Happy New Year!!

We went down to the CBD (aka downtown) to see the fireworks. We went to the family oriented show at 9:15. Worked out because then we had to figure out how to get home. By the time we had Lilly in bed it was almost midnight. We did shoot some video but we may have to work with it a bit. I'll try to get Seth to post it later today, or this weekend, or sometime in the near future.

I had some other fun stuff we did but I need to jet off to bed. I promised myself a run in the morning. Good luck to me!

Have a good one and enjoy the New Year!

Some things we forgot to mention . . .

Tuesday we had dinner with some friends. Lilly and their son are in playgroup together and we often meet at storytime, too. It was a nice Aussie dinner with a lamb roast. We had pudding at the end, some chocolate cake stuff and homemade ginger ice cream. Not my cup of tea (don't like tea either) but it was very nice to have a holiday dinner with new friends.


Santa stopped by to drop off a present for Lilly. He gave her Chutes and ladders. We've played several times and I'm the only one who can't seem to win. I've hit the biggest chute every single game.

Festivus was celebrated on Boxing Day (I know this isn't the traditional day but we don't go by the book). Lilly was still sick so we decided to do nothing so she could rest. I've got a 1000 piece Moulin Rouge puzzle to occupy my "free" time. Seth is looking for places to visit in his 1015 Things to See and Do in Australia. Personally the Big Manderin and Big Banana are on my list. Lilly's favorite gift seem to be foam bug shapes and paint brushes. We don't have paint at the moment but she's very excited and asks all the time if we can paint. I had gotten the wings a while ago when she started saying she was doing a butterfly dance. She loves the wings and the skirt! Boy is she going to be on cloud 9 when she sees her birthday present from Uncle J and Aunt M!!

Have a good one!

Happy Chrissie to you!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday! Lilly is sick but we still headed to the beach. We didn't get much sleep so we are calling it a day.

Have a good one!

Christmas Day 2008

Boring, boring, boring . . .

Seriously, I didn't really have anything to write about the last couple of weeks. The most exciting thing that happened was the free years supply of laundry detergent. I don't know who thinks that supply will last me a year! We received 9 boxes and I'm sure we'll go through one a month, at least!

Saturday the entire family went to the Melbourne Museum. That place just has so much to see! We check out the exhibits on the Aboriginies as well as the growth and history of Melbourne. I didn't get to see nearly all of it so I'm sure we'll have another visit soon.

I was going to mention that my Sunday soccer team made it to the finals of our division. Which is strange to me since we never really had playoffs in indoor or outdoor with Ford Soccer Club, or any indoor team that I ever have played on. I didn't want to jinx anything but I'm proud to say, Sunday we won our Grand Finale game! We even received little trophies. It was a very exciting game. Our team scored twice within the first 5 minutes (I actually scored one of these goals) and then we had to really work to get a few more and keep them from scoring too many.

We finally found some decorations for Lilly's furniture. The toy box was given to us by my mom and Bob a while back and didn't need anything to be cuter. Once the dresser was painted we didn't really need to add anything to it either. But, Lilly asked about the stickers and we went looking. We couldn't find the frogs Lilly wanted but we found some Fairies and Pirates. We did the pirates on her toy box and it rocks! I'll try to remember to put of pics of the dresser once we get it complete.

I have started putting the Christmas tree up. Pictures will have to wait. I need to 'fix' the places where Lilly hung the ornaments. I think she managed to get 7 on one little branch.

Organ Pipes National Park photos

Here are the photos from our trip to Organ Pipes. Enjoy!

Organ Pipes National Park

Lots of fun!

We've actually had a busy couple of days! Thanksgiving evening was spent with another American family at TGIFridays. We had a very large, all-you-can-eat turkey meal. There was stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes and more! We ate until we were stuffed and then I shared some apple pie. It wasn't the best meal ever but worth it.

Friday Lilly and I went to see Mem Fox. She is a wonderful children's author. She talked about children's literacy and how important it was to read to children right from birth.

Saturday was grocery shopping day. I won't bore you with the details.

Sunday we set off for another hike. We went to Organ Pipes National Park. We spent about an hour and a half walking around and saw a bunch of different rock formations. We also saw some interesting birds (we only got a picture of one but I took about 12 pics of it). I'll have Seth post a link with pictures from this walk later.

And finally, Monday was my big day! I mean, Seth and mine. For our anniversary Seth had gotten us tickets to see Billy Joel!! I happen to love his music. And even though we sat in the very top row, it was well worth it. Billy even waved to me (just like he did when we saw him in Columbus, E)! It was a good time and nice to get out. Lilly was able to sleep in her own bed as our 'babysitter' came to our house and spent the night.

Have a good one!

A museum and a little turkey

It's Thanksgiving here, but not since they don't celebrate. I'll give you the scoop on our celebration later as it hasn't happened yet.


