Oh....so much has happened!

Well, things have been somewhat busy the last few weeks. As our last post indicated, Kona has arrived safe and sound and has now suffered through 15 of 30 sleeps in quarantine - we're half way there!! We've been in religiously to see her 4 times a week, with two visits being visits in her run and two visits being 1/2 hr exercise pen visits. She's very happy to leave the quarantine building and play outside. So much pent up energy!


I started my Audiology program on Monday with classes from 9-5 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday last week for a preliminary week and things starting into a normal routine starting Monday with classes from 9-5 M, Th & Fri with practicums on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. There are about 30 of us in the program from very varied backgrounds - including many from Speech and Hearing, some from Nursing, and some from Sound Engineering and even a Music background. It should be a good mix of talents. I'm really looking forward to this degree.

And some big news - we are no longer homeless!! We bought an apartment (they don't call them condos here) in Artarmon which is about 20 mins by train to the city and 18 mins by train to school. We are actually RIGHT on the train line so it should take me all of 45 seconds to get to the station from our place which will make it very easy to get back and forth to school. Our unit is 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and is brand new - never occupied. We've been shopping and ordered most of our furniture (well all the important stuff, like a bed, sofa and TV!) all of which should be delivered next Saturday, the day after we move in. We actually take possession on March 4th, but the developer is "renting" it to us for a week so we can get in and get settled a week early. Kona is released on March 5th, so timing couldn't be better! It has been very difficult to find an apartment that will allow dogs. Some buildings DO allow pets, but they must be under 44 lbs which Kona certainly is not. This developer has thankfully agreed to allow Kona (and believe me, this is WELL laid out in our legal contract - we've had a GREAT lawyer!). More pictures will follow once we have our furniture in and make it our own.


Jon is still doing well with his job and is getting up every morning before 6:00. Things seem to be going well and he's enjoying it (I'd have him add more to this brief summary but he's taking a nap after an early 5:30 meeting this morning!).

Check out this picture of the fruit bats that are everywhere and HUGE! This was taken on a day where it was about 41C - the bats chill out in the trees during the day and fan themselves with their wings to cool off. You can see them flying around during the night - they are super cool (certainly not for people who are afraid of bats though!)



So, in summary things are going very well. Now that things are mostly settled with our apartment and furniture is mostly purchased we can breathe a sigh of relief and relax and enjoy a bit. We went out for a great steak dinner last night and enjoyed a bottle of wine in celebration. We hope to make it to the beach at some point this week-end and soak up some of the sun. It's been very humid here these days (which is great for the curls) ;) So far, Sydney is agreeing with us!

Miss all of you!
Hugs,
Lori, Jon & Kona