a time to socialize

Since my last, semi-defeated job hunt post, I've found a couple more opportunities, which I've applied for.  We'll see what comes of those.  In weather news, it was hot today, but not crazy hot, and I was able to get two loads of laundry done.  Scintillating stuff, I know.

Friday afternoon, Jesse took me out to lunch and to see Bride Wars.  He's well aware that a movie is, in some ways, a "quick trip home," even if I never lived in NYC.  For a chick flick, it had some good character development, and wasn't completely predictable.  It provided the entertainment I desired, and it was nice to have a surprise date.  In the evening, we had the first youth group of the year, which went quite well.  Saturday, after a day of tidying up the house and relaxing, we went bowling with the young adults, plus some of their friends.  I didn't do too badly; but anyone who's ever seen me bowl knows that I didn't break any records either :)

Sunday night, we headed to Sydney and had a great time hanging out, talking, watching cricket and tennis with our gracious hosts.  Monday morning, we had a Super Bowl party with friends of a friend, which was cool - the Aussie commentators were quite interesting, as was watching our poor host (a Cardinals fan) suffer through the game.  We had pizza and snacks, but not nearly to the magnitude of Super Bowl parties past.  It's hard to eat that much when the game starts just after 10am!  After the game, we drove back home, then to a family's house for dinner and a lot of laughter. 

It's been nice to spend so many days in the company of other people.  On the way to dinner last night, I saw my first wild kangaroos; I'd seen several at the Melbourne Zoo, but never any in the wild.  That was an exciting milestone.

This evening, I'm taking a break at home.  Jesse's playing soccer, and I'm looking forward to a quiet evening of tv, laundry, and possibly some scrapbooking.  I realize that I'm typically home, and you'd think I would jump at the chance to get out of the house.  While that may be true, it's in the cool of the evening that I can actually feel motivated to  get things done - fun or otherwise - so it's nice to have the option now and then. 

not off the hook yet....

Just when you thought you were done reading laundry posts.

I was thinking last night, as I threw a bunch of clothes in and set the delay timer on our fancy washing machine that, today, I would post a wonderful post on how we were getting along with the machine so well, and it was making our lives easier.  We've sorted through the technology, and are enjoying the fact that we don't have to babysit it all night long.

I got up at 8 this morning (which is early for me), and Jesse was still sleeping (which is late for him).  It was a rather hot night and I don't think he got much sleep.  Anyway, I turned the internet modem on and headed to the bathroom before booting up the computer.  I was greeted by - water.  Lint.  I stepped over the puddles onto the rug at the base of the toilet, only to splash in a puddle of water on the toilet-rug.  Apparently, the drainage hose had come out of the sink (there was an unidentified noise as we were going to bed last night; I've decided that must have been it) and drained the entire washer-full of water onto the laundry room floor, which leaked into the toilet room.

I procured a plastic bag, placed the dripping wet rug in it, and scampered out the back door, where I hung it to dry.  I mopped up the wet, linty toilet room, hung out the clean clothes, and placed all the wet dirty clothes inside (our dirty clothes were sorted into piles on the floor of the laundry room, which probably prevented the water from spreading further) for a quick wash.  I set up a fan to try to evaporate the mopped floor.  Jesse woke up and helped me hang out the clean clothes.

Adventures.

Let the Sporadic Posting Continue!

The weather this week has ranged from unbearably hot to reasonably cool (it rained yesterday; so nice!).  We had a family over for dinner on Wednesday evening; we let their kids play on the Wii after dinner, and they returned home and promptly pooled their money to buy one of their own :)  It was nice to get to know all of them, and have some company for the evening.

Wednesday was a big day in our house; not only did we have the "dinner party," but our brand new washing machine was delivered!  We didn't hook it up until yesterday, and haven't used it yet (but plan to today), and I am quite excited to say goodbye to the days of twin-tubbing.  It's a combo washer/dryer, which means when it rains for days on end, we can still have clean clothes.  Exciting times!

