Home Sweet Home

It is a rainy Wednesday afternoon in Sydney and I am sitting in our new living room with my left foot propped up on a pillow. It is the Australian equivalent of "Spring Break" so Sophia and Zachary are both at home.  But for the moment, all is quiet and I thought I'd finally get around to updating everyone on the latest developments down under!
The most exciting news is that we have  moved into our house.  It is as fabulous as I hoped it would be and it already feels like home.  In what can only be described as a miracle, nearly all of our furniture fits perfectly and even looks like it was bought with this house in mind.  The only furniture that we aren't using are the kids' dressers and that is only because their rooms have such spacious built-in wardrobes.  (Ok - i did have a major furniture sale before we left Austin - thanks to all of you who bought things! - so that is the real reason everything fits.) 
Despite all of the drama when we moved out, everything arrived in one piece.  Having chatted with some other "ex-pats," I've come to realize how lucky we are that our sea freight made it here so fast.  Nearly everyone I've spoken with has told horror stories of it taking +12 weeks and then having to wash everything because of a strange "stench."  I'm so glad we didn't have those problems!

The settling in part is taking a bit longer than I hoped because I have managed to injure myself.  Zachary had come up to our bedroom for his 6 am visit.  In a desperate bid for a few more minutes of sleep, I agreed to carry him back downstairs to play quietly in his room.  Unfortunately, I miscalculated where I was on the steps, missed my footing and ended up on the landing with a large thud.  Zachary was not hurt but I ended up going to the emergency room because I couldn't move my foot or put any weight on it.  Turned out that I fractured my "fifth phalanges," compacted it into the bone below and badly bruised everything else.  While I still can't move any of my toes, I am able to flex my ankle and put some weight on it.  I am now hobbling around on crutches and have been told it could take up 6 months for the swelling to go down and my foot to heal.  Oh, and my toe is probably going to stay sticking out.  For. Ever. So much for those super-cute sandals I bought last week.  I toyed with taking a picture of my purple and blue foot but then thought better of it.  Here's a diagram instead. 

On the bright side, I now know where the emergency room is and also got my first up-close look at Australia's public healthcare system.  Andy was out of town so i took a taxi to and from the hospital.  (Am I turning into a "city girl" or what?)   A special thanks to the nice cabbie who got a wheelchair for me and wheeled me to admissions.  Don't know what I would have done if Nanna hadn't been here to take care of the kids for the 4+ hours I was gone.  But I guess I'm about to find out how we survive on our own as she is heading home on Saturday.  Things are bound to get a lot more challenging - and the quality of meals, laundry and childcare is definitely going to decline.  So, I guess I'd better enjoy another day or two here on the couch because reality is going to set in before much longer.  Here's hoping I am back on my foot soon as my to do list is growing by the minute.  In the meantime, think I'll see if someone will bring me some bon-bons. . .