We Still Don't Own A House

On Saturday we went to an auction for a house in Brunswick. It was a really nice place and we wanted it. We bid at the auction and were bidding against one other couple. In the end, they had more money. It was pretty disappointing, but we're still hopeful that the right place will come along eventually.

As for our current house, the realestate agent has moved half of our furniture out and a whole lot of new stuff in. I don't want to offend anyone because everyone has different taste, but I will say that it is really not us at all. And to make matters worse they took the dresser which was my only mirror apart from the bathroom mirror so now I have to rely on Paul to tell me if I look acceptable or not before I leave the house. Eek! I know he's my husband, but can I really trust him with my appearance??

A Week in Lorne

Okay, so it wasn't quite a week, but it felt like it! I went to Lorne for a conference. I wasn't presenting, but Slavica and Stefania were presenting posters. We all rented a house together along with Stefania's parents who took care of Giorgia while we were at the conference. It was a really fun week, but very busy. The conference started at 8:30am and finished at 10:30pm every day, with a 3 hour lunch break where we could relax a little and go swimming. But it still meant that we didn't get much sleep and the 4 days of conference felt like forever.

We did have a lot of fun too, though. One one of the days, I went boogie boarding with Slavica and my supervisor, Lisa. OMG, that was so much fun. I didn't really want to, but when I did, I didn't regret it. I even had an awesome boogie board with a tiger on it. Oh yeah - renegade boogie boarder, that's me!

So here are some of the photos from the time spent at Lorne. There are a few, so I hope I don't bore you too much with them!

This is the house that we stayed in. That driveway was so steep, even though it doesn't really look it. I had to do a reverse hill start everytime I drove and after 2 years of only driving sporadically, I was very impressed with my efforts!

That's the view from the deck/balcony. It was so peaceful out there and we had visitors to the deck too... lorikeets, cockatoos and a variety of other birds. I taught Giorgia to say Cocky. It's amazing how quickly she picks up words at the moment!

Okay, so maybe I went a bit crazy on the bird shots!

Lorne itself is such a pretty town. Rolling hills leading down to a beautiful white sandy beach. There are great views from just about everywhere. Here are some of them.

In that last beach photo, you can see the sea mist, which came and went throughout our time there. Sometimes it was so thick, you couldn't see the hills at all.

We did spend quite a bit of time at the beach. It is really lovely and the water was so refreshing. Quite cold at first, but once you got used to it, it was beautiful!

We spent lots of time hanging out as one big happy family. Of course Giorgia always features heavily in the photos.

Slavica took the following Giorgia pics. I was pulling faces to try and make her smile/giggle, but I didn't have much luck.

Just to prove that we did do some work...

This is Slavica with the conference abstracts and with her poster.

This is Stefania with her poster, with Lisa and explaining her work to Paul from ATA.

And finally, here's George discussing troublesome Caerin with Tara. They're standing in front of Tara's poster.

Overall it was lots of fun, but also really tiring. I forgot to mention the conference social and dancing with my supervisor. Haha! I wouldn't have guessed about that one in advance. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the occasion, but that was lots of fun too.

Hurdle Number One Has Been Negotiated

I'm posting all out of order, because I haven't gotten round to posting the pics of Lorne yet, but I have some very important news to share. The first goal of 2010 has been achieved. I have a new job!

I went for an interview yesterday, which went really well. I walked away from it felling really good, but nonetheless I had that niggling doubt in the back of my mind. When I got to work this morning, I discovered that they'd called my boss almost straight away as a referee. Then this afternoon I had a phone call to ask another couple of questions. Then they called back not long after that to offer me the job. Of course I accepted straight away. Squee!

So "they" are Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in the Division of Autoimmunity and Transplantation. The job is Office Administrator. It sounds really innocuous, but from what I can gather it's going to be pretty full on. It'll be helping to run and organise the division of 40 researchers.

I'm very nervous, but I'm really looking forward to the challenge. I'll be learning new skills and honing others. I'm pretty sure they'll keep me on my toes!

I have a day of orientation on Tuesday and then I start on 29th March after I get back from Adelaide. It's a very exciting time in the household.

Flowers or Chocolates

Paul and I don't celebrate Valentine's Day. It's too close to our anniversary to celebrate it properly and since Paul showers me with flowers, chocolates and other gifts for our anniversary, it's unnecessary to do it again so soon. Hahahahaha!! Sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face. Paul isn't really the type to do the flowers or chocolates thing. Last year I bought myself flowers for our anniversary and this year I was again determined to not let it pass without some romantic token gesture. So I decided to get a gift delivered to Paul's office. Paul doesn't believe in flowers - you'll have to ask him for the explanation, so I decided to go with chocolates. There are so many companies now that do chocolates in funky arrangements, so I decided to go with a bouquet of chocolates, but the most manly looking bouquet I could find. I think I did pretty well.

