one year (and one week)

we have
a room
with a view

Last Monday was the first anniversary of my arrival in Australia.  The photo above was the very first picture I took as a resident.  I remember being struck by how everything was so new and clean and bright.  It's true what they say in all those 'immigrant experiences' of Australia; there is something about the strength of the light which both intensifies and bleaches at the same time.

It seems important to mark this milestone.  A lot has happened this year.  I arrived on a Sunday.  CNN went to work the next day and I walked around our local shopping precinct at such a loss about what I was meant to do.  How do you begin a new life?  I bought a tomato and olive scroll for lunch and chewed it slowly to pass the time, watching the traffic go past.  In those early days, I loved looking at our view and spotting the vivid purple of the jacarandas - it's now that time of year again.

Things happened that weren't very fun.  Unemployment, having practically no money (CNN and I were constantly flirting with the possibility we wouldn't be able to pay our rent and paid a lot of overseas withdrawal fees on our rapidly depleting UK bank accounts - a very middle-class kind of having no money, but it was stressful, nonetheless) and a job that was so poorly managed I was diagnosed with situational anxiety.  And yet, in spite of everything, I fell pregnant and found I could be happy here.

One of the biggest contributing factors, in a roundabout sort of way, was my trip to London and Hong Kong.  There is something so  rejuvenating about being with people who know you and love you and understand you.  The joy I felt when I was overseas came back with me and has been with me since.  A big thank you to each one of my lovely people for playing your  part in that.

Sometimes, it is only by leaving that you learn what you might gain if you choose to return.  I felt an unexpected tug of the heartstrings as my taxi dodged past early morning traffic from the airport back to our flat.  The familiarity of the route and warmth of the sun and the distinctively Australian semis and redbricks soothed me and reminded me that I am home.

happy feet

i used
all my best yoga skillz
to take this picture

One of the best things about having really small feet is being able to buy your socks from the children's department.  Especially when they are all fluorescent on the bottom.  I wasn't wearing the best pair in the set yesterday because others have hearts and stars and other wonderful things instead of polka dots, but you get the idea.

The weather in Sydney has been cool and grey and rainy.  Yesterday, changed into my socks and jammies (see picture above) after coming home from a good driving lesson.  I listened to a fabulous radio show themed around November Rain (hurry, only six days left to listen!) whilst doing the dishes from a scrumptious in both food and company mini-dinner party (two guests counts, right?) we'd had the night before.

Lunch was left-over dhal and lamb curry (both of which you must make and eat unless you are vegetarian) finished off with half a sweet cheeks mango (I had to link that to prove to the non-Aussies out there that it genuinely the name of a mango variety).  There is something so satisfying and 'right' about eating a perfectly ripe mango after spicy food.  So much so that I had to tell CNN about this culinary match when he got home from work even though he doesn't like any stone fruit except peaches.

All in all, it was a very good Thursday off work.

*****

I am sorry I haven't blogged in over two weeks.  It's just that for a while nothing really exciting happened and then lots of interesting things happened but I didn't have the energy to write about it.

I'm back now and I have to say, I've missed you.

(and a wee postscript to let you all know I have very good hearing because whilst I was writing this post, I heard a mobile on vibrate in another flat and thought it was mine - I'm sure it's compensation for having a husband with very poor hearing)

parenthood

Parenthood should be the name of a Steve Martin movie, but it's not.
I have to admit, I have quite the penchant for all those cheesy films in which he is a befuddled dad.

this was CNN's favourite
at sculptures by the sea
you should go - if you live in sydney

I have been ruminating a lot on this subject.  It's not always easy being a parent and it's not always easy for children to accept that parenting is hard.  I have to admit that I've been guilty of the latter this week.  It's caused a lot of heartache to more than one person but through prayer and patience and compassion (I ran out of 'p' words, sadly) things much brighter now.  I am grateful.

I was also thinking about the challenges (and joys!) of being a parent when we took a very special five year old out on Saturday.  Two bus rides, a long coastal walk (taking in many a fine sculpture en route) a picnic lunch, a dip in the sea and chocolate gelato.  I'm not sure if it was the excursion or the extended baby-sitting but it made me realise how much life is going to change come January and also how closely frustration and delight sit with little people are around.

*****

In other small person news, this week's preparation consists of ordering nappies online and the beginning of the doula finding process.  Have any of you had a doula or midwife present for your births?  How did you know you'd picked the right person?  Any advice would be much appreciated.

*****

Corrections and clarifications - CNN would like to point out that he's not a wimp and that he did swim he other week (like, for half a length).

*****

Oh, and thank you to all of you who asked about how the blood glucose testing went.  Everything came back good although my doctor did say that Egg was a little small (well, my bell is a little small - Egg could be massive in there and squishing my guts, who knows?).

le weekend dernier

(I  had to ask CNN how to say that)

We went to the Marrickville Street Festival...

... we ate some tasty food,

exhibit a:
wurst+sauerkraut+fried onions
on a roll for easy eatin'

exhibit b:
northern italian pancakes
we weren't sure
if we liked them
they were stingy
with the fillings

we saw this,

not really sure
what type of dancing
it was

but overall, the Festival was a bit of a wash-out - and not in terms of the weather.  So we bought these to enjoy instead (well, CNN did):

cutest, kitschest
and worst-tasting beers ever
i might be over-exaggerating a tad

le weekend

we are trying very hard
to make up for the lack
of previous bump photos

here is the wimp
who did not swim
because it was too cold

Later that evening...

looking mysterious
at a cocktail tiki bar
(i miss cocktails)

... we went for burritos with J+M.  They (the burritos, not our lovely friends) were accompanied by beer and frozen margharitas and followed by more beer and cocktails for some.  Photographic evidence does exist of this, but I am not sure whether the photo I have of J would pass approval for internet publication and whether M even wants to be on my blog.

Sunday's highlight: 'Midnight in Paris.'  I advise you to see it with the warning that it will make you want to pack your bags and relocate.

*****

We're off now to listen to Egg's heartbeat and find out the results of my gestational diabetes blood test. Positive thinking (although not sure how helpful that will be if the result is positive for diabetes).