Around the Lakes in 80 hours*

Thanksgiving 2006 has come and gone. It was our first Thanksgiving as US residents, and it was a memorable one. It started at 8am on Wednesday when we headed to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. We had cleverly avoided the Thanksgiving travel rush and went straight to the Airline counter to check-in our luggage. We had already printed out our boarding passes the night before on our home computer, which also sped up the whole process! We also got through the security (after removing jackets, shoes, laptop etc.) in a couple of minutes.

Our plane left on time, with Nathan having his very own seat for the first time. He loved the flight and was perfectly behaved for the duration of the hour long flight. We flew over Lake Erie, Detroit, Grand Rapids, and then Lake Michigan before landing in Milwaukee. At the car rental counter, we were given an option to upgrade our rental to a luxury car at a reduced rate, and of course, I said, "Yes!" Shortly thereafter we navigating our way northwards in the luxury Chrysler 300 Touring missile!

It was wonderful reuniting with the family that we spent Thanksgiving with in 2003! Our time spent in Green Bay was refreshing. The weather was much warmer than average for that time of the year, so we could spend a lot of time outdoors. Nathan made new friends with Liesel's younger cousins, who entertained him for countless hours. And the FOOD!! Delicious meals were prepared every mealtime and there was definitely no shortage of anything!
















The highlight of our trip there was a visit to the Lake Michigan beachfront! The sun was shining, and the waves were hitting the beach with vigour! It was a beautiful setting for us to throw around a football, and a baseball - slowly helping me adapt to the American lifestyle ;-)

It was sad to bid the family farewell as we reluctantly made our way back to Milwaukee. The airport procedures were again amazingly efficient, and we were soon strapped into our seats heading back to Cleveland. Onboard the jet, we were offered my favorite decadence, fresh hot chocolate chip cookies! What a fitting way to end our premiere Thanksgiving episode in the USA as permanent residents!

Go look at my new videos that I have posted at http://mccarthys-videos.blogspot.com/ !!

* the number of hours are only approximate ;-)

5 years ago: Who would have guessed???

In 2001, on November 17, we were getting married under the African summer sun. 5 years later, we are just entering the Northern Ohio winter, expecting temperatures below freezing and snowfall :-) Who would have guessed our lives would have changed that much in half a decade!

To celebrate our paper anniversary, we went to the Outback restaurant. This is an Australian themed restaurant where we hoped we could get a taste of the Southern Hemisphere! The atmosphere was good, and the food and service were excellent. Even Nathan was on his best behavior! He loved his Macaroni and cheese! Liesel ordered the :
Bronzed Chicken with Corn Cakes
Bronzed chicken breast and grilled corn cakes with bits of bacon, topped with shrimp in a creamy garlic mushroom sauce

and I had the :

Alice Springs Chicken®
Grilled chicken breast and bacon smothered in mushrooms, melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses, with honey mustard sauce. Served with Aussie chips

HEERLIK!

However, they had nothing evenly faintly resembling a South African dish :-( but is was good anyway (despite being Australian).

Finally, we had a dry Saturday and we took full advantage of this! Liesel went to have her hair done and some shopping on her own, so the boys went on our own shopping trip! We spent an hour or so at Costco looking at their LCD televisions with coveting hearts! I think Nathan would support me in my quest obtaining this dream digital display, since he was totally engrossed in Finding Nemo that was showing on one one of them!

Later that afternoon, we headed to a playground. After 5 mins in the 5C weather, we decided to cut down the playtime down to a limit that wouldn't expose us all to hypothermia! After Nathan had his fill of swings and slides, and Liesel and I had our fill of frostbite, we headed back home. It was the perfect evening to have another fire in the fireplace! Nathan's excitement always makes the fire worthwhile! Maybe we should give him a couple of logs for Christmas ;-)

Sunday was your average run-of-the-mill Sunday. It was also the last Sunday I would chat to my mom on Skype! Next time it will be face to face in 12 days time....... Cannot wait!!! Those days should fly by as we will be flying up to Green Bay, WI for Thanksgiving on Wednesday, returning on Saturday! We are looking forward to reuniting with family that we had last seen in 2003! The weather in Green Bay is generally colder than Cleveland, but we can handle just about anything now ;-) The temperature forecasted for Green Bay on Thanksgiving is : 9C

Random fact: The weather in Georgia (down south where I applied for a job before Cleveland) will be a lovely 17C on Thanksgiving Day! I think I would prefer spending my Thanksgiving down in Georgia ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is Nathan's first work of art!

