Hard and fast

I've been a little missing in action, I guess.

Technically though, one post in five weeks really isn't too bad when you consider that it took me a full eight months to pull my finger out and even start this blog after moving from Australia to Los Angeles. By that standard, I could give myself another month or two before even thinking about logging in to Blogger, right? After all, we've just moved 1,800 km. That's nothing to be sneezed at, even if it's not quite the international move we made back in 2010.

I don't actually know where to begin, so I'll probably just ramble for a bit. I'm good at that.

Our moving truck arrived in early July - just in time for us to spend the entire July 4th holiday unpacking. That's how everyone wants to spend their holiday time, surely. Or maybe not.

It was then another couple of weeks without cable or internet hooked up, hence my silence here. Instagram was my guilty pleasure during that time, and I'm pretty sure I racked up a hefty data bill on my phone in that time. Instagram aside, having no internet to distract me meant I was able to get the unpacking done within a decent time frame. The downside of no cable or internet though? No TV to entertain the kids while I unpacked. Thank god for the iPad.

In all honesty, I'm not sure that having earlier internet access would have made much difference with my computer time. With such amazing weather at the moment - and knowing that a Pacific Northwestern summer doesn't last for too long - there's been a sense of urgency to getting outside and making every moment of blue skies count. And this is coming from someone who's not even a huge 'outdoorsy' type. I just know there's going to be plenty of time down the track, when we're hiding inside from the grey and wet... it'd be foolish now to spend precious sunlight hours hunching over a keyboard.

So far, we seem to have landed pretty well on our feet. Each day that passes, I'm even happier with the space we've moved into, and it hasn't taken long to feel like 'home'. The neighbours are all lovely, and the girls immediately took to the college-aged daughter on one side of us, asking her within ten minutes of meeting her whether she'd babysit for us (cheeky, and winning of them, and the answer was a resounding yes because apparently the feeling was mutual). Another friendly neighbour presented me with a bottle of wine, which is always an easy way to win me over.

We haven't done any terribly exciting explorations yet, but have spent most days getting to know our immediate area. Various parks and playgrounds have been tried and tested. Various supermarkets have been sussed out. Most importantly, various coffee houses have been visited. Our home is a mile uphill from the waterfront of Lake Washington. It's an area where I suspect parking could be tricky during the weekends and summer, due to the restaurants and cafes, so we tend to walk down a lot. The first couple of times, the walk home seemed a killer (I'd forgotten how living near water = steep, steep hills) but each time gets a little easier.

The silver lining to all those hills is that I can eat more doughnuts and drink more coffees. At least that's what I'm telling myself. Within days of arriving in Seattle's Eastside, we found ourselves at a small doughnut and espresso joint, and I've been smitten with that place ever since. The two people who run it (I can't figure out if they're siblings or a couple) are the sweetest, and make all the doughnuts themselves. They have cinnamon sugar doughnuts, which I never saw in L.A. but used to be a staple for me in Sydney. Win! Once or twice a week, I try to find an excuse to justify the 10-min drive to that neighbourhood so I can get my fix. The Faery and Miss Pie aren't complaining, either.

The only thing that's happened recently that sent a pang of sadness and missing my friends in L.A. was when I unexpectedly saw one of my closest friends on TV. Her daughter and the Faery are best friends at school, and our two families spent a lot of time together. The Faery was jumping up and down with excitement when she saw her on TV in a network promotion - for a kids show she works on - but I had a lump in my throat when I saw her face, knowing that although we plan to visit them (and have them stay with us later this year), it's still a while away.

So that's where we're at for now. Settling in pretty well, but little moments of sadness. Overall, I think I'm falling for Seattle's beauty. Like Sydney, this city is sprawled around a lot of water - making for incredible scenery. I've taken hundreds of photos already, and am going through somewhat of  honeymoon phase.

You know how there are people who fall hard and fast for other people? Intensely? That's me, but with cities. If I could bottle and sell the feelings I have as I discover a new city, I'd make a pretty penny.