Little D Down Under

Career Opportunities (The Clash)

2012-01-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

So I'm back again and only with a day gap between posts-that hasn't happened in at least a year!

I'm hoping for your help; I need some career advice. Remember when I went for that dream job and I didn't get it? Well, the most amazing thing happened yesterday. The lady that I interviewed with back then sent me an email to let me know that that position had just become available again and that she encouraged me to have a look at the job posting again. Not that that means it is a sure thing, but when does it ever happen that you put in for a job, don't get it, and then they contact you 6 months later suggesting that you try again for the job?? I'm really excited!

The help that I need from anyone reading this is: I have to resubmit a cover letter and my resume. What can I do to my cover letter to make it different from last time? Do I just give a general overview of the last one to remind her why I am the best candidate for the job? Do I change it completely and say different things? (For background-the job is helping US students get settled in Australia in a uni program and fielding any questions they might have about life here, helping them get in to internships, showing them around the City, etc. So on my last cover letter I spoke about the fact that I can relate to these students as I originally came out on a study abroad program myself, I faced and continue to face the same feelings of homesickness and of being foreign in a new country, that I have a teaching background, that I enjoy meeting and working with new people, and that I want to help make these students time here the best that it can be so they love Aus as much as I do).

I also did a mock up of a weekly newsletter that they send out to all of the students after my first interview- should I resubmit that?

Thanks in advance to anyone who has advice!

Guess Who's Back, Back Again? Shady's Back, Tell a Friend

2012-01-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

I guess I actually have the best excuse in the world as to why I haven't posted in 6 months- I was out living life! So many things have changed since I last wrote but a lot of it was just normal life stuff that it really didn't need its own post. I'll give you the overview of all that has changed since I've last been on, although sadly, I'm sure not very many people check in here anymore!

1. I got a new car. So glad to be done with my last p.o.s. and now I'm driving a newish Hyundai Tucson and it's comfy and fun to drive and makes my 2 hours of commuting in the car so, so, so much better!

2. We moved! I don't remember what the final straw was that finally broke the camel's back and lit a fire under our bum to move from Budgewoi and the little shack there- it was probably either the black mold we were finding everywhere or the fact that it was raining so much that our driveway was constantly a mud pit that did it, though. So we moved about 30 minutes closer to Sydney. Although it has added about 15 minutes each way to my commute, MOTH Dude's work day has shrunk by nearly 2 hours since he doesn't have to drive 20 minutes to his parents' house, drop off his car, get driven to the station in the morning and do the whole thing in reverse on his trip home at night. Now he walks to the station or takes a short bus trip. This has been a god send! Plus, we love our new little house. It's got wood floors, 3 (tiny) bedrooms, a wood burning stove, air con, and in the backyard there is a fig tree, two mandarin trees, two orange trees, and we put in a garden of tomatoes, jack-o-lantern pumpkins, basil, jalapenos, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, and corn that are all going nuts!

We're allowed a dog at this place, too, and we are starting to look at pound puppies to rescue. I always had pets growing up, though MOTH didn't, and I feel like it doesn't feel like "home" properly until we get one.

3. I didn't get a few more dream jobs I put in for. Didn't even get interviews! I'm still at the same place and still not loving it. The work is fine, I've gotten a way thicker skin and don't even get angry or upset when people are screaming down the phone line at me, what I can't deal with is the office politics. I put in an application to get in to an Emerging Leaders Program and got rejected. I asked for feedback and it was very general overview type of stuff, no specifics as to what was wrong with my application to keep me from at least getting interviewed. I'm using the feedback constructively though and am working to prove I deserve to be in the program this next year. I also hear I get a very good pay raise in July and because we are able to take leave at half pay, I already have enough leave accrued to take off 6 weeks for the wedding in September/October. Because I'll continue to accrue days off between now and then, I plan on taking a day off per month on those months where there aren't other public holidays for mental health days-this should improve my mood significantly!

4. MOTH Dude and I are both in weddings (other than ours) this year! Steve is best man for his old uni friend the Red Head and I'm doing bridesmaid duties for my friend I've spoken about before, LC! We're very excited for both couples getting married. After us in September, pretty much all of our friends will be married, at least all of our Aussie friends, and we will officially be old! Haha!

5. I read a quote in September that said something along the lines of "The time you've known a person shouldn't be the only reason you consider them a friend" and then the blurb went on to say you should only keep friendships that enrich you. I really took this to heart and evaluated a dying friendship that I had been holding on to and decided it was time to let it go. I didn't contact the person and have some big dramatic scene. I just chose to stop reaching out and tellingly, that person hasn't contacted me since September, either, so I feel more justified letting go. That's not to say that the whole thing wasn't or hasn't been painful but I gave myself a bit of time to mourn the loss and then I got on with it. Now rather than focus on the loss, I focusing on all the amazing people I DO have in my life and whom I CAN count on. We recently put together our address list for the wedding and it's pretty overwhelming and amazing to see, in numbers, just how many people we have that love us.

6. More wedding stuff-I just returned from a super short and super expensive trip to California. I was over from December 30th until the 12th of January. In that time, we celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all on one night, celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday, and got TONS of wedding stuff done. My sister, Nae, was also in town and we hadn't seen each other in nearly two years so it was awesome to get that time with her. Even though neither one of us is a girly girl, she really stepped up in to her maid of honor/horror role and was there with me through all the boring planning stuff. We didn't even fight, we might have had a snippy moment or two, but there was no fights so maybe she missed me as much as I missed her or maybe we're just more diplomatic as we've gotten older and have learned to bite our tongues unless it really matters.

She and my Mom came dress shopping with me and we found the One! (I won't post a picture of it in case MOTH Dude stops by here, but you can google it, it's Casablanca 1827 and I'm getting cap sleeves put on it and putting a belt around the middle of it.) I love it and it was right in my budget. We also found the bridesmaid dresses and a dress for Mom and they are going to look great! I kept MOTH Dude's Mom in the loop during planning as she only has the two boys and mother of the groom doesn't get a lot of fun jobs and when I sent her a dress she said it made her teary eyed and I was going to look beautiful. That was really special for me to hear.

7. Nae is dating a South African!! They seem really well suited to each other- they like cooking and organic gardening and getting outdoors on adventures. He seems like he treats her really well and has an amazing family who has taken her in already. I think we are all nervous that we will lose her to South Africa, as well. It is still early days, but I think he might be a keeper! We are hoping he'll be able to get off of work to come to the wedding and that maybe even his parents will want to come out and party with us. I'm not sure if he deserves a blog name or not yet, but I thought of a good one-I'm calling him PBJ since he has three names between his first and middle names and the initials are nearly the same and I'm sure, like Aussies, South Africans aren't huge fans of the PB&J sandwich combo.

MOTH Dude and I plan on taking a mini moon to Mexico for a week after the wedding and then we're saving up to head to South Africa to hang with Nae and safari in 2013!

Then we'll be really, really old and have to start thinking about terrifying stuff like having kids and what not...so glad to have another year and a half to prepare myself mentally for that challenge!

Anyway, I think that's everything. I'll try and be more frequent in my posting. We do have exciting things coming up so hopefully I'll have fun things to write about. Plus, I still have about 15 recipes I'd love to share with you guys, but I've been slacking on my own food photo taking so I may just have a post with links to the recipes I've found and loved and how to tweak them to make them even better.

Happy Australia Day for Thursday! xx

Saves the Day

2011-07-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

Or Save the Date, in this case!

This is the post card that MOTH Dude and I are going to use for our Save the Dates. We are custom designing them through Zazzle so down in the water section of the card we will have "Save the Date" and then all of the whos and the whats and the whens on the back. MOTH Dude really loved this image when I came across it and we think everyone here will get a kick out of it, too.

I know we are still about 14 months out from the wedding, but we are doing a dorky little slide show for our friends and family here sometime in September letting them know about the wedding and what things might cost them should anyone decided to come out to California to celebrate with us. I know traditionally S.T.D.s don't go out that early (not that S.T.D.s are really traditional to begin with, but you know what I mean) but for such a big trip, we feel it is important to give everyone a full year to be able to think about it/save up. We won't send out the Save the Dates to people back in the States until about 4 months out or whenever you typically send them out.

Anyway, I promise not to completely turn this place in to a wedding blog, but it is one of the happier elements of my life right now-planning for our wedding. Plus, it is freezing cold here right now (like "I can see my breath in my bedroom right now" cold) and it's been raining non-stop for the past few days so not a whole lot of other excitement has been going on lately.

Although, I do have some recipes I should get posted up that are amazing! And tomorrow night we are celebrating our 3rd Annual Christmas in July with all of our friends...yay!

Every Thug Needs a Lady

2011-07-05T02:42:00.001-07:00

Edited To Add- I forgot the funniest part of the proposal story...see further down in bold

Mine, Mine, Mine courtesy of MOTH Dude

I realize I still need to write about a million things that happened in Kauai, but I finally took a picture of my new engagement ring to send to one of MOTH's cousins (they asked to see it, I wasn't showing off like I am on here) so I thought I'd share it with you guys and tell you how it is that I came to be in possession of this new e-ring.

So on a perfectly ordinary Friday night in Santa Cruz, MOTH and I made plans to head to one of our favorite restaurants ever, Saturn Cafe, in downtown Santa Cruz. We had an amazing, but simple, dinner there as always and then we headed out to watch the sunset so that MOTH could get some photos.

I had forgotten that with the shape of the bay, nowhere in Santa Cruz proper has a good view of the sunset on the water, so we drove as far north on West Cliff as we could until we hit the parking lot of Natural Bridges State Beach. We still weren't going to be able to see the sun sinking in to the ocean but it was pretty and the lighting was still nice. I had forgotten my jacket and it ended up being FREEZING outside even with a beanie in scarf so I hopped out of the car for only a few minutes and then left MOTH on his own to take pictures.

When he got back in the car we decided we would head to the wharf so that we could see the sea lions- a tradition any time we head downtown. As we are driving back along West Cliff, we get to Steamers Lane and the Lighthouse and MOTH says, "Let's pull over here and go for a quick walk, I want to take pictures of the Lighthouse at night" or something so I say, "Sure." We walk along and check out the waves and water, I run ahead when I spot a sea otter in the kelp and leave MOTH behind to take pictures. He finally catches up and I say, "Alright, I'm freezing, let's head back to the car." He says, "Fine, but let's walk back along the water" so we start to and then I say, "Let's take funny pictures together!" So we do that, too, and I'm ready to go and give MOTH Dude a hug and he says, "What's this in my pocket?" or something like that and I look at it in the fading light and think, "Why did he bring his camera charger with him?" but then I see it's not a camera charger at all and he says, "So do you still want to marry me?" And I say, "Yes, awesome, is that for me? Can I open it?" And rather than give him a kiss or be romantic, what do I do? I high-5 him! (which is dorky and not very romantic, but totally us so it was still perfect, I guess) He says of course I can so I open it and immediately start spazzing out: "Oh my Gawd! Holy Smokes! Oh wow! That's really for me? I get to keep it? Oh my Gawd! Oh my Gawd! Holy Shit" and have a mini freak out for a good 3-4 minutes and he's just laughing and loving it the whole time.

I put the sparkler on and can't get over how big it is. I still can't! We marvel at it all the time. And I'm no girly girl either so it sticks out on me since I don't wear much other jewellery ever.

After we went and checked out the sea lions, MOTH proceeds to tell me how he and my Dad had spent out two days in San Francisco looking at loose diamonds, finding the perfect one, and then finding the perfect setting for it to go on. They had made up some bogus story about my Dad losing his hat at the movies on Monday to get away from the condo on Tuesday to buy the ring that they had contemplated on Monday. I thought it was pretty rad that MOTH and my Dad did it together.

When we got home, I ran up to my parents' room and showed them and they were all excited (even though they both had seen the ring before then and knew the re-proposal was going down that night). Mom couldn't get over the size of it and said that MOTH must really like me and she also said how good he is to me, which I agree (obviously above and beyond the things he buys me).

It was a really, really special night. I didn't get the whole "surprise!" with our first proposal/engagement ring and this was the perfect do over. I liked that we went out to a simple dinner and were just doing things that we'd normally do in Santa Cruz . I also like that we'll always have the memory of getting engaged at Steamers Lane since it's one of our favorite places in the world.

Since my old e-ring is a simple band with some small diamonds on it and actually looks more like a wedding band, I suggested that he give it back to me on our 5 year wedding anniversary, if he still loves me. I think then it becomes an "eternity ring"? All of our friends here seem to get them after they've been married for a year or two. I told MOTH if I don't get it back, then I'll take that as a sign, haha, but I have a feeling in 2017, it'll be back to sitting on my finger.

Face It, This Is What We're Up Against

2011-06-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

Damn.

So there was this one time I went for a new job in secret (working with U.S. college students coming over for study abroad) and I really, really wanted this job because I really, really needed something outside of MOTH Dude and our friends that I loved about Australia and that would keep me distracted from missing my family and California and just because it sounded fun and like something I'd enjoy doing and then...

I didn't get it.

And on the same day our oven decided it wasn't going to work properly anymore and instead spewed noxious brown smoke that filled the house in under 7 minutes, leaving our furniture, bedding, and clothing all smelling like burnt plastic.

Keep those punches coming Australia, I'm slowly learning to roll with them. I mean letting things go right for once would just be too easy, huh? Yep, I thought so, too!

Today, I'm picking myself back up again- appreciating all the hugs I received from people at work, washing the sheets and hanging our comforter out on the line since fresh laundry rocks anyway, and having all the windows open, letting in the light and the fresh air.

Hold Me Close When Tradewinds Blow

2011-06-12T23:30:00.000-07:00

Me (in the distance) on the grass area in front of our condo watching for whales.

So the day before we were due to leave for Kauai, I was still not feeling well. I went to my regular doctor and he checked my ears after I told him my symptoms and he said I didn't know how I was able to hear anything as my one ear was completely blocked up.....ewww! He said I should get some ear drops to loosen the stuff up and then the next morning to come back before we left for the airport and they would clean it out. He also gave me a doctor's note since I'd need to keep putting the drops in my ears every hour and couldn't really be wearing my headset and doing that at the same time. I knew it looked really, really bad to have the two days before a month long holiday off so I drove my sick note the 45 minutes in to work and explained to the girl acting as manager that week what was going on and to prove that I was still physically in the country and not already in Kauai.

Saturday morning, I got up, made sure I was packed and then headed off to the doctor's office. They ended up squirting both of my ears out and it was a pretty weird sensation, but they got the right ear unblocked without bursting my ear drum so I was excited.

