Last Thursday was American Thanksgiving. Because Tim had work and Elliott had school, there wasn't alot of time to have a big celebration on the day. But on Sunday, we got together with the other Boeing Families here and had a good time. We decided against doing a traditional dinner for a couple of reasons. The first was not many of us have an oven big enough to cook a huge turkey. The second reason was it is too darn hot to be cooking much of anything. One of the gals ordered a smoked turkey from the butcher for a small fortune and we all brought something to share.
We met up at Southbank, the man-made pool/beach in downtown Brisbane. Someone came early and secured a lovely table in the shade. Without shade, we all would have melted by 11:00 am if not before. The park is the favorite venue for all the Austalian holidays and long weekends. On Sunday it was crowded with people gathered to beat the heat and watch the cricket on large screen TVs in the grounds. It was a nice celebration, if a little un-orthodox.
The cricket could be a whole nother blog! The Ashes has begun. For all you American readers, this is HUGE! England vs. Australia in a grudge match. Last year, England won at home. This year, the Australians are determined to get the ashes back. The first 5 day test ended today in Brisbane. England was sadly trounced. Tim and Elliott have quickly shifted loyalties to the Aussies, but I'm a bit more ambivilant. England still seem a sentimental favorite for me. I tried to get tickets and even joined "The Australian Cricket Family", but didn't have any luck. Tickets became available for today's session, but by this point, England was so far behind, there didn't seem much point. The fifth day lasted a mere hour and a half.
There is something soothing about listening to cricket on the radio. It is like listening to a foreign language program where you understand every third word. There is talk of mid-wicket, off stump, golden ducks and googlies. The write up in the paper takes an hour to decipher: "Bully-boy Pieterson, given a life on 12, didn't last much longer before McGrath jagged a delivery back into his back pad and he was given out leg before." And there are pages and pages of this! The scary thing is we now lived in Cricket playing countries long enough, I am almost understanding it. Elliott is playing again at school and helps with some of the trickier points.
Well, this is it before Christmas I'd say. Elliott's school has broken up for the holidays. We are off to the States in a few weeks. I am looking forward to it. It really will be unbearably hot in the next month and I won't be sorry to miss it. My tennis has been winding down now and won't re-start till late February or March because it will be too hot to play. I'll try to send out Christmas cards, but don't feel too inspired at the moment. I saw Christmas decorations with snowmen, but snow seems very far away as we lounge in the pool. I hope I find the inspiration to continue in the new year. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all and thanks for sticking with me for a whole year of drivel!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
Election Results
Well, absolutely nothing happening here I'm afraid. Makes for a very poor blog. Tim is now away again for the third week in a row. This time he is down in Melbourne. He lost his wedding band just before he left and I'm hoping that isn't some subconscious clue....
Elliott and I have been having a pretty quiet time of it. Today he is home sick from school with a cold. The delivery boy from Pizza Hut now calls me by name.
I guess the highlight of the last few weeks was following the U. S. election progress. Through a friend of a friend, I heard about a Demorcrats Abroad group that is here in Brisbane. There are 65 or so people in the group. I went on Wednesday afternoon to watch the election results come in. They seemed like a nice group of people. Several of them are retired people that have lived outside the US for 30 years. It was inspiring to see people who had been away so long, yet still interested in the politcal process. I felt very guilty that I hadn't bothered to get an absentee ballot, especially since Missouri seemed to have a close Senate race. I couldn't really use the excuse I have been away a long time when these people have been gone twice as long.
Not too much longer and we will be heading back to the US for Christmas. We leave in less than a month. Our Christmas card routine will make me reflect over the past year and see what've done in the 12 month period. Lots of changes to be sure.
Elliott and I have been having a pretty quiet time of it. Today he is home sick from school with a cold. The delivery boy from Pizza Hut now calls me by name.
I guess the highlight of the last few weeks was following the U. S. election progress. Through a friend of a friend, I heard about a Demorcrats Abroad group that is here in Brisbane. There are 65 or so people in the group. I went on Wednesday afternoon to watch the election results come in. They seemed like a nice group of people. Several of them are retired people that have lived outside the US for 30 years. It was inspiring to see people who had been away so long, yet still interested in the politcal process. I felt very guilty that I hadn't bothered to get an absentee ballot, especially since Missouri seemed to have a close Senate race. I couldn't really use the excuse I have been away a long time when these people have been gone twice as long.
