It has been a little crazy around here, so my apologies for the delay. Let me see if I can remember everything that I have neglected to write about over the past couple weeks.
Hershey’s.
Emily might be a genius. She made the kids chocolate milk with Hershey’s chocolate syrup (from Costco!!). When she reached the end of the chocolate, she poured milk INTO the Hershey’s bottle so that she could SQUIRT chocolate milk into her mouth. Why have I never thought of doing this before?!?!
MEEEEL!!
That is Lily-speak for mail. She loves going to the mailbox to see if there is anything new. The kids each got a letter and a picture from Aunt Brookie in the mail. Lily carried hers around for days.
Wrappers.
They say that what goes around, comes around. When I was a kid, Steven used to get so “mad” at us when we left our freezey-pop wrappers laying around the farm. “If I find another wrapper, I am throwing away the rest of the freezey-pops and am never buying any ever again!” And then the next day he would be at the grocery store and see that there was a sale on giant boxes of freezey-pops and would of course buy it. I was a good child so I listened and changed my behavior – I learned to throw away my wrappers. Apparently his threats didn’t get absorbed into Emily’s brain. Steven, she is still leaving wrappers everywhere…
Feral.
“Feral” is a term used here quite often to describe something or someone wild, rank, nasty. Em and I decided that we will be adding this word to our permanent vocabulary. This truck depicts exactly what is meant by the word feral – it even acknowledges that it is such by saying it in lights.
Eat.
We went somewhere new in Brisbane – the Eat Street Markets. Such a cool place! It is a night market that is made out of heaps of shipping containers. There are more food vendors than I could count that have set up little restaurants in the old shipping containers. The place was packed, full of happy people stuffing their faces with amazing street food. Live bands. Lily dancing the night away. Fireworks. Liquor infused cupcakes. Twirly potato on a stick. Cookie batter funnel cake with ice cream on top. Des Moines needs something like this. Such a fun way to spend a Saturday night with the family!
Bandito.
Jay put an ad on Gumtree (like Craig’s List) on Wednesday night to sell the boat. We were thinking it would take months to sell it, so we figured that even though we want to use it a few more times this summer, we better at least get it out there on an ad. On Thursday a husband and wife came to take a look at it, and wanted to take it out for a ride Saturday afternoon. Friday night another guy called and said he wanted to see it first thing Saturday. On Saturday another lady called and said she wanted to look at it that afternoon, as well. The first guy showed up and Jay took them out for a spin. He left us with a hefty deposit and a full price offer. Sold!!
He wasn’t able to pick it up right away, and told us that he didn’t mind if we took it out for another ride. Sunday morning we loaded up, picked up Coen’s, and headed out for one last hurrah! It was an absolutely perfect last day. We popped open a bottle of bubbly (thanks Coen’s!!), floated around, played at Jumpin’ Pin (even Charlie did on his crutches), went for a swim, pumped a few more yabbies, and had lunch at a new fun place – Harrigans Irish Pub. Katie braided Lily’s hair like a princess. One thing I do not regret about this whole adventure was buying the boat. We probably won’t ever have another one (unless we live on the water someday), but in this situation, it was a great decision. I can’t even count the memories we made on that little bow rider. El Bandito…you will be missed.
Yabbies.
The Coen’s used the yabbies they pumped at Jumpin’ Pin to do a little fishing that night. They caught a fish and put it on the end of their shark line. The next morning, the shark line with some pretty heavy strength to it was broken. So yeah, a little tiny yabby basically “caught” a shark.
Leaf Lake.
Our beautiful home in Davenport is officially on the market. We loved that house. We brought both of our babies home to that place. We put countless hours of hard work into making it “ours” – painting, gardening, tree housing, landscaping. Late nights with friends at the bar, making s’mores in the bonfire, Halloweenies, Christmases, birthdays… I got a bit choked up when I saw the listing appear online – especially when I saw the kids’ rooms. I am kind of glad I am not there – it is easier for me to avoid thinking about saying goodbye to that home when I am on the other side of the world. Someone is going to end up with a great home, and I hope they love it as much as we do.
B12.