I rushed back home and just before noon the shuttle came to pick us up to take us to the airport. The guy was a super slow driver and kept taking these backroad routes that were bumpy and windy and making me kind of nauseous. We finally made it to the airport and up to the counter where MOTH Dude proceeds to read the screen above us that says you can pack a gun in your checked luggage and jokes, "Oh man, so I can't bring it loaded?" I was like, "Ummm, you idiot, did you not see the screen before that one that said 'Please do not make jokes' about weapons or terrorism? Do you want to get arrested or cavity searched? I'll tell them you need a cavity search!" After that, he stopped joking around.

The plane ride was long and uncomfortable and the food that we had to pay extra for was pretty awful. We flew JetStar and I'd recommend a)not flying with them for long flights b) don't buy their food (we prepaid), bring your own on and c) don't bother to buy the comfort/entertainment package. Bring your own blanket and load movies on your laptop. All the ones on their hand held players were old or we'd never heard of them.

We had a 2 hour layover in Oahu and a quick flight over to Kauai. I thought for sure we'd have to wait at the airport for my parents to pick us up, but they were to our baggage claim area within 5 minutes of me calling them. A first for our family, I think! Mom came up behind me and gave me a big hug and had tears in her eyes. MOTH stayed to watch for luggage and I went out to the curb to drop off a bag and give Dad a hug.

Once we had our luggage, we made our way to Walmart and bought some reef walking shoes and some fins for Mom. We then made our way to Koloa Town to have lunch. We went to a place called Tomkats Grille. MOTH Dude got the plate lunch with kalua pork and poke (like ceviche) and thought it was awesome.

This was part of the view from our balcony and from that point we could watch dolphins coming in and whales going by!

After lunch, we finally made our way to our condo at Whaler's Cove. We dropped all of our stuff and hopped in to our bathing suits and hit the pool and jacuzzi. When we got back to the condo, Mom spotted whales from our balcony. Later, Dad, MOTH and I went grocery shopping and then made tacos for dinner and we all sat outside on our balcony to eat and watched the stars and lightning.

The next day, I got up by 7 or 8 am and sat outside with Mom and Dad. Not long after I came out, a huge pod of spinner dolphins cruised past and did a few leaps and spins for us. I then got really tired and passed back out for an hour or two. When MOTH and I finally got up, we decided to make the most of the sunny weather and go swimming and bronzing. As we were laying there, we saw people watching the water. A few minutes later we looked up again and everyone was still watching the water so we figured there must be something really cool out there. We walked to the edge of the pool area and saw the most incredible sight. About 100 yards, if that, off the pool area were three humpback whales cruising along. They were very active and began tail splashing and bringing their heads out of the water and seeming to look back to where we were. All of a sudden one did a full jump out of the water. Then a few minutes later two jumped out of the water back to back. I had never seen wild whales so close before and I had never seen them do so many leaps at a time. We must have seen them breach 5 times or more. It was a pretty incredible experience. We felt very special to have witnessed it.

After that, we decided to head to Costco and MOTH and I were so excited to get pizza and a chicken bake. We also picked up some really nice steaks to barbecue for dinner. When we got home, we all threw on our bathing suits and headed to a nearby beach to snorkel. We must have been out there for over an hour and we just couldn't get enough of all the brightly colored fish we were seeing. We only got out after we started getting the shivers from being cold.

When we got home, we started prepping dinner and mai tais and Dad turned on the news. We were all pretty blown away by the news of Osama bin Laden being killed and sat and watched it for awhile. Dad and MOTH headed out after awhile to cook up dinner and just as they did a quick, heavy rain came over. After a few minutes, it passed and Mom went to go check on them. I spotted some whales in the distance from our balcony so I went down to the pool/barbecue area to let the others know. I think those were the last whales of the trip that we ended up seeing.

Over the next few days, we bronzed a lot, went souvenir shopping, drank an insane amount of mai tais, tried some new restaurants, snorkeled or swam whenever we could, and MOTH Dude went for a scuba dive where he saw a bunch of sea turtles just hanging on the sea floor and taking a nap. It was the perfect, relaxing vacation.

Next up, Part 2 of our trip to Kauai including our adventure paddleboarding, sight seeing at some waterfalls, and a trip to the start of the Napali Coast and one of the prettiest beaches in the world.

You Put Your Arms Around Me and I'm Home

2011-06-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the large video, it's more for the music then to watch...youtube wouldn't let me resize this one for whatever reason and I have no idea how to fiddle with the code.

I heard this song the last day I was in California and loved it.

I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart
But you came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start

You put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
You put your arms around me and I'm home

How many times will you let me change my mind and turn around
I can't decide if I'll let you save my life or if I'll drown

I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home

The world is coming down on me and I can't find a reason to be loved
I never wanna leave you but I can't make you bleed if I'm alone

You put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go

I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home

I tried my best to never let you in to see the truth
And I've never opened up
I've never truly loved 'Till you put your arms around me
And I believe that it's easier for you to let me go

I hope that you see right through my walls
I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling
I'll never let a love get so close
You put your arms around me and I'm home

You put your arms around me and I'm home

In Rain and Regret

2011-06-01T04:24:00.001-07:00

So you get another round of cheerful Little D today (sidenote: sarcasm!). Vacation posts to come soon.

You know what blog post I want to read from another expat? The post that says, "You know what? America is more awesome than Australia and I wish I could go back." It seems like everyone else thinks this place is all rainbows and puppies. How come no one writes the honest blog post that says "Today I didn't want to get out of bed because I'm sad that it's summer in the U.S. and freezing cold here and I really miss my family." You never see that post.

Well, I'm here to write it. America is better and I wish I was there right now. America has my parents. America has a higher standard of living, at least my American lifestyle did- no living in a tiny, cold shack. America has cheap baseball and movies. America has more variety. America seems to be more open minded, at least in Northern California where I'd be living does. America is bigger and has bigger things and faster things and better infrastructure.

If not for work, I'd probably not have gotten out of bed since we've been back yet. Is this fair to MOTH Dude? No, not at all. I DO realize that. I try to hide my sadness most days from him and sometimes I do a really bad job of it and I know it makes him feel bad, but I can't help it.

And, by the way, where is it written that just because we met here we have to stay here? That seems to be the consensus among his family members. I don't get the logic in that at all. MOTH Dude is a bit more open to change than they are and thank god because he'll have to be the one to move someday, not them.

We talk about moving to California or Hawaii in 5 years, but sometimes I wonder if I can make it another 5 years. It's only been about 6 and a half so far.

If I look at things objectively, I can see our 5 year plan is a good one since we both have decent paying jobs here right now and our current focus is saving as much as possible for the wedding and a down payment for a house, thus living in this crappy shack and paying the least amount of rent possible. After we get married then we'll probably take a year to just hang out and be married and then start trying for kids. I figure I should pop them out here since I can do it on the free health care system. After kid having (or shitting out kids as I lovingly refer to it), then we plan to move back to California.

I just worry we won't ever make it there. Then what will I do? I don't want to be bitter, bitchy, or angry (or crazy as my mental state from a month and a half ago shows I could easily by on my way to). I don't want to have that regret in my life, that we never moved back.

In saying that though, I don't regret moving here. I don't regret staying with MOTH Dude with the price tag of having to live here for a few more years. We've talked extensively about it and we love each other too much to walk away. Even before we were engaged we decided this.

And I know the U.S. isn't some magical land where all problems are solved and money grows on trees, or all rainbows and puppies, but I come from a really small family unit (me, Mom, Dad, Nae, and a crazy Gma a few hours away) and that's all of us there are in the world. I just don't like the feeling that I've abandoned the family for so long and I don't think growing older necessarily means you have to abandon your family. I know they don't feel abandoned, but what do you call it when you miss everyone's birthdays and all holidays and aren't ever there? I'm not a part of my family anymore except for that month a year I get to go home and I hate that feeling. My family is awesome and I want to be there for all the events, big and small. Even though our kids will have MOTH Dude's last name, I want them to know my family and be close to them because they are pretty rad. I want them to have the upbringing I had. I want them to have the privileges and experiences I had and I just don't see that happening in Australia.

Alright, so I'm feeling better now that I've spilled my heart and my guts to the internet so I'll stop now. I hope that at some point this post can help someone else, too, because they'll know they aren't alone in their craziness or sadness in missing home.

Life in the Fast Lane

2011-05-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Oops, So I believe I said in my last post that I would update again from Kauai, but now here I am, with 2 days and 1 night left of my trip back to the States, and I'm only just getting around to posting. Typical me!

I have a ton of stuff to write about and not much time to write it today since I still have to look for work pants and shoes to bring back with me and stock up on a few more food products MOTH and I will be desperate for as soon as we get back to Aus where they are either a) not available or b) god awful expensive and then I should clean the guest room since my parents have people coming to stay with them a few days after we leave.

Since I keep reading on people's Facebook statuses how cold and miserable it is in NSW already and since high bill season is about to start at my work, where I know I will spend multiple 8 hour shifts getting yelled at and verbally abused by customers, reminiscing on my vacation through blog posts will be a very nice distraction in the coming weeks.

Here are some of the topics I hope to have posts up about shortly:

Our amazing, wonderful, fabulous, exquisite, relaxing, and fun trip to Kauai

Our time in San Francisco, including meeting our fabulous wedding photographer

The time I got ripped off by some guy at a gas station and got in to a verbal confrontation with him

Wedding plans including our wedding planner, our menu, and our location

How MOTH Dude upgraded my engagement ring in a very BIG way

Anyway, I'm off to start my errands. Wish me safe flying thoughts and a speedy recovery from my jet lag since I am hitting the ground running and starting back to work on Monday!

Had a Taste of You, Threw Up All Night

2011-04-28T15:30:00.001-07:00

Of course my body would let me down right before we're due to leave for vacation! I seem to always get sick or hurt right before I head back home- last year I was sick from a wicked spider bite and the year before that I could hardly walk through the airport after stepping on a bee. This year my ears are hurting, my head is killing me and I'm either nauseous or vomiting. It started yesterday morning, but I thought it'd go away once I got up and moving for the day so I drove up to the mall near work to get a few last minute gifts for people back home but I soon realized that the waves of nausea were not going away and with my head pounding, there was no way I could put up with talking to anyone on the phone, let alone people screaming at me. I was also feeling really, really spacey and had trouble concentrating. I knew it would look really bad to have a day off right before my month long vacation, but I called in sick anyway and headed to the medical center located near the mall. Other than noting my headache and nausea, the doctor was not interested in my medical history at all and within 2 minutes told me my problem was tension headaches and sent me off with a prescription for muscle relaxers. I knew that this probably wasn't the right answer, but I had my doctor's note for work, so I went home to sleep and hoped I'd wake up feeling better. Instead, I woke up feeling even worse and went out in to the backyard to sit in the cold air. That didn't help so I threw up in some bushes. That didn't help either so I took a shower and sat under the hot water for awhile. That didn't help so I drank some tea. That didn't help because I threw up again. Then I had some gingerale. Then I threw up again, then again until there was nothing left to throw up. I thought once it was all out of me, I'd start to feel better but the nausea stayed with me all night and I've still got it (although to a lesser extent, thank god) as has my headache. MOTH suggested that maybe it was vertigo that was causing my headache and nausea. I was a little unsteady on my feet yesterday but didn't have the spins, but it got me thinking that I have been having trouble with my ears the past couple of weeks so maybe that is throwing off my equilibrium a bit. Sure enough, this morning when I woke up, both ears were sore and through the night I couldn't get comfortable lying on either one of them. Luckily, the medical center I normally go to had an appointment open for this morning so I'm heading out the door for that now. Fingers crossed I just need some ear drops and maybe they'll throw in some anti-nausea medicine for good measure, too. Don't know if I'll work today, especially since my ears are so sensitive and my headset doesn't seem to help that, but I will go in physically to the office so that if nothing else, they can see how crappy I actually look and know that I'm not faking being sick right before I go away on vacation. I'd trade being on the phones for the afternoon for the way I'm feeling right now in a heartbeat! So wish me luck that this all gets cleared up by flight time tomorrow and wish me safe travels. I'll update again from Kauai!

One More Day to Leave it All Behind To Go Where You Have Never Even Tried

2011-04-25T19:51:00.000-07:00

Image Source

So welcome back to the roller coaster that is my mind and my emotions. Today you find me in a good mood and my spirits high. I am on the final day of a 5 day long weekend and I only have 3 more days left at work before I am off for a whole month!

MOTH Dude and I have spent the weekend cleaning, doing laundry, gardening, visiting friends and family and catching up on much needed sleep and our favorite TV shows.

We are both nearly giddy at the thought of our upcoming travel plans! Saturday we are having a van pick us up and then we are off to SYD to catch our JetStar flight to Honolulu. We arrive at about 6:30am Saturday morning where we will head through customs and then catch a flight to Kauai where we will meet up with my Mom and Dad. From there we will head to our favorite condo ever (see image above, it's called Whalers Cove and it's in Poipu) and spend 8 days snorkeling, tanning, stand up paddle boarding, and hanging out.

After that we head to San Francisco for a few days where we plan on walking over the GG Bridge again, eating at our favorite restaurants, doing some shopping, meeting with a potential wedding photographer, and hitting up an SF Giants baseball game-MOTH's first ever!

After San Francisco, we will head down to Santa Cruz to hang out, visit potential wedding spots, meet our wedding coordinator, hang with some of my parents' really fun and nice neighbors, beach walk, meet other potential wedding vendors, and eat at all of our favorite places. Bun and Markie may also come up for a visit so we can show them around and so that they can finally experience staying in the awesome pool house at Mom and Dad's.

We are also planning on a very quick road trip down to Orange County to meet with our other potential wedding photographers, as well as to visit my Gma and ask my Godfather to be our wedding officiant!

We have so much to do in the three weeks we will be back in California and I really want to get as much wedding stuff nailed down as possible because it may be the last time we/MOTH Dude will be there before the wedding (eeeek!). I'm sure we will be coming back from our trip as worn out as when we left, but in a good way. I can't wait to meet all the people who are potentially going to make our wedding day so special. I also can't wait to see how much all of this is going to cost us. I am sure we are in for some sticker shock!

I really wish Nae could be with us in Kauai and for wedding planning since she's my Maid of Honor (or as I like to call her, the Maid of Horror since she thinks I'm going to be a bridezilla, haha), but she is swamped with tracking sharks and working on her dissertation so I am hoping that MOTH Dude and I (or at least I) can get back at Christmas time when she is planning on a visit.

