Journal Entry #6

On Friday Norman and I attended our first apartment social. They have one on the first Friday of each month and we felt that this would be a good way to meet some of our neighbors. The flyer had said to bring nibbles and drinks. I stressed somewhat on what to bring. I wanted to make a good first impression. I decided on Brownie Bites and Roasted Cinnamon/Sugared Almonds. I arranged the cookies on one of my pretty red trays and put the almonds in a red and white striped bowl. We walked over to the pool area with our nibbles and bottled water. Needless to say we were the only ones there with bottled water. My pretty tray and bowl were the only red on the table, everything else was white and my nibbles were the only sweets-everything else was salty. Later when one of the ladies was passing my cinnamon sugared almonds around, not knowing I was the one that had brought them, she said, "I am not sure what these are but ..." to which another lady replied I don't know either but they don't look very appetizing. (They did sort of resemble Kangaroo droppings but I thought they tasted pretty good). So much for first impressions.

Even though the nibbles were a flop, we did meet some of our neighbors and I have been invited to a High Tea Leukemia Benefit on Friday. Not sure what a High Tea is but you can rest assured I will be googling it before Friday!

We had planned to visit Tamborine Mountain on Saturday but we woke up to a thunderstorm and decided to postpone that adventure. Instead, we went to look at bicycles and we bought Norman a hat. This hat is suppose to protect his neck and ears from the sun. On the way home he was reading all about the hat and how to care for it. The instructions said - "It is shower proof." I looked at Norman and said, "Why would anyone get in the shower with their hat?" If they meant rain they should have said rain. (I am learning). I must say he does look rather handsome in it, even in the shower.

Today we went back to the tiny church on the Gold Coast. Wayne, the preacher had emailed and called to tell us they were having a potluck in honor of the guest speaker from Fiji. I decided to make my new favorite recipe Orzo Salad, Luke's old favorite - Chili Cheese Frito Salad (couldn't find Fritos so had to substitute the only spicy corn chips I could find), stuffed eggs and I took the leftover roasted cinnamon almonds and brownie bites for dessert. I came home with empty dishes. They loved it all!!!

We have been praying about where to go to church long before we got here. We wanted to be where the Lord wanted us to be. I preferably did not want to be in a small church - One of those "Lord, put me where you want me to be but..." request. We had visited a larger congregation last Sunday but we decided to go back to the small church. And today I felt at peace and at home there. The guest speaker was very passionate about his work in Fiji and brought a very good lesson. The people are so precious and always welcome with a hug, as if they are truly glad you are there. I have included a picture of the congregation. And even though they are very small the singing is outstanding and the song leader is very enthusiastic. Some of the songs we know but they may sing a little differently and some are new to us but are very beautiful.

**On a side note-On this day especially I am praising God for the amazing journey He has allowed me to experience over the past year. He has been my refuge and strength, my ever-present help in trouble, my fortress, my portion, my deliverer, my mighty rock. He has sustained us every step of the way. "He has lifted us up out of an horrible pit, He has established our goings. He has put a new song in our hearts, even praise unto our God. (Psalm 40:1- 3). He has been faithful. I am believing Him and praising Him for the wonders He has done, is doing and will continue to do. And many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 2 Corinthians 1:11 Thank you to all who have prayed for us over these past 365 days. Amen, amen and amen.

Love you all.

Flat White/Hot Chocolate/Apple Crumb Muffin

Flat White/Muffin - $7.50
Hot Chocky - $3.50
Brekky with my husband - Priceless

Contrary to Popular Belief---written by Norman

Contrary to popular belief, I do not sleep all the time as suggested in some of the previous blogs I have read on this site. Due to some misinformation I have decided to start contributing occasionally an editorial. Mary Jo has adapted to retirement quicker than I could have imagined, but I am reaping the benefits as I have breakfast each morning and a great dinner each night. She has really become a gourmet cook since we have been here. Tonight we had some funny little round beans with some strange shaped pasta with several types of herbs and spices mixed in a huge metal bowl and served on a red plate. It was delicious. I am lucky to have such a wonderful wife and great cook.

Work is going well. Starts at 6:15 AM and usually ends around the same time each night. I have been traveling to some exotic places like Wagga Wagga. (Home of many crows). Saw more sheep than you could count. It is amazing how much wool they have this time of year, but many are being sheared now. Then I flew up north and stayed in one of the farming communities next to the Great Barrier Reef. They raise sugar cane in this area along with bananas and mangoes. Did not go out on the reef as we are saving that trip for when someone comes to visit.

