Christmas Down Under...

So, I'll be celebrating my first Christmas in Australia this year. We have bought ourselves a little 3 foot Christmas tree from Target it's tiny but it serves it's purpose. The malls are packed with people doing their Christmas shopping, last night at my local mall they were going to be open for 36 hours straight and when we left just before midnight, there were still many people coming in. Houses are lit with all kinds of lights, kinda reminds me of Pitkin Avenue in Ozone Park. People here enter contests to see who has the best lights. Fake trees are more popular then real trees as the real trees come up from Victoria, but you can also get them from the Scouts. Food here is plentiful, with seafood being very popular for Christmas lunches. Roasted hams and turkeys are also very popular. Down at the Queens Street Mall Meyer has a Christmas parade, they have kids dancing and singing, there's the nativity with sheep and goats and Mary riding a donkey next to Joseph, followed by the Three Kings literally on camels, which was so cool to see. As with the Macy's day parade this parade ends with Santa Claus  but here they have two real live reindeer. It is funny watching the people with the pooper-scoopers walking behind each set of animals as the parade is not on a street rather the mall which has closed of Queen Street to all traffic for quite a few years. It's kind of like what Bloomberg did in the city with Broadway. 

As Christmas is Tuesday and I'm in the tropics it almost doesn't feel like it, being used to the cold, but it's also cool wearing strappy sandals for Christmas Mass and the lunches and dinners following. I miss my family back home, I'm happy to be with my husband but I miss seeing my friends and hanging out with them. I'm happy I've spoken to my dad and my brother on Skype and shown my dad our little muppet. I wish I could share my cookies and rum balls with those I shared  with last year. Ahh to win the lottery and be able to see my friends and family whenever I please would be such a wonderful thing. My husband is on vacation starting Monday for two weeks, I see beach time in the near future. I have no idea yet what we're going to do to celebrate the New Year but I know it will be warm and there will be Sparkling drank.  The end of the world did not happen, as I write this it is 4:06pm on the 21st of December in Australia and its 1:06am New York time. Next blog will be in the New Year. I wish all my friends and family a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!  

Snacks in Australia...

There are many different snacks here and instead of writing about them I'll just be snapping photos and posting them. The Burger Rings remind me of Wise Onion Rings. The Doritos are slightly different than the US version. You cannot go into a grocery store and buy nacho cheese, you can buy plenty of salsa but no queso.

Unemployed...

So, coming to Australia and not having to work for a bit seemed so nice. It is nice, but there's one thing I do miss about working.....the MONEY. If my husband brought home over $100k, we could easily afford me not working. I want to buy clothes, I have gained 20lbs since being here and really cannot afford to buy a whole new wardrobe. The summer is almost here, today will be 92F and all I can wear are some dresses that I have that are not fitted. Most of my shorts are tight, or just uncomfortable because it seems I've gained inches in my ass, my thighs, my belly and my boobs (they were big enough already). I feel I have no drive or motivation, it sucks, I have this laziness in me that could easily sit around and just do nothing, then I get angry at myself. Two things I hate most are having to do dishes and an unmade bed. For the bed, it's a joy to do, though a slight pain in the ass with a king, but T "helps" so it's rather fun. The sink here is on the smallish side and when I cook or bake it's a pain to wash things when the pans don't fit in the sink, plus the water is a little on the hard side and I've noticed spots on my glasses and utensils (hate). Having a job would put me in contact with people. I go through days without speaking to anyone verbally other than my husband, I do love him very much, but sometimes you just want to talk to another woman. Once or twice a week I call my mom on Skype, but really what I want is female chit chat, sharing recipes and things I used to do at MFS. I sooo don't miss that place and the silliness of many of their procedures and conduct, but I do miss the people I would speak with on a daily basis. I am determined to find a job and soon as I will have no money to buy my husband a Christmas present or to put gas in my car. I'm waiting for my mom to access my old computer and see if my resume is in there, I thought I had put it on a memory stick, but the only thing on it are photos, and that won't help me find a job here. I pray hard that we win the lotto, so I don't have to worry about working, but I need to get a job for my own sanity. If I don't get a job soon, there will be no money for our trip in July to New York and Croatia, and that would upset me greatly. :(

Transportation...

I finally have a GoCard. A GoCard is like NY's MetroCard, it's cheaper to travel with a GoCard then it is if you pay with cash. When you hop onto a bus or enter a train station, you tap your card upon entry and then also when you get off, as you pay the distance that you travel, or should I say within zones. When transferring between buses and/or trains you pay something less than $1.  You can set up the card to automatically top up when it gets to a certain balance. It expires after 20 years, so it's not a constant worry. Seniors have a red card, children (5-14 yr olds) have a yellow one. (These expire on the child's 15th birthday.) Blue ones are the general standard ones, and they also have Concession cards which are green. There are four different concession cards: Secondary schools students (full-time) - which is high school. Tertiary students (any education beyond high school). Pensioners - which is confusing to me as they have their own red cards. Defense force veterans. 

For my car I have a GoVia account which is like the EZPass, only thing is, you never have to slow down or stop to pay the toll, you keep driving at the regular speed of 60kmh which is about 40mph and it reads it. Then the speed inside the tunnel goes up to 80kmh which is about 50mph.  There is no bottlenecking like at the Tappan Zee Bridge or any other major crossings. There are many tunnels running through Brisbane, and it's really cool. They have this one called the Inner-City Bypass and it cuts through the city, and you don't have to pay to use it. There's an Airport Link tunnel that's just up the way from this place and it's great if you need to get to the airport as it cuts down travel time and avoids traffic congestion in the city. 

Annoyed...

In the 7 months I've been here, I've always thought my resume was somewhere amongst my paperwork or in one of my books down in the garage. It seems I was wrong. I even asked my mom if she could check my old room as I remember it being in a blue folder, but such a folder does not exist. I know it's on my hard-drive but I can't access it from here, so now I need to write up a resume from scratch from the beginning. How does one remember all the certified classes one took years ago regarding banking. I had my resume on Monster.com but they're saying they have no record (bs they deleted it) I know it was there as I had a few bites years ago. Twenty-two years in one company is a lot of years and it's a lot of things I did over those many years. I have to simplify and shorten my wordage as not to bore someone to tears. At least my starting point won't be too tiresome, being the receptionist at the radio station. 

My new car...

So back in New York, since 1997 I have always owned a Volkswagen Jetta, here in Australia the mid-model I can't afford. The model Jetta I had before here goes for almost $40,000. Funny, my dream car has always been a BMW 5 series, and in the US that was a price tag with the options I wanted just under $50k, not including tax and all the other bs involved with buying a car. Here a 5 series would cost over $100k, because of the luxury car tax, any car that costs over $57k is hit with another tax, the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Gas prices here are crazy, Americans boo-hoo about the cost of gas, when in actuality they have the cheapest gas prices in the world. Australia has it at about $5.62 a gallon as of yesterday, Europe pays even more, that's why most people own small 4 cylinder cars that are very fuel efficient. But I digress, we looked at a few cars, we looked at the Subaru XV which is gorgeous but out of my price range. The Nissan Dualis (Rogue in the US), I didn't like the feel of it. I liked the look of the Holden (Chevy) Cruze but the deal breaker in any of the cars we looked at was the availability of a sunroof, the Cruze doesn't have one factory installed and the guy suggested they have a guy. I put a stop to that the minute he even hinted at it, if it's not factory installed I don't want it. Honda's a pretty expensive here too, there's no such an Acura, but in actuality it's a Honda. For example, the Acura MDX here is the Honda MDX, go figure. I've always known that the two had the same engine, parts and other things. We even looked at the Ford Territory, but I'm not willing to pay $38k for an SUV, and do I really need one. 