In other news, my sister who is not really my sister, aka the Camp Counselor is going to be watching the pets while we are in Kauai. She is then leaving with her real family for a trip to Australia the day after we get in to Santa Cruz and as (bad) luck would have it, she'll be arriving back to the U.S. on the day that MOTH and I arrive back to Sydney! I can't believe the timing of it!

Stay tuned for all the exciting (at least to me) updates and photos.

And I'm Sure the View from Heaven Beats the Hell Out of Mine Here...You Won't Be Coming Back and I Didn't Get to Say Good Bye

2011-04-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Very late last night/early this morning, MOTH and I got in from hanging out with our friends for the last time before we leave for the States. He had a little bit of work he wanted to finish and I wasn't tired so I decided to look at one of my wedding websites. In one of the real wedding posts, a girl had on a dress I liked so I clicked on the link to the shop where she bought it and this song came on:

I hadn't heard it in years, but it immediately reminded me of my 8th grade graduation because it was the song we walked in and out of the church to. For whatever reason it got me thinking about my friend Noah and I hadn't really thought of him in months so I tried to google his name because it used to bring up a picture of him from right before he died. Whoever used to have the picture on their blog, must have taken it down or closed their blog because it didn't come up this time so I did a general search of Noah's name and as soon as I saw the first link related to him I burst out crying. I was so freaked out because the text from the link said Noah Oct 3 1984-April 17 2002-9 years ago today! I couldn't believe the coincidence or the timing of it all. I also couldn't believe that it had been 9 whole years since we lost him.

MOTH and I stayed up even later, just lying in bed and talking about Noah and a friend MOTH had who died under similar circumstances when he was 13, and about all that lost potential and wondering what our friends would be like today had they made it to 29 and 26, rather than ending it all at 14 and 17. I still count April 18 2002 as one of the worst days of my life and even though the shock of the coincidence from this morning has left me a bit sad today, I feel like I am finally moving on from his death. The wound is no longer so fresh and raw. While I hate his decision, I realize he didn't make it in a rational or sane state of mind, and I think that I have finally accepted it and that he is gone.

Although it has taken me a long time to get to this point and it is a good place to be, now I feel a bit scared. Scared because I'm afraid of forgetting him. Scared because I'm getting older and he'll forever be 17. Scared because I'm moving forward, while he let himself get stuck in a moment. Scared because if I'm starting to forget him, who else is forgetting him or has forgotten him already? I guess I needn't be scared, though, because even if I don't think about him as often as I used to, it doesn't mean I don't love him any less than I did then and I'll always hold a piece of him in my heart. And although I totally don't believe in that kind of stuff, maybe he is looking out for me somehow and gave me a little subconscious poke that brought him in to my mind today, on this particular day of all days?

I'll leave you with a video and the lyrics to a song I used to listen to on repeat right after he died:

Yellowcard "View from Heaven"

I'm just so tired
Won't you sing me to sleep
And fly through my dreams
So I can hitch a ride with you tonight
And get away from this place
Have a new name and face
I just ain't the same without you in my life

Late night drives, all alone in my car
I can't help but start
Singing lines from all our favorite songs
And melodies in the air
Singin' life just ain't fair
Sometimes I still just can't believe you're gone

And I'm sure the view from heaven
Beats the hell out of mine here
And if we all believe in heaven,
Maybe we'll make it through one more year
Down here

Feel your fire,
When its cold in my heart
And things sorta start
Remindin' me of my last night with you
I only need one more day
Just one more chance to say
I wish that I had gone up with you too

And I'm sure the view from heaven
Beats the hell out of mine here
And if we all believe in heaven
Maybe we'll make it through one more year
Down here
You won't be comin' back
And I didn't get to say goodbye (goodbye)
I really wish I got to say goodbye

And I'm sure the view from heaven
Beats the hell out of mine here
And if we all believe in heaven
Maybe we'll make it through one more year
I hope that all is well in heaven (well in heaven)
Cuz it's all shot to hell down here (we need you)
I hope that I find you in heaven
Cuz I'm so...
Lost without you down here

You won't be coming back
And I didn't get to say goodbye (goodbye)
I really wish I got to say gooooodbye

Wearing Your Black Eye Like a Badge of Honor

2011-04-01T03:39:00.000-07:00

(Or: Is This the Way a Toy Feels When Its Batteries Run Dry?)

Source

Today during a guest presentation at work, the speaker told our group that overseas Australia is known as the fight capital of the world..."If you want to go to a country and get beat up, go to Australia" is what he said news programs in other countries report about Australi to which I was very emphatically (and internally) nodding my head. He later wrapped up his talk by bringing it full circle back to this idea that Aus is a perpetual fight club by saying, "Other countries who think that of us are crazy. We are about being good mates to each other....blah blah blah....built of mateship.....help each other.....blah blah blah, mates." And I was thinking, "I think the foreign news stories have got it right about it here," but of course you can't say that as the only non-Aussie in the room!

For all the shit I get from Australians about our lack of gun control in America, I can honestly say I've never felt as unsafe in my life as I have living here and no one I know back home even owns a gun. Granted, I lived in a lot nicer neighborhoods than I do here, but even walking around big cities in the States I felt a lot safer than I do here in my home in Australia.

Before living here I guess I didn't realize the polite segregation that still happens in our society back home. There you have your ghettos, your working class neighborhoods, your middle class neighborhoods, and your upper middle class and then rich neighborhoods. I don't know if city planners here are just dumb or what, but you can have a decent middle class neighborhood and then someone will decide it's an awesome idea to stick a group of housing commission homes (Aus' version of the ghetto) or some kind of pub/club on the corner so you can never just have a safe, quiet neighborhood.

MOTH Dude and I currently live in a neighborhood I'd describe as working class with the immediate houses around us occupied by families and senior citizens. We could afford to live somewhere nicer, but we're saving for the wedding and just saving, in general, for the future so we don't have to buy a place in a neighborhood like the one we are in now. And really with housing commission blocks everywhere it doesn't seem like there are a ton of "nice" neighborhoods for us to move in to anyway. We could spend $100-$200 more per week (that's how rent is paid here, by the way-still find that strange) and we'd be having the same problems we are having now. I should know, my parents' paid a lot of rent money when I was living in a nice place in Newcastle during college and I was still woken up most weekends by people fighting in the street.

This past week I've had to call the cops twice and also heard a horrific story about an incident that happened to one of MOTH Dude's Uncle's friends. Last Friday night, MOTH stayed back at work to have drinks with coworkers so I was home alone and watching a movie in bed, when at about 11, I heard a couple arguing in the street. When I first moved to Australia, it would've been something I would've really tensed up over but now it's kind of a common occurrence so I kept watching my movie, figuring they'd move on. A few minutes later I could tell that the couple had moved in to the little park across the street from us and I heard the girl yell, "Ow, stop, you're hurting me!" so I paused my movie to listen to what was going on and the girl continued to yell this a few more times so I decided to call the cops in case the girl was really getting hurt. I heard her boyfriend tell her, "I'll pull you by your f*ing hair if I have to" and it sounded like that was what he was doing. I spoke to the cops, but at that point it sounded like the couple was moving on. The dispatcher said she'd still have officers come check the park to make sure everything was ok there. I waited 10 minutes at the front door and they never showed up. I looked out the window any time a car drove passed for the next 30 minutes...still no cops! Glad the girl wasn't getting totally beat up in the park or she would have been in serious trouble. It also made me angry because it was obvious that none of my neighbors had called the cops to report the incident, either, even though they were all home, including the family who lives directly next to the park where the girl's screams were coming from.

Tuesday night we ended up having a late night since I got dinner going later than usual and it took longer to make than it should have and we decided to watch a movie while we ate dinner which finished later than we had expected. So by the time we checked emails, MOTH did dishes, and I got settled in to bed to read for a few minutes and he jumped in the shower so he wouldn't have to before his 4:15 leave time in the morning, it was after 11. At some point a car pulled up, but I just assumed it was our neighbor pulling in to his driveway which is right next to our bedroom window and that he must be saying good bye to some friends. They talked on and on and on and I thought, "Alright, Dude, it's nearly 11:30 on a Tuesday night, wrap it up" but then when I really started listening the voices didn't sound like they were coming from behind my head, they sounded like they were coming from directly in front of our bedroom windows. I got up and went to our front room and peaked out of the windows and there was a station wagon with a bunch of guys standing around it, blocking our driveway. Out of all the places to park on the street, they didn't pull over in front of the park or the vacant block/nature strip next to our house or even properly in front of our house, they parked across the end of our driveway. Something about it creeped me out and I turned on the porch light so the guys got the hint, like, "Hey, we're in here, you can shut up and leave now" and they did get in their car, but then they just sat out there in the dark. I went in to the bathroom and told MOTH about them and when he got out he went to the front and peaked out, too. We turned off all the lights to try and hint at them again that we were there and were wanting to sleep, but the car just sat there and we were like, "Are these guys the dumbest/loudest burglars alive or what?" MOTH Dude decided to go out to our laundry room and make sure it was locked up and I sat on our bed waiting for him to come back in. As soon as he got out of the back door, the doors of the car opened and I heard people walking around in our front yard. I started to panic about them going in to the backyard where MOTH was but I couldn't move. Luckily, MOTH came back in and said as he was locking up, he saw the guys walking up the vacant block all the way down to the end of it where there is nothing, but easy access in to our backyard so I said, "Okay, I'm calling the cops." So for the second time in four days, I put in an emergency call and the dispatcher said she'd have someone out here quickly. We waited 5 minutes, heard the guys throw some cans and stuff on our lawn and then their car started up and they pulled away. I started to feel like an idiot for being paranoid and called the dispatch back and they said they would cancel the call out. For the next hour, every little cricket chirp or bat screech had me sitting up in bed and looking out the window to make sure no one was out there. When MOTH's alarm went off at 3:45, I had already been lying awake for nearly 20 minutes. As it got light, I was able to get about an hour's sleep before my own alarm went off. Not a fun way to spend a night and I was a zombie at work on Wednesday.

To just pull up to someone's house and block their driveway when the whole street is wide open and full of regular spots to pull in to is just weird to me. As a teenager, I'd sometimes pull over with a friend to have a chat in front of a random house, but it was always in a spot in front of the house, not blocking anyone's driveway and we hardly ever got out of the car so the people inside the house would not be woken up by us.

Finally, the last concerning incident happened Sunday night: Before we got in to bed, MOTH said, "Oh by the way, Uncle B's friend left the local club the other night to walk his friend, who had had too much to drink, back to his house which was only about 300 feet from the club when people started harassing them from a car. They must have yelled something back and 3 people (including a girl) jumped out of the car and immediately knocked the drunk guy out and proceeded to beat and stab Uncle B's friend. He is now in a medically induced coma." The club they were walking home from is about 2 miles from our house and is in a really quiet neighborhood. I was shocked and felt sick to my stomach. Luckily, two women came out and stopped the attack and managed to get the license plate of the car and all 3 people who were a part of it are now in jail. The police think this attack is linked to another one that happened about 5 miles in the opposite direction from our house a few weeks back where a guy was walking home from another club and a car randomly pulled over and beat him with a metal bar. These people were just out cruising, purposely looking for people to hurt.

WTF?!!? I feel like at least at home if I got shot it would be because I walked in to the middle of a gang showdown or in front of a deer a hunter was about to take down, but here I am hearing about random, violent attacks like that one more and more often. I'm starting to get really paranoid. I'm afraid to go out in to our laundry room which is right outside the back door at night, even though MOTH has just installed a flood light for me. Every bump in the dark has me immediately awake and on edge waiting for someone to break in and hurt us, especially since for awhile we were having problems with people stealing stuff out of our laundry room or I'd go out there and notice something random was out of order or that the toilet in there had been used. So creepy to think someone was out there walking around our house while we were asleep!

My fears (however unfounded they may be) coupled with the stress I am feeling from work and my general blues from not seeing my sister in over a year and my parents in nearly a year have caused me to start compulsively picking at my arms in an attempt to comfort and soothe myself, something I haven't done to this degree since I was about 14 years old. My arms have multiple gaping, and in some cases, infected holes on them. I know they look awful and I know I should stop, but I haven't been able to. I've finally decided to cover the spots with bandaids and wear long sleeves so I can't get at them through the day. I still find myself unable to stop picking tiny little bumps I think I see on my shoulders before bed, though, but at least my arms are starting to heal. MOTH was getting really, really worried about me and honestly, I was starting to get worried about me, too.

I think I just need a breather. I need to get out of Aus for awhile. I need to see my family. I need to get away from customers telling me I'm incompetent or a f*ing asshole because they don't like the privacy laws I have to follow in dealing with their or their husband's or their grandma's accounts. I need to get a solid month's worth of quality sleep in a place where I can fall in to a deep sleep comfortably. I need to just get away with MOTH Dude and have some fun, rather than be like roomies who see each other at the end of a long day for an hour before passing out, which is how I feel our weeks are going right now.

I'm not sure what the solution will be once I get back here, but, for my sanity's sake, there may need to be some changes put in to place. Every day I wish the solution could be moving back to California, but that is not an option at this point so I'll just need to do a better job of sucking it up.

I also know this post has me coming off timid and weak and probably a smidge (or more?) crazy, but I'm exhausted and beat down to my core and beyond caring right now.

Four weeks from tomorrow I will be in Kauai and as I stated as my Facebook status the other day: "Hoping the next month will fly by and I'll magically wake up in a jacuzzi in Kauai with a mai tai in hand, hanging with my parents and Moth Dude."

Here's hoping for nicer, saner things to blog about soon...

Because the Positive will Always Overcome the Negative

2011-03-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Although my last post was fairly negative, I generally try to write about things from a positive perspective. I may talk about something negative if it has been affecting me for some time, but if MOTH Dude and I get in to a little fight or if someone at work or a friend says something that hurts my feelings, I don't come on here and lash out at them right away. I know it is a momentary bump in the road in our relationship/friendships. Don't get me wrong, there have been times I've wanted to be immature and air some dirty laundry on here, but once it's on here anyone can read it and even though I give psuedonym's to everyone, if you know me, it is easy to figure out who everyone is.

The benefit of technology is that it allows people to have a voice and to share that voice with a wider audience than was ever available before. The downside to technology is that people seem to forget that what you put out in to the internet never really goes away. So if you put something out there, you have to be willing to own it.

I'll get to the specific event I'm speaking about in just a moment here, but when called my Mom on advice on how to proceed on what I had found, she talked about how one of her friend's daughters had broken up with a boy and the boy got so mad he started a website about what a drunk and a slut this girl is. Now, whenever you Google the girl, that stuff comes up about her. How horrible, right? Even if these things were true, does the girl deserve to have that out there for future employers to see?