Although this is an English speaking country there seems to be several dialects. Some are easy to understand. Others talk so fast and roll their words making it very difficult for me to understand. They have slang names for almost everything. Last week, I was on a road trip with two guys and we stopped for them to have a cigarette or fag as they call them. They were standing in front of the car talking with another guy and I decided to get something out of my computer bag in the trunk of the car. I walked around back and yelled for Mark the driver to pop the trunk. He said, "What did you say?" I tapped the trunk with my hand and said, "Pop your trunk." They all busted out laughing. He finally unlocked the trunk and then walked over to me and said, "You might want to watch what your saying as trunk over here means the man's private parts (he didn't actually call it that but Mary Jo wouldn't let me write his exact words). They call the trunk of the car the boot and the hood is the bonnet.

They actually keep up with the United States pretty well. They are constantly asking about our President and the economy. Had a great discussion last week with a group of five guys at dinner. I asked them about this observation... after living here a short while, seeing the massive amount of natural resources this county has, and the small number of people they have to defend it, the huge investments that China is making in Australian's mining industry, were they afraid that they would wake up one morning and see thousands of troop ships surrounding the country with millions of Chinese soldiers coming to claim there businesses. They said no they would go after America first. Don't think so, distance is much less to Australia. Unfortunately it wouldn't make any difference as we have been allies to all conflicts for a long time, but it made for some good discussion.

Mary Jo and I are trying a great deal of first. In fact last night she cut my hair for the first time ever in our 36 yrs of marriage. Saved $16+ and didn't have one cross word. Probably because she put masking tape over my month before we started. I will let her finish this story and give you a picture or two. Have a great day or night whenever you read this and thanks for keeping up with us. We are lucky to have you as family and friends. G'day Mate...

Well let me just say opinions expressed by this writer might not necessarily be the views of the regular blogger...

I have been busy reading, running and trying to learn cook. We have had stuffed peppers, tacos, and orzo salad. I have learned that garbanzo beans are the same as chickpeas (thanks, Sara) and that risoni is the same as orzo (the Internet has a world of information about everything I should know but don't). I also learned how to make French pressed coffee with a quick online lesson from Samuel.

Yesterday I decided to try the bus. I topped off my go card online and called about the bus times for the bus stop just outside our complex. She told me that the bus ran on the half hour - I am thinking o'clock and thirty but when I reached the bus stop the schedule read 2:21 and 2:51, needless to say I missed the 21 and had to wait for the 51. When I got on the bus I touched my card to the machine - I had learned how to do this when I was here back at the beginning of the summer riding the River Cats - touch on-touch off. The machine made a beep beep, so I asked the bus driver what that meant and in a grumpy voice he replied, "I don't know. What does it say? I can't read it!!!" (the machine was not facing him). At this point the machine read, "card already touched" so I just had a seat. When I touched it to get off the bus it said "insufficient funds"-I tried to explain to the bus driver that I had just topped it off online to which he replied, "It says you have insufficient funds! If an inspector gets on the bus you will be fined for not paying!"- He didn't bother to tell me that it took 48 hrs. for the online topping to clear or that I could pay cash. On the way back I boarded the bus, paid cash and asked this driver (a different one) if this was the bus to Columbus St. to which he replied, "I don't know where Columbus St is." - (there are two Columbus Street stops on his route) - one going and one coming!!! Thankfully, another rider helped me out and told me it was the correct bus for my stop. Not a good first experience with the bus drivers. However, I did not let the rudeness deter me from riding it again today. This time I did much better-only reprimanded for trying to load the bus from the back instead of the front-both have top on/off machines. Samuel, sound like the taxi drivers in Chicago? I am not a city girl!

Today when I went to the store they had 1 litre cokes with different names on each-advertising to share a coke with... the only two that I could find were Luke and Nick-lots of good memories of those two.

The picture of Norman by Marilyn is a two-fold story...first it is to show you his haircut-good thing he can't see the gaps in the back.(haha) Second, this picture is huge, it hangs just outside the master bathroom door, and has hung there since before we moved in three weeks ago. Well the other day Norman was walking into the bathroom and he hollered back to me, "Hey have you seen this picture of Marilyn Monroe here in the hall?" I just busted out laughing and said, "Yep, she's been there every time you have gone in and out of that bathroom. Hello, Norman.

That's all for now.

Journal Entry #5

Well Monday afternoon it hit me...that sickness you get when you are far, far from home and you miss everyone so much. By Tuesday I was a basket case and as I did my morning walk (did not feel like running) the tears continued to flow from underneath my sunglasses. I wondered if anyone noticed. Did they know that I was an American missing my family? It's a school holiday here - since the 17th of September until the 3rd of October, so the park was filled with families, children laughing, people talking and lots of grandparents with their grands. Tears flowed again and then the guilt came-what a beautiful place, what a wonderful opportunity, how could you be so homesick in such a place?

Norman picked up on it. He really hated to be leaving for the week but he did leave me his car. And my mom - she knew right away and said "I hate you are homesick but it won't last", and she was right. It didn't.

