No Promises..

So... I think we can all agree that I really am NOT a good blogger. In fact I have pretty much given up on keeping up the blog on the regular. I may post or I may not & I apologize. Part of the problem is that I get really overwhelmed with trying to chronicle everything. Anyway.. we had a FABULOUS trip back to the US in August & when we came back it has been CRAZY!

While we were still in the US we found out that there was an issue with the owner of our apartment freaking out because he suspected we have a dog. The guy who was staying with Brady brought along his HUGE dog and basically didn't clean up after him & the owner was in the building and smelled the mess in our patio. We denied having a dog, blamed it on the kid & all was good until I was LITERALLY walking into my second interview with Random House Australia and the phone rang. The owner was standing outside of our apartment and heard Brady barking.

So.. the next week was basically hell. When I wasn't stressing over the job interview Sean and I were dealing with the reality that we might have to move. The owner was NOT happy and there was a good chance we'd be moving out. Luckily all ended well! Not only did we NOT have to move but I got the job!! Thank you to Sean for posting on Facebook before the contract was sent to me! In the end the visa worked out and everything is good.. In fact I had my first day this passed Monday.

The weeks leading up until my first day of work were pretty much consumed with doing everything possible to get the apartment in a good place and finding a dog walker for Brady. There were a lot of errand run, pictures hung and "dog dates" for Brady. We found a great service that will pick him up every day and bring him to a park with a group of other dogs, he went twice last week while I was here and came home EXHAUSTED! So we are thrilled!

Day one at work was amazing. The people in the publicity department at Random House are some of the NICEST people I have ever met. The girl who is training me is SO sweet she gave me a hug at the end of the day. I feel so lucky to have such a great opportunity and I'm very excited about learning about Australian authors that I may not have heard about.

Today was my second day and my alarm clock didn't go off, it's on my new phone and the phone died during the night. It was going to be a rocky day. I literally showered and got ready in 20minutes. Before leaving I had to tape a spare mailbox key to our mailbox and leave my keys in there for the dog walker (the building owner won't give us an extra set of keys).. It was Sean's lucky day because he had gone to the beach to surf and decided to bury his keys without drawing a map to find them (he couldn't contact me because my phone was dead) but he was able to get in b/c of the spare in the mailbox.. Major crisis averted.

I heard from the dog walker that all was good with Brady so that was a relief but I was still concerned because he hasn't been alone for a whole day since quarantine and we're letting him have free reign over the apartment while we are at work so I didn't know what was going to be waiting for me when I got home. I got home and Brady had thrown up all over our bed and chewed through our duvet cover.. But.. he hadn't gone to the bathroom in the apartment..

Anyway.. it is now 7:30pm on Tuesday night and I'd love to chat but all of my friends/family are fast asleep so I decided to do this blog post! It is all good here and there are plenty more stories but I'm not promising anything in terms of keeping up with them. I can promise that I will try though!! Just know that things are going really well but we do miss all of you!

Worst Blogger EVER

So I have decided I am the WORST blogger ever. There has been SO much to talk about but I have been neglecting my blog in the worst way. Like a lot of things I started out with a plan: I'd blog every day. But slowly life sort of took over and I ended up doing other things instead of blogging.. We go to bed a lot earlier here (Sean has to be up at 6am) so I'm not up at night, when I typically would do a blog post. I also have a little schedule going on here where I piddle around in the morning, email, etc. then go off for the day to visit Brady (an hour each way) or go to the gym or head into the CBD. I typically get home around the time Sean is getting home from work and we'll cook dinner and watch Master Chef (it's on every night) then head to bed shortly after.

Anyway.. There have been so many things to report so I'll do a quick update.

• When Sean came to Sydney to meet me after I found the apartment we had an amazing weekend. We went to dinner one night and saw Charlize Theron!! The waiters apparently saw Sean lift a spoon of dessert into his mouth and watched it fall as he noticed Charlize Theron standing three feet from him. He claimed he recognized the chef and that is why he was so "Star Struck" so they told the chef and she came out and introduced herself to us.. It was hysterical! The meal was amazing as well!
• Sean loved the new apartment as much as I did! We took measurements and went to pick out some furniture to have delivered the day I arrive but we missed a key wall measurement so we couldn't order the couch but we did order the bed for our room and the guest room, as well as a futon for the third bedroom.
• I went to the Tim Burton exhibit at the ACMI (Museum in Melbourne) and it was awesome! They had the Bat mobile, the actual scissor hands from Edward Scissorhands and tons of amazing sketches. My favorite were Tim Burton's sketches from Beetlejuice. Remember the scene in the movie where the people who had died are in some office registering to the afterlife? They show all the people how they had died, so there is a football player carrying his head and a woman who had been cut in half, etc.? Anyway, he had a ton of sketches that were really cool, it was a great afternoon.
• Brady lost his voice at dog jail! Thank god he only has one day left!! A bunch of other little yippy dogs moved into his cell block and they are barking up a storm so Brady lost his voice.. We were reassured that he'd have it back in no time.
• Sean and I spent the afternoon in Manly and met some new friends who we were introduced to by two different people in the US. We were SO excited to meet other American expats and can't wait to hang it with them again soon.
• I met a friend of a friend who is awesome!! She is working in Sydney for a while from Boston and we went to a beer garden - it was great so I hope she sticks around Sydney for a while.
• Sean and I had an early dinner last week (Wed night) in the CBD and he got stopped in one of the random breath test operations that they have here. It was crazy!! I guess the alcohol limit is lower here too so it was good he didn't have any wine with dinner.
• We saw the nasty possum that lives in our wall. We were actually talking about how loud he had been lately while waiting for a cab outside and he ran by us in the dark - he is HUGE!!
• The possum woke us up SQUEALING the other night.. It was a terrible sound like listening to a small child have their fingers pulled off one by one.
• We went to an Australian Rules Football game on the 4th of July at Ethiad Stadium. It was very cool because we were guests of Australia Post and sat in their box so that was great but I didn't really follow the game. It's sort of like football/rugby/soccer and even basketball in a way.. Odd.
• We still LOVE Masterchef Australia
• I went to see Eclipse last weekend - LOVED it!
• I have stopped reading total crap and read Water for Elephants and Olive Kitteridge in the past two weeks. I loved them both and would recommend them as summer reading to anyone looking for something. I will warn that Olive Kitteridge is pretty depressing so if you're looking for a beach read I'd pick something else. I just started Wally Lamb's book "The Hour I First Believed" and am loving it so far (but how could you not love a book that takes place in part in your home town?).
• I got a haircut yesterday and got full on bangs.. AAah! I have done it before and sort of hated it but I needed a change & so far so good.
• I'm still walking a TON but haven't been to the gym religiously since the trip to Sydney b/c I have been doing other random "trips" during the week: (IKEA, bank, etc) and figured my walking would make up for the lack of gym..
• I found a dog sitter for Brady while we are in the US who is willing to stay with him at our apartment so that is huge (as long as he isn't a total freak when we meet him in person on Sunday)

I am sure I am leaving out a ton of updates but hopefully I will be better about blogging and will keep everyone more up to date.

Apartment Hunting Continued

...Continued from previous post.

After leaving the meth hotel we (the grumpy rental agent, who'll I will call Rhonda (as in Rotten Rhonda) and I) are on our way to property number 2, another Bondi beauty with water views! During the short drive Rhonda assured me that this property was much bigger. We pulled up to a building that was light colored brick on the outside and shaped like a perfect square, I would estimate it was built in the 60s or 70s. We entered through the front doors into a retro (or old) common area where the mailboxes are located. This apartment was also on the fifth or sixth floor so we trudged up the stairs (no lift). We arrived at the apartment door just as a really, really, old man came out of his apartment, I wondered how this old man made it up five to six flights of stairs on a regular basis - more power to him.

Rhonda unlocked the door to what I soon realized was a disco paradise. I am pretty sure that if Quentin Tarrantino was looking for a location to film Pulp Fiction 2 he'd end up at this apartment. There were wood paneled walls, olive green colored fixtures and there was brass EVERYWHERE. The place was much bigger than the last but it was just a mess. The kitchen had pineapple tiles and yellow appliances, the bedrooms had "built ins" but they were all mirror and that is TOO much mirror for me - it was the equivalent of an entire wall of mirrors in each bedroom. The bathroom was baby boy blue with brown and RUST - I have never seen such rust, there was rust in places I didn't even think could get rusty. It was the type of place that no amount of sprucing up would really help, you'd need a major overhaul AND it smelled.. kind of like mildew, mothballs and Electric Youth perfume that went bad, basically the smell of nightmares.

