Hopefully the first of many

I've decided to create a blog! Well, I guess that much is obvious. The bigger question is why. Why? Well, because I'm miles away from everyone (apart from the people that live over here, obviously) and I'm finding it very hard to keep in touch with you all. And because when I left I said I'd only be gone a year or two, which is kind of true since I did come back for five weeks, and because the website I lovingly updated as regularly as I could be bothered has disappeared from the face of the earth and I can't bear to start another one. A blog seemed much easier.

So this is the first entry. And it's mainly just a ramble for my own use whilst I feel my way around and come up with a look and feel. I'm going to try not to ramble on too much and make it boring. I'll try and update it once every few days and pick a topic of the day.

Today's topic, or rather news, is that I posted my application for permanent residency on Saturday. It was a big deal for Toby and I as I have worked towards this for about a year now. Firstly I spent a number of weeks researching all the different types of permanent visas and analysing which ones I was eligible for. I then spent aaaaaaaaaaages reading all the blurb on each one, working out how much it would cost and finally choosing one to apply for.

I chose to apply for the Employer Nomination Scheme, which means the University nominates me as someone they want to employ on a permanent basis. It's a great option for me as once I have my residency I have no ties to the uni but they have to offer me full-time employment for a minimum of three years. Unlike the spouse visa, I become a permanent resident immediately, rather than after two years, and unlike the Skilled Migration Visa, things seem to get sorted out a bit more quickly and you don't have to have a skills assessment.

At least you didn't until April this year, just after the uni had their nomination approved. So I spent about three months preparing to have my skills assessed by the Australian Computer Society, sending my Dad into the loft to grab various certificates and documents to post and thenphotocopying them and plonking them on a colleague's desk for him to put his Justice of the Peace stamp on. When I returned from the UK they sent me a letter basically saying it's cool, I can obviously do a bit of IT. Then I ran around Nambour (which was an experience in itself) having medicals, x-rays and blood tests. So far no one has contacted me to tell me I have a horrible blood disease or TB so that's looking good too. Great! I am a disease-free IT person!

During all this, particularly the skills assessment where I had to transport myself back in time to 1997 and re-immerse myself in all the stuff I was doing after I graduated, and then travel forward in time to now, documenting everything I'd ever done work-wise along the way, Toby was an absolute rock. I retired from the majority of my household duties, most particularly as cook, choosing to spend the little spare time I had making jewellery for Clare's bridesmaids. He made sure that I was properly fed and watered and he even cleaned parts of the house on occasion.

And now it's all over, and all I have to do is sit and wait for the decision, I hardly know what to do with myself. So I applied for a couple of jobs at the uni and now I'm crapping myself about being interviewed by people I already know. Too weird.