Repeat offenders

Some people never learn. Colin and I are those people. It is 9:46pm, we're getting picked up at 6:45am to go to the airport, and we just started packing. We had strategically planned to pack stuff to bring home now instead of in a few months time, but it's basically going to be a quick pack now and getting our house ready for our leaving. Hopefully our wall is going to be fixed while we're away, so we need to get our room construction ready.

Also, I'm blogging instead of actually packing. Which isn't contributing to production. I'm just excited to come home.

E!!

Rat Race

When it was warm out Colin and I were swimming 3 times a week at a nearby outdoor pool, but since the winter has set in, we haven't gone in probably 2 months. Today I woke up with a mission to swim. After church we booked it home, suited up, got distracted by Neil and Anita on skype for an hour, and then quick as a flash we were out the door! As we drove up to the pool we noticed that there were no cars parked outside. "Great, " I said, "We're gonna be the oooonly ones in there!" Nope. It was closed until tomorrow for some reason. So we decided to go to the fancy olympic park pool instead. Sydney olympic park is a beautiful facility but it's greatest pro and con is that everything is in the same place. We completely forgot that there was a rugby game at ANZ stadium and traffic was a nightmare. Once we turned into the park there was no way out and we were enveloped into a horrible hour of bumper to bumper psychotic mess. By the time we got to a parking lot we discovered that parking was $20 because of the game. UGH. We came home instead. All that pain and no gain. Had we rode our bikes there instead, this post would have been about our lovely afternoon of swimming.

We come home this Friday for a short visit with our families. Colin has a week off from school and I took a week off from work and we're SO EXCITED! I can't believe I'm going to be on a plane, Canada bound, in 108.5 hours. We're especially looking forward to meeting our new niece and getting to visit our two nephews after being away for 17 months.

Family is such a gift. I can't wait to see everyone again!

E.

P.S- I cracked an egg the other day, and there were twins inside. They went into a birthday cake for my friend, Nat. She can be sure that she's going to have a special year!

P.P.S- I tried surfing a few weekends ago despite saying that I never would. Can you sense the difference in awkwardness and anxiety levels:

Laundry Tip

When hanging laundry on the line, hang clothing inside out. This will enable you to still wear something even if it's been pooped on. No one has to know.

E

Rain camping and whale "almost" watching

Our big plans for the long weekend (June 11-13) got a bit distorted by the rain. Friday night we ended up just playing card games with our roommates and then Saturday morning we drove downtown to watch the hockey game which was pretty exciting! After spending the morning hanging around Sydney we uneventfully came home and hung around moping about the rain. At 11:30pm I said, "pffff let's just go camping tomorrow, rain or no rain." We wanted to go whale watching and after perusing around the internet, discovered that one of our favorite places in the whole world (Jervis Bay) was in fact, a terrific place to watch the whales migrating June - July and September - November. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive south but it's just the loveliest place. We got a camping spot in Booderee national park easily because it's freezing here and most people don't camp in winter, and then we drove to Cape St George Lighthouse to watch whales. Tips for whale watching:

- Go late mornings or early afternoons

- Bring patience and a set of binoculars

- Go on a clear, calm day so it's easy to spot them in the great big ocean

- It's easier to see them in the Spring because they come into shore with their new babies

We did none of the above. We did end up catching a tiny glimpse of 1 whale but that's it. And the tiny glimpse of the 1 whale that we did see, was during the first 5 minutes of our arrival to watch the whales. It was still fun though and interesting partaking in the the community of whale watchers. I think we looked dumb without binoculars. I tried to focus on where the binoculars were directed but it didn't help.

this was just an awesome bug in the bathroom, cleverly disguised as 5 leaves.

We'll try whale watching again one of these days.

E.

Gerringong

This weekend I didn't sleep in 1 single day. I feel slightly gypped but at the same time, it DOES feel like it's been a longer weekend than usual. So I'm not sure if I have the right to complain. Friday night after work Colin and I drove down to Gerringong where some new friends from church invited us to stay with them for the night. They own a lovely holiday home near the beach and they go there every weekend to surf. I declined the surfing offer because a) the water is freezing right now and b) I haven't actually learned how to surf yet.

They had an extra wetsuit for Colin and even some little booties for him to wear, so he was loving life in the water.

I had fun sitting on the beach watching, and walking to a nearby cafe to buy and then eat the best egg and bacon roll I've ever eaten. I even had a nap at one point. But I was told next time we go, not surfing is non-optional. So it looks like I'll be facing my fears of getting killed by waves and/or the surfboard next time.

We're watching the Canuck's pretty intensely at the moment, as I'm sure all of you are. Unfortunately for us all of the games start at 10am when we're at work. It'd be great if we could lose just 1 game and finish it all off on Friday, which would mean we could watch it Saturday morning along with all of the other Canadians in the city. We're planning on going camping this coming weekend (it's a long weekend) but we'll plan around the hockey game if necessary and leave Saturday afternoon instead. We're going to go camping at "The Basin."

Here are a few pictures of Gerringong's "7 Mile Beach". It was really pretty there.

E.

Nappies

Sorry we haven't blogged lately. I guess a few new things have taken place as of recent. Our church was getting too small so we joined up with a bigger church and it's sooooooo nice. Very happy with the decision to merge. All of the people there are incredibly welcoming and we've had a great time getting to know many new people.

I also got a new cookbook for my birthday and it's called: 500 Best-Ever Recipes - Chocolate.

Needless to say, Colin did not get it for me. I tried my first recipe last week and it was a smash. 499 to go.

The way we split rent with our roommates, Colin and I end up paying every third week. I counted how many weeks we have left to pay, and that number is 11. It seems like a super small number. Time is flying by.

Colin has been powering through his practicums. He's 2 weeks into his second one at the moment. He came home the other day telling me a story about a patient and their nappy. Colin no longer says diaper, he has been converted into Aussie. All of the old women at the hospital love him and he's even had to tell some of them that he's married.

The season of freezing is now upon us and I'm currently sitting in our living room with the fire going, surrounded by boys clothing hanging from every possible makeshift hanger. We have shirts hanging from the curtain rod, pants on chairs and socks and undies drying on the rack. At least it smells detergent fresh in here. Every once in a while you get a sunny day with the slightest breeze and then you're able to dry your stuff outside, but its rare to get that on a Saturday/Sunday. Those days seem to be reserved for workdays.

We miss you all and hope you're not too sad without us. Though it's hard to imagine.

E.

Keeping warm by the oven

Today I made:

Pumpkin pie filling

Pumpkin scones

A maple glaze for the scones

Chicken Souvlaki Shish-kabobs

Greek potatoes

Flatbread

Tzatziki sauce

Turkey roulade for dinner tomorrow night

And helped my roommate make his first cake ever: a double layer red velvet cake

I had to do soooo many dishes throughout the day, that by the end I had run out of hot water. Unfortunately for me, a hot shower before bed was what was going to be my reward for all that work. Now I'm just praying that our hot water tank is nice and full for the morning so I don't have to go to work smelling like a dish pitt. But all that tasty food was worth it.

E.