Australia Day

Yesterday, January 26th, was Australia Day. It commemorates the landing of the first fleet in 1788 in what is now Sydney. It's somewhat the equivalent of July 4th for us Yanks - a day to celebrate Australia and being Australian. It is not without controversy but you can read up about that elsewhere if you're so inclined. From what I can tell it's mostly a reason for everyone to get out with friends, have a party, and fly the flag high. The highlight of the day was the Perth Skyworks - 3000+ fireworks blazing away over the Swan River and the roofs of the buildings in the CBD with a simul-cast of homegrown Aussie music playing on the radio. Anyone with any sort of view of the Skyworks is pretty much obligated to have a party so we joined in and had four Aussies over to show us how it's done. Apparently you start with a beer and proceed from there :-) It was great fun sitting on the balcony with all the neighbors around us also entertaining. A couple of boats tied up at the floating dock right outside and sometime around 6PM people started walking up and lining the path and grassy areas below us. By the time the fireworks started there was an excellent crowd, several radios (including our own) blaring the music, and a general sense of camaraderie. The fireworks were spectacular and it was all excellent fun. We finished the evening with the best pavlova I've ever eaten and the sample Australian citizenship test. I scored a 90% so it looks like I'm in with a chance if we manage to stay here for 4 years (the minimum residency requirement). Cheers Mates!

So what have we been up to you ask?

I confess, I do so many updates on Facebook since all my immediate family and many friends are on there that this space has been sadly neglected. Company, work, doing stuff...you know how it goes. That said it is a lovely summer afternoon - a long weekend for many people as Australia Day is Tuesday so they're taking Monday off. It's a national holiday and the highlight of the day in Perth is the giant fireworks display over the river and downtown. We just missed it when we arrived last year but it is apparently a big deal. As soon as we moved into our apartment people started saying "oh - you can see the Australia Day fireworks, you'll have to have a party". As they do to everyone who has a house with any sort of a view. I'm interested to see how it goes. Even mopped the balcony today for only the second time since we moved in (a giant pain) AND oiled the outdoor table. I feel most virtuous. We had a great time with the kids here over Christmas of course. We pretty much kept going full speed for the duration although Laura and I did manage to sneak in a spa day the afternoon before she left town. A much needed restorative. I dropped her at the airport at 4AM the next day, spent the day doing moderate (ok extremely little) tidying and then it was back to work on Tuesday. The next week was recovery, laundry, restocking, and trying to get the brain back into work mode. Plus fretting over the 72 hours it took Laura to get all the way back home to TN. If pressed I have strong and unfriendly words for Delta. Then mostly by accident we had a busy round of dinners and doing stuff....the founder of my company came into town, a guy from Houston visiting Mike's office, catching back up with friends here who we hadn't seen in weeks, getting back to sailing and mahjong. Plus discovering the baseball park here and going to several games. It's lovely to sit at the ball park in the cool of the evening, listening to the American announcer, drinking a beer. I like eavesdropping on the conversations around us too - there are some surprisingly savvy local fans. We had a day out fishing offshore last weekend too - it was a little rough and a bit of an adventure once or twice. In addition to catching fish I saw an albatross which pleased me greatly and a pod of dolphins did their frolicking thing around the boat. This morning Mike took a nice long walk (I slept) and then we met up for breakfast with some friends. Turns out several of us had the same plan to visit a new farmers market over near Mike's office. Four of us went together and had a lovely stroll through...it is about time I turned into a savvy shopper for my fruit and veg. Prices were great and we have a fridge full of fresh fruits and veggies. I'm cooking an organic corned beef for dinner. And! Mike has hired a personal trainer and is being most diligent. This makes me feel ashamed of myself for not working up a sweat too but not enough to actually start working out myself - yet. I am participating in the low carb/low sugar part of the program though so maybe a miracle will occur. Anyway, here are a few recent photos for your amusement:

Mike and I on the high seas

I caught a fish!

And lastly, simply because it amuses me, this license plate in our parking garage. On a Ferrari:

Back to the states for a visit at last!

It has been FAR too long. Australia is great and we love it here, but we still miss our friends and family very much. It will have been over a year since I've been back and I keep reminding Mike of what a stoic I am. Every other expat American spouse I've met has already been back at least once and often twice in the last 12 months. I am a rock, or cheap, or the only one dumb enough to get a job. Some combination there of. I arrive in Houston on Feb 29 or so, and then depart out of Houston on April 2. I'll be trying to catch up with all my sisters in California then I need to get to FL to see my folks, and TN to see Alex and Laura, and then back to Houston. I don't have any internal flights booked yet but it looks like the weekend of March 5-8 is the best to catch the CA gang so I'll probably book that first and then take it from there. Kate - looks like Great Big Sea at the Houston HOB is out since its the only weekend that works in CA. But you should go anyway - it'll be a fun show :-) Can't wait to see everyone!!