Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me...
Happy birthday to me!
Happy 28th! :)
My first birthday in Australia was really great. Jackson and I along with 9 other people in our housegroup (bible study) went up to the Central Coast (Daley's Point) and rented a house on a lake. It was a beautiful weekend. Not only did we get the chance to get to know our housegroup members better, but also it was a great time to get away from Sydney and its stresses. There were games of DDR, Singstar, Bartok, etc.
I woke up early on the morning of the 28th to phone calls from my parents and my sister, who sang me happy birthday. :) It was so great to hear from my sister who took 9 months to buy a phone card (thank you meeny!)
Jackson then gave me my birthday present! He got us tickets to go visit our nephew in Singapore later this year! Hooray!
Then the group spent the day at the beach and when we came home, there was a cake for me! (and the 2 other people who were going to be celebrating their birthdays soon - but more for me. )
But then this morning...I got a call from all my Harvard classmates! :) It was so great to speak with each one who not only wished me a happy birthday but gave me a quick update as to how they were doing. It was so sad that I couldn't be there catching up and having what sounded like a fabulous weekend in NY, but I was so psyched that they called! I've been floating on air all day.
Because this was my first birthday in Australia, and because of the time difference, I've been celebrating my 28th on the 28th both in Australia AND in the US - a GREAT 48 hours.
From Pas de Deux to Promotions
"Can't teach an old dog new tricks."
I'll be 28 on the 28th and I am definitely one of those old dogs trying to learn new tricks. I have been going to ballet class. I have been to a total of 3 and I have learned that I am NOT graceful, NOT flexible, and have a TERRIBLE memory. Despite all my terrible-ness, must say that I am really enjoying the class. How does an ex-lacrosse player get into ballet? I was compelled to join 4 other women from work in this new hobby of mine. I thought we were all newbies, within the first 10 minutes, it was clear that they danced beautifully and I was just a clutz. 1st position, 2nd position, 3...4...5? who knows? I am now committed to this class. I have my first pair of ballet slippers! and they're pretty and pink! :) Now, Tuesday evenings I am pas de deux-ing. :)
The other thing that happened this week was that I was formally promoted to project coordinator! After a month on the job, my manager resigned and I applied to take her position. It's a great opportunity and hopefully I'll learn heaps! :) But this does mean extra stress... it feels good to work again (?)
Have a good week!
Happy Easter
Happy Easter!
We actually left for the weekend on Wednesday night and flew up to the Gold Coast to spend the holidays with Jackson's family (parents and sister).
One of the great things about the Easter weekend here in Australia is that we actually get Good Friday and Easter Monday off - it's a federal holiday and I think in a lot of ways, Easter is like our US Thanksgiving. It's a family weekend. So you ask, you've been working a month and you already took one day off?! Yes, I did. One of the perks of the Cancer Council is that even though I can't take annual leave (vacation of 4 weeks) till I've been there for at least 3 months, we accrue "flexidays" when we work longer than our 7.5 hour work week. Let's just say that I have alaready accrued 3 days.
Anyway, going back to the weekend. It was a really nice weekend - the weather was gorgeous, we had opportunity to go out for a hit of golf and do family things. Jackson and I did get home Sunday evening and had al of Monday to just chill. We took care of taxes, we took care of all the odds and ends that we hadn't done since pretty much I had been working. One thing we brought back from the Gold Coast was a cold. Poor Jackson was sick and ended up not being able to last the day at work on Tuesday. :(
So I've found these Easter eggs to be a strange phenomenon. In the picture above, all those eggs are chocolate eggs. Apparently, they don't do hard boiled easter eggs dyed or covered in silly stickers here at all. You apparently gain a collection of these at Easter functions and end up eating them till May! I asked one of my coworkers about whether or not they had hard boiled eggs too and he just looked at me like I was nuts. Sigh...no more hard boiled eggs here. If anyone sees any on sale, could you send me some of that dye and sticker packs? I'll show them how it's done....