I, myself, Googled someone the other day who had been really, really mean to me for no reason just to see what was out there about him. With only his first and last name, I found out a ton about him and on the very first search result linked to his name found his cell number and his personal email address. If I was a vindictive person, there's lots of bad stuff I could do with that information alone.

Technology is changing so rapidly and is such a useful tool, but sometimes we get complacent about what we put out there about others and the information that we share to the world about ourselves.

So on to why I'm posting about this today: MOTH Dude and I are heading back to California in a month and a half to visit family and friends and to start looking at wedding venues and meet with potential vendors. I've made a wedding inspiration board and have a good idea based on our style and our budget on what we are after. In conjunction with the wedding planning process, part of my daily internet routine now includes checking out a couple wedding blogs to see if any of the weddings featured are using the colors or details we like in a way we haven't thought of. I also read a forum site where brides ask each other things like where to find the perfect blue shoes or what a reasonable cost in NY is for a wedding cake or what should they do to make their DIY centerpieces nicer. Part of the forum is dedicated to family topics and bridesmaids and honeymoons, as well. What I generally do is go on and look at the first 5 pages of forum topics. These are all the posts from any of the sections (honeymoons, shoes, family, etc) that have been commented on most recently.

This morning, while MOTH was at church and I was waiting on the first load of laundry, I scanned through the first 5 pages as per usual and opened in a new tab any topics that were relevant to me and a few about people venting about problems they are having in planning their weddings. One of the topics I opened was "MOH from Hell". (For those not in the throes of wedding planning, MOH = Maid of Honor.)

I'm reading through the post and the author was frustrated with her Maid of Honor because she thought she was being too controlling, too negative, and wanted to go on a $500 cruise for a bachelorette weekend (which may sound extravagant to some, but I've had a few friends in Orange County do this now, so while it does seem like an expensive party, it's not so far fetched for our area/friend group) but then was worried about how much being a bridesmaid was going to cost her. The friend asked the bride to provide her with a spreadsheet on what she should be expecting to pay to participate in the wedding, which is a contrast to being able to drop $500 for a weekend cruise, but not an unreasonable request. The bride first writes that she is unsure 12 months out from the wedding how much everything will cost, (which I can relate to because I have no idea how much I'll be asking my girls to spend, but want to keep it low for them) but then the bride writes out how much the bridesmaid dress she likes costs, how much for the shoes she wants them to get are, and how much for their hair/makeup and comes up with a figure of $256.

She then rips in to her Maid of Honor saying she thought she'd be the perfect person to pick as she works in the industry. She then starts to talk about the friend's family's financial background and talks about how it shouldn't worry the Maid of Honor as they are well off. Then things get really nasty and the bride starts to talk about really personal things that have happened to the girl, once again, on a public forum where anyone can read it.

Well, as I'm reading the post, I think to myself, "Gee, that sounds like the life of one of my friends as far as school and work goes and she does come from a comfortable family, but I have never heard a negative word from her about anything and when I showed her my wedding idea board she had nothing but nice things to say and made some cool suggestions, too." So I went on Facebook and was going to link to the forum post on my friend's wall for a laugh, but then I thought, "Nah, I'll private message her."

So I'm writing this note: Hey Hottie, How's life? You're not a Maid of Honor for anyone are you? There is a post on this website (link to website) about some girl, but I don't think anyone could ever write something like that about you. Anyway, there is someone else in your city, living your life, and they also went to your same college...Better find out who your competition is! ;)

But before I hit send, I get a funny feeling and think I should check out the bride's profile to see if there was any link between her and my friend...like same age or high school or neighborhood. I click on her Bio page and there is a description and picture of each of her bridesmaids and lo and behold, my friend is at the top under Maid of Honor. It doesn't give her full name, thank god, just her first name but there she is in picture form for everyone to see who exactly the bride has been talking about.

I didn't know what to do so I called my Mom. I gave her a general run down of what I had found and my Mom said that this was the trouble with technology and that I should just sit on it. And I said, "Really? Don't do anything? Let me just read you exactly what was written." So I did and then said again how my friend's picture was easily linked to the post. Mom thought it was pretty awful and suggested that I wait to see if the bride posts anything later because the last thing the bride wrote was how she was going out with the Maid of Honor and another bridemaid tonight, to see if maybe she and my friend get things worked out, and if not, to contact my friend tomorrow to let her know this information is out there on the internet about her.

Whether what the bride wrote about the friend is true or untrue (I really don't know), I don't think she had the right to post those things about my friend, when there is a picture that everyone can see of her on the same site.

So two questions for you:

1) How would you proceed from here? (Would you only let my friend know if they bride continued to post negative stuff about her? Or should she know what is already out there about her?)

2)Would you want to know someone had written stuff about you like that online or since it won't come up in a Google search of your name, would you rather be left in the dark?

Ok, how about a third:

Have you ever found something written online about you, bad or good, that you didn't know existed? How did it make you feel? What did you do?

Riverside, Mother F....

2011-02-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

Where I grew up, just about the worst place in the world a person could say they were from was Riverside. The only thing as bad as being from Riverside, was being from Fallbrook, and that was just San Diego's version of Riverside.

Riverside was everything us kids from near the coast thought was wrong with the world (Have you seen the SNL skits where Gov. David Patterson always talks about "New Jersey!"? It's like that): they drove lifted trucks with big, shiny rims. They went to "The River" (aka Lake Havasu) on Spring Break to get drunk. Their chicks wore thong bikinis and had long, fake nails. They hung out in the desert and dirt biked. My friends and I were more about driving whatever our parents let us, going to our local beach for Spring Break, wearing bathing suits that were at least semi-functional while we surfed, and getting a manicure or pedicure a few times a year for school dances.

Typical person you'd see walking around Riverside or Fallbrook

We hated when people from Riverside (aka the 909) decided to come to the beach. You could always tell who they were because they had a Famous Stars and Straps hat on sideways or Famous boardshorts and sometimes they wore socks and sandals. They'd also bring a surfboard or bodyboard that someone in their extended, redneck family had and try and go for a surf. I'm not in to localism or anything (surfer mentality of- this is my home break, no one else can catch a wave here unless I know them and say they can), but I am all for respecting the rules of surfing, such as not snaking (stealing) a wave from someone who is already on it. Not being a part of the culture, most of these guys didn't seem to get the rules so we mostly had this mentality (though we didn't vocalize it-well, at least not to them):

So, how come I'm talking about a group of lame people from an area I haven't lived in for 6 years (as of today, it's my moving to Australia anniversary and also the anniversary of MOTH Dude and I meeting! This time 6 years ago I was pounding shots with Bun, hoping to get up the nerve to meet him! eeeeeee!)? Well, see, this is how my train of thought has gone...Today, I had to listen to a recording of one of my calls in the call centre with my manager and we talked about what a direct person I am and that I have a certain way with words (and then she suggested, really nicely, I promise, no sarcasm) that maybe this wasn't the right line of work for me (anyway, a story for another day perhaps? and are all of these asides in parenthesis starting to make you mad? sorry!). So then I got to thinking about a certain incident that went down at one of my sister's water polo tournaments during a game against none other than the University of Riverside. So then I got to thinking about Riverside, in general, and thus, this rambling post.

So the incident at the Water Polo Tournament...

I'm sitting in the stands with my Mom at one of my sister's many tournaments; I often went to Nae's games throughout high school and then as often as I could when she became a Banana Slug for UC Santa Cruz. The game between UCSC and UCR is on in the water and the Riverside girls are playing really, really roughly. They're winning, but they are playing really dirty and you can see the Santa Cruz girls getting dunked and punched and overpowered by these beasts from (have I mentioned this yet?) Riverside. There are people behind me who are UCR supporters and they are starting to talk crap about UCSC and I'm listening and listening and listening and finally I turn to my Mom and say as loudly as possible, without actually yelling it at her, that, "At least the one thing the UCSC team has going for them is that they don't have to live in a hole of a place like Riverside. Isn't it awesome that we don't have to visit Nae in a place as crappy as Riverside? God, Riverside is shit!" And my Mom is looking at me at first like, "Why are you saying this to me right now?" and then as the Riverside supporters start commenting back she gives me the death stare that says, "Please kid, shut your mouth before we get rolled by this riff raff from Riverside" (well maybe it was more just the "Please, shut your mouth" part. My memory is a little fuzzy,but I'm sure my Mom hates Riverside, too. Right, Mom?). I ended up getting the UCR supporters so riled up that my Mom made us get up and walk to the other side of the pool during the game so that the war of words would not turn in to a full on brawl. In the end, I think UCSC ended up getting their asses handed to them by UCR but I know Nae appreciated that I had stuck up for her and the girls and that I had put those Riverside people back in their places.

And I'm assuming after reading this, you'll all hate me (unless you're from Orange County) and think of me as the entitled and spoiled brat from the OC and I guess, in a way, you'd be right. But let's bring this back full circle and I'll finish by saying that part of the reason for staying in Australia 6 years rather than the 4 months I had planned to, other than MOTH Dude, is that coming here was a reality check. I have friends here now that dirt bike and think lifted trucks are rad (though none of their chicks wear thong bikinis, thank God) and would have fun at "The River" and that doesn't make them bad or wrong or whitetrash. They're just different. So I went away a little princess from the OC and I think I've hopefully matured in to a (not so) young lady who is more accepting of others.

Oh man, did I take that full circle stuff too far? Are you throwing up in your mouth a little bit after those last few cheesy sentiments? Well, I'll just leave you with this then: I still think, 6 years on, "Thank God I don't live in a hell hole like Riverside!"

I Just Wanna Be Alone with Your Smile...Because When I'm with You, There's Nothing I Wouldn't Do

2011-02-04T15:47:00.000-08:00

One year ago today below the Bay Bridge and right next to the Bow and Arrow sculpture on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, MOTH Dude asked me to marry him. It's still pretty surreal to think that we've, at least partially, entered in to this commitment to try and make this thing we've got going work for the rest of our lives! I think it bodes well for our future that we've made it through the first year without killing each other, right?

So what does a couple do to celebrate the anniversary of such a special day? Well, if you're us, you drive an hour and a half to IKEA to browse, buy some shit you don't really need, eat some meatballs, and escape the heat by being in their free air conditioning...so romantical!

Go Your Own Way, I'll Be With You. Make Mistakes and I'll Forgive You. Home Is Waiting Here For You When You Return

2011-01-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

Six years ago, I set out to do a study abroad program for 4 months in Australia and I've never (permanently) left. Next week, my little sister sets out on her own journey, this time to South Africa with an open ended time line...might be two years, might be three. I am proud of her for living her dream, but afraid of what she might encounter. I'm fine with her being up close and personal with huge Great White Sharks, that doesn't worry me, it's the people that do. She has been mugged once already, I hope it's not a re-occurring experience for her there.

Because she doesn't need a lecture from her big sister and because I am trying not to be sad that she is leaving, rather than send her a big, smoochie boochie letter, I got her the sweatshirt pictured above. I hope she likes it and wears it all the time and thinks about me.

Well How Do You Do, I'm the Language Police

2011-01-06T03:27:00.000-08:00

I know that I use parenthesis and run on sentences far too often so I'm probably not in the best position to judge other's writing, grammar, punctuation, or pronunciation, but Come On! You guys are killing me! I've heard two different people at work say "pacifically" or "pacifics"....they aren't talking about someone doing something calmly and they aren't talking about two parts of the Pacific Ocean; what they are trying to say is Specifically and Specifics. Whenever I hear it, my hackles rise and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from correcting them. The worse part is, they won't say it once. They will get on a role and use the word/s in their conversation in every other sentence. That's how I've been able to ascertain I didn't just mishear the word to begin with. They really like to remind me/the customer that they are using the word incorrectly!

Alright, take out your pens and proofread my posting now. Hahaha, oh man, you all must hate me at this point-no new entries to read for nearly a month and then I come on with a quick rant about pronunciation.

My apologies!

I guess I could leave you with a quick run down of what has been going on with me since my houseboat trip:

-My Christmas was not bad. We had a busy day going to different family members' houses and baking, but it didn't feel like Christmas so Nae texted me at 4:15 on real Christmas morning and I got to watch on the webcam as everyone opened their presents back home. My family sent us two different packages filled with some basic necessities we were running low on like Mexican food stuff and underwear (hahaha, we are spoiled! MOTH only wears Old Navy ones now and I only wear American Eagle...tmi??)

-We went nuts at the Boxing Day sale, but with our engagement present gift cards, we ended up getting a lot of stuff without being out of pocket (except for the bed and dryer we bought!)

-I got told my last week of annual leave got rejected so it's kind of thrown a spanner in the works for our trip to CA to wedding plan and visit family and friends, but I'm working on some solutions.

-Nae is leaving at the end of the month for her 2 year trip to South Africa to study sharks and I won't get to see her before she goes...pretty devastated! She has made up for it a little by sending us an 18 month calendar that is all about her that is pretty hilarious though.

-I got tentatively diagnosed with not full blown Celiac Disease but a "sensitivity" to gluten that the doctor thinks is causing all my stomach problems and headaches so I've started a gluten free diet (as of Tuesday) to see if a month of being gluten free cures me.

-We spent New Years with the majority of our friends at a pretty town called Forster about 3 hours north of where we live. We fished, we swam off of sand bars, MOTH Dude caught and then lost a fish, we tooled around on the boat, we watched fireworks, we walked...good times and very, very strange to be sweating on New Year's Eve!

-We've decided to start our trip back to the States with a stop over to Kauai with my parents (MOTH's can't make it due to MOTH Dad needing some intense shoulder surgery that he is hoping will be scheduled finally in April) and I just booked the flights from Kauai to Oakland tonight!

I'm On a Boat, I'm On a Boat, Everybody Look at Me 'Cause I'm Sailing On a Boat

2010-12-14T23:23:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was incredible! I'd say it ranks in my top 5 weekends of all time. I don't know exactly what to say so you know why I think that, it just was. It felt awesome to go on a mini vacation to a place I knew nothing about and on a trip I hadn't planned and to be doing it with MOTH Dude, Croc, and the Teacher. I liked that I just had to pack my stuff and show up and we'd figure out exactly where we were going when we got there.

We did so much cool stuff- fished, took the little boat out, knee boarded, innertubed, wake boarded, traveled up and down the river system, and hung out in the water off a sandy beach.

We also saw so much cool stuff- a baby hammerhead shark (which we threw back in the water alive but it came back and actually pulled one of the rods off the boat and got tangled around the anchor line and drowned and we didn't realize it until the next morning when we went to pull up the anchor), tons of jellyfish, and a few times a day we'd have sea eagles fly over and screech at us.

