All moved in


We finally finished unpacking all of the boxes and we're getting closer to being settled in. Now if only I could find my rolling pin! We have a few claims to make with the movers, mainly furniture damage, but other than that looks like everything made it over uneventfully.
Maybe and George are doing ok in quarantine. George alternates between purring while being scratched and growling or hissing at us or his fellow kitty inmates. The good news is he gets out on Sept 2nd, one day earlier than Maybe. Maybe is doing fine, except the other doggie prisoners have been teaching her how to bark. Between that and howling when we leave we will have to break her of the few bad habits she is picking up in jail. I mean "puppy camp."
Other than missing our animals like crazy, we are doing well. It is nice to have everything unpacked, and it will be great getting rid of the boxes so we can finally use our garage. We took a bike ride around the neighborhood today and really like it. There are some ponds and nice trails around, and the houses are really beautiful. We haven't quite figured out if anyone lives next door or not, but we've realized that someone must be leaving seed out for the birds. The cockatoos are still a fun novelty to us, every day around 7:30 am and again at 4:30 pm we call it squawk thirty. That's when they all appear and hang out for a few minutes. In the morning we can look out the bedroom window and watch the cockatoos hang out with the sunrise in the background. At nice I can watch the sunsets from my sewing room. Since fabric is crazy expensive here ($25/meter!), I stocked up before we moved and now I just go shopping in my sewing room.
At least once a week it occurs to me that I'm living in Australia, and about that often I also realize that I'm not going back any time soon. It's going to be a long time before I see familiar people and eat familiar food, but I am trying to ignore that part and just enjoy the adventure.
Phil started working from home last week, and it is going to be an interesting adjustment. We're used to him working more hours and me doing all of the cooking, but looks like we've reversed roles. We joined a gym nearby and he is keeping himself busy with plans of doing his first ironman triathlon in Melbourne next year.
Cooking seems to always be an adventure here. Tonight I tried to make cheeseburger pie, but realized they don't have bisquick here so I had to invent my own substitute. Between that, using tasty cheese instead of cheddar, and trying to figure out what 400 F is in Celsius, who knows what dinner will taste like!
Tomorrow I go to the doctor to get my hep A and typhoid vaccinations. Apparently I'm going to the highlands of Papua New Guinea for work at the beginning of September. Not really sure how it's going to be staying at a work camp in a country where pigs are more important than women, but I'm sure it will be an experience to never forget. I should get back the day before my 30th birthday.

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