Mama Chameleon

Thursday, January 31, 2008





NEW DIGS

Today's offering is what we call a quick 'sticky beak' here in OZ:
Come and see where we live now!!!
In Moonbi we had the Big Chicken, here in Gungahlin we have the Big Mistake! Believe it or not, this mangled reminder to drive carefully cost $750,00, and they actually ran out of money for the highway it is on and had to only resort to building one lane going north instead of 2!
So you drive past dozens of houses all the same.....

....till you get to our house!

Come on in. Don't look at the office; still unpacking there!

This is the living room. Rather cozy.

The living area is more spacious.








Down the hall are the kid's rooms.

Spindles:
Roly:
Diva:




Topsy:


And let's go outside!







Not as big as our old backyard!
Here are a couple pics of the kids' school.






Posted by michelle :: 11:54 am :: 5 comments links to this post

Post a Comment

---------------oOo---------------

Thursday, January 24, 2008



'It's OK dear, I'm a psychopath....'


Well it is high time I updated this blog.
We have successfully moved from our country home and parish to a new suburb in Canberra.
It was a crazy time leading up to the move, thankfully all a bit of a haze now. The craziness of it all , took away from the emotion of leaving, so we weren't really able to grieve in a sense. Too much happening all at once, and after the removalists and cleaners came in, the place was stripped bare and felt alien to us anyways.
Of course, the 9 hour trip to Canberra in 2 cars had to have its share of drama. Our two terrified and alert cats (apparantly drugging your cats for a trip is now considered inhumane!) gave us plenty to think about. We had always borrowed a friend's cat cage for vet visits and were unable to source one to buy, so we had yowling cats clawing their way around the car and my head for the first 15 minutes of the trip, till we got to Tamworth and managed to purchase wire baskets that we fashioned into cages in the car boot. After 3 escapes and stops to put the dumb animals back in their cages, Hubby and I managed to work out a way of totally incapacitating the stupid cats (yes, they made me mad!!!!), and we managed to stay sane despite the yowling.
Oh and my car also decided to turn on its emergency light (the one that the manual told us means 'Go to a mechanic now!!!!") So we pulled over with a yucky feeling in our guts. We all prayed, then I turned the car off and then restarted it. The emergency light went off and has not reapppeared since.
:)

We arrived late that night at our new house, to be welcomed by our new church's founders as well as the minister and his family. A brand new gleaming house, fully stocked fridge, freezer and pantry. Yeeha!!!!!! Such a blessing.
Hubby and I really knuckled down to unpacking once the removalists arrived next morning, and we are pretty nearly unpacked.

Though we are settling in,I still feel like we are living in some futuristic movie. This suburb is full of little Lego houses, all pretty much the same. Lots of McMansions too, All the gardens are exactly the same too. Low maintenance, with orange gravel and native plants. They look great but it is surreal! Street upon street of the same houses.

We have joined Questacon (check it out on google ) and the zoo. Every evening we walk our dog to the park, as we have no backyard to speak of. A couple days ago we found a fantastic park just a couple minutes drive away that has flying foxes as well. Such fun. And a lake with ducks and swans.
And of course I have my Aldi close by. :)

On Tuesday school starts.
So far we have found the transition great and relatively easy. At church there are African families, though every time I see them it nearly makes me cry; for lots of reasons I guess. In fact their are a number of international families. And there are lots of kids who have been welcoming to our mob.
We are getting plenty of invitations out for dinner, which we are taking up.
Oh and the title of the blog?
Well today as we were driving to get school supplies, I saw a little old lady hobbling along the busy highway itself ( in peak traffic too) with her cane.
I always stop to help injured animals, so a human in danger was a no-brainer.
I screeched dramatically off the highway, left the car running and raced over to get her out of harm's (Super MamaChameleon!!!).
The old lady smiled vaguely as I explained gently that she was actually walking on a busy highway, and that I wanted to aid her.
'Oh, I'm a psychopath, dear' she informed me with a gentle smile.
I jumped back physically, and nearly wet myself, visualizing her attacking me with her walking stick in full view of my helpless children.
'Pardon?,' I stammered?
'It is OK', she repeated in her thick accent, 'I am a psychopath'
Then I saw that she was pointing at the road, and stared at it.
"Oh, you are walking on the CYCLE PATH!' I said. 'Right!'
Uh, DUH!!!!!
hee heee *blush foolishly*

Posted by michelle :: 3:23 pm :: 5 comments links to this post

Post a Comment

---------------oOo---------------