Houseboats are rad because you go out on the little boat for awhile while people were wakeboaring or kneeboarding and then when everyone's tired you just head back to your floating house to do whatever you want. It was also rad that when we got tired of where we were "living" we could say, "Next!" and find a new place to "live". If you get the chance to go houseboating, especially on the Hawkesbury River, I'd highly recommend doing it. I loved it even more than I thought I would!

Yeah, Never Thought I'd Be On A (House)Boat

2010-12-08T23:25:00.000-08:00

I was able to get my shift changed tomorrow so I'm done at 2:30 rather than 6 and you know what that means? It means I get to go houseboating for the weekend! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see what it's like and the area we are going to is supposed to be beautiful. Rain is forecasted for tomorrow but the rest of the weekend should be sunny and warm. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures and have some stories to tell when I get back.

Because I'm Still In Love With You

2010-12-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

So the last video I posted for "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" isn't really a song that is in the running for our first dance song, but I really like it and think it is sweet and it always reminds me of MOTH Dude when I hear it.

The two songs that are actually in the running are as follows, plus reasons why we might choose them:

Reasons to choose Harvest Moon:

1. MOTH and I are both big Neil Young fans, as are my parents
2. Our wedding will be outdoors (hopefully) in Autumn and I think I've worked it out where it will be on a day that is a Harvest moon
3. For the lyrics "When we were strangers/I watched you from afar/When we were lovers/I loved you with all my heart/But now it's getting late/And the moon is climbin high/I want to celebrate/See it shinin in your eye" that speak to the love we have for each other and the feeling we want to have for our wedding night
4. It's the perfect outdoor, laid back, kinda hippie Santa Cruz wedding song

Reasons to choose You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.:

1. MOTH and I are both Bright Eyes fans
2. MOTH and I deeply love and care about each other, but we aren't all schmoopy and obnoxious about our love. We are realists and this song speaks to that in the line "Are you the love of my lifetime?/Cause there have been times I've had my doubts." There have been some roadblocks in our relationship (or should I say outside influences and circumstances?) that have seem insurmountable and I'm sure we've both thought long and hard about whether or not this is all worth it. Luckily, we have decided it is!
3. For the lyrics that remind us of our life together, like "You said you could be my dream I could have you every night/And if by morning, I'd forgotten you, well no big deal, that'd be alright/'Cause you're the reoccurring kind/You are the reoccurring kind/You never really leave my mind" since MOTH always forgets his dreams and laughs about how vivid mine are and "You're a boomerang you'll see/You will return to me" since boomerangs are Aussie, MOTH liked the little shout out to something Australia in the song
4. We were hoping that one of my good friends from grade school would come to the wedding and that maybe he'd sing this song along to his guitar for us?

Obviously we still have tons of time to work these types of little details out, but it has been fun starting to think about them!

I Will Follow You Into the Dark

2010-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Too morbid for a first dance at our wedding?

When I Think About You I Touch Myself....And Other Stories

2010-12-02T03:37:00.000-08:00

Working in a call center is fairly monotonous, as you can imagine. I'm only trained to move people's accounts in and out and not in billing or anything so there are only about 5-6 processes I do per day in a fairly endless cycle. I've been surprised at how many Americans and Canadians I've spoken to in the few short months I've been on the phones. They are always brief, but welcomed connections. A chance to say to someone, "Australia, huh?!?" and either commiserate with each other about some of the hardships we've faced here or bond over similar backgrounds. I've gotten advice from a woman who has recently had her first child here, away from her family and also given advice to someone who had only been in Australia for a week about the mosquitos and where to source American products and Mexican food.

Some of my calls have left me mildly amused, others in total shock and embarassment at the end of them. The mildly amusing ones include how often I am asked whether I am Irish or Filipino! I must have the weirdest Californian accent ever! Other amusing ones are any time someone goes off on me or asks for a manager when I've done my job 100% correctly. I revel in these because they make for good stories on the weekend. I cringe when I make a mistake on the job and am quick to identify a mistake and rectify it for customers and 8-9 out of 10 customers are really understanding and the other 1-2 get grumpy. When I make a mistake a customer generally doesn't try and escalate the call by asking for a manager, it's when I've done my job correctly but they don't like company policy or the law that they flip out and ask for a manager. Just recently I had a man call who's name wasn't on the account number he had provided and he wanted to speak contracts. I advised him without the account holder's permission the call could not go forward. He melted down and went on a yelling rampage for a minute or two in which I zoned in and out and then he asked, "Did I understand?" He didn't like my response when I said, "No, sir, unfortunately I do not" and he then started screaming at me and asked for a manager. I went and found one and, poor thing, she had to put up with his tirade for awhile before the account holder miraculously appeared and we were able to get her permission for the man to speak on her behalf. At the end of the call, the man asked my manager if he could offer some feedback on me. She said, "Sure" out of courtesy and he proceeded to tell her all about me and how I should be fired. She said "Thanks for the feedback" and just laughed after the call had ended. I would've loved to have listened in to exactly what he had said to her about me! I could listen to customers yell all day about the company's policies or our prices or anything like that and walk away laughing as it really has nothing to do with me personally, but I do think it's a bit unfair when we are personally attacked. What is the saying about you should only ever fight with someone who is in an equal position to fight back?

The two main calls that have stood out to me as shocking so far have been shocking for two different reasons- one turned a bit sexual and the other, the person just sunk to the lowest level to play me to get our service. In the first situation, a young man called to advise that he and his wife were separating so he needed to take over on the account. I said I could do a straight move in for his account or he could get 8% off his account if he wanted to go on contract and I said he'd also get a free 12 week newspaper subscription with the contract in his area. After some minor banter/innocent flirting/questioning, I say "Oh, I just checked and if you aren't in to the newspaper you can get a 6 month subscription to Gardening Australia, Vogue Australia, or Fishing Australia." To which he replied, "You're making me happy in my 'no-no spot'" WTF!!!!!!!!!! I just kind of laughed and brushed it off. There is then a script I have to read, legally obligated by the government to do so and offer this product, and normally I just read the first two lines, ask the customer if they want to hear more, they say no, and we set up the rest of the account. After I ask this customer if he is interested he asks if there is a lot more of the script to read. I say yep and he says, "Ok, keep reading, I'm enjoying this" which sounds creepy but he didn't say it in a husky, panting voice so I just kept going. After reading the whole schpiel he declines the product and I finish the process and say, "Just before I call through to the contracts department is there anything else I can help you with?" To which he says, "Yeah, can I get your name, number, email, where you live?" At this point, I don't want to be rude but I'm VERY flustered and I VERY loudly say "Uhhhhhhh, sorry, I'm engaged!" I hear laughing behind me and I turn and everyone in my section is looking at me and going "What the heck?" so I put the guy on silent and say "Shut Up, I'm so embarassed!" and they laugh and tease me in the background. Finally, I'm off the phone with the guy and everyone teases me as I recap the call, no-no spots and all, to them.

The other shocking call I had was a woman who was trying to play the system and get reconnected with our service after being shut off by another provider for, what I am reasonably speculating was, non-payment. I got her process set up, but she flustered me by rushing me the whole time and I made a mistake and she was just on me from that point on to hurry, hurry, she was wasting all her cell phone minutes so I didn't do as extensive of a check on her as I should have. So after I had let her off the phone, I started doing a bit more of a search on her because the call just left me feeling like something was up. Sure enough, someone by her same name had been at the property as our last known account holder and had left an outstanding amount open when they left for the other company. I talked to a manager and she said I could call the lady up and advise her that until her old bill was paid up with us, we wouldn't be providing the service for her either. The lady, we'll call her Jane Smith, said "Well does that other Jane Smith have my same birthday?" And I said, "No, but Jane Smith isn't a super common name so it'd be a pretty big coincidence that there'd be another Jane Smith as the last account holder at that address. Do you have a daughter named Jane Smith?" She said No, we discussed something further and I advised her I'd check out that issue with my manager. When I got back to the phone, I said, "Fine, we're not going to pursue this further, we'll keep the account as is. Had I caught this earlier, we wouldn't have let you open an account, but my mistake so there you go." And the woman starts sobbing, "How could you do that? How could you bring up my dead son who died of SIDS when he was only 4 weeks old 2 years before you said I was at this address? Why would you do that?" *Silence* from me as this was now incredibly awkward. Her, immediately not crying anymore, "Are you there?" "Yes, ma'am." The tears start up again, "Why would you do that to me? Bring up my dead son?" "Ma'am, I'm sorry for your loss, but we both know I didn't do that." Her, snapping back out of it immediately, "Yeah, you're right" and that was pretty much the end of the call. It just seemed so low and sick to bring up a dead child as leverage on a call and to snap in and out of crying to see if her waterworks were having an effect on me! Ugh, people are gross sometimes!

As with any job, there are plenty of lows and some highs as well. Like I said earlier, at least most weeks ensure I've got great stories to share with MOTH and my family!

Through the Years We All Will Be Together, If the Fates Allow

2010-11-30T01:56:00.000-08:00

I've taken an unplanned hiatus from blogging recently . I've had things to write about, but not the drive to write them down. When I was unemployed and by myself all day long most days of the week, any little event seemed worth chronicling, but now that I have a job that I have to get up and go to I am too damn tired to write most nights once I'm home and I feel like the little things aren't as interesting to blog about (Do you really want to hear about my week on the phones like how one lady called me an idiot, another guy yelled at me and told my manager I should be fired, even though I followed privacy laws/company policy to a T, how I nearly acquired a Nigerian boyfriend, and how one lady turned on and off the water works and asked why I had brought up her baby that had died years ago from SIDS (which for the record, I obviously hadn't)? Hey, now that I've given the brief overview of my week on the phones, it actually does seem kind of entertaining!).

I guess the other thing that has kept me from blogging recently is that part of my tag line is about living Down Under and "having the time of my life." Recently living here has felt like more of a chore than an adventure. I'm not putting my degree to use, we live in a shack, I drive an hour to work one way while MOTH Dude takes the train two hours in the other direction everyday, and I'm missing my family like crazy.

Call me stupid, crazy, delusional, whatever, but I never thought I'd have to miss out on having the holidays with my family. Thanksgiving was depressing enough, going to work as if it was just any other day, and to think of Christmas without my family is like a knife in the heart (Oh man, sorry for sounding like some emo 15 year old, but that's what it feels like!). Add to that Nae's murky departure date for South Africa and I'm just a little ball of emotion thinking about my family right now.

The thing is, I've felt really guilty for not blogging, even though at this point I'm pretty well convinced I have about two readers-not even my Mom is following along these days! Most days, if I make it awake past dinner time, I do think about writing an entry but I haven't had anything positive to say. I think I just need to get through the holidays and I'll be better. Until I am, I'm giving myself the permission to take the pressure off. I don't have to blog if I don't have anything nice to say and maybe without the guilt, I'll suddenly feel like writing a whole lot again.

Fingers crossed I snap out of this funk sometime soon because, if not for MOTH Dude, the bumper sticker I keep seeing "If You Don't Love It (Australia), Leave It" is starting to make a lot of sense to me.

I Am Alright...Can You Get Me Off Your Mind?

2010-11-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

Nothing of importance to say. Wish I had seen Alkaline Trio with my sister tonight back home in Santa Cruz. MOTH Dude gets to see them next month, but I'm missing out!

Here they are with Tegan Quinn of Tegan and Sara (you may remember last year I did a post about them, saying they are the only 2 girls I'd switch teams for, though she's looking a bit ratty/mullety in this video so don't judge her hotness on this alone).

Great song and cool dynamic having Tegan and Dan from Alkaline Trio sing it together.

Enjoy! Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm headed out camping, fingers crossed I don't come back looking like one big bug bite-the Aussie mosquitoes seem to love my sweet, sweet American blood. I'll try and take some pictures and do a post about the trip when we're back and I've also got some pictures to post from the Beer Festival we went to last weekend held at an old prison!

Tonight We're All Still Young at Heart

2010-11-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Image from barringtonriversideretreate.com.au

Saturday morning I woke up with a headache so bad it made my eyes water! I had to suck it up though as we had a 2 and a half hour drive ahead of us to it out to Gloucester, where the Runner and the Smooth Talker were getting married. I was able to find some headache medicine right before we left and that seemed to knock the headache out pretty well.

It was a pretty drive and MOTH and I had fun in the car and talked about how it felt like road tripping in America. We were the first to arrive at the cabins we were all going to be staying at for the night and had our pick of the 4 so we chose the one with the best view of the river below. Not long after, our bunk mates The Farmer and Tinkerbell (who hates this pseudonym and whom I still need to think up another one for) arrived and after them came LC, Bob Marley, the Hairdresser, the Soccer Player, Croc, and the Teacher. All the boys hung out on the porch drinking beer and making a trip down to feel the water while us girls took over the main bedroom of our cabin and the Hairdresser very nicely did all of our hair for us. We then got dressed and started to head out for the ceremony. I started to feel a bit headachey again before we left, but figured it was just because I was a little overheated.

The ceremony was at a beautiful hill overlooking the whole valley and town of Gloucester. The Runner teared up as she walked down the aisle and I teared up with her. It was a short and simple ceremony, but by the time it was over, I was starting to feel really sick to my stomach so I told MOTH Dude I needed to go sit in the car in some air conditioning for awhile. Being a good guy, he left the after ceremony drinks, pictures, and canapes to check on me a few times. After a while, the air conditioning just wasn't doing it for me so I stumbled out of our car and very classily got down on my knees in my pretty dress and heels and puked behind a tree. I felt better for a few minutes so I went down and joined our friends again. But then I started to not feel so great again and MOTH offered to take me in to town to try and find some medicine so I wouldn't be sick all night. We made it in to town just as the last grocery store was closing. I explained to them how I had just been sick and could I please run in for some quick medicine. They don't have much variety in grocery stores here like they do in the U.S. but we grabbed whatever we thought might help me. I took some Alka Seltzer that was supposed to be for headaches and upset stomachs. About that time, our friends arrived in town to go to the pub to wait for the reception to start. MOTH got me a gingerale and I sat outside with the girls trying to get some air. I felt bad for MOTH having to keep missing out on the fun so he went inside to play pool with the other boys. Twice I ran out to in front of the pub to try and catch a bit of breeze to make me nausea go away. Finally, (TMI coming up so beware if you're squeamish) I couldn't hold it any longer and I did 3 big heaves in to a planter outside of the pub. I'm sure I just looked like a hot mess and a bad drunk to anyone who saw, but I couldn't help it, nor could I face puking in the pub's bathroom. MOTH came out just as I finished and I started crying. I felt so awful and just wanted to go back to the cabin to lie down. He convinced me to wash my face and grab some fries aka chips to eat and that seemed to do the trick.

