Not all fun and games in Oz

Nope, one of us has to go to work. For seven and a quarter hours, each day of the work week, I (Mr Ozisforlovers) sit in this room:

A taxonomist's workshop. Microscopes, computers, glassware, a slide cabinet, an institutional chic, a general sense of disorganization, and a hypnotizing view of some genuine Ozzy bush.

When I have done enough public service for the day, I egress though this grand exit:
Note the weedy Opuntia just inches from the gate, as if to say "Hey weeds, come on in!"

Every other Wednesday, on the way home from work, I stop off at the University of Queensland Staff Club to meet with some other evolutionary biologists and chat about a journal article over a beer. I got there a bit early this time, and shared my beer with a rainbow:
Pleasant.

Cory mentioned that I enjoy watching Rugby League, and that I was even considering naming a kid after a footy player:
Wouldn't you? Manu Vatuvei. Tongan Winger. Nicknamed 'the beast.' Note his 'game face.'

Easter side note (and a picture of our "landscaper")

My sister sent an Easter care package that arrived today (Wednesday). It was opened by the Australian quarantine folks, which probably delayed its arrival. I wonder what they saw in the X-ray that made them open it up:

Thanks for the treats! I was forced to eat all of the jelly beans immediately.

Did they think there was straw (prohibited) in the box only to find fluorescent pink and green ? Maybe they saw eggs (also prohibited) and discovered they were only plastic and filled with yummy jelly beans and Reese's eggs. Or do you think they just saw the boxes of Peeps and just wondered what the hell they were and opened up the box to have a look?

And now for something completely different!

Some of you (those who have seen our yard) know that we have really crummy gardeners. The first month we were here, they sprayed Round-Up on everything instead of mowing. When they showed up six weeks later, Nate spoke to them and asked them not to spray Round-Up on every living thing. The guy explained that our landlord is cheap and if we wanted improved service from them, then we should complain to the landlord. Whatever.

They showed up this afternoon just as Roxy was settling in for her nap. I snapped a picture of the guy Nate spoke to back in January and I think he's wearing the same outfit he had on back then.

Using the weed whacker to mow the lawn.

Easter Weekend

A couple of hot cross buns.
Every bakery in town has been advertising their buns for weeks. I bought a couple at our local bakery on Thursday just as they were closing and they gave me a half dozen for free! We ate them all weekend - very yummy! Sweet buns with raisins.

We were invited by our friends (Nate's boss and his wife) to attend an Easter brunch potluck at their friends' house (a lovely couple with two young daughters). We hung out under the house.

This is the American half of our host couple. He couldn't be a nicer guy and he embraces the "loud American" stereotype. Here he is hanging Easter eggs from the clothes line with duct tape. It took the kids a while to find them!

Easter egg hunt!

An entomologist's work is never done! Nate and his boss Shaun inspect a demolished termite mound.

If you can't make it out, it says, "Look at the grasshopper".

The gigantic pecan tree in the backyard. What do you do with yard full of pecans?

You make pecan pie, of course!

Afterwards, we retired to our friends' house for a Mexican feast! Tortilla chips, salsa, fajitas and beer. We also played some Nintendo Wii, but I stopped taking pictures so you're just going to have to imagine it.

Nate spent a lot of the weekend working on a big grant proposal and has been working pretty hard at his job. His bike commute, workload and a baby-that-doesn't-know-she's-supposed-to-sleep-in-on-the-weekend are starting to take their toll. (Don't feel too sorry for him, though - he stayed up late to watch Round 3 of the Masters on Sunday.) On the bright side, we're getting into a predictable routine with the bub and it's making life a lot easier.

More from the "Shhh! Daddy's Sleeping" series.

Roxy turned four months old this weekend, too! As a present, I took her to get her shots. What better gift than protection from measles, mumps and rubella?

Four month old baby rides face out in the carrier!

All Sports Network!!

A new digital network launched here about a week ago. It's all sports, all the time and it's all free!