Word must have gotten out (although no one is admitting it) because I heard from 3 out of the 4 children (I know the other one was thinking about me too, but he was working hard to make some money so he can come see his Mama) plus the grands. I am better although the news from home today was not good - my dear Aunt Sarah has cancer in her spine. Please pray for her and my dad is having some test done, as well. My family has had quite a year but God has been faithful and He will see us through-every step of the way. Thank you, Jesus!!!

On a brighter note...I have a new best friend. His name is Tom. He is officially known as Tom Tom, but since the Aussie"s tend to shorten everything, we will just call him Tom. He travels with me in the car every where I go. He tells me when to turn right, when to turn left, where to go on the gazillion round a bouts and he even makes a trumpet sound when I exceed the speed limit. He speaks in a calm voice. He never tells me that I am scaring him to death when I tend to veer to much to the left and he never fusses at me for using the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal. I think I will keep him around while I am here.

I have taken some random pictures of our quint little Paradise Point. It is made up of two streets with one street facing the beautiful park I am always talking about. It has all kinds of places to eat, a post (short for post office), a fish and meat market, a chemist (drug store) a few doctor's offices, and a Golden Casket - it's like a convenience store. It even has a Baskin Robins but we have been going to the Gelato Store - less fat you know. The picture of the syringe deposal box was taken in the bathroom at the park-not sure why it is there but ...

The money is very neat - each denomination of paper money is a different color and a different length, with the fifty being the longest (that I have seen so far) The small gold coin is two dollars. The large gold coin is one dollar. The silver coins are from largest to smallest - 50 cents, 20 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents. Sorry, Ma, no quarters. They round up or down depending on the amount of your purchase because of the lack of a one cent coin. It has been easy to use but very costly!!!!!

Yesterday I bought some plants to replace the plastic ones on the patio. Today I potted them in the containers. They look very nice-now if they will just live. Not sure what the tall plant in our back garden is called but it grows like a sunflower, straight up. I took a picture of one that is just coming up so you can see the contrast in size.

Journal Entry #4

Well we only got to listen to about half of the game because of internet troubles-but I guess it's just as well. We enjoyed another good church service on Sunday with tea and visiting again afterwards. Jenny got to meet everyone there. After church we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went on a whale watching excursion. We really got to see a lot of action-4 whales at one time, flapping tails and white belles, and even a dolphin that swam right along side the boat. The trip out and back was nice, too. The weather was perfect.

On Monday I took another stroll to Big W to get another smoothie machine (small blender) I had brought mine from home and tried to use it with just an adapter and not a converter-yep just like they warned us in our cultural class-if you plug in a 110 appliance to a 240 plug without a converter it will FRY!!!!! and so it did.

Monday night's menu was Butternut Pumpkin Squash Soup, Lentil Burgers on multi-grain buns and a salad. Let's just say it was not one of Norman's favorites. I was talking about how good I thought the Butternut Pumpkin Squash and Norman picked up his bowl and said, "Well here you can have my baby poop." Guess I will be studying the cookbook for some other recipes.

Tuesday we were up and off to the airport at 4am. Norman had his first trip and his flight was at 6:00. He drove to the airport and I drove back home - SOLO!!!! I was quite proud. I only had to circle the airport once due to a missed left out of the arrival/departure area. The GPS was a big help. Norman will be home on Thursday. I am trying to do some reading.

Today (Wednesday) I did venture out in the car to Helensvale where I found a Kmart, Target, Coles, and of course Woolys. I was able to purchase a coffee pot for $12 which I thought was pretty good considering the cheapest one at Big W's was $48. And beings that we will have to leave it here I did not want to invest to much.

I have decided to start posting my pics on FB due to the length of time it takes to upload pictures on the blog.

VOCABULARY

pick up/set down - drop off area at the airport
lay by - lay away
fly bys - coupons
give way - yield
car park - parking lot
trolley - grocery carts
take away - carry out

Journal Entry #3

Well I am an unofficial Aussie driver-meaning I have had two driving lessons and I still us the windshield wipers as the turn signal. I have driven once since my driving class with Norman to the market. He drove home.

On Wednesday I fixed the standard salad and baked potato with watermelon/grapes because we were pressed for time since we were meeting Jenny and Wayne from church to attend the Wednesday evening devo/prayer meeting. They meet in someone's home so we were going to follow them. It was at the home of another couple who also has 4 children, who by the way were just getting over the chicken-pox. Didn't get the heads up on that until we got there. They were very welcoming and I had a very nice conservation with Jenny. The guys met in one room and the ladies met in another. They seem to really love the Lord and the Bible.

Thursday Norman worked from home. We got up early and I took him on my route that I run everyday-we walked. We stopped to get Norman a cup of coffee and me a loaf of bread from the bakery. Did I say that I miss my multigrain thin sliced Italian bread from Publix? After our short stop we sat in the park and watched all the people out and around. It was nice.

