Finally, a nice coffee !

Yes I found one !! Of course it's the Italian illy coffee house but it serves 'real' espresso coffee. I brought it home and poured it in a real cup to enjoy the taste more. It's not far from the apartment so that might be my daily stroll. I stopped by a cafe this morning thinking it would be ok but omg, it was dreadful. The guy was so lovely I felt compelled to drink it - I'm surprised I didn't puke on the way home.

It's an absolute freezing wind out there today. My face was ice and I had to war the hoodie of my jacket to block the wind. Not a good hair look but it's warmer. Staying inside for the day now to fill out lots of paperwork. 

Home Alone

It didn't snow in DC city, after all that hype. Plenty in the outskirts, but not here. I think I'm ok with that. Still cold enough though. Cooked our first meal last night - nice piece of steak and some veg. I thought I'd bought gravy (like gravox) but it was thickener so it was as bland as wet flour. I have been wandering around to the supermarket which is a good exercise in WTF. It's either what TF is that or where TF is this? 

I have the days to myself now. Went to Macy's today - needed to get a jug, hairdryer and an iron. I was lost the second I got off the metro train until I got home again. Don't mind getting lost as you tend to see and learn things but I was quite confused. So Macy's don't sell hairdryers - seriously !! I had to find another store called TJ Maxx and I asked 3 times for directions to find it and got blank 'I don't know' faces. Finally got there, finally got home and finally have some appliances to make things normal here. Amazon is A-mazing and I'm sure we will be buying off that quite a lot. Given my experience today, I think I'll get the toaster from Amazon - free delivery next day.

Finalising the lease for the house at the moment and moving in 1 March. Dogs will arrive 4 March so still a few weeks with no munchkins. Deb's going ok, she didn't get lost walking home yesterday on her own and she's getting information overload at work. We have a public holiday on Monday too = Presidents Day. Probably do some car hunting but it's meant to be freezing so maybe staying indoors could be a plan. Need to think about furnishing the house too else we'll be sleeping in the dogs beds. 

First Day

The kid started school today. I thought it would just be a walk to the front door, say goodbye and off I go to have a day of leisure. But no, I got sucked in past the front door into a vortex of meetings, briefings, passes and information overload. We've come home with heaps of reading material and don't know where to start. Cup of tea first of all I think.

Good news is that we have got the house we wanted. Hopefully sign a lease this week but can't move in until end Feb. We are so relieved to have a house now and can't wait to get the dogs here.

Dinner at the Irish Pub

After we BOTH spent a full day at work, home cooking was not an option. So we enjoyed a nice dinner at an Irish pub on the way home. Enjoying the different ciders around the traps.

We watched a bit of Superbowl last night but just couldn't stay with it. The ads were good but had no idea about the game. I'm mates already with the lady who works the night shift on the front desk of the apartments. She's into all sports and we chewed the fat about the hockey, baseball, basketball and even soccer. I told her I would convert her to cricket within the next 3 weeks.

Went shopping yesterday to get some basic groceries to cook dinner. Got all my pounds and kilos mixed up. Ended up with a lump of mince the size of a tennis ball. Eventually got the weight I needed but it was a far cry from my starting quarter pound. Poor butcher. And there are no weetbix here - first world problem I know but I think the currency for visitors will be a box of weetbix.

And it's going to snow tonight and tomorrow - omg, omg, omg. There were lots of salt crystals on the streets tonight in preparation for the snow - I reckon it's more of slip hazard than the snow !! I also got a new warmer jacket and some thermal pants so I was more warmer today. Gloves are a must and I wear the beanie quite a lot. Such a good lookin' rooster I am !! 

Next task is to get a car !!

It's Cold !!

It's definitely cold here now. It must have dropped below zero this arvo as we were walking the streets. I had to go into a random shop before something on me broke. Note to self - beanie tomorrow. We've been house hunting the past two days and found one perfect place but it's out in Alexandria (45min commute) and another today on the outer DC edge - it's not as lovely but it's much closer to work and dog run places and ticks all the other boxes. Fingers crossed we get this place. Here's me sitting on the steps wondering how I would shovel snow?

House Hunting

Ribs

We had an early dinner at this place called Founding Farmers and it was fabulous. I had Yankee Pot Roast and Deb had ribs, of course. So many things to choose from. We've been getting around on the metro and buses - Deb already lost her first Metro card ! Jetlag has knocked us around heaps, we might be just kicking it now. Struggling to find a good coffee as you all know, but we hope to get into Georgetown tmrw and check out the trendy cafe scene. We plan to spend the weekend sightseeing and have a break.

Macey & Cricket loving Canberra Petcare

Was lovely to see the munchkins enjoying their time at Canberra Petcare. We miss them a lot but glad they are enjoying the warmth and playtime. Thanks to Canberra Petcare for posting these pics on FB.

 

   

Arrived in DC

Landing at Washington DC Airport

G'day DC, we're heeee-rrrre !! Overall the trip was comfortable, good and surprisingly quick - I slept the short leg to Sydney and then immediately out of Sydney for 5 solid hours, watched 2 movies and then slept another 2 hours (recommend Spotlight movie). Deb had a good sleep in there also. Bit of a rush in LA to txfr to the DC flight but we made it.

The landing into DC was beautiful with snow everywhere and there are left over piles of snow in the streets here. It's not freezing, more like chilly and it's a welcome change actually. The apartment is lovely and we are off house hunting tmrw.

Saw a funny shirt in the airport - it had a cartoon of Donald Trump emphasising his massive hair and the words said 'Combover-In-Chief'. Funny but how scary that this man is running for the 'Commander-in-Chief' position.

We've just made a nice cuppa tea and scoffing some of those chocolates as we watch TV trying to understand the Iowa election update here. Bedtime very very soon.

    

The last night in Australia

Taking a break during packing

It’s been a very busy week of farewells, finalising the house for rent and other domestic chores. There have been grumpy moments for sure and lots of last minute dog cuddles. My best friend Meegs kindly homed us for the past few days and she has been a trooper at taking all our leftover groceries, and tin soups - well some of them!! 

Staying in a hotel tonight to chill out and prepare for the long flights to Washington.  We miss the dogs terribly and can’t wait to see them on the other side in a month or so. All our friends have been extremely kind and generous with their farewells and giving us the spoilt treatment. 

We even arrived at the hotel and after 10mins of faffing around to get settled, I asked Deb who gave her the bag (a red gift bag on the desk). She said it wasn't her bag? I thought it was yours? Hmm, well it's not mine. 

Australian survival kit from J&M

Put my glasses on and saw the personal sticky name label of our friends - holy Cadbury's Batman, it was full of chocolates and they had it delivered to our room. Thanks J&M :)  With Meegs' Chomp bars and leather gloves, and the wooly socks from our neighbours, the gorgeous Canberra coasters and lovely vouchers for a restaurant in DC and an 'experience' in DC - we are ready for Washington. I have a sentimental US 1cent and a other great gifts to get us safely to the US.

We leave in the morning and fly to Syd-LA-Wash so it's worse than any 24 solo could ever be.

Thanks again for making us feel very loved, we'll miss you all and will be back in touch again from the land of 50 States.