all I want is phone

As you might have read below- we moved into our new house. Everything has been great - all but getting the house set up with cable, phone and Internet services. Unfortunately cell coverage sucks up here in the northern beach (boonies) so we get no cell reception at the house. Something we obviously didn't notice while touring the place prior to renting. So you end up having to stand in the driveway to make a call. Annoying but not dire. But we decided we'd need a local land line phone after all. Well setting up cable, phone and Internet has been a disaster. There are only two companies to offer these services- old government monopoly (think ma bell) and new start up. Not to give away the story but they both stink. Service is an unheard of concept (I think because there is no tipping in this country)- just not part of the culture. So we were told that our house was "hot" and ready to go all we'd need to do when we moved in was plug in the equipment. Then found out that nope- it isn't set up and can't be (not without tearing up our driveway to lay new wires since it is against the law to have aerial cables- and that wasn't going to happen). Of course each of these pieces of information were gained only after countless hours on hold and several truck rolls to the house. And by the way, all this could have been avoided if only the owners of the house had told us that we had only one real company option....in the middle of tense protest in our front yard with an installer unwilling to rehook a piece of wire so we could get a signal we received a call from the owners " ya....that is why we have Optus- we built the house that way so you can't use Telstra you can only use Optus "(all of our services were ordered thru Telstra). Might have been good to know ahead of time. You can only imagine how well Michael has taken all this information. I think his name is now on some watch list for customer who may go postal.
A month later we now have Internet and cable but no phone service.
So next time you think that Comcast or anyone else is horrible just think- it could be worse.

Homeless no longer

5 months after our arrival in Sydney we have finally found a place to live. We're renting a lovely house in North Curl Curl (don't know where the name comes from - maybe just surfing related)- a great beach town North of Sydney (only a 10 minute commute for Michael to Manly).

The nice family who are egregiously charging us a small fortune for the use of their home are taking a one year "walk about" of Australia ( a common Aussie thing to do). While it would be nice to tour the county for a year the idea of living out of a Toyota Land Cruiser with a small trailer hitch and two young kids sounds like torture.

It was fun to live in Manly so close to all the shops, market, restaurants, beaches and library right out our door. But what a relief to be done with touring potential houses- we must have seen over 30. Plus it is nice to have all our stuff which had been held in storage. Our supply closest looks like be hijacked a Target truck ( I think we have enough deodorant for years- not like they don't see it here ;). Unpacking the playroom box was like Xmas all over again for Nate - I think he forgot some of his toys.

I think Sam is the happiest of all.... no longer living in an apartment he now has a backyard, several parks nearby and a pool. On the downside (for him) he has no become an outdoor dog...which is a lot easier to do here than in cold Seattle. We've all been enjoying the new backyard- Reese is in heaven having a swing set and Nate likes the trampoline. But the pool is the best feature for everyone. Nate is becoming part fish- often learning new pool tricks- he is very brave as long as his is wearing his mask. He can now swim across the pool without stopping and is working on improving his chicken like arm strokes.

We are all feeling settled in and pleased with our selection of house and neighborhood. All is good (utility hook up horror aside- worthy of a blog entry on it's own) except for the birds. While lovely to watch while eating dinner outside it quite annoying to be woken up at 6am to the sounds of parrot jungle. Some sound nice and chirpy while others sound like monkeys (one night at 2:00am I swear I thought Sam had killed a neighborhood cat but it was only a bird). It is living at the zoo. Michael might be driven to investigate owning a BB gun (highly unlikely to be found in this country). Maybe we'll get used to the sounds- I can only hope.

Now that we are settled in and have the guest room all ready our Inn is open for guests. Please come visit.

photos:

Who likes the pool more???

First Day of School

Nate's first day at school

After a five month hiatus due to the move Nate started his new school today. I've been concerned that it would be a hard separation after being home with mom and dad for so long. We've been reading books about going to school, going over the routine plans, etc...

Apparently my concern was totally unwarranted. There was no push back or whining about getting ready this morning. Not even our typical battle of to wear or not to wear jammies out of the house (especially flannel in the 80 degree heat) and no squirming during sun screen application. Was this really my son? Within two minutes of arrival at school he was seated at the computers with headphones on trying to learn a new game. He couldn't have cared less if I was there or not.

(aw mom not another photo)





I guess it was only a hard day for me. Nate loved his new school and said that everyone was nice.



Sister dropping me off (I think she wanted to stay and go to school too)

Reese

Let's face it - it isn't easy being the younger sibling. I know- I am a little sister myself. Poor Reese- Nate wrote monthly family letters, has zillions of baby pictures, is the subject of many blog postings, etc.... let's face it he sets a high bar. The boy is a rock star...he eats anything, has a mellow disposition, is a gifted athlete already and his an around nice, smart funny kid. Heck he's Natedog. It will be both cool and suck to have him as an older brother (the movie Ferris Bueller comes to mind). So it is time to dedicate a blog entry to all about Reese. If you tuned in hoping to read about a new vacation sorry- just ho hum kid news. Try back again soon.

Reese loves her brother- wants to do (& have) everything he does

So all about Reese...here we go. Reese started walking shortly after our Aussie move and has already mastered walking in the sand (advanced of her brother at this age). She recently got her first haircut- hopefully those beautiful curls will grow back but she is a lot cooler. Michael thinks she looks like a boy now but she wears so much pink I don't think there will be any confusion. You be the judge. Poor little kid is teething up a storm. But finally she is getting teeth- she's had only 6 for months now. Not that its stopped her. It is funny how kids are different. Nate has always (in his long 4 years) been an adventurous eater. Reese on the other hand is picky (just like her mom as a child)- likely a revenge curse put on by my parents. Hopefully she'll grow out of it soon.

