Bart will be on the curb at Brizzy (Another cute Australian shortcut for Brisbane) by 1pm meanwhile I have been up since 5 am for the run (making up for the dozen of the best chocolate chip cookies I ever shouldn't have eaten!) then off to seminary with R, home with 10 min to spare to wake up J (no working cell phone right now) who MUST be 100% ready to go by the time I'm back with R so we can pile in and off to school. Feels like I am driving for 3 hours by the time 9 am rolls around. I have a name for ride possibilities and prices for the bus. Can you believe they want $33/ week because it's not state funded, just a private company bussing the kids? Yikes. With Bart home I may just take R and stay to run around the neighborhood while Bart gets J ready for the day. In fact, if he travels again I might just give R the seminary lesson myself!!! Whew.
In spite of all that, my life still feels like a vacation, minus the maid. Part of my "work" today is packing for the next trip to the mountains. There are palm trees in my yard and a pool! What kind of a fantastic deal is that? I would have died for that all those years back my family lived in hot, hot El Cajon, California with NO AIRCONDITIONING! On my runs I am looking at the ocean with the sun just coming up and islands off in the distance. Everything is just different enough to be stimulating and interesting for now. I even answer the phone to telemarketers and enjoy the way they talk before I tell them, very nicely, no thank you.
And, to top it off, we have a great neighbor family across the cul de sac. They have done so much for us, ie. internet connection (he's and IT guy), turning us on to the school the boys attend, having us over for a bahbie (bar b q), sending their kids over to play, taking R and J to school AND giving them lunch money when I got stuck in traffic and couldn't make it back in time. If all they had done was be kind to Bart while we were away from him that long couple of weeks he was here at the house alone it would have been enough, but they have been 100% since day one. And they are the only ones. No one else has come over to introduce themselves or say hi or drop a goodie or anything.
So I wanted to say thank you, the only way know how, by taking cookies over. It's taken awhile but I finally got over last night. You would all love this woman. She reaches for me and kisses my cheek and says thank you over and over, asking me how I am doing, offering to do more. Heavenly Father always sends me the best of the best. You know who you are my friends and family. I love each of you so dearly. Thank you. Lee Anne reminded me of the gift you are.
Jeremy has a friend or two he's made at school. He's pretty proactive when it comes to the social scene. Morgan came over yesterday to swim and hang out in wet bathing suits on the couch hee, hee. When we picked him up he introduced us to his dog, AhhChee. I thought is sounded very vogue and odd for a freckle face Aussie boy. Then it hit me, "Duh, Archie. Not AhhChee." It catches you off guard just enough to make you feel a little silly.
But nothing makes me feel more conspicuously ridiculous than throwing my stuff in the car then going around to plop myself in the driver's side only to realize there's no steering wheel.
There's no cool way to recover from that one. Or the other one, when you flip the wipers on instead of the blinkers and the sun is shining high in the sky. Oooops. Oh and this one, when the person tells you their address and even though they are standing next to you spelling slowly for you you're writing down some strange word. It was Iron Bark but I could have sworn she said Iron Baik. Of course I had the same problem one morning when my cute neighbor with the southern accent instructed me to head on down "Ionbond". She was gone and I was eating dinner before I realized it was "Ironbound". I think I am losing my hearing.
Well, I hope you are all "going" well today. This is eating up lawnmowing, laundry hanging, packing time but before I go, CONGRATULATIONS TO MY 1 year old NEPHEW BENNETT WHO IS WALKING CIRCLES AROUND HIS FATHER in the latest video from home. Can you believe just weeks ago his mom was slightly wigged out that he wasn't crawling yet. Can't wait to get home and chase him and Duncan around! Can't wait!
5 comments:
Ha ha.. by the time we see you next you might be able to take him on a run!! That kid is nut-s0- cute! Your life is crazy and hillarious, thanks for sharing it, much love, liz and b and t
Oh Kelli. Glad you find humor in it all. Seriously, I don't think I could do the driving on the wrong side thing. Ever. Can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Your surroundings sound beautiful. Beaches, eh? What a nice setting for a run. Run? What's that? Haven't done it in a while. :o)
We had a friend from Australia who told me she thought her hair was a "weed" color. My sis and I looked at each other, and I said, "Your hair is brown. Weeds aren't brown."
She meant, of course, a WEIRD color.
We laughed at her, but then she said she thought WE sounded like a bunch of whack Yanks, and that everybody prefers how Australians talk anyway.
She's right, of course.
Laughing out load here (full shoulder bounce and all) thinking of you jumping into the drivers side of the car and realizing that there isn't a steering wheel. I wish I could have been there to see that!
btw- my friend Natalie just moved to Australia over Christmas too. Looks like she is having some of the same issues as you...
http://benatriley.blogspot.com/2008/02/feeling-silly.html
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