To be fair the view was pretty amazing, there was a small deck that viewed Bondi beach in the distance, but was that worth it? Was the distant view worth everything else? There was no air conditioning or washer/dryer (you'd have to share with the building) and it wasn't really all that close to the beach, it would still be a good twenty plus minute walk. In terms of neighborhood it was very residential, there were no grocery stores, restaurants or any signs of retail life in sight. All of this combined with the hefty price of $850/week made me shudder.. I knew these were only the first few places I had seen but I started to get a real feeling of dread, where the heck were we going to end up? Luckily Rhonda had one more property to show me in a totally different area so I had some hope.

The third place was VERY nice. It was a modern building with a lift, woo hoo! The apartment was brand new, central air, gorgeous bathrooms, a nice terrace, laundry room, stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, no complaints at all.. except the neighborhood. Our neighbors would be either car dealerships (high end at least) or hotels. There was no beach in walking distance or even restaurants. The closest grocery store was a cab ride away and the building was so big I didn't think we'd be able to "sneak" Brady in. It just didn't feel like "THE" place so the search was still on. I thanked rotten Rhonda and told her we'd be in touch and I zipped off to grab a cab to see another property.

The next few days were pretty similar to this. I saw a TON of properties in Paddington, Surrey Hills, Coogee and other neighborhoods. I fell in love with a terrace house in Paddington. It was SO cute and had tons of character, there was a nice patio and it was three stories. The problem was that the stairway was soo narrow that the only way you could get any furniture into the top two floors was through the windows and even that was iffy. I really liked the place but did it make sense for us right now? We needed a place that was semi modern because if we bought all of our furniture at an IKEA typed place it needed to look decent - if we were in a really old terrace house with molding our furniture would just look cheap and random. I was also torn about not living close to a beach. The neighborhoods I likes so far Paddington/Surrey Hills were great but they were close to the CBD so it felt like we'd be living in NYC again, not in Sydney and if we're only here for two years shouldn't we live up the beach lifestyle? I just couldn't imagine looking at one more place in Bondi and the places I saw in Coogee were not much nicer.

Luckily on Thursday I had an appointment scheduled to see a place in Bronte. Bronte is a great beach town that is close to Bondi but is more under the radar. The beach is gorgeous and is across the street from a park so it feels more secluded than the hussle and bustle of Bondi. I took a bus from the CBD and got off in this really cute little neighborhood that I immediately fell in love with. There was a little grocer, a flower shop, a veterinarian (woo hoo), a pet shop, gift stores, it was adorable. When the realtor showed up I prayed I liked the apartment because I already fell in love with the neighborhood. The apartment was PERFECT!!! Three bedrooms (one is tiny), two full baths (with heated towel racks and heated lamps), gorgeous wood floors, internal laundry, HUGE built in closets, CENTRAL AIR, a HUGE private patio with flowers/trees, totally enclosed, a dishwasher, everything was so new and modern, I wanted it!!

I called Sean from the patio and couldn't even make complete sentences I was blurting things out like: "Close to beach" - "Three bedrooms" - "Private Patio".. blah blah - he was so great - he basically said if I wanted it to put a deposit down and we'd grab it. I told the Realtor I wanted it! It all went pretty quickly from there. I took the applications, figured out the money I'd have to transfer and took a ton of pictures. By the time I left the apartment my head was spinning but I decided to take a walk down to the beach (15 min door to door from the apt) and I fell in love all over again. It was a perfect day, sunny, blue skies, warm but not hot and when I stumbled down the hill onto the beach I knew it was one of those really lucky days you get sometimes in life when things just work out - despite yourself.

I had brunch at a little cafe looking out over the beach, that would soon be "My beach" and felt really lucky and grateful.

Who Knew?

I am in Sydney! Woo Hoo! I love Sydney - it is amazing.. it's like the best thing about every US city wrapped into one. It's the beaches of LA/Malibu/Hawaii with the sophistication of San Fran and Boston and the hustle and bustle of NYC (in some parts).. It's totally unique but totally like other places. I love it!

I arrived yesterday (Tues) and pretty much JUMPED into apartment hunting. I didn't realize until yesterday that I have never really looked for an apartment before. When I moved to NYC it was basically an opportunity I fell into. A friend of a friend had an extra bedroom in her apartment so I grabbed it, then, six months later, a friend had a spare room that I jumped into. I stayed in that apartment until Sean and I were engaged and then, again, we fell into our place. Sean was put in Longview Place (where we lived in Waltham) for corporate housing and we ended up staying there for almost five years, until we just moved. So... I have never really researched neighborhoods or "settings" to decide where we'd live. I have never had to think about "Where is the closest grocery store" or "Where is the closest metro" or.. in Australia: "Is there a dishwasher" or "Is there a washer/dryer".. it's MUCH different here!

I did as much research as I could prior to arriving yesterday but I was still shocked. The first apartment I went into was in Paddington, a great little neighborhood with cafes, shops and parks very close to the CBD. The neighborhoods are made up of terrace houses which I loved because it would feel like we had our own place, rather than being in a big building. The first apartment I looked at (that was more expensive than where we lived in Waltham) looked like a place where even a college student would cringe. The walls were dirty, the carpets were stained and worn. There was no refrigerator (pretty standard here) and the washer/dryer were in the kitchen (again pretty standard). When I walked up the stairs to the bedroom I realized there were no closets (called built ins here) so the people had their clothes on racks - NO WAY!! I lived for five years in NYC with no closet and I will NOT do it again! That is all I had to see before I walked out.

I decided to stop for lunch before I met with the realtor who was going to take me to visit three more places. I found a great cafe and settled in, I really liked the neighborhood so I could totally imagine us living there. I enjoyed my fantastic salad and then made my way to meet the realtor. I walked into the office and she was at her desk (she didn't get up) and informed me that I was five minutes early and she had some work to finish so I could sit on the couch (not the typical Aussie friendliness but whatever).

"I suppose I'm driving," she said from her desk. I told her I assumed we'd take cabs/bus so she didn't need to drive. "No, it's fine, I'll drive, I just don't normally do that because it's not my job." - YIKES!! This was going to be a fun afternoon.

I assured her that she did NOT need to drive if she didn't want to but she said it was fine.. So we got into her car (she had to clean off the passenger seat) and took off to the first property in Bondi. The property was advertised as a two bedroom with water-views so I was excited to check it out. We pulled up to a block with some convenience stores and a market and parked on the street. There wasn't really a neighborhood but it was only a five minute walk to Bondi beach and the beach was definitely in view. She opened the door to the building and I tried to hide my horror. This building was like a meth hotel - SO old and dingy. Ripped floors, dirty walls and BONUS: NO elevator!! The apartment was on the sixth floor and they were full flights of stairs. We made it to the top with burning thighs and she opened the door to the place.

The entire apartment (bedrooms included) was about the size of a standard hotel room. The bedrooms somehow did have closets but they were really small. The living/kitchen/dining room barely fit a two seater couch and a tiny table. The kitchen was probably 2x3 and had a mini fridge with no dishwasher and no air conditioning. So this place would be PERFECT for a single dwarf without sweat glands who enjoys doing dishes. The realtor rattled off some facts about how it had recently been redone, blah blah and the price was ONLY: $850/week so $3400/month (hopefully the dwarf has a well paying job) and that was a GREAT price for the area - being so close to Bondi beach and all. So on hot summer days when I am hanging my head out the window since I have no air conditioning I can see the beach in the distance. NO THANKS.. I told her that I thought it was too small for my husband and I because we were accustomed to more space. She assured me the next property we were seeing would be bigger.

To be continued...

Sydney!

I am soo excited! I get to go to Sydney tomorrow to start looking for apartments and I can't wait!! I am going to look all over: Bondi, Manly, Paddington, Surrey Hills, Rose Bay, Bronte, the list goes on!! I have found some amazing places that I can't wait to see!

Also - Only 16 more days till Brady comes home - Woo Hoo!

Sean Guest Blog: Celtic's Loss

It’s raining here in Melbourne today (not a big surprise) so this is probably partially coming from that.

The Celtics loss is hitting me particularly hard. Though I know that it is rather ridiculous to be upset about something like this, I think it is more than just the standard Boston sports disappointment. My favorite quote about sports starts to put this in a bit of context I think:

It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitive as a professional sports team, and the amused superiority and icy scorn that the non-fan directs at the sports nut (I know this look -- I know it by heart) is understandable and almost unanswerable. Almost. What is left out of this calculation, it seems to me, is the business of caring -- caring deeply and passionately, really caring -- which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives. And so it seems possible that we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail or foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved. Naivete -- the infantile and ignoble joy that sends a grown man or woman to dancing and shouting with joy in the middle of the night over the haphazardous flight of a distant ball -- seems a small price to pay for such a gift.
--- Roger Angell

I watched the Celtics games online while sitting on a folding chair at a picnic table in an unheated manufacturing plant outside Melbourne, and it felt like I was sitting on my couch at home, or sitting with my brother, or my mate Bret, or my dad. For Game 7 about 5 of us from Boston who are here for the plant start up were sitting around a laptop, cheering and yelling, surrounded by confused Australians. It felt…right. When the Celtics were up by 13 in the third quarter I started thinking about parades, about “We Beat LA…Again” T-Shirts, and about calls home to talk about the win, the parade, the mood in Boston.