So with much thought and consideration, we went for a test drive with a Toyota Corolla Conquest, and I loved driving it, it was fun and smooth even though it's on the other side of the road and I'm sitting in where to me should be the passenger seat. We sat down with the salesperson and we threw numbers around until both parties were satisfied, they asked what color I wanted, I said white, what's your second choice of color, I said white, and third, again white. I would not be happy in any other color. A few days later the salesperson called and said they've found a white one and it would take a few days, I was in no rush as my money was not in my account yet and my personalized plates hadn't arrived. I got nervous about getting the plates as we're going away for our one year anniversary and I wanted the car by then. I did purchase it on the 29th of September. So I called the PPQ (Personalized Plates of Queensland) on Wednesday and the lady said it was sent out today you should get it in day or two. Next day, around 9:30am the delivery dude showed up, I closed the muppet in the bathroom and signed for my plates. I then texted my husband and called the dealership so they could register my car and I could pick it up Friday at 5:15pm. 

Friday my husband came home early from work, he parked his car and we hopped on a bus into the city to go collect my car. When we got there I knew which one was mine, and I was very excited. We did the final paperwork and they handed over the keys and off we went for a drive. It's interesting driving on the other side, I still get confused when signaling as the signal is on the right instead of the left so I find myself hitting the windshield wipers by accident. It feels good being able to get up and go whenever I want and not have to rely on my husband to drive me everywhere, not that he minds. I love the fact that if I want to make something for dinner I can just get into my car and buy a few missing ingredients. The car is lovely but truth be told, I wish it was a Volkswagen Jetta, there are so many features I'm used to having and this car, although lovely does not have all the bells and whistles of the Jetta. But I cannot afford a Jetta here in Australia or the servicing costs of one. With my Corolla I have fixed price servicing for a time at $132 max. The things I miss and don't have with the Corolla are: key-less entry into the trunk, locking glove box, locking anything in the interior. I have a valet key, yay it means nothing when everything can be accessed from the interior at any time. I did buy a sun visor, as it does get pretty hot here in Queensland ( The Sunshine State) it's really cool, it's got pretty pink flowers on it. 

Loose Change Menu...

So McDonalds here, Maccas to the locals, has a loose change menu. $1 and $2 are gold coins, along with silver currency, .05, .10, .20 & .50. Tax is already included in the price so if something costs $2.00 the tax is already included in that $2. An ice cream cone costs thirty cents, ice cream is included with that price. For $3 you can get a double bacon cheeseburger. For $2 you can have a chicken sandwich, small fries $1, small soda $1. ten- pack chicken McBites $2. So for few loose coins you could have have a meal.

Sayings and such...

In Australia English is spoken but it's sometimes different than the English I'm used to. When saying the letter Z it's not pronounced zee here rather it's zed, H is said differently too it's pronounced haych. The word Quay is not pronounced kway it pronounced kee.  Tires are spelled tyres.  The hood of your car is a bonnet and the trunk is the boot. Indicators are your signals, blinkers.  A car park is a parking lot, a bowser is a  gas pump. Going to Shell you get petrol instead of gas. While driving you overtake someone going too slow. Bitumen is asphalt. A ute or utility is a pickup truck, but sometimes it's a car that has a flatbed in it, kind of like the El Caminos. Aluminum is spelled aluminium, and instead of being spoiled, you are spoilt. Your last name is your surname, and  the date is the day first, then the month and then the year, I find looking back something harder this way as the day is first, I'm used to this in a way since Croatia has always been that way, though they would put the month in Roman numerals so as not to confuse people. Today would be 21/IX/2012. Moms are called mum, if we have kids I am soo making my kids say MOM, mum to me means to be quiet.

Flavor, honor, favor and favorite are spelled flavour, honour, favour and favourite. A sweater here is called a jumper or a pullover, a tank top a singlet, flip flops are called thongs. We don't go to the movies, we go to the cinemas. Avocados are shortened to avos, and afternoons are called arvo. An espresso is either called an espresso or a short black, depending on the cafe you go to. Whole milk here is called full-cream milk.  Green, red, orange and yellow bell peppers are all called capsicums, though in some restaurants you will occasionally find the word pepper in reference to a bell pepper. Cookies here are biscuits or bikkies, though Oreo makes cookies not biscuits, so the word is recognized but not generally used. The lovely fluffy biscuits I'm used to in McDonald's for breakfast do not exist here. They have scones but they're so not like those biscuits. McDonald's here sells sausage McMuffins, the other day I accidentally ordered 2 sausage biscuits and when the girl looked at me like I had 10 heads I realized my oopsy and said McMuffin. A lolly is candy, plain flour is AP flour, whole meal bread is whole wheat bread, castor sugar is powdered sugar, a cantaloupe is a rockmelon,  a papaya is called a paw paw, spring onions are scallions, silver beet is Swiss chard, sultanas are like raisins but bigger, same taste. Jelly does not exist here, it's called jam and it's a thicker consistency then American jellies. French fries are called chips here, except of course in McDonald's. Cotton candy is called fairy floss here, ketchup is called tomato sauce, an appetizer is called an entree, the entree is called the main course, which has confused many an Australian when visiting the States. They think they're ordering an appetizer and they get the actual dinner. A can of tuna is called a tin of tuna. Sprinkles for ice cream are called hundreds of thousands. Chopped beef, veal, pork, lamb or whatever type of meat here is called minced meat. Some people call peanut butter peanut paste, either word is understood and used. Shrimp are called prawns. If you're buying a roasted chicken you're buying a roast chook. Liquor is called alcohol, and a liquor store is called a bottle shop. If you're going on a picnic instead of taking a cooler, you're taking an Esky. If you're going to have some Chinese take-out, here it's called take-away, which to me makes more sense, you buy it and you take it away from the place. Brekkie is what most people call breakfast. Chewing gum here is called a chewie. Coldie : a beer.

