It sure has been a while since I have blogged. My goodness, I have slacked. This is just going to be a brief catch up for now. First the good news... My dad came to Australia and is visiting us for a month! Love having him here, makes me less homesick. It's been great having him here! The children are enjoying having Grandbo here. Muffin picked up right where she left off with him...they are close...taken with each other. Huckleberry boy says "Bo" in addition to his ever increasing vocabulary. Some of his words: No (of course), Na na (for night night), book, bird, baby, cup, more, dada, mama, up, gotcha, touchdown...
More on my dad: He is keeping himself pretty busy and has de-spiderized the front verandah, the corners and beyond in the house as well as changing burnt out lightbulbs, (seriously, even lightbulbs are very different...not all twist in like ours)cleaned windows,swept the patio...He just likes to be busy. It is so nice of him, and of course I wish he'd just chill out and relax... Love haviing him here and think he has incited a deeper missing of the rest of our family for Muffin Girl and I.
House Update: More Good News...So and So News... The Possum Man seems to have been successful. I still hear them...but I am pretty sure they are outside and they just like to use our roof to travel and eat the camillas... The handyman came and cleaned the mold or mould as they like to spell it here. He was a Kiwi and basically stated what I know...It'll just keep coming back...So we are very much considering not renewing our lease if it is offered...but we have heard through expat blogs, other friends and such that mold is a big problem here and people just don't take it seriously like we do in the USA. I did do some research and it is enough to allow us to break our lease. The house is poorly vented, without ac and it has been very oust! These problems are common in Sydney and the hubster has informed me that due to all my INSIGHTS on this blog, people think we live in a dump. Let me refresh memories... We chose this house because of its charm, older brick home with beautiful crown molding, nice neighborhood with proximity to public transport and 5k outside of the Central Business District of Sydney, walking distance to park...cabana with private bath for guests. Pool. Bar. Also, there was no yucky carpeting like in many of the other rentals on the market at our time of leasing... The house across the street was auctioned for 1.5 million last weekend. It is about the same size without pool, spa and cabana. This is a sought after area for Sydneysiders.They are just a lot more tolerant of the wildlife(some) or they live in newer less creepy crawly access in houses.
The possum does seem to be keeping our home his territory but it seems he is no longer inside of the attic. He decided to make an appearance for my father, walking right past his feet on the front porch one night. Dad must've been standing quite quietly. This is good as long as he stays out. I hear him on the roof and I hear him chirping as he eats camillas off the tree...and the mandarins in the back are ripe now... He seems to be enjoying them a bit. (Yes, ripened in the winter, weird, huh?)
The house has no subfloor much like our home in the Fan, and has cracks and much space between the base mouldings at the bottom and the floor, I assume due to settlement. I had never been to the hardware store here until my dad arrived I think we have been 3 times and may need to go once more. I used to love to go to Lowe's when it was up the street from us in our Fan house. Bunnings is the big hardware store here. My dad has filled in the cracks with this styrofoam stuff in most of the house where the cracks were...It is also helping winterize the house as it gets pretty cold and air was seaping in.
Dad has de-spidered the outside of the house, it was beginning to look a little creepy and the inside. Anyway, it's been nice having another adult in the house during the day and some one to hang with. Who better to have a beer at noon with than your dad?
I thini we will likely move once our lease is up. I believe cleaning up the mold is just a stop gap measure to a problem we can't fix without air conditioning and proper ventilation in the house. Perhaps we should go back to one of our first thoughts, small apartment on or near beach to finish out our stay. Why not? I hate the idea of moving again but I don't want to be fighting physically unhealthy mold and mentally (for me) and possibly physically critters and bugs.
"This is Sydney". I am just glad we aren't further north as they say the farther north you go the bigger the spiders are.
For now, I am in a bit better of a place. Still a little down, but a bit better about the house and maybe a bit resigned to it as it would be easiest to finish out our lease, which is in December. We plan to go home to the US for Christmas this year, but we have a possible move impending and if we go then, it may be a long time before I can go back...Things to ponder at another time!
Dad has another week or so and then our friends will be coming and then Seth's parents will be coming! These visits will def. help make our stay in Australia better.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
"I'm Done With Australia" -Muffin Mack
We made a sneak trip back to the States following my dads visit. Yippee!
The quote above is what the Little Miss Three said as we were landing in BWI. "We are here in America. I'm Done With Australia!" Also funny, that our Texas layover was not America in her mind...Not in Texans minds either, huh, ya'll?
Only a few were in on the secret...one sister who was in charge of getting car seats and a second car to the airport and one friend who was planning her families visit to Australia, one other American friend and my two, yup, two American friends in Aus.
We arrived at BWI and got off the plane in a decent time as our seats were in premium economy. But we had to get the stroller up and H-berry in it. He had a diaper change that was wiggly wormy and just before we landed he basically peed all over me. Knowing his car seat was borrowed and it was a long ride, I changed him completely in the bathroom before we got out of the terminal. In this time, there was virtually no one left around.