When they lost, I think it hit me for the first time that I am really away. Watching this run by the C’s, being connected with all my friends and family in the US as we watched the games at the same time, has kept me “in Boston”. So I guess for that I have to thank the Celtics. I just wish I was going to be watching a parade tomorrow and buying a “We Beat LA…Again” T-Shirt to keep the feeling going.

Liam

As most of you know we have two black cats, Fiona and Liam that we left back in Boston in the care of our wonderful pet sitter. We talked about bringing them with us but since the journey would be long and the stay in quarantine was expensive we decided it would be better for them to stay behind. Fiona is a great cat and loves other animals (except for Liam).. She is the type of cat that is more like a dog, she's affectionate, playful and loves attention. I adopted Fiona when I was still living in NYC so she has been with us for a long time.

When I first moved to Boston from NYC I thought it would be good to get a companion for Fiona since she was used to tons of attention and Sean and I would be working longer hours than before. I looked on Petfinder.com and found Liam (who was named Tad at the time) and fell in love. He was only a few months old and had already been returned from two adoptive homes. He was found in the woods a week after the rest of his litter and was VERY timid. I thought that he'd eventually come out of his shell and welcomed the challenge of getting him to open up. He was so tiny and cute I just knew that we'd found a new addition and friend for Fiona.

Fiona NEVER warmed up to Liam, she hissed at him, bullied him, ate his food and her own and pretty much made it so that all he could do was hide out under the bed or in his house that we had to put up on a table once Brady came along.

Brady TERRORIZED Liam from day one - even though Liam was twice his size. The poor thing really should have been in a home where he was the only pet, where there were no children and his owners didn't travel. He would have been ideal for a much older couple who didn't have grandchildren. Anyway, because of his personality we knew that he would never survive a trip to Australia, we had to sedate him in order to get him into a kennel to take him for his yearly vet check ups.

So when the day came to give him over to our pet sitter/his foster parent we were very concerned about how he'd do at his foster house. Our pet sitter knew Liam well because she had been watching him for years when we were away, still we were worried because she has two dogs and cats of her own. We told her that he'd likely hide under the couch or bed for the first week or so but then start slowly coming out. We were hopeful that without Brady around he'd be able to do well enough until we got back in two years.

Unfortunately last week we found out that after that first day Janan never saw Liam. She thought he had been hiding this whole time and got concerned. Because she was leaving food downstairs for both cats and the food was being eaten she assumed Liam was coming out when he was alone. She invited her mom, sister and boyfriend over to look high and low to find him but they couldn't. She thinks he could have gotten out as some point when she was outside with the other pets but he's definitely not in the house.

Sean and I are sad but everything happens for a reason and obviously Liam was NOT happy with the new arrangement. We are holding out hope that he will either return or has met a new person who will feed him and take care of him. No matter what we are so happy for the time we have had with Liam and hope for the best.

Long Time!

Wow! It has been a LONG time since my last post and I have been put to shame by some other bloggers! I have been reading a blog that a friend of a friend is writing who moved to Australia around the same time we did (She's in Sydney for work) and she makes me feel LAZY!

She pretty musts posts EVERY day and does as much as possible: http://vegemite-not.blogspot.com/

I am still waiting for Sean to post the details of our Great Ocean Road adventure (maybe I can get him to do that this weekend) but he has been pretty swamped with work. He gets up at 6:15am and doesn't normally get home until 7:00pm, part of that is due to traffic (it's terrible here).

So what have we been up to?!

Last weekend was a holiday weekend here "Queen's birthday Weekend" but we pretty much took it easy (for a change). We ordered in dinner on Friday night and caught up on Breaking Bad Season 2 - SO GOOD! Saturday we went to our brunch place (we have gone every Saturday) and then went out shopping in search of World Cup wear (Team Australia). Unfortunately the track coats were sold out in Sean's size so he got a scarf instead, scarves are big here for showing team colors. After that we went out to dinner with some people from the company to a Shri Lank-an restaurant that was very, very good. Dinner and drinks was fun so it ended up being a great Saturday night.

Sunday we met up with our only Aussie friends for brunch and then went home to hang out (it was a rainy, windy day). We spent the rest of the day planning my trip to Sydney (next week) where I'll start apartment hunting. I went to bed fairly early and Sean woke up at 4am to go into downtown Melbourne and watch the first game of the world cup in Federation Square (where they were showing it on a big screen). Unfortunately team Australia started losing to Germany early on so the scene was a bit deflated so Sean didn't stay for the whole game (although he did bet on it - another huge thing here). I will try to get Sean to post more details on this outing as well!

Monday we were invited to a dinner party at one of Sean's colleague's homes and it was fantastic. They have this amazing house in Melbourne that is much bigger than it appears because it has a HUGE underground living area. All of the food, wine and company was exceptional and it was a great night - it was so nice to talk to other Americans and other people that Sean works with.

This week I spent a lot of time looking for apartments online and starting to look for a job. In reality I only sent one resume out but I did reach out to a contact I had made in Sydney to try and arrange a meeting for next week.

Wednesday I went to the Immigration Museum, which was very interesting and is a must see for visitors to Melbourne. It just makes you realize what a young country Australia is and all of the ways that they tried to incentivise Europeans to move here as well as detour the Chinese. I could have stayed at the museum for quite a while but there were a few classrooms full of students under the age of nine that made it impossible to really focus in on one area for long.

Homesick

We took a really fun/beautiful trip last week that Sean is going to write about. It was amazing, we drove all through the Great Ocean Road and saw koala bears, kangaroos and had dinner in a tree house - it was unreal!

Sean and I have both been feeling homesick lately. We miss our friends and family, Brady, Fiona and Liam and all the comforts of home. I think what is making it even harder is that we're only in Melbourne until July so we are in a limbo state. We aren't in our "home" yet, we don't have things that we picked out (furniture, pillows, silly things, etc) so it's hard to feel settled. We are making the most of where we are but we're both really eager to get to Sydney and move into a place that we pick (w/out a rat in the wall, who is STILL there btw).

I have been continuing my routines of going to the gym, grocery store, visiting Brady and now I'm trying to get a volunteer job at Guide Dogs Victoria which is right around the block from us. It's a great organization that helps disabled people get trained guide dogs. What I really want is to get in and play with the puppies so fingers crossed they take me! I am also in search of Expat groups! I have signed up for one via Meetup.com but they don't have any meetings coming up. I have also emailed a few other organizations (American Women/etc) but I haven't heard back yet. I think it's important for me to meet other people who have or are going through the same transition.

I have also indulged in some trash reading. I am embarrassed to admit that I read the "Unauthorized" Oprah biography by Kitty Kelley and now I'm reading The Family about the Bush family.. I guess I'm supplementing my trash TV/magazines with trash reading. If anyone has a good book suggestion please send my way!

We went to visit Brady yesterday and he's doing great. THIRTY more days - it sucks but it'll be here sooner than later. He is so funny because he tries to get the dogs in the fenced in area next to us to chase him when we're playing outside. He loves being chased, he's such a diva!

This Sunday we saw a really great Australian movie called: Animal Kingdom - I highly recommend! It's a crime drama but without any glitz/glamor - it's very authentic and has some haunting characters. We also learned that you need to buy tickets ahead of time here because you pick your seat assignments when you reserve tickets. We got to the theater (Which was packed b/c SATC 2 opened here this past weekend) and had to wait in line for about twenty minutes. When we got to the head of the line we learned there were only seats left in the front three rows - luckily it was still far enough away to enjoy.

Anyway, I wanted to give a quick update and let everyone know that we miss you all a ton!!!

Great Ocean Road - Night 1

Sean and I decided to leave early for our "Great Ocean Road" trip! We left this afternoon to spend a night in Geelong.

Unfortunately our favorite restaurant (aka the only one we ate at before but was really good), Mr. Hyde, was closed so we ate at Base Eatery instead - it was okay but not as good as Mr. Hyde. We are spending the rest of our night watching Master Chef and relaxing because we have a BIG day tomorrow, visiting Bells Beach (ala Point Break fame), koalas and other exciting places.

