Well that was unnecessary.

I'm getting ready to preach in the morning, but I just had to tell you two perturbing things...

One, President Obama is finally going to visit Australia, and I found out today that he isn't even coming to Sydney! Just Canberra, to speak to Parliament and then off to Darwin, without so much as a, "Hey Amy--I'm in town!" Whaaa? Who comes to Australia and doesn't visit Sydney? Barry, is it something I said?

To top it off, now get this--I had to find out on the radio--not even a call! Or an email! As you might remember, this isn't the first time I've been dissed. And here I was with some shoes that I thought might fit Sasha--she's getting so tall now. Oh well...

Two, (and this is perturbacious fer reals) the CEO of Qantas announced today that they are halting all flights and ground operations on Monday. All of them. ALL OF THE PLANES FOR THE FLYING WILL NOT BE MAKING THE FLIGHTS. There has been some striking going on lately from the pilots, engineers and ground crew and I guess the CEO has just had it. This ain't really my area--union issues and worker's rights are more my brother's passion. But I'm a little irked, cause I happen to have a husband and toddler on the other side of the Pacific at the moment. Who will be hoping to board one of those Qantas planes in another week or so. Harumph!

Can we all just get along?

Okay, back to sermon prep for me... I just needed to talk to someone. Y'all are always there for me.

Unlike a certain leader of the free world who WON'T be getting the Tim Tams and baby koala I've been saving for him. Back into your cage, little Bruce. Maybe next year.

Meanwhile...

My "Superlatives" post about our trip is coming, y'all! Just waiting to get a few photos emailed to me. I didn't mention in my last post...Jason and Grace are still in California. I know, right? Jase had some bidness he needed to take care of (not as exciting as it sounds!), and I was petrified to make the big trip home with all 3 kids. Plus, once we got here, I needed to hit the ground running to take care of church stuff in his absence. So, his parents are helping out with Grace in the meantime. So, for the first time in 8 years, I have the days on my own. It is truly BIZARRE, but that's another story. And I'm missing my little munchkin. I miss Grace too, of course. Har har har.


Nate's birthday was in our last week in the States. We got to go to Disneyland on the day, and there was much rejoicing. Especially when Nate saw the "Star Tours" section in Tomorrowland...all those Star Wars themed rides was almost more than he could handle. And the "Build Your Own Light Saber" feature at one of the gift shops? Too good to be true.

Since then, you can imagine that it's been all Star Wars, all the time. Since Jase is still in CA,it falls to me to be the Darth Maul to Nate's Obi Wan. He regretfully informed me that there were no evil girls in the story, and I said that was okay.



Actually, I could get used to this. Nate let me use the new fancy light saber and it TOTALLY lights up and makes that awesome humming-y, electric-shocky sound when you hit it. It's so satisfying to thwack someone's torso with it! (A gentle thwacking, of course!) It was some kind of cathartic experience for me, I think. But then Nate used The Force to make me drop it (which, strangely didn't work when I tried the same move on him) and he went in for the kill.

I think I'm gonna practice while he's at school.

Well, that was a trip.

One month, three kids, nine flights, five states, thirty eight time zones (roughly), two sets of grandparents, five trips to Target, one adorable newborn, four large burritoes (that I remember), multiple cousins and uncles and aunts. Oh, and one attitudinal toddler.


As fast as we whisked away on our trip back to the States, we are back in Sydney! What a great trip it was! I really feel that it was our best trip home so far. I mean, it's always wonderful to go home, but there is usually significant stress involved, too. This time, the kids were older and handled all the travel and time changes really well. No one got sick.(!) We had some fantastic time with our families and many of our friends. I hate to get all rosy on you, but it was a great time!

I have a lot to tell y'all about. However. I don't have the time or the mental acuity right now to do it, though. I'm a wee bit tired. I keep running into things. I stood in front of the open refrigerator for like ten minutes this morning cause I couldn't remember what I opened it for. I am checking to make sure there are no more rodent home invasions like LAST TIME. I'M SORRY I JUST GO TO ALL CAPS WHENEVER I EVEN THINK ABOUT LAST TIME, IT'S LIKE I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE IT, EVEN TWO YEARS LATER. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

Sorry. Can we meet back here real soon? I promise to offer my "Superlatives" post of our trip. You know, like "Best Time on a Zip Line"...

...or "Sweatiest Person at Major Theme Park", or "Most Likely to Catch, Roast and Eat an Insect". You know--just your normal vacation stuff.

Can we meet back here? Soon? But tell me how YOU are. It's like we don't even know each other anymore.

Taking in the view

Well, we have managed to take 5 different flights and travel about 9,500 miles and we haven't lost anyone yet. Although for several hours on the Sydney to Honolulu leg, I tried to pretend that Grace was someone else's child. That wasn't easy though, as she was in her car seat right next to me, kicking the seat in front of her and yelling her head off. It was late, very late Sydney time and her little brain could not assimilate why she was on a plane and not in her bed. One of Grace's favorite TV shows is a little cartoon called Peppa Pig. We'd loaded several episodes onto our phones for her to watch. If nothing has ever made you question your decision to parent a toddler, that toddler screaming "Pig! Pig!! PIGGGG!!!" at full voice on a plane of sleeping passengers and then throwing the phone after you've frantically pulled up the right video might do the trick. Traveling with small kids is a challenge to say the least. I should do a blog series on it!

But as I repeatedly told myself as we crossed the Pacific, "It will all be worth it, to be with family." And it is! Despite those issues on the plane, all three kids have adjusted to the extreme time changes really well. We spent a lovely and relaxing week in Hawaii, thanks to Jason's mom and dad...


...And now we're in North Carolina with my family.


Life is so, so hard sometimes. In fact, we've been surrounded by such beautiful scenery and things to do that I've only been to Super Target ONE TIME. What has happened to me? You can be sure I'm working to remedy this situation.

More soon! How are you, though? Besides missing me, what have you been up to?