is it really April?

Well, March wasn't exactly "in like a lion and out like a lamb" at our house. Weather notwithstanding, it was more like "a lion in a decathalon of some sort" with church events, baby classes, hospital checkups, and work. (Ok, that was lame, but I tried. Moving on.)

We had the opportunity to go to a Newcastle Knights (rugby league) game with tickets from work, which included dinner in the corporate suite and some pretty good seats. That was cool; I've missed going to Amerks and Red Wings games like I used to with Deloitte. Jesse had a decent understanding of the game, and we sorted the rest out together. It wasn't quite as amusing as the time Laura and I went to a Knighthawks (lacrosse) game in Rochester, and affectionately dubbed the sport "baskesocckey" as we attempted to decipher the rules, but it was still a good time. I did get a bit stiff with my ever-heavier body in the plastic chair, but was able to put my feet up for the second half of the game, which we watched from the box.

I'm not sure if it was in March or late February, but we've encountered a previously unanticipated benefit of pastoring a country-ish church: a family in our church "came into some beef" and we have been enjoying some of the most tender steaks I've ever had since then. (Well, steak, and a roast, and some ground beef too :) Our little freezer, at one point, was full of meat. We've been alternating with chicken and experimenting some with marinades to keep things exciting, and Jesse is becoming an expert at grilling the steaks. He also made chicken parmigiana this week when I missed the train coming home from work and we had guests coming over for dinner. That turned out very good; recent experiments of mine (including satay chicken and a peach-chicken dish I didn't fully think through ahead of time) have been less successful. Edible, but less successful.

The last week of February, we attended the National Pastors' Conference in Tweed Heads (on the border of NSW and QLD). It was my first time into Queensland (unless you count the Brisbane airport), as our hotel was technically in NSW but across the street from Queensland. We had a great room with a beautiful view of the water, and I got to catch up with a high school friend who is pastoring a church in Perth with her husband. Who would have thought that Fillmore grads would find each other on the other side of the world? Anyway, that was a good trip. We took our time coming home and spent a couple of days in Port Macquarie, where we had the pleasure of wallabies playing in the backyard of our rented cabin/house.

The conference fun didn't end there, though. The first weekend in March was our District Women's Retreat, in a retreat center on Lake Macquarie. It was fun to get to know some other women from around the state, and hang out with a friend and her two-week-old baby.

I only have 3 weeks left of work (actually, it's only 12 work days, with one holiday and two Fridays off) before it's time to come home and wait for baby! We got a lot done yesterday in preparation for his/her arrival, and there's still more to do. I've been reading up on childhood vaccinations and have been trying to formulate a plan for those. I don't mean to make anyone nervous; we are planning on our child receiving all the recommended vaccines, perhaps slightly delayed from the planned schedule. What I'm struggling with at the moment is why my newborn baby needs a Hepatitis B shot. I haven't found anything that compels me to believe this is critical for a newborn, other than that it was the easiest way to make sure everyone is immunized against it. If anyone has an idea on this, I'm all ears.

And so all of this brings us to nearly the middle of April, with just over 5 weeks to go (give or take) until the baby's room is occupied. Crazy!

just for a moment

I have a few, rare, quiet moments to myself. I'm sitting on the couch, the dishes are done, Jesse's not back yet, and I'm enjoying hanging out with our little baby. S/he's moving around a bit (as usual), and I just sit here and wonder who this person is, who is already so much a part of our lives. Life has been very busy for both Jesse and me lately, and it's nice to slow down and think about what the not-so-distant future holds, and play with (read: poke) the baby a little.

cat = out of bag

Well, my extreme lack of posting for the last few months was not without good reason. We had a wonderful visit back in the US with friends and family around Thanksgiving; it was great to combine a break from work with seeing familiar people and being ourselves with them.

But the main reason I couldn't think to post was that we weren't quite ready to announce my pregnancy to the internet masses ;) I've received a couple of requests for detailed accounts of the pregnancy, but will keep them to the fact that morning sickness found me in a rather violent way around week 7 and didn't leave until week 17, so I didn't want to keep updating with "still sick" and such things. Jesse and my coworkers can all attest to the rough shape I was in during much of that time. But we are very happy to report that I haven't been sick for a few weeks now, and the baby is now using movement to remind us of his/her presence rather than the sickness. It kicked Jesse's arm the other morning, which was cool and the first time he'd felt it move.

For those who are wondering, the due date is May 16th. We're planning on keeping the gender a mystery until the baby's birth, although we think it's a boy based on a combination of old wives' tales and hunches. (And hey, why not make a guess, with a 50/50 chance). We got a peek at the baby around 9 weeks, and have heard its heartbeat twice. In a little under a week, we'll have another look and see how s/he's doing in there.

Aside from the baby, things are going well. We celebrated Christmas on our own in the morning, and then with friends in Sydney in the afternoon/evening and for Boxing Day. It was a great chance to hang out and have fun, and also try out my new Super Mario Bros. Wii game. I had yesterday off work for the Boxing Day holiday, and we rearranged our front rooms in anticipation of the arrival of a friend of Jesse's at the end of this week, and eventually with the idea of a nursery :)

So, thanks to all those who posted excited congrats on facebook today; I really enjoyed hearing from all of you!