Weekend Schmeekend Update

The novelty is starting to wear off a bit & we're settling into a routine, which I like. I remember as early as second grade wishing that we could skip the "First day of school" and fast forward to three months in, when everything is routine and expected. I know that doesn't sound exciting but it is comforting. Anywho.. this weekend is a bit uneventful but still eventful in some ways.

Last night we got dinner with an AMAZING (Australian) couple who we were introduced to by a friend. We went to the Melbourne Wine Room, which was fabulous and enjoyed a great dinner and lots of wine! Our new friends have promised to teach us all about Australian rules football (footie - sp?) which will be necessary to socialize in this place! It was so great to have another couple to talk to who are our age and share similar interests - the night was a success!! Leading up to it I was worried because it felt like a "blind friend date" and what if they didn't like us?? Luckily I think we made an okay impression and hope to not seem to eager to hang out (but our social calendar is pretty open).

Today (Saturday) was very low key. We got brunch at our favorite neighborhood place: Apte, where we've had brunch every weekend since we moved here. As usual the food was fantastic and pushed me to go to the gym b/c the bacon is amazing but is still bacon. After the gym Sean and I went grocery shopping (woo hoo) and came home. We spent the afternoon reading, napping and planning our trip to The Great Ocean Road. We are planning to do a mid week trip next week since there are some issues with the plante where Sean works that have resulted in a few sporadic vacation days.

There is not much else to report. We did pretend it was Memorial Day here for us tonight and had a BBQ.. We are VERY jealous of the weather back home!! It has been in the 60's and rainy here all week so the sun and warmth everyone is experiencing in BOS/CT/NY is making us home sick!

YIKES!!

The "Rat, Possum, Krueger, whatever it is" is VERY loud and woke us up from a sound sleep last night. Sean wrote a note to his HR director to see if they could help to have the apartment place take us more seriously.

In terms of updates there are a few..

The plante that Sean's company is building will likely be closed for at least a few days because of a really bad accident that happened yesterday. Luckily the man who was injured is stable and should make a full recovery - but - that means we will have some time on our hands. Sean wants to travel - but I feel like we just got here so maybe we should get to know the city/country we are in before making a trip - but that is TBD.

Brady seems to be doing really well. The quarantine said I could visit three times a week so I visited on Monday, today & will go back again tomorrow with Sean. Brady is very excited when we visit and it's good to get him OUTSIDE and exercise, etc. I am still counting down the days until he can come home.

We have started watching "Top Chef" Australia & it's really good. They did an episode this week that took place in Melbourne and had them shopping for ingredients at Queen Victoria Market, where we went last weekend so that was fun.

The pedometer is ticking.. I log close to 10K most days, especially when I go to visit Brady - but it's a lot of walking. I am still enjoying the gym but haven't lost a pound! I am hoping I'm gaining muscle faster than I'm losing fat but who knows.. I'll stick with it.

8 weeks

8 weeks will have been (or will be) the length of time Brady has been in quarantine. The length of time can also be represented as:

• 56 Days
• 1 month, 25 days
• 80,640 minutes
• 1344 Hours

No matter how I look at it it feels LONG. I went to visit Brady today, it was raining but I didn't care. I sat with him in his kennel for about a half hour. Birds literally flew in and sat down a few feet away from us, he didn't even budge while I rubbed his tummy. I could tell that he needed to be rubbed, pet, cuddled, just as much as I needed to do all of those things. His little brown eyes stared right at me and I could tell he was fine, he wasn't sad, he just needed some love. I think I am feeling the same way. I am fine with the big move, much better than I thought I'd be, but I still need some hugs and reassurance.

After a while I decided to take Brady into the play yard, even though it was raining. The poor little thing only gets out to play when I am there so even though he normally doesn't like the rain I thought he'd like to get out. I was right! He ran around, ate a bunch of grass (it's okay, he's not sick, just happy to be out) and lifted his leg to pee on a tree. I had been worried because he stared squatting to pee but today the leg came up and I almost jumped up and down. I did notice that he had developed some dandruff though so I made sure to tell the staff before I left. Wayne, the manager of the place laughed, he said he calls it the "quarantine dust".. I can't wait to give him a nice bubbly bath when we get him home.

While we were in the play yard I talked with a woman who had two big white dogs that had come from Malaysia. She was saying she was counting the days until her pups got out but she had heard a lot of dogs become better behaved after their stays in quarantine. I decided to start thinking about Brady's stay as if he was in "Doggy Reform School" or away at a camp with Cesar Milan. I could tell he was already losing some of his diva behaviors and was acclimating just fine, I am really the one that is going through the most stress over this.

When I said goodbye for now I left a bunch of treats hidden in Brady's little house so he'd be preoccupied and associate my leaving with happy thoughts and treats to find. He didn't cry as I walked away (although he did try to sneak out) so that made me feel much better. Regardless of how I count down the days his "graduation" can't possibly come fast enough, but I don't want to dampen our time here by biding time. I will just keep trying to turn everything into a positive and focus on how lucky I am to be in Australia and to have a little Brady.

I will also enjoy being able to leave my underwear, workout pants, etc. on the bedroom floor without worrying about their being eaten while I am asleep.

Sunday Funday

My last post (Sunday) stated that I was going to the gym and Sean was going to watch the Celtics game - strike both of those things out. My gym isn't open on Sunday and the bar that Sean thought would be playing the Celtics game didn't have ESPN. To make matters worse it was a gorgeous day and every single person in our town was out and about with their dogs. I had a moment of tears and missing Brady but quickly got over it, I'd be visiting him tomorrow and we should focus on the positive!!!

I suggested that we take a walk to the park near our house. I had been wanting to show it to Sean and there are a ton of trails, one that even goes all the way into the CBD (15km). We were feeling adventurous and decided we'd walk to the CBD, get lunch and then get the train back. The beginning of our walk was great, aside from the HILLS. There were tons of people out on bikes, running, speed walking, it was a great day for a walk in the park.

We ended up walking for a good two hours & did something around 8km (after getting a bit off course). We decided to get lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in the neighborhood where we landed. Sean found the restaurant in his "Cheap Eats" book & he ordered what they suggested to order. I ordered "Lemon Chicken" which was in the stir fry section. Sean's meal was amazing - lots of veggies, flavors, etc. My meal looked like fried chicken in a slimy, yellow sauce that was the exact color of Brady's pee. I assumed stir fry meant it included vegetables and rice but the only thing on the plate was the chicken. It tasted okay but I was thoroughly disappointed because I do this all the time (order the worst thing on the menu). Sean decided that when we had dinner that night (we were meeting some of his colleagues in the CBD) he'd order for me.

As we left the restaurant and headed for the train I looked at my pedometer and saw that I had logged a little over 8,000 steps - WHAT?! How could we have been walking for over two hours and I only took 8,000 something steps?! Was my pedometer broken? I don't understand how this could be true - OR how any human being can get close to 10,000 steps on a daily basis. I walked a mile and a half to the gym today, walked around town, walked to and from the bus stop, up and down the stairs, and have only logged 7,028 steps today (it's currently 7:30pm).

Is 10,000 steps a realistic and attainable goal? I am still going to strive for it, especially on days that I don't go to the gym but I am not going to stress to0 much.

Resolutions Update

So far the cooking at home is going GREAT! Sean and I are making our own breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It really is so nice being allowed this luxury. Back home we were both so busy (since we were both working) that we barely were able to grab something from the freezer and put it in a frying pan. It is such a treat to be able to pick fresh foods and know that they won't go to waste.

Yesterday we went to Queen Victoria's Market, a HUGE open air market and picked out steaks for dinner. Sean did a great job with them on the grill. We also got some incredible cheese, deli meats and fresh bread from a baker. The market was really hectic but it was a good experience and everyone had been telling us to check it out.

In terms of being active and going to the gym I'd deem this week a success!! It's Sunday morning and I'm going to go to the gym because Sean is going to a bar to watch the Celtics game (It's Saturday night in the US). I had a 16k+ step day on Friday when I went to a shopping center that was far from our apartment, the pedometer is great motivation.

After talking with a friend who also uses a pedometer it seems impossible that the average person who goes to work can log anywhere close to 10K steps per day. It's insane. It's a struggle for me some days and my only job is to walk, I don't have a car and I have the time. I can't wait until Brady is out so we can walk together. 45 more days.

Sean's First Guest Post

Sean was so jealous of my blogging that he wanted to post himself.

Here is the first of many (I hope):

If there is one person on the planet that I would trade jobs with, it would be Bill Simmons (The Sports Guy from ESPN.com). Hell, I’d just be happy to enter his little friend circle and get an occasional mention in a column. Besides the obvious of having a job writing a sport column, being from Boston, etc, there is something strangely appealing about knowing that your writings are often read over the few moments of people’s work day that they have to themselves – breaks, lunch, slack time, etc. However, this does mean that often the columns would be read during bathroom breaks. Topic change.