Thursday was reasonably uneventful, despite a frozen pork fiasco that resulted in the disinfecting of the kitchen, but also in a tasty dinner.  Our volleyball team won a decisive victory in the evening, which was awesome.  We played well and had a lot of fun.  I'm pretty well used to the new rules now, and Jesse's game is steadily improving.  His cricket team did fairly well, too, so it was a winning night at the indoor sports center for J&J.

Yesterday, I hung around the house and got some much-needed cleaning done while Jesse ran a few errands.  A girl from church came over to hang out, and we ate leftovers (pot roast, canneloni, and sweet and sour pork) for dinner and watched Music & Lyrics, which she hadn't seen, and is a movie I greatly enjoy (one of a handful of movies I actually own, aside from Jesse's collection).  We followed that up with an episode of Numb3rs and then Law & Order before calling it a night.

Today has been a lazy day so far.  I've been playing Scramble and the Typing Speed application on facebook, and Jesse's playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii.  At some point, we'll start getting ready for the youth leadership conference, for which we leave very early Monday morning.  It's in the Blue Mountains, where I have not yet been, so I'm quite excited to visit there.  I'm also looking forward to getting some instruction on working with the youth, and hopeful it will reinvigorate Jesse, the two leaders, and me to better teach them.  Needless to say, I will be incommunicado beginning Monday, but let's face it; I haven't been that consistent with posts anyway, so perhaps no one will notice ;)

Hit the Road

Yet again, I can report a few eventful days. Monday morning, after enjoying a night's sleep in a real bed, we set off for the Sydney area to visit friends. We arrived a little after 11am and had the chance to chat and play with their daughter (who, for the record, reached out because she wanted me to hold her. That definitely made my day) before eating a tasty lunch.

After lunch and a cuppa (cup of tea), Jesse and I headed to Parramatta to make a stop at an immigration office there. The officer we were assigned for the visit seemed very nervous; she spoke quietly, and covered her mouth when she talked, so it was difficult at times to understand her, but we were able to confirm what our next steps should be in the visa process, and that we don't need to take them for several months yet.

Having received that news, we stopped at the Koorong bookstore, a Christian bookstore in the area. We had a great time browsing there, and picked up a few Christmas presents for each other :) A couple of hours later, we were finished with our browsing, and headed for the Hope Wesleyan Church and a pastors' barbeque with the NSW district. I met some of the other pastors and their wives, and it was a good time of fellowship with a meaningful prayer time as well. Jesse and I ducked out just after 9 and made the 2 hour trip back home, making a stop at McDonald's halfway to procure caffeine for the driver :)

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning presented an opportunity for me to tidy up around the house a bit. Jesse started a couple loads of laundry, which I finished after he left for work, and I was able to collect some of our camping things, and just generally organize the house. My jewelry had been spread all over the dining room table (as it was in a ziploc bag with some exploded makeup, and had a shiny mauve tint to it as a result), so I wiped that off and put it into a jewelry box. I'd been wanting to put that away for some time, so that was good.

We went out for lunch, as we hadn't been grocery shopping (and still haven't; I made pancakes with our final egg for breakfast this morning), then Jesse napped and I got ready for my interview. I realized during this process that the only full suit I'd brought with me was my black suit, which was going to be (a) really uncomfortable given the temperatures, and (b) impossible to match shoes with, as I'd only brought close-toed brown shoes with me, and didn't think black flip flops (thongs to the Aussie) appropriate. I settled on brown pants with a colorful dress shirt, so that I could wear the right shoes. Sheesh.

We drove to Newcastle to meet with the recruiter. Since my current visa allows work, but not for more than 6 months with any one employer, I'm essentially applying for temporary work. The interview went well (we'd already discussed many things over the phone), and now it's just left to wait and see what they can find for me. It likely won't be until the new year, which is fine with me, as there's still plenty to do around the house. A few people have asked me if I'm bored yet just being at home; I'm not. There's plenty to do, and I like being able to tackle it with a relaxed pace.

After the interview, we swung by the hospital in Newcastle to visit a friend from Jesse's soccer team's wife and baby. The baby was born at 28-29 weeks gestation, and he's a little over 2 pounds. We got to see him in the NICU; he's so tiny, but has all the features he should. His mom thinks his toes look plastic :) He's doing very well, particularly for his size, so that's encouraging.

