Dirty Dog

Meshy's trip to the farm...

Things that go bump in the night

Here are some photos from 19 weeks! All is going well, Jo has been a bit sick though - cold/flu.

12 Week scan

A couple of weeks late, but better than never.

The new arrivals!

Very exciting news. The little eating, pooping, crying machine has arrived. And we've still got another one on the way! Say hello to Usmeshka. It's a Russian word for Smile (according to Babelfish). She is otherwise known as Meshy though, which is less of a mouthful.


The other arrival also came - a bit more expensive though. After paying the import duty and GST, the BMW was released on Thursday, so one unregistered vehicle permit later, we were on the road (and Jo immediately gave it heaps onto the freeway). Still has the NZ plates on it too, so we didn't look too illegal driving out to pick up Meshy. It will be off to the workshop on Monday for compliancing.

Tassie!

We had our 12 week ultrasound last week, but I haven't scanned the images yet. Will post more when I get around to it.

I spent this weekend with Tom and my parents at Tom's fishing shack in Tasmania. It's located on Little Pine Dam on the central highlands, a venue not renowned for its weather. Or scenery. If you like fishing, it's heaven. If not... well, I described it as Jo's version of hell. She thought this was a bit harsh, so to summarise:

My flight was in a small, slow, bumpy, twin-prop 50-seater,
which was delayed by 1.5 hours...
The drive there was up a very twisty road (ending in about 10km of dirt road)
When we reached the shack it was about 6 degrees outside (not including wind chill)
The loo is outside (and the cistern doesn't work). No lights of course.
Central heating? - well, the place is small enough (2 rooms) that the pot-bellied stove does quite well actually.
The beds wouldn't rate as the comfiest I've slept in.
If you don't like fishing or brisk walks, the activities calendar is pretty sparse.

By now you're probably thinking I hated it, but that would be completely wrong. Sure, it's not my usual idea of a great place to get away, but it was the first time I've seen the whole family since our wedding (and as Anne commented, it was the first time we have all been in a car at the same time). I even had a swing of a fly rod for the first time in at least 20 years, with lessons from Tom. Fun! even though the whole tally for the weekend was just 1 fish. Apparently some call this sport.

Good things come in small (and big) packages

Most of our shipping was delivered the other day, which was highly anticipated.

So we now have our big TV back! But no power cables or remotes...

And the espresso machine is here! But no portafilters... (that's the handle thingy you put the coffee in, if you had to ask). Drat!

We lost the cat scratching pole to quarantine. We had an option of paying $95 to have it destroyed, or $500 to have it cleaned. Somehow they didn't seem to mind that we had also brought back a litter tray, blankets, couches and clothing which were all covered in cat hair. Not to mention the cats themselves...

Meanwhile I have found myself a job (with Leica Biosystems as a product support specialist) and will be starting in a week. Since an income is now on the cards, I have been looking for a car to buy, so test driving lots of MX-5s - the practical family choice! (When I get one I'll write more about it in the new page in the page in the links section to the right.)

Jo is doing well - lots of resting and sleeping mostly. We met our obstetrician yesterday and had a quick ultrasound scan - the little blob is taking shape! stubby little limbs and a big head. And a heartbeat! wow, it's really an amazing thing to see. Will be getting more scans in a couple of weeks, so we might be able to scan something then.

It's the little things...

Well we're back and kind-of settled in to the house. It's all in good shape and has been well looked after by the tenants. The garden is a bit dry but not much you can do about that. The move was relatively painless, apart from the storage place holding our stuff threatening to deliver it at 6:30am the day after we arrived. Luckily Liz managed to sort things out and deliveries were made at a sensible hour, while I went to the airport to collect the excess baggage and the cats.

Australian shipping and customs is no more logical than New Zealand's was: go to agent's office, get forms, take forms to Customs, fill out another form, go to Quarantine, get a rubber stamp, go back to Customs for clearance, go back to agent's, then to the warehouse to collect the goods.

Then repeat for the cats... They were pretty stressed until they got back to the house, but have settled in very quickly and are enjoying time on the couch as much as Jo is.

I'm still getting used to being home. It's funny how all the small differenced throw you off and make you feel out of place. Like the way that I couldn't go to a cafe and pay by credit card because it was below their minimum transaction limit (an unheard-of concept in NZ). Or remembering who gives way to who when I turn left. That a 32 degree day doesn't feel any hotter than a 25 degree day in Auckland. And that the entire length of our street has been dug up, then repaved by blind, drunk carpenters*. The way Chadstone shopping centre is spreading like cancer. Or that I have to remember how my signature goes when I use a credit card (PIN everywhere in NZ) - but I did find you can use PIN at Safeway. And let's not get started with telemarketers! The phone hasn't stopped since we got back! Bloody parasites!

Speaking of small differences (and parasites for that matter), here's one... though depending on your perspective, it's going to be a pretty big change:
Woohoo!

*(carpenters not being renowned for their roadworks skills)