Apparently B12 is an important vitamin that your body needs. Like many things, you don’t think about it unless it is missing. I have felt like blah for a few months. As indicated by my last blog, I figured it was stress related (not sure if y’all noticed but I might have a teensy bit on my mind at the moment). One day at the office I was sitting there working away and all of the sudden I started seeing spots and feeling very light headed. Hmmmm…that’s not good. That night I felt like dog poo and woke up feeling much the same. Emily insisted that I go see the doctor, so I stayed home. For the first time in forever, I just laid on the couch and didn’t do anything. I thought maybe the stress finally took over and was causing my brain to shut down. I went to the doctor, expecting her to say that everything was stress related. She ordered some bloodwork as a starting point.
The next week I was at a conference. I called in to see if my results came back ok and the nurse said the doctor wanted to talk to me about one of them. Not urgently, but fairly soon. Oh crap. I was going to wait until the next week, trying to stay calm. That night I had netball. While I made it through the whole game, It was far from my best effort. I was not well – incredibly hot, light headed, nauseous, weak. Big thank you to the girls on my team for staying with me and making sure I was OK. And huge thank you to Em for driving me home and making me drink a Gatorade. I decided then and there that I better cancel my plans to go to the second day of the conference and get in to see the doctor.
My B12 levels were pretty low. They are supposed to be in the 120-600 range, but I only had 119. The active B12 levels should be over 35 and mine was only 14. Definitely explained why I have been feeling so drained lately. Next steps are to get my levels back up to where they need to be by having injections once a week for the next 6 weeks. I also had to run a few more tests to figure out if there is anything serious that is the cause of it. It is likely caused by diet (I haven’t eaten much beef here because it doesn’t taste as good as grandma’s beef). My google-educated diagnosis is that the freaking worms ate all of my B12. The good news is that I don’t have anymore worms! And I don’t have pernicious anemia, which is a good thing! Hopefully we can get my levels back up and they will stay up. Fingers crossed! I just want to feel normal again.
Israel.
Jay’s new job requires him to work with some people in Israel. He joined some of his new co-workers this week on a trip to Israel. He had a bit of a rocky start, as the Israeli airline he was flying on gave him the third degree in the Hong Kong airport. I can understand why he seemed a bit questionable since he is an American citizen traveling from Australia through Hong Kong to Israel. Our Australian visas are electronic, so there is nothing stamped in our passports. The security team at El Al airlines are very thorough, for lack of a better word. Jay got questioned by several people, had to find the emails with the visa information, got escorted to the basement of the Hong Kong airport, strip searched, and he is pretty sure that he was strategically seated next to an undercover agent. At least he felt comfortable that their security was not going to let any baddies on the plane. I was a nervous wreck until I heard from him after he landed in Israel. And then again when he let me know that Hertz was “I’m sorry sir but I am unable to rent you a car today” even though Jay had a reservation. So he had to catch a cab and ride an hour and a half to his hotel. I am pretty sure I didn’t breathe until I saw him on FaceTime safe and sound in his hotel room. He had a very busy week so we only got to say a quick hello a few times. He was amazed at all of the places he saw that were so close by – Jerusalem, Nazareth, Palestine, the Dead Sea, the Gaza Strip. At the end of the week he had a little time to relax on the beach and stare at the Meditteranean Sea for a couple hours. Such a shame that such a beautiful, historic place is so full of violence that not many people get to experience it. Em and I and the kids got along just fine, but we were all really happy to have him come home.
Picnic.
We had a little work social club outing at a park down the road from us, so Em and I took the kids over for a play. Had a nice time – it was a beautiful day for a play in the park. Em made her first ever batch of a Auntie Shell’s potato salad – Lily helped. It was amazingly delicious!
Birthday.
One of Ty’s friends had a birthday party at Boomerangs. Lily snuck out of the 2-4 year old area and had a blast on the big kid playground. Both her and Ty were sweaty messes by the end of it all.
Ring.
There are a couple new pontoons (docks) being built in our canal. Em and I were chatting with the guys after we realized that one of them had a scuba dive suit on. We first told him he was crazy for swimming in that shark-infested water, and then asked him if he wanted to earn some money. Since he was already diving in that water, would he mind swinging by just right off the dock there to see if he could find Jay’s wedding band. He said he was happy to give it a quick look, but didn’t feel very confident that he would find it since it has been so long since it went in the water. I was thinking that would be a spectacular 9 year anniversary present, but unfortunately he didn’t have any luck. He said as soon as he touched the bottom, the water instantly got murky. I can leave Australia feeling like we at least tried. We are leaving a little part of us behind.
