3:25am … why am i not asleep? well, after travelling back to pittsburgh earlier this afternoon and finding that i had left a few banana’s out for 10 days whilst i was away, combined with the fact that i had exhausted almost my entire reserve of socks and underwear, i’ve spent a good deal of my time getting the apartment back in order … as well as go through all of my mail and miscellanous papers that have been piling up!
i also managed to swing past the hospital to visit Mike & Katie, who had just brought into the world a baby of their own, Kamryn Allison Mull! CONGRATULATIONS to the both of them, especially Katie who endured hours of labour to bring Kamryn into the world! (let alone carry her around for 9 months in her belly!) anyway, i took some quick snaps which you can see here.
to finish up, in just over 3 weeks i will making my last (and longest) trek to Texas, my new home. it will be a long and painful drive of approximately 1417 miles (2280km) which i am scheduling 3 days to complete, as i will be driving solo! i will be sure to keep everyone updated of my adventure as the time draws near …
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yep, over the weekend i secured an apartment and i can now be referred to as a genuine bona-fide Texan! i’ll be moving into my new apartment mid-June once i finalise things in Pittsburgh. the new apartment complex website is here if you want to take a look. i opted for a ground floor, inward facing smaller apartment mainly cause i don’t have enough furniture to fill my current apartment! the ground floor is nice because i have a patio which feeds out into the pool area and some nice landscaping … hopefully the people in the apartment upstairs aren’t too noisy! i’m also saving a few hundred dollars a month in rent, which is a bonus!
in an interesting twist, as i was finalising my rental application there was another couple who were extending their lease … they happenned to notice my application said that i was from australia … and it just so happens that the guy was born and raised in western Sydney (yep, i was born in western Sydney!) … the world is just way, way, WAY too small! so anyway, we have already organised (as the only aussies in the complex) a good old fashion aussie BBQ for my arrival! woohoo!! 
today i begin my serious search for a new home in Houston. already running a little behind schedule cause I slept in, i have my shortlist in hand ready to check out what Houston has to offer. from my research the ideal location(s) are in the inner-loop and mid-town area. this will put be somewhere inbetween where i will be working (in the uptown/galleria area) and downtown Houston.
the weather here is beautiful, mostly clear sky’s and in the high 20’s C (80+F) forecast for the entire week … lovin’ it!!
what you see below is one of the finest achievements of my life to date.
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i cooked dinner entirely independantly, and it was edible! for those of you that know me well, you will attest to the fact that kitchens don’t really stand up well when i am in them, or even around them in any way. tonight, i manage to prepare, cook, and eat without cutting my finger off, burning the food, setting off any fire alarm or smoke detector, and actually enjoying the meal!
there is hope yet …
in a very impromtu last-minute ordeal, myself and a few people from my apartment complex decided that since it was such a nice day yesterday (30C+) that it would be ideal to make the most of the warm evening and go to the baseball game. so i attended my very first game last night, and besides the fact that the local team (Pittsburgh Pirates) lost 9 - 3 it was a very cool experience. the stadium, PNC Park, is very impressive and has a great view towards the city. i snapped a quick panoramic shot (below) with my phone …
 you can click on the pic to get a larger version! the seats were, well, they were bought from a scalper for $10, and although the seat i was sitting in did not correspond to the ticket that i had in my hand, the stadium was relatively empty so we just found the best place we could and sat down! it’s a shame that the Pittsburgh Pirates are not a high-end baseball team, cause the stadium is certainly worthy of a good team!
anyway, duty calls. will be in Houston on Friday for 10 days trying to find a new place to live! the move is fast approaching!
well it’s a sunday afternoon here, beautiful clear sunny day in the mid 70’s (~25C). after a lengthy sleep i thought it best not to waste the day so as part of my “get fit and lose my gut” regime i kitted up with my new 8Gb iPod Nano, accompanying Nike armband, and headed off on a jog down to Point State Park, which is where the three rivers combine. the park itself is under maintenance so the whole area was a little run-down, but it didn’t detract from the views of the city, the rivers, Mount Washington, and the stadiums across the river, where the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing.
i managed to jog at a steady pace all the way down from the Cork Factory on 24th st to the park, then walk/jogged back. it is fairly obvious to me how unfit and out of shape i am. i have set a goal to be able to jog at a moderate pace to Point State Park and back again (approx 7km roundtrip) before i move to Houston! that gives me just under a month!
in other news, Kate left for the UK yesterday and is staying in Birmingham with relatives, which is a few hours drive North-West of London. i checked the weather there and it’s (suprise suprise) overcast and quite cool (low teens C). i’ll also be heading back down to Houston on Friday for 10 days, with a specific goal in mind (aside from my work) … i need to find a new apartment! i have a shortlist and will go about checking out what is available for a move-in date of mid-June.
that’s all for now … i have some miscellaneous pics but i’ll get to those later!
wow, two updates in as many days! what issssss the world coming to? well this one is real brief, i thought i’d let everyone in on some of the pictures from Niagara Falls from last weekend. very very cool sight to see, the Canadian side was very commercial however … which has it’s pro’s and con’s. if you want to just wander around in a ‘park’ setting, then the US side is for you. if you want to gamble away your hard earned US dollars, the Canadian side is the best! i’m not a gambler so i enjoyed both sides for their respective benefits!
pics can be found here.
here i am, making promises i can’t keep. it just seems the more time i try to allocate to keeping this blog up to date, the less time i actually have! so, again, another brief update. spent the weekend in another country (across the border in Canada!) which was my first ever experience of “driving into another country”. something very unusual to us Australians as we share no borders with anyone, but the ocean!
anyway, i don’t have my gallery software on this laptop so I can’t really upload any pics at this stage - which i have lots of … so you’ll just have to be patient and i’ll change the background picture in the mean time!
in Houston related news, my relocation is on-schedule for May 31st. i will be shuffling between Houston and Pittsburgh over the coming weeks making sure everything is set (i need to find a new home ASAP) but i will endeavour to keep the site as up to date as i possibly can.
finally, went and saw Spiderman 3 tonight @ IMAX. i don’t think it was as good as the original, but not a bad movie. worth seeing just for the effects, although it was a little bit too lovey-dovey for my liking … the comedy skits were good though!
more soon, i promise! have faith!!
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