Here's an update so far before this weekend happens when I'll have more to blog:
We arrived Wednesday morning and retrieved our bags from the claim. It was a super easy flight with absolutely no hiccups or surprises. Sarah drove up to the curb, gave us hugs, and helped us toss our luggage into the car. We shared stories and laughs on the way to our new home. She is a delight and I love her. She reminds me of my friend, Treva, in that she laughs at almost everything we say. That is a most fantastic quality in a friend, I think.
When we got to our new house, Daniel and I made lunch for the three of us. Then we went upstairs to our new bedroom and unpacked. It was Daniel who first realized we were missing something. Against my first instincts (when will I learn this lesson?!) we took someone else's advise to send one of our suitcases through the mail. In it we put our very fancy and expensive Tempurpedic, memory foam spaceman pillows, a couple of throw pillows, all of Daniel's shaving necessities, and some random little belongs that we can no longer remember. It still has not shown up and the post office here is a bit lackluster with their grief. We made a choice to stay positive that eventually it'll come here, or be sent back to Yorkeys Knob.
Then we got to cleaning! Since we have had cleaning jobs recently, we have become much more aware of our spacial surroundings in that way. Later we went grocery shopping with Sarah at Coles and then the Gabba Fruit Market. Dinner was had and we went to sleep.
The following morning we cleaned even more around the house, much to Sarah's surprise and delight. We live in a beautifully old Queenslander and it gets dusty fairly quick. Brisbane is just a dusty place; we knew that from our previous flat. The three bedrooms are upstairs. Daniel and I sleep in the master, the middle bedroom is the office Sarah and I share, and she has the back bedroom. There is a toilet room and a bathroom up there as well. The ceiling are a fantastic thirteen feet high, and the details in the windows and above doors I'll have to photograph for you. Downstairs is the living area, dining room and kitchen. We also have a big deck looking out over our yard and we eat a lot of meals outside. The garden already has plots and we plan to prepare them for growing more food soon. Currently there are tomatoes, garlic, and peppers out there. I told Sarah that sounds like salsa to me!
We took our first big walk in months to QUT that late morning. Daniel had an appointment at the other campus, so I walked with him until the bus stop. Walking back, I decided to make my way through the botanic gardens here to get reacquainted with the birds and lizards. I took the long way home so I could pick up some much needed items at the Asian market.
Friday we took Churchill for a walk. He's a good dog and stays right beside you. He doesn't stop every two seconds to smell things, he doesn't engage when other dogs bark at him, and he doesn't pull the lead to chase small running animals that he sees. The last one is the most important to me because we weigh about the same! We came home and tackled the kitchen with gusto and elbow grease. Then we had some lunch, and spent some time working. I've been coming up with ideas for classes and getting flyers ready to distribute, and Daniel has been preparing for school and thinking about his career future.
After a few hours we took another long walk downtown. We needed a few things for the house, a desk lamp for our room, another power point converter, and some heavy duty oven cleaner. The house isn't terribly dirty, per say, Daniel and I are just on a super cleaning kick! We took the back roads on the way there and it was dark on our way home. We walked along Southbank and admired the colours of the buildings in the city; the pagota building was lit up and lovely. We dipped our hands in the water at Streets Beach, which at seven in the evening was warm and still teeming with swimmers.
That night, Sarah had invited us to go swing dancing with her and some of her mates. I was going to go, but after walking almost ten miles that day, a trip to Fortitude Valley was not something that excited my legs. Instead, Daniel and I made a delicious rice and veggie meal together, had some wine, and did a bit of our own dancing. I waited up for Sarah to get home so I could visit with her for a bit before we all fell asleep.
Saturday morning Daniel and I planned to walk to the West End Farmer's Market. We were both consumed by our computers and finishing tasks that it was afternoon by the time we left. It was hot! That will not be a future choice we make. Taking showers was necessary before we walked up to our friend, Carolyn's house for a group toning event. It was so wonderful to see her, and hug her. About a dozen people were there, some of whom we knew and greeted warmly. A bit of meditation ensued, followed by a professional singer teaching us about our voices and how to speak clearly and sing holding different vibrations in our mouths and throats. It was a fun couple of hours. Some of us ladies are starting a choir for a Unity church that is here in Brissy, and I'm excited to be singing with a group again.
Sarah was making dinner for us that evening and her boyfriend, Simon joined us. He is from Kent, England and it was fun to swap some U.K. stories with him. It was a fantastic evening, full of laughs and music. The four of us touched on just about every topic, and we stayed out on the deck almost seven hours getting to know each other. The meal, by the way, was delicious and even included home made bread. Sarah and I plan to bake potato bread, and a rosemary and garlic bread together soon. She and I have a lot in common when it comes to food, music, films, spirituality, and energy work.
We went to bed late and woke up early. Daniel and I wanted to go to church to see our friends at St. Mary's in Exile. We walked down the street and Carolyn picked us up in her car. We were a happy surprise to our community and everyone was very gracious with us. They even had us stand up during service to formally welcome us back. We smiled and waved appropriately. Afterward we joined a big group of them at a coffee shop in West End. It was nice to visit some more with people who are much older than us, and therefore have different views of the world. Of course, some of the views are very similar as well. Back at home, we had a restful evening and were happy to make another yummy meal for us and Sarah.
Monday Daniel and I both got a lot accomplished. He was extremely helpful to me in creating and printing out flyers for my business. Sarah has taken a couple to put up at her work. She is a massage teacher at Endeavour College of Natural Health, and I really appreciate her support in my work. She understands very well what I do since we work with each other on a weekly basis. (Last night she had a massage client and as he was leaving I heard her tell him that he just had to see her house mate, because I would be extremely helpful to him.)
For dinner that night, Daniel was craving my potato dish, so he walked to the Gabba in the drizzling rain for some whipping cream. We made heaps so that everyone could have leftovers. Sarah told me her works mates had been teasing her about living with vegetarians, however, each day last week they have drooled over her lunch. We will meet some of them this Saturday, and she's prepared us to share our recipes. As Sarah says, "Frying up a steak each night for dinner, is not creative." After our meal, Sarah read our Astrological charts for us and it was so awesome and interesting. She even printed them out for us, and we talked for a long, loving time about religion, our backgrounds, our experiences as children and young adults and what our hopes for the future are.
Yesterday, I had a session in the morning which is always good. Daniel and I took the dog for another walk, however, Churchill and I had to turn back early because we forgot to bring a bag with us. He gets very bathroom inspired on walks. For the past two days, it has been cloudy and we've felt very thankful for the heat break. You still sweat during walks, yet in the house with the fans on, it feels very comfortable. (I'm even wearing jeans this morning!) We ate potato dish left overs for lunch and then I came up with package ideas for my business with Sarah. We have decided to collaborate our skills and offer our clients an interestingly diverse set of sessions. And as I was sitting here daydreaming of pizza, Sarah sent me an email suggesting just that for dinner! After work, she picked up some ingredients for our meal. Daniel and I chopped veggies and when Sarah was done with her massage, she came down and the two of us put together some awesome pies! Simon joined us for dinner and we had a mellow evening.
Okay, we have been here almost exactly a week and now you know most of what we have done! I'll take some photos of the house today and post them so you can more clearly imagine us living happily in our new surroundings.
All is well.
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