Happy Monday

It's lunchtime here, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to jot down some thoughts...

• I saw some kangaroos this weekend! I went to dinner at my boss' house and his family took me on a walk out behind their house. We saw about 30-35 kangaroos, enjoying a twilight meal. It was so cool to see kangaroos in person. And this was literally a 5 minute walk from my boss' house out in the suburbs of Canberra. I think that's an advantage of Canberra, it's surrounded by rural areas so there's quick access to the outback/bush.
• Had a gourmet brekky (breakfast) at a cute little place in Kingston this weekend - read the paper, watched the locals. I had french toast with carmelized bananas. Yummy! The bread here has been universally great - very flavorful and substantive. The bananas were apparently a treat - there was a cyclone in northern Queensland earlier this year that knocked out the banana crops and the price has apparently only recently gone down on them.
• Saw more kangaroos on the campus of the University of Canberra. My one friend in Canberra that I don't work with has a car and he drove me around most of Saturday, which was great. This time there were 5 kangaroos and we were able to get pretty close. I have some pictures and will post as soon as I am able.
• Have been exploring the grocery stores with great success. Have found very wide selections of all things and have even found some new favorites - in particular the yougurt. It is so good - the stuff at home is too sweet, even the plain stuff - this is just right. (I feel a little like Goldilocks when I'm trying out new food!)
• Went to the Target. Now, it may seem like a weird compulsion to get to the Target on my first weekend here - but given how much I love Target at home, I needed to see how similar it was. It was similar enough to make me feel comfortable. I had a grand time figuring out my size in Australia and did some retail therapy damage to my credit card. :)
• Watched Aussie Rules Football semifinals (Perth Eagles vs. Melbourne Bulldogs) and even learned a little bit! It helps that the guys (i guess I should say blokes) on the team I was watching were very good looking, so it kept me interested... ;0
• Went for a run this morning by Lake Burley-Griffith, which is about a 5 min run from my apt... it's so nice to start the morning by the lake. There were rowers and kayakers out there this morning - I'm looking into that this morning. There were also hot air ballons floating around - that'd be pretty cool!

I'm feeling pretty good now; although I'm definitely on an emotional roller coaster. Luckily it's sunny every day and that always helps my mood. I miss everyone terribly, but am having a grand time getting settled and trying to wrtap my head around the fact that I live here now, I'm in a different hemisphere and I work for the Australian government (as an FTE!!). Crazy.