thereyougothen

I wish...

Well, not really.

I have seen Quirk. I don't know how much she has had to drink in the 36 hours or so she has been hiding, so I have put a bowl of water downstairs. I don't know why I bother when there are 2 lovely toilets for drinking out of down there, but hey ho.

Bill has gone off in a taxi. He'll be back, all being well, early on Monday morning. When the boys will be on Summer holidays. In fact, the boys will be on summer holidays from noon on Thursday (11.45 for Nico, actually).

And we got our bank account "products" today - for which read credit and debit cards (but there's no debit card for me yet!) and the loan to buy the car will be in the account on Thursday. So when Bill gets back on Monday, I will make him a cup of tea, and then we will head off to Automotriz Suiza and pick up our *gold* Outback. We didn't get to choose the colour - because we wanted a standard transmission, we had to take what there was, and there's only one available in Santiago, and it's gold. I am going to buy stencils and spraypaint and make it ours. This is not my original idea, I confess, I saw it on another blog where the author had bought a ubiquicar. Every third car in Santiago seems to be a Subaru Outback.

Did I mention that Bill has left in a taxi? I am feeling very sorry for myself. I was going to finish the better part of a bottle of very nice Carmenere, but Nico knocked it over, so there's less than half left. Which is good since I have to be up at 6... Only two more days of that though, hurrah! Until 16th February. 2 Months of holiday! Eek. and Yay!

So, the Nana. we decided we would try a live-in, at least until I finish the Herceptin treatments. She started yesterday. Milagros is the 19 year old daughter of my friend's live-in Nana. She's great - cleans her socks off, smiles all day, enjoys my attempts at spanish and tries out her english. She's going to be great for (and with) the boys. But I can't stand having someone living in my house. So I am going to ask my Spanish teacher who is coming tomorrow, and who already knows Milagros, to help me ask her if she would be willing to come daily instead. She would only work 5 days instead of 6 (the relocation agent looked at me like I had two heads when I said I would only ask her to work 5 days a week!) and I would pay her more, becasue she wouldn't be living in.

She's already happy becasue I've told her we only want her to stay Friday nights when Bill is away.

It's crazy. The norm for a live-in Nana is a 12 hour work day, 5 days a week, and if they are lucky, a half day on Saturday, but some Chilean families expect them to be "adentro" on Saturday night as well, so they can go "home" on Sunday morning and come back Sunday night, or MAYBE, Monday morning.

Milagros has been here two days and has worked much more than 8 hours. I told her I only wanted her to work 8 and no more, but she kept trying to do more. I sent her to her room at 8.30 because she was going to start putting another box load away.

So - I really don't want her to think that us (and it's not just me that wants the house to ourselves, I know Bill does, and I think the boys do too) wanting her to work "puerta afuera" is any reflection on her. I think she is great, and we are really lucky to have her. And I am lucky that my friend suggested she come work for us. But I want to have my house to myself. Only two days in and I know I have made a mistake asking for a live-in Nana...

Fingers crossed it all works out ok - we are currently in the mandatory two week trial period, where either of us can back out of the contract....

Quirk has come upstairs, possibly looking for company, so I'll stop whingeing and go sit on the sofa for a while.

Did I mention that I am missing Bill?

the oncologist called today. to let me know that he's written my referral for the chilean hospital. "it's got a few hand written corrections, but if it doesn't make sense I'm sure you can sort them out" eh? WTF? his secretary can't audio type, or he changed his mind after he wrote it? or maybe just afterthoughts. I will find out since he's sending me a copy...

he also thought he'd better check that i understood just how expensive herceptin is. like £15,000 to £20,000 for the rest of my treatments. i said that Bill had asked the insurance company, and that they had said that as long as it is an infusion, it is covered 100% (imagine having to pay a co-pay of 20% of £20,000?!!) he was relieved that we had looked into that already. imagine arriving there and finding out out that we can't afford my treatments!

well, in some countries, i'd have only had 6 anyway, so i've already had 7. but i'm due 17. i'm sure the chilean doctors will be happy to give me 17, if the insurance company will pay for it.

hmmm, thank goodness for the firefox spellcheck, because i've obviously had that number of glasses of wine that causes my fingers to not do what i want...

off to bed with me. i was too tired to walk to school this afternoon. i left the house at 2.30, walked about 50 metres and realised that i wasn't going to make it.

Bill is away. i am single parenting for a few days. i think that the tiredness may get worse...

so yesterday, I was looking at the webpage for the school the boys will be going to - Nido de Aguilas."Eagles' Nest".  I came across the PTA page - it has biographies of the committee members. Oh, I am going to be so out of my league!

But, go look at the school on google earth:  the place is huge!  I just know we'll get lost, or be constantly late, or otherwise draw attention to ourselves.

Bill's waiting to hear back on the detail of one of the job offers, but the decision is more or less made - we *think* he'll be going with the european offer.

we *think* we'll be leaving about the 20th of OCtober.

I had been saying that we were going to have two sumers this year, but I have now realised it wll be more accurate to say that we won't have winter.  I don't think calling this summer would pass the trades descritpions act.

We're supposed to be going camping down near Castle Douglas on Thursday.  it's not looking very promising.  we wanted to use the tent at least one more time before we have to seel it, but I'm not going camping in the rain again just for the sake of it.  We'd actually like to enjoy ourselves a bit.

