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

Kona has arrived!

So, as the title suggests, Kona has arrived safe and sound to Australia! She arrived on Thursday, February 3rd and we were allowed to go and visit her for the first time today (Friday) in quarantine for 1/2 hour. She was super happy to see us and was not happy to see us go, but she has a very caring attendant looking after her. Rachel (her attendant) says that first few days are the hardest on them but it gets easier and they settle in.

It has been more than hot here the last few days with temps around 40C - they cool the outdoor quarantine cages by a roof top sprinkler system. Kona was soaking wet when we were in to see her which I'm sure felt good!

We will be able to spring her from the joint (if all goes well with her paperwork which we will know about next week) on March 5th. You better believe we will be there bright and early to take her away to her soon to be new home!

Australia Day!!

Happy Australia Day everyone! What a great time to arrive in Oz. We arrived safe and sound after a long few days of travelling and tried very hard to acclimatize to Aussie time.

We are now relatively settled in to our temporary accommodation...we have internet...cell phones...oops I mean "mobiles"...bank accounts....are now members of a car share program and we have an apartment in the city. We are in the midst of trying to find a more permanent place to settle down for the 2+ years we are here and also waiting for Kona to make the big journey.

We have seen some of the fantastic sites Sydney has to offer. We've walked around the Sydney Opera house, we've had dinner under the Harbour Bridge, and we have spent a day on Bondi Beach and what a beautiful day it was. We also took a quick tour of my new uni - Macquarie University and it is gorgeous. I'm looking forward to starting my program in about 3 weeks. Jon has already started his new job and is working bright and early - on his computer by 6:00am!

The weather (I'm sorry to say for all your Canadians suffering through a cold snap) has been nothing but perfect. Sunny and hot with highs around 35C. We can empathize with you all though as we too have suffered through a Sydney cold snap - it was only 21C the day we arrived and boy was everyone upset. :)




Looking forward to hearing from everyone - we miss you already!!
Lori & Jon
xoxo

The countdown count-up is on...

How to comment...

Hi everyone,

A few people were having trouble creating an account to comment on the blog...  so I did some homework and found that I could enable anonymous comments.  To do this, visit the blog, click on the "0 comments" link.  Where it says "Comment as:  Select Profile" click the drop down and select Name / URL.
Once you type your name click "continue" and write your comment.  When you are done press the "Post Comment" button.

Now give it a try!

Let's get this show on the road!!

Well, as most of you are aware we have been trying to sell our condo for the past few weeks.  Initially we tried to sell it ourselves, but the realization that there is a strong agent boycott of homes FSBO (For Sale By Owner) and Lori's rapidly approaching Christmas Craft Show season convinced us that we should pass it over to an agent.  As of today we have appeared once again on MLS.  The associated pictures have not been posted but there is a link to some fancy multimedia and hopefully over the next few days we will see some action.

http://www.myvisuallistings.com/vt/44304

We have been lucky here and there.  The other day we were approached by an acquaintance at the dog park where we walk Kona.  She knew we were moving and wanted to know if we were going to be selling out car.  24h later we have an agreement to sell the car, but we do not have to hand it over until just before Christmas.  It is a relief to have a car until Christmas and to not have to worry about selling it come crunch time...  On the same note we sold most of our furniture yesterday.  They will pick it up in January just before we leave.

Eleven Years Together

Well actually it has been more than eleven years - I think we met in 1995 but I am not so good with dates, so let's start with twelve years ago.

Twelve years ago is a long time ago...
Twelve years and twenty-two days ago, at 8:00pm on September 29th 1998 Lori and I packed our backpacks with shorts and flip-flops and jumped on an airplane to Australia.  We had an inexpensive round trip ticket...  but we had to fly the LONG way around the world to get to Australia - BOTH ways!  We arrived in Australia on the 2nd of October - 52 hours later!  It was an adventure that we both loved, we had toured through the outback and visited all the beaches on our road trip down the East coast.  By the end we had traveled to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and England before visiting France, Italy and Germany.  At the end of our first full day in Paris and only 20 days before the end of our trip we received a message at the front desk of our hotel - our first niece Katie was born!

That summer Lori and I took summer jobs, Lori was researching plant species on Pelee Island in the center of Lake Erie and I was a raft guide at Wilderness Tours.  I was only able to get one weekend off that summer to visit Lori.  While I was there I took her for a picnic on the beach and asked her to marry me - she actually agreed!

Now we were pretty young when we got married.  I was a raft guide and Lori was a plant studying summer student/biologist.  I have to admit, at times I was wondering what the heck we would do to get real jobs!  A couple of months later, the Friday before our wedding, I received a call from a manager at Nortel, I was offered a job and he wanted me to start 2 days later, on Monday - 4 days before our wedding.  Yes - I have to admit - I sometimes feel like I have a horseshoe in my pants...
Well it turns out that for only the second time since our wedding in 1999 - the calender aligns.  This Monday marks my 11th year with Nortel/Ciena and of course 4 days later on Friday it will be our 11th wedding anniversary.  I don't know why, but that alignment definitely took me back in time.  Two of the biggest life changing events in my life happened in one week - it was quite an experience.  It has been a fun, adventurous and rewarding 11 years and I often think about how lucky I am to have found someone so compatible. 

Thanks Lori - I love you.
 J