Long time no post...

It has been the busiest December-January period ever. We've made a big decision: we're moving out of the Arm, to Perth, Western Australia. In a nutshell, here was our life for the last little while:

- We got invited to spend 3 days in Wellington, NZ to find out if we could live there: the answer to this question is yes, definitely! Beautiful city, cool cafes, friendly people, not overly expensive and green, green, green and more green mountains all around! This seems just so refreshing after 4 years in dry Australia.

- Marc then flew to Perth for interview and things became tricky: we didn't know where 2 go...

- We had a quiet Xmas week, spending lots of time outside on the beach. Philippe is a real beach baby, not afraid of the water, and has really good balance in managing the waves. We watch the yatchs coming up the river during the Sydney to Hobart Sailing race.

- Back to work, we had made up our minds: it is Perth, provided we can have a look at the place before agreeing to move. First weekend in January, we fly to Perth to have a look. When we got out of the airport, it was 41 degres! It felt like walking in an oven. 2 hours later, the Fremantle Doctor (nice fresh sea breeze) had came in to cool down the city. The temperature dropped to around 30. It's like that every day, pretty neat! Provided you live close enough to the sea to get the breeze.

- We stayed in Fremantle, the cool suburb we would have lived in 10 years ago (before having a family). Lots of cafes, boutiques, beaches, etc. Unfortunately not affordable, unless you can pay the $1.5 million people are asking for a 4-bedroom family house!

So we'll be renting for a while. Hopefully we'll manage to find a place close to the beach. It shouldn't be too difficult as the city is built along the coast, and all the beaches are protected areas with sand dunes and natural vegetation (endemic species). I'm excited about moving but it's going to quick! I'll miss beautiful South Arm but that will be fun to experience a new climate (no winter there) and a new lifestyle. Imagine: not having to wear socks, ever again! It just seem sooo relaxing!

Happy 2008 from Tasmania!

Did you say "Can Bra"?

That's how most Australians pronounce the name of their capital city (Canberra) ;-) Sounds funny to me but again, people from Quebec will typically say Briz Bain for Brisbane!

The Conference was interesting, I caught up with many people I've been meaning to meet for a long time, Compuware (our software provider) fed us a lot of really good food and the wine was flowing... That's what business trips are all about, right?

Did I miss my 2 men? Oh yes! I called home every morning, as I couldn't sleep past 6 o'clock anyway... bad habit from having a child I suppose. And it seems Philippe said "maman" for the first time while I was away.

I did a tiny bit of shopping on the City Walk and found really cute European-designed and made baby all-leather sandals for $103.00 !!! Excuse-me: no thanks! Given his growth rate, Philippe would need about 4-5 pairs in the coming year. Needless to say it's a bit much!

I stayed with Ruth, a friend of mine who left Hobart a year ago. She lives in Watson, a nice quiet suburb about 15 minutes from the CBD (City Business District, or down town if you want) . Last time I saw her was at my birthday last year so we had a lot to say. We stayed up quite late every night, even though Ruth needed to rest as she flew back to Tasmania with me to ride the ABC Giving Tree, a charity bike ride across Tasmania (about 500km!) to raise money for children in need for Christmas. She's just a machine! Unstoppable! Strong! Fit!

As the conference was only 2 days, I had the Friday off to visit the city. I decided to go to the War Memorial. This is huge! You could spend 2 full days visiting the museum if you wanted to read everything. I learned a lot about how the Australians were involved in the 2 world wars, not something we learn at high school in Canada. The war in the Pacific was terrible: the Japanese were very cruel with their war prisoners. There was also a special exhibit on Lawrence of Arabia. I got to see the clothes he wore, some of the maps he drew, etc. Very neat!

That's it. I flew back home and I was the most excited one (between Philippe and myself) when I opened the door. Marc was happy I was back, he was even more happy that maman was back!

Feeling Good - J'ai la bougeotte!

I've got itchy feet! Good timing: I'm flying to Canberra for work next week. That's not what I mean though... I think I'm ready for the next big thing. What is it gonna be? We can only wait and see.