One of the coolest things I think Bill’s done is to have his wife write guest columns about whatever she wants (no editing allowed). These are usually hilarious and also show the back and forth between the two as a couple. It makes them seem real.

So, in my mission to copy everything Sports Guy, I’ve lobbied for and been approved to guest write an occasional blog post. We’ll see about full editorial approval after a few posts.

For this first post I’ll follow Shannon’s lead and list my first impressions (positive and negative)

Positive Australia First Impressions

• Australia overall feels like a less annoying version of California. Melbourne = San Francisco, Sydney = LA. However, you get to take away the LA focus on wealth and looks, and there are less hipsters than San Fran. There are a good amount of fixed gear bikes, and skinny jeans on guys are still popular over here. Sigh.

• Australians sense of humor is the perfect mix of self deprecating and biting. Also, it feels like once you have proven to an Australian that you don’t take yourself too seriously and can handle some good natured give and take, you have a “mate”. There is none of the wall that you need to break down with people in the US when first introduced or working together.

• Today at the breakfast place down the street we had the same waitress that we had last Saturday. When she came out to give us menus she asked “So how are you settling in at the apartment? Are you enjoying Melbourne?”. Shannon and I looked at each other in disbelief. The waitress remembered us, and not only that, remembered details about our conversation last week and asked how we were doing. We’ve eaten at the same 5-6 places in Waltham for 5 years and I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone even pretend to recognize us. Just another example of the next point:

• Australians are focused on community. At the little downtown near our apartment there is a butcher, baker, deli, fish market, and grocer. All mom and pop stores. Australians WANT this. They want the sense of community that we pretend is dead and never coming back in the US. Even the supermarket and big liquor mart staff have that personal touch.

• The focus on healthy living, through fitness and food, is a model that we need to bring back to the US. It’s just not acceptable to have overly processed, hormone injected, caged, or engineered food. In terms of fitness, almost everyone has some outdoor hobby that just so happens to be a great work out. Gym’s are far and few between. Treadmills are basically laughed at, because why would you run on one of those when there is so much beautiful scenery outside? When I drive into work at 6:30am the streets are packed with people on road bikes, people walking dogs, and people running.

• Driving on the other side of the road is terrifying for the first 10 right and left turns, but then it becomes natural. They have this crazy move in Melbourne called a hook turn that I am particularly fond of. When you want to make a right turn in downtown, you pull into the far left lane on the road, basically in the cross walk of the perpendicular road, and you wait there to turn right. This is so you don’t block the trolleys in the middle lanes. Wiki article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_turn

• Australians are car freaks, and there is basically a religion around Holden, the Australian arm of GM. Right now I’m driving a Holden Cruze, and I have to say it’s a sweet car. The Pontiac GTO, and the new Camaro, were designed in Australia before being sold in the US.

• Australian bacon: This is like no bacon you have ever tasted. It’s a combination of the best attributes of Canadian bacon (big pieces, not too much gristle) with the best of American bacon (saltier than Canadian bacon, crispy, apple or other hardwood smoked). They have this sandwich most places called a BLAT - Bacon Lettuce Avocado and Tomato – and they serve it on toasted Turkish bread with tomato relish and sometimes with a fried egg. If I could eat only one thing for the rest of my life it would be a BLAT (add egg for breakfast, remove for lunch and dinner)

• We have a backyard and I can grill. I drive back from work dreaming of the smell.

Negative Australia First Impressions:

Here we go:

• Australian consumer culture is amazingly familiar, but occasionally you will be thrown for a loop and it just doesn’t compute. For one, everything is quoted and paid weekly. Yes. Your rent is paid weekly. You would think given the distance of this place from everything else you could trust someone to bill monthly, but then again we’re not dealing with a country of free settlers are we.

• Australian internet and mobile companies are a total and complete joke. The internet at our temp apartment is ~20 USD per day and has a download limit of 200MB. That is not a typo. If you buy more days in a bundle, you get even less. A 30 day pass for ~150 USD allows you 1.5GB of download for the 30 days. If I watch the highlights or a Sox game per day I’d be over the limit. I got a Telstra blackberry from work and it refuses to connect to our work blackberry server and won’t allow any of the apps that my ancient blackberry could run to run. I’ve been on the phone with Telstra 5 times and no one can help me. All I get is “No worries mate!” – speaking of which:

• I am convinced that “No Worries Mate” does not actually mean: “Do not worry about this topic/problem my friend, I will take care of it/it is not an issue”. I think it actually means: “I honestly don’t care about your problem or request. I am also calling you mate like a mechanic or carpenter calls you chief or boss”. The next time I hear “No Worries Mate” when someone doesn’t help me or says that as a reaction to my wanting to know why a schedule has slipped I am going to say: “Actually, the only reason we are having this conversation is because I have worries, and you are not my friend”. I should make lots of Australian friends that way.

• Australian rules football baffles me, but I will understand it and grow to enjoy it

• Beer is maddeningly expensive. Every time I see beer prices I want to scream. When I tell Australians about the beer prices in the US they are baffled. For example: A 24 pack of Corona at a liquor distributor is 45 dollars. A 24 pack of local bud equivalent is 36 dollars. A six pack of anything decent is at least 20 dollars. I can’t even write these prices without saying them out loud like this “20 DOLLARS!?!?!?!” . We went to the Queen Victory Market today and there was a microbrew stand that had some great looking mircobrews. Yeah, until you realize that they are asking for 35 DOLLARS A SIX PACK!! I had to just turn around and walk away

• There are traffic cameras everywhere. They have no mercy either. If you are in the intersection at all as the light turns red, even if you couldn’t have stopped safely, too bad. If you are going 4km per hour over the limit, you get a ticket mailed to you. If you are going 20km per hour over the speed limit THEY TAKE YOUR LICENSE AWAY! Big Brother is Watching

• Finally, not having Brady in the house, and seeing him in Quarantine, is heartbreaking. I know he’s a dog and will be fine but it’s really hard. Luckily Shannon and I have each other to get us through our low points about it, and the quarantine is close to work so I can visit. Stay strong Brady. Cell block 3, Cell 120 I’m pouring some ridiculously expensive beer out for you.

Things we miss and don't miss & things we enjoy

While we are So excited for this adventure Sean and I have been missing a few things and not missing some others.

Here are a few things we miss:

• Iced Coffee.. They have no idea what it is. Sean ordered an iced coffee and got a lukewarm coffee with a scoop of ice cream on top.
• Trash TV!! I'm sooo missing trash TV and our internet connection is so crappy that I can't even watch iTunes/etc.
• Regular TV: We have about fifteen channels, five are news from around the world, five are dedicated to the various footballs they play here and the other five show random shows at random times, but I did get to see Oprah the other day.
• Brady :(
• Our cats Fiona and Liam - especially since we are living with a rat.
• Friends and Family (Our social calendar is WIDE open)
• Our neighbors (also included in the friend/family category)
• Trash magazines (they are expensive here)
• Unlimited Internet (You pay by usage here)
• Our bed and pillows/etc. - So much more comfy
• Our couches.. You haven't seen pics of this place for a reason!
• TJ Maxx

Things we don't miss/don't enjoy:

• Converting everything from kilos, kilometers, Celsius, etc. - We ended up with 2lb of cheese this week b/c we forgot the conversion rate.
• Living with a RAT
• Watching TOO much TV back home
• Playing online TOO much back home
• Not reading enough (I love my kindle and have been reading a ton since we arrived)
• Jet Lag
• Paying $15 for a six pack of beer
• Paying $3.50 for nail polish remover.. You can buy a HUGE bottle back home for $1

Things we do enjoy:

• Having tons of sparkling wines to pick from that are well under $10
• Walking around
• Watching "Top Gear".. It's sort of like John Stewart meets Car Talk and it's hysterical
• The weather (even though it's fall/winter here it's sunny and around 60 F)
• Only buying enough food for a day or two at a time. It makes things so much more fun!
• Cooking!!!
• Getting into shape
• Not driving everywhere
• Only having "enough" clothes/shoes/etc. - It's nice to not be overwhelmed with stuff
• Every day is an adventure
• Being able to plan fun trips (we won't have to pay for a pet sitter since Brady is in quarantine)
• Visiting Brady
• Taking this opportunity of lack of TV to watch old stuff we never saw before. I started Deadwood and Life on Mars this week - LOVE them both!
• The accents, everything sounds like a question!
• Being a foreigner.. People love when we talk!
• Being in a sort of "out of body experience" - When you move so far away and step so far out of your life you can really look at it and dissect it.. I think that is a good thing.

