We should take tech off Nicholai more often. He was so bored he came along on a shopping trip and so was there to carry everything, and then he poisoned the grass that’s beginning to show through on the driveway.
Today someone bought the fireguard we used way back when we lived in the Steels Creek Road house. I listed it (and another firescreen we had) on Gumtree the other day and someone messaged me about it this morning and came and picked it up this afternoon. It was funny though, I wanted $50 for it but accidently listed it at $60, then she messaged and asked if we’d take $30, I told her we’d let it for for $45, she said okay and then paid for it with a $50 note and told me not to worry about any change. So I ended up with exactly what I’d wanted.
It was a handy $50 too- it meant I was able to buy myself a pair of thermal pyjamas at the Aldi ski sale without worrying about it. We have to be super careful about money at the moment, but the Aldi ski sale only comes around every now and then so it was good to be able to take advantage of it.
The trip to Aldi also paid dividends in that I found elbow supports there for $3! This was immediately after we had been to the chemist and bought the only elbow wrap they had for $15 – I tried the Aldi one this afternoon and it was great, so I will return the chemist one next time I am out that way.
We’ve got the other firescreen listed for sale, and the armchair out of the library listed for free just to get rid of it. We are also going to list our old double bed for sale – we thought we’d be able to do it today, after we went to Bunnings to buy replacement bolts, but we bought the wrong bolts! So we’ll have to go back for different ones before we advertise, and then hopefully it will sell and I’ll get a couple more dollars, since every single little bit counts at the moment.
We had a good talk with Nicholai in the car today, about moving and priorities and what we’re trying to help him achieve in his life. It’s really nice to actually talk to him when he’s not rolling his eyes and stomping off in a huff declaring how unfair we are.
There’s been a lot of talk of priorities in this house lately. After Nicholai once again prioritising computer gaming over homework the other day, I wondered if it might help him to have a visual of the (ideal) order of priorities. So I sat down with my trusty bucket of Sharpies and some butcher paper to create one. It turned into a really interesting exercise though, because rather than writing something that only targeted Nicholai (which would be kind of mean and would get his back up enough that he would gain no benefit from it anyway) I tried to word the priorities in a way that was applicable to everyone in the family, including Troy and I. I stuck it up on the freezer when I was finished and invited the children’s comments on it the next day, which was interesting. They agreed with the order of things and thought that it was good and not missing anything. It has also been surprisingly informative for all of us to be able to talk about family decisions (discipline, moving, working) or individual things (school, activities) within the framework of these five priorities.
Our family order of priorities is
- Health and emotional wellbeing -sleep/ healthy food/ self esteem/ hygiene/ mental health.
- Family- relationships with: parents, siblings, spouse, children/ pets/ household
- School/ Work – effort/ attendance/ homework/ responsibilities (notices, possessions etc).
- Friends – teams/ clubs/ groups/ individual friends
- Hobbies – tv/ internet/ computer games/ Wii/ Twitter/ blogs/ instagram etc
Feeling the Sun From Both Sides 
Wow, I get really and busy don’t check in for a few months (has it really been that long?!) and so much has happened! How exciting with the move and so glad the house selling and buying seemed to have gone so well. I will check in more often! 🙂
BTW, I love your family priority list. What a great idea.
Ha ha, yes it has been a fairly rapid series of changes! Now you can visit us in Ballarat next time you’re over!
Doing the priorities list was surprisingly illuminating- I recommend it.
Yes, we would love to visit Ballarat. We had a rather quick lunch stop there on the ways to Halls Gap so Luke had one small thing to relate it too when I told him. And of course, I would like to take the boys to Sovereign Hill. Have to start saving haha…
And I am super impressed with how you guys have managed to get all this happening so quickly. If we ever decide to move to a new town in a relative hurry, I know who to turn to for tips. 😉
Ha ha- I think international trips would require a LOT of saving for!
Honestly, it really has been pretty quick. It’s just that once we started really talking about it and decided to do it, timing it to the middle-ish of this year made the most sense in terms of easing the kids’ transitions to a new school. And then the real estate side of it all just fell into place, so here we are.
Our Ballarat house will be big enough for you guys to stay with us for a visit next time! We’re going to have a sofa bed in Troy’s office (which is really a living room) and the kids will all have a second bed/trundle in their rooms, so there’ll be plenty of space for guests.
We will certainly take you up on that offer! I looked at the house pics in the link to the listing that you posted and it looks like a really great place.
Yes, the expense of trips to Australia is a little depressing but I am hoping to start working as a full time software tester next year, so that should speed up the saving somewhat. Fingers crossed. We would all love to get back for another visit soon. Both Luke and Liam mention it regularly. xxoo
Good luck with the work! It will be a big difference to be working full time- make sure you still take care of yourself.
By the time you get back to Australia, we should know all the cool and fun stuff to do in Ballarat, so we’ll be good tour guides, lol.
A very good list! 😉
Thank you! Writing it all out was surprisingly illuminating. It does sound a bit like something out of a self help book, but i guess that’s because it actually does help! And anything that opens up conversation with the children is always good.