unless your DS does - it's a PITA creating a new set of friends. Having said that, I have one of the mums from toddler group coming round this morning for coffee so I'd better shimmy off and get ready.

UA - hope you had a better day and you're feeling a bit brighter - sorry to have utterly hijacked your thread!

oh shit im an elderly drain...bugger

sorry UA didnt mean to waffle....hope you are ok tonight. still here if you need to talk