Sheer Bliss!!

Hey all you Hagenmaier watchers and worriers----Our furniture shipment arrived, is mostly unpacked and we're literally sitting pretty!!!

The movers arrived about 8:30/8:45 a.m. with the metal container (off the cargo ship). A crew of 3 Aussie guys unloaded everything (we directed what room it went to) before noon. While Mark was checking off the item numbers, Jen and I unpacked and washed bedding and kitchen items.

Oh, this is fun!! I had the webcam connected to the laptop. Through Yahoo IM video & voice conferencing my Mom watched all the action!!

Hardly any damage to our items, so no claims to hastle with.

So, now my days will be filled with more unpacking and shuffling and decorating. We'll really get settled in. Maybe I can concentrate now on what excursions we'll be taking while we are here! Any suggestions? Please, let 'em flow!!

A good read

Here is a book that I read before coming to Australia. It is about an American who had been working and living in Australia for 14 years and realized he had no connection with the country. He decided to leave his job and bike around the continent. He writes about a lot of different places in a humorous style. I enjoyed the book and recommend it! I checked it out from our local library.

Daylight Savings Time Reminder

As the U.S. is "falling back", here in Queensland we are leaving our clocks alone. When calculating the time difference we will subtract three, you will add three.

Happy Halloween!!

Those two words have a dual meaning this year. October 31st: The traditional All Hallows Eve and the new meaning comes by way of a moving van bringing our belongings! Yes, the happiness of seeing cardboard boxes, packing tape and paper will be an overdue, but welcomed site. LET THE UNPACKING BEGIN!! So if you find yourself anywhere near us on the 31st.....swing by and lend a helping hand!!

A funny comic!

This is so true!! Queensland does not observe daylight savings time. We'll need to get used to this! Peter Beattie (equivalent of a governor) said recently that this helps to keep the rates of skin cancer down. I wonder if that's actually true or not. It is odd that the sun is up so early (4:00 ish, I'm told). I frequently am up by 5:30 and it is quite bright. When Mark gets home from work we try to get a bike ride in before it gets dark (6:00)

GREAT NEWS!!!

OUR SHIPMENT HAS CLEARED CUSTOMS AND QUARANTINE!! AWAITING A CALL FROM THE DELIVERY COMPANY TO SCHEDULE THE DAY TO BRING US OUR FURNITURE!!!

More of the party

Audrey's B-Day Party

Our night out for Audrey's B-Day

Hagenmaier Happenings

Our time this past week has been focused on settling in to our Aussie house! As a previous post states we got the keys on the 17th. Mark and I began moving boxes in that day. Luckily for the girls they were in school that day (they were so sad, NOT). We borrowed 2 foam mattresses from Patty and 2 blow up mattresses from Jen. THANKS!!! The mattresses serve as our furniture until ours arrives when the customs and quarantine party is over.

Audrey celebrated her 12th birthday last Thursday. We joked with her that she moved clear to Australia to have her birthday happen 14 hours earlier! She's the first one in our family to celebrate a birthday down under! We celebrated as a family at a restaurant of her choice. She chose the Pancake House in Brisbane. It is housed in a former church, very lovely!! The food is really good too. (Patty tells me that it used to be even better in times past) On Saturday, she invited her school friends to Rocksports for some indoor rock climbing, then back to our house for a swim before having pizza, cupcakes and ice cream!

Emily departed Saturday morning with the chorale group from school's mini-tour. They were heading north out of Brisbane to Kingaroy and Maroochydore. One night they would stay in the hosting church community member's homes and the next night they are staying in cabins. I wonder how Emily will survive roughing it? Hmmmm....we'll see!

Mark's been busying himself getting the geeky hardware up and running! He's got the DSL in place, so GOOD BYE DIAL UP!! He's also purchased a TV. Now he is able to download the recorded U.S. programs that we've all been waiting to see. We still enjoy watching the Aussie shows (Spencer--that was for you!!!), but like to have a dose of our favorites from home too! There is a drama series that I want to get from the ABC shop called SeaChange. Also on a recent 20 to 1 episode the program focused on the best Aussie films. We will be watching those to deepen our understanding of Aussies.

My next post will be pictures! Hope you all enjoy them!

Happy B-day Audrey!

Hey Audrey.

Happy birthday to you!Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Audrey!Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday Audrey!Don't forget to write when you can!




From,
Sarah
p.s. GO ON TO WEBKINZ! HURRY!

The Keys!

Let's hope that by the end of the day tomorrow (Tuesday) we will have the keys to our Aussie House!

The rental manager of the property is to do her inspections today. The owner moved out over the weekend. If everything checks out, she'll make an appointment with us to sign the paperwork and take care of business. We'd like to begin moving our things in Tuesday afternoon. We have our current place booked until Thursday, so we can move at a leisurely pace.

Our final shipment of house contents from the U.S. is due to arrive in Brisbane this week. It must clear customs and quarantine, so we won't see it until the end of October/early November. So in the mean time, we'll be creatively making due! Oh, the adventures we get to have!!

More later!

Hey Audrey!

sorry i havent been replying 2 your emails iv been very busy-school,painting the living room ttyl kaela lylas

Podcast of Lori on radio

Another update for Lori from America, how is she coping with life Down Under, and how is hubbys chillli sauce cravings?

Listen here....