In the meantime, another great summer is here! We love the beach and Philippe is a champion walker! He runs on the beach, splashes mud everywhere, eats plenty of sand (it's clean, isn't it?) and enjoys the cold water! We had a great time last Saturday. We might go again for a quick splash after dinner.

We've started the veggie patch again. Last weekend we put peas, lettuce, basil (lots of basil!). The leeks are nearly ready, the tomatoes are doing well. We ended up getting a few broccolis from the winter crop but then they got full of worms and we lost the rest of it (cauliflowers and cabbages as well). We have a new ennemy this year: a possum eats all our strawberries, apples and almonds! And now he started having a snack in the peach tree! What can we do apart waiting for the monster at night with a gun??? I'm joking - the only think I kill is spiders, and just the small ones (I leave the big huntsmen for Marc to throw outside!). I used to think possums were cute, now I know better: they're a nuisance, just like raccoons in North America. Anyway...

Work is busy, but good! Next time I'm bored, I might just stay quiet. I now have 3 projects in parallel and no time to complain. I'm going on a project management course next week, as well as meeting my software supplier in Canberra. I'll be staying a few days to visit the Capital city and to spend time with my good friend Ruth I haven't seen since my last birthday. Marc will be a busy single parent operation!

Where would you like to see more photos? Flickr or Facebook?

P.S. This photo: morning meal before leaving for work.

Weekend in Sydney

That was excellent, apart from the flight from Hobart to Sydney, which I did with Philippe as Marc was already there for the week. Pass the details - all I will say is imagine a newly-walking, 14-months old who has to sit on his mom for over 2 hours, stuck between the window and the biggest person on the flight: NOT FUN!

It was our first trip since the round the world back in April. How we enjoyed it! We ate brunches, Japanese, Chinese, gelati, Marc cooked a bolognese and Philippe learned to use a straw so he can have Mummy's yummy fresh fruit juice!

On Saturdays we drove to the Blue Mountains, east of Sydney, for a bit of scenery, photos and bush walk. The weather was pretty average and I had packed for summer so we didn't really walked and the photos are a bit dull. But it felt nice anyway. That photo is probably a very famous one of Australia: The Three Sisters at Echo Point in the Blue Mountains, NSW.

Sunday we went to the beach. If it's not summer yet in Tassie, it certainly is at Bondi! We did the sea walk between Bondi and Bronte and could no longer resist the water! The sea was pretty rough, we even saw the lifeguards in action. As they came back from a rescue their boat hit the rocks and they had a hard time getting everything (and everyone) back to shore. Marc and a few other guys ended up going to help as they were cutting their bare feet on the rock. Not good for a lifeguard!

Meanwhile, Philippe was eating sand and seemed way to busy to be interested in lunch. Even if the surf was too big for a swim, the rocks make a natural pool at one end of the beach where the waves are much smaller and you can take the family for a nice "trempette". Marc was quite happy to sea that Australian women now also do it the French way: monokini!

After that we met with our friends Patrick and Jayda (from Longueuil and New Castle) and went for gelati. As you will see if you've got access to Energium's photo on Flickr, Philippe was covered with a wetsuit, a hat and had sunscreen on. Good parents. But then, we didn't think WE needed sunscreen. Why would we? Now we've pretty badly sunburnt. Stupid parents!

See ya!

P.S. Videos of little walking Tasmanian Devil on Facebook too. But you've got to be my Friend.

Une Dent !!! (First tooth!)

Il etait d'une humeur excecrable ce matin. Je ne savais pas trop pourquoi. Il ne voulait pas se faire prendre, ni se faire laisser par terre, pas de calins, ni de cereales, ni sa bouteille d'eau. Il a meme fait une sieste en route pour la garderie, alors qu'il avait eu une tres bonne nuit, bizarre...

