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.