Misadventures in waiting and water

Sometimes it doesn't feel very adventurous. Sometimes it just feels stressful and tiring. But then it's exciting and interesting again, and then I get a day like yesterday to stop being to busy, to rest and think and just be, and then it all feels manageable again. You know those times. That's the kind of weeks we're having.

Yes, we're house hunting to buy our first family home, and no, we haven't had any really good luck yet. We're learning heaps though. I've got all kinds of interesting new vocabulary words, like asbestos...retaining wall...fixed-rate or variable loan...and the list goes on, but it's not that exciting.

We're learning some very important lessons too -- like not to get too emotionally attached to a property before we have all the information. I've decided that finding a house is kind of like dating. A crazy crash dating where you have pushy real-estate salespeople along as chaperones, and you have to make big long-term decisions about whether or not to move in together after just 2 or 3 brief encounters. At least you don't have to say "til' death do us part."

We had a bit of a disappointment last week when we took a second inspection of a house we'd already fallen in love with. We found out there were some pretty major structural problems that we just aren't prepared to deal with ... if the rains ever do decide to come back to South East Queensland, the dodgy brick retaining wall holding back the yard would have collapsed. And we just really don't want to buy a worry that our front yard might fall into our downstairs rumpus room. So I had to move my imaginary family and home-y daydreams out of that house. (And I'm trying to convince them not to move into another one until we do, but there are no guarantees on that.)

I miss basements. I wonder if they eliminate a lot of the structural concerns, because if you're going to start a building with a basement, it's just got to be structurally sound. I never even looked into house buying in MN, so I know very little, and now I just imagine you guys up there must have it so easy! I imagine there are no real issues with houses falling down or settling into the ground and shifting...and then I even imagine there are no termites in Minnesota, and that the real-estate agents are all on your side and completely trustworthy, and that the grass is always greener there. Wait, hold on... there's water there… the grass is always greener!

In other news... Brisbane is nearly out of water. Seriously...they're now saying the dams could be dry a lot sooner than they'd thought - around the end of this year? we're not talking years anymore...we're talking months of water left. The rainfall has been so little and the migration has been so great in this area that, well, it's not a good combination. The great debate at the moment is whether or not to use re-cycled waste water as a replacement in our taps, as the dams are running out. Toowoomba -- a neighbouring town/tiny city -- just voted NO to the recycled water idea...but in reality they probably have no choice soon. They're going to be using water that's been recycled from toilets and treated 7 times, and so are we. Maybe we'll have some kind of system whereby that water isn't for drinking but is used for everything else? and we'll all have to have special taps just for the drinking water? Who knows. It's all a big controversy at the moment. I'm pretty confident they'll come up with some kind of workable solution soon, even if it's not perfect. But if they don't, we might just be moving back up North!

Also, this week I bought (drumroll please!!)..... 2 BANANAS!! If you live in Queensland, you know I probably had to take out a small loan for such a luxury item. For those of you who are wondering what's wrong with us crazy sun-affected Aussies, I'll fill you in: We're out of bananas too. They're a huge staple crop in Queensland, Australia doesn't need to import bananas because we produce so many of them. And most of them are grown in far north Queensland. A few months ago, this year's whole crop was destroyed by Cyclone Larry. Massive devistation... a lot like the New Orleans disaster. Probably didn't get as much worldwide press because there's a lot fewer people living up there, but those farming communities up there suffered in some pretty bad ways. And so did their bananas.
ANYWAY, one of the things that means for the rest of us -- bananas cost $15 a kilo. I don't know what that is in pounds, but the 2 small bananas we just had for our sunday morning breakfast smoothy cost $5. It's so much cheaper to buy strawberries... so they fill our fridge, and I'm happy with that :)

In other, happier news...
Wayne and Kate have just signed a contract on their first family home! CONGRATULATIONS...and good luck!
Ali is walking, happily and independently
CONGRATULATIONS!
And Nanna and Grandad Lynam are ONLINE! Very cool!