En voiture lors du retour a la maison, on discutait du fait qu'il avait eu une mauvaise journee avec sa gardienne. Il avait les joues toutes rouges; il s'est encore endormi... J'ai essaye de le faire souper. C'est pas toujours facile a 6h30, apres une sieste tardive; c'est comme nous quand on est trop fatigue, on n'a pas vraiment faim. Et la, parmi les cris, la bouche ouverte, elle etait la!!! La premiere dent, que tous les experts nous predisent depuis deja plusieurs mois! Le bout d'une dent, en fait, qui venait d'apparaitre sur la gencive de Philippe. Vite, le livre de bebe, faut ecrire ca tout de suite pour ne pas oublier. A 1 an, 1 mois et 1 semaine, Philippe a sa premiere dent!

Tout d'un coup je me sens soulagee: au moins, je sais pourquoi il est grognon! Je suis tout a coup beaucoup plus patiente, malgre mon rhume, cette toux qui ne lache pas et une journee qui a commencee a 5h du mat, ou on est parti sans le sac (lait et dejeuner) de Philippe, ou j'ai donne un cours pendant l'heure du lunch et patati, et patata.

Un peu de Baby Panadol (l'equivalent du Tempra en Australie) et Philippe est de nouveau lui-meme pour le reste de la soiree. Il etait tellement occupe a jouer qu'on a manque l'heure du dodo, resultat: il a eu une autre crise de fatigue pendant l'episode du pyjama. Celle-la, c'est jamais drole! Il est tellement triste quand il veut dormir... Le dernier boire, Dodo la Planete Do, superbes berceuses du monde et Philippe est parti au pays de Morphee. Quelle journee fantastique, bonne nuit Philippe.

No posts lately...

I haven't written anything for a while, and done that on purpose. I've been feeling crappy lately and didn't want to depress anyone.

We seem to have a break from baby ailments. No cold or gastro for what? A good 4 days so far. It's spring, and the weather is terrible. Unlike Quebec's spring, Tassie's spring is a time for storms, gusty wind and fallen trees. It's sunny for 15 minutes and then, it's as if you're inside a ping pong ball, traveling through a cloud. (No, I'm not doing drugs.)

Back to my domestic chores!

Bonne Fête Philippe!

Philippe is 1 today, September 11! We celebrated last Saturday so all his friends could join us. It has been a fantastic year and I'm sure the best is yet to come.

So far, Philippe is crawling across the house, can open sliding doors, drawers and cupboards. And he still has no teeth. Nope, not a single one. So much for all of you, baby experts, who have been telling us for months: "Yes, this baby is teething, I know when I see one!"

Madame Broute-Broute

After a few more colds for Philippe, a lung infection for Marc and gastro for the whole family, I'm back again! A little tired from disturbed sleep patterns, but ready for a new week and a busy one: we're hosting Philippe's 1st Birthday party next Saturday.

Butt F*** Nowhere. (I learned that expression from Marc many years ago, probably on a trip to Gaspesie! I can't remember. Definitely somewhere in Quebec where there are thousands of small villages.

If Marc hadn't taken a picture I wouldn't have a clue where it was, except somewhere between Sherbrooke and Ham Nord, where my Dad lives. The cow welcomes you to Asbestos, a mining and agriculture area of Quebec. From the cow's back, you get a nice view of the surroundings, the 7 towns making up the Asbestos region. Enough! If you want more, click on the photo you should be able to read what the cow has got to say...

A few updates:

• September already! Spring is here, as I wrote last year, it starts on the 1st September in Australia.
• The winter garden wasn't successful; nothing really grew and spider mites are eating the cabbage leaves. Too bad. It's time for the spring garden.
• Special hello to Carole, Valerie and Ruth who emailed me in the last months and I still haven't replied. Bug hug, I miss you!
  

Girl Power

I declare this blog a girl's blog (hence the nice pinkish colors) until Marc does something about it...

I bet you can't tell where I am!

If you can, you've been everywhere in... Canada! That's the only hint you get. I'll tell you the whole story of this monstrous cow (what else could it be???) in a few days, when you've had a go at finding the place. We really had to take photos. (Marie-Eve and Marc you're out of the competition!)