Updates from last weekend

I have been meaning to do a post on our trip th the Yarra Valley and a Wildlife Sanctuary all week but I just haven't gotten to it.

Here are the updates:

• We saw kangaroos!!! Finally & they are SO cute!
• Koala bears are adorable..
• I LOVE Dingos! I know they get a bad wrap but they are such interesting animals (and they look like dogs)
• Tasmanian Devils are over rated.. They look like fat skunks
• The Birds of Prey show we saw was amazing - but MORE amazing was that every parent there thought it was a GREAT time to feed their small children lunch. The birds flew so low that they could have snatched the sandwiches out of the crying kid's hands.
• Wallabies are cute too, they sort of look like mini kangaroos.
• We took a bus with a group of people from Sean's job and the bus had to stop on the way there because it overheated. At the end of the night we needed a jump start - so it was quite an adventure.
• I like port! We went to a wine tasting and I tried port that was amazing!
• Our Aussie bus driver sat with us at dinner and told Sean he should take me to the Queen Victoria Market (huge open air market that sells everything from food to souvenir items) because I'd be like a "Pig in Shit" - normally this kind of saying would offend me but coming from this guy I thought it was hysterical.

Rat Town

We live in Rat Town.. The "Creature" is a RAT & the exterminator left bait for him to hopefully eat. If we smell something we know he died inside our apartment so we have to call the exterminator again to come and pick up the corpse - if not that means that Mr. Ratenstein ate his bait and then went outside to die - hopefully far far away from my front door.

The Creature Part 2

I think the creature living in our bedroom wall is a possum. There is also a chance that it's a miniature Freddy Krueger who was sealed into the building as punishment for invading people's dreams. Regardless it's definitely something bigger than a mouse. It scurries around and then claws at the walls like it's trying to get out. I have tried sleeping with ear plugs but they fall out during the night so no matter what I am waking up to the sound of something attempting to claw its way into my bed.

I called the management office to let them know and the receptionist laughed. "Haha, I'm not sure what to do with that complaint.. hahah, I'll pass it on".

150+30 Days = 50+ days in quarantine

So anyone reading this blog is well aware of the amount of paperwork that needed to be done in order to get Brady into Australia. There were forms to be filled out, there were specific labs to be used and specific types of approved veterinarians to meet. It was a long, arduous task that I did without help, and it turns out, I did it imperfectly.

Earlier this week when I went to visit Brady at quarantine I was told that I couldn't take him out to play because one of the labs had done the paperwork incorrectly. They also informed me that he should have never been allowed in the yard last week (because of the lab error), their mistake. It was really disappointing because it was a beautiful day and Sean had met me at Spotswood (quarantine facility) during his lunch break to throw the ball around. I ended up sitting with Brady for a bit in his kennel before leaving, it was a sad goodbye for both of us. I could tell the poor thing needed to get outside and run around (it had been almost a week) and I could hear him barking halfway down the road back to the train. IT SUCKED.

I followed up with the lab and was happy to get the news this morning that all was clear and I could come and take Brady out to play today (Thursday). When I went into the kennel to get Brady he was very happy to see me and I could tell he couldn't wait to get outside. It was another gorgeous day and Sean surprised us by meeting us in the play yard. Brady was soo excited he was jumping all around and wiggling his butt (the happy dance). It was a great afternoon and when I put Brady into his kennel I said "Go to your house" (like we do at home) and he was fine (after a few treats of course).

On my way out I saw one of the workers (Kate) and mentioned to her that Brady was eating a ton of grass outside. I wasn't alarmed because he did that at home but I figured I'd let her know. She reassured me that it was normal since they were in the concrete kennel all day (thank god he only had 23 days left of this) and we began walking to the office together so I could sign out. I asked her about discharges, specifically if there was a time that they were done. What I really wanted to know was if I could pick up Brady as early as possible on June 13th, his last day in quarantine. She told me that I could pick him up as early as 8am on the day of and let's double check his discharge date (I couldn't remember if it was the 12th or 13th).

We walked through the doors and asked one of the administrative workers (Jenna) to look up Brady's discharge date, she typed into her computer, looked up and said "Brady, ah, here it is, July 7th".

What? That wasn't right, I knew it was 30 days from his start date and that was June 12th or 13th - definitely not July. There was a mistake, he was eligible for discharge 150 days from the date his blood was drawn for his RNATT (Rabies test). They looked at me sadly.

"No, you are confused, it happens all the time. He is eligible to stay in quarantine for ONLY 30 days after the 150 days from his blood draw date has elapsed."

Basically this means if I had waited 150 days from the date his blood was drawn to bring him to Australia (mid June) he would be able to leave after 30 days. We arrived in Australia before the 150 days had elapsed so he has to spend the time up to the 150 days PLUS the mandatory 30 in quarantine.

I couldn't hold in the tears (not that I really tried), right there at the quarantine facility I started crying (the one day I wore mascara). They tried to reassure me "We have dogs here for six months", "Maybe we can get you an extra visit per week" but they were firm "There is NOTHING that can be done".

So Brady is stuck in quarantine until July 7th, we'll have him home for two weeks and then Sean and I head back to the US on July 21st for at least ten days - leaving him alone again.

10,000 steps and more resolutions

When Sean and I came to Australia in March we arrived on the beaches of Sydney feeling like pale and out of shape versions of ourselves. We both vowed that when we moved here we'd be much more active, eat better and really focus on being healthy. When I had my physical and I learned I had high blood pressure and low "good cholesterol" it was a kick to get things moving (I have heart disease on both sides of my family). So my first order of business when Sean went to work on Monday morning was to check out the local gyms in our area.

I had done a ton of research online and narrowed my focus to two pilates studios, a YMCA like gym (far away) and a place called Contours (for women only). I took the bus to the wrong stop but embraced the quarter of a mile back track I needed to make it to my destination (think of all the calories I was burning). The first Pilates place was really nice, clean and professional and REALLY expensive ($75/session) so I took a pamphlet and set off to place number two. The second pilates place was kind of dirty and still really expensive ($65/session) so I took another pamphlet and kept moving.

I had a hard time finding Contours because it was down an alley and up a set of stairs but when I did I was surprised by how small it was. It's a really small studio with different stations set up in a circle. The thing that intrigued me was their "29 minute workout". Basically you go through each station for 45 seconds so you're always moving. You switch from using real weights to cardio, to stretching, on and on until you've gone through the rotation twice in 29 minutes. I watched the women doing it and was getting really excited. I could do 45 seconds of anything - how tough could this really be? When the woman came over to talk with me I quickly signed up for the three day trial and scheduled my first appointment for the following morning at 9:30am, I was giddy!

After leaving the studio I went to the grocery store. Sean and I decided only to buy enough food for the day (aside from a few things here and there) so that we wouldn't end up with a ton of food that goes to waste. It was also good because we didn't have snacks lying around tempting us. We already had our dinner menu planned out for the night but I needed to get some vegetables (we are committing to real foods) so I picked out some peppers and started on my way home.

I was so excited to start my workout but I wanted to do something right away - I didn't want to wait a day so I decided to go for a long walk. I really enjoy walking and had been meaning to buy a pedometer for a while so I stopped at the pharmacy and picked one up for $20. I latched it on as I walked down the street and started walking. I had read somewhere that an active adult should log 10,000 steps per day so that was my goal (I later read that number is actually quite high but it's a goal). I walked about an eighth of a mile to the bus stop and then took the bus the rest of the way home. When I got home I did some picking up around the apartment before checking my email. Before I sat down I checked the pedometer and it had logged around 1,000 steps (probably a little less than that).

I thought about all the days that I didn't need to walk to the bus stop and was ashamed at the reality of my sedentary status for the past few years. To shake off the laziness remorse I decided to take a walk around the park that is about a half a mile away, that way I could log more steps in and get some fresh air. I walked around for over an hour. There is a boat house where you can rent canoes, row boats and kayaks, a dog section and different trails that you can take all the way into downtown Melbourne. It's a really gorgeous place and we are very lucky to live so close. Seeing all of the dogs made me miss Brady but it also made me excited for when he gets home, I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time at the park together.

When I got home I had logged about 8K steps - I realized that hitting 10K steps per day was going to mean a lot of walking but it'll be worth it. I just don't understand how the typical person who drives to work, sits at a desk all day then drives home is remotely capable of hitting even close to 5K, much less the 10K step mark. Yesterday I walked to the gym, all around the town, walked home from the bus station, to the train station, to visit Brady at quarantine and just hit 10K by the end of the evening. How many steps do you take per day? Have you ever kept track? I'd love to here what other people think.