On Tuesday Lilly and I took off for the day to Scienceworks. It was a lot of fun! They have a sports exhibit but instead of baseball, they have cricket and they had their own version of football. I'm not even going to attempt to explain this one, maybe next time the season rolls around again.

The museum has an entire exhibit geared towards 3-6 year olds. Perfect for Lilly. They had quite a bit on simple machines. Lots of pulleys and the like. Then they had a pretend cafe. I think the food and where it came from was the 'learning' point in this room. And then there was the player piano. Just sitting in there. I had fun with it while Lilly made me an apple with toast.

It was a good time. I have to admit, not as nice as COSI but I have to compare everything to that silly place. There were a lot of hands-on exhibits, I'll just have to spend more time exploring them. We did get a family pass so we can go back whenever we want. The pass is also good for several other museums so I am hoping we get some good use out of it!

Have a good one and gobble, gobble!

And now for today . . .

I'm sitting here avoiding surfing the internet. I'm desperately trying not to find out the results of the OSU/Michigan game. We are still looking to download it and watch later today.


This has been one of the worst weekends in terms of weather. It has rained more than it has the entire time I have been here. So last week when i said it rained longer in the one night, it has been raining even more. The wind has been terrible, it's cold and there has been hail. Our apartment is freezing! We turned on Lilly's heater in hopes she would stay warm (and keep her sleeping all night long)!


Yesterday we needed to get some errands done so we heading to another shopping center. Seth had to return his phone to see if it could be fixed - the buttons just don't seem to work on it. We had to pick up diapers and some other stuff at KMart.


Then we headed home and after rest time we finished the cookies we made together. It was a family project this week. I'll post pics of the final product next time (or have Seth make a folder with them). We iced them before dinner and Lilly ate quite a bit of the icing. Since it's all powdered sugar she was lovin' it!

Ok, off to avoid the rest of the computer. Would love to hear from you!

Have a good one!

And this one on 21-11

This week hasn't been too exciting. Saturday we spent the morning collecting meats, veggies and fruits down Sydney Road. This is where all our smaller shops are located. Not too many chain stores.

In the evening we were invited to a birthday party for one of my teammates. He works at Ford. We took a train and tram to the park close to the CBD. We watched everyone play a game of cricket (which I still don't understand). Later we played a little game of soccer. There was a very small play park with a swing and slide shaped like a dragon so Lilly even got to play.

Sunday we spent the day at a shopping center trying to find a place to get a haircut. We never did find a place that we could agree on and ended up leaving with a filter for our camera and a wooden puzzle for the kid.

I did have what I can only categorize as food poisoning on Tuesday. Whatever was in my stomach needed to be out and then I was fine.

I saw three child care centers this week. I was told there are waiting lists everywhere. Just in case I want to teach this coming year I need to have a plan and it has become a difficult task. One center did ask if I had family around or if I was isolated. I said I was isolated and she said there is preferential treatment for families in this situation. Still don't see this helping with the long waiting lists I saw. We'll keep looking.

Conversation between Seth and Lilly as we crossed a field by our house:
L - What are they playing?
S - Cricket.
L - Why are they playing cricket?
S - Because they enjoy it.
L - They should be playing baseball.

Written 14-11-08 (That's Nov 14)

We had a massive thunderstorm last night. I was woken by the thunder and even with my eyes closed I could see the flashes of lightning. It didn't help that our bathroom has a sky light and it looked like someone was turning the light on and off. It rained very hard for a long time and even through this morning. It was the longest rain I've seen since I've been here. It was raining a bit when it was time for Seth to go to work so he drove. Lilly and I chanced it and walked to the library. It was considerably cooler than it has been the last two days - it was in the 90's. For the next week it's supposed to be in the 70's. After story time we had coffee with some of the people we had met in playgroup. We walked home and about 5 minutes later the rain started up again (this time was very brief).

Last night I went to a Moms Night Out for the American Women's Auxiliary. They met at a restaurant called Bouzy Rouge. Sounds totally like a drinking establishment but upon arrival it was a very classy place (I felt underdressed in my jeans). I met four other women, so it was a start. However I could only stay for 20 minutes because I had a soccer game.

Off to the game which we lost 1-2. It was a good game and a disappointing loss. On the way home I was battling Thursday night traffic and getting a little grumpy. I turned on to a street in the CBD (aka downtown) and had a good laugh at the x-mas decorations strung across the lights above the road. I'm guessing their Christmas parade is soon. I get irritated about Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving but they don't have that one so there is nothing stopping them from starting early. I also noticed on the way to the library that the stores had holiday pictures painted on their windows. I would says its way to early but if I wanted to send any gifts back home, I should have done that by now.

Photos now online to view!!!

From Seth...

I finally got around to posting some photos online where you can view them. I will be posting more as I get around to it. Be sure to click on the map view on the right hand side as I plan to put as many pictures on google maps as I can. Yes, I'm a geek (but you already knew that).