It was then time for the reception. It was a fun night with everyone else doing lots of drinking (I was driving, plus nothing sounded worse than drinking on top of having already been sick) and dancing and taking scandalous and funny pictures together.

There was a tiny bit of drama at the end of the night when we went to say good bye to the bride. I told her that I know I'm flakey so it may have seemed that that was what I was doing the weekend before when I missed her bachelorette party, but that I had been sick with other stomach issues. I told her about being sick that night. She didn't seem to believe me and had some issues about our cabins, as well. It was sad to see her upset on her wedding night and upset at me/the other girls(?) specifically because we hadn't actually done anything wrong and it was a shame that people were telling her crappy things about us. I guess you can't be in a group our size without a bit of drama between everyone every once in a while, though. Hopefully she came away believing what we had said, but I'm not sure. I hope to speak to her when she gets back from her honeymoon to reiterate that we didn't say anything negative about her, her bachelorette party, or her choice of accommodation for us-there was just a lot of confusion and third party misinformation.

After the reception, we all headed back to hang out at the cabin and decompress from the night. At the stroke of midnight, we roused the Farmer from his room and sang Happy Birthday to him. The rest of us made it in to bed between 1 and 1:30.

In the morning, we got up waaaaaaay too early (7:30!!) and sat out on the porch again and watched the river. We then made breakfast, packed up, and all headed down to the river where MOTH and the Soccer Player took an unintentional, that turned in to intentional, dip in the river.

I don't think anyone wanted to go and we discussed getting a big house together somewhere at the beach to share sometime soon. We then got in to our separate cars and headed home. Other than being sick and the bit of drama that unfolded, it was a fantastic weekend away!

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti

2010-10-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot of time to go in to it in detail right now, but Nae announced to the family last week that she had applied and pretty much been accepted to a 3 year Masters program at the University of Cape Town to study great white sharks. While I am really happy for her and excited that she will finally get to live her dream full time, I'm also really sad. I obviously don't live at home, or anywhere near it, but I liked that she was there, close to Mom and Dad and keeping them young and on their toes. I worry about her safety down there and am glad to hear she is trying to work it so she won't actually have to ever live in Cape Town and actually go to school there, but instead work from the aquarium and research station that she was at a few months back. I'm selfish and am sad because I wonder if she'll still be home in May when we go back to visit and because I know her move means we'll get to talk to each other even less than we do now. I also feel badly for my parents because I think they are shell shocked by her announcement and secretly feel like bad parents because both their kids have decided to live thousands of miles away from them on completely different continents. I think the opposite is true, though. I feel like we are this super tight little family unit and it is because they are such rad parents who taught us to follow our hearts and dreams that I had the courage to make the initial trip down here and then the decision to stay and I think it is the same with Nae- if she knew she didn't have our parents' support and a safe place to return to if things didn't work out there, she probably wouldn't do something so huge to begin with. Anyway, still trying to digest it and will probably write more about it later when more of her plans are in place.

Blurry

2010-10-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

Us with MOTH's Grandpa right before his speech. It was really chilly at this point, but wish you guys could see the little bright green sweater I had on under the hoodie.

The crowd standing and watching us...intimidating right? I felt so awkward the whole 5 minutes we were up there!

Our amazing, adult sized bounce house. Bet you're jealous you didn't have one at your engagement party, huh?

Oh man, so much of the party is a blur to me! I've definitely learned my lesson and will plan our wedding schedule better so that we actually have time to enjoy our wedding and speak to everyone who has made an effort to come help us celebrate.

After going to bed at 1:30 the morning of the party and getting back up at 6:30 to keep prepping, the time until the party flew by! At 1, the party start time, the Hairdresser had just finished on putting flowers in my hair and I was still in lounge pants and had no make up on and people started arriving. This isn't California so a 1pm start time means 1pm and not 1:30 as I was hoping!

I quickly threw on my outfit and greeted anyone who came inside, but unfortunately I still had so much stuff to finish in the kitchen that I couldn't go outside to make the rounds and chat to everyone as they arrived. Luckily MOTH Dude was out there mingling for awhile, before I put him to work on the bbq.

All my girls really stepped it up and asked me numerous times what they could do to help me so I put them to work and thank god they offered their help or people would still probably be waiting on their lunch!

The food finally made it out and man can 65 people eat! I think there was just barely enough meat and a few people at the end missed out on the kick ass fried rice LC made. I felt bad because MOTH didn't get that the chicken was only for the people who didn't eat pork and the shrimp skewers were only for the veggies so I know at least one of our vegetarian friends missed out on the shrimp. MOTH got a plate of pork and sweet potatoes and I didn't end up getting anything to eat.

After people were served, we finally got to relax and I got to stop and speak to as many people as possible, but there were still many more people that I didn't get to spend time with. MOTH's grandpa always likes to give speeches at parties so MOTH and I got pulled up in front of the crowd while he gave a super short speech that didn't really have much to do about anything-awkward! But I think he had been drinking. Then MOTH and I said a quick thank you to everyone for coming out for us and to get back to partying because we were embarrassed standing up there like that in front of them all!

After that I grabbed an alcoholic slushie and hit up the bounce house. People started leaving and after a little while it was just our main group of friends. When it got dark, we put up 4 goon sacks (aka the wine bladders out of boxes of wine) and played Goon-of-Fortune. We probably had 12 people standing around the clothes line (you spin and if the sack lands on you you have to take a chug from it) and we made it through half of each sack before people needed a break. I said anyone who wasn't going to go get a soda had to go back on the bounce house and surprisingly, most people did, and even more suprising-no one got sick! We then came back and did about 20 more spins, but people must have been cheating because in the morning when we checked the sacks, they were still half full.

By 10 I was absolutely exhausted and felt like I was maybe coming down with a cold so I snuck inside and went to bed. LC came in to try and rouse me back in to party mode but I was freezing, drunk, and couldn't keep my eyes open. Everyone else stayed up until 11:30 and then went home or camped in the backyard. When we got up in the morning, our friends were gone and had majorly cleaned up our backyard. MOTH and I picked up the rest of the backyard and opened all the presents we had been given. The rest of Sunday we just took it easy.

Although the day went by so quickly, when I was reflecting on it yesterday I couldn't help but keep getting choked up. First off, I thought it was amazing that so many people came out to help us celebrate our engagement and to show their support for us. And secondly, I kept getting teary eyed when I thought of all the work our friends had done for us over the last week. All of our friends helped us make food, serve food, take pictures, prep stuff, set up the party and tear it down at the the end and then they still all got us awesome presents, too. I was/am just overwhelmed at how amazing they are and how grateful I am to have each of them in my lives.

I guess that was the point of my post two posts ago, I feel like we used to be together like this a lot more often and I miss that. Saturday felt like old times and it was so much fun!

Anyway, in 20 years time I probably won't remember a lot of the specifics of our engagement party but I will remember all the love we felt that day.

Get the Party Started

2010-10-14T12:03:00.001-07:00

We're at T -31 hours until party time people and I am in a mad panic! Somehow between Saturday and now our RSVP list has grown from 45 to around 65 people. Holy Moly! What have I gotten myself in to?

Luckily it looks like the weather gods are going to smile on us and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. Thank goodness!

Yesterday I hit the mall to find the perfect tropical-y dress to wear for tomorrow. After 3 hours and hitting every clothing store there, I decided that maybe new jeans and a cute tank top and bright shrug would be enough. I'm a bigger girl with stubby legs and big boobs so no, those maxi dresses that everyone is carrying right now don't flatter me, nor do my only other two options in stores right now- something tight and short or something strapless. No, no, no! So oh well, I'll probably be the least Hawaiian-y looking person at my party, but at least I will be comfortable and feel cute in the outfit that I did pick out. I was trying to surprise MOTH Dude by getting us male and female style leis to wear, too, but apparently plumerias aren't in season yet so the flower shop said they'd have to use orchids and the leis would cost $80 a piece so that put a kabosh on that idea pretty quickly!!

In about 45 minutes, I'll be out the door for a 5 hour shift at work and then I'm off to shop for party supplies which includes 18 kilos of pork shoulder and 4 boxes of cask wine (for Goon-a-Fortune, of course). We brought the iconic American, red plastic cups back with us on this last trip so I might have to teach these Aussies how to play some beer pong, too! (Have I also mentioned that we are having an adult slushie machine and an adult sized bounce house?!?)

Tonight I've got 3 batches of chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies to bake, as well as 3 boxes of cake mix worth of cupcakes, and probably close to 100 bread rolls (not to mention getting that 18 kilos of pork wrapped in banana leaves and put in to 3-4 different crocpots to cook away for the next 20 hours). I'm going to be one frantic girl!

I'm off to get dressed for work and then take these next 37 hours head on. Wish me luck! I will hopefully have fun stories and maybe some pictures to share early next week.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2010-10-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

I'm in a funk. I think 4 weekends, most of them rainy, has something to do with it. Being stuck indoors with nothing to do when you've been looking forward to the weekend the whole working week sucks and then I start to think of the perpetual sunny weather we have back home and how if MOTH and I were bored there, we could take off for a night or two in San Francisco at my parents' condo and catch a baseball game and soak in the jacuzzi and explore parts of the town we've yet to see. And then I think about how there are tons of restaurants to try and fun things to do in Santa Cruz within easy distance of our house and then I just want to pack up and go there today, right now, let's book the flights, and get sad when I know that we can't.

Where we live on the Coast in NSW is so far away from everything else. We have to drive 20 minutes to find a restaurant that is not a pub or a step above a pub and there isn't like a great coffee house to go hang out at or a pier to walk on or a downtown area where we can walk around and kill some time and then try a new restaurant on a whim. We also find ourselves in the minority with our friends because they are all grown ups with kids, where as we don't have that sort of responsibility and miss the spontaneity of calling everyone up for a big night of drinking or doing something equal irresponsible. None of my close friends from back home have kids yet and so are always available at the drop of a hat to drive an hour and a half to find a really cool Korean restaurant we've heard about or to come over for a late night jacuzzi session. And don't get me wrong, I love all of my little "nieces" and "nephews" here and playing "Auntie D", I just wish we were on the same page as our friends or that they were still on the same page as us. (And friends reading this- do not take this the wrong way, I'm not having a go at anyone for being grown ups and having babies, I'm just saying I wish MOTH and I were on the same page-wait, not that I want a kid yet, but I wish that we were all experiencing all the same stuff at once-and yeah, I guess this still isn't coming out right, but I still love you guys and love our friendships so please don't read in to this any more than me feeling sorry for myself.)

I'm also in a funk because this weekend is our engagement party and you'd be right to ask, "Why in the Hell would that put you in a funk, weirdo?" Once again, the stupid weather- we're having an outdoor, Hawaiian luau themed party and it'll have to be postponed or people will have to huddle, shivering under tarps in our backyard if the rain doesn't clear out by Saturday (so far the forecast is saying it's here to stay). We've been so on top of planning for it and looking forward to having everyone over to help us celebrate and now we're both stressed and cranky that it's not going to work out the way we had hoped. I think we both need this party as a way of forgetting all the negativity that was involved when we initially got engaged and to remind us of just how many people are actually rooting for us. And speaking of people who are rooting for us- my parents and my sister can't make it out for the party, which is understandable, but I still really, really wished they could have been here with me.

So yeah, look at me...Little Miss Ray of Sunshine! Is it any wonder I haven't been blogging lately??

Sorry for the negative post. Fingers crossed for nice weather on Saturday so I actually have something interesting and fun to write about.

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

2010-09-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Lovelies!

I'm loving my 25 hour work week. I went to the gym when I got done at 1 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and went for a walk on the beach Tuesday morning when I didn't start until 1. It was beautiful down at the beach and I just wanted to run home, put on my bathing suit, and head back down for a swim and to bronze!

Thursday I didn't have work until 1, either, but I used the morning to see the doctor and to finally set up a joint checking and savings account for MOTH Dude and I. It's our start at saving for our wedding and a house someday and so we have money to travel to California in May and have money to buy presents at Christmas. I feel so grown up and responsible having more than $50 in an account on purpose. My sister is the saver and I'm the spender, but I'm loving seeing the money sitting in the account and thinking about the bigger picture of what it will be used for.

The reasons for the doctor's visit were a) (sorry probably too much info) I've been getting really bad stomach cramps for forever now- You know the type where it feels like you really, really need to go?- but it's not because I have to go so I know they aren't normal and I'm sick of getting them so I wanted to ask the doctor about how they diagnose people for I.B.S. He told me it's basically a process of elimination so the first thing he did was test me for celiac disease since my grandpa had it. I hope it's not that because I don't want to give up baking or sourdough bread or tortillas! He said he'd call me within the week if my test came up positive so fingers crossed that that is not the problem. And b) I randomly read about this diet drug called Phentermine on the internet last week and decided I needed it. Fortunately, the doctor agreed and I'm now on the lowest dosage to see if that helps me. It's a low level amphetamine so it's supposed to make your appetite go away and give you lots of energy. Maybe it takes a while to kick in because I've taken 2 doses so far and I'm still hungry and I'm contemplating taking a nap right now. I go back in a month to see how much weight I've lost and the doctor can give me a higher dosage if I need it. I figure I won't be lazy and I will still try and eat less and eat healthy and stick with the gym 3 days a week and I'm excited to see if this medicine helps facilitate my weight loss. The only side effects I have found so far are I'm extremely thirsty all the time (but I guess that's ok because I'm now drinking even more water than I normally do) and last night I woke up a hot, sweaty mess. Like so hot and sweaty, that my underwear and part of my shirt were soaked! (Thanks for sharing that image, right??)

So please keep your fingers crossed for me and send your skinny thoughts my way! I'm really excited and motivated at this point and want to keep the momentum up. One thing that is helping with keeping me motivated (other than the fact the fact that I don't want to look like a total beach whale in our engagement party pictures) is that one of my friends, Adam (real name so you can cheer him on), is a contestant this season on The Biggest Loser! Everyday that I go to the gym, I don't really want to go, but I keep giving myself the pep talk that the time I spend on the bike or the elliptical machine is probably like half of Adam's warm up for the day so if he can do it, then so can I!

Well, that's about it from here for now. Hope you all are having a great weekend (and enjoying the great weather if you're here in NSW or back in CA!).