She is a good communicator. She can only say mommy and dada and Na-Na but gets her point across with grunting, head shaking, and her baby signs. She even invented her own signs- one for Wiggles (or any video really) and one for swings (her favorite thing to do). She clearly understands what you are talking about and follows instructions. I won't be surprised to hear full sentences come out one day soon or a full song since she loves music. Likely one of the first ones will be Nate get off me :). She puts up her fair share of hugs that turn into wrestling from her older bro. She is going to be one tough chick. This pleases Michael who is already concerned that our daughter will be this smoking hot blond with blue eyes and big boobs who has an Aussie accent hangs out with surfers and loves to dance and flirt. Time will tell....we'll keep you posted :)

Reese playing in the kitchen (yes she is sitting in the frying pan)

Reese testing out her new potty-helps if you are undressed. She is making the sign for going potty.

A chocolate lover just like her mom- ummm chocolate pudding- a special treat

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year! Hope you all enjoyed your holidays. We watched the New Year ring in in mellow fashion. But as it turns out we had a front row seat to the Manly fireworks show right off our deck. For a small town I was impressed with the show. This country does love their fireworks- maybe the love of explosions are related to the criminal past? Of course I passed out before midnight so I missed the big Sydney show. OK so I am a lightweight- 2 glasses of champagne and I'm toast. There is always next year ;)

I'm looking forward to all the new beginnings that the fresh year brings. Nate starts school at the end of January, we move into our rental house (knock on wood) and hopefully I'll get a job (requires me to get off my butt and start looking). Plus there are a ton of places for us to explore and discover in and around Australia.

Keep checking back to the blog for new photos and tales of adventure.
Best wishes for a healthy and happy new year.

Season's Greetings!

Sam the holiday elf

Happy holidays to all our avid blog readers (our 2 subscribers know who they are) and first time visitors. Sorry for the non-traditional holiday letter. I enjoyed creating our past holiday letters but printing and mailing from overseas presented complications.

I hope you all weathered this tumultuous year. 2008 certainly had some big events- global markets crashing, a new US president (so happy to be done with campaign ads), and our move to Australia. OK so, so it wasn't a major enough event to warrant a news report on CNN but it was our big story of the year.

Hopefully we reached out to all of you but in case we missed you here is the brief recap: we had an opportunity through Michael's work to move to Sydney and we jumped on it. We've been here since September and so far we're loving the experience. The kids have handling the move like champions. Every once in a while Nate will say that he wants to return to Seattle (usually for very interesting reasons like he misses the supermarket). For those who may be wondering-Sam our 5 year old black lab is here with us. He probably had the hardest move of anyone (definitely the most expensive) and after a month of quarantine is out and eager to mark every tree in every park in Sydney.

We've started to explore some of Sydney neighborhoods and even took a couple of vacations. Check back on the blog every once and while for stories of our adventures. Of course the frequency of blog postings may slow if I am able to find a full time job :)

Hopefully 2009 will bring economic stability or maybe even a rebound??? (we can hope at least). Enjoy your holidays and best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year. Please stay in touch and think about a vacation down under.

fondly,

Mimi, Michael, Reese and Nate

Turkey Day 2008

our feast

Sunday November 30th, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving on a Sunday? Did the holiday change days you ask. No, but here in Sydney Thursday (Thursday in the US is actually Friday here) was an ordinary work day- not a national holiday. Our fellow Seattlite ex-pat friends invited us to a Thanksgiving feast.

Thanksgiving is one of may favorite holidays- right up there with Halloween. When else do I spend weeks combing the web for new recipes, become glued to food network (OK so that happens a lot), spend hundreds of hours cooking and cleaning, actually set the table just for a dinner that everyone inhales in about 20 minutes. Note that I said dinner- as in 6 pm. I am not a huge fan of the 3:00 Thanksgiving meal....this is usually a big debate at our house as Michael is a fan of of the Thanksgiving supper (he claims it is because then he gets a leftovers meal later that same day).

Any way, I love Thanksgiving and was sad not to be hosting as we had for the last 8 years or so. What would Thanksgiving be without some traditions- football, waking up earlier to get the bird in the oven (trying not to drop the bird), Michael's famous stuffing, the Macy's parade, etc... So we may not have hosted but some of our traditions continue. Thanks to the magic of Slingbox we were able to watch both the Macy's parade and football.

All this week we searched in vain for corn muffin mix (or any similar product-corn bread, corn meal, etc...crap anything other than canned corn would have worked). You see corn bread is the secret ingredient for Michael's stuffing recipe. After a dozen calls, hours of web searching, and going to every local supermarket- no luck. Is it too much to ask for a box of Jiffy. Australia sometimes feels so much like the US that you're surprised when you can't find common US items (like corn bread, mini marshmallows, etc). I did come across an ex-pat internet supermarket that would ship me some but they are located in Melbourne and I needed it same day. (I might have to splurge and buy a box of Captain Crunch for Michael & Nate). In the end I think our stuffing came out just fine- tasted good to me at least. Overall a decent result given our sparse kitchen - consisting of 2 pots, 1 knife, no peelers, etc. I did manage to cut myself within the first 2 minutes of chopping...it isn't Thanksgiving unless there is bloodshed (perhaps a subliminal homage to the suffering of the early settlers and Indians :))
Since we weren't hosting we were able to enjoy our day and not spend it all cooped up in our tiny kitchen. We spent the morning walking to one of my favorite spots - Shelly Beach. Beach? - well it was 80 degrees outside. It is odd celebrating fall/winter holidays without falling leaves, chilly brisk evenings and wearing sweaters. Christmas/Hanukkah will be even stranger as it might be 90+.

Manly beach walk

our destination Shelly Beach

Hope you enjoyed a great holiday filled with laughter, a bit of chaos and great food!