House Hunting February 25, 2008

My mum has been looking for an investment property and the last couple of weekends I’ve been going out looking at places with her. Chances are that Mike and I will be renting from her wherever she buys.

Yesterday we saw three places we liked. Three very DIFFERENT places.

Place 1 – “The Parkwood House” is a 3 bed, 2 bathroom house with a large fenced yard. Great for a family, especially one hoping to get a puppy in the future!!  Needs new carpet/flooring and a fresh coat of paint on all the inside walls.

Place 2 – “The Townhouse” is a 3 bed, 2 bathroom townhouse that is absolutely gorgeous. No yard, but very modern, upgraded kitchen, terracotta tiling, new carpets, large bathrooms and bedrooms…just lovely. Going to auction Thursday.

Place 3 – “The Beechmont House” is a 4 bed, 2 bathroom restored Queenslander that was moved from Brisbane to its current location “up the mountain” in Lower Beechmonth. It was bought and relocated by its owners, then renovated. They did a great job and my sister fell in love with it the second she walked through the door.

Mum’s first option was the Parkwood house, but she found out today that someone made a cash offer on it earlier today. So my sister and I called her and talked to her about the Beechmont House. We argued yesterday over who would get to move up there. I made a pros and cons list but I’m not sure which one out-weighs the other. The drive up and down the mountain on a windy road every day would probably not sit too well with me. I don’t think I’d get sick, but I do think that I’d worry about accidents, especially in wet weather. Its quite a view from up there though.

So mum then called back to let us know the townhouse agent had called and mum told her what she could afford and that we assumed that was nowhere near enough for the townhouse. The agent asked her if she’d be willing to put a contract in on it and mum said, “Yes.” So supposedly that’s going to happen tomorrow. The agent said, “I’ll present it to the owner and all he can do is say yes or no.” This has me a bit puzzled. What mum is going to offer, well, I thought they’d be aiming for about $100k more than that amount. So I don’t imagine the owner would accept it. Two years ago one of the townhouses in there sold for $380k and another for $450k. We’re offering less than both of those. But why would the agent go through putting a contract on it if she didn’t think there was a chance he’d accept the offer? I know you don’t always know what other peoples’ financial situations are, but…it just seems too good to true, and you know what they say…

In an ideal world, we’d live in the townhouse during the week (it’s 5 kms from Mike’s work) and the Beechmont house for the weekend. It is so peaceful up the mountain! Ultimately, the decision is up to my mum I guess.

Baby’s Firsts February 22, 2008

Some important dates, lest I forget them between now and when I will want to know them for scrapbooks/baby books, etc.

October 28 (about 8 pm Rome, Italy time) – Pregnancy test in Italian has 2 lines!

December 21 – First ultrasound at approx 12 weeks pregnant

February 4 – Second ultrasound at approx 19 weeks pregnant – It’s a BOY!

February 12 – First real “kick” to the uterus detected

March 8 – Mike finally is able to feel movement

Washed Away & Left Behind February 19, 2008

I am astounded at the weather we’ve been having since Christmas. Our beaches have been eroded, dams are overflowing, towns are flooded, homes and owners’ belongings are destroyed, people are cut off from supplies and still the rain doesn’t let up. On the contrary, another cyclone is heading our way.

It is depressing, to say the least. I keep thinking it can’t go on forever, but at this point it is difficult to see an end to it. It rains, at least a little bit, EVERY day! We go from worst drought in centuries to floods. Farmers who were needing drought relief and assistance 3 months ago now need flood relief! Further north of us, they just had a flood that is supposedly a “once in 200 years” event. People are getting sick from all the flood water and disease that its causing.

Meanwhile, in the housing market, prices continue rise, along with interest rates, and in our current situation, there’s no way we’re getting into the market at any level. A $240k loan (which would get a 1 or 2 bedroom 1 bathroom unit) would be a $440 week repayment, and would rent for maybe $220-$260 week.

Maybe we should move to Mackay and buy a flooded house. I bet they’ll be going cheap.

Australia Apologizes February 13, 2008

From the late 1800s, up until 1969, aboriginal and torres straight islander children were taken from their families by Australian government and church missions and placed in camps, orphanages and other institutions. The government believed they were doing the right thing by these children and were giving them a better chance at life than what they were getting from their families.

Today, our recently-elected prime minister stood before parliament and delivered a 30 minute apology to the “Stolen Generation” and those families affected by what happened. Up until Rudd’s appointment as PM, no government had been willing to own and accept the responsibility of what took place all those years ago, claiming they weren’t the ones who did it, why should THEY apologize.

This is supposed to bring our nation together.

The entire apology lasted an hour, with the PM speaking for about 30 minutes, followed by the leader of the opposition party. The leader of the party who has refused to acknowledge the stolen generation. He was not warmly received, as you can imagine. The first 15 minutes of our PM’s speech was appropriate, heart-felt, sincere. And it really could have ended there. I’m still trying to figure out Aussie politics, but I’m not sure why the opposition had to speak for 25 minutes. And he went on and on and was just awful. I feel like the actual apology may have gotten lost in all the pomp and circumstance.

That said, the fact that Rudd vowed to do this and did so, against the wishes and without support of many of his peers and colleagues, speaks volumes about him as a person and a leader. I truly believe that HE believes this was long over due and much needed if this country is going to move forward as one.

