Sunday 13th August
The skies clear once again leaving blue skies and scudding white clouds. A day of catching up on domestics, running errands, the kids coming and going. Abbey and Cadence are still away and will be back tomorrow evening for Troy’s birthday dinner. It will be the last day to catch up with laundry before the tiler arrives tomorrow to begin the probably three day process of laying the tiles in the laundry, downstairs bathroom and kitchen. The floors now stripped to their substrate are riddled with protruding nail heads and splintery wood, a shoes on only zone. Amanda and Heather go shopping to Michaels a craft store to buy yarn, Amanda is going to teach the girls how to crochet as they have all shown an interest. Meanwhile Troy and I re-string his party lights that are hanging too low now, since he renovated the patio prior to our arrival. Then off to Home Depot for some sand, so that Troy can revisit an area of the patio brickwork that has dropped a little. On our return Calista is receiving a crochet lesson from Grandma Amanda. A vanity needs to be purchased for the downstairs bathroom so its off to Lowe’s to pick out one. We think Bunnings at home is big, but Lowe’s is ginormous, here they sell not only hardware but large electrical appliances as well, washing machines dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, ovens as well as complete kitchens in kit form. We look at the huge lighting and fan section for more ideas while Troy and Heather organise their vanity.
At the end of the day Heather is out rounding up the kids from their various pursuits while meanwhile Troy has spare ribs slowly roasting on the grill. We make a salad, sit back with a glass of wine and await her return. As usual in this household the day is a busy one, quite dizzying if you stop to think about. Heather calls in as she makes her way home, Aubrey is upset, didn’t want to leave the pool party at her Dad’s, Justin has eaten too much at his grand moms and his feeling sick, her worst fear is that he will puke in the new Mini Cooper. Finally she arrives home with no mishaps, Calista greets her with a glass of her favourite wine. The ribs now cooked to perfection are served with the salad and more wine. After dinner we sit outside for awhile as the sun goes down and nightfalls, relentlessly the lights of air traffic leaving Philadelphia airport travel north across our airspace delivering their payloads of passengers into darkness, the end of another day.
Monday 14th August
Troy’s birthday today, another anniversary to celebrate while we are here. The weather has continued to be clear and warm, I have, I think, set a new record for consecutive days in shorts and thongs (flip flops).
Troy has left for work and the kids have scattered to their individual pursuits, Justin and Calista band practice, Aubrey her craft camp. The tiler is the loan tradesman here today, a little late on arrival and a little unprepared. His company have not given him any information on his job and have not cleared his work space so that he can just apply his craft with out a great deal of preparation. He certainly has a WTF look on his face but is very polite chatting awhile about his desire to buy a one way ticket to Australia, once he knows that’s where we are from. We are definitely picking up a vibe on this trip, several Americans have expressed their dissatisfaction with American life at the moment, they see Australia as maybe still a land of hope and glory, probably more on the hope side. This is the first time in all our years travelling here that this sentiment has come through, times they are a changing.
After much consideration and discussion between Heather and Jay the tiler about how to progress, and the fine details of the required finish to the many door thresholds, we take our leave. Heather is driving us to a Princeton mall close to Troys office, where we can take a look at some lighting offed by “Pottery Barn” an American chain of home decor and homeware accessories. From there we will rendezvous at Troy’s office, where we will meet his boss and take a look at his workplace before going to lunch at Bahama Breeze a Caribbean influenced eating place.
Pottery Barn has an Australian website and delivers in Australia, this is good because Americans don’t like shipping overseas, they will ship to you or your freight forwarder but don’t want to handle the shipping themselves. A missed opportunity me thinks as there seem to be many foreign visitors around who like us don’t see the range of products at home as there are here. Anyway it’s a journey of discovery and we are able to make some clear decisions about at least one purchase for the new house in Aus.
We move on for our lunch with Troy, his office is just a few minutes away by car. His employer Solvay has their corporate headquarters here in Princeton, set in a business park with other corporate offices that surround a large treed and lawned park like space with a gazebo, benches and walking paths. The building reflects a quiet studiousness that befits a business with scientific origins. Troy’s office is on the third floor, we are signed in and take the elevator with him for the guided tour. Alighting from the elevator on one of the foyer walls is a huge black and white photo of the attendees of a Solvay foundation physics conference in 1911, most interestingly, in the picture is a young physicist named Albert Einstein. Solvay a Belgium based company was original formed in 1861 by Ernest Solvay the discoverer of a profitable way to produce soda ash.
Troy shows us his office, “paperless” and extremely tidy, unlike his bedroom as a boy, also unlike his bedroom he can write on the walls in this space, one wall is painted white with a coating that allows it to be used as a whiteboard, very innovative. Family pictures sit behind his desk, including newly framed ones of his and Heathers wedding only weeks ago.
Finally before heading off to lunch we meet Troy’s boss, Fernando Lopez, a Guatemalan that joined the company only two years ago. It appears Fernando is looking forward to Troy and Heathers luau on this coming Saturday, purely it seems with the intent of drinking lots of tequila. Lunch is back at the mall we visited earlier, Bahama Breeze is a colourful eating place decorated in a Caribbean style. There are plenty of cocktails on offer but we stay away from anything alcoholic to stick with iced tea and lemonade (American style). The food on offer is extensive and not necessarily Caribbean, each item has its calorie count next to it so you can manage your intake if you so desire. Troy goes for a seafood paella that is enormous, Amanda a chicken Cobb salad also large enough to feed a small army. Heather the two fish tacos (a very popular dish here offered by most restaurants we encounter) served with yellow rice and black beans. While I choose sesame encrusted Ahi tuna, seared only, to perfection and served with a salad.
After a pleasant lunch Troy is off back to work, hoping for an early escape this evening for his birthday dinner at Isaac Newtons pub. Heather, Amanda & I though continue browsing the shops at this mall before driving to another nearby mall that has a Macy’s department store. A little more shopping at Macy’s and it’s time to pickup Aubrey from her craft camp before heading home.
The sky has clouded over ribbons of pink reflected light intertwine with grey along the line of the horizon as the sky begins to darken.
Tonight all the family are together again, Abbey & Cadence return from their mothers, Justin and Calista return from their camp. Heathers father is joining us for dinner and so he arrives and we all head off in convoy to our table of ten at Isaac Newtons. Isaacs is a kid and adult favourite, catering for all ages, everyone is well fed but has left room for ice cream at everyone’s favourite ice cream parlour the Zebra Stripped Whale. Stan takes his leave with Calista and Justin who have a band party to go to and the rest of us walk to the The Zebra Stripped Whale in Newtown’s Main Street. Through a back alley that opens up into State street we walk and once there we enter and line up to order our favourites, for me it’s cappuccino crunch, delivering a rich coffee flavour with crunchy pieces of dark chocolate coated toffee, in a single sugar cone, delicious! Amanda as usual sticks with her favourite rich dark chocolate. The kids more adventurous conjure up all sorts concoctions of flavours and toppings. Out in the warm night air, you have to lick faster as the ice cream melts rapidly. We walk back to the cars and make our way home where Troy is presented with birthday presents from the children. A happy end to Troy’s day, great to see he has made it to 46 intact and with a loving family around him. Another late night and we head to bed. Tomorrow will be chaotic, with two trades in residence the tiler and carpet layers, fun times!