Our shipment was suppose to arrive between 12:00-12: 30. They arrived around 3:00 in a tiny truck which delivered our 12 small boxes of stuff. WE OVER PACKED!!!! Not sure what I was thinking but I brought 6 regular size tubes of toothpaste, not to mention the 6 travel size, 5 large bottles of baby powder, 4 - 25oz bottles of shampoo, along with several trial size, 4 bottles of hair gel, 3 bottles hand soap, 6 extra toothbrushes and 16 bars of soap. So for those of you that plan to come, no need to bring these items. We were able to find a place for everything including the 20+shoes I brought-see picture of my shoes that go with the decor-I am thinking about becoming an interior designer.LOL After several hours we finally got everything put in its place-pics of frig, which by the way is non-magnetic!!! Special note to Kay and Harold-picture taken(see above) for proof of your position on the refrigerator. Most of my verses that I had reprinted on red paper are placed strategically about the apartment. Kimberly, my TOTY looks great on the entertainment center, Cheri, our picture with one of my favorite verses on it has a special place in the entryway and the photos you or Jim took at sunrise of Florida Park look great under the glass on top of the center piece in the living area. Brenda, I have my prayer angel in the entryway, too. Lynne, the prayer rock is on the nightstand by my bed. The red spatula I bought about 4 years ago after listening to the late Barbara Johnson's book, "Stick a Gerainm in Your Hat and Be Happy". It has been in my kitchen at home and fit right into my kitchen here. The three photo albums are books that I had made from different trips we have taken. Can you believe they match perfectly?? (red/black). The big book is a book that Norman's dad received when he was stationed here in Brisbane during WWII. It has a kangaroo on the front and is entitled Displaying Australia and New Guinea. It has lots of pictures of Brisbane as well as many other places throughout Australia. It has an full page picture of General Douglas MacArthur. Who would have ever thought we would be in the same place as his dad some over 65 years later?

With family photos scattered throughout it now feels more like home. Thanks everyone for helping me decorate the apartment. Now I can see you all in just a step or two.

After all that work on Thursday we had milk and cereal for supper!!! (Didn't take me long to recover from MBCS - "Miss Betty Crocker Syndrome"

It has been really neat how God has (as always) put Christian in our paths over these first few days, not just with visit to church but in out everyday activities. First we went to open an account at the bank on Thursday and the girl that was helping us was talking about working at the bank and how blessed she was to work there. My ears immediately perked up and about that time she said, "I was noticing your bracelet". It was the one you had given me, Cheri, with all the different crossing on it. I said yes it has all different kinds of crosses to which she replied, "Any particular reason you wear it?" And I said, "Well, because I love the Lord. She said, "Me too!" I said, "I thought you were a Christian." It was really neat because then she began to tell us about how she had become a Christian. Then Friday night we had two girls come over that work for John Deere-Kim, who lives here in Brisbane and Jenny, who is here from the states. Jenny is spending the weekend with us and she has been such a delight to have as our very first visitor. (See Luke-people do come for visits to Australia). We sat down for dinner and began to talk. They both mentioned the churches that they attend and how God had done this or that in their lives. It was really neat. Jenny and I went for a long run today. She and I had a good conversation about the Lord. What a blessing!! He is sooooo faithful.

For dinner on Friday night I think I would have made Sara and Ryan proud - see pics above of my prep dishes for scrimp scampi, broiled asparagus, corn on the cob, fresh French bread, salad and blond Texas sheet cake. For the appetizer I served a French baguette thinly sliced with basil pesto, tasty cheese and diced tomatoes. It was rather yummy if I do say so myself and actually I really enjoyed cooking. (Note to Norman children-see I can cook something other than hamburger helper and lean cuisines)

Today after our run, we just kicked back and relaxed, walked down to our favorite fish and chips place-a one man operating hole in the wall place. The man is very gruff and straight forward but his fish and calamari is delicious. We had the sweetlips-last week we had it battered and this week we tried the crumbed. After that Jenny went to the pool, Norman took a nap and I blogged. Then we loaded up the red and white lawn chairs drove down to Surfers Paradise with all the other spring breakers on the Gold Coast. The waves were big and the weather was perfect. We stayed about an hour, came back and had dinner at Paradise Point were they were having a Taste of the Gold Coast, complete with fire twirlers, belly dancers, a roadster car display, and a walking three-man band. The road was blocked and the tables were set up in the middle of the street with white tablecloths and candles. It was very festive. Of course, none of us had a camera.

Everyone has turned in and I must, too. Tennessee plays Florida in the morning @ 5:30 and I don't want to miss that!! Good luck to all you Gator Fans-Rocky Top you'll always be home sweet home to me!!!! Love you all.