A blog for 2 weeks

We did write up a blog post for last week. But our internet went down as we tried to post it and then it only save half of the blog. I did not feel like re-writing it. It was pretty depressing. So I will try to sum it up.

Last week Brian went on his first work trip. He worked really long hours, so it was not too fun for him. Caleb missed his father terribly and took it out on me. He decided to go into the terrible two's and threw a ton of tantrums. I even called my mom in tears half way through the week trying to get some support. There were times I was not sure I would make it to Saturday when Brian returned.

This week was better. We went to the spring festival, floriade twice, once with our play group and once with Brian. It is nice that spring has finally come. Things are getting greener, our grass is growing again, and it is getting warmer and in the 60's everyday. The rest of the week was pretty normal. We had swim lessons, went to the library to get new books, and went to Questacon.

Caleb got sick again this week. I know I have written about this before, but it really seems to be every other week. It is extremely frustrating. He had/has a pretty bad cough and a runny nose. We were supposed to meet up with friends on Thursday but stayed at home because his cough was getting so bad. His nose is better, but he still coughs when he is running around too much. I really hope he can consistently be well since winter is finally gone.

Caleb's behavior was a lot better too. I knew the main reason he acted out last week was because he missed his dad, but every time we went out in public he threw at least 1 tantrum. And one day in the span of an hour he threw 5. It was ridiculous! This week he still through tantrums, but I could see the triggers and fix the problem. He was either tired or hungry, so I was able to give him a snack or make our way home. Last week they would be out of the blue. I feel like if I know why it is happening I can deal with them a lot better.

This week is looking good too. Tomorrow is family and community day, a public holiday so Brian is off. He also is giving me the morning off (with one string). So I am happy I will get most of the morning free to myself. I think I will do some shopping and get a pedicure. The rest of the week is looking normal.

I thought I would go through some aussie-isms that I have learned so far. Enjoy!

How you going? (everyone says this here!) - How are you?

Arvo - afternoon

cheeky - silly

boofhead - butthead

pram - stroller

capsicum - pepper (vegetable)

pumpkin - this refers to all squash and pumpkins - it is odd to see butternut pumpkin in the store!

fortnight - every two weeks

footy - australian football

grid iron - american football

fringe - bangs

SMS - text

sleeps - naps

I reckon - I guess or think

biscuit - cookies, crackers

bub - baby

cot - crib

cheers - thanks/good-bye

no worries - your welcome

chips - french fries

whole milk - full cream

cart (like shopping cart) - trolley

petrol - gas

mate - friend

partner - spouse

This is all Brian and I could think of for now. I posted pictures at the top of floriade. I have more on my facebook page if you would like to see them. We miss and love you all!

What makes a house a home?

A pretty normal week; here it goes!

Monday was labor day so Brian was off. We went to the zoo and joined it so when it is warmer we can go as much as we want.

Tuesday was swim lessons. I thought it was going to go really well. Caleb ran to the pool and played so much before the lesson began. He was jumping in the water to me, splashing around, and walking deeper into the water. But once the lesson began he froze! He would not kick his legs, splash his hands, or do anything! It was like he had stage fright!

Wednesday we went to the library. Caleb also started another cold that day too! This is the 4th time he has gotten sick since we have moved. I am upset that he keeps getting sick. But the nurse at the embassy said that it is really common for kids to get sick a lot the first 6 months. The viruses and allergens are different here so they have to build up new immunities. I intellectually get it, but I am not happy about it!

Thursday our Aussie mum and bub came over. Caleb and the bub had a great time! He enjoyed showing them his books and toys!

Friday we had an embassy mom playdate. I got lost going there as normal since it was in the north (we live in the south, getting north of the city takes 40 or so minutes). Caleb and I had a nice time. But the other boy is 3 and did not understand why Caleb would not play his games with him or chase him. That evening we went to a dinner party with Brian's co workers. It was Mexican themed so we had good food! Caleb was also a hit, running around and dancing.

