When we left Australia on the 17th of August, 2008, I didn’t realise I might never step foot back into our house again. Sure, I knew we were pretty likely to eventually sell the place, but it just didn’t occur to me that it was the last time I’d be inside those walls. The home that held so many memories. The home that I renovated hand in hand with our conveniently located builder... 

There’s something magical about arriving at the airport with all your luggage and just two of your kids for the upcoming 28 hours of travel between countries, and reaching the check-in counter to find out every bag comes in just under the 23kg weight limit. Score. And there’s something even more special about being handed your boarding passes and passports, turning around and seeing the... 

Once upon a time, there was a big lake that crossed two suburbs, Ambarvale and Rosemeadow. Surrounded by ticky-tacky public housing, the murky lake was home to eels and ducks that those local residents who couldn’t afford the cost of movies for entertainment would feed with stale bread. The children of the areas would group up with friends and hang out around the lake, playing in the marshes... 

Harry loves to hike through the Rocky Mountains. There are more trails around here than you can poke a … hiking staff at. (Sorry.) Harry’s decided to do a series of Hiking with Harry videos, which will show everyone a little bit of what new things he’s experiencing in hiking in a completely different environment. This is his first one, where he is seeing his first ever frozen lake.... 

Halloween is officially over. The only candy left is the real crud that nobody will eat so I’m about to chuck it out. That’s not bad for an entire month! The other great thing was the jack-o-lanterns. We had heaps of fun carving them with our US friends and they decorated the outside of the house with their scariness for a while. And the kids even had a jack-o-lantern competition at school... 

I am swimming in the B pool and I’m not happy. (Don’t try telling me getting a B is okay. It’s not.) I have some kick-ass papers to write. I have a great brain and a wealth of experience. But I’m not getting the grades I want. Graduate school is difficult. This week I had what I’d describe as a ‘crash and burn 24 hours’. There were lots of reasons to just...