Timing is everything

Well...some people call it synchronicity...other's have a variation to "being in the zone"...but few of us can deny that sometimes, no matter how hard we try and slog away at something, it just doesn't budge, while other times...something that was deemed almost INSURMOUNTABLE! UNTHINKABLE! INCREDIBLE!...just comes together in a symphony.

Its both exasperating and wonderful....exasperating only because you wish you could simply pull the right strings to fast forward or reverse or change sequence around when things don't go the way you'd like them to go...and its wonderful when with little effort, and just an open and receptive mind, things come together in the most elegant way.

What am I talking about? Well...I have twice ended up in a relationship where timing sucked and the end-result was just heartache, so I'm still learning on that front! But presently, life is taking some hairpin bends around major decisions- like kids' schooling and a place to call home. And timing is of the essence!

This upheaval was all triggered by a simple phone call one Monday afternoon in March to a school I thought I'd never be able to send my daughter to because I believed it out of my reach. Sensing the thud on the other end of the phone must have been me falling off my chair with disappointment, the friendly registrar pointed out that they were doing selection interviews and scholarship exams that very weekend - and I'd be welcome to bring Viva (said daughter!) along for the ride if I wanted to! (The ride being a round trip of 1200 kms and 14 hours of travelling, mind you!) Of indecision and patience I can never be accused, and i agreed on the spot to do so!

M work schedule was crazy, couldnt get reasonably priced accommodation in the town, had to organise a babysitter for the cat and get enthusiastic about sitting in a car for 7 hours On Friday, and again on Sunday, with two small children who hate my taste in cds! But we went.

Well, that phone call changed our lives. Viva is off to that school less than 3 weeks later, with a parallel helix of change to my personal life and that of her sister.

Thinking outside of the usual square to reduce my outflows in order to finance this opportunity, I finally get the opportunity to move out of the 8-bedroom house I have been living in for nearly 6 years (at that time...it too was the right answer because as a new migrant to Australia, I didnt have work and ran a bed and breakfast service for the wave of South African migrants arriving in Sydney as a small business.)

The normal way of finding accommodation alternatives in this beautiful but pricey city of Sydney is to comb the rental classifieds and spend hours dashing between appointments on a weekend or attracting speeding fines after work. I did quite a bit of this. But then, I placed a "looking to share half a house" advert in the local newspaper, and low and behold...timing is everything again!

It just so happens that someone whose personal circumstances also changed dramatically fairly recently, was browsing that newspaper and bingo...we have two needs that co-incide. On the face of it, seems like a perfect solution for all....but will know after inspecting the property, a waterfront on the harbour in an exclusive address complete with private jetty! (I have plans B & C ready if A doesn't work out!)

Now...if only I knew what time my ship was coming in!

Time will be in pretty short supply in the next three weeks though....there's Easter, a holiday already paid for in Queensland, and a few big projects at work to commission whilst packing up house and kids all alone, moving, and sending one off to boarding school on 2 May!

But isn't change fun?