Today we are not doing much. We walked around a lake close to our house, about 5 minutes. The lake has a bunch of playgrounds around it, so we parked at one and walked to another. It is really pretty today and a lot of people were out!

Brian leaves for his first work trip since we have moved tomorrow. He will be gone for the week. So Caleb and I will be on our own. We have our usual things lined up. Plus our Aussie mum and bub friends have invited us over one night for a Turkish dinner. It is nice to have someone to call when we are feeling lonely!

We found out this week that our main shipment of household goods will not arrive to the country until mid October. Apparently it sat in Bmore for 2 months. It was extremely frustrating to hear! We got our air freight very quickly since we moved out of our house early. But that basically only had stuff for Caleb; his crib, toy box, toys, and a few clothes. I have been wearing the same 6 sweaters for 2 months and I am getting pretty sick of them!

So after our things arrive in the country they have to be quarantined and then sent down here. So it is looking like we will not have our stuff until the end of October.

After 2 months I am finally ready to make this our home. We have set up routines, made some friends, and are getting around pretty easily (despite getting lost every time we go to a new place:). It is hard because our house is so empty. All the walls are white and blank and almost nothing here is ours. Besides a bunch of toys there is nothing in the house that represents our family. I guess we will have to wait another 6 weeks (hopefully!) to give it some personality. Any suggestions to help make it feel more homey until we get our stuff?

Here are some pics of our walk today!

The initial list

This week seemed to fly by!

Monday was a great day. One of the mothers in the playgroup lives on a farm right next to a large nature reserve and she invited the group out. We had morning tea and then we watched sheep being sheared. It was 40 minutes away, but a gorgeous drive. It was through the mountains, over 1 lane bridges, and past cows, sheep, kangaroos, and emus.

Tuesday we had swim lessons and Caleb jumped into the water to me from off the side of the pool. It is so cool to see him progress!

Wednesday we went to the playgroup at the Baptist church. It was nice but I doubt I will go back. It was all grandmothers with the kids. So I was the youngest adult by like 40 years. But they were all very nice.

Thursday we went to our playdate's house. It was really good just to hang out and let the kids do their thing. We also got our house sprayed for spiders. It does not sound that exciting but there are 2 poisonous spiders that are very prevalent here and we do not want to take chances.

Friday we just stayed home. It was nice just to relax here.

Yesterday it rained alllll day, so we went to Questacon. Today we went back to the Baptist church. It was very welcoming, more so than in the last few weeks. But Caleb for some reason was being really clingy and would not let us leave him in the creche. Then I met up with a friend and went to the Old Bus Depot. It is a large market where vendors sell spices, nuts, clothing, pottery, and art. I got a really pretty pottery vase with Aussie animals carved into it. We also ate lunch there and I had the worst burrito I have ever had in my life. Note to self- do not eat Mexican food here, it is awful. I miss Chipotle! So this evening I made enchiladas for dinner, they were much better :)

This week is looking good for us tomorrow of course is Labor day so Brian is off :) The rest of the week is normal. Friday we have a playdate with an embassy mom and a party with some of Brian's co workers.

Since we have been here just about 2 months I thought I would make an initial list of things I like and dislike about Canberra.

Likes:

*The scenery - we are surrounded by mountains and trees. It is beautiful here!

*The wildlife - I love seeing kangaroos, cows, and the different birds - cockatoos, lorikeets, galas, magpies, and parrots.

*Being able to stay at home with Caleb - I went into this last week. We definitely could not afford to do this in the States.

*Playgroup associations - It is such a great system for moms and kids! I wish the States had this!

*Little to no traffic - It take 20 minutes everyday to get Brian to work, even in the rain.

*The people - almost everyone is really friendly and laid-back.

*Morning tea - Such a great way to break up the morning, chat, and of course drink coffee :)

*The house - It is much more than we need, a great backyard, and a nice neighborhood.

*The mild winter - A horrible winter for them (seriously the worst they have had in 12 years) is rain and highs in the 50s. Not quite 3 blizzards and freezing temps daily.

