Dom's company, Lucent Technologies, wanted him to move to the US for a year. We had talked about this possibility quite some time ago and, notwithstanding our pregnancy, we decided to give it a go.

Well we did arrive safely on the 12th February and with a relative amount of ease. The flights were long but we were lucky as we had seven seats between us to spread out and sleep. This helped a lot. When we arrived we stayed at a studio apartment and Dom had to go straight to work for a conference call back to Sydney. It was a lovely place but small. We stayed there for about a week and a half.

Dom {When you travel overseas, be prepared for anything - we NOW know that. I had been to the USA for holiday/work 4 times before in the last 10 years but had never come across weather like this. My company put us up at the Candlewood Suites which were a fine place to live short term. Only problem is that the cars are out in the open. I (stupidly) didn't have gloves, which makes the ice chipping operation into a very painful exercise. Every minute or two I'd have to stop & put my fingers in my mouth to restart the circulation. Note the stalagtites hanging from the car.}

A real estate agent took us around to see three rental properties and we decided to take a lovely three bedroom house situated on a lake. Although it is not a large place it is a lovely house with a spectacular view. I guess it will be even better when the ice melts off the lake so it no longer looks like an ice skating rink. We have rented furniture to fill the house and we have a spare queen size bed and room for anyone who wants to come and visit.

I am enjoying just relaxing and being a house wife. Yes I do tend to watch a little television and I can now tell you what happens in all the soaps (I must admit even though Australia is 3 years behind in the soaps it hasn't been that difficult to catch up- most of the characters are the same and even the story lines haven't really changed).

The weather is cold (-5 to +10degC most days) and we have had three snow storms while we have been here. One day Dom's work was closed because it was too dangerous for people to drive to work (although Dom was unaware and only heard about work being closed while driving in and talking to others on the Ham radio). It is fun the first day to see the white fluffy snow on the ground but for weeks on end it can be a little depressing. It makes it hard to walk to the shops although the snow ball fights can be fun. We have yet to make a snowman. The locals have told us that this is one of the worst winters they have had in a long time. We are lucky because every building is centrally heated and so it is easy to live - indoors.

At the moment because Dom is so busy we haven't done much travel but we intend to begin weekend trips soon. We want to go to Washington and Boston and travel in May to central USA.

We had our first trip to an American shopping mall last weekend. It was huge. Everything about America is huge however I was un prepared for the size of the mall. I loved it and intend to spend more time at the mall once we have our own car and then I can drop Dom at work and hit the shops. It is fun just looking ("Oh My God" says Dom from across the room ;-)

It is hard to travel in New Jersey without a car because there are no buses and the train is really only helpful if you want to travel into New York. We have a hire car at the moment and hope to buy our own this week with some money that Dom's company is giving us as a car allowance. Should be fun driving on the wrong side of the road.

By the end of February we had moved into our little home at "Rainbow Lakes", Denville, NJ. The house is medium sized but is situated right on the largest of the seven "Rainbow Lakes". We have a very small block but with the outlook across the lake our backyard seems huge with the lounge (& main bedroom) wimdows looking right across it. Most of these shots of the lake are taken from our backyard.

This is a `private community' whereby the residents have formed an association. To use the facilities one must live there & pay a yearly subscription (for the upkeep of facilities) which our landlords, Mike & Ann Marie, have paid for us. This enables us to use all the stuff inc tennis court (6 doors up the road), volleyball court (directly opposite), the beach (just across the causeway from us ~80m), the Clubhouse (7 doors up the road) etc. There is also a baseball field & a small park.

By the end of February we had moved into our little home in the town of Denville, NJ. Denville is the second-last station on the Dover line. This train takes us in to Penn Station, New York City in about 70mins. Plenty of people do the daily commute from here. The house is medium sized but is situated right on the largest of the seven "Rainbow Lakes". We have a very small block but with the outlook across the lake our backyard seems huge with the lounge (& main bedroom) wimdows looking right across it. Most of these shots of the lake are taken from our backyard.

This is a `private community' whereby the residents have formed an association. To use the facilities one must live there & pay a yearly subscription (for the upkeep of facilities) which our home owners, Mike & Ann Marie, have paid for us. This enables us of all the stuff inc tennis court (6 doors up the road), volleyball court (directly opposite), the beach (just across the causeway from us ~100m), the Clubhouse (7 doors up the road) etc. There is also a baseball field & a small park.

The first problem for me is that with such a small block,only 0.1acre, I couldn't fit my 102ft radio antenna between the trees I'll put more about this on my Ham Radio page! Well the house had a new-ish kitchen, larger than Susanne & I could dream of & a killer view. I was umm-ing & arre-ing about choosing between this & another house at Florham Park when Tim Webster put me straight - "Get the great kitchen & lake view - Susanne will appreciate it". He's right you know!

Although we arrived at the end of winter went through about 4 snowstorms of differing calibre which were great fun for us although the novelty value was starting to wear thin towards the end & we weren't even here for the big falls around Chrustmas/New Year! I have no idea how the locals can put up with this year in year out. I s'pose they don't have to too often as it doesn't snow every year around here. One afternoon I walked from my office to the carpark with only a shirt & long pants. I think if I had left my keys in the office & had to walk back, I wouldn't have made it: the wind chill was beyond belief. I've been bushwalking in the Blue Mountains of NSW in Sleet/snow/wind but this was serious.

You can see that we had a 2000model Volvo XC (Cross Country) AWD as our rental vehicle. This proved to be a marvellous car. it had plenty of room, was very surefooted even in the snow & on ice. Whilst at Candlewood suites, about 6 minutes up the road from work, there was one major snowstorm. Som,e of the other Aussies working here (Hugh, Karen, Viru, Joel) took about 2 hours to get there in the conditions and traffic on Route10. Having listened to the mayhem on the Ham Radio, I decided to go the back way. All was fine (for me) until I hit a traffic jam near the end resulting in a 1hour transit time. The other traffic, trucks, cars etc were going wild. They would slide whilst trying to take off from traffic lights - one guy did an accidental 180deg coming towards me, I watched him sail on by & was even able to steer around him without sliding. I was sold on the abilities of this car and it's performance under these conditions, so instead of taking the standard long-term rental through the company's connections I opted for taking the money & purchasing our own. We got a black 1998 Volvo XC AWD which we are planning to sell upon repatriation to Oz.

Here is Susanne in front of our place during the last of the snow. The house is as cute as a button, particularly like this. We are really enjoying this place & all that it has to offer (and the Central Heating and double glazed windows!). We've only been into NYC 3 times since we arrived, but there again, neither of us are keen inner-city people. We are also a little encumbered with Susanne's growing maternal condition, planning all trips as "sights between tinkle stops" (expecting mum's will understand these bladder limitations ;-)

This has been a great time for us as a couple, notwithstanding all the dramas associated with my work. Being away from our commitments at home has been a great `break' and really given us time to focus on ourselves and our relationship. We have both had to rely on each other a lot more without friends and family around but we still talk with them twice a week on the `dog'.

Dom & Susanne