Will be interesting to see what happens now that they’ve got their apology. No monetary compensation has been offered, and at this point it won’t be. Newspapers have claimed that aboriginal leaders have said $1Billion wouldn’t be enough to make up for what happened. I’d like to think this is the end and we can move forward, but if George W Bush got up and publicly apologized for slavery, do you really think people would drop it and move on? Doubtful.

Sunday Afternoon February 10, 2008

What a lovely Sunday afternoon. A cool breeze was coming through the window so it was impossible not to nap. I actually got cold at one point and woke up and crawled under the doona (Aussie’s term for comforter). We just cooked some dinner and now we’re watching “The Zoo” which shows various Australian zoos looking after their animals. We just saw a baby giraffe born! Do you think animals go through the same kind of labor and birthing pains that humans do?

The only blemish on the arvo (Aussie for afternoon) was that someone across from us in this complex is learning the saxophone and the only song they’ve learned so far is Mary Had A Little Lamb.

My Husband February 8, 2008

In view of our 2 year anniversary coming up, I have realized I am a very lucky woman. Let me tell you why.

The week leading up to January 20th, 2005, our cat, Colby (the love of my life at that point!) had been sick and at the vet. They discovered he had pancreatitis and long story short, there was nothing much left to do other than pay a lot of money for no guarantees or make the decision to end his pain. He was only 2 years old. I was a complete wreck, but Mike was strong and made sure Colby had someone familiar with him in his last moments.

February 13, 2005, we go to an early Valentine’s dinner to avoid the crowds (so romantic). I didn’t notice any nervousness on his part, though he claims it was there. When we got home from dinner, he pulled out my present – diamond stud earrings. They were just what I wanted! But they were also a cover up…after trying the earrings on, I hugged Mike, who then got on a knee in our living room and pulled a plastic ring out of his pocked. He explained that since my mind changed so much on what kind of diamond I liked, he figured he’d propose with a fake ring and I could pick my own engagement ring out!

On February the 17th, 2006, Mike and I were in Panama City Beach with our families and friends who had come from all over the US and the world to be with us for our wedding. The sunset was gorgeous as we did our rehearsal and headed off to dinner. During dinner I started to feel ill and it got worse as the night wore on. LOTS of fluids and lots of cold/flu medication later, I woke up to a gray and drab day that was overcast and eventually cold and rainy. The last thing I wanted to do was get my hair done, get dressed up and get married!

I was finally dragged to the hairdresser and while we were all there, one of Mike’s brothers walked in with a locked wooden box, a letter and 3 red roses. The letter explained that inside the box was a gift, but I was going to have to do some work to get it. Mike’s other brothers Joe and Steve, as well as our friend and groomsman Keith, all visited me throughout the day, each with a new clue and 3 red roses. After the last visit, I had a dozen red roses, a Care Bears jig saw puzzle (inside story), 4 stuffed puppy dog toys, a piece of paper with numbers and letters all over it, and the locked wooden box.

I pieced together the jigsaw puzzle and it had 3 holes cut in it. When placed over the piece of paper, the holes in the jigsaw puzzle revealed the 3 numbers that unlocked the box. Inside was a Tiffany’s box with an sterling silver infinity necklace. The weather and my illness didn’t matter anymore, I was getting married to this thoughtful and generous guy, and my sister had done a great job with my makeup so no one could even tell I was pale and sick!

Fast forward a year and a half and my husband, who spent all 30 years in the states, agrees to pick up and move to Australia so that I can be close to my mum to have children. Little did we know that those children would start coming sooner rather than later! When we found we were going to be parents, we were in Europe. When we got back to the US, Mike went out the next day and bought a baby names book and a “What To Expect for the Expectant Father”. He was so excited! He still is!

I haven’t been able to find a job here in Australia, and at this point with my pregnant belly, I don’t think I will soon. But he goes to work 5 days a week and works hard to provide for us and is ok with me not working and staying home with our son. He does everything he can to make sure I am happy, but I can be grumpy and stubborn. Instead, I should realize how lucky I am and just be thankful to have him.

Its Been A While February 4, 2008

I didn’t realize it had been so long between posts. That’s mainly because there hasn’t been anything to report. The current highlight is our 3:40 pm ultrasound today. I’m just over 19 weeks pregnant now, so we’re hoping that we’ll be able to see if it is a boy or a girl. It would be nice to be able to call it by a name, rather than “it” or “he or she” and also to be able to buy pink or blue stuff! I wish I had made it for the morning, rather than the afternoon, as I don’t know what I’m going to do all day to keep myself occupied.

The weather here continues to baffle me. We got SO MUCH rain Saturday night and Sunday that a lot of roads are flooded over and a lot of low lying areas are flooded. It is just insane. We’ve gone from worst drought in history to floods! I wish I could send some rain to Georgia, so they could get out of their drought and we could enjoy some sunny weather for a change!

My sleeping habits have gone nuts. I’m guessing its mostly because of the pregnancy. I literally can not sleep past 6:30 am anymore – even on weekends! Last night I fell asleep around 7:30 and Mike kept waking me up, telling me I’d be up at 4 am. And I’d just grunt and go back to sleep. I got up at 9:30 and put my PJs on and brushed my teeth, then went back to sleep until the alarm went off at 6:30. I think some times you just NEED to sleep. Don’t know how this whole waking up 5 times a night to feed the baby is going to go!

I have to go help my nan out today with morning tea. Her nephew is stopping by to see her and I don’t want her up making morning tea and hurting herself again!