Two weeks is called a fortnight, reading romance novels I often read the word fortnight but never realized it meant 2 weeks. That reminds me here quite a few words we (Americans) use with the letter z like realize where here it's spelled with an s as realise. Walking down the sidewalk, footpath or pavement as it's said here, you might be on your way to the pharmacy, it's called the chemist shop here. If you need drugs here you need to use the word medicine as the word drug would be the illegal kind.  Going to get your hair done? You will sit your bum (butt) down in the chair and perhaps you want your bangs trimmed, they call them fringe here. Make sure you've made a booking for a table for lunch as they rarely call them reservations. Doing laundry? run out of clothespins when you go to the store you need to look for pegs for when you hang your clothes on the clothes hoist instead of a clothes line. A vacation is called a holiday, elementary school is called primary school, they have no distinction of years as freshman, sophomore, junior and senior, they are called by the year, as a year 12 student would be a senior in high school. If you're fired, you are either made redundant or sacked. Garbage cans are called rubbish bins, a store is generally called a shop, a shopping cart is called a shopping trolley, a dumpster is called a skip. You don't check the box here, you tick the box. A flashlight is called a torch here, funny I hear the word torch I think a stick with a flame on it, the medieval way. If you need to call emergency don't dial 911 you need to call 000, that's triple zero. A closet is a wardrobe, a zip-code is called a postcode here, a mail-carrier is called a postie. Sunbathing here is called sun-baking. A baby carriage is called a pram, diapers are called nappys, babies are called bubs. When you complain, you whinge, I actually like that word. A dishtowel is called a tea-towel, a sandbox is called a sandpit, an eraser is called a rubber. If you line up for something here you form a queue, a shopping mall is called a shopping centre. A bulletin board is called a noticeboard, a wall plug is called a powerpoint. You can only get lotto tickets at the newsagency which closes at 6pm most days unless it's in the mall then it's open till 9pm on Thursday nights. But if you win say the $22 Million jackpot, that's what you win $22 Million, you don't get hit with taxes and all the BS with winning money in the US.  You cannot buy alcohol at the 7-11, or at your local deli, you can only get them at your local bottle shop.Though the legal drinking age here is 18 and they so need to make it 21 as the younger you start to drink the more chaos you cause.  Santa Claus is called Father Christmas here. A doona is a comforter as the one you place on your bed when it's cold.  If you own property you don't pay property taxes you pay rates, water is paid as water rates also. A living room here is called a lounge room and a couch/sofa is called a lounge and the Kitchen counters are called Kitchen benches, which is funny as I asked then what are those things in the park that we sit on called? They too are called benches. An apartment is called a flat or a unit, though I have seen the word apartment used. A roommate is called a flatmate. If you get into an elevator, you're getting into a lift. 

A bludger is a lazy person, someone that always relies on others to do things for them or get them stuff. A bogan is someone that has no care about their appearance spends his days slacking and drinking beer. Budgie-smugglers are basically Speedo's. A bull bar is a stout bar fixed to the front of a vehicle to protect it against hitting kangaroos (also roo bar). BYO : unlicensed restaurant where you have to Bring Your Own grog, also similar party or barbecue. Chuck a sickie : take the day off sick from work when you're perfectly healthy. Dingo's breakfast : a yawn, a leak and a good look round (i.e. no breakfast). Dole bludger : somebody on social assistance when unjustified. Drink with the flies : to drink alone. Dunny : outside lavatory. Fair dinkum : true, genuine.Freckle : anus. G'Day : hello! Galah : fool, silly person. Named after the bird of the same name because of its antics and the noise it makes. Gobsmacked : surprised, astounded. Good onya : good for you, well done. Hotel : often just a pub. Hottie : hot water bottle. Kindie : kindergarten . Lippy : lipstick. Lunch, who opened their? : OK, who farted? Maccas (pron. "mackers") : McDonald's (the hamburger place) Mate's rate, mate's discount : cheaper than usual for a "friend". Mozzie : mosquito. Muddy : mud crab (a great delicacy) Naughty, have a : have sex. No worries! : Expression of forgiveness or reassurance (No problem; forget about it; I can do it; Yes, I'll do it) Pash : a long passionate kiss; hence "pashing on". Piece of piss : easy task. Piss : beer. Hence "hit the piss", "sink some piss". Pokies : poker machines, fruit machines, gambling slot machines.Pom, pommy, pommie : an Englishman. Pommy shower : using deodorant instead of taking a shower. Pommy's towel, as dry as a : very dry - based on the canard that Poms bathe about once a month.  Prezzy : present, gift. Rego : vehicle registration. Rellie or relo : family relative. Rock up : to turn up, to arrive - "we rocked up at their house at 8pm". Root (verb and noun) : synonym for f*ck in nearly all its senses: "I feel rooted"; "this washing machine is rooted"; "(s)he's a good root". A very useful word in fairly polite company. Salvos, the : Salvation Army, bless them. Sanger : a sandwich. Servo : petrol station. Sickie : day off sick from work (chuck a sickie = take the day off sick from work when you're perfectly healthy!) Spag bol : spaghetti bolognese.Stickybeak : nosy person.Sunnies : sunglasses. Tee-up : to set up (an appointment)  Trackie daks/dacks : tracksuit pants.  Truckie : truck driver. True blue : patriotic.  Tucker : food. Uni : university. Vedgies : vegetables. Vee dub : Volkswagen. Vinnie's : St. Vincent De Paul's (charity thrift stores and hostels) White pointers : topless (female) sunbathers. Wog: person of Mediterranean origin. A milder insult than the same word in the UK and perhaps elsewhere. XXXX : pronounced Four X, brand of beer made in Queensland. Yabby : inland freshwater crayfish found in Australia. Yewy : u-turn in traffic ("chuck a yewy at the next traffic lights"). Funny we Americans say that too. 

These are some of the words I've come across in my almost 6 months here, though I had to do some research as there is no way I could possibly remember all of these sayings as many are slang. 

My First Birthday in Australia...

Oysters Kilpatrick 

Main Beach - Surfers Paradise

Almost a month later and I'm writing about my birthday. It was really memorable so I still have a vivid memory of it. My husband had to work, but he was doing the breakfast show and that would mean by noon he would be home. We left and drove down to the Gold Coast, he took me to lunch to the Currumbin Vikings Surf Life Saving Club, we had oysters kilpatrick and I had a BLT and  my husband had some fish sandwich, which looked pretty good. I also had a lovely glass of Riesling, all this right over the water, it was breathtaking to say the least and considering it's winter it was a very beautiful day. After lunch we got back into the car and went up to Surfers Paradise, and I walked in the water, it was beautiful, the water was warm and so soothing to walk in it, knowing full well it was still winter, but the water temperature was beautiful . We watched the sky change colors as the sun started to set. 

On Saturday we got up early and we drove to Kingaroy where we booked a hotel for overnight. We arrived in Kingaroy and talk about a one horse town. It reminded me of a little town in the middle of nowhere. They have a peanut silo where they manufacture  peanut butter or peanut paste as some call it. We went to this place called Taste South Burnett and they have samples of wines and cheeses, though because the cheese factory was relocating they didn't have much cheese. We tried some really nice wines and the guy that owned that bottle shop knew stuff about New York, actually calling it Manhattan and he knew of some of the Long Island wineries which totally impressed me. He makes his own fudge and I tried a few but I loved the butterscotch one and he gave me a chunk for free. How nice, though we did spend just over $100 in the store, so a square of fudge was not going to break him. He gave us some ideas and pointers as to which wineries to hit and which to miss. We had dinner at the Kingaroy RSL which stands for retired service league. A place where veterans come to eat, hang out and gamble. We ordered dinner and my husband went to play some Keno. My dinner was average, I had beef stroganoff, which was very bland, I should have had the tortellini alfredo, and my wine was below average. When we left we went to check our Keno ticket and we won about $700 which was beautiful, it paid for our weekend. We went back to our spa room at the hotel and the tub was a hot-tub and it was very relaxing. Sunday we woke up had breakfast at McDonald's (2 sausage mcmuffins and 2 hash browns for me and a cappuccino)  and went to The Captains Paddock for more wine tasting we found a few that we liked and bought a few bottles. After Captains Paddock we went to Crane Winery. Crane Winery is where we got engaged last year so it was great going back there, and the woman remembered us, plus I kind of gave them free publicity in the Sunday Courier Mail, saying we got engaged up there. I love their wines and the owner gave us a free bottle of sparkling rose' because of the free publicity we gave them. We will definitely be going back there as I love their Hillside White, the Hillside Red wasn't too bad and I'm not a fan of the red wines. 