Here's a start:

Watching the Footy

NGV and Southbank

Nice bike ride by our house

Comfort food

Yesterday Lilly wanted toast for a snack. I personally really like hot chocolate when I eat toast, it is total comfort food for me. Lilly had to eat hers just like mommy, complete with dipping. The pictures don't show her practically inside the cup licking out the bottom. I think she would have if she could!

For the record, she did have two pig-tails in her hair, but this was after nap, and she refuses to remove the rubber bands until bed time!

Today Lilly and I are going to meet up with another American. We may walk to a park to let Lilly play, or we'll go get coffee/hot chocolate. I might try to talk her into going to a shopping center so I can get my hair cut, I'm looking a bit shaggy right now.

Have a good one!

We left the city!

I'm handwriting this while I begin my journey to the soccer courts today. I have decided to skip the driving and instead do train to tram. It will take me about 1 hour and 20 minutes door to door. Why would I do that when it only takes me about 35 minutes by car? Because that is 30 minutes of not worrying about the stupid turn my GPS tells me to make that I can't seem to find. Then I'm stuck holding my breath while it re-calculates only for it to tell me I just missed my next opportunity to turn. It has become rather stressful so I opted to skip.

Besides, it is just me today. Seth and Lilly are going to a birthday party. The little girl is the little girl of Seth's co-worker and is turning three. Their family is French as we still haven't started hanging with the locals yet!

Let's back track to last Tuesday, November 4th. This was the Melbourne Cup - a horserace. A state holiday [imagine moving the Kentucky Derby to Friday and giving the entire state the day off]. ford employees had Monday off also and we had talked about doing an overnight camping trip but the weather wasn't very nice. So we settled for a day trip that turned into an afternoon trip.


At noon we piled into the car and headed southwest for about an hour. First stop was Serendip Sanctuary and lunch at the picnic area. We then walked on a few of their little paths. They had kangaroos and Wallabies in large pens you just walked through them and stayed on a path. These two types of animals were separated which was good because I wouldn't have known the difference between the two. Then there were several buildings where we could sit and check out the different ducks and geese. We even saw a magpie goose which looks just like a magpie with a longer neck and legs. The park closed at 4:00 so we had to move along. I don't think we saw all the paths but there was a bit of construction so I'll be interested to go back and see what else they do with it.

Load back into the car and the next destination is only several kilometers away. Our second park destination was call You Yangs Regional Park. This place said no cars admitted after 4:30 so we figure that it won't close but since we are in, we are good.


After a snack we set out on a 3 km hike. the sign said it would take 1 1/2 hours. I thought no way! We can't be that slow. I didn't read any info but the first half of the hike was all uphill to a look out. So yeah, it took us quite a bit of time cause we stopped at the top for a while. I carried Lilly in our hiking pack on the way up and we made her walk back down. She was a bit mad but she got over it.

On the way home Seth and I agreed to find an 'Old McDonalds'. Businesses around Coburg would be closed and we were tired. It was all for the convenience.

Thursday Lilly and I went to our first play group! There were about 7 families there. The ones I talked to were all Aussie - finally hanging out with the locals! I even got a phone number to meet someone at a park. Then at story time the next day, one of the 'mums' remembered me and invited me for coffee!! So, I only had a hot chocolate, still felt like I was one of the cool crowd!

Then there was the weekend and not much happened. Seth got a couple new computer games sent from the states (thanks, Alan and Pennie, especially for the hot chocolate!) so he played a lot. We made it to a shopping center (a mall) but didn't get much accomplished there. And that brings me to the soccer game, which our team won and I scored one more goal!

In order to make this up to date as of me typing. Today is Monday and I went to another play group. This one was structured although there were only 2 children. Lilly enjoyed it and the group is designed for those children who don't get into 3 or 4 year old kinder (pre-school). There has been such a boom in the children population the council can't keep up. There aren't enough kinder programs or even day cares to keep up with all the children.

Ok, I'm going to see if I did the layout for this entry correctly. Hope it isn't too confusing. I didn't really edit too much.

Have a good one!

A weekly update

I seriously don't mean to wait a week and then write everything at once. It just seems that is how it works. Of course, that also means that I tend to skip around and miss out on things that we have done. But, my aunt sent me a note and pics of a cousin's wedding and she happened to mention that other people think I should be blogging more often. I'll work on that!

First, the weather. I believe it has been in the 60's and 70's as of late. I was told that it would be quite dry around here but we seem to get rain about once a week lately, although it is cloudy and dreary more often than that (seems more like fall to me than spring). When I first arrived it was rainy for about three straight weeks. Australia in general needs the rain so I shouldn't complain. We are on strict water restrictions but I can't tell you what that means. Once I find out more about it I'll let you all know. Something about we can only water our gardens/yards for two hours twice a week. I don't know, and since I never watered before, I don't feel like I need to water now.