Dislikes:

*The restaurants - There is only Thai, Chinese, and Indian. Plus the pizza is gross and beets should never be on hamburgers!

*They cannot pronounce or spell my name here - It is pronounced meegan here and spelled meagan. When they want to pronounce is right they spell it megin. Ugh!

*The prices - Everything and I mean everything is at least twice as expensive as home. A 1/2 gallon of milk is $4.00, the gross burrito $10.00, turkey lunch meat $15.00 a pound, chicken breast $6.00 a pound, $100 a month gym membership, $150 for an oil change, etc.

*The lack of street signs, numbers, addresses - the address for places is at the corner of ___and___. But a lot of streets here are circuits, so you could be at the intersection that it says but not at the right address. I get lost every time I go to a new place. It is extremely frustrating.

*Health care - I went into that 2 weeks ago. A friend of ours went to the dr. 3 times last week and they turned her 2 year old daughter away each time claiming it was a cold. They went to a clinic and they discovered she had bronchitis. Insane!

*Customer service - When we first arrived I heard a study came out that ranked Australia last in customer service out of 20 countries (The US was ranked #1). I thought I will make my own decision and give it time. Well the study was right. It is really bad here, the basically ignore you in stores and take their time waiting on you; it just does not seem to be important here.

*Being away from family, friends, and work - I miss everyone sooooo much! It is hard being away from everyone. I also miss being Meghan. I am mom here 24 hours a day, I miss time to myself and being a teacher.

I am sure we will have more to add to the lists as time passes but so far the likes outnumber the dislikes so that is a good sign!

A tough start but good end!

The only way I can describe this week is disjointed. It did not start well at all. Caleb spiked a 101 fever Sunday night that continued through Wednesday afternoon. On Tuesday I took Caleb to the dr to see if they could find a reason for the fever. He has had fevers like this in the past so it is not entirely new, but still scary that once the motrin wears off it spikes back up to 101+. There is universal health care here and to put it nicely it stinks! We were lucky to get an appointment. We got there on time and then waited 30+ minutes to see the dr. The dr did the usual things, checked his ears, throat, lungs, ect, asked about the fever. Then said if it was still around on Friday to bring him back and then rushed us out of the office. We were in there for 5 minutes! He also said there was no medical proof to treat a fever (hmm I think my baby feeling better, being able to play, ect. is reason enough!). The dr followed us out of the office and called another patient in. Everyone we have talked to here has had the same experience. There are not enough General Practitioners so they rush people in and out! Luckily the fever did break so we did not have to go back. And hopefully Caleb will stay healthy so we don't have to do that again!

So that sums up Sunday-Wednesday. We stayed at home.

Thursday Caleb was back to his normal self so we met our Aussie mum and bub at Questacon. They had a good time but it was a bit crowded and Caleb got a bit roughed up from the older kids. So we cut it short, had coffee, and let the kids run around in the lobby.

Friday we had a make-up swim lesson, since Caleb was sick on Tuesday. It went well, Caleb is getting more used to the water and I think opening up a bit more to the idea of swimming.

Yesterday was a beautiful day so we went into the city to Lake Burley Griffen and walked around and then went to the fresh food market. It is starting to warm up a bit, now in the low 60's a few days a week. So hopefully we will be spending more time outside.

Today we went back to a church we had previously visited. They have a nursery for part of the service so I was able to enjoy the sermon. The Pastor is good and they have a playgroup on Wednesdays at the church, so we might check it out this week.

This week is looking normal. Our Monday playgroup is at a mum's house. She lives out in the country about 40 minutes from here on a sheep farm. So we will be able to see sheep sheared. I am not looking forward to the drive, but I think it will be neat to see how they live!

I have already complained about one aspect of Aussie culture today, and I was going to write about driving to new places, but that is also awful. So I will write about that another day and will focus on the positive. Caleb!

