Christmas?

The flat is not decorated, and no one here is talking about Christmas.  It's slightly odd.  The weather being so sweltering is interesting as well.  But, I do know it's coming and I've been enjoying watching other people getting ready.  Some folks in our neighbourhood have decorated their houses, so Daniel and I went on a walk a few nights ago to enjoy the holiday lights.

This is a picture of the moon, which looks like a bird.

The camera did that with the light all on its own.

It was an extremely orange colour, though.

Where is the snow on the ground?

 This is my favourite house; they're really doing it up!

See the penguin?

 Be the tree, Daniel.

Our camera has a flash, so we were not sure why most of the photos came out blurry.  Life here has been going well, except for the continued bug issues.  We wake up each morning with new bites on ourselves.  I've stopped counting them at this point.  And for the next month that we live in Cairns, it's going to be a full flat.  Glisten and both her kids will be with us for the next four weeks.  Tonight will be our last night in a quiet home and we're spending our time doing just that, keeping it quiet.  

 I'm aware that you cannot really define this picture.

The brown fuzzy bit in the center is a frog.

Daniel really wanted you to see it.  Mostly we see these creatures

squashed on the side of the road.  This one is very much alive.

Speaking of road kill, I did see my first kangaroo a few days ago while riding in the car on the highway.  It was, unfortunately, dead and lying on its side.  It was sad, and according to Glisten, typical.

We've been in a balancing act doing our best to stay present, while also thinking about the future and being excited about our move back to Brisbane.  And we've been taking advantage of living near the ocean.  Daniel is gearing up for his new Master's program, and doing a lot of writing.  As for myself, I have been putting class ideas together so I can start teaching again when I have face to face clients.  Sarah has been keeping in contact with me about working together, and I so look forward and appreciate our collaborations.  I am also looking forward to having weekly massages again!  

Handyman giving our air con a filter cleaning.

 

Luckily, Glisten has her car back which means I was able to drive Daniel and I to work yesterday.  The plan was to clean the house and then jump into the home's swimming pool.  We could not, however, get into the gate so we left disappointed and sweaty.  I took a cold shower after we got home.   Since the pipes here are likely to never freeze, they are not buried far underground.  Imagine in the summer when you turn on a garden hose that has been sitting in the sun, the water comes out warm.  It's the same thing here, the cold water is rarely fully cold.  Turning on the hot water is not necessary. 

Only a few more days until "the world ends".  We'll be keeping you all posted since we'll get there first.  If you don't hear from us on the 20th, do something really cool, because it means you'll only have a few hours of life left.  Ha!