Harper's room, we moved one of the beds to the study to make room for her crib
Around 10am, Jeremy’s dear friend Tommy came over and picked up the Grace family for a little adventure. We loaded up Harper in her car seat and I went to the wrong side of the car to get into the passenger front seat! I have a feeling that is going to be happening for a while. When Tommy started driving I got a little carsick from the “off” felling of being on the left side of the car with no wheel in front of me. I can’t even begin to tell you how weird it was driving on the other side of the road! They have the oddest street lines here. That is going to have to be an entry on its own.
Tommy drove us around Bondi, Bronte, Coogee, Clovelly and then drove through Centennial Park and caught a glimpse of the Harbor Bridge. Jeremy saw the Sydney Opera House but I missed it. We stopped at Bronte Beach and had a lovely brunch at a café right across the street from the ocean and watched surfers on the huge waves due to the inclement weather we experienced today. I had a wonderful Eggs Benedict served with organic eggs so the center yolks were orange, a little shock for me as I have never seen that before, and it was served with a small salad. Jeremy had an ABC omelet (avocado, bacon and cheese) and it came with “brown” bread (wheat) and the omelet was served on top of the toast. When the set it down Jeremy asked where his toast was, yep we are defiantly not from here. The lattes were wonderful and my tea just great. Side note; the lattes are served in glasses like water would be served in.
We really wish Tommy didn’t work away from Sydney so much so we could see him more. His diary for the next few months is so booked we probably won’t be able to make it out to his home for a barbeque until June. Tommy is a stand-up comedian if I haven’t mentioned that before. We are waiting to hear him on a weekly radio show he does. He said that is going to give us a little “shout out.” Will update on that later.
Well it’s 4:30pm and we are still waiting for our 7 bags that American Airlines lost…..
5pm Sydney time, our bags are finally here! Never been so happy to see so much luggage. Jeremy is unpacking as I type. Tommy’s show just started so off to listen!
Tommy just mentioned us “On Air!” Pretty cool since we have only been here 24 hours and we are being announced by a celebrity J
After going to baggage services and filing our claim for our lost baggage our driver loaded us up and drove us to 34 High Street, our temporary home. It was bit strange and little “sea-sick” to drive on the “other” side of the road. We were reminded several times that it wasn’t the “wrong” side; it was the “other” side. It was just really weird turning and the road lines are very different than the states (a zigzag indicates a pedestrian crossing ahead). One interesting thing, the street signs are green, nice to see something familiar. Sydney so far looks like a mix of Miami and San Diego with the weather and palm trees.
We arrived at our new flat and were greeted by a member of Prem’s staff to let us in and it was not as bad as I was expecting, a lot like college. It was not as clean as I would have preferred, but it was bigger than I thought. After taking the tour Jeremy and I, along with Harper, went to go purchase cleaning supplies and I spent the next few hours fighting jet lag and scouring the apartment. The cleaning supplies here smell different here. In fact it just smells a little different here in general. I am sure that it will go away in a few weeks. We really wanted to go see the beach today but we will do that later this week. I wish they had a better vacuum here. I miss my Dyson!
We were able to have a little USA normalization by watching M.A.S.H. on television and by listening to American music on the radio. Pretty much all the music we have heard here is from America. When shopping at the grocery store Jeremy I were amazed by how much everything costs here. We were just going down each aisle with our mouths open, we must have looked really out of place. For example, Suave shampoo, which in the States is only $1-2, is over $6AU here. I purchased Pantene because it was cheaper!
Jeremy on the "sweets" aisle, the carts here are four wheel drive and you pass on the left
Yes Mum, there are ceiling fans here :) Jet-lag didn't really get to me, but Jeremy and Harper did take a long nap today. I am trying to think that it is mind over matter.
crossing the international datelineWe were in the 63rd row of the 747, which would be the back of the plane for those of you not familiar with “economy” or coach as Americans are used to. Jeremy was across the aisle from Harper and I and ended up having the whole row to himself. That came in handy later when I took a sleeping pill and laid out for 7 hours. Again, I cannot express to you how WONDERFUL the Qantas flight crew was to us. Anything we needed, done. Play with the baby, gave us extra snacks, drinks, done. They even had a trolley waiting for us at the other end of our flight to drive us to customs since they knew something we didn’t. That something was…all of our 7 bags were still in L.A.!
Jeremy telling me we are officially leaving: I was at our home in Kingwood, Texas watching the painters touch-up paint from the new granite installation earlier that week and I got a phone call from Jeremy. He was in New York interviewing for a position at UNSW. Quite simply said, he got the job! He told me that they wanted him there by May and the wheels just started turning as to what we had to do to make that happen. We spent the next five weeks working our tails off and working with the immigration lawyer, Aristotle, to become legal in Australia. The officials argued our marriage license, as we only have the one document in Texas, that was fun.
Putting the house on the market: Jeremy told me we were moving on a Friday, our house was staged and ready to go on the market at 2pm the next Wednesday. The agent who sold our home to us put us back on the market 8 months later. Jeremy and I worked tiredly the entire weekend and even had to call in my father to watch Harper for me so I could get all of the finishing touches complete. You cannot imagine how hard it is to cleanout, stage and put your house up on the market with an 8 month old! But the payoff was worth it in my mind as our realtor and others said it showed like a model home.
movers loading up our container
Selling off our things: Jeremy and I went through our large and very full home and had to make the tough, and sometimes easy, decision as to what goes with and what we would need to sell. I went onto two Kingwood “sell your stuff” websites and as I listed items they sold. Items that we didn’t sell we gave away. It was nice to be able to purge ourselves of things so we could start anew in Australia. It was also very sad to see things we loved leave with someone new. Australia has very strict laws about what can and cannot come with you and all of our wicker and untreated wood could not come with us. I thought there was going to be a riot over a wicker storage basket that we got at Target. Who knew?!
Saying “see you later” to friends:
-Joe: It was such a treat for Jeremy and I to have you meet Harper and see us off. Thank you again for teaching Harper how to “cough.”
-Johnell and Russ: Y’all were so wonderful to have us at your home. Meeting Ashton and spending time with the divine Miss M was just the cherry! The steaks you made still make me hungry when I think about them.
-Kelie: Lunch was great in Austin, but having you come out and spend time with us in Houston before we left was amazing. Thank you for coming all the way out and for helping me with the house.
-Uncle Neal: Thank you for coming down even if you didn’t get to go camping. The photos of Harper and you playing the guitar are going to be treasured forever! We expect you to come to Aussie land soon.
-Ron and Sirenda: Oh what a treat to see you both! I hope you didn’t look too “Clampet” driving back to Arizona in Jeremy’s truck. It was so nice that Ron was able to see little Harp before we left and it was great to hang out as a family.
-Aunt Sue: If you hadn’t come to the rescue I would have probably lost all of my hair that Friday before we left! Thank you for taking Harper and for giving us one last squeeze before our departure.
-BigDaddy and Granbobbie: It was so hard to watch you drive away, but I am so glad that you were able to come down and see us. Dinner was perfect, the talks were wonderful, and we love you both so much.
-Mum and Dad: Love you, couldn’t have done it without you. The two nights we spent at your home before we left were some of our favorites. The food, fun and conversation were great. Thank you Thank you Thank you!
-Jennifer, Keith and Scarlett: Oh Ms. Jen, thanks for “rallying” me J, Keith, thank you for your help, and Miss Scarlet thank you for being so gosh darn cute!