Our oven is finally fixed. I think the guy came back on Wednesday, but it could have been Thursday. We still haven't used the oven but I plan on making some cookies this week, maybe today.

We don't know if anyone came trick-or-treating on Friday. The family ended up going to a special story time at our local library. Lilly was excited that she got to wear her pajamas.

Yesterday was our big day for the week (Sunday). We took a train into the city and Seth ran to a computer store while I looked around the outlet for shoes for Lilly. I don't think she has outgrown her shoes but she has been complaining about her feet hurting. I'll be happy when it's warm and she can wear her sandals again. We met back up and jumped on a tram to take us to another part of the city to meet up with some friends. This was the family that Seth stayed with when he first moved down. We had lunch with the mom and two youngest children. We then stole the youngest and took her and Lilly to the Melbourne Aquarium. It wasn't as big as Seth was expecting but we definitely saw a lot of different fish! And I'm sorry but after seeing the size of some of those things, I don't know that I'll be getting scuba certified! We'll see. Lilly wanted to find a 'Nemo fish' and kept talking about finding one. Well, she found one in about the third tank she looked in so that took out a little of the fun. She really enjoyed seeing the fish and got very excited about pointed out all the different fish. We watched some divers feed sharks and manta rays. That was pretty cool but Lilly was freaked out about the size of the manta rays. The first picture is one of Seth and I from Lilly's point of view, then we have the sharks getting fed and finally a big redish-orangish fish.

After the Aquarium we hopped another tram and took it south of the city to my soccer game. We had a lot of guys that didn't normally play with us but we still did really well. I am happy to say that I was able to score again. It was a one-on-one against the keeper and I am thrilled that I didn't just chip the ball into his hands as I'm known to do.

Finally, we hopped on the tram back to the city, caught a train and headed back to Coburg. I was exhausted as was Seth so he stopped at KFC for dinner and I ran into the grocery for milk and bread. We had to walk back home and it was getting colder and it had been raining. Overall we were happy that we managed everything without having to move our car!!

Seth and I had been talking about getting a Wii for a while. We finally got one this weekend (Seth was trying to cheer me up while I was down in the dumps about not being with my family and missing my cousin's wedding). We have had fun playing tennis and bowling. We even got Lilly in on the action. We got the Wii Fit and I have been laughing so hard at some of the activities. Anyone have a Wii? What's the best you've done on the hula hoop workout? I'm not too bad but I'm sure if there was a real hula hoop involved, it would be on the ground a lot more!

What's a Halloween without Pumpkins?

It is weird to not see fall harvest type things when decorating for Halloween. Everything seems to run along the lines scary decorations. There were some cute decorations at the Halloween Trick-or-Trunk we went to. One car was decked out as a space ship. One family became the Flintstones. The day was a lot of fun but Lilly was a little scared of some of the masks. And the two little kids dressed like dinosaurs. There were games to play (bobbing for apples, eating donuts off strings, and throwing beanbags in a cardboard pumpkin), lots of pizza to eat and then the kids did the trick-or-treat thing. Our chocolate we had found melted and the kids wouldn't take it. I finally just started putting it in the bags so the kids couldn't feel it.

I was wrong last week when I had written that we weren't living out of our suitcases. Seth and I were all unpacked but poor Lilly wasn't. We had purchased her dresser and didn't like the way it looked so we wanted to paint the drawers before we put it together. We finally got around to painting on Saturday. We asked Lilly what colors she wanted and she said yellow and then later decided on blue. Now, of course, we couldn't leave it at that. So, Lilly added green and we are still looking for some frogs to put on the drawers. I did get the dresser together and Lilly is officially unpacked!

Yesterday we had an electrician check out our oven. He pulled out the heating element and it was quite warped. He'll be returning in the next couple of days with a replacement. Although for as long as we waited to get him out in the first place, I have a feeling it will be a little longer than that. We also had a handyman over to fix some little problems. The door hiding the washing machine now closes, we can hang a towel in the downstairs bathroom and there are no longer cigarette butts in the master bathroom sink (there was a lot of other stuff in that sink but there was no way to identify it).

We got a kid seat for my bike. We have taken a couple of little trips to nearby parks. Hopefully we'll have some pics to show off soon of where we go. If the pic comes up in this entry it'll be a start to know it works.

Have a good one!

I am at home . . .

It is sooo nice to finally have internet at home. I can get all my emailing done, I can check the news, I can read about Tom Cruise if I want, I don't have to rush or keep an eye on Lilly. Well, I do have to keep an eye on her, she gets into the strangest things . . .

Anyway, I had a game on Sunday night. We only had 5 players and 3 of them were girls - you have to have 2 on the field at any one time. So, we had no subs, and we still were able to somehow pull off a win. And, pat myself on the back, I actually scored a goal. Who would believe it? Maybe I'll have the same luck tonight. My game is at 10:40 so I should be playing as some of you are heading out for work.