T Monster...

A few random notes, since I haven't blogged in almost a month, but I've installed blogger on my phone so I may post more often. 

We got ourselves a little Muppet, his name is Tony but we don't like that name so we just call him T.  I've missed having a cat around, and T fulfills the emptiness that leaving Duke behind made. We went to a shelter called The Lost Dogs Home. The Lost Dogs Home has kitty condos, where the litter is in a hole in the wall, so they can have privacy while doing their business. They have dogs, puppies, cats, kittens and even horses. I was allowed to hold any cat/kitten I wanted to, and I held many to compensate the missing of my NY babies. We then turned the corner and saw more adult cats, and then I saw this cute little face, and knew I just had to have him, he had the sweetest face and I told my husband, I want him, not "can we take him home" but a firm, decisive I know what I want and I want this little muffin. So we, meaning me, adopted little Tony, they were having a half off deal, where all animals were only $70. The fee covers the desexing, or spay/neuter in the States,  which was already done and the micro-chip, a requirement in Australia. Owning animals is different here then in NY, all animals must have tags, no ifs and or buts. Brisbane City Council sends you the official tags, in the meantime we're getting him used to wearing a collar, he's not happy about wearing one. T is a handful, running around like a loon. He's so full of energy as many kittens are, and he loves his new toy, shoelaces. We bought him these boot laces that are yellow and black and he carries it in his mouth to you, because he wants to play.


I got my drivers' license!!!! Well, I went to the Department of Transport and waited while the lady transferred my NY license to my QLD license. I still retain my NY one and hopefully sometime next week I should be getting it in the mail, I check the mailbox often as the Post here is worse than in the States. For the new QLD drivers license, you cannot smile, at all, it's a biometric photo and you are not allowed to smile, the same goes for the AU passport, which thankfully  I won't have to do as I will retain my US Passport with my lovely smile. :) 


I have a cold, thanks to my husband, though it's not as severe as his was, I am congested and have bought Vicks Sinex nasal spray, you have 2 options, eucalyptus or regular menthol, I prefer what I'm used to, so I took the menthol. Kleenex tissues, aloe vera are my best friend, it it gets worse, there's always Robitussin. 

Doctors and such...

So I've been in Australia 3 months now, it feels longer. So I'm looking for a doctor, preferably a female doctor, actually not preferably I insist on a female doctor as the one my husband has is so not modern and he's male. I've called a number of doctor's offices and every doctors office I call, not one of the female doctors on staff work evenings. Seems they all leave by 3pm. How does a female work till 5pm and have access to doctors when they're all home? I miss the ease of finding a doctor in New York. Many only had hours till 4pm but there was an abundant amount to choose from that were open till at least 6pm, that's all I need, a female GP that accepts new patients and has office hours till at least 6pm and bulk bills. Is that too much to ask? 

Little bits and pieces.....

               I haven't posted anything in a while. Today's post will be bits and pieces of random things, thoughts, ideas and feelings. Re: work, my days are shortly numbered, one way it's a blessing and another it's sad. I have always been the one to decide when I'd had enough of one job, I'd decide when it was time to say "see ya", but in a few short weeks I will no longer be getting a steady stream of money in my account. I will greatly miss those lovely numbers. The reason it's a blessing is that as a full time receptionist it's more than what I've been doing and honestly I'm over-qualified to do what that position entails. I don't mind answering the phone, but to have to fill the water cooler with water, clean out the fridge...um thanks but I'd rather be a cashier in a supermarket. My husband works for them and he gets the lovely perks the on-air teams usually get, admin doesn't. If I wasn't working as receptionist a few weeks ago, we could have gone to the Mushroom Festival...that would have been so awesome.  
         Sometimes I feel like I'm in  a dream, because I don't see my parents or my Dukie, God how I miss him so very much, and the asshole landlords won't allow 1 little kitten. I cannot wait till we live in our own place so I can adopt 2 little furballs.
         It's winter and it doesn't really feel like winter, more like a New York autumn. It's 70-73 during the day but at night it drops down into the upper 40's. 
        I went to the DOT which is the DMV of Queensland. I can legally drive with my New York drivers license but I don't have a proper photo id with my current address and all that.  It would be no problem except that fact that I am a Type 1 diabetic and need a form filled out to say my diabetes is under good control. I went to the doctor my husband uses and the Dr. was absolutely useless. He's telling me that when I go to the specialist in July she can fill that out AND he says that current blood readings are needed. UM! I gave him my medical records from New York and I had  blood drawn the 14th of March, so the blood you ask for you have, you just want to be a male chauvinistic ass! Dumb ass! You're stupidity isn't preventing me from driving, it's just made my decision to find a white younger female doctor a priority. My sugar is under control, I knew when we sat down that he wasn't going to do it, does his wife drive? Do I even effin care? I'm not from Egypt so I have no idea, are they also of the views that women are second class citizens? So, to this doctor I say sayonara asshole! 
        Going to Toowoomba this weekend again, but this time we're staying overnight at the Comfort Inn Grammar View. It's right smack dab in the middle of the city and we're leaving early here to be able to experience it better. I'm hoping since it's mushroom season there will be a nice selection of shrooms at the markets which open 6am - noon. I'm also hoping to pick up some lovely artichokes and other fresh produce, and it's cold enough we don't have to bring a cooler. I believe we're meeting up with my husbands friends from his old job that live there, so that should be fun. I will be taking many photos, we need to buy a printer so I can put my photos in the computer. I'm tired of having to use my iPhone for all photo ops. 

My stuff...

It seems my stuff is coming next week. The ship is coming but I have to wait for my stuff to clear Customs and Quarantine. That may take anywhere from ten to fifteen business days. All I know is I can't wait to start opening my 48 boxes of stuff. Winter is almost here, and I need my sweaters and boots. My plates, cookware and my framed needlepoint pictures to be unwrapped, I cannot wait, because then the apartment will feel a little more homey. 

A bit of venting...