Not too much longer and we will be heading back to the US for Christmas. We leave in less than a month. Our Christmas card routine will make me reflect over the past year and see what've done in the 12 month period. Lots of changes to be sure.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
We suffer for our art!
Last weekend, we decided we needed a "bloggable event." One exciting event happened: the kettle blew the circuit and then the garage door opener almost caught fire. This was indeed a thrill, but the garage door mechanism was only smoking. Had there been flames....that might have been enough. But when it all fizzled out, we decided we had to go out and search for more blog material.
In 1824, 50 settlers came up from Sydney to live in the Redcliffe Peninsula (about 35 km north of Brisbane). This was meant to be a harsh settlement for incorrigible convicts. It never became self-supporting as the government had hoped. The convict labor wasn't motivated enough despite brutal treatment- not to mention the fact they were given no tools to work with. It must have been pretty hard to farm with no draft animals and no ploughs. After a few years, the settlement failed and moved to present day Brisbane. The town of Redcliffe is now a pleasant enough seaside town with a memorial to the first settlers. The tourist information center does seem rather vague on why the town failed in the first place.
We took our bikes and rode across the Hornibrook Highway - a toll road over Moreton Bay completed in 1934 to link Redcliffe and Brisbane. I'm sorry we forgot the camera, because it was absolutely hilarious. There is a sign saying "Take Care - Bridge Not in Good Repair." The fence on either side of the road was full of gaping holes. The pavement was full of holes. You could see through to the swirling ocean below, teeming with electric blue Blubber Jelly Fish. Rickety barriers blocked off sections that were especially precarious. Despite the danger, the bridge was full of families fishing, people walking and cycling. Little kids and dogs were running around with no fear. Raised in a family full of lawyers, all I could think of was potential litigation.
This all sounds exciting and fun as I write about it, but really it was fairly torturous. Elliott was saying "Can we go home yet?" every 10 minutes. The ride back from the bridge to the car involved a headwind so strong I still have an ear ache. It is unsure whether we will ever venture out again - is it worth it? This coming weekend, we were thinking of going up to the Sunshine Coast. However, the reality of homework may interfere. Elliott has a novel to produce in the next 10 days. Tim is off again for a few days, so we'll have to wait and see what we feel up to when he gets back.
In 1824, 50 settlers came up from Sydney to live in the Redcliffe Peninsula (about 35 km north of Brisbane). This was meant to be a harsh settlement for incorrigible convicts. It never became self-supporting as the government had hoped. The convict labor wasn't motivated enough despite brutal treatment- not to mention the fact they were given no tools to work with. It must have been pretty hard to farm with no draft animals and no ploughs. After a few years, the settlement failed and moved to present day Brisbane. The town of Redcliffe is now a pleasant enough seaside town with a memorial to the first settlers. The tourist information center does seem rather vague on why the town failed in the first place.
We took our bikes and rode across the Hornibrook Highway - a toll road over Moreton Bay completed in 1934 to link Redcliffe and Brisbane. I'm sorry we forgot the camera, because it was absolutely hilarious. There is a sign saying "Take Care - Bridge Not in Good Repair." The fence on either side of the road was full of gaping holes. The pavement was full of holes. You could see through to the swirling ocean below, teeming with electric blue Blubber Jelly Fish. Rickety barriers blocked off sections that were especially precarious. Despite the danger, the bridge was full of families fishing, people walking and cycling. Little kids and dogs were running around with no fear. Raised in a family full of lawyers, all I could think of was potential litigation.
This all sounds exciting and fun as I write about it, but really it was fairly torturous. Elliott was saying "Can we go home yet?" every 10 minutes. The ride back from the bridge to the car involved a headwind so strong I still have an ear ache. It is unsure whether we will ever venture out again - is it worth it? This coming weekend, we were thinking of going up to the Sunshine Coast. However, the reality of homework may interfere. Elliott has a novel to produce in the next 10 days. Tim is off again for a few days, so we'll have to wait and see what we feel up to when he gets back.
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