No Limes Today

I went to the store today and did not get limes.

OK, so I think someone made a mistake and they're supposed to be $24.98/kg instead of $24.98 each, but that's still a bit pricey for me.

That works out to about USD $9.65/lb (2.2lbs/kg). Hmmm. I think I remember limes being about 3 for a buck, maybe all the way up to 50c each when they were really out of season and being imported from far away. Don't get me started on the $5 I pay for a dozen eggs.

Just checking

Recently FFM has taken to calling out to make sure we parental units are paying attention. At random times he'll just holler our name to see if we're listening. We might be in the same room, different rooms, different floors, or even inside/outside. I've seen several toddlers with new language skills do this, must be one of those, you know, 'developmental steps' we read so much about.

When FFM calls Travis, it's "Da" or "Daddy." When he calls for me, it's "Mom-Mom." Occasionally it's just "Mom", but the majority of the time I'm "Mom-Mom." Not Mommy, Momma, Ma, but definitely Mom x 2. (maybe deep down he knows I'm a 'Moore Moore?') I feel like answering back in duplicate, but realize this could cause confusion down the road. Lets lets go go to to the the park park!

Grls grls grls

We are extraordinarily lucky in that we have great next door neighbors who also happen to have two girls, one a little older than FFM and one a little younger. Many months ago, after the heat of (Aussie) summer made playing outside in the afternoons bearable, we met out on our front porches and discovered that our kids had this fantastic play chemistry. Those three kids play together for HOURS and never fight, disagree, or otherwise make trouble. What a glorious thing!

It's become habit for us to meet up with Ava and Lexie pretty much every afternoon after naps, and FFM's gotten into the habit of waking up and saying "Grls, grls, grls?" Since we've returned from Colorado he's progressed to "Ava Lexie Ava Lexie Ava Lexie" (his Ava sounds a lot like Wall-E saying Eve - "EEEEEvAAAA). While his interest in playing with 'the girls' has gotten stronger, sadly FFM's sharing skills vanished about the time he turned 2 so the previously tranquil afternoons are a little more boisterous now.

Today the kids eschewed our normal routine of riding bikes and scooters and came inside to play while Ava and Lexie's mom packed for their 5 week long trip to India. We're very sad to be leaving Perth before they get back :( as we don't feel like we get to say a proper goodbye.

They're fast moving blurs...can't even get camera settings changed fast enough!

They're laughing hysterically at each other...

EEEEEEEEEEvvAAAAAAAAA!

And then the hats came out.

Lexie and Ava

Parting is such sorrow

No, it's just not sweet at all.

After some soul searching and long discussions, Travis and I made the decision to leave Perth. Just not at the same time. FFM and I are going ahead of our scheduled November departure to attempt to secure some form of permanent housing for our little family. Where? Denver. Does Travis have a job there yet, you ask? Nope. But we're fairly certain he'll end up there, and if all else fails we'll rent the house in Denver and move on to our next assignment.

The market in Denver is picking up, after several national news stories and a general slow but steady upswing in real estate. Add that to the first time buyer tax credit we qualify for since we have not owned a home in over three years (see, there are benefits to being homeless!) and we feel the push to get a house purchased before Dec 31 when the deadline for the credit expires.

Due to Thanksgiving and Christmas, Nov and Dec aren't the best time to buy a house in the US, people generally don't put their houses on the market during the holidays. So, doing some math, we decided someone better get back to look at some houses before our scheduled departure at the end of November.

As of Sept 1, FFM and I will depart Australia for Colorado and won't return. Travis will follow late Nov. It'll be a LONG LONG time to be apart. Our household goods will ship when Travis leaves, and will take 8-12 weeks to get to Colorado. So, we'll leave our stuff and will see it again probably in about February 2010. I sure hope this plan all works, or FFM and I will be living out of suitcases for a really really long time.

Sickos

We're a house full of sickos this week. Travis is the worst, with an actual documented case of the flu. It's unknown if it is swine flu, Western Australia's official policy is only to test for swine flu if you are admitted to the hospital. However, since he had been overseas and he had a high fever, he went to the doctor right away who advised him to stay home and away from people for a week.

FFM and I have coughs, and are both generally tired which may be from the coughs and disrupted sleep or just from having our routines shuffled about for so long. Either way we've all been a bunch of cranky pants for a week now. Boy, I can't remember the last time I've looked forward to Monday and the start of a new week so much. Travis and I are hoping it's better than last week!

Travis' fever lasted 5 whole days, which in retrospect is a long time for an adult to have a fever. He's still coughing and sick sounding but generally so much better that he's definitely going back to work. The doc's diagnosis included a note that it would probably take Travis a full 3-4 weeks to fully recover. FFM and I seem to be lingering in the middle ground of not-really-quite-sick-or-well which I fear could go on for a while in our winter season here. We've been very good about taking our vitamins and I'm bulking up on echinacea which may be keeping it from getting worse. Thank goodness we didn't all get the flu, it was awful!

So, that's it. We're putting the time limit on feeling sorry for our sick selves as bedtime tonight and will wake up tomorrow feeling, if not better, than at least not pitiful about it :)