When I left New York, I was very upset, I was leaving all my friends, and my family and my much loved cats behind. The people I worked with on a daily basis I missed and cried over. My true friends I tried to not look into their eyes or I would have been bawling upon our goodbyes. Over the past 2 months tomorrow, I have noticed only 2 of my friends have made any kind of effort to make and keep contact, one has made a half attempt which fails miserably with today's technology. While at work I can keep Facebook open, I just don't have time to start conversations as I am working. I can, when messaged respond and have a conversation, but not many have taken the step to say "hey". It kinda hurts, especially when these same people tell other people how much they miss me. Really? You miss me? What kind of effort are you making to contact me? People who don't work expect me to contact them on my Saturday morning? I work five days a week, 9-5 and I am technically a newlywed and the two of us are still in that phase, plus Friday nights we like going out, to go bowling, out to eat, play some pool and go out for drinks or just snuggle in and watch a movie, thereby going to bed way after 1am. We wake up Monday thru Friday at 7, and believe you me, I am so not in the mood to get up that early on my weekend. I miss my friends, I love my husband but sometimes you need that female friend, the ones that know what you like, the ones that find the odd things funny as you do. I miss that. Most of all, I miss my daily or semi-daily chats with Barbara and Laura. 

Our Long Awaited Honeymoon.....

We waited so long for our honeymoon, that we decided we wanted to chase summer and go up North to where the temps are warmer. We left Brisbane and flew into Cairns, where we got onto a bus that drove us to Port Douglas. When we got to our "Hotel" we found out it was not what we had hoped it would be, it was not a resort, but rather apartments for those wanting to golf. There are 2 pools, and a tennis court but no restaurant on premises. To get food,  you need to walk quite a distance and some places do not have sidewalks so you wind up walking either in the street or on the grass where a sidewalk should technically be. There is a "shuttle" bus that you have to pay for to get into "town" and the beach. The "hotel" was a lovely room with a crappy bed and boring views. The distance from the hotel to the town and night-life was also crappy. When we get to the "hotel" we find out we cannot swim in the water at Four Mile Beach, reason? Stingers, jellyfish....lovely, but is that all? No, there's more...salt-water crocodiles also inhabit this area. There is only a tennis sized area roped off that you can safely swim in and with that I think if a croc wanted to it could get through without a problem. Ok enough with the things that went wrong....here are the things that went right. 


Once off the bus, we land on Macrossan Street, which is basically the "Main Street" of Port Douglas. Restaurants and stores galore. Our first stop was at Bistro 3 that had this martini that I am determined to replicate and those that know me I am very determined when it comes to food and drinks that I enjoy. It was a White Chocolate Chili Martini and it was clear with a hint of kick along with 3 white chocolate chips. We had great food, I don't believe we had a bad thing to eat the whole week we were there. Pizzas at Rattle and Hum, we ate there more than once, we had ribs at Wharf Street Bistro, delicious fall off the bone ribs. YUM! Shakes Gelati Bar had the BEST gelato it was so good we had this almost every night as our dessert. Salsa Bar & Grill had high end food at medium end prices, the wine a lovely Gewurtztraminer  went well with my phyllo wrapped pork loin.The Court House bar had great margaritas, no extra flavoring just a plain margarita. Bel Cibo on our last night was the best food, we had a table overlooking the street and it was a rainy night but we were undercover and outside at the same time. The food was spectacular and the drinks were good, I cannot say a bad thing about any of the food that we ate that week. 


The views off of Flagstaff Hill are the most beautiful views I have yet seen here with my own eyes. I'm sure I will see others but this was beautiful to see, I'm glad we came here, and know the only reason we'd ever come back up there would be to enjoy the food. 

Kitties...

I am a huge cat lover, to prove the point my profile picture is that of my baby. I had to leave him in New York, and I miss him more than I miss anything. My husband right now is working 7 days a week and because of this we hardly have time on our weekends to do much, except go to the local malls and pretty much just window shop. The first day I landed we went to Westfield Chermside, a huge mall, and we saw 7 gorgeous Ragdoll kittens, all female and I wanted to take them all home, we then went to Westfield Carindale and there they had these little Lyonese kittens, also wanted to take them all home. Our lease states no pets, but on Friday we saw a little, teeny black and white kitten that was the runt of the litter as we had seen this kitten earlier in the week with its siblings and it was the last one left. :( My husband wanted to take it home immediately. Mother's day morning we saw 3 kittens, and 2 older kittens, the older ones were a Ragdoll and a Lyonese. The little kittens were domestic short hairs but the one I fell in love with was this little grey tabby puff, and he was beautiful, he must be a mix with a long haired cat as he's too fluffy to be a true domestic short-hair. When we got back we emailed the managing agent to ask if we could have a cat, even though it had said no pets, it can't hurt to ask. So hopefully they get back to us and let us have a little ball of fluff. 

Food, restaurants and supermarkets...

Growing up in New York, I have been eating food from around the world for years. Everything from basic staples as bologna and American cheese (sliced thin please). Fruit and Veggies from South American influences, Goya beans galore, how many white beans ARE there? Condiments such as ketchup taken for granted and often tossed. Huge Ethnic influences, from everywhere, from Croatia, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Greece and many other countries have influenced the flavour of NYC and it's food, whether it's in a supermarket or a restaurant.They have Kraft "singles" but that's the only sliced "American" cheese you can find. I'm searching all over the place for sliced to order cold cuts. I want sliced cheese, cut to my specifications, I want my ham the same way, not sitting in piles behind the glass case, drying out. I think the deli thing is my biggest pet peeve, we are on a mission to find a proper deli, I want 250g of ham and Swiss sliced not too thin. I want sliced provolone cheese to go with my hot soppressa (soppressata to everyone outside AU). I don't want to buy a chunk of cheese, to then slice it and put that in a sandwich. Speaking of sandwiches, the way a deli is set up in the US is SO NOT the way they are set up here, you don't go into a deli and say I want a ham and cheese sandwich, you need to go to a cafe and get one that's pre-made unless you go to Adams (Croatian small goods store - LOVE this place). Sliced to order EVERYTHING, but it's a 45 minute drive away. Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter, OMG, so yummy. The bread here is to die for, baked fresh and cut to the thickness of your choice. I love this one called a Cape Seed Loaf it's really good but it's $6 for a large loaf from Baker's Delight ( a franchise). Brumby's (another chain) have a multi-grain whole meal (wheat) bread that's only $4 for a large loaf so we have the Cape Seed only on special occasions. Yoplait is here too, but other than vanilla all the flavours are different. There is no Jello, and the faux Jello they do sell, has been banned by the FDA in the US. We have Pepsi, Dorito's,Cheetos, Coca Cola but in their line-up only Diet Coca Cola and Coke Zero are available to diabetics. There is no Fanta Zero, but I did see Sprite Zero once. I can go to the movies and get Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Coca Cola is the soda of choice in malls and movie theatres, but there is no extra butter or salt (which could be a good thing). Quaker Oats is coming in now, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Special K, All Bran, Rice Krispies (Rice Bubbles here) among other's I can't remember clearly are already here. My Special K cereal bars are here too, though not my favourite chocolate covered pretzel, at least they have the same amount of carbs and calories. Lindt chocolate we bought the other day on sale for $1.99 and that's a great price even for NY so here it's a great price. 