There's a lot more on photos on my PP365, AND I've got a profile on Facebook! Gee, what's going on with me? it must be fever! Good night!

Home is where the heart is or The beach is gone

I took this photo on my first walk on the beach after we got back from Canada. I realised I really missed the place where I live while I was away. I just feel so good being close to the sea, feeling the energy and the sound of the waves. This place is magical. I couldn't leave right now.

Then we settled back into routine again and I couldn't help to think the trip had gone by to quickly: I haven't seen everyone I wanted to see, I wish I spent more time with my Mom and Dad, etc. I really miss them at the moment, and the rest of the family and some of my best friends as well. I can't see my nephew and niece grow up, I don't chat with Val anymore, I won't see Annie's daughter Aude before she's a toddler...

So home is where the heart is. But where is the heart??? I don't really know. Maybe I could move to an island in the Pacific (half-way between the 2) but that wouldn't help.

Apparently there's been an underwater earthquake somewhere near Indonesia. Not sure as I don't follow the news. But guess what? We've been having a high tide for 3 days now! We could hardly get home as the sea is getting on the road (on the neck to the peninsula) and yesterday as I went for a beach walk with Philippe, the beach was gone, replaced by raging waves and wind. There was 1 meter left between the water and the sand dune. That's where I walked for a while before the water raised even higher and I had to climb my way up the dune. with the pram. Meanwhile Philippe was asleep, deep into the arms of Morphee.

Is this it? Is Global Warning (no typo here) happening just now? We've been saying it for a while but it just suddenly became a lot more real: I'm not buying a house ON the beach.

Hello, Hello!

It's been a while - again! Here are a few updates:

• PP365: I've added more photos. They range from April 5th to May 13th, our trip overseas. I'm missing a few days (end of March and early April) as the photos are on a CD somewhere... I'll keep doing the project but I no longer take photos daily, more weekly. I also want to start putting movies on YouTube but you know how it is, I've got no excuse, really...

• Return to work: It feels great to be working again! I spend 2 days at home with Philippe, he goes to day care for 2 days and stays with Marc on Fridays. We all have a good time with this new routine now that Philippe has settled into day care. He wasn't too keen at first and spent 2 weeks in the first four being sick (gastro and cold) and missing out but he's fine now. My favorite day is Friday since as the boys stay home, I can head off early and spend a lot of time on my own before meetings start. I've had lunch with my friend Mel last week and she said it was the first time in 10 months she saw me without the baby. Exactly!

• Going Out: We went to the Zoo last weekend. It was the first time in 2 monts we drove somewhere not for work or running errands in the weekend. We really have to get a life! Any suggestion for a family activity for next weekend?
  

• The computer: Turns out the video card was broken. Now that's it's been repaced by the Sys Admin (Marc) I hope to be a little more regular in giving you some news. Next step: a photo selection from our trip on Flickr.

• Veggie Patch: In Australia you can have a winter garden. Except this year it's been so cold, nothing grows. Tiny spiders are eating the broccoli leaves and possums are eating the whole plants. With a bit of luck we might get a few leeks and some broad beans.

That's it for now! If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, enjoy summer! Talk to you later, Edith xx

Lurker Alert

There is a lurker among us and he knows how to Google.

I can see you watching us!!!! Show yourself.

Vilain Virus

I'm not over my enthusiasm to talk to you about our trip. It's just that our computer is not working at the moment (virus???) so I spend my days without the internet or even the photos from our trip. It got fixed last week but it's broken again and the technician is busy giving the bath or cleaning up baby mess so who knows how long it's gonna be...

Back soon...

Bonne Fête Marc!

Mon cher Papa Marc,

Joyeux Anniversaire! Je suis content que tu passes beaucoup de temps avec moi quand tu rentres du travail. Tu es aussi super avec Maman même si elle n'est pas toujours commode ;-)

Je t'aime beaucoup,
ton fils Philippe xxx

Back to Switzerland - Vous avez dit Chocolat!!!