9 years.
We “missed” our 7 year anniversary because we were flying to Australia. We missed our 9 year because jay was in Israel. We have had a pretty amazing 9 years together. So many memories. I cannot imagine going through this wonderful life without my best friend by my side. Not many people out there could put up with my crap and drama. Love you Jay!
Birthday.
Lily’s social calendar is jam packed. She has some friends from play group – twins – that had a 3rd birthday party. Grace and Miffy. She had a blast with the other kids!
Ninjas.
With Jay away, I didn’t put up much of a fight against the kids sleeping in my bed. They always started the night in their own beds, but every night they would sneak in. They are ninjas. I would wake up to find one or two munchkins in my bed. It’s a good thing they are cute.
Barefoot Bowling.
Cross that Aussie activity off of the list! Our department snuck out early on Friday to go have some fun playing barefoot bowling. It is a mix between bocce ball and 10-pin bowling, sort of, played outside on a flat grassy field. The game starts with someone rolling a white “jack” ball to the other side of the “rink”. Then players take turns rolling their bowling balls down to try to get closest to the jack. The balls are weighted on one side so they don’t roll straight – they curve back in. We were just playing for fun, but threw in a little competition for prizes. I somehow managed to get second place. Woohoo!! If I don’t end up getting a job in Des Moines, I suppose I could probably get a spot on the barefoot bowling Olympic team. Probably.
Hamilton.
Since the boat sold and we need to spend some Aussie dollars (the FX rate is currently crap to convert back to USD), we thought we would go on one last holiday. We debated a few places, but ultimately decided to go back to Hamilton Island one more time. It is such a magical place, where we are forced to slow down. It will be a great place to go to rejuvenate before the mad rush of the international move. We are all looking forward to it! We have arranged to have a family photo shoot there, which should be a beautiful back-drop. We have organized a few activities. Jay, Em and I were going to take a helicopter ride to Whitehaven beach but found out that our combined weight is too much for the small helicopter. Should have cut back on my Macca’s consumption a while ago, I guess… One thing I am really hoping we can come home with is a jellyfish painting. I remember seeing these when we went to Hamilton the first time around and LOVING them. The artist is Trevor Platt. My OCD hasn’t allowed me to forget it. I am hoping there is one available for a reasonable price and it can be shipped to the U.S. Fingers crossed!
Spooky.
Emily has gone and pretty much invited everyone she knows over to the house after trick or treating next weekend for a little Halloween party. I was stressing about this at first because I haven’t ever tried to throw a Halloweeny party without Ashely and Rachel before, nor do I have any of my Halloween decorations with me here, so I basically panicked. And then Jay assured me it doesn’t have to be a full blown Halloweeny – in fact he gave me a budget of $0 to spend on decorations. So Em and I had to get creative… We discovered the beauty (and cheapness) of trash bag Halloween art. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone that comes by to see it dirt hand, but here is a little taste of what we have turned our home into after a day of hard core crafting. We are pretty proud of what we created with 5 trash bags!
Retail.
Em and I needed some retail therapy in our lives, so we gave Jay a day to recover before leaving him with his children for a few hours so Em and I could do some kid-free shopping. We found the perfect outfits and accessories for our Hamilton photo shoot, and a few cheap Halloween items. It was just what we needed.
Brumby.
One of Ty’s classmate’s dad is a cabinet maker. He is helping us out by putting an amazing Aussie wood floor in the bed of Jay’s ute. We stopped by to take a look to see how he was coming along, and Jay and I were both really impressed with how it looks. It is going to be beautiful when it is finished. Unfortunately this means that we won’t be using Brumby to haul rocks…
Tim.
Just a quick update on Tim from Toowoomba. Em and Tim had “the talk” and discussed the reality of the situation they are in. While they both obviously adore each other, it realistically isn’t going to work out between them when Em moves back home, so they have decided to let it go easily. That conversation was a week ago. He called today and I had the pleasure of listening to her side of the conversation while riding in the car. She sounds so happy when she talks to him. Boys back home best be upping your game if you want to have a shot at little miss Emmy. She has raised her level of expectations significantly – which is exactly what she needed to do.
Nanny cam.
Super nanny strikes back. Too much happened since my last blog to caption – a picture says a thousand words anywhere!
G’day mates!
Shearer Adventure 