 Asian food here is very popular as it is the closest country to here. Thai, Malaysian, Chinese, Sushi are just a few of the many Asian style eateries. Fast food: McDonalds, called Maccas here, in the US we called it Mickey D's. Burger King is here but it's called Hungry Jacks, we have Domino's pizza and KFC. We actually have Sizzler which I can't wait to see what their buffet offers. Starbucks is here too, but the cappuccino's in Australia are made properly not a tiny bit of coffee and a whole cup of foam like in NY. Tonight we're having Thai, at this place called Thai Chada. We had Thai last Friday and it was pretty good at a place called Thai Kitchen. The Kookaburra Cafe has some really good pizza, with toppings unheard of in NY, but delicious, they even sell slices (rare to find here) at $4.50 a slice. The Smoke Restaurant has really good ribs, American style and I can't wait to go back and try their buffalo wings. Carolina Kitchen also has ribs and wings, the ribs were great the wings, eh. I can make them better and I will. 


I have baked a few things so far. Banana walnut bread, a fave of my husband and father-in-law as there were second helpings. I baked peanut butter cookies and my husband never had them before and he LOVED them. I tried making Anzac cookies and they were gone within a few days and I made 38 cookies. Since I'm working I don't have that much time to bake or cook the way I want to but I will make new things and I want to bake the Anzac cookies and bring them to work. 

Fashion statements.....

So, I've been noticing what people here wear, people watching as I so love to do from a cafe'  or eating out. Shoes: I've seen the highest heels ever with a platform wedge...there is no sensible reason to be 7 or 8 inches off the ground. I feel bad for them when they get into their 30's and have problems from them. Barefoot - what a feral thing to do. I see this and I cringe, they need to adopt the N.Y. thing, no shoes, no shirt, no service as no one needs to see that. Boots with shorts, I've seen that in N.Y. but here it's very common. Sitting in the casino last night I saw some major fashion faux pas. I saw a stunning woman, wearing a stunning sexy dress and the dude she was with looked as if he belonged on a couch in his own home, wearing grungy jeans and ratty  t-shirt. Clothing: it seems here with clothing anything goes. I've seen this skirt that is micro short in the front and then it gets longer in the back with a sheer overlay over the whole thing I think here as in NY people do not own mirrors. Some of these outfits look like they were put together in the dark. The Coach store is FINALLY here! Big whoopee, the 2 bags I love over every other bag I own I paid about $400 for each in NY, here it goes for just under $1000. At that rate I will wait till I visit the US again and buy another at that time. The Coach store here is tiny and limited in it's selection. I was so not impressed. Next blog will be about food. :) 

Stupid, effin shit!

I just found out I cannot watch any of my favorite shows here. I wanted to access USANetwork and catch up on Psych but NOOOOOOOO. I cannot watch that here, it is blocked. There is no way I can watch current episodes, all I'm stuck with is stuff from 2 years ago........seriously? I feel like I've fallen back into the stone age. I cannot see anything that's current, so whatever shows I was watching before I left the US I can now kiss goodbye. I am very angry right now. 

My first Easter in Oz...

First things first, we went to my husbands cousins daughters first birthday party on Saturday where  I met more relatives and friends. There were wives there that could not be bothered to come out and say "hey", they can kiss my ass. I blocked one of them on Facebook and she wouldn't even look at me............and this bothers me how? All in all a nice day. Easter Sunday - went to St. Stephens Cathedral, from the outside it's gorgeous, from the inside St. Matthias is grander and so is the church I got married in. Lunch was at his parents, they served raw oysters which my husband ate. They had garlic bread which his brother prepared, started of with tomato soup, then had roast ham, very good, but not the kind I'm used to eating for Easter. There was mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, gravy and broccoli. And my husband had some Moreton Bay bugs, which look like mini lobsters. Easter Monday was a public holiday and my husband got home early and took me to Redcliffe. They say when the British first arrived they came to Redcliffe and they were going to call that area Brisbane but because they kept getting stuck in the mud-flats they decided to go just a bit further south. The park there was amazing, only a 30 minute drive north to see such beauty. Yesterday I went to see a doctor for my dermatitis, I was SO NOT impressed with the procedure. I'm used to the way I've always been seen, a nurse takes you in, she takes your vitals, bp, pulse, weight and when the doctor comes in they take the stethoscope and check your heart. This doctor only checked my blood pressure, and gave me scrips. The good thing about it was he bulk bills so I didn't have to pay anything. Today I started training for my new job that just happened to land in my lap. It was interesting considering I am NOT a fan of answering and directing phone call, but it went by ok. My husband picked me up after work as he's working the early shift this week and we went to Big W so I could buy some work appropriate shoes, I found a decent pair of Mary-Janes.  :)

Who needs NFL when I have AFL.......

My husband took me to see his favorite AFL (Australian Football League) football game. Carlton Blues vs Brisbane Lions. Now I've never been one to want to watch American football, too tedious to watch and not enough action. Well, I may have been converted, as I would love to go back and see another game. First, this is action packed, the field is huge and the concept is to score a goal. The guys all have fine bodies, and they are wearing their shirts and shorts, no heavy padding to be seen anywhere,  the whole team runs after this ball. I saw something last night that just amazed me and that was a Carlton player taking a mark. See attached photo. A player sees the ball coming so he runs and jumps on the opponents shoulder to grab the ball. Like I said this ain't no NFL, no where would you see any NFL players jumping anywhere. I am in total awe. Final score - Carlton winning 154 to 63.....now that's an ass kicking!

My first movie in Oz...

Last night my husband and I went to the movies. We started with dinner at Grill'd and had some awesome burgers, only down side to the establishment is they are a Pepsi seller. We went to see "Mirror, Mirror" wow what a cool movie. It's different than Snow White, but there are so many modernized interpretations of the original. I actually like this one better. One of the coming attractions was for Men In Black 3, we SO have to go see that. Funny thing in Oz, you don't sit where you want to, you are assigned seats, but this was a Tuesday and everything was open and no one was caring where anyone sat. You can also take outside beverages in to this one, but we will see what other theaters do. 

I've filed for a tax # :)

Since I may have a job in the next few weeks, I have just filed for a tax id #, which similar to the States is like a Social Security number which you need to work and get taxed properly. If you do not have one they tax you more, um,  I need every cent I can get. Today is a gorgeous sunny day, I can't wait to get out into that sun. I also can't wait till we get a table and chairs to put on the balcony, I would like to sit out there and be able to read for a few hours at least once before I start working again. Tomorrow evening we are going to the movies, that's one thing I've never done, gone to the movies in another country, that should be fun. Thursday we're going to an AFL football game, another first for me, and I believe my husbands team is playing at the Gabba and I think that's going to be a wonderful experience since it's football and it's not freezing out there like the NFL in the States. 

In-laws over for dinner.......

Ok, I've settled in a bit, and we've invited my in-laws over for dinner. This may or may not include my brother in law, who may or may not be allowed out by the old bag he keeps time with. I've baked banana walnut bread which I've made plenty of times, thing is here it's a bit different. I'm used to sticks of butter, how does one bake with a block of butter? I need a half cup of butter, I guesstimated. Everything else was pretty smooth, though my stuff has yet to arrive and I had to use a pot as a bowl to cream sugar and eggs. Hey why not it's still a stainless steal vessel and worked just fine. Appetizers will be various cuts of cold cuts and cheeses from Adams, well the meats are from Adams and the cheeses are from all over the place. Salad of butter leaf lettuce with sliced tomato and finally dinner will be my specialty of bow-tie pasta with smoked ham and shredded cabbage sauteed till caramelized then added to the pasta. It's been my comfort food for ages and am making it for the first time for my in-laws.  Wish me luck, I've never cooked for this many people I hope I have enough food and that they like it. 

