The good news – we’re still going to Tasmania for Xmas/New Year.
The bad news – not to the nice resort we had booked, and not with the neighbours. Turns out when someone claims you are like their sister and insists we consider them our family, it means they are going to behave just like my real siblings, screw us over, treat us like dirt, and spit on everything we’ve done for them in the last three years (including spending over $20,000 on them, their kids, and their house, not to mention hundreds of hours of free babysitting, gardening and repairs). Oh, and still be happy to go to Tasmania at our cost because we had promised to pay and I didn’t want to upset the kids, while still shitting on us and our generosity. I thought I had seen it all. I wish I could say I was totally surprised. At least I don’t have to pretend any more that I don’t find him a bit creepy and that she isn’t three apples short of a picnic. A+ acting abilities though.
Yes, we’re bloody fools, in retrospect. But one never expects to be taken quite this badly by people you live next door to.
So we are going to a rather shabby little villa on the west coast, and hopefully the posher one next year. Doug has a bottle of Talisker Lagavullin for his birthday, and the holiday for his/our Xmas pressie. The whole trip will involved over 5,000 kms of driving, and we will be away almost exactly four weeks.
More good news – house purchase is going ahead and we complete on 10th January, two days after we return from Tasmania. We have already spent mega bucks on furniture, air conditioning, soft furnishings, and art, and that’s before we renovate the bathroom and kitchen, and add stairs to the back deck. Or paint the whole house 🙂 So the good news is that it will be fabulous. The bad news is that we will be exhausted and poor by the time it is 🙂 (not really poor, but definitely exhausted!)
Our sunroom is currently full almost to the ceiling of purchased stuff to go up there in the new year. Still haven’t bought the new fridge, dishwasher, cooktop, oven or television yet.
So if anyone is coming over here in the next few years, please do feel welcome to stay at our new house, in one of the most beautiful places in Australia.