March 15, 2006

It's hard to know where to start...This is my third try to create a blog that I can actually manage. They say third time lucky. Things are moving along so fast here. I knew I had to get this up and running or forever lose the will to start.

As for personal stuff...

Tim is still so busy. He's been away for weeks at a time. He hasn't really had a chance to settle in because he's always on the road. We hope after a few months, he'll get into some routine.

Elliott is doing great. He changed classes at school and is really enjoying it now. He loves the shorter hours and no Saturday School! We did have a trip to the hospital with infected mosquito bites, but he's recovered now. We were worried about sharks, but clearly mosquitos have proved more dangerous.

Susan (me) is fine. I'm keeping busy doing some volunteer work at school in the uniform shop and the "Tuck Shop" (cafeteria). Elliott goes thru the line and pretends not to know me! I'm playing tennis twice a week. I've changed my grip and I'm sure that will be the making of me. I have taken up on line computer games and have become totally obsessed. World of Warcraft is surprisingly addictive. I am currently a level 11 Druid, but I may have to change characters to play what Elliott would like. The sacrifices a mother has to make! Other than that, I've been unpacking boxes.

We moved into our house on the 13th of March. It is a lovely house with lots of space and a pool. We didn't find a place within walking distance of school, but I guess you can't have everything. We have lots of space for visitors and did buy extra beds. We still need more furniture, but have run out of enthusiam for the task. In our last house, we needed a bedside table for 5 years. I don't expect this house to be any different.

As for fun stuff - the reason we moved to Australia...We bought body boards and have been "surfing" a few times. The ocean is great - big waves and strong current. We hope that it stays nice a bit longer this fall and we get some more time to go to the beach. We had so much fun there that we almost forgot about the sharks.

Last Sunday, we went on a boat cruise up the Brisbane River to see a bat colony. At dusk, the fruit bats all fly out to search for food. It was in impressive sight. There were over 100,000 bats in this colony. One interesting fact: bat poo is so acidic it will eat the paint off your car. We also saw two dolphins playing in the river. It was so beautiful with the sun setting and these dolphins playing in the wake of the boat. Elliott would like us to become bat carers and rescue baby orphan bats. The only drawback is we would all have to get the rabies shots before we could do it. Elliott is thinking about asking for the rabies shots for his birthday. I am hoping he will have forgotten this idea by May.

Well, that's all for now. My goal is to write a short note maybe once a week and learn how to do some pictures. But, really, at this point, I would happy if anyone is able to read this post at all. Here's hoping I can figure out how to navigate the site.