I am starting to enjoy being a stay at home mom. Caleb still drives me crazy now and then, ok there is probably a moment daily that I get angry at him. But in all I love spending time with my little guy. He has really developed a lot since we have moved. He is saying a lot more words; hot, again (his favorite!), eat, read, open, down, out, koala, stuck, snack, and he has learned the signs for please and thank-you. John, Kim, and Madi gave him 2 stuffed koalas before we left that he has begun playing with. He will hug and kiss them, feed them his snack and give them them drinks of milk. It is nice to see a more nurturing side to my rough and tumble boy! But as with everything else, when he is done with them he throws them across the room. He is also playing more with other children and is learning to share (kind of). He is also learning how to be a good helper and will help me clean up his toys and put his books on the book shelf.

Some things have stayed the same. He still loves to read books. He brings a book to me to read constantly throughout the day saying "book, reeeeeeeeea!". He still loves to take naps, when I ask him if he is ready to take a nap, he runs to his crib and points to it. His favorite foods are still cheerios, goldfish, peas, and corn. He still calls everything Elmo. And his favorite person is still daddy. Whenever we go head toward the garage, he says "dada dada" and in the afternoon when he feels it is time to go pick up Brian from work, he will bring me his shoes and say "dada?". He gets very rambunctious at night and loves to wrestle with Brian, chase him through the house, and do silly dances with him. Caleb still has his temper and when he is angry with me will either hit me or throw whatever is in his hand at me. I am afraid this will get worse before it gets better. But that is life with a toddler right?! In all, I am so blessed to have Caleb and spend this time with him! I love my silly, goofy boy!

This week was much better than last, thank goodness!

Last Sunday we tried another baptist church. It was ok, people were friendly, but we don't think it is the right place for us. In the afternoon we went to a birthday party for a child of a coworker of Brian. It was actually a lot of fun! It was the first time I felt like this was going to work for us. All the families had small children and we got along well with the other parents. The only problem is that most of them live in the north, about 45 minutes from us.

Monday was the birthday party for the kids turning 2 in the Monday playgroup. It was at at petting farm. It was great! Caleb loved seeing all the animals. The picture of Caleb mounting the pig was taken there. Caleb got to pet sheep, bunnies, a pony, and pigs. He got to see chucks, alpacas, ferrets, birds, and goats.

Tuesday was swim lesson. We got there about 10 minutes early so Caleb could acclimate to the water and area. That seemed to help because he had a great lesson! Yay! He is still very behind in skills, but he will now sit on the edge of the pool and scoot in to me! It is nice to see growth is such a short period of time!

Wednesday we had Caleb's 18 month check up. It was very different from what happens in the States. The doctor came out to us in the waiting room to ask if everything was ok and then we saw the nurse for his measurements and immunization. It was very quick. Then we went to the library. Caleb was not happy with me for being out of the house all morning but at least it was productive.

Thursday was our Aussie playdate. It was nice :)

Friday we went to Questacon, the science museum. It is a nice place to go when we don't have any other plans, but was a bit crowded.

Today we finally made it to Tidbinbilla. It is a nature reserve about 40 minutes from us. We have bee trying to go for about 3 weeks, but for different reasons we could not get there. It is a huge nature reserve with tons of animals. It was not crowded at all, so Caleb got to run around (that is the picture of Caleb running) on the trails. We got to see a koala (picture above) and lovely scenery. There were a lot of wallabies and birds. We tried to see platypuses but we could not find them. We got an annual pass so we can go back as much as we want and I think we will take advantage of it especially when it warms up!

Tomorrow we are going to try out a Lutheran church and then go into the city to the Old Bus Depot to look for some Aussie art.