Oh god, back to work a week today.

we're off to Bath tomorrow, towing the trailer tent and hoping for the best.

i've been meaning to post about how great a day i had at woolfest, but for some unknown reason, i've been too tired this week to do anything...

had herceptin number three today, at the *hospital* instead of home. it seems there was a date missing on one of the forms that the hospital had sent to healthcare at home, and instead of letting the hospital know, well... so i had to go back in. and it took ages, i got there at 10.00 and they didn't start the drug until 11.10, i didn't get out until 1.20. luckily the boys were taken home by some friends after football, so i didn't have to worry, but still. i could have done without it.

anywya, i haven't packed a single thing. we're supposed to be leaving after lunch tomorrow. Bill has gone back to work and will be there for god knows how long working on an observing proposal.

we're stopping at a motel halfway down, we';re not going to try anf get to Bath in one day and put the tent up in the dark. but still, wish us luck?

wow. to go to ocean terminal today cost us £9.80. the cheapest it could have been was £9, but we didn't have the right money to buy the boys day tickets on the first bus we got on (and I was too truthful when the bus driver asked me if N actually needed a ticket. I said I'd have to buy singles since I didn't have enough. the guy was giving me the opportunity to pretend N was still 4, but I just couldn't do it. I doubt Bill could have either...

it takes us 2 buses each way to get to ocean terminal, I tried to phone the bus company to ask what the deal is, they say on their website and everywhere that it's "£1.10 per journey" that means we should be able to get those two buses for £1.10. they didn't answer the phone today, so I asked the bus driver and he said we had to pay on each bus. daylight bloody robbery. no wonder we usually drive, eh? and the first bus we were on broke down as well, were they trying to tell us something?

the garage phoned this morning, we are now not getting after market brake calipers on the car, we're getting new ones, but somehow they are only going to cost an extra £150 instead of £400. don't ask me. garages are a law unto themselves. oh well it's only money. heh.

anyway, we had a really nice leisurely lunch at ocean terminal (we got there about 3!) the boys played out on the terrace and Bill and I got to talk and drink beer and wine and actually enjoy ourselves. it was nice. we talked about Chile a lot. we think we're really going to go. we talked about what sort of house we want. and getting an extra bedroom so that I can have a workroom. and what i'm going to do with myself. and how nice it will be when he has 6 days off in a row once a month.

then I went bra shopping, with much success! i have one of those fancy tape measures that supposedly tells you what your bra size is, and it was actually right, or at least right for the bras I tried on in debenhams. it told me 40DD, mind! anyway, I have bought three new underwired bras in the sale. I may have to take the wires out, but I'm going to try and keep them in to start with, pseudo boob doesn't hold its shape as well as real boob, and now I remember that the nurse told/warned me that it could be molded into shape, so not to wear the same bra all the time. i've been wearing ill fitting, not very supportive ones for the last how long is it? 8 months! so, today I bought ones that make me a nice shape. i shall try and wear them and see if I can make it a little more permanent... and one of them is green!! hurrah!

my back is killing me sitting here so I'm off to bed. N was a real mummy's boy today, and I think I wrenched something pulling him onto my lap on the bus. my electric blanket awaits.

it seems it's hard to find furnished houses in Santiago, so that means we take our own furniture. I'm glad, becasue I would rather have my own things around me anyway. so we'll rent out this house unfurnished. which is probably less hassle too.

we need to start de-cluttering about now, I guess.

Bill still hasn't had the official job offer though. maybe next week. bureaucracy, phooey!

Today I found myself holding back tears at the Singing Club show, thinking that it was probably the last one we were going to be at. And that Nico, who after complaining that he wanted to play, not sit, was sat there open mouthed, watching, will probably now never be in a Singing Club show.

See, Bill has been offered a job here, as a systems astronomer and, offhand, we can't think of any good reasons to turn it down.

He/we still have to decide if he/we really want to move to Chile for 5 years, but to be honest, who wouldn't? Wouldn't you?

We don't have any details yet, and we figure if we go it won't be before October.

But now I'm not sure just why I'm going to woolfest and the I Knit London day but there you go. (it might be to buy sock yarn, because from what i understand, sock yarn doesn't count as stash)

Sometimes I can be completely calm about the whole thing, but then I'm in a church hall full of singing 7 year olds, and well, it all becomes a bit real.

today is the eighth and final chemo treatment. wow. i never thought it would come around so fast.

fingers crossed though, i have a cold, sore throat, sneezes and streaming nose (well, the streaming nose has been a chemo feature all along). when i spoke to the nurse yesterday she seemed to agree with me that unless i had a fever it would be alright. but i have spent the last week, both before and since the cold took hold, worrying that something would happen and i wouldn't be able to have the last treatment on schedule.

Bill leaves for Chile in less than a week. i expect to be at my lowest point when he leaves and pick up a couple of days after. if my treatment is delayed, it will mean i go through my whole low point while he's away. not good.

fingers crossed all round, please?

Happy New Year, from all 4 of us. The boys managed to stay up for the bells. It wasn't the bells, it was the fireworks that they wanted to see.

The 4 of us squeezed into the upstairs bathroom and watched out the velux window.