A great thing about Swiss is they make the best chocolate in the world. Not the Cadbury crap we find here (no offense but Australians haven't found the real thing yet...) but delicious, delicate blend of cocoa and the most amazing flavors.

This photo was taken at your average supermarket. There was a complete aisle of different flavors to choose from. We got about 5 kilos (11 pounds for you Canadians) of dessert such as dark chocolate with caramel and fig filling, milk chocolate with passion fruit mousse, almond and hazelnut chips, and Marc's most wanted and probably the one we'll try last: dark chocolate with cherry and chili!

We've been indulging in a new flavor every night since we've been back, watching our downloaded TV series Lost, Heroes and Marc's new series Time Break. The stocks are getting low already, it won't be long before we'll have to go back to get some more.

My favorite chocolate is dark chocolate with whole hazelnut. Thank goodness we got a few packs of that classic combination. Crunchy and not too sweet, you can eat a whole pack in one night!

What's your favorite chocolate???

My StarMania CD: where the bloody hell are ya?

I gave it away before I left Montreal in 2004. Was I stupid or what? Have you got it??? I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner when it suddenly hit me: I started singing Ziggy for no reason. My 2 men are in bed with a cold (boooooh!) and I'm back in high school with Ziggy, la Serveuse Automate and Johnny Rockfort... Mais ou est donc ce foutu CD???

We're back! We've been home for exactly a month. Not that I know where home is at the moment, all very confusing. Where did May 2007 go? I don't know. I've got soooooooo many topics I want to write about, especially the trip, but can't seem to find the time. I've been busy making puree for my son as he now eats like a little pig and always wants more and more of the good stuff I prepare. I actually just dropped an ice cube container full of prune puree to be frozen in the freezer. What a lovely mess. I only stopped singing for a few seconds to replace the words with a big "tabarnak" then I kept singing while mopping between the bloody freezer cracks for about 20 minutes! The engineers who designed freezer apparently never thought that you could spill liquid on the way in. Pas fort! What makes me sad is all the puree that ended-up in the sink...

Anyway, we had a great trip around the world, except for Air Canada. They really sucked. I'll tell you more about the trip soon. It was just a quick word to say hello as some people are starting to wonder where / why we're hiding. Photo: the Brunet-Watson Domingue family in Vancouver before heading back to Australia.

Round The World 2007 - Mega Post

I haven't posted since Singapore. Where to start?

We had a lovely 5 days in Geneva where the whole family got gastroenteritis (Sensational.) Marc got sick first on our way from Singapore, then I was really sad to see my little Philippe being sick and not eating. Thank goodness it only lasted 2 days. It was finally my turn. It started the day we were touring the Swiss Alps (even more sensational). Luckily, it was all over when we catched our flight for Montreal at 5 am on Saturday morning.

Apart from that, Switzerland was great. We spent a lot of time with our friends Les Dunand. They all seem very happy to meet our son Philippe. We went for walks in the vineyards with Raphael, the third son of the family, who is learning the arts of wine making. We drove to Evolene, a typical Swiss village of the Valais with Jean-Marie and Alexandre. We visited Carouge, an old suburb of Geneva where Jean-Marie now lives. We spent some time chatting with Martine and we ate WAY TOO MUCH raclette, cheese and chocolate!

We then flew to Montreal via Frankfurt. That sucked. If you can avoid the Frankfurt airport, do so!!! It's badly ventilated, people smoke everywhere, there is no decent food, you can't find water or the toilets as the information system consists of a bugged touch screen boot that returns the list of all the airport facilities regarless of your query. And of course, no one to talk to to give you some live information! Air Canada sucked as well but what can you do when you live in a shoe??? They're the only ones servicing the Canadian cities and we need more Aeroplan miles.

We finally landed in Montreal. Thanks to the baby in the stroller we got the bypass and got into the country quickly. I nearly took a photo of Philippe next to the Canadian flag but decided not to. Both my mom and dad were waiting for us. I was so happy to see them, I ran with the stroller to meet them. No one got injured but we all shed a tear anyway! We then drove 4 hours to Pembroke, Ontario where we stayed with my sister Andree for the weekend. When I finally went to bed that night, I had been up for 22 hours and had fed the baby 8 times. I was completed exhausted and could not even answer questions! Andree helped me to bed and I fell asleep with Philippe in the minute. We killed the jetlag in one day!

