A very productive week

We had a very productive week last week.  We did alot of house hunting and finally after looking at countless properties we settled on one.  It is in a village called SP5, with about 150 other houses.  It has a huge lovely communal pool, a gym, a restaurant and 24 hr security.  We looked at some lovely places with private swimming pools but as Thailand don't have pool fences we were worried about Judd getting the doors open and falling into the pool or letting Lillie out.  So we decided on the communal pool instead.  This village has alot of expats living there, and quite a few of them are Australian.  There is a play ground just one house down from us so Judd and Lillie can finally get outside and play everyday.  We cant play here at the condo, there aren't any play grounds and the pool is a pain to get to.  I have to drag Lillie's pram up these really steep steps and there is no shade around the pool at all. 
There are 2 major stresses though in regards to moving.  The first is we are being held to our rent contract at C House until the end of September, and I refuse to stay here another month so in order to move we will have to forfeit at least $600.  But as I keep saying to Marcus "a happy wife means a happy life".  I am really eager to start setting up house and settling the kids down.  The second stress is the real estate agent who showed us around a bit is trying to claim that he introduced us to SP5 Village so he can claim the commission from the property manager.  But we found SP5 ourselves, when he took us there he said that there were no house available to rent until the end of September, however when Marcus and I went back by ourselves the next day they showed us 3 properties!  This guy was a real wanka, trying to do the hard sell on every house he took us to, and they were all shit.  One smelled like rubbish and had mouse poo everywhere and the furniture was terrible.  He didn't show us any decent houses, all the nice ones we found ourselves.  The manager at SP5 doesn't like him and wants to refuse him the commission, but I am worried he will then try to bill us for his time, he is a snake and a pain in my ass.

On a brighter note I found a kindergarten for Judd, we went and had a look today and met the kids and the teachers, it is so cute, just 2 classes and 2 age groups.  It is the cheaper of the international schools that I can find and Judd already knows 4 of the kids who go there.  He seems to be excited about going, I hope he doesn't cry tomorrow when I drop him off.  It will be so good for him to get out of the house and meet some new kids, I think I am more excited than he is.  My little boy is growing up.

Yesterday we interviewed a lady for the job of our driver/nanny.  She is the girlfriend of a man we met and she is looking for a job. We think it should be perfect, she has 2 children 13 and 10 yrs but they live up country with their grandparents.  She only knows basic English and is eager to learn and I need to learn Thai so we can help each other.  She seems to really like the kids and Lillie took to her straight away.  Her role would be to drive Marcus to work, then come back and we would take Judd to Kinder then home again and she can watch Lillie while I take a couple of hours to myself, go to the gym or hair dresser or salon.  Then she would have the afternoon off and then be back in time to take the car to pick Marcus up from work.  Since she had her New Zealand boyfriend negotiating for her I think we are paying more, but he has factored into the price that she will have other duties than just driving.  I only hope she can actually drive confidentially without swerving all over the road.  Mostly I will drive anyway, I just want someone to come with me who speaks Thai and can help me with the 2 monsters.  Fingers crossed it works out for us. 
I will also be getting a maid service 3 times a week so once we settle down life should become quite comfortable and we can finally start living like real expats in Thailand.

We went to a night market on Friday night, Theprasit (not sure on the spelling) and I had my first food off the street vendors.  A beautiful pork suvolaki with cucumber and garlic sauce,  SO nice and only cost me $1.50!  Then the next day I was feeling bold and bought a whole chicken off a street vendor near the 7-11 down from our new house, it was amazing and so far no one is sick.  I cant wait until we are just eating Thai and not paying top dollar to buy western food.  And hopefully Judd will learn to eat differently at school too.
Today I shopped at a new supermarket and for the first time bought fresh meat from the deli section.  I found what looked like really yummy pork sausages, I will cook them up tonight for Judd and see how they go.  This supermarket was really very clean and didn't have that stinky fish and stale meat smell that the others do, makes it easier to buy fresh food. 
My next goal is to lose a bit more weight so I can fit into those lovely fisherman pants that they sell in the market stalls, long cotton pants with really wide legs.  I just want something cool and loose fitting to hang about in, I love the relaxed hippie fashion over here, pretty soon I will have a whole new wardrobe. 

We had dinner sat night with a lovely New Zealand family who we met through our friend, Ken who lives at C house.  They were great, we had a BBQ and met another family with a small girl and she a Judd played for hours like they had known each other for years.  We had the best night and didn't leave until midnight!  The wife, Karen said she will show me about and also they are having a ladies weekend in Bangkok to go shopping and eat and get massages.  I cant wait for that one.  She is slightly older than me and has already suggested she will be our step mother and the kids can be her grandchildren.  Its so nice to meet such warm and friendly people, especially when we have left all of our friends and family behind. 
I am feeling quite positive about our new house, but now the annoying things of this condo are really getting to me, like right now there is someone playing really loud music down the road and it just vibrates through our apartment, I hate it!  I will say it again, I  CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE!