Finally, an Update!

Haven't updated in a while! Been busy, and just haven't gotten into the habit of "blogging" frequently.

We have been informed by our employer that they want is there, working, by 5 October! That is waaaaaaaaay tooooooooo soooooon!

In the meantime, we have had contractors paint the outside of the house, deal with wallpaper, tile floors, make some minor repairs. We still have to finish painting, place and paint baseboards, replace a few doors that fell victim to animals and/or kids (which includes painting them), and getting rid of more stuff.

City Union Mission comes tomorrow. We will schedule them again for a couple of weeks away.

We have been researching areas in which to live. We are most attracted to the London Borough of Redbridge, particularly the area of Wanstead. It is consistently described as "family friendly, good schools, leafy, lots of green space." It would be about a 30 minute commute to work. Alternatively, we have considered Stoke Newington, which is a neighborhood in the London Borough of Hackney. We will be working in Hackney, but several friends have suggested it is not the area in which we want to live. Stoke Newington is a nice area, with a "bohemian" feel, but the schools are not very consistently good. We have connected with an Estate Agent who is keeping her eye open for properties that fit our needs. We expect to pay at least 1200-1500 Sterling Pounds per month for a small 3 BR home! It's a bit more than we spend now... We will pay less, however, for transportation, telephone, cable, internet. I'm not sure it will all even out, but it's a small consolation.

Schools are much different. They have only two levels: primary and secondary. Primary is equivalent to our grades 1-6 and secondare 7-12. The boys will be enrolled in whatever school in our Borough which is closest to home, and has space. The schools are universally "oversubscribed," particularly secondary schools. The nice thing is that we may be able to find a "faith school," as many of them are state or public schools. Their admission criteria is a little different than the other public schools, so we will see. Also, there has to be space for them. Also, class sizes are generally 30-40 students. They are, however, ahead of the US academically-- the boys will have some catching up to do.

The boys are still unenthused, and getting a little cranky with all of this home rehab stuff. Especially as we start talking to them about sorting through their stuff... We'll make it!

Gotta head to New Dinner Theatre now. Will try to update more soon!