Wow! I'm here a week already...

I am here officially a week. Yay! My 4 over packed suitcases are unpacked and the contents strewn in piles in the master bedroom which I need to move before our king size bed arrives next week. I've actually thrown out some things I didn't realize I had packed, oh well. I received a plant and Pink champagne from my sister-in-law as a welcoming gift, how sweet of her. :) Today we still need to do more shopping. I want to bake, I have a huge urge for it, I just need some bake-ware as I did not get any of that from my registry so we decided that's fine we will just get it together. So back into the city we go tonight, then tomorrow off to Adams.  I am most excited about Adams because it's a Croatian small goods store and they have proper smoked meats and  proper čevape. When you enter this store you are greeted with this welcoming smell of smoked meats and all the things you'd find in a proper NY deli. For me, it's like a kid entering a candy store, I want to buy it all. They have a butcher too and the meat is from the Darling Downs, all is fresh. Cold cuts are cut straight of the meat, no pre-sliced  meats or cheeses. They have imported things from Croatia, such as certain candies, teas and things. To my surprise my most go to spice combo Vegeta is available at the local supermarkets so I don't need to go out of my way for that. I can't wait for the hubby to come home so we can go into the city and do some more shopping and more coffee....loving these cappuccinos from The Coffee Club, Gloria Jeans and yes McCafe.....it's a separate counter in almost all McDonald's. :) 

A job? Really I was thinking I'd have time to adjust...

So life right now consists of getting up with my husband, making breakfast, eating breakfast, then he goes off to work and I hit the computer to see what's going on in the rest of the world. I check Facebook to see what my former co-workers are up to, what my friends and family are doing back in time. Plus cleaning, doing laundry, and all those pesky wifely duties, along with cooking.  The high lites of my day are when my husband comes home from lunch and when he comes home from work. It is a little on the boring side sometimes as I have no one to speak with while he is at work. Well today he comes home for lunch and has two things to tell me, the first one is that we can get an awesome deal on a 4.5 star hotel in Port Douglas for our honeymoon. :) The second is at his job the receptionist is leaving for another position and someone in admin suggested me. ME? I'm barely here a week and I have a job offer that's outside my field. Though if you think about it, it's not really. I answered phones before, spoke with attorney's, title companies and customers of all sorts. I've dealt with downright rude obnoxious customers in person, where all you want to do is tell them to jump off a short cliff. :) Here I would sit as receptionist, answer phone calls, direct people who came through the doors to whomever it is they came to see. How many obnoxious people could you possibly get at a Family (Christian) radio station? As it's being presented to me it would be a full time position for a term of 3 months. It would help us out financially for sure and it would get me to socialize with new people, even though I LOATHE answering phone calls. I have a tendency of stuttering when I get nervous and I get tongue-tied, which is fine to a point in N.Y. with a New York accent, but to do that with a New York accent in Brisbane? I'm torn. I want to, I don't want to. I'd go in with my husband as it's at his job plus I do not have my own car yet and it seems even the CEO approves, which is high regards if you think about it. I've told my husband that I, or should I say we, but mostly I will think about it over the weekend and make my decision by Monday. Funny the job would start the Monday after our honeymoon, and I would have to go in 2 days before our honeymoon so they could show me what's what and how I'd have to do things. There are quite a few people in my corner regarding this, which is a huge plus in transitioning. Considering since I've been here, the only people I've spoken to are my husband and to order coffee, and there I had the dumbest chick out there. I order a medium cappuccino, a fairly simple order I would think, but since this specific Coffee Club has table service you cannot get a take-away cup while sitting in the joint. BUT the point is I'm asking for a MEDIUM cappuccino.......does it really matter what you serve it in? She was looking at me and asking, um what is it you want? I want an effin CAPPUCCINO!!!!! Can you handle that little girl? 

It's a Maxi Pad world and I'm not liking it...

So, my body decides to be traitorous and gives me a lovely surprise 2 days ahead of schedule. Well I was not prepared so off to the store we go to find Tampax, um who, what and why would you only have the option of 10 or 20 in a box. Where is the multi-pack? Thank goodness I have 2 90piece boxes coming via boat. It's not that they don't have Tampax it seems most Aussie women use maxi-pads...can you say in sub-tropical heat wearing what I consider a diaper? So since I'm discussing Tampax lets go into first impressions on stores, both food and malls. The mall is the standard mall, it has mega amounts of clothing stores, food court options, coffee places, which I will get into later, :) electronics, department stores, mobile phone stores, nail salons, hair salons, shoe stores (they have Nine West), pet store and unlike NY they have supermarkets inside them. This specific one also has a multiplex movie theater inside and a Dan Murphy's which is a chain liquor store, which is HUGE, they sell beer, soda, wines from all over the world, and spirits from around the world. Supermarkets - I need to find a proper deli! We went into Coles to stock up on groceries and such things. The deli counter you take a number and once you're called, you ask for whatever it is you wish to get, 200grams of Virgina Ham. Yeah, now, you ask for the ham and the guy goes to the counter and with a baggie scoops into it what he estimates will be 200 grams of ham. They don't take the ham and slice it to order, why the fuck not? So if I go buy ham toward the end of the day it's not going to be as fresh as the person that bought it first thing this morning. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Citrus here goes by weight not per item. Kiwis go per item. Most fruits and vegetables go by weight. They have interesting oils here, macadamia nut oil, Crisco makes olive oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil and the standard vegetable, corn, canola and safflower oils. I'm looking for dry beans and can't find them. I've found barley, you would think that the beans would be there but it seems Coles would have it, but no. Today we are going to Woolworth's fondly known as Woolies, let's see if I can find dry beans. Also I miss Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper. They have a really great selection of chips, corn and potato. I've found the Yoplait yogurt called forme' which is the light low carb low cal Aussie version. Sour cream here is a little more tangy. American cheese is not called American cheese here, it's called Kraft Singles. So..if you go into a deli can you ask for 200 grams of singles? Hahahaha :D   I was thinking ahead when the weather gets cooler, for my stuffed pepper soup,  to see about chopped meat, yes here it's called minced meat and they do not sell the meatloaf mix of beef, veal and pork, you need to buy it all separate.   

