We're camping

This past weekend was our District Youth Retreat at the beach. We had a great time camping, and had the perfect weather for it (quite sunny and warm, perhaps a little chillier at night than we would like). Simon thoroughly enjoyed all the attention he received, and it was helpful to me to have many willing entertainers for him :)

I had my first experience with meal planning and execution for over 30 people!! Jesse and I planned the food together, I made a shopping list on Coles Online, and we took said shopping list to Aldi. This accomplished a couple of things; we knew what amounts we wanted of everything, and we also knew how much we were saving by shopping at Aldi (for the record, $330 worth of groceries at Coles cost us $200 at Aldi!). We underestimated the amount of milk necessary (well, I think I technically underestimated the ability of teenage boys to drown their cereal in milk) and overestimated the amount of greens/salad necessary (yeah, should have thought that through). Also overestimated was the ratio of chips/cookies to sandwiches people wanted to eat; we had to ration the seconds. In the end, we had to buy more sausages and milk, and a few more drinks on the Saturday, but I don't think anyone went hungry.

Growing up, we always went to our District Family Camp at Chambers Camp near Corning, NY. We had a campsite right next to our good friends, and whether it was trailer-camping or tent-camping, had a great time. We have photos of my birthday at family camp, all 6 of us kids "napping" on a blanket in the shade, and siblings receiving "baths" in plastic buckets of some variety. Whenever someone would complain, or realize something had been left at home, our moms would sing a little song that went something like this, "We're camping, we're camping, we're ca-amping."

In the midst of all the various food situations this last weekend, I only wished I'd remembered that little song. The teens probably would have thought I was crazy (they'd be right), but having a little song to sing when things aren't going just right can provide a fresh dose of perspective, or at least lighten the situation a bit.

October

Two months later. Yikes. Jesse and I had a great trip at the beginning of September to the Barrington Tops. We went on a hike that definitely pushed the boundaries of the shape I was in, but it was fun to get away and relax for a few days. Jesse surprised me by bringing some of our nice clothes to have a candlelight dinner one of the nights; it was a great celebration of our almost-anniversary.

For those who don't know, our visa was approved the first week of October, so a lot of that worry/phone calling/stress has died down. At least we get two more years now until we have to go through it again. It's been nice not having to haggle through another employment extension every month, and to have all of my paperwork now in my married name and new passport (I think health insurance still needs to be changed... and maybe some frequent flier club memberships, but that's it.)

We looked through a house that's closer to the church (essentially in its backyard), but so far it looks like we can't afford to move there. Housing prices are very high over here, particularly in comparison to the Rochester area (where I was once house hunting a couple of years ago), so it's hard to swallow the cost of some of them. The area hasn't been hit by the financial crisis nearly like most places in the US, and it's believed by some that there is still somewhat of a housing bubble to be burst. Combine that with the fact that someone working in the mines could be making upwards of $1,700AUD/week, and ta-da, expensive housing. So we are staying put for the time being, but on the lookout.

I haven't done much reading lately, but I have appropriated Jesse's ipod shuffle for the ride to and from work, which has been nice. It was particularly useful yesterday when some drunk man near the front of the carriage was "singing" very loudly for a good half of the ride. One day when I was NOT listening to the ipod, a very dark-skinned man wearing a heavy Christmassy sweater came an sat next to me at the University stop (most people were wearing a light jacket, at most). Through my scholar-servant powers of reasoning, I deduced that he was likely from Africa. He's originally from Nigeria, spent some time in Ghana, and was hear to do a master's in education. I don't usually strike up conversations with fellow train-goers, but it was nice to have a bit of a cross-cultural experience on the way home.

Jesse and I discovered a new restaurant near where I work, which touts itself as a "pizza and pasta bar". This sounded very good to me. I had a creamy chicken penne with baby spinach and pesto sauce - yum! Jesse had a four-cheese pizza, and we watched a Chicago Bulls game on the HDTV. I think we both prefer college to pro basketball, but a chance to watch familiar sports over here is one we will take. We've started getting reception on a channel that shows basketball and NFL football, and have even watched a couple of NFL games (although the commercial breaks are never timed quite right, and we end up missing parts of the game. We get back from the break and have to figure out what just happened). All in all, the pizza and pasta bar was a success.

(Oh, for those who are wondering, our delusions of garden have been crushed by lack of effort before they even fully materialized. I think we have managed to kill another herb plant, though.)

Today, I am looking forward to a massage and a chiropractor visit. It's been a year since I've gone to either, and I'm feeling it. I actually found this place via tv commercial - not where I would typically look for a doctor - but their clinic offers both and is open 1/2 day on Saturdays, so here's hoping it will be good.