Yesterday morning Lilly was up extra early. Seth put her in our bed and went back for a diaper. When I went to change her, she had gone to the bathroom and her diaper had already maxed out. Our comforter had a very wet spot on it. So I tried to stuff it into our new washing machine (I could do this with our old washer). Only about 2/3's of it fit in there. And so, Lilly and I drove to find a laundry place. We lucked out right down the street from the library. It cost $7.00 to wash that sucker. Needless to say, I threw it on the line to dry outside when we got home.

On Sunday we are going to a trick-or-trunk or something. Where the kids go car to car in a parking lot instead of house to house. It's with an American organization I'm joining here (we seem to avoid the locals). We are supposed to decorate the trunk but I don't really have anything original to do. If you have an idea, send me an email.

I will try posting some pics in the next couple of days. Be patient as I have to check out how it works and may need to do some resizing.

Have a good one!

I can drive!!

Ok, I might not drive well, it's a little different and there are a lot of different rules and ways of doing things. Crazy. I got a little turned around going to my soccer game last night but I was still able to find the place thanks to the TomTom. I don't know where I would have ended up otherwise.

We tied our game - a draw. It was a good one, though.

I thought I would mention something a little different today since this is supposed to be about all the changes. The currency is a lot like play money. It's very colorful, slightly different sizes (the bills) and the bills have a hole in them. Not really a hole but there is a big part that you can see through. In terms of coins, they have a 5, 10 20 and 50 cent piece. The 50 cent piece is huge. It doesn't fit into Lilly's piggy bank. In addition, they also have a $1 and a $2 coin. The best is that the $2 is about the size of a nickel, easy to think it is worth less and would be disposable. Don't throw them away!! How else would you purchase items at the $2 store?

Have a good one!

It has arrived!!

And a truck pulled up to our complex and started to unload the hundreds of boxes of stuff we brought. Oh my goodness, there are a lot of boxes in our house right now! We still have to put together our Ikea furniture so we can put more things away. It's been a struggle to get things together but I'm not going to complain! I have my own pillow!

Now the internet is a different story. Our application was denied - I don't really know what that means except that we waited for 3 weeks for them to decide that we couldn't get internet from them. So we went with a different company and we already have phone service. Now we just have to wait for the modem to arrive and we should be all set.

Saturday the three of us went 'downtown' to see a pro-soccer game. The Melbourne Victory won the game (don't ask me what kind of mascot the Victory would be, I tried to ask but got no real answer). It was fun and hopefully we'll go see another game.

I was going to tell you the story of our new refrigerator but I think Seth would be embarrassed. It just fits in our space and there was a saw involved. I won't go into any more details. We have a very large fridge!

I have played two more soccer games (two different teams), one resulted in a loss by 1 and the other a tie. It's a lot of fun and a great workout.

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll be typing this from home and I'll include some pics. I can show everyone the crazyness of our place.

Have a good one!

A little more trouble . . .

We haven't quite figured out the oven. In fact, a week ago I tried to warm up some taco shells and within minutes they were burnt to a crisp. I was a bit upset but we had more. This week it was Seth's turn to warm up the taco shells. I thought the meat was burning, but no, it was the shells. And they were on fire. I think we may have killed the oven. Now Seth is kicking me for talking him out of a toaster oven. Sorry!

On the bright side, we have heard that our 'stuff' is in Melbourne and it is no longer on a boat. It is supposed to go through customs on Monday and be delivered on Tuesday!! That would be dreamy. We can get on with organizing our house (and putting so much stuff in our storage area - the garage).

Last night I played in a soccer game. That was good fun. It was at an indoor place. But it wasn't indoor as we think of indoor. It was a gym floor and there weren't walls to use. If it went out, it was a kick, if it went over the end line the goalie got to throw it. Unless it was kicked out by our team and then it was a corner kick. Not complicated, just a little different. It was a lot smaller than an indoor field and it was 5 v. 5. Our team won! I plan on playing again and I think Seth has found one more team for me to play with for a bit. We'll see, hopefully this way I can meet more people!

Have a good one!

When will we get our stuff??

So, maybe our stuff is in Australia, maybe it isn't. I don't know!! I just want it. Lilly needs her rails on her bed so she won't continue to fall out. We have pillows lining the bed but she just pushes those out of her way. At least we had a comforter to throw on the floor for her to land on.

Lilly and I took the train into Melbourne this week to go to the Melbourne Museum. It was a good time. Lilly enjoyed the large space to run around. I might have learned a thing or two. We didn't get to all the areas so we'll definately have to go back.

I know it's short but hopefully I'll have more time soon. I only have 4 minutes left on the library computer and if I don't send this now, it will be gone forever.

Have a good one!!

We have a home . . .

We moved in yesterday! We are renting furniture so we have beds and linens, a few plates and pots and pans and a television to go with the couches. The television might spoil us a bit as we weren't planning on purchasing a t.v.

