It has only been a couple of days since the last blog post, but I thought I would send an update to let you know how the first work week is going.

Daycare.
Lily is adjusting great to daycare. On day 3 she was able to sleep quite a bit during the day. All of her teachers are great, very outgoing, friendly, hands on, and excited. Ty is having a bit of a harder time. He is starting to sleep a bit more at school. He slept for almost an hour on Wednesday, but he used to sleep for at least 2 hours back home. Not all of the kids nap in his room, so their is some activity going on around him that might make it difficult. The first 2 days he did great at drop off, but Wednesday was rough. As soon as we walked away he started bawling. We took him with us to Lily’s room and her teachers let him stay in her room for a bit until he calmed down. He was able to go check on her a few times during the week. He loves his sister so much. The good news is that when I pick him up at the end of the day he is playing, smiling, and filthy (they do a ton of outdoor activities).

Work.
Jay is getting along quite well. I am bored, but expect that to end when my actual training starts next week. We should be able to carpool on Friday, which will be nice. We have a good half hour drive to work so I will enjoy having an hour every day to actually talk to my husband. It’s tough to get a word in at home with Ty saying “dad” every 10 seconds. 🙂

Home.
We haven’t done much more to the house, as our weekday evenings are crazy busy. I am looking forward to the weekend to do some more settling. We just got word that there are some delays on import inspections, so unfortunately our air shipment will be a bit later.

Fun.
Tonight is trick or treating. As Halloween isn’t a huge holiday here, I had to decorate our mailbox with purple garland to indicate to kids in the neighborhood that they can stop by our house for treats. We packed skittles and starburst in our checked bags, hopefully the kids will like it. Ty is going to be a fireman and lily is a fluffy pink bunny.

Food.
I tried my first jam daisy. Not sure if this is an Aussie favorite or not, but it looked good in the cookie aisle. It is a light, crumby cookie with strawberry jam in the middle. Looks like a flower. It was quite tasty.

Jay picked up Chinese takeout Tuesday night. $57 later, we had some of the most delicious Chinese food ever. He got plenty to take for lunch a few days, which makes the lunch packing process a bit easier. We will definitely be doing that again for future month ends. I cooked maid rites and fried potatoes Wednesday night, so had a little taste of home. Didn’t taste exactly like what I am used to, potatoes must be a little different, but was still pretty good.

Music.
It has been quite enjoyable to listen to the radio here. I found 98.9 and haven’t ventured away from it because I don’t think I have heard the same song twice, and about half are songs I have never heard before. It seems as though you don’t have to be nearly as strong of a singer to get a record deal here. Perfect example is “Pardon my Passion” by Mary G. You tube it, but I am fairly certain “Mary” is a “Mark” dressed in Mary’s clothing. I have no worries about that, but his/her voice is terrible. And the lyrics are, well, interesting. But Mary G is on to something because both Jay and I keep singing the chorus.
Local country isn’t all bad, though. In fact, I quite like a lot of it. One great one I heard yesterday was “Dancing on the Darling”. Catchy tune, good lyrics, and after listening I learned that the Darling River is one of the longest rivers in Australia. So music is educational!

Weather.
Most days have been sunny and 75-85 degrees. Perfect. On Tuesday we experienced our first Queensland storm. Everyone moved their cars under cover in the branch yard to protect them from the possibility of large hail. They say it can get as large as baseballs. As the storm rolled in, there was a flurry of activity in the office, much like before a blizzard back home. The rain came, POURED for maybe a half hour, then left. No hail, no high winds. Kind of a let down after all of the fuss.

Words.
Stubby (beer), good on ya (good job), how ya going (how are you doing), whinging (pronounced winjing is whining), loo or toilet