Pretty Nice Little Saturday

Our corporate apartment has pretty much all that we need but there were still a few odds and ends we had to pick up. There are no dressers so both Sean and I needed coat hangers so we decided that Saturday we'd do some shopping. The grocery store sells coat hangers so the plan was to just go to the plaza down the street.. but then.. it hit me - TARGET. Australia has TARGET, granted it's not the same as the Target back home, prices are higher and the quality of goods is lower (in my opinion) but it's still the same general idea.

The problem is that Sean hates TARGET and not in just a little way. He literally would rather be duck taped to a chair stuck talking with Carey Prejean's pageant coach than walk through Target on a Saturday. I had to take a very scientific approach before I brought up the T word so I decided to focus on: spending less money, getting to know a new neighborhood and saving money (different than spending less money). I am pretty sure he was jet lagged and defeated from his morning of searching for some electronic device that didn't turn up so it worked!! Within minutes we were on our way to the mother ship!

As we got closer to our destination we realized it wasn't just a stand alone Target we were going to. There was a HUGE shopping center and across the street there was a strip mall that had a store totally dedicated to BBQs! Sean was very excited. Our apartment in Boston did not allow grilles so we've been really looking forward to the opportunity to cook out. It turned into such a typical, American, afternoon. We picked up what we needed at Target (and got out of there quick), visited my new favorite store called The Reject Shop (sort of like a Family Dollar/Job Lot) and made it across the street to the BBQ store.

We bought a really cute little charcoal BBQ & it has been a major highlight - we have used it to cook every single night since we got here! Sean is a great cook and we're branching out to try new things. The rest of Saturday was spent settling in and getting to bed early because we had a big day on Sunday planned in the Yarra Valley (Kangaroos & a Vineyard).

First Friday Night

After visiting Brady at quarantine on Friday Sean and I drove home and talked about what we should do for dinner that night. Sean mentioned going to an amazing restaurant that we went to when we were in Melbourne in March called St. Judes: http://www.stjudescellars.com.au/ - on a typical Friday night I would have jumped at the chance but I was still so jet lagged I thought it would be better if we stayed closer to home.

We stopped at a local store to pick up some stuff (beer) and I asked the clerk where the BEST restaurant in our area was. We learned that right down the street is Melbourne's only five star Thai restaurant - PERFECT. We stopped by and I begged for a reservation (.. we JUST got off a plane, new to the area, puhleeze!!) and the very nice man penciled us in for 8:15pm, we were both really excited.

I had decided a few weeks earlier to give up on diet and exercise until I moved to Australia (I wanted to enjoy all of our good bye for now parties!) so this was going to be one of the last nights that I indulged. Prior to the move it was so stressful and busy we pretty much gave up the gym altogether and ate whatever was fast, easy and available. When we were in LA it was either In N Out Burger or airport food so it wasn't looking good for the waistline. I had a physical before we got on the plane and my weight was the highest it has ever been but with Sean working full time while I wait for my visa I figured my top priority would be to shape up so why not enjoy being slovenly for a little while?

The restaurant called Paladarr: http://www.paladarr.com.au/ was very chic and the food was fantastic. We had Kangaroo (I felt really bad when I saw one on Sunday) that was delicious (not gamey at all) and a great (running out of adjectives) lamb curry with sticky rice. All of a sudden while we were enjoying our meal it hit me like a ton of bricks - JET LAG. As anyone who knows me can attest when I get tired, hungry, migraines, they hit hard and fast and there is little that can be done. My eyes started closing at the table and there was no chance we were sticking around for dessert. Luckily it's our neighborhood Thai place and the take out menu is 30% cheaper than eating in so we'll be able to enjoy the food again.

Sean and I hobbled home and passed out cold around 10pm - it was a good night.

We are NOT alone..

The other day when I was taking a nap I thought I heard Fiona coming into the bedroom. I was half asleep but I realized that was impossible, Fiona is back in the US and I was in Australia. I kept hearing her though. With two cats and a dog I am totally used to hearing the pitter patter of little feet, so I wasn't that alarmed. I mentioned to Sean that I thought we had a little friend living with us. He laughed and told me I was imagining it, I was too tired to push the subject and after living in NYC I wasn't that worried about it.

Side-story: In NYC we had a mice problem so we put out glue traps. We caught two mice in one trap and when we found them they were eating each other's feet.

Sean came home early from work today and took a nap.

About an hour or so later he came down and told me: "There is a creature living in our walls, we should sleep in the second bedroom tonight."

I know that I shouldn't have but I had to say it. "I told you so."

First Day in Melbourne

Our first night I was up from 3am-5am but was able to get back to bed and sleep for a few hours. Sean had training in the morning so he'd be leaving the apartment pretty early. My plan for the next day (Friday) was to go and visit Brady in quarantine, play fetch with him and bring him some of his favorite things from home (his girlfriend, his blanket and some bones). At around 10 am, when I was just waking up, I heard the phone ringing and jumped to attention. Sean had driven to work and driving on the opposite side of the road isn't as easy as it sounds, so I was automatically concerned. Luckily it was Sean and totally uncharacteristically (insert sarcastic smile) he had forgotten his driver's license and debit card when he went to training that morning. He needed me to meet him at lunch time so that he could finish his training course which required photo ID.

Since we only have one car I would need to figure out how to get from Alphington (the equivalent of Watertown in relation to downtown Boston) into Melbourne CBD. I looked up the route I'd need to take on Metrolink.com (best trip planner I have ever used) and realized it was going to be super easy. The train has a stop less than a half mile from our apartment and I wouldn't even have to transfer. I packed my backpack: kindle, cell phone, wallet, gloves (no idea why), scarf, keys and felt pretty excited for the adventure. I also looked up the route I'd need to take to go and visit Brady after meeting Sean and was happy to discover I could catch the train at the same station I was meeting Sean at - Easy Peasy!! I felt so efficient and independent.

As I was walking to the train I was in a great mood - despite my lack of sleep. I literally stopped to smell some flowers that were growing on the side of the street. I was taking it all in and feeling very much at home, which is strange considering how far away from home we are and that we'd been here for less than twenty for hours. I got to the train station in less than five minutes and went to the machine to buy my metro card. I tried using my debit card but it was denied, so I used it as credit instead.. still denied. I had Sean's credit card in my wallet so I tried that one - denied again. This had gone on for a good minute or so when a beautiful Australian girl came over to offer some help (I had noticed her putting on mascara when I walked up to the machine). "It looked like you were having trouble there, do you need some help"? I had no idea how to react at first- What?! Someone who didn't work there, who wasn't a total weirdo (from what I could tell) was offering to help me, just because she noticed I was having trouble. I didn't know what to say, but I just started talking, I explained that I had just landed from the US & possibly my bank thought my card was stolen so the machine wasn't accepting it. I only had $20s and they could only give me $10 in change so I asked if she had two tens for a twenty & she did. I literally thanked her about a million times and walked in a daze to the bench to wait for the train to come.

The thing is that this wasn't a truly shocking or novel interaction. It has been my experience that Australians are extremely nice, bubbly, helpful, funny, I could go on forever with positive adjectives but you get the point. Everywhere I've been people have been so willing to help and in a way that I haven't seen before. Maybe I can explain it better later but right now I'm feeling a bit jet lagged (it's 8:30pm on Sunday) and foggy. This post will be To Be Continued.. There is so much more to tell about this past weekend (hint: I saw a kangaroo, koala, Tasmanian devil & more)!!

The Journey

I don't even know where to start. I wish I had started writing about the journey from Boston to Australia back when we first started planning, I meant to but I didn't. So now we are here in Melbourne and I wish I had been taking notes because so many things have happened and I want to remember them all. In the future I'd like to have real blog posts (more narrative) but for now I'm going do do a "catch up" with lots of bullet point snippets because a lot has happened in the past few days that I don't want to forget.

Disclaimer: I am jet lagged and have been up since 3am local time, it is now 5am. If my grammar, punctuation is off please cut me a little slack.

Some of the highlights include:

Lots of Good bye for nows

• Visits to Norwich & Hingham: SO much fun, I have amazing friends and family.
• Last Hooray at Longview: Ed and Johan are amazing, Ed luckily came over at 10pm the night before we left and taught me how to clean an oven and realized our freezer was still full! Johan, thank you for taking all of that food, I hope it wasn't all freezer burned.
• Second to last hooray at Longview: I have worked with some fantastic, fun people who are true friends. I will miss you all and extend an open invite to the Care.com crew! RV trip is already in planning mode!
• Two games in a row at Fenway: Woo Hoo! Fenway park is such a special place for Sean and me so it was amazing to be able to enjoy it with friends and hopefully we can catch a game when we're back in July.
• Dunkin Donuts: I miss you already
• TJ Maxx: It's too hard to talk about right now, the feelings are too raw, but I will be back in July and plan to browse your aisles endlessly.
• Last trip to the vet before getting Brady on his first flight (at this point I'm a nervous wreck)
• And to my favorite trash TV friends: Real Housewives of NJ, NYC, OC, pretty much everyone on Bravo, I don't know how I'll survive. I also miss: Gossip Girl, The Hills, The City, 16 and pregnant.
• Target: Even though I can't enter your doors without spending $100 at least I will miss you and your amazingly inexpensive paper products. Sean will miss your frozen pizzas.

