I'm So Tired

  Every parent knows "sleepover" is a misnomer and should really be called "stayover." But of course, the lack of sleep wasn't important...just that the birthday girl had a good time. And she and her friends did. To be honest, before school started, we weren't sure how we were going to handle her birthday. On the second day of school, however, she settled on her three best friends and confirmed that they could come to a sleepover party on Friday night. I was a bit surprised because a) it was a Friday night, the start of Sabbath in a very Jewish neighborhood and b) the parents didn't really know us, but happily, it did work out.
   Preparations were fairly minimal, but did require me to venture out a bit. I drove to the next neighborhood over, Elsternwick, and successfully found a parking lot and started shopping. It's very much reminiscent of small town America in the 50's, in my mind, because of the main street and all the little, specialized shops lining the street. It's just how they shop here. There are little to no big box stores here. No more going to Target, getting my Starbucks fix, then buying groceries, cleaning supplies, clothes, and a bday present all in one fell swoop. 
   I found an Officeworks and picked up some blank CDs. I wasn't sure if they did party favors here, so Alanna and I decided to simply make a CD mix of some of her favorite songs. Cheap and easy. I also stopped into some dollar-type stores for party decorations. Finally, I hit up an Asian deli and found some edamame. I was thrilled about that. Neither grocery stores nor Costco seem to carry it here. Oh, and a quick stop for some produce. Bananas are up to $6/kg, but I bought some anyway for the bday girl.
   Friday was a busy day for me. After walking the girls to school, I headed home to get the car. I went to my fellow expat's house (Tierney, the one who flew to Melbourne with her family on the same flight as us), and we drove to the Prahran  Market to meet up with some other expats for coffee. They were with the AWA, American Women's Auxiliary, a social/volunteer group associated with the Royal Children's Hospital. After coffee (a skinny flat white), Tierney and I did a bit of shopping. 
   Next stop, back to school to pick up Alanna. She was trying out for the swim team. I volunteered to help with the timing, and since the bus was overcrowded, I agreed to drive her to the pool, a few kilometers away from the school. The tryouts were for 10-12 year olds, but since Alanna is in Year 4 they let her try out. She did pretty well in the freestyle, didn't want to swim the backstroke, and came in first in her heat in breaststroke. The PE , er, Sports, teacher said that the top two freestylers and top swimmer in the other categories get to compete in the big local swim meet. I was busy timing, so I don't know if there was another heat for 10 year old breaststroke. Regardless, she had fun, did well, and got to get out of school for a bit, so it was all good.
   Back to school, pick up Aliya, home again, and get ready for the party. Decorations were simple since the balloons had been delivered and Andy had put up lots of streamers. The girls arrived at 5, and immediately we realized we need to get some rugs for this house. Their voices combined with the echo-chamber of our house made for a very loud evening. Alanna loved her "pressies" which were a red lava lamp, an iTunes gift card so she could buy games and music for her iTouch, and a "meter of art" kit which included paints, brushes and paper. 

Party girls

   Dinner was the classic party fare: pizza. We figured out best shot for getting American style pizza was to go with Dominos, conveniently located. It was fine, but we were a bit shocked to see that a "large" pizza was smaller than a medium pizza back home. Andy actually had to go back out and get two more pizzas!  I didn't have cupcake or cake pans, so I couldn't make anything, and I didn't know of any great bakeries, so dessert was make-your-own ice cream sundaes.

Sundae Sundae Sundae

   All in all, a successful bday party. Saturday we took it a bit easy, since we were all tired. We did meet up with Tierney's family to try High-Tech Burrito, and I'm so glad we did. Melbourne is famous for its food, and has many ethnic flavors to choose from, but it is sadly lacking in Mexican food. High-Tech Burrito was fabulous, and I really enjoyed my made-to-order carnitas burrito with pinto beans, on whole wheat tortilla, with extra cilantro and salsa. Yum. No liquor license--a margaritas would have made the meal perfect-- but I'll take what I can get. Not the closest location, but nice to know we can get our California/Mex food when we crave it.

   Sunday, we went to the closest Catholic church. We should have known something was up when the sign listed only one mass per week. Nevertheless, we showed up, along with maybe 50 others, none of whom were under the age of 70. Now, some of my very favorite people are over the age of 70, but since we were looking to see what options were available for Aliya to make her First Communion, we realized we were going to have to go elsewhere. I think we'll have better luck with a Church that has a Catholic school attached. 

   Hard to believe we've been here a month now. Sometimes, I almost forget I'm in Australia, until I hear the accent. I've gotten more comfortable with driving. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten in the wrong side of the car though. I miss my garbage disposal and ice-maker (they just don't seem to have them here) but mostly I miss our friends and family.