Feel the Silence

2010-09-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

Still not a lot to write about around here. It's amazing how the weeks are flying by now that I'm working. Sure, each day feels long, but I get to Friday and wonder where the week has gone. So yeah, work, work, work and then it's the weekend and we have been having some pretty lazy Saturdays where we fit in a trip to the beach for a walk or to sit up on the cliff and read and then grab some dinner. Last Sunday we had our friends over for a barbecue but it wasn't anything wild- just sitting around eating and talking.

We finally ordered our engagement party invitations last Saturday and they were here by Wednesday so I need to get on mailing those out. I'll try and get MOTH Dude to do some Photoshop magic on them so you guys can see what they look like. We really like them because they look like postcards from Hawaii and our engagement party is luau themed. I should probably try and do some trial runs on all the recipes I've found before I make them for 80 people because I wouldn't to have gross food that nobody touches on the day. I'm a little bit nervous to try and cook for so many people with our tiny little stove, but luckily most of my girls have said they'd be willing to pitch in a make a dish or two! I really wish my parents and Nae could come out for the party and for a visit, but it's just not going to happen so I'm sad about that and know they are, too.

Anyway, sorry for the snooze-fest that is my life these days and sorry for the lack of postings, but as you can tell, there isn't much to post about. I'll try and get the invite up soon and share any Hawaiian recipes we end up loving.

Beautiful Boy

2010-09-06T01:14:00.000-07:00

Awwww! (By the way, is that the right "awwww" to use or do I mean "ahhhh"? I can never remember) I'm awwwwing, in a good way, because last night I got to cuddle with the newest member of MOTH Dude's family. His name is Landen and he is 3 weeks old. I was really nervous to hold him because he looked so tiny and breakable but I'm glad I did because he just laid there sleeping and yawning and smelling so warm and clean! Not that I want to wake up a thousand times a night yet or deal with diapers or push a watermelon sized thingy out of my thingy, but holding Landen made me want a baby, or made me want a baby some day. I want to make something so little and perfect with MOTH (Does this mushiness make you gag like it would me if I were the one reading your blog and not the other way around?) but as MOTH explained to one of his cousins last night when asked if babies were on the books for us: "Someday, but the book is a very long book, like Lord of the Rings long, and babies are somewhere near the back page." Oh man, does he crack me up! So until we're ready for our own little LARVAE Babies, it's nice to cuddle the littlest baby in the family and play with the other babies (2, 2, and 3) and watch them all slowly grow and change. I love all our baby cousins, but I also love that if they are stinky, hungry, or crying I can give them back!

Falling In Law-ve With You

2010-08-31T04:39:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else come back from their in laws absolutely exhausted? I always do because I feel like I'm walking on eggshells the whole time I'm there. The MOTH Parents and Brother aren't my biggest supporters and I'm the type of person who likes to be liked so I always feel like I'm on my guard the whole time I'm with them so I say the right thing, and more importantly, don't say the wrong thing. They don't give me a horrible look if I say the wrong thing or anything, don't get me wrong, this is on me, not on them, but once again, I want them to like me because they are the most important people in MOTH's life besides me. And if I do say the wrong thing, I get that bad feeling way down deep in my tummy and wonder how long my comment, that wasn't said to offend, just said without thinking or said because it is my actual opinion on something, will be held against me. (Once again, maybe they don't like the comment for a minute and then they forget it and don't hold it against me, I don't know for sure either way, but I hold on to it and worry about it.) I hope it gets to the point where a) they do like me or b) I get over caring what they, or anyone else think about me. It gets a bit overwhelming and I ruin the night for myself because MOTH just walked in and said what a nice night he thought it was and I'm sitting here wondering if this stupid comment I made to his brother about a grudge he held against me for two years over a lighthouse in Hawaii will now make him (Bob, the brother) mad at me for another 2 years when we have been getting along really nicely for the past few months. Then MOTH asked me if I was bored there at the end of the night and I burst out crying, because I had just been writing this and when he said it, I thought, "Great, I wasn't bored, but if I looked it, there's another tick against my name." (Luckily he cleared it up by saying I didn't look outwardly bored, he just knows me well and was wondering, but even if I had been bored, no one else but him would've been able to tell so Phew! bullet that wasn't even a real bullet has been dodged and one less thing about tonight I have to stress about.) Ugh, I do it to myself, but at the same time, if I didn't know that they didn't really like me, I wouldn't feel like I'm having to prove myself every time I see them. Anyway, I think it's time I called it a night. Feel free to share any in law stories or mishaps with me to cheer me up! (By this I mean PLEASE, PLEASE share any in law stories or mishaps with me!)

But I Can See You, Your Brown Skin Shining In the Sun

2010-08-30T03:37:00.000-07:00

Hi, My name is D and I'm getting kind of old, I'm practically married, and I'm boring. At times to realize those three things about myself kills me, but this weekend I wouldn't have had it any other way!

Friday night MOTH Dude brought home a pizza that we scarfed down while watching NCIS (man, do I hate that show!) and Law and Order SVU. I think we were both passed out by 11:15.

Saturday we were up by 9 and I headed off to the RTA to get my car registered while MOTH went and borrowed his parents' lawn mower. After the RTA, I went grocery shopping and came home to clean out the fridge (ick) and make bruschetta for lunch. MOTH Dude worked for hours on the front and back lawns and came in exhausted just before sun set. We took a ride out to the local light house and then to our favorite local beach where we spotted 2 whales just as it was getting too dark to see. When we got home, I made us a delicious dinner of garlic shrimp and scallop pasta and we had some fancy ice cream for dessert. After watching a movie that ended at 8:30, I hopped in to bed and looked at funny wedding ideas and MOTH came in and we had the lights out and were passed out at about 10:30.

Sunday MOTH decided not to go to church so he sat outside in the sun reading while I baked chocolate chip banana bread and finished the last of our laundry. It was only about 11:30 when I finished so I made us a quick lunch and we got in to our bathing suits and laid out for a few hours. Aussie Bronze-a-thon 2010 has begun! Later in the afternoon, I went in to do my weekly baking to take to the grandparents' house and then we headed out for our weekly drinks with our friends.

So yeah, riveting stuff right? I know it wasn't because I lived it. And while Saturday was a pain in the ass with all those chores to do, I wouldn't have traded that Sunday with my Boo for anything!

Oh wow, ok, I'd better get going as it's 10 to 9(pm) and I still haven't started dinner (Sloppy Joes-you Aussies don't know what you're missing!) and whenever MOTH gets in, he'll starving and I'll feel bad for not having it ready.

Tomorrow night is our monthly family dinner with just MOTH's parents and brother and maybe his new gf so woohoo! no cooking for me(although after just seeing them last night at the grandparents' weekly dinner, all this family time does get a bit overwhelming)! Sunday is Father's Day in Australia (though isn't it weird that Mother's Day is the same day in both places??) and we have no idea what to get the MOTH Dad. Would love any gift suggestions for the man who doesn't have a whole lot of hobbies (other than gardening and I think we've already bought him every gardening related thing over other birthdays and Father's Days) and is super hard to shop for!

I've Been Workin On the Railroad

2010-08-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

I mean a call center is kind of like a railroad, right??

I'm sorry my life has been boring lately. Well, I've done some fun stuff like the hanging with Turk and Stylez on Friday night and then the big camp oven dinner with our main group on Saturday night, but when I get home most nights I'm too tired to put pen to paper, so to speak, and share it with you all.

So here is a quick recap of the weekend and my life in general:

My Car- I have finally paid MOTH Dude back for the car itself and for the transfer fee. I was feeling good, like I was nearly out of debt, and only had to pay him back for Third Party Insurance ($533), when my car needed to be inspected to get it re-registered ($36), then MOTH's Mom was in a tizz that I didn't have comprehensive insurance ($473), which I had been planning on getting but had kept forgetting to sign up for, plus the actual cost of re-registering the car (which I'm told could be around another $400) so now I'm back to owing MOTH Dude nearly as much as I paid for the damn car! The speaker on one side is really tinny and fuzzy so I think it is on it's way out and will need to be replaced and MOTH's Dad thinks it could use some new tires. This is all I see right now: $$ followed by this (-) symbol in my bank account.

Friday- I raced home after getting off at 3:30 (gawd, I hate those early morning wake ups, but love being done with work with a few hours of sunlight left) and stopped at the store because I wanted to make Mud Pie to bring for dessert at T and S's. Then I traveled out to Gosford (about 40 minutes away) and got lost a few times before finally making it to Stylez's parents' house. I wish I could've seen it during the day- they are right on the water and apparently have a sail boat and everything! They have great style, too, so I see that it is something Stylez inherited. It was a pretty mellow night and nice to sit around and catch up with them for awhile. I love seeing them in their new role as parents, but it's also refreshing to see that being mom and dad doesn't define them, etiher. At 11, my eyes were getting super heavy and I knew we had a long drive ahead of us so we hit the road.

Saturday- MOTH and I slept in until about 9 and then MOTH went to look at a car he was thinking about buying. He brought it back to the house and my opinion was that we shouldn't get it. I thought he was mad at me for saying so, but when I told him that when he got back from dropping it off, he said he wasn't at all and that he valued my opinion and that's why he asks for it (awwww). We then hit up the farmers market and had lunch in the sun at a place across from the market. After that we drove home and I passed out for a nap. MOTH read out in the sun for awhile, before coming in and passing out, too. I got up and made these cookies that everyone LOVED. I was so surprised because sometimes our friends seem to be so-so on the desserts I make, even the ones that are a hit back home, but no one could get enough of these cookies so I highly recommend them. I doubled the dough recipe, still only used 1 cup of dark chocolate chips, and broke about 15 oreos in to 4ths or 5ths. When the cookies were ready, we headed over to Croc and the Teacher's place and I'm usually not big on camp oven dinners, but they have perfected their recipe! The chicken was well seasoned and perfectly cooked and the Teacher made homemade stuffing, the only I've had since I've lived in Australia and it was so yum! Everyone else was raving about the roasted beef and MOTH said the same, that they have really perfected their technique because it was the best he's had so far. It was good to catch up with everyone and have us all together in a group, since we hadn't really done so since Baby Lo's birthday in July. We told some ghost stories and kept warm by the fire until about 12:30 and then MOTH and I headed home.

Sunday-MOTH slept in until about 10. I got up at 8 and called my Mom for our weekly chat, which is something I always look forward to. Have I mentioned how she and my Dad won us a wedding cake a few weeks back at a charity event? They bid on it in a silent auction and got it for a great deal. It's a 3 tiered cake and the lady has even been on Oprah and Mom said that the cake is delicious, as well as good looking. After MOTH got up, I headed to the grocery store and he finished up some work. We then went down to the Dam Motel for our weekly Sunday drinks with our friends, though this week it was only Croc and the Teacher, as Tinkerbell, the Farmer, and Junior were at a family barbecue. We talked a lot about Croc and the Teacher's upcoming road trip to Cape York, which is at the very top of Australia in far north Queensland. It sounds like a big trip and an exciting adventure for them! After we had had a few drinks (including the worst margarita I had ever had-it tasted like the guy had poured that liquid smoke flavoring in it-gag!) we headed home and just had a relaxing night in front of the tv.

So that was my week in a nutshell. I've got a couple of early morning shifts over the next few days and I'm hoping to come home and walk on the beach. We don't have anything planned for the weekend yet except for some major cleaning as our property management company is coming in to inspect us in a week or so's time. I'm sure something will come up for us to do and if not, it will be nice to veg out at home with my Boo. Hope you're all having a great week, wherever you are, whatever you are doing.

Good Morning (Head)ache, You're Like an Old Friend Come and See Me Again

2010-08-17T19:36:00.000-07:00

Monday was my last day of training and by the end of the day my head was killing me to the point where I was feeling nauseous. I was ready to go home and hoped that I wouldn't have to pull over and puke on my drive home. MOTH Dude had his late night meeting that night so I went home and slept for an hour and woke up feeling better, even more so after I had a nice, hot shower. I made us a really good dinner and was just finishing it up when MOTH got home. He had some exciting news about a tentative job offer he had received for after his current contract is up, but he also had to create a mini website as proof of what he was capable of...that night, even though he hadn't gotten home until 9:30!

After dinner my headache really started to kick in again so I wished MOTH good luck and passed out. He came to bed at 12:45 (poor guy) and woke me up on accident. My head was still really hurting, but I figured I just needed good, solid sleep and I would be fine in the morning. We both got up at 5:30 (once again-poor guy! I don't know how he survives on so little sleep) and while he got in the shower I laid in bed willing my head to stop hurting and my tummy to stop churning. Eventually MOTH Dude had to leave for the train and I decided there was no way I'd be able to sit in the loud call center all day and talk to customers with my head like it was so I got back in to bed and then called in sick once the center opened. Company policy is that I don't get any paid sick days for the first year (I think) and if I take any time off, I have to provide a sick note.

So after calling in sick and sleeping a bit more, I went to find a medical center that would take walk-ins. After being turned away at one nearby, I went to one further away, where I had been treated for my awful spider bite last year. They said they only took walk-ins when it wasn't busy (and just my luck, it was) BUT that she had an appointment time for 10 minutes from then*! I saw the doctor and explained to him how I get migraines, but that this wasn't as bad as a migraine, just below the level of one, and that I had had it for 16 hours. He asked if I was feeling achey and I have been and so he told me he didn't think it was a migraine either, but the start of the flu. Which thinking about it now, makes sense since two of the girls in my training group have been super sick over the past week. Anyway, off I went with my doctor's note excusing me from work for yesterday and today and a prescription for some hardcore codeine pain pills. I picked up my prescription and some ginger ale and have been lying in bed pretty much ever since.

I made MOTH dinner last night and had a tiny bowl and was starting to feel ok. I woke up today with a bit of a headache and decided that since I had the doctor's note that covered today, as well, I might as well use it to my advantage and take some more meds and rest it off, which I am glad I did because my headache has been fluctuating in intensity all day and the queasiness is back...fun! Hopefully I'm feeling better tomorrow since I don't have a doctor's note for then and because it's another 5:30 wake up day since work starts at 8. I'm excited to see how my first day on the phones go and don't want to ruin it with a headache or nauseousness. I can't even take my meds tomorrow, if I do wake up with a headache, since the codeine makes me a little loopy and really sleepy. Anyway, I guess this was a long, boring post just to say I've been sick...sorry! Might have more exciting things to write about after the weekend since we are maybe have dinner with Stylez and Turk on Friday and having a non-election party on Saturday night with the group.

Looks like it might be meds and nap time...Oh wait, did my neighbor just decide to start sawing outside my window?? Awesome!