As far as Aussie sports go, we've been watching of AFL, Rugby League, Rugby Union and just a touch of cricket. Nate's become such a fan of Rugby League that he's decided we'll name our first son after a New Zealand player. You'll have to ask Nate about it if you want details.

There are epic broadcasts of Netball, which is a women's sport that we're still trying to understand/appreciate. It's actually pretty awesome to see hours primetime programming dedicated to women's sport.

NBA games are shown all afternoon and the NCAA basketball games were on, but only from the Elite Eight onward and they weren't live, but we'll take what we can get! But we're not so desperate - we turned off the NCAA Championship at halftime last night - what a boring game!

And now. The best part. They're broadcasting Major League Baseball games five times a week! Wonderful, right? The only catch is the games are on from noon-3:30 during the week so Nate won't get to watch any of them.

I, on the other hand, get to watch as much as I want (and as much as Miss Rox allows). I can't believe I'm actually watching the live Dodgers-Padres game right now! I was just telling Nate the other day that I want to track down a baseball scorebook to follow the Dodgers this year. I love to collect data!

We're both pretty stoked about this new network and we're wondering how much American football we'll get to see!

two weeks already!?

I can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since I last updated. Where has the time gone?

We flew down to Sydney for a visit to the U.S. Consulate. We had to submit paperwork to get a Consular Report of Birth Abroad for Miss Rox as well as apply for her passport and social security number. The CRBA and passport arrived in the mail last week, but the SSN won't arrive for 2-4 months.

Getting the paperwork organized was the most difficult part of the whole process, but was pretty easy because Nate and I are American citizens. It becomes slightly more difficult if the baby has an American mother and a non-American father and is exponentially more complicated if the baby has an American father and non-American mother.

Roxy is an American citizen, but is not an Australian citizen. Australia used to be like the U.S. in that anyone born here automatically gained citizenship, but they changed the law a while ago. Instead, she is on our visa and should we decide to become Australian citizens, she will shall she.

I don't know how this affects her should she decide to run for U.S. President. In order to be eligible for that office, the Constitution states that a candidate must be "a natural born citizen of the United States," and there is some debate about what our founding fathers actually meant by that. Her certificate clearly states, "A Consular Report of Birth Abroad is proof of United States citizenship by law: 22 USC 2705." If it's still unresolved 35 years from now, I guess she can hire any (or all) of the lawyers in our family to represent her in the Supreme Court.

Enough blabber! Here are some pictures!

Roxy's first flight. She calmed down eventually.

This happened in the Sydney terminal the day we flew in! (a bikie is a member of a motorcylce gang, like Hell's Angels)

The view from our hotel room. That's Sydney Harbor up on the left.

We had this lovely tub in our hotel room. We put Roxy to bed and tiptoed to the tub for a soak. Then just like a movie, as soon as we got in the tub, the baby started crying and didn't go back to sleep until the water was cold. :(

My favorite: Artemis, goddess of the hunt! (Part of a fountain in Hyde Park)

We met up with some Davis friends for dinner the night we arrived. Terry and Louise are Australians who lived in the U.S. for a few years and we met them when Lou was a postdoc in our Davis lab. They moved to Sydney a couple of months ago and we finally got to meet their son Harry! Harry was born a couple of weeks after we moved here. We had a delicious Thai dinner and talked all about babies and Australian sports.

Terry and Harry, Nate and Roxy

Brekkie near the Harbor Bridge

Fruit stand in the Sydney CBD.

Playing in the Royal Botanical Gardens. Roxy is now as big as her daddy's shoe. Keep growing, Rox!

These reminders were on practically every corner. We figured they were probably for all of the tourists that came to town for the 2000 Olympics.

We're in the middle of a storm. It's been raining pretty well for the past few days. It's been raining so much that I invested in a new umbrella. Here's Nate showing it off (nevermind the blue sky behind him. It was raining when he left on the walk):

This umbrella is inspiration for a new wardrobe.

Nate has back-to-back four-day weeks coming up. Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays here. We don't have any plans for the long weekend. We're thinking we might rent a car and go nowhere - just enjoy having a car for a few days.