Ohhhhh I thought I loved Easter for its 4 day weekend.

But the best part about Easter was that the weather changed!

No, seriously. You don’t know how long I’ve waited for Autumn–or, maybe you do, since almost every post so far has contained vitriol for sweating and no air conditioning and the never ending agony of back to back summers for this winter child.

Monday was pretty warm, until the afternoon storm rolled in. And I don’t think it’s been above 22*C/70* with a blissfully low amount of humidity since. We’ve been waking up to cold mornings, walking out of work to cool afternoons, watching rain storms come and go, and keeping the windows closed at night. I’ve worn a coat to work every day this week, and I’ve been taking hot showers to warm up. We’ve officially put away the living room fan, and the bedroom fans are leaving this weekend.

HALLELUJAH!

I thought the cooler temps would never come. I feel like the biggest First World Problem baby in the world, but I was not prepared for how hot the summer would be sans air conditioning, and how paralyzing the heat can be.  To the point when you don’t want to go anywhere or do anything that involves wearing clothes because you’ll just be hot and miserable. When you don’t want to turn the oven on. When you can’t even vacuum without needing to change your shirt. I am one spoiled woman. And this was, according to the old, weathered Australian at work, the most mild summer he can remember, and I still felt like I was going to die. And when he told me on the first official day of Autumn (March 1st) that it wouldn’t cool down until mid-April, I nearly cried.

Maybe I wouldn’t have been so bitter about summer if I hadn’t come directly from summer in Virginia, which from May-September becomes the Swamp Ass of the United States. And I’m sure that next year I’ll be better prepared, and with a more functional knowledge of how to dress and hydrate during the summer. And I’m going to buy 42 more fans. But for now, I am so fucking happy.

So, that’s the biggest thing that’s happening. BUT HEY GUYS IT’S BEEN FOREVER! What have we been up to?

• We’re like this close to getting my visa application done. A couple more forms, a bunch of pictures to print, and an appointment with Legal Aid to make sure it’s complete, and we’ll be ready to go. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can get it all submitted.

• I went back to my roots last month. I was running a fever and I made Joel set up his fancy picture taking toys and take pictures of me.

  

  I miss having an ombre, but it was looking brassy and shaggy, and I was ready for a change. So far, I really like it.

• For reasons beyond my control, I’ll be on the job hunt again at the end of May. Shucks.

• I made red beans and rice last night for the first time, and they turned out fantastic. And I didn’t realize how many servings the recipe made, so we’ll have red beans and rice for like, 2 weeks. So excited to finally cook cold weather meals. So excited.

• In a blaze of PMS fueled fury, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t want to deal with any extra steps or ingredients so I just used used the recipe off the back of an Australian brand of chocolate chips and threw the entire bowl of dough into the pan and made a cookie pie. I thought it was weird that the recipe didn’t involve 2 cups of sugar or a whole cup of butter, like the Toll House recipe. The cookies came out fine, they just tasted different. Like a stranger. I’m going America next time.

• Speaking of baking, I’m so excited to try out every recipe in my new cookbook. I have a blog planned that explains why Back in the Day Bakery is so close to my heart

• I stayed up late tearing through a “book” written by Teen Mom cast member Kailyn Lowry, but am slowly plodding my way through Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls. by David Sedaris. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

• I wrote! I finished an essay for the first time in a very, very long time. It took the better part of 2.5 weeks and the podcast/blog that commissioned it apparently shut down in those 2.5 weeks but hey–I got a commission and I wrote something. So that’s a step in the right direction.

• Oh man. So many good things happening in TV town now and in the next few months, making me very excited:
  • Game of Thrones
  • Mad Men
  • True Detective
  • Orange is the New Black (just in time for Australia’s Netflix! woo!)

• Lots of good sunsets, as always.

So yep, March was pretty quiet, but a good quiet. And we’re almost mid-way through April! My favorite Australian has a birthday in a few days, my visa looms high, and there are some tasty treats and adventures planned. But for now, there’s Chinese to be eaten and chilly weather to be enjoyed.

til next time!

*t’s Autumn here, not fall. There aren’t nearly enough falling leaves here to call it fall. But I’ll take it.