Today is a gorgeous, sunny day and Preston is off wakeboarding with a couple guys from church. Yesterday he spent the afternoon boogie boarding at Fresh Water Beach. These are activities that feed the inspiration for his writing so I am happy for him while I sit at my desk, in this quiet little office, with just a window to tell me it’s sunny outide, trying to focus on work…. Yeah. I’m really happy for him. 
It’s hard to decide these days what to post on the blog. I feel like we’re just trucking along now. Things continue to become more familiar, and a little easier to manage. I’ve moved into a new office space and it is sooo much better than before. The kids know our names now and I have met more and more parents and have received some decent feedback for how things seem to be going so far. I know I mentioned to a few people before I left that I hate starting any new job, even if the situation is really comfortable. It just kills me to get through that time of feeling incapable constantly and not having any of the answers. So getting through that stage seems to be taking forever, but I might finally be making progress. I’m learning more about the staff, the history of relationships and politics here, and what the expectations for this position really are. Ideally, they need someone long-term in this position and someone very committed to the church. Obviously, I’m not that person, so it forces me to think carefully about what to focus on while I’m here. I don’t want to be a children’s director forever….in fact, I think we all know I don’t fit particularly well into the church employee category, so at this point the future after Australia is a blank slate. That’s actually kind of exciting.
Preston has been writing like crazy and making more and more connections with people. Already, this has turned out to be an amazing opportunity for him. Many of you have noticed that he’s not online often, but Preston is just not much of a technology guy so you’ll just have to trust my updates. He speaks often of his family in Oregon and missing them, as well as the Cramers, the Burns, and other families and friends who have loved us so well. There are also a lot of comments like, “hey, I should write that on the blog!’ So….intentions count, right?
I just realized the other day that Dave Rod and Chris Jarvis and others from Grace will be coming here in…..a month or so!! Not sure exactly when. But I am soooo looking forward to that! I have the feeling I don’t even realize how great it will be to have people from “that life” here to discuss the differences with. I talked to a girl the other day who is dying to do an internship at Grace (year-long) and she’s planning on chatting with Chris and Dave about that when they’re here. Should be fun. In fact….if anyone runs into either of those guys, I need to know if I’m supposed to help set anything up for them. Accomodations? Transportation? After Chris and Dave leave it looks like Lauren might be coming and then…Aunt Cyndy!! And then…Dana? Daniel? Jeremy? Jane? Rama? More, more!!
Now I will leave you with some new Australian vocab:
whilst = while
heaps = slang for “a lot” (like we say tons)
arvo = short for “afternoon”
winge = whine
breakie = breakfast
muso = musician
That’s all I can think of for now… Oh! I almost forgot! Preston got a call from someone offering us tickets to go see John Mayer at the Sydney Entertainment Center (directly across the street from where Chris and Keith stayed when they were here.) I know I’ll hear from everyone at home that knows I’m not a fan, BUT there’s no denying he’s a great musician AND Ben Kweller opened AND it was free, so…..who would say no?? It was great – especially Ben Kweller.
Ok, more soon. Lots of love. Please leave comments (except, jeremy….you can stop) and let us know you are still thinking of us. Americans in Australia can get needy sometimes.