One thing we have had to get used to here is the eating out differences. Bri and I really enjoy eating out. I cook 5 days a week so we eat out Friday and Saturday nights. Well, we do carry out those nights, restaurants are not conducive to toddlers. There is not a lot of variety here, mainly asian. All the chinese, thai, and indian you want (I am considering this asian because India is a part of Asia - Brian does not like me calling it asian food!) We have found 1 Italian restaurant, that is ok and a take-away place that is ok. The pizza here is not good, we have tried 2 places and have been disappointed both times (they use shredded ham and I don't think they use enough cheese), they do have Domino's and Pizza hut, so maybe that will be better. They also put beets on their burgers and sandwiches. We were warned of this, but forgot and were completely grossed out by it! And like everything else, it is twice as expensive as the U.S. Krispy Kreme donuts are $3.00 each and Subway boasts of $7.00-11.00 footlongs (and they don't have the fun jingle!) There are a few places we have yet to try, a Turkish restaurant and an Irish pub. I definitely miss eating out in the U.S and nothing will compare to the amazing food we had in NYC! What we would give for a good burrito, a real hamburger, and yummy greek food :)

We love and miss you all!

The week from . . .

This has been our toughest week yet here. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did. So here it goes.

Monday was ok and to be honest I don't remember much about it since the rest of the week was so bad. All I remember is that we went to our normal playgroup. I also made roast pork for the first time and it turned out well.

Tuesday is when things started going south. I was very excited to start swim lessons. Caleb loved the pool at Marc and Betty's house and beach house so I thought he would love the pool here too. He proved me wrong. The swim lesson was very well done, the instructor did a lot of activities that were age appropriate with a lot of singing. But Caleb was not feeling it and cried the first 10 minutes (the lesson is 30 minutes). Then the instructor threw out balls that the kids were to swim too (with mom's help) and bring back, he liked that and seemed to cheer up some after that. Caleb is also the clear beginner, all the other kids could blow bubbles, kick, paddle, and jump from the side of the pool to mom in the water. So we have some work to do. I think that next week I will go early and play in the water with him to get him used to it before the lesson. When we got back to the house it was nap time, so after changing him, I put him down. He decided only to take 1 1/2 hour nap, which is a good bit shorter than normal. Then in the afternoon he was playing and yanked the t.v. cable out of the wall and broke it. Needless to say Brian got a not so nice phone call from me at work about his son. Brian of course was wonderful and when we got home he took over Caleb duties so I could have a break.

And Brian fixed the cable outlet! Imagine how tough it would be without t.v. We enjoy vegging when Caleb is in bed at night :) On Wednesday Caleb got sick all over himself, me, and the floor. I think he picked up the bug from the playgroup on Monday. So we stayed at home all day.

Wednesday night we got a text from our Thursday playdate saying that they were sick so they could not make it Thursday. So Thursday we checked out the mall in the next suburb over. That evening I picked up Caleb's bug and got sick.

On Friday, Brian woke up sick with the bug. So he called out of work and I tried my best to look after Caleb while still trying to recuperate. By the evening I was feeling much better so I went to Romeo and Juliet the ballet with our sponsor's wife. It was really good and I am really glad I went. I did not feel 100%, but it was nice to get out of the house and away from the baby.

Today we decided to take it easy since we have a rough few days. So Brian took Caleb for a walk to the park and I went shopping for the birthday parties we are going to tomorrow and Monday.

Tomorrow we are trying out another Baptist church in the suburb over from us. Last week we also tried out a Baptist church to the south of us. It was ok. It was in a gym of a school and the heat did not work well, so it was very cold. Also their version of childcare was toys in the back of the gym, Caleb liked running up and down the gym instead, and he does not run quietly (for some reasons he seems to hum as he runs!). They had morning tea after church like all the other churches, so that was nice, and again all the people were very friendly. We will see how the church is tomorrow. Then we are going to a birthday party for a child of a coworker of Brian's. I made chocolate chip cookies to bring for the first time here. They turned out ok.

Monday we have a birthday party for some of the kids from the Monday playgroup. It is at a petting farm, so that should be fun.

Some good things did come out of this week:

Like I said earlier I tried roasting pork for the first time and it was very tasty!

The mall we checked out has the body shop, so I got new body butter :)

We went to the DMV on Thursday and got driver's licenses, and it was a very painless process.

I finally figured out my coffee order! Coffee terminology is different here, so my order is flat white, 2. (coffee with steamed milk and 2 sugars) It took me a month to figure it out!