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.

August

Another month come and gone. Before I get into what we've been up to, I need to put in a plug for a life-saving cookbook, which I know I've done before, but here it is: What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything. I've not been feeling the greatest lately, so it's back to a strict diet for me. One of the things I like about this cookbook is that it categorizes recipes based on how you're feeling - ultrasensitive, sensitive, and unsensitive. So I can turn to the ultrasensitive section and pick out recipes until I start feeling better, then add in the sensitive recipes, etc.

But enough about my food issues. I received an employment extension from the government, which allows me to continue working for a few more weeks at my current job. I'm not sure whether they will grant an additional extension if Jesse's visa isn't approved by then, however. This is still a matter for prayer, but I am confident that God will continue to provide for us/me, even if it's not in a way I'm expecting.

Our volleyball competition ended, and we were at the bottom of the A-grade at the end. Funny; we won the B-grade in our first "comp" (as they say here), and then lost the A-grade. The sports center is in the process of relocating to a new facility (which is not yet built), so in the meantime, we have freed up another weeknight. That's been nice.

The weather's been unseasonably warm for August. We're talking about trying to put a small garden in the backyard (those who've seen our backyard know that it could only be small!). Neither of us has a particularly green thumb (and I killed one herb plant last year by giving it too much sun in the sauna that is the back of our house), so I'm thinking of getting some plants that can grow in the shade of our tree. (Also, I don't want to necessarily be in direct sunlight while taking care of it in the hot summer sun.) I want to grow veggies or herbs of some kind. Any suggestions from the audience?

We had a great time at a birthday party for a friend yesterday. Jesse and I "designed" the card ourselves and I think we may have been more pleased with it than the recipient, but he seemed to enjoy it as well.

Well, off to prepare for church. Thanks for reading, and I'm looking forward to the gardening recommendations!

July: poof

Where has July gone? It was a busy month at work and church, that's for sure. It began with a celebration of my 26th birthday, which started with "presents in bed" (a few dvd's, books, and nice warm slippers from Jesse), ended with a friend's exhibit opening, Mexican food, and watching one of said dvd's, with "afternoon tea" at work in the middle. They were going to make me a sugar-free cake, but the woman who would've made it was sick, so they bought a spinach quiche and stuck candles in it. I think, along with the list I maintain of "places I've spent my birthday" I may make note of this unique "cake-replacement". :)

Friends came up to help celebrate the Saturday after my birthday, which turned out to be day 2 of the worst flu I remember having. I still participated in the "birthday game" (pinata) Jesse had so proudly put together. We have some great photos of our friends' poor daughter, distraught after her daddy knocked the pinata down from its hanging place on our clothesline. And also some great photos of Jesse decapitating the pinata. Its head currently rests on our mantle in triumph. (Said friends gave me a great tv series, called "Lost in Austen", for my birthday, about a woman who gets caught up in Pride and Prejudice. I loved it.)

The rest of the month saw year-end stuff at work for me, a work bee at church, the church annual meeting, a celebration of life at the passing of a young member of our congregation, and the start of a new/revived prayer ministry.

In reading news, I read My Seventh Monsoon by Naomi Reed, about time she and her family spent in Nepal, and loved it. I may post some quotes on my profile; she has an acute sense of the seasons of our lives, and had a lot to say about transition that meant a lot to me. I'm currently reading Jesse's copy of The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of writings by Douglas Adams. Of course, he's quite clever and funny, but it's also given me an interesting perspective on his atheism and how he, for lack of a better term, "wore" that.

All of this brings us to August. At the outset, it doesn't appear to be quite as packed as July, but we will see.

one man's trash is another man's clutter

So, visit with family = good. Took them around, they took lots of photos, they helped out a lot with projects we'd been meaning to get to around the house (or, more accurately, projects we'd been hoping they'd help with... yeah). It's good to have family around. As an added bonus, we are now experienced tour guides, and have a better idea of where to send/take visitors. (Your package will include, but is not limited to, a day in Sydney walking around the Circular Quay, a visit to a quaint country petting zoo with Aussie animals, a minimum of one Australian barbeque with a REAL Aussie family, and the opportunity to make us feel like we have friends.)

Today, we had a garage sale for the youth to raise money for camp in a few weeks. We actually did reasonably well - we earned more money than I had expected we would. The kids and adults from the church worked well together in putting it on, which was cool. As I looked through the hall at the massive amounts of stuff, I couldn't believe the sheer volume. But people came by and found treasures; toys, vases, books, clothes. And our teens who helped should have their camp trips mostly paid for.

After napping off the exhaustion of this morning, Jesse and I are awaiting our Saturday night Pizza Hut pizza. I think we will be on a first-name basis with the delivery girl very soon. I get deep dish pepperoni, he gets thin crust cheese, and we watch movies and/or Aussie Rules on tv. (Aussie Rules = Aussie Rules football, known as footy in Victoria, but not here, where footy refers to Rugby League.)