And so, now we just have to minimally stock our place until our stuff gets here and we can overfill it. Hopefully we'll have some time tonight to get it - we need a trashcan.

Did I mention that we don't have the electricity turned on? I couldn't tell you how cold it was last night or how early it gets dark. Not fun. But we have a place and after 8 weeks of living out of the car, I don't have to any more. But I am still living out of my suitcase.

Have a good one!

Our belongings are where?

We think they are on a ship in California. They should have been here and going through customs. Hmmmm . . . We don't know when we will get our stuff, no one can really answer that question.

As for the weekend we went to the house Seth stayed at for the month and watched a footy. That would be Australian Rules Football. They are in the playoffs and the final game will be at the end of the month for the season. I talked to my brother and he said Columbus has a team and there is a league. I found it entertaining. The sport is a cross between football, rugby and volleyball. There is no protective gear worn by anyone except for mouth guards.

Sunday we went to a market downtown. It was pretty cool. They had fruit and veggie stands as well as every type of souvenir possible. Things were a bit cheaper than at the grocery stores. It was nice and we were even able to take a tram down. Later in the evening we had dinner at Seth's supervisor's house. They are Americans and we might be staying at their house later this week.

Which brings me to the house search. We have put in an offer for a townhouse. We are renting but they sometimes take offers instead of paying full rent. So, we are trying. If this one doesn't go through we will check out some more houses later this week and see what becomes available. Hopefully we'll find something before the beginning of next week. Ford will pay for renting furnishings until our stuff arrives. Which is at least a start.

Have a good one!

Let's look for a place to live . . .

All I have to say is that we looked at a lot of houses. Some were decent, and some not so much. I frowned upon the houses where the 'seperate toilet' meant the toilet was in a different part of the house (sometimes practically outside). Now I know that is pretty common, I might have to deal with it.

In the grand scheme of things, while we want to find a place sooner than later, we did find out today (the 4th) that our stuff hasn't even left the U.S. Don't ask.

I did have a driving lesson today. Rather amusing but I do feel a little more comfortable about the roads. I actually drove when we went looking at another house. I used to think that the Michigan left turn was weird but now it isn't as odd when you do a hook turn in the city. You actually get all the way to the left and turn right across all lanes of traffic.

Lilly is sick again and all we can get from her is that her stomach hurts. Hopefully it'll pass quickly.

Have a good one!

Our first trip to the city . . .

Seth had some stuff to do in the city so we hopped on the train. It was a very easy process and we purchased 5 day passes to be used whenever they are needed. Seth had to pick up his passport and get copies of ours. Then he had a meeting about the taxes here. We walked torwards his meeting thinking we would just stop and find a sandwich shop but we waited too long and then didn't see anything. We ended up eating at Hungry Jack's which is Burger King. I'll have to take a picture of the sign because it is the same sign and they have a whopper, I just don't know why they can't call it Burger King.

Lilly and I just wandered around while Seth was in his meeting. We were in a type of mall that was several blocks long. There were a lot of boutiques with very expensive clothes. I was looking at jeans for Lilly and choked up when I saw they were $62. Sorry, Lilly, I don't care how cute they were, you aren't getting them.

We headed back to our apartment in the afternoon (with a quick treat from Baskin Robins). Lilly and I took a short nap and Seth ran to the grocery to get a couple more things for dinner. Overall it was a nice relaxing evening. Tomorrow we will begin our search for a house. Wish us luck!!

Have a good one!

Our first full day . . .

We didn't do anything after we arrived in Melbourne yesterday. Just went to the house Seth had stayed at and gathered some of his things, had a quick lunch and called my mom. We went to our “serviced apartment” where we will be staying for the next 10 days and Lilly and I got baths and showers. For dinner Seth went and picked up chinese from the Yummy Palace. It wasn't so yummy but Seth said he had eaten better Chinese.

We ended up sleeping about 12 hours and then got up and moving. We needed some groceries in a big way. We headed to a Safeway and grabbed some staples. I was warned that prices were much higher here. I was still in a bit of sticker shock to see $4.29/kg for bananas. We forgot to check what we had to cook with as far as pots and pans for our stove so we stocked up on snacks.

We rested for a couple of hours and then headed to the mall. We needed to get Lilly some diapers and we need to find her a new potty seat. We went to Target in the mall and it had most of the same things except no food and no cleaning supplies that I saw.

We took Lilly to the house where Seth stayed for the month and they watched her so Seth and I could go our for our anniversary. We went to a really cool street that was very busy for a Sunday night. We had Italian and then went to a sweet shop and got a little treat. I have to mention that Seth rocks because he got me BILLY JOEL tickets!!!!!!! Sorry cousin E, I already told Seth I would take him.

Have a good one!

To travel with a 2 ½ year old . . .