Ok, so on to the political elections I said I would talk about. The election is at the end of the month. It was only announced right after we arrived, like 3 weeks ago. I don't understand why it is not a normal set date. Maybe it was because the former prime minister resigned recently. So the big race of course is for prime minister. Right from the start the news starts showing pictures of the 2 main candidate holding and kissing babies. I guess that does not change country to country. It is the labor party (incumbent) running against the conservative party. There is also the green party and one other lesser party so coalitions get formed. The negative t.v. ads against the conservative party started last week and they are hilarious! My favorite is one that show families frowning, children losing computers, and patients dieing in hospitals. There are negative ads about the labor party too. There was a big debate about 2 weeks ago, but it had to be pushed up because the finale of Master Chef (like Top Chef in the U.S) was the same night and they knew no one would watch the debate! The Master Chef finale got 45 million viewers the most in t.v. history here (it was on basic t.v, not cable)! We of course watched the finale and not the debate. But can you imagine the U.S. changing the time of a presidential debate for a reality show? They would run the debate over it!

I cannot believe we have been here a month now! We are praying that this week is better than last. Besides the birthday parties it is looking like a normal week (hopefully!).

Our week and funny signs

In response to my boring blog update last week I really tried to be on the look out for interesting differences between American and Australian culture. There are definitely a good amount of differences. The most obvious is driving, of course we drive here on the left side of the road. The Aussies also love speed traps, Canberra is full of speed cameras, ones that are mobile and stationary. They are very clearly labeled and tell you about 3 time before you see the camera. They also have a campaign of signs against drinking and driving and talking on the phone and driving. Here are some of my favorites on the side of the road:

Drink Drive Die in a ditch

No Seatbelt No Brains

You're not that special, hang up the phone

Telstra Optus Vodafone (cell phone companies) Won't pay 4 your funeral

Shut Up and Drive, It's the Law

On the phone? You're an Idiot

There is one that changes daily close to our home that I always look forward to seeing!

The week was pretty "normal" or what normal has become for us. Monday was the embassy playgroup. Many were sick this week so it was smaller which was nice.

On Tuesday we went to Questacon, a science museum for children. Most of it is geared for older children but they have an area for 0-6 year old children. It has mini cars for them to sit in, a building area with huge blocks, a space ship, a space room, a large water table, a huge climbing area, and imaginative play area. Caleb loved it and threw a fit when we were leaving!

Wednesday we went to the library, got a library card and saw some of the kids from the Monday playgroup.

Thursday was our playdate with the Aussie mum and bub. That afternoon I went to a talk about early literacy skills for 12-24 month bubs. It was really good! The speaker had wonderful activities and gave me a lot of good ideas to do with Caleb. Here is his website. http://toddlericon.pbworks.com/

The Aussie mum from our playdate looked after Caleb for me. He and his little friend had a great time. It was really nice getting out of the house even if it was learning about Caleb!

On Friday Caleb and I went to a session that Mr. Jim (the early literacy guy) had. Caleb was not in the best mood, so it did not go as well as I would've liked, but I am glad we went. On Thursday Caleb woke up with a cold, it is not too bad, just a runny nose but his molars are still coming in also, so that is mainly why he was not in a good mood.

Today Brian really wanted to get out of the house and do something. We were planning on going to a nature reserve with a lot of animals, but I did not think it would be good for Caleb's cold to be outside a lot. So we went back to Questacon, so Brian could see how much fun Caleb had there and so we could get a membership. Now we can go as much as we want. Caleb had a great time again!

Tomorrow we will try out another church. There are 2 more that we have seen online that we are thinking of visiting, a Lutheran church and another Baptist. We are really hoping we can find a church home soon.

Next week we start swim lessons! I am really excited about that, hopefully Caleb's cold will be better so we can go! Beyond that it looks like the norm :)

Next week I will talk about the elections going on, it is pretty entertaining too. But I did not want to use up all my funny stories in 1 blog :)

We love and miss you all!