We were rounding the corner and our group of people were there. Grandma, Aunt Jan, Cousin Daniel, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Andy, and Cousin Jack. They thought maybe Grandbo missed the plane we took so long to come out. The baby actually had a cooperative change and it didn't seem long to me, but what is long after flying back from Australia with a 3 year old and a 1 year old? Grandma and Muffin spotted eachother and ran towards eachother, Viv calling out "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma" , both with arms wide open. Total Hallmark moment. I was a bit behind trying to push the stroller and video at the same time!
Janice tells me Cathy went white. Then she couldn't believe I did not tell her I was coming. I had actually slipped on a phone call recently but I guess she didn't think I meant so soon! We all caravan back to my parents house and there is calling and texting to try to get Aunt Jenny and other cousins over even though it is late. Cousin Anna had her dance recital that night. We could not reach her. The Grahame boys were waiting in the driveway...and surprised!
Then as each person came in they had Muffin hide behind a chair and pop out to surprise them. She had so much fun and it was just good for the soul to be with my family again.
Then we had to surprise "The Man's" parents! We had hoped to ambush them Saturday, but the baby was sick and I had to get him to the doctor and so I took care of all that while the little miss went to Anna's dance recital with Auntie Cathy and Grandma. Just hoped that between urgent care and the dance recital we wouldn't be found out first. After the doctor visit, my little man slept the rest of the afternoon until 8:30!
The next day, my father called to ask my inlaws if they would be home. He said he wanted to drop off some packages Seth sent home with him. The kids and I got ready and went over. Knocked on the door and they called out, "Come on in, Bo!" And in we waltzed! I really think they were in complete shock!
Of course, we are only here for a visit and head back in August. So happy to be here and can't wait to enjoy some Maryland Crabs! UMMM!
Things we have had that we were missing in Australia:
Family and Friends Closeby!
BACON!!
Ledo's Pizza
Thomas' English Muffins
Pepperidge Farm Cinn. Raisin Bread
Good Crab Balls!
Things I Miss About Australia:
Seth
That is All!
Side Note: It seems my most recent posts from Ausgtralia did not post so I will work on getting this updated and corected. The format has changed on blogger and I have been bouncing between our ipad and the laptop...Hopefully I figure it all out soon...
The quote above is what the Little Miss Three said as we were landing in BWI. "We are here in America. I'm Done With Australia!" Also funny, that our Texas layover was not America in her mind...Not in Texans minds either, huh, ya'll?
Only a few were in on the secret...one sister who was in charge of getting car seats and a second car to the airport and one friend who was planning her families visit to Australia, one other American friend and my two, yup, two American friends in Aus.
We arrived at BWI and got off the plane in a decent time as our seats were in premium economy. But we had to get the stroller up and H-berry in it. He had a diaper change that was wiggly wormy and just before we landed he basically peed all over me. Knowing his car seat was borrowed and it was a long ride, I changed him completely in the bathroom before we got out of the terminal. In this time, there was virtually no one left around.
We were rounding the corner and our group of people were there. Grandma, Aunt Jan, Cousin Daniel, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Andy, and Cousin Jack. They thought maybe Grandbo missed the plane we took so long to come out. The baby actually had a cooperative change and it didn't seem long to me, but what is long after flying back from Australia with a 3 year old and a 1 year old? Grandma and Muffin spotted eachother and ran towards eachother, Viv calling out "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma" , both with arms wide open. Total Hallmark moment. I was a bit behind trying to push the stroller and video at the same time!
Janice tells me Cathy went white. Then she couldn't believe I did not tell her I was coming. I had actually slipped on a phone call recently but I guess she didn't think I meant so soon! We all caravan back to my parents house and there is calling and texting to try to get Aunt Jenny and other cousins over even though it is late. Cousin Anna had her dance recital that night. We could not reach her. The Grahame boys were waiting in the driveway...and surprised!
Then as each person came in they had Muffin hide behind a chair and pop out to surprise them. She had so much fun and it was just good for the soul to be with my family again.
Then we had to surprise "The Man's" parents! We had hoped to ambush them Saturday, but the baby was sick and I had to get him to the doctor and so I took care of all that while the little miss went to Anna's dance recital with Auntie Cathy and Grandma. Just hoped that between urgent care and the dance recital we wouldn't be found out first. After the doctor visit, my little man slept the rest of the afternoon until 8:30!
The next day, my father called to ask my inlaws if they would be home. He said he wanted to drop off some packages Seth sent home with him. The kids and I got ready and went over. Knocked on the door and they called out, "Come on in, Bo!" And in we waltzed! I really think they were in complete shock!
Of course, we are only here for a visit and head back in August. So happy to be here and can't wait to enjoy some Maryland Crabs! UMMM!
Things we have had that we were missing in Australia:
Family and Friends Closeby!
BACON!!
Ledo's Pizza
Thomas' English Muffins
Pepperidge Farm Cinn. Raisin Bread
Good Crab Balls!
Things I Miss About Australia:
Seth
That is All!
Side Note: It seems my most recent posts from Ausgtralia did not post so I will work on getting this updated and corected. The format has changed on blogger and I have been bouncing between our ipad and the laptop...Hopefully I figure it all out soon...
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