Therapy Weekend
Friday night we went out with some friends of Hans's who I just met a week ago. They actually live in the States, but snowy weather prevented us from hooking up while we were there. It was so nice to sit and chat with the wife, because she and I had such similar experiences with culture shock and dealing with getting thrust into a new culture. I feel a little less crazy now. And her reassurance that it took her a good two years to get over it makes my "bad moments" feel less like a relapse and more like a progression.

Retail Therapy
Yesterday morning we went to Officeworks so I could get some files to put in my shiny new filing cabinet. I opted for the recycled inner files, because they were cheap and Earth-friendly... but for my hanging folders, I got the super cute ones. Though I must add that they were almost the cheapest. Oh, and I got the baby blue and the light green ones, not the pink pictured. I was quite proud of the store for even having them. (Sorry, Australia, but if you ever want to live up to American Target, you're going to have to start offering a cute option for everything.)

Oh, and then we went back to Freedom and bought two baskets, a rug, and two sets of dishes... and a chocolate brown leather sofa which will be delivered next week... and my apothecary cabinet and matching coffee table which will be delivered two weeks after that. I'm THRILLED. I love my living room already, and most of it isn't here. I'm really just happy to have a couch that doesn't make my back hurt constantly.

As soon as we got home, I put the new dishes in the dishwasher and immediately packed up the hand-me-down dishes that came with the house. I took a photo of the process.


They are fine for some people, but anyone who knows me would understand that I'm only slightly exaggerating when I say that I die a little bit each time I use them. The grape ones I can almost tolerate for being slightly arty, but the flower ones... gah!

The new ones are plain white, which is fine... until I can get my set from back home over here. The set that I painstakingly collected one plate at a time from ebay. The set that is the same pattern my parents had when they first got married in the '70s. I ♥ those dishes.

Currently Reading
Straight Dope: as seen on JoshuaBlankenship.com. It answers the world's most important questions like "Is 'baby corn' really baby corn?" and "What does 'Mrs.' stand for?" and "What is the origin for the expression 'Sleep tight'?"