How to eat like a Canadian in Perth

So here I am, missing the food from home. I don't know what we put in the cheddar cheese to make it orange, but don't be fooled, that is what makes it good!

So I called in some help and I got a recipe for perogies. That's right I made perogies from scratch and they turned out really well.

I also had some friends mail me some hot sauce....they just don't have it here, they have some sort of chilli sauce, but it isn't the same. You also have to be very choosy where you get your pizza from or you can make it yourself, also a good way to get the kids doing something on a rainy day....They love to "decorate" their own pizza!

Wow I just realized that all of the above includes cheese...could be because the coffee here is just like a laxative, no need for extra fiber. There's no joke there.

From Canada to Ausrtalia

So a couple of years ago, my husband started thinking about his career and making a bit more money and going to work off shore. He had numerous job offers....for Iran, Yemmin, Dubai....so we left it alone.

All of a sudden he gets a call from a comapany in Australia and they want to fly him down for an interview..... Well yeah!

So off he goes, he is gone for a week, by the time I pick him up at the airport, I have sold our car, put an add in the paper to rent out our house and I am making arrangements to move.

It all seemed to have happened so fast, but the within a month we were gone. We left Canada with 10 suitcases and 4 carry-ons. We moved to Perth. It was sad to leave everyone I knew, my family and friends... we took grandchildren away from our parents and are still reminded that it isn't to late to change our minds and come home. But we were embarking on a new adventure for our family. The experience alone would be invaluable.

So after a 28 hour flight and 2 layovers we were here. And so it begins.....

It is late as we arrive at the airport, the kids are tired and just glad to be off the plane, however customs was another issue... The guy with the rubber glove was surprisingly gentle....you know who you are...

We get to the apartment that the new company has provided us. It is really nice and swank, but it is an apartment in East Perth, near the CBD (downtown) and I still have 2 rowdy boys, who need to be near a playground or in a school. So 3 weeks there, Curtis has to fly out for a job and the kids and I are alone in a strange city.

So we did a bunch of walking, learned how to take the train and the bus, even watched a live rugby game at the Oval across the street. Curtis came home and we checked out the most beautiful beaches and the Fremantle Market, met some new friends and re-connected with some old ones. We had a great day at the Zoo and Kings Park and started to look for a better place to live.

So we move into our new home, I really like it, it is small, but clean and new and close to the school and the beach and shopping. The kids would like to have something a bit bigger and they remind me all the time that we DON'T have a basement.

Now the kids are in school about to finish their third term of the year. Summer is just begining and the beaches are still beautiful.

I do miss coffee with my neighbors and backyard fires, but When Cyrus is in school and Max and I spend the entire day making sandcastles and playing in the waves and Cyrus is so excited to learn everything he can about Australia and to see how they were able to settle in and adjust so quickly has been amazing.

Now the spiders don't yet seem to have come out from the winter, or I have been to busy to notice them, however, much more troubling has been the COCKROACHES!!! Frickin gross, I have seen 5 in my driveway getting close to my front door. I am not ok with that at all. I have gotten used to not having bacon, the instant coffee, the cheese, the fact that my toilet is in a closet and that I could load my new car up in the back of my truck I left in Canada, but there is no getting used to the cockroaches, Shivers and heebie jeebies...

So

A bit about me....

Well I have just turned 30! I couldn't be happier about that. To me there was little worse than being that lady down the street with a couple of kids...pushing 30? I wasn't pushing anything. So now I am officially 30 and it feels great. I have a wonderful husband and I can count on one hand all the big fights we have had in just over 10 years. We have 2 beautiful boys and I am proud to say that I am their mom.

I routinely do really dumb things and strongly believe them to be learning experiences...once I bought my kids desks that turned out to be cardboard boxes...desks $214.00...lesson in recycling..priceless....Comments from my husband....are still costing him, lol!

I have the best friends in the world. I have the kind of friends that I can call in the middle of the night and know that they will answer the phone just to hear me cry. I have realized that life is too short not to be surrounded by people who bring out the best in you. I also have realized that life is too short not to eliminate the people who bring out the worst in you from your life.

My life has taken in me to many wonderful places, sometimes those places were just around the corner, but wonderful none the less.

I love to cook, camp, try new adventures, spend time with great friends and family, enjoy a good glass of red wine. The best thereapy I have found is putting the kids to bed early, opening a bottle of wine and cleaning house while listing to your favorite music and wear a pair of your favorite shoes. (that part is important) When you wake up the next day, your house is clean and your head is still in a bit of a fog and your problems don't seem to be that bad anymore.

I love to scrapbook all of my memories and read, Thans to a great friend, I have read 6 of the best books about a brotherhood....it is dark and sexy and makes you glad to be a women.

Apart from being a wife and mother, I am also a Passion Parties Ind. Consultant. Something that I tried doing about 3 years ago for fun. As it turns out I am really good at my new job and love it! I have met the most interesting people and in the process found out that in fact I did have room for more friends in my life.