We headed back home in time to change before Jesse's soccer games, and then drove to Rutherford for those. I worked on thank-you notes to try to bring the pile down somewhat.

So, there you have it; two full days, but good ones. It's nice to be home for a few days now, to recouperate!

Laundry: Day 2

I promise/hope not to write about laundry every day. The good news is - I figured out how to use the wringer sans screeching. The bad news - I have to babysit it and hold the cover just-so. Good news: being able to reach the clothesline from the ramp off our back door. Bad news: the key to the back door unlocks all but the latch, and doesn't touch the front door.

Due to the second set of bad news, I locked myself out of the house around 11:40 this morning. I had brought the back door keys with me, only to realize they only unlocked the deadbolt and screen, and not the actual latch to get into the house. Thankfully, I knew Jesse was coming home around 12:30 for lunch. See, I had no phone (even inside), and his phone numbers had been carefully written down and left for me on the kitchen counter, so I didn't even have the option of getting a neighbor to call. I decided I would spend my time on our front porch waiting.

This turned out to be good thinking-time. In thinking about our washing machine, and the dishes, I came to understand that, for two people to work outside the home, it really does require technology. I can't imagine still working as an auditor and having to cook and clean without the conveniences of microwaves, fully automated washing machines, and dishwashers. I suppose I would use cleaning services and eat out most of the time. It was interesting to me, that in order to "contribute to society" outside the home, there is a certain level of technology required inside the home, or a household employee to do the cooking and cleaning. I'm still chewing on this idea, as I'm not sure whether it's as profound as it first seemed. Time will tell :)

The first day of the rest of my life

The subject reflects how I'm feeling about today. Although it seems like something that would have been on a poster in my junior high school cafeteria (right next to "When we Compromise, Everyone Wins"), today is different because, after a little over a month of auto-pilot, planning, wedding, and moving, Jesse and I went to work. Jesse to the church, and me to try my hand at the life of a stay-at-home spouse. By way of quick background for those who don't know, I'm taking a little break from the working world to get us settled, take care of additional visa stuff, and have a bit of a "summer vacation" for a change. Soon, I will begin circulating my resume in the hope of finding a job to start in 2009.

At any rate, Jesse left early this morning for a meeting, and I happily slept in until 7am. This was great, as it shows I'm adjusting to the time here. After catching up on email for a bit, I wrote some thank-you cards, and played a little Wii Play (I have a gold medal on the shooting game, of which I am quite proud). While making lunch, a couple from church stopped by with a two-tub washing machine they're loaning us until we're able to shop around for our own. Jesse arrived home for lunch, we received some instruction on the operation of said washer, and were left to our lunch. After lunch, with Jesse back at the office, and after a brief phone call with my parents (who are coming to visit in May/June! Yay!), I decided to tackle the washer.

Mom said I would feel a bit like a Pioneer woman with this washer. And she is right. Mistake #1, perhaps, was that my first two-tub load attempt was made with towels. In my defense, I wanted to wash my new towels, as they fuzz all over everything and it's nice to use clean towels. However, the wringer makes a terrible screeching sound and I couldn't bring myself to let it run. So there is right now a pile of formerly soapy towels in the bathtub (awaiting rinse), and a load of half towels/half dark clothes that has just been rinsed in the washing tub. We'll see if I can find a way to appease the wringer and not have to squeeze each towel myself. Thankfully, there is a clothesline all set up in the backyard, and plenty of clothespins, so once I get past the wringing stage, there is hope for obtaining clean towels at some point.

Between loads of laundry, I've been washing dishes. I think Jesse and I are always washing dishes. We have a rather small sink, a rather ominous small-ant problem, and no robot to wash the dishes for us. So far, in my experience as a stay-at-home spouse of a whopping one day, I can see where it gets exhausting. I haven't even gotten to cleaning out the armoire and putting clothes away yet.

Tonight is Jesse's soccer night, so I'll get to go cheer him on there, and look into the volleyball leagues at the gym. I would love to start playing again. For now, it's back to the washer.