The furniture duly turned up about 3 weeks after we did.  The unpacking was only complicated by them bringing an articulated lorry which wouldn’t get up the driveway (yes, we did warn them...)  So, after much hassle they started unloading about 2pm and only finished at 11pm when they couldn’t stand any more.  Ah well.

Once the house was together we needed to start on the process of becoming ‘people’ again.  “You can’t buy a car until you have your driver’s license sir.  Oh, but sir, you can’t take your driving test until you have insurance.  Ah, insurance you need?  Not without a car, sir.”  AAARGH.  Eventually we found our way through the red tape and driving tests to end up with 2 vehicles and a means to get to work and school (well, after Richard started work and the day the children started school).

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Take the previous story and then apply to everything else as well.  Bank accounts, mobile phones, seeing the doctor (‘No, you can’t see the doctor till next week because you haven’t had your new patient appointment.  I know you might not be ill then, but...’).  We’re really sorry if you haven’t heard from us much but every little thing seems to have taken ages (direct debit still doesn’t exist here so even remembering to pay the bills on time is a challenge).