New Beginnings....

Well ... it was a long couple of flights. Ponygirl, ever looking out for her comfort, stuffed the Continental Airlines pillow and blanket into her backpack. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why her backpack had become so huge as it was slid onto the conveyor belt at LAX. Then there was the security drill where loud sirens blared and we all had to step back from the xray machines and all activity stopped for about 3 minutes. After a long-delayed flight from Houston, this was just what my 11-year old anxious kid needed to top off his day. Boy, I feel so much more secure....

The Quantas flight was outstanding. We landed at 6:00 AM and were almost put on the Aussie watch list due to Ponygirl stashing the eaten apple core and banana peel from her breakfast in her backpack. FOOOD!!!!UNAUTHORIZED!!!!UNDECLARED!!!! I will be in charge of her backpack in future.

Our house is lovely. It is period Federation and has beautiful tiled fireplaces...we can't figure out how to turn them on, mind you, but they look lovely. The wooden floors are polished and we have pull switches to turn on the chandelier lights. Every door has its own key, so we have about 10 keys. Surferdude enjoys unlocking all the doors. We have vacuumed, scrubbed and mopped, so all is well in our human doll house. It has been cold, so we have been living mornings and evenings upstairs, as only the second floor has heat. We can't wait for our moving boxes to arrive with all of our blankets and coats and heavy sweatshirts. But, as our new neighbors say ...No worries.

Before I go, here are a few highlights from our first week in OZ...

1. McDonald's hamburgers have never tasted better than when eaten on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

2. Sydneysiders are quite polite to an American family hauling trash bins, stepstools and laundry baskets needed for the house onto city buses. They don't laugh out loud.

3. Children voluntarily head to bed at 5:30PM three nights in a row after a long trip to Sydney.

4. Energy-conscious (bordering on obsessed) Australian refrigerators will set off an alarm when left slightly ajar...causing the adults in the house to run around looking for the source and just waiting for the constables to show up on the doorstep.

5. Seeing the light in your children's eyes as they head across Sydney Harbor for the first time on a beautiful clear day.... worth every flight-induced crick in the neck.

Ta for now...