>If you have ever traveled with a toddler, you must know the feeling of anxiety before the trip. Will they throw a tantrum while everyone is sleeping? Will they blow our their diaper during a long stretch of turbulance? Will they requre their barf bag as well as the barf bags of everyone in your row and the row behind you? Those of you that know me well know that I make up stuff to worry about, so I had my make-believe anxiety on top of the “I'm traveling with a 2 ½ year old by myself” anxiety.

So our journey began with a trip to the airport. We were later than scheduled due to a stop at the bank to deposit the check for our sold Escape. The bank couldn't help so that was a small glitch, not a good start. But, not to let this stop us, I came up with a back-up plan and we got to the airport.

The two large vehicles pulled into short term parking and we all piled out – me, Lilly, my brother and sister-in-law and their six week old twins, my cousin E and her two little girls plus seven pieces of luggage, an umbrella stroller and a car seat.

In to check-in which I couldn't figure out the computerized system. Someone came to help and when I told him I was going to Australia he told me to skip the computer and he would help me out. He then proceeded to tell me my luggage would go through all the way to Melbourne – he had quickly become my best friend!

Next were the good-byes which were tearful and dramatic. Not to mention the strange older couple who dodged cousin E to get a closer look at the babies. The family waved as I tried to get through security. I am sure they were standing there laughing as I tried to fit all my carry-ons, blankie, Mr. Lammy and shoes through the scanning machine. Lilly really didn't want to take off her shoes, she fought me every time.

Off to St. Louis – on a commuter plane so one carry-on coulnd't go with us. No biggie, it was only and hour and a half long flight. I don't remember anything exciting, just that Lilly was ready to land after about ten minutes in the air and then fell asleep 5 minutes before landing.

St. Louis terminal – my kid was hungry and the only snacks you get on planes these days are the ones you pay for. So I stopped at the only vendor I saw – Starbucks and got a muffin and a banana.

Off to San Fran – 4 hour flight. An employee saw me with Lilly and brought me up to check in earlier than my allotted check in group (much to the dismay of some passengers). As I was trying to board the plane the check in person stopped me and said my carry-on was too big and it would have to go under the plane. Ok, there was plenty of stuff in the other bag for Lilly to do. Get in, get settled and a very large man sits next to me. Not too big of a deal until we start to taxi and he plops his arm across the arm rest and falls asleep complete with snoring. Inquisitive Lilly - “What's he doing? What's that noise?” Both of these questions are asked about 7 times. Lilly wasn't interested in the movie Horton Hears a Who and was content to watch the Wiggles for the 100

San Fran terminal – up to this point getting everything around was a struggle but we made it and weren't too stressed. Then came San Fran. I was unsure where the international terminal was located so I asked. The guy told me to just go to the deadend and turn right, that would take me right where I needed to go and it isn't too far. Sigh, not too far but FAR!! I couldn't tell you how far it was, but I was pushing Lilly and pulling a suitcase with a car seat attached not to mention the heavy piece of luggage over my shoulder. Get to the desk to check in and I'm the only one there, which is odd. I ask if I am late but I'm told that it's fine. They weighed my carry-on and told me it was too heavy, it would have to be checked (apparently the weight limit is 7 kg, mine was 14.4 kg, I was not about to let her weigh the bag over my shoulder!!). So now I still had the storller but I was somehow going to have to carry the car seat. As I stepped away from the desk, the lady said I would need to proceed directly to the gate, I said sure. I heard some frantic communication – not in English and the lady whisked by and said she would have to help me – they were boarding. The lady pushed the stroller while I carried everything else and we rushed off to security. Throw everything onto the belt, take off Lilly's shoes, my shoes, fold the stroller, push the car seat through, take off my belt (I still set off the alarm because I had a piece of metal from the car seat in my pocket), gather everything from the belt, put on Lilly's shoes, open the stroller, throw Lilly into the stroller (she was not ahppy that I was not the one pushing) and run down the terminal. Weh we finally got to the gate, which was the last one in the terminal, most people still had not boarded but I was herded up to the front and showed through the door. Some guy called me back so I could fold the stroller and then I was pushed back through. Was all that really necessary?

Onto the plane where we were in row 62 out of 66ish. Yeah me, as I was close to the bathrooms. This flight had awesome entertainments – I totally recommend flying Air New Zealand. We had individual screens and everything was on demand. There were even games that I didn't even look at although I saw other people playing several different card games. Lilly fell asleep about an hour into the flight and she slept a long time, most of it was even in her car seat. I watched a couple of movies and ate Lillly's meal and part of mine. Fell asleep for a bit and then Lilly wanted to sleep on my lap which she did and was fine. Lilly woke up for breakfast and watched a couple videos but overall was pretty quite. Did I mention this leg of the journey was almost 13 hours? It was difficult on my bum but not too stressful.