I had better get going... Danny and I go out to look at another house soon. This week we have friends from New Zealand coming to stay with us for a couple of days, and that should be alot of fun. So all is well down here today. We've got good friends, good family, eh...Who needs bananas or water? :)

Finally... some wedding photos

Hello friends and family! Hopefully these beautiful photos will help you forgive me for the entire month it's taken me to post anything at all! You would not believe how much trial and error and frustrated screaming-at-the-computer I went through to actually get these photos to post from my humble home in Australia...but I'll spare you the details. I finally got it to work, and here it is :)

Audra's wedding to Jay Miller was nearly a month ago now -- July 8, 2006. It was a beautiful day and an absolutely gorgeous wedding ceremony. It was intimate and fun and bright and there were plenty of tears everywhere! It was just what she wanted, and I'm so glad I got to be there!

A very happy Mrs Audra Miller! Welcome to the family, my new brother Jay.

The reception was a lot of fun too. Especially the cake! In great American tradition, the Bride and Groom attacked each-other's faces with cake :)

Some of my favourite people were there...

Brittany and Brad...

Kyle, Loren, and Noah....

And my brother Adam :)

It was a really good trip. I was exhausted by the end of it, but of course, it was completely worth it.

And now I'm home , and it's been ages since I've really updated anyone on our lives down here. It felt something like, I landed in Brisbane airport (exctatic to see my husband!), and for lack of any words but cliches...I hit the ground running. Haven't had a lot of time for reflection and writing stories yet. But today might just be a day to start doing some of that... hence the pictures :) And stay tuned... there may be a more uppdate-ish blog coming up soon.

Saturday

Big Alicia and Little Alicia, both healthy and happy...if just a bit sleepy :)

Michelle and Little Alicia, hanging out at the Children's Museum in St. Paul.

Story-time at the Children's museum. Toby started out running to the next activity room, and ended up pulling me by the hand to the floor and listening silently to all 4 stories.

Toby was looking at these photos with me later. He was telling me about what was in the photos. He had some very insightful comments,

"That's Toby. Toby have horns!"

-What are you doing there Toby? "I'm cooking the bubbles!"

The kids could perform on stage with "musical instruments," while music played, and they could watch themselves on the tv. Toby loves playing the guitar!

Back at the Fuller home, reading the dinosaur book. And after that came Curious George - the monkey. (the fat yellow book next to me) There's nothing like reading with a brilliant 2-year-old! It just made my day.

Mostly, it's just sooo good to have so much time to spend talking and being with such good friends. and with such good Family.

Today is the 4th of July-- a big family bbq in the park begins very soon, so I'm off to that now. The weather is perfect and the whole world smells like it's grilling. Happy summer!

A shower with sisters and a garden visit

I'm a bit behind with the photos and stories...I'm so very happily busy every day and night here at the moment! But on Wednesday, I got to visit an old friend from teaching -- one of my mentors. She taught me so much over the years and it was just lovely to catch up with her. She has a beautiful house with about 12 gorgeous gardens.




Then Friday night was Audra's Bridal shower. We had a relaxed evening picnic with sticky Chinese food, and had quite a few laughs at gifts... then we hung out and watched girly movies....It was a really nice night. I'll just share some photos, and I'll keep the rest as whispers between girls :)

So in between, there was a "coming out" party for little Alicia Grace on Wednesday night... but those photos I took with Michelle and Josh's camera, so you'll have to view those on the Fuller website if you're interested. It was a good night.

Thursday I had some great time with Mom -- we found the mother-of-the-bride dress. and then I spent some time with a group of old girlfriends. We spent about 3 hours getting proffesional photos taken...the majority of the time was spent just trying to choose our photos! so there's no candid pictures of that day, since we really didnt' want to see another camera after that! but we did have a completely satisfying dinner at the Olive Garden. Ahh... I've missed that restaurant!

Friday was a walk through the quaint, historical shopping mecca town of Stillwater. It was good to spend the day with Kim. And then there was the party for Audra, so now I think you're all caught up on the week.

Saturday was beautiful and long and busy....spent with small children and very good friends... but that's going to need many more photos and stories. So that will be in the next post.

to be continued....