Adjusting

Things are still good.  My driving skills are getting better everyday.  The toughest part for me is the spacial judgement of the left side of the car.  Really, pulling over to the side of the curb proved to be too much for me and the car.  After one too many rough curb hits I have succeeded in tearing the hub cap off.  Need to get that fixed because our car went from looking o.k. to looking pretty hoodville now.  And, if you didn't read Brett's earlier blog, I have been do a LOT of driving everyone else around.  The 1 car thing is just not working out as well as we had hoped - I see a scooter in Brett's eminent future.  I figure it is win win - Brett can have his motorcycle type object and I will be putting less pedestrians and curbs in danger.

I am really not complaining.  We have given up a lot of things and most of them I don't miss so much.  I am doing fine without the clothes dryer (surprise, surprise) and the cell phones are a pleasure to have gone.  We also are not missing the TV too much.  We made our first trip to the video store, but still haven't made any moves toward getting the hook up for the channels yet.  We are especially bummed that our Netflix doesn't work over here and will not let us stream movies and shows, neither will Hulu (so much for that plan).   Our wi-fi works fine, but we think there might be a monthly cap on the usage, and I am terrified about how fast it might run out.  When it does, we go to dial up speed.  I'm guessing the TV will get hooked up if that happens.

Things I am missing (besides my family and friends) include my garbage disposal and window screens.  The garbage system works a little different here.  You pay for garbage pick up by the kilogram - you place a sticker (that is bought a the dairy or grocery store) for each 5 Kg.  So, people are pretty good about recycling and composting.  I am all for this and was eager to learn more about composting.  Until I was stirring it the other day and almost pitchforked a mouse/?rat and some other creature practically tipped it over one night.  And, we don't have a garbage disposal, so I really do need to compost.  Boy, do I miss the garbage disposal.  As for the window screens, we have none.  Usually not a problem, but this past week has been really, really hot.  And, keeping the windows open at night means a lot of mossies (new zealand speak for mosquitos) and other bugs.  So frustrating when there is an ocean breeze on the other side of the glass.  

As for the kids, they are doing fine.  Liam may be having a little tougher time and has had his good and bad days as far as homesickness.  Today he was especially missing Rico, our black lab, that has been living with Brett's brother and sister in law since August.  Our beach is full of people walking unleashed dogs, and Rico would have been in heaven.  I have to admit, I have missed him too.  But we know he is happy.  The kids have been superstars when it comes to showers and suntan lotion.  Our house has no bathtubs.   Just before we moved, however, both of them started enjoying showers more.  To the point where my four year old almost preferred them.  I thought this was sort of weird for a 4 and 5 year old.  But, now I am thankful and neither of them even misses the bathtub.  Whew!  I also used to struggle to put suntan lotion on them, even when we were in Fiji.  Now, they take it stride.   Good thing, because the Kiwis take their sun very seriously, and with good reason - they have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world.

There are a few more things that I will address later, but for the most part, life isn't too different.  Just a lot warmer.   I'm sure we will be cold in the winter, and you will hear more about that later too, but at least there will not be snow.