Flight from Boston to LA

• We discover Brady's travel bag has a slot on top that he can jump out of and won't keep shut. Luckily Sean (the engineer) is able to rig it so he can't escape and create a "Snakes on a Plane" situation starring a maniacal min pin.
• The people at Virgin America are the BEST and block off our middle seat so that nobody is forced to deal with a min pin on the floor below them.
• The drugs our vet gave us to give Brady to calm down really work! AMAZING relief, he is like a tired little baby with glossed over eyes.
• I still keep checking to make sure Brady is breathing, he is soo quiet. We put him on the middle seat between us and have a really stress free flight.
• Wireless on an airplane is pretty amazing and Virgin America has the best entertainment options ever. TONS of TV, Movies, etc. I also like that you can order snacks, drinks right from your seat.

LA

• All of our bags arrived and getting rental car is a breeze until we realize we didn't pick up one of my bags (it was a last minute addition) and have to go back to the airport. Sean stays outside at active pick up with the hazard lights on and I take Brady with me.
• A big, burly (possible former marine) security guard tells me Brady is not allowed in the airport so I run to give him to Sean. As I approach the car I see the same security guard telling Sean to move the car. In the end we get the lone bag and devise a system to never forget a piece of luggage again.
• Our hotel is pet friendly and they let us check in early! Nap time!
• Our hotel brings in a pet bed and bowls that are for a Great Dane sized dog, Brady had to lift his neck to get into the bowl to drink water.
• So nervous about going to USDA in the morning to bring Brady's paperwork, what if something is wrong? This is the second to final step before he is allowed onto his flight. The USDA has to stamp everything and meet us at the airport to seal Brady into his crate. I have triple checked everything and sent it all to Australia to be looked over but am still nervous!!
• In N Out Burger for dinner - YUM
• I go to sleep, Sean goes back to In N Out Burger for a late night snack, we are only in LA for a few days so we have to take advantage!
• USDA stop one is a success. I meet people in line who are taking their dogs to Italy and Japan, I'm jealous because their dogs don't have to go to quarantine.. I am also jealous they pay $45 for their certificates and I pay $500+
• The man at USDA hears me raving about sedating Brady and hands me a piece of paper talking about sedatives being the leading cause of death for traveling pets, granted it's over sedation but still, I meet Sean in the car and need to be talked off another ledge.
• Sean and I decide Brady is more likely to die of a heart attack than the vet approved, mild sedative we gave him on the way to LA so the plan is to give him another dose before he gets on flight to Australia since he's forced to fly cargo this time (Australian Government Rule).
• I call our vet to double check that we can give him the sedative 24hrs after he had the first one and to make sure it's okay to bring Brady to the beach and get him tired out, I'm worried he'll be too sedated.
• Vet is not surprised to hear from me because I had already called her that morning to double check on something else (this woman is a saint) and she reassures me that he will be fine, I'm pretty sure if she could she would have given me a sedative too.
• We spend the day in Santa Monica with Brady where we disrupt a photo shoot (Brady running in the background), get kicked off the beach (No dogs allowed), then head back to hotel to get him ready for his flight
• Tears and Fears (Too many to mention)
• We take Brady to Qantas cargo to meet the USDA vet (Mr. $500/hour) to seal Brady's crate and hand him over
• The vet shows up wearing Ray Bans and dressed like a cable TV star, he's very "cool". He starts drilling into Brady's crate so he can seal it and we do the hand off. Sean's hands are shaking but I don't cry. When we get in the car I see that Sean's eyes are watery, this is the worst part.
• Dinner with Dan & Lauren, a godsend! So much fun and we're not worrying too much about Brady. Lauren is the best and I promise to never friend dump her.
• Because we were so stressed about all the Brady stuff and the fact that he's on a 14 hour flight to a foreign land gives Sean and I an excuse to drink lots of wine so we take a cab home, the cab is a Toyota Prius that literally goes 90mph and gets us back to our hotel in about 10 minutes flat.
• The next morning since we are jet lagged and up early we decide to take the city bus to pick up our car at Dan & Lauren's apartment in Santa Monica.
• We spend the morning/early afternoon walking around Santa Monica, shopping, and taking two trips to Pinkberry.
• At this time Sean becomes convinced his new, fancy, camera is broken and decides to go mail it to his dad so he can send it back to the company and hopefully get it repaired.
• While Sean is dealing with the camera I meet up with Lauren to walk around, I get a color change (not a full manicure) and eyebrow wax - of course they suggest I get an upper lip wax and the guy doing my nails is really annoyed I'm not doing the full manicure so he's very snotty. I don't leave a tip.
• I almost buy sunglasses but cheap out (I just spent a gazillion dollars on vet bills, pet airfare,etc.) but I do buy a t shirt from American Apparel.
• Sean and I say our good byes to Lauren and begin our journey to the airport, get luggage, return rental car, etc.
• We get checked in to our flight and realize we have a ton of time before it takes off (I thought it was 8pm but it was actually 8:50pm) and unfortunately there are not many food options in the terminal so we decide to eat at "Encounter" the restaurant that looks like a space ship, high above LAX. We walk all the way there (three terminals away) and it's closed (even though the 80yr old customer service guy told us it wasn't) so we decide to get a cab to In N Out Burger (Sean's last treat). We wait in line for the taxi only to get kicked out when he realizes we won't reach his $17 minimum since In N Out is only about 2 miles away.
• We decide to eat at the terminal which was fine.

Flight from LA to Melbourne

• OMG - Premium Economy on V Australia is HEAVEN! We get champagne when we walk in, presents on our seats, really warm, big blankets, our seats go way back, big TVs, noise canceling headphones, our own bar and two flight attendants to take care of about 30 people!!
• Sean spills his drink on his pants so the flight attendant gives him V Australia PJs from Business class - we feel like royalty!
• I watch a movie, some TV and get lots of sleep and so does Sean who never sleeps on flights.
• I drink about 2 liters of water and the flight attendant congratulates me!
• Before we land I go to the bathroom to put my contacts in, brush my teeth and freshen up a bit. When I get out a nasty woman seated in business class tells me "This bathroom is for business class only" I didn't even know what to say (my typical reaction when someone says something rude to me). As I walk back to my seat I am FUMING! It wasn't for business class only, it was for business class and premium economy!
• I tattled on her to the flight attendant but was so angry I wanted to go back, how did she know I wasn't in business class anyway, was she the mayor of business class?? I mean granted, I was wearing black leggings, blue socks and one of Sean's over-sized shirts but still!!! I wanted to go back and inform her that she was wrong and very rude and who did she think she is, ugh.
• I am angry over the rude lady for a good amount of time and come up with really great nasty and clever things to say to her.

We are in Melbourne

• We land in Melbourne, get our bags (all 7 of them), go through customs, get our rental car and head to our new apartment!!
• We realize it's 6am and we're likely not going to be able to check into our new place yet so we decide to go in search of a breakfast cafe. We find an amazing fancy little cafe near where we'll be living and kill the hour or so until the reception office opens. We also browse through Coles, the grocery store, to do some price checking. Prices don't seem too out of whack and they have lots of really fresh looking fruits. I get excited to come back to do real grocery shopping but note I'll have to bring a little conversion cheat sheet with me. I'll have to order meat in kilos, not lbs, etc.
• We check into our corporate apartment where we'll be staying until July when we move to Sydney.
• Pros: It was our only option because it's pet friendly, It's a two floor town house, it's clean, we have lots of space, two bedrooms, two and a half baths, washer/dryer in apartment w/actual laundry room, nice big TV, comfy bed with nice linens, soft pillows, dishwasher, they come to clean every day, we have a little yard/patio and a balcony off of the master bedroom. We are super close to all forms of public transit and I like the little neighborhood, it reminds me of Waltham/Arlington with lots of restaurants, etc. - In all it's great.
• Cons: I think my on campus college apartment was about the same quality. The furniture in the living room is pretty unreal. The couches remind me of "Nana's couch" (shout out to Marcell and Raj) with roses and in a true early 80s style. The carpets are very old and worn and the color is a faded teal. There wasn't much money put in to niceties and I'd be embarrassed to have company but other than that it's PERFECT!