Westerlies

We've had many misunderstandings since we've arrived. Some have to do with people not understanding our accent (what's up with that?!) and some are us making some really bad assumptions. Case in point, work luncheon last week. I thought I'd order an "Open Works Burger and Fries" thinking "Works" meant cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a pickle or something along those lines. Oh it was so not that. There was at least a burger there, but "Works" actually meant a few thick slabs of their bacon, a semi-flat poached egg, and a nice big slice of beetroot to go with the tomato and lettuce. As if that wasn't enough, it was absolutely huge! And they gave me enough fries to build a replica of parliament or clog my veins from here to eternity. Some day I'll know how to avoid these embarrassments over here, but until then I guess I am great entertainment for them.

Another thing we didn't quite understand is what they meant when they said the "westerlies" come in August. We thought they were some nice breezes that blew in from the west, but found out it was another case of Aussie under-statement. The wind was howling through the windows and a month's worth of rain back home was going sideways. It was so nasty that none of the fighter jets took off today from the base. It is our sincere hope that this is not how all of August will be weather-wise.

We are very excited to sign the lease on the place tomorrow and we will be taking possession August 14th which will be a super-happy day since we're pretty tired of the hotel. It's getting so bad the hotel people are saying things like, "Are you still here?" and they don't even need the car tag to know which car to bring anymore. We amuse ourselves now by longingly listing the things we can't wait to fix once we have a kitchen (not sure how we're going to do this with a completely empty kitchen, but dreams don't have to be logical, do they?).

Last weekend we shopped until we dropped for furniture. We put money down on a couch and two recliners, found the mattress we're going to get, hunted endlessly for the right dining table without success, and found the perfect bedroom set - that is until we saw its price tag. Dang! Oh well, just have to keep looking.

We got to Skype Amber, Steven, and A.J. properly with video on Sunday. It was nice to see their faces (and Zuzu, too!) and chat with them. It definitely helps keep the "missing them" part from getting too bad.

We are definitely starting to miss everybody. Please come visit!