It was great to see Andree and Sebastien again. It had been over 3 years since the last time. They now have a beatiful daughter Laura, 7 months older than Philippe. As it rained for 3 days, we spent all our time there talking about the old days and admiring our babies. They live in a house of over 100 years old, fully refurbished of course, and very comfy. Andree and Sebastien being good Quebecers, it was freezing outside but very warm inside. We spent the weekend in shorts and t-shirts, just like a Tassie summer! So much for all the winter clothes I bought for Philippe before leaving home...

Then back to Montreal. But that will have to wait. It`s almost 11 pm, I'm figthing one of the worst cold ever, Philippe is wacking every hour of the night so I'm off to bed. I have so much more to say so stay tuned for the next episode! (Photo will be added tomorrow, promise!)

Love, Edith

Philippe's Singapore Fanclub

They all loved him (I can't find the exclamation mark on this Swiss keyboard...) Of course he was smiling at everyone from his stroller and making all sorts of cute little noises that would make everyone go "Ohhh".

Our 3 days in Saingapore were fantastic. We visited Chinatown where Chinese man and woman would smile at Philippe and touch his feet. We bought silk scarves, had tailored shirts made for us and I also found some pretty cool western pants. We visited an indian temple (yes, in Chinatown) and many Chinese temples too. Impressive and beautiful. We ate like it was our last meal, 4 times a day, in fact as often as we found something new. My favorite is Ice Katchang, a desert made from shaved ice topped with fruit and coconut syrups, green jelly, red beans and corn. Strange but yummy.

On the second day we visited Little India where we found a nice Punjabi suit for me. Apart for shopping, little india was quite exhausting: crowded, noisy, smelly at times, but still very interesting. I guess it gave me an idea of what India would be like. Again, we ate curries and all sorts of good stuff with he locals. The indian food turned out to be Marc's favorite in Singapore.

We went out to a Peranakan (mix of Chinese and Malay culture from the first migrants to Singapore) restaurant. Everything was delicious, a million flavour hit our taste buds: lemongrass, coconut, chili, lime, coriander, etc. The beef rendang was to die for and I couldn't get enough of the fish cakes. We didn't quite manage to enjoy the infamous local fruit "durion" tough. I cannot really describe it, all I can say is that it tastes like brown...

On our last day, we had lunch in Kampong Glam, the Arab district where we visited the Sultan Mosque. It was the first time I set foot into a mosque. That neibourghood is getting more and more hip, with local designers sharing the streets with the more traditional fabric shops. More cashemire scarves, and more food.

A quick dash to Orchard Road, one of the coolest shopping destination in the world. Name your brand, they've got it, except mine: the Benetton and Sisley stores in Paragon shopping mall apparently just closed down. And to say I came all the way from Australia. We ended up finding nice clothes at Calvin Klein Jeans. I forgot how i like the way CK jeans look like - always good (where-s the bloody exclamation mark???)

More news from Geneva after our day trip to the Valais today.

Depart - It's a Go!

It's 7:45 am. We're leaving home in 45 minutes with Stu who's driving us to the airport. We've had 3 hours of sleep but hey, we're ready!!! I wish I could have showed you the size of our suitcases (Philippe has the biggest!) but the camera is also packed and ready to go. In brief, the latest news:

• Philippe and I are now Australian permanent resident;
• The whole family is enrolled in the Australian bureaucracy: Medicare, Family Assistance and the lot;
• Philippe had a third cold in less than 2 months and he seems to be just over it... wish us luck for the plane trips ahead!
• He is almost crawling (rocking back and forth on all fours) and now eating three meals a day, mainly puree;
• I'm very excited to leave - I've been talking about this round the world trip for over 2 years now.

More news and photos from Singapore, our first stop!

Love, Edith