Settling In

1. Car breaks down. We'd had it three days. Two weeks later, it's still with the mechanic.

2. Sacked the painter. Turns out the guy was in the middle of a marriage breakdown and income tax crisis. He was still painting at 3am on the day we moved in ... hence the white paint down the back of one of our couches ...

3. Hot water cylinder burst last week. $3K plus bill.

4. Rushing to get to work after dealing with plumber/tank bursting ... I drop my favourite greenstone pendant on the bathroom floor. Very unforgiving tiles. It loses a big chip off the bottom (it is a heart shape). Me very sad. Sadder than I was when I found the wet carpet. Now a Maori friend of a friend tells me it's a bad omen to break greenstone and I should not get it fixed. Even more sad now.

5. There is no 5. I'm loving being home. Truly.