>Now Auckland. I asked a guy what I would have to do if I was continueing on to Melbourne. He gave me all sorts of directions. I just hoped I would remember them. There was no stroller when I got off the plane, I asked about it and they said it would be in baggage claim, my look of panic had no effect on the worker and I said I was continuing on and she just said maybe it was put with the other luggage. We got off the plane and looked for the correct signs (I didn't have any idea of how long it would be until the next flight, my boarding pass didn't have another time). So I asked questions, followed directions, went this way and that, up and down stairs, through more security and ended up at a gate of passengers about to board a plane going to Melbourne. I asked the lady at the desk if I needed another boarding pass and she looked at my other one and said I was in the wrong place and my plane wasn't listed on the board because it was too early. I would have to go back through where I had just come from and I don't know what she said after that, I was sweating and really mad that no one knew what I was supposed to do. I talked to two other people before someone finally told me that I would be boarding the same plane I had just gotten off, at the same gate in another hour and a half.

Lilly and I went and sat at the gate since I didn't have any of the correct currency to buy anything to eat and ate M&M's and teddy grahams. We played some games and finally got on the air plane, I was allowed to board first since I had a young child with me. The entire plane was loaded and they made the announcement that we would be delayed an hour so they could replace the brakes. Awesome! Poor Lilly was starving and they came around with some cookies that I could tell she didn't like but she ate them anyway.

In order to finally end this entry, I'll just say that customs and immigration was a breeze. My stroller was at the end of the journey, all my luggage made it. No one questioned me and I was finally able to see Seth. There was a very good reunion with Lilly and Seth and she even let him pick her up. We briefly lost Mr. Lammy on the way to the car but I made Seth go back and find him and all was well again.

So all my fears at the beginning of the journey turned out to be silly. Lilly was a wonderful traveler and we had many compliments on how well she behaved. I was very happy with that and I wish that the everything had run that smoothly. Overall, I shouldn't complain but I am VERY happy that part of the journey is over!

Have a good one!!

Almost there!!

Ok, so it's been a while. And now I'm at my mom's house where I'm on dial-up so the computer is sooooo slow. Seth has been gone for three weeks and he should be the one adding stuff here. Oh well! Everyone will just have to wait one more week and I'll start posting and showing the the sights of Australia!!

The car should be sold on Monday so I'm officially excited!

Have a good one!

Almost Homeless

We have a renter!! While very excited that we can cross something huge off our list, I'm a little troubled. Seth leaves on Friday, the guy needs to be out of his house on Wednesday, the days don't exactly match. And either way, I'm without a house by the weekend. I'll be spending four weeks wondering aimlessly around Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, looking for beds to sleep in. I know, not so much aimlessly, I know where I'll be staying, I just don't know when and for how long.

Today has begun the frantic cleaning and packing. Trying to get this guy into a clean house shouldn't be difficult. It's a matter of getting all our stuff packed up and out of the way so this guy has somewhere to put his stuff while we are still here. What a disaster!

Anyone want to buy a car?

Have a good one!

Enough with the jackhammer!!

If it's not one thing, it's something else. About a month ago we noticed some boxes in the basement were wet. A few days later I noticed a small stream coursing through the basement. Awesome. So we had companies come in, got estimates and about had a heart attack. Oh my goodness!! I can't believe the price we had to pay to get this basement "fixed". We weren't even going to get to see the outcome!

So, the guys came on Monday to start working. They began with a jackhammer and kept that up for about 7 hours on Monday (minus smoke breaks and lunch) and then another 3 1/2 on Tuesday. I really was ready to run downstairs and yank it out of that guy's hands and tell him to find another way. Lucky for that guy we went to story time and got a break from the noise. Either Lilly wasn't bothered by it or she was exhausted because Monday she ended up sleeping for 1 1/2 hours while they were working. She was ready on Tuesday to leave the house!

And so, the basement is now complete and the cement is doing it's thing. We'll be able to set the washer and dryer back up in a couple of days. I'll have to come back and re-tile the perimeter of the floor. That should be a hoot! I've never done that before so I'll be calling on some friends around the neighborhood. It shouldn't be hard, just peel and stick tiles, I'm just worried about ones that I might have to cut. All I have is a pair of scrapbooking scissors and I wouldn't even dream of cutting more than a thin piece of cardboard with those puppies!

Have a good one!

And we are off . . .

Ok, so we aren't, but our furniture, clothes, toys, movies, books and everything else are off. The movers came last Tuesday and Wednesday and took everything away in a giant truck. We had lots more room, I thought about running out and shopping. But I didn't.

So now, Lilly is sleeping on a cot on loan from some pals. Seth and I are sleeping on an air mattress. We don't have much longer before Seth leaves. He'll start the adventure one month before us. [So I can hang out with my brand new niece and nephew!!]

We'll see what becomes of this blog. I am hoping to use it to keep everyone informed with what we are up to. Hopefully there will be lots of wonderful sights that we can tell you about.

Have a good one!