A New Addition to the Family

Paul and I will be getting a new puppy at the end of March. Our baby girl has been born and had her 6 week vaccinations. We had some photos of the 3 girls that we could choose from. Now how on earth can you pick from these pics?

Aren't they just the cutest little things? They are all far too adorable to choose between them!

So when we return home from Coffin Bay in March, one of these darling little puppies will be coming with us and keeping Myf on her toes. To say I can't wait would be a complete understatement!!

Back to reality

I arrived back in Melbourne yesterday from the conference in Lorne - stories and photos to come.

I drove in over the Westgate bridge. OMG, I can't believe I'm driving in Melbourne. The freeway is insane, but I totally managed to negotiate it and get the right exits. Yay! The Westgate bridge is such a great way to enter the city. There's a view to the city on the left and a view to the beach straight ahead. It almost brought a tear to my eye - I might be a little over-tired and emotional right now though.

I'm writing this from home because I have the whole week off work. I'm relaxing inside while we have gardeners here getting the house ready for sale :( This is becoming a HUGE deal. The stylist has been through the house and has decided that she wants to put some of our furniture in storage and replace some of it with nicer items. Paul couldn't remember exactly what they wanted, so I'm awaiting a list from the real estate agent. In some ways it seems like such a small thing. It'll only be for a short while and it shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience. But then on the other hand, it's insane. We live here, ffs. It's not a display home. We're tenants and legally, I don't think they have the right to do this. I really don't want to piss them off and I sound neurotic and unreasonable everytime I talk to the agent. It sounds like I'm the crazy one for not wanting them to replace my fridge with a smaller one etc.

It's a pretty stressful time at the moment for Paul and I, so I'm trying my hardest not to let the small stuff get to me. Is this a small thing that I should just go with the flow on? Is it really going to be such a big deal to live with half my furniture in storage for 5 weeks and someone else's furniture in my house? But then what happens if it's like the last house and takes 3-4 months to sell?

I think when I'm get the list from the RE agent, I'm going to sit down and put all of my thoughts into an email and so I don't sound like an irrational, overemotional freak.

So that's the crappy news. The exciting news is that I have two job interviews lined up. The first is today at 1pm. It's in the Research Office at Monash and is only short term casual, but it would be good experience to have if I get the job and can fit it in with my current job.

On Leave

I'm taking official leave from the blog for the next week. I'll be in Lorne on the great ocean road at a conference. Tough gig, I know!

When I get back, hopefully I'll have lots of tales to tell and stories to share. Cross your fingers that the freeway is clear for me and I make it down there and back in one piece (both physically and emotionally).

5 Years!

Today, Paul and I celebrate 5 years of wedded bliss. Well, perhaps not all 5 of those years have been bliss, but overall, we've been happy together. We're constantly growing as a couple and when we encounter difficulties, we work towards resolving them together (after one of us has chucked a giant tanty - I'm not naming names!). I think this is a sign of great things to come.

So how does a happily married couple celebrate 5 years of married life? At the cricket of course! Well, that's if it stops raining long enough for the T20 match to be played! Stupid Melbourne weather!!! ;)

Rhubarb and the 'burbs

On Saturday we had dinner with friends out at their place in the suburbs. In Adelaide, the 'burbs are around a 15 minute drive from the city centre. When Paul and I moved to the North East suburbs, my friends thought it was soooooo far away. It was a 10 minute drive from Adelaide or 15 in rush hour. A taxi ride home cost $20. Gosh, Adelaide is TINY compared to Melbourne.

We drove for an hour on the Monash freeway to get to our friend's house. And this is still suburban Melbourne. On our way home at night, we got caught in a traffic jam. It was totally bizarre. Traffic was practically stationary. If it was Adelaide, you would have only seen 2 cars on your way home. I think it's going to take a while getting used to driving here.

We had a great dinner with Jess, Matt and Kristina. I continued the ingredient of the month challenge and made a Rhubarb Yeast Cake, which was essentially a big sticky bun filled with rhubarb, walnuts and dried cranberries. I modified a Stephanie Alexander recipe.

It was very tasty and I have loads left over for morning tea at work for the week.

Jess and Kristina posed nicely for the camera, but Matt and Paul decided to do a funny pose. Matt looks normal at any rate.