The first family fire (in the fireplace)

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may be able to pick up a trend with our weekend weather! You don't have to be a rocket scientist to guess that it rained on Saturday.... again. It appears that God has set his weather machine to "Rain" for Cleveland every Saturday. But that doesn't get us down anymore ;) We started off the weekend with an appointment at Target for our first-ever professional family portrait for Christmas! They were very professional, and had us pose in different ways and made Nathan laugh at the right time. We should be able to pick up these photos on Monday, November 27.
Next on our agenda was to head out to Family Christian Store to do some more Christmas shopping! They had a bag sale, that whatever you could fit into a large paper bag, would qualify for an extra 20% off! Another reason for emigrating! This also worked out well for us, as while Liesel shopped at the store, I could take Nathan to the mall's play area so he could expend some of his never-ending supply of energy!

Later that afternoon, Liesel took Nathan to the library, while I went out to find some firewood. I was going to be making my first ever fire in my own fireplace. I am happy to report that we still have a roof over our heads and that it worked out pretty well. Even Nathan seemed transfixed by the fire, and not even the painfully pervasive Barney theme song could distract him! Finally, after putting him to bed, Liesel and I could lie back and watch the DVD, "The Lake House".

Sunday presented us with the usual assortment of Church, Sunday School and catching up with family all over the world! And thus ends yet another episode of Life in the USA!

Forthcoming Attractions: This coming week I will be working my final 5 days a s a contractor, before being switched to a Full Time Employee. I say again, life is good!!

Pretty average, non-eventful weekend

It seems after the 2 posts from earlier this week, that our weekend feels rather like an anti-climax :( On Saturday morning, with the temperature hovering around the -2C mark, we drove to the mall for Nathan to get his playtime in, and Liesel to find some bargains! It was mind-boggling to see snow still lying undisturbed on sections of roofs, and sheltered corners of gardens! The boggling of one's mind begins when you fathom that 36 hours had passed, yet the temperature hasn't been obliging to allow the snow to gently disintegrate back to it's origin...... and we are still in the Fall season!!!

After the mall excursion, we again trusted in our faithful Satellite Navigator as it directed us to a home for sale in Westlake that we found on the internet. From the street the house looked "nice", but didn't grab us. We know all about books and their covers, but luckily for us, we still have a couple of months to locate our dream house! So we still have a few more "covers" to inspect, before we will have the urge to delve into the pages of the "book". Speaking about books, that afternoon we went to the library. I went with to be Nath's chaperone, while Liesel had the freedom to browse, and take her time looking for books, videos and DVD's for her and Nathan! That is a luxury a stay at home mom doesn't get to experience regularly!

Sunday was the same as most Sundays, with Church in the morning, and our FLOCKS group in the evening. Because the temperature in Celsius was in double digits, I took Nathan out to the playground to enjoy the fantastic (sic) weather, while we can! And there you have it, another exciting episode of the McCarthy's in Westlake! Stayed tuned as we begin the countdown until my mom lands on US soil! Until next week, CIAO!

NEWSFLASH: Our first REAL snowfall in Cleveland

This evening, in a matter of 2 hours or so, a whole new outlook greeted us! Cars, roofs and sidewalks were covered in snow. It is really a beautiful sight to behold! Bear in mind, the snowfall here is EXTREMELY light. Historically, the west side of Cleveland (where Westlake is) receives MUCH lighter snowfalls than the eastern side! (I researched this before moving to Cleveland for this very reason) So when we get an inch or two of snow, the east would be having a foot or two of snow!

The moral of the story: the east side could be building snowmen and skiing, while we may not even have enough to go sledding!

Liesel's car!

Office Halloween party

Yesterday was my first halloween in the USA. While I don't really agree with the celebration, as I don't understand why there is a need to scare the living "jeebees" out of the children and exposing them to things that are normally seen in R-Rated Horror movies!! However, my department was having a halloween party and it was compulsory to dress up! I went as a vampire, as my team of 4 decided that our theme would be "Buffy, the vampire slayer"