Almost legal!!!

Just wanted to write and say wooohooooooo!!! My social security card came through today!!! YAYYY!!!! That means I can do all the fun stuff like get insurance, a license, a yankee credit card, work, etc. My work authorisation card had already come through while I was in Oz, but couldn't be used until the social security had been processed. And now it has, happy happy joy joy!!!

Jimmy and I bought a china cabinet the other day. We'd been searching for weeks for just the right thing, hoping to slip it in between two of the doors leading out to our balcony, but those dimentions really limited our choice of what was out there. So we decided instead to put it behind our dining room table against the back wall, where there's more space, it just means the the table has to come forward and it hides our funky blue wall with the wicked Getty Museum poster. Oh well. The cabinet came today and is now set up on that wall and looks fab!!

As some of you know, Jimmy and I are now the proud parents of a couple of birds. We originally had Aussie, a cute little female cockatiel that we got together in February. Aussie was learning to be friendly and whistle and talk, and we decided to get her a companion. We bought a little male cockatiel, and thought he seemed more of a larrakin so named him Aussie and changed the original Aussie's name to Harriet. All was good until last week, when we came home one night after going out for dinner. We walked into the house and saw feathers all over the floor, everywhere, and bits of blood here and there. Soooo sad. We still have no idea what happened, but somehow our little Harriet, formerly known as Aussie, met Jimmy's dog, Roxy.... :'( We don't know if Harriet got out or if Roxy got in, but amidst all the feathers we found her little body lying next to the coffee table. Aussie was okay, he was still in his cage, in shock, missing a few feathers and bleeding a little, but he has healed up quite well. We've never had any trouble with our birds and cats before, but I guess dogs might be different. RIP little Harriet.

To leave on a happier note, we've been invited to Phyllis Diller's 90th birthday party next month on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Oooh la la! Should be fun, if we can go!

100!

Woke up this morning and realised it's June 26, 2007, my grandmother's 100th birthday!! If she were alive, that is. She died when I was 8 years old, but I'm lucky to have very fond memories of her. I don't think my brothers have many memories at all, Patrick may, but definitely not Bernhard, he was only one year old when she passed. While I didn't really have a chance to get to know her too well and while my memories are becoming increasingly hazy, she creeps into my mind from time to time. We recently uncovered some video footage that Dad took in 1984 and 1985 that includes a visit to Grandma's house. Very special, and when we aired it with my aunts, uncles and cousins watching last year, it was just sooo haunting. In a room full of people, you could have heard a pin drop. No one really remembered it existed and it was just amazing to hear and see Grandma, in top form, right before our eyes for the first time in 17 years or longer.

Mum recently found a present Grandma had given me on my 5th birthday. It was a beautiful little china mug, featuring a colour mural of two girls, in their vintage attire, playing a game in a field, the mug was gorgeously decorated in gold trimming and had obviously been used and loved as the trimming had worn thin over a part of the mug. Grandma had been given the mug as a child, which would be well over 100 years old by now. I don't know how she kept it all those years, as for a while she was living in undesirable conditions. I'm one of the youngest of her 32 grandchildren, so it's particularly special that she kept something aside to give to me. She was given it by her aunt, Johanna Elizabeth, Grandma's name was Elizabeth Johanah, I'm Laura Johanne Elizabeth, so she passed it along the lines of Johanna Elizabeths in the family. There was a note included with it that described the mug, where Grandma indicated that she hoped I'd have a Johanna Elizabeth to pass it on to... HA! Quite ironic to uncover that note at such a time in my life... Grandma's little words and wishes from beyond the grave. Happy birthday, Grandma!! We love you and miss you. xxx Laura

P.S. Here's a video I uploaded to YouTube, most likely the only footage that exists of Grandma and I. Kinda cute. :-)

WOWIE!!

Just wanted to write and say that YES I am alive and YES I shall be maintaining this blog!! Thank you so much to anyone who has been checking in, trying to keep up with me. I've hardly been keeping up with myself, between the wedding organisation and getting things ready to move country, then moving and beginning the settling in process while also redecorating our home, things have been slightly on the hectic side!! But, so much has been going on that I'm hoping to fill you in on here, so please stay tuned.

I'm loving it here but missing so much of my friends and family back in Brissie!!! We're about to begin the planning process of our American wedding celebration. It most likely will be quite low-key compared to what we had in Oz, but looking forward to celebrating it with our American family and friends. Wish the two countries (three if you include Norway!!) were more financially accessible to each other so everyone could be together. Love you all heeeeeaps. xxxxxx Laura