I'm here :)

The flights were uneventful, which is always good. Food on the way to LAX was delish, diabetic meal, a little filet mignon done just right. (Who ever said airline food sucks?) Flight from LAX was ok, dinner was a chicken breast with rice an hour before landing breakfast was scrambled eggs with a hash brown, shrooms, a roasted quarter of a tomato, a roll and a slice of honeydew and cantaloupe and 1 single grape. Once I landed, went through Immigration where I've always gotten a greeting of "welcome to Australia", well not this time. I had a woman, she scanned my stuff and that was it, when I got to the carousel I saw my suitcases immediately, and I had taken one of those carts. Putting the 4 suitcases my bag and my carry on were a comedy to say the least. I could not see over it. When I reach the Customs area, the what I call, the "puppy" area, sure enough the puppy sat down in front of my cooler which held only ice packs and all my insulin. At this point I am tired and all I want is my husband who is waiting outside for me. They were nice at least, the one woman asked if I was ok I said no, my insulin is dropping and all the beagle had an issue with was my bag of insulin so they let me go....YAY!

Day of arrival: my husband picked me up from the airport with baby red roses, they are beautiful. We got to the apartment, he gave me the grand tour, smaller than what the photos looked like but ok for the two of us.  I took a shower and we went to get some brunch at this place called Vinnies Deli+Cafe for a delicious BLT on Turkish bread with a lovely spiced mayonnaise, with fries on the side. We then went to a bedding store where we purchased a real comfy, made in Brisbane mattress with separate coils and memory foam, I soo cannot wait for its arrival. We then went to  Chermside, which is a huge mall. This mall is HUGE! I've never been in something this massive, it will be a while before I know all, or most of the stores. He bought us iPhones, the brand new 4S ones <3 I got a white one, he got the black one. Hee hee, I had a phone first day, so cool. He also took me to the pet store where they had 5 ragdoll kittens, all female and they were hopping and jumping all over the place. The pet store you could tell is not the kind you find in the US, they are clean and reputable. All animals are fully vaccinated and since they are pure breeds have papers. Those babies made my day after a long sleepless flight. 

 

Its finally here...

Omg its here, in a little bit my friends will be picking me up and taking me to the airport, now I'm getting nervous. I wasn't earlier but it's hit me now. Next time I update this blog I will have landed and will be sitting in our apartment updating this. To all my friends in the states I will miss you greatly, and I await making new friends Down Under. It's been great living in an awesome city such as NY all my life, Brisbane could never hold a candle but I'm sure to appreciate the slightly slower pace. I LOVE YOU NY, I will miss you horribly. :(

Tomorrow I go............

Tomorrow I'm getting on that plane that takes me.....finally to my husband and a new page in my life. My bags are mostly packed, I have a few more things to shove into them as they are way heavy. This is the last night I sleep on my bed which I've been sleeping on since I was 2, the more I think about leaving the more I tear up. I know happiness awaits me with my husband in Brisbane, but I'm leaving all that I love here, and that makes me very sad. I have so many emotions running through me, but the more I think about it, all I want is to be walking out to my husband at BNE, that would mean I've safely landed and have cleared immigration and customs. My last sleep in my house, my last sleep with my kitty :( 

It's Almost Here............

It is Monday and yesterday I had soo much fun with my farewell to NY tour with the best friends a girl could have. We started the day at my favourite bagel place, Brooklyn Bagel in Astoria. NY. Where I ordered my usual, an Everything Bagel, not toasted with bacon, egg and cheese, my coffee as usual a 20oz bottle of Diet Coke. We finished our breakfast and off to the train we went. We got on the Q, should have gotten on the N but it just meant a little more walking. Started off in Times Square picking up our tickets. Got off next stop at Macy's where I needed to stock up on my MAC lipstick..US $15.78 after tax.....AU$36.00 tax included..only a fool would buy one tube of lipstick for that price. Bought a Macy's bag that I could use as my pocket book on Wednesday, it is bigger than my usual  travel bag. It seems my cooler in my carry-on takes up a lot of space, therefore now I am limited to what I can put in there. Next stop - Empire State Building, we didn't go in we just waited for our 4th person to join us. Back on the double-decker bus to the Flat Iron Building, where Eataly is :) Oh my....what a wonderful store, it as everything you could possibly imagine in there. After our look around we decided to have some gelato, I had hazelnut and salted caramel...though I wish I just had the hazelnut. Now to grab another bus...it seems no one was hopping off, it is a hop-on, hop-off bus tour..we got stuck in the bottom and couldn't see anything. Next stop South Street Seaport, where I bought 3 flags, a Croatian flag, a USA flag and an Australian flag and a stand, to symbolize us. Took some photos of the Brooklyn Bridge.  Back on the bus, no room at the top...does anyone understand the concept? Eventually people got off and we managed to get seats up top, where we stayed until the last stop. Had dinner at Famous Dave's. I wanted to have ribs for my last dinner out in NYC, and the ribs and raspberry martini were delicious. Back on the N train straight to Broadway, Astoria. We had lots of fun. I will remember that night forever. Thank you so much,  Barbara, Laura and Barbara Ellen, you made my farewell to NYC so much fun. 

My modem shit itself the other day...not a good time for this to happen. Verizon is sending a new one in two business days, just in time for me to hop on a plane and go. Hence I am at moms using her internet to update my blog, since my mobile device is sending my blog gibberish. Yesterday was my last day of work, and I expected after 22 years being in one place I'd shed more tears.....but I didn't. I shed a little, but maybe it was that it felt I was going on vacation. I visited today and it seemed weird, I will SOO miss the people I worked with......Carmela, Joann, Jennifer, Pat K, Diana, Annette and omg even Margie.. LOL  I had lunch with an old friend Christine today at Buon Gelato it was nice to catch up, it was bittersweet when she dropped me off at home. We both cried, which isn't good for her since she has to drive back to Massapequa Park. I was taking my insulin out of the fridge and realized I don't have a cool pack that fits all my insulin. So I hopped on a bus, and went to the Queens Center Mall. I found a bigger cooler that would hold all my insulin and a universal charger all in one store. Yay, now if my internet would just work I'd be really happy. Until I get the new modem, I cannot Skype with my husband :( which sucks big time.  I hope my modem comes sooner rather than later. Time to go back to the modem-less place...my home for now with my kitties. 

A Sunday to sift through the rest of my things, to weigh my suitcases again and if overweight consider what should I leave behind. I never thought it would be this hard, but it is....things I'm used to at the tip of my fingers may not be readily accessible to me in the land Down Under. In 10 days I'm outta here, and before that I need to empty out my room except for the basics of some clothing and minor personal effects.

Two weeks from right this minute I will have landed in Brisbane and would be enjoying breakfast with my husband after not having physical contact for exactly five months. Skype is great, but nothing beats that gentle caress....

Another day over, another day closer. Two weeks from today I will be at the airport with a huge box of Kleenex in my lap, bawling my eyes out for my kitties, my family and most of all my friends whom I recognize as my family. Eventually I will be excited to finally be with my husband after putting him on a plane back to Brisbane, shortly after our wedding.

This will be the quickest week and a half ever :)

Counting the days......

So my New York days are getting shorter. A few more days of work and that's the end of my 22 year stint at the Loan Center. It will be bittersweet. I cherish the friendships I've made, I will not miss those who have upset me, annoyed me or have been literal pains in the ass. I will miss my break partner, Barbara. I will miss some of the gossip, but that's what Facebook is for. The majority of the Servicing Department will truly be missed. All the others, I could care less. I will be free of that drama. Of course life will give me other dramas, but this one is coming to an end and that I am extremely excited for.