*How great is it that a) I got the appointment b) I only had to wait about 15 minutes past the appointment to see a doctor and the whole waiting room was PACKED and c) since I now have an Australian Medicare card, I saw the doctor for $20 and that was all I'll ever have to pay? Note to America: A nationally subsidized healthcare system can work and can work really well!

I Don't Care How Fat or How Skinny, Just Give Me Something To Love

2010-08-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

I have survived training at work and even my first, full day on the phone! With the end of training comes a new schedule and some days I will be off at 3:30 so I think it is time to put my free gym membership to use. I won't say I've ever enjoyed the gym, but I do feel accomplished and proud of myself when I make it a regular part of my routine. LC just posted the pictures she took from the sand dunes last weekend and there was a shot of my ass that made me never want to eat again and with our engagement party 2 months away, I'd like to like the pictures of myself from that day so yeah, me and the gym need to become good friends again!

The Song of the Gremlin

2010-08-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

Hey All (or Few, which ever the case may be)! I had my first major assessment at work today to see if I'd be competent to go on the phones and start taking real calls this afternoon and I was, but didn't feel like it! I like being really good at everything and when you're brand new at something, you typically aren't going to be really good at it yet so it has been hard for me to let go of being perfect and to just trust myself that I know what I'm supposed to be doing and just do it. Doing the real calls this afternoon was nerve wracking and my first call was a big mess because the person who had helped the customer before didn't set stuff up right so it really threw me off my game, but the next 3 calls I took, while maybe a bit clunky in delivery, turned out alright. We have more training this week and then Monday we will be on calls all day so I will get lots of practice then!

Have I mentioned we bought me a car? We got a super sweet deal on a 1996 Subaru Impreza and it's got low mileage on it, air con, and is an automatic so I'm a happy girl. MOTH Dude bought it and offered to just buy it outright or pay for half of it, but since we got it for such a good deal, I told him I'd pay him back the full amount. It's not very much money to pay back, BUT it feels kind of cool to make my first big purchase and pay it off with all of MY own money. I feel like a grown up kindof.

We have not really been up to much around here. MOTH Dude and I both seem to be exhausted from work on the weekends and taking it easy. We did go up to the Stockton Sand Dunes with Bob Marley, LC and Lo on Sunday to test out Bob's new 4 wheel drive. It was a lot of fun. We did a little bit of sand boarding and I had two big stacks and hurt myself on the first one. Luckily there were no broken bones, but I reckon I've bruised some deep tissue inside my boobs and I think I jarred my jaw a bit because it hurts pretty badly when I yawn. I also managed to knock the wind out of myself. I didn't learn my lesson though because I took a running leap down another hill, only to not have the board slide down the hill with me! Oh well, something for everyone else to laugh about, I guess :)

So anyway, on to the reason my post is titled what it is: At work there is a girl who works as a hairdresser on the weekend and she met up with one of her other friends who is a hairdresser on Sunday for dinner. Her friend tells her this story and when she told it to us at our work on Monday morning, I was dying! It seems her friend was working on a client when the client received a call from her mentally disabled teenage son while she was in the middle of having her hair dyed. Her hair was up in the foils and just waiting to set when he called and said, "Mom, Mom, Mom! I've caught a gremlin!" And the Mom says, "What do you mean you've caught a gremlin?" And the son says, "I caught a gremlin Mom, don't worry, I saw it and I caught it." So the Mom starts to get really nervous and tells the hairdresser she needs to rush home, right away, no matter that her hair is still in the foils. The Mom gets home and looks all through the house for her son and the "gremlin" but can't find them. Finally, she goes out to the garage where she finds her son and his gremlin, which turned out to be there postman who is a midget! The son was proud and said, "See Mom, I told you I caught a gremlin!" The Mom untied the postman who was not too happy about the situation and apparently he is now going to sue the family!

While the whole suing the family is not funny and while it must have been a very embarrassing situation for the postman, I just laugh every time I think of how proud the son must have been when he showed his Mom the "gremlin" he had caught!

Rude Boy Don't Cry

2010-08-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

So today I was excited because I didn't have to wait for MOTH Dude to get home from church to go and do our weekly grocery shopping, I could just hop in his Mom's car and head down when I wanted and I didn't have to rush looking for work clothes since I was by myself. It was nice to have that freedom of just hopping in a car and going where and when I liked. I have really missed that independence. That independence will continue indefinitely now because yesterday MOTH Dude and I ended up buying the car we had gone with his parents to look at. (Well, I guess we haven't technically since we haven't got the car yet or given the guy the money, but we said we'd take it and it's ours when the guy is ready for us to take it, which will hopefully be sometime over the next few days.)

Anyway, as exciting as that was/is, that's not what this post is about. So yeah, I go down to our local mall to look for work clothes and do grocery shopping. I am all stoked because I end up finding tons of tops that I want for work and only go over budget by $10-$15 dollars. I got a bit overheated trying so many clothes on in the dressing room so I was a bit flustered as I was wondering around Target looking for dress socks for MOTH Dude when I ran in to Croc and the Teacher, but we had a good chat and made plans to get a drink later. Then I get my grocery shopping done and I spent about $50 less than we normally do so I was feeling good about that. I picked up some lunch to bring back for us and I head out to the parking lot to load up my groceries and zip home to bake cupcakes for Sunday Family Dinner. I get to the car and pull my cart close in so it's not in the road and someone is pulling in to the empty spot next to mine and it's a minivan and the woman is having a bit of trouble getting in to her spot. Then I hear her husband, in the passenger seat, say something like "It's because of how this idiot next to us has parked." I say "Sorry" just on reflex and think, "Geeeeez, that guy is RUDE" and then I think "Hang on, I double checked when I pulled in to this spot that I was between the lines so I wouldn't inconvenience anyone and I was able to get out of my car with a car next to me easily, what is this guy's problem?" So I double check, and sure enough, I'm in between my two lines. I am favoring his side between my two lines, but I'm still not even on the line at all. So I wait for him to get out of the car as I load my groceries, but he doesn't. I finish up and walk up to my door and look in his window and say "Excuse me, Hi, was it me that you just called an idiot?" And he said something like "Yeah, I guess so" or "Yeah, it'd seem so" and I say, "Well, just so you know, I'm parked between my two lines, I'm not over." And that seemed to get him flustered and he just goes "Yeah, well.....grumble grumble grumble" His wife must have been so embarrassed for herself to be married to a douche like that in that moment because she didn't say anything to defend him and it was the wife who was driving and parking the car. Anyway, I would've loved to have written "douche" on the back of his minivan in the dust on the window or thrown my Sprite on the car, but I figured just calling him out on his unfounded rudeness probably made him feel like a jackass anyway so I left with the upper hand. Plus, I had to feel sorry for the guy: he was dressed in sweatpants with the scrunchy bottoms and a fake Ed Hardy looking shirt at 2pm at the mall, which is probably punishment enough in and of itself!

I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

2010-07-30T04:48:00.001-07:00

Uh Oh! I've been noticing in my Google Analytics that I have been getting lots of hits under search terms like "juggalos" and "the gathering" based on this post I wrote in October of last year. I hope I am not about to be flamed by any juggalos or juggalettes! I'm scared!

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

2010-07-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

Except I won't be.

It also doesn't look like it is worth it for my family to come out here after Christmas to visit me either. I assumed there would be no way in Hell I'd be able to take a month off around Christmas being the low man on the totem pole at my new job, but I never imagined that from a week or so before Christmas all the way to the beginning of February would be off limits! But they are. I also found out that although I may only be scheduled for 20 hours a week, I won't ever be able to bang those out over, say, three 7 hour shifts; I'll be expected to work five 4 hour shifts. So if my family came out, I wouldn't be able to take a week or two off, like I was planning, to hang out and maybe go to Tasmania or drive the Great Ocean Road with them and I also wouldn't be able to get my work done early in the week on the other weeks they are here and then have Thursday and Friday to play tour guide.

I was so upset when I found this out on Tuesday. I've never not had a Christmas with my family to begin with, but I had prepared myself for that, and thought I'd just have a later Christmas celebration with them*, and then to find out that that wasn't really even an option, I wanted to cry. Then a few people in my training group start talking about how they were told we weren't allowed to take any time off over the next 12 months of our contract, I really did start to cry when I called MOTH on my lunch break to fill him in! I talked to the trainer later that afternoon and the good news is is that we are allowed to take vacation after we have been at the company for 6 months so yesterday I got her to block out most of May for me and that is when I will be going home. I can't believe I will have to wait a year (from when I flew out here) to see my family again, but I guess it's better than not being able to see them for a year and 3 months!

So yeah, not a good start to the week really, but I'm trying to deal with it and a lot can happen between now and December so we'll see what happens. On a positive, I already got paid on Wednesday and will be using part of that money to buy some more work clothes this weekend since I've realized 1) I don't have a ton of clothes to begin with and 2) Hardly any of the stuff I do have is "work wear". Tomorrow or Sunday MOTH and I are hopefully going to go have a look at a family friend's mother's car and hopefully it will be the one for me. All I know so far is that it's a late 90s Subaru, it's an automatic, and the price is right. MOTH and I have said for years now that we want a Subaru Outback when we can afford one so it'll be sweet to start working our way up through the Subaru models now!

*Steve's immediate family doesn't celebrate Christmas for religious reasons so it's not a situation where you can say "Suck it up D, lots of people have to rotate Christmas between each spouse's family," there just won't be a Christmas celebration at all, at least not with his parents or brother, though I'm hoping he'll still want to celebrate with me.

I Try to Keep Awake

2010-07-27T02:08:00.001-07:00

I'm alive! I've survived the first two days at work, but I am bone tired by the time I leave. I am just at home now for a quick minute to bring in the trash cans, do some dishes, and have a quick check of my emails and now I am off to MOTH Dude's parents house for dinner so I don't really have time to update about how it's all going. I got some good news and some bad news today, work related, so I will hopefully be able to share it all with you tomorrow since I should be home by about 6:30 and dinner will be made since I'm throwing it all in the CrocPot in the morning before I leave so I'll fill you guys in then. Sorry for super long run-on sentences, the brain is fried right now! Until tomorrow then...

Am I Just Wasting My Time

2010-07-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick check-in. I'm about to make a super fast dinner and then we are off for our weekly trivia night with Croc and the Teacher and Croc's Parents. It's my last week of being unemployed and I've used it to be lazy. I created a budget for MOTH and I and we have super cool categories like "wedding" savings account and "future home" savings account and I'm actually excited about saving...woooo! Tomorrow I'm buying supplies for Christmas in July which is being held Saturday night at the Hairdresser's and the Soccer Player's. I'm going to make these really delicious apple spice cookie bars, attempt cheesecake bars, and also this drink called Wassail, which sounds like Sangria warmed up. I was going to try and make egg nog and real homemade stuffing, but then I figured I was probably getting a little ahead of myself in all that I could accomplish in a day with a tiny kitchen and oven. I can't wait for us to put on our dorky Christmas shirts, we got from Target in the States, Saturday night! Thinking about Christmas in July makes me think about real Christmas and it looks like I might be spending my first ever Christmas without my family this year since I'm sure I won't be able to take off work/afford to fly over on Christmas prices, but I'm already sowing the seeds for my family to come out after the New Year, when Nae is able to get time off from Trader Joe's (they laughed when she told them she wanted to come at Christmas). It'll be sad not to be there on the actual day with my family and doing all the baking with them on Christmas Eve, but it would be really cool to have them come out here and hang at the beach for a couple weeks. I think I'm going to start researching things to do in Tasmania and along the Great Ocean Road because I bet everyone would be excited to do either, including MOTH who hasn't been to/on either one! Anyway, I'd better shake a leg and get dinner going because once MOTH gets here, we have about 10 minutes max to chow it down before we are out the door. Oh and fingers crossed, I found a car I might buy; it's used and I can't see it til Sunday so that's why we are crossing our fingers-that it is still available then and that we like it when we see it. Ok, off now for real!

Na-Na Why Don't You Get a Job?

2010-07-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

I did! Hooray!

Born in the U.S.A.

2010-07-13T19:52:00.001-07:00

What a timely piece of writing. MOTH was just talking to our friends at Lo's birthday party about how flaky Americans are. I used to be and some of my friends back home have been and will always be big flakes. I used to not think it was a big deal, it was just what people did. Well, here they don't and it's super rude to flake out on plans. Our friends raised an eyebrow when we were 45 minutes late to Lo's party, in California that is what we call on time for a party! I've gotten better about being on time to things here because I don't want people to feel like I'm being rude and if I make plans, I never flake on them unless I am sick/injured.

Anyway, Elsja made a comment on Facebook today about how Australians are so much better at getting back to her than Americans are and one of her friends posted this article in response. I hope it makes you laugh as much as it made me, recalling all the times I've flaked.

Are Americans Flaky?
Anonymous European

Ok, listen up Americans. You are far too flaky. Californians, you are at the vanguard of flakiness. Well done. And San Franciscans, you would have won all the gold medals at the Flaky Olympics if you had bothered to show up for the awards ceremony.

This is how we do things over in Europe:

We don't say "let's hang out some time" unless we actually mean it.

If we say "I'll call you tomorrow" we call you tomorrow.

If you leave us a voice mail asking us to call you back, we call you back.

We don't break plans at the last minute, leaving you hanging.

When we say we're excited about your event, thus creating emotional investment on your part in our attendance, we then take the trouble to actually show up.

We remember birthdays.

We attend our friends' events to show that we care about them. We don't treat them like just another entertainment option.

If you're off work sick, we call you to see how you're doing.

We at least aspire to examine our behavior through your eyes. It's called empathy and it's a pretty basic human interaction.

We make friends for life.

If you want us to be your friends (and let's face it, you know you do. You love our accents), you're going to have to try harder. Otherwise we'll all go back to Europe and live in a castle with a crocodile-filled moat in Luxembourg. And when you come to visit we won't lower the drawbridge and will instead taunt you from the ramparts. And nobody likes that.

PS If you're not flaky, please disregard the above. It's aimed at the other 90% of your countrymen. If you merely claim you're not flaky, keep in mind that almost all flakes claim this. So you probably are.

-Anonymous European

From http://www.andrew-woodward.com/Articles/are_americans_flaky.html

Motionless Wheel Nothing is Real Wasting My Time In the Waiting Line

2010-07-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Still waiting to hear back on the job. I got a call from the recruiting company on Friday morning that woke me up asking about the people I had put down as references, making it seem as if he had given them a week and they still hadn't gotten back to him. I explained that Monday was a holiday in the States so maybe people had the week off and I'