Spring is here finally after what has been a very long cold season. It was pretty cold before Halloween last year, say mid-October, and it's really only getting into short sleeve weather in the last week. I think that makes it about six months of pretty chilly conditions. Our temps are finally starting to cross over with Melbourne where I'm seeing max'es around 20 or so, now we're getting highs in the low 20's ourselves, woot!
IBM appears to want to keep us here for a while longer, all the standard caveats apply of course. We now have work permits for the next year and we might stay here for one more year after that. It all depends on the work of course, ever unpredictable. No matter what happens we will be home for at least a visit before the end of the year.
Our last lease was up as of 31st March and there was no way we were going to extend again, our previous landlord 'The Donald' was/is a complete tool/dick/arsehat. Luckily this time around there were a couple of rentals available in our school district and we've settled nicely into
Pen St, a little closer to the kids school, albeit on the other side of the neighborhood. The kids don't bus as it's too close and the warmer weather means that they can walk or ride with their friends so that's working out.
The house is a little smaller but that suits us anyway, River Glen was always a little too big and we didn't have the furniture and/or clutter to fill it up. Having said that our moving in was a long drawn out affair. Seriously, we arrived with suitcases 2 and a half years ago, where did all this stuff come from? It wouldn't be so bad except that we now have two house-loads of stuff, one in each hemisphere! The old place came partially furnished so when we moved there were a few things we needed to pick up. Jo hit the web and CraigsList and found heaps of stuff for next to nothing. She picked up two dinning tables, one formal and one casual, a new 3-piece leather lounge, buffet-hutch, coffee table, rugs, dresser, microwave, study-desk and a huge TV and stand for the kids. All of this for change out of a couple of gorillas, sweet! The house has much more natural light, nice neutral color scheme (rather than the fricken 'Cool Fruits' mix'n'match we had at River Glen) and is in a street chock-full of kids! Our bunch are always out in the street and the door-bell is constantly on the go as a steady stream of youngsters files in and out.
It's also a much quieter street. River Glen was really a main drag with a lot of traffic. And while it had the tennis and basketball courts and the baseball diamond it was pretty kid-free, at least in terms of regulars. Pen St is a side road so the kids can get the hockey net out in the roadway and play with only the occasional call of 'Car!'. Our neighbors all seem like nice folks and we're feeling very at home. Summers on the way, we have a cottage booked for a week in July and the kids are all confirmed on their soccer teams (I'm coaching Cam's team). Now where's that Corona?
Andy, out.
PS:
Animoto is a cool site that will let you upload photos and music and creates a very slick video for you. It kicks the llama's ass. You can link photos from online sites like Flickr and even use their music. There's not much control but it's a no-brainer to use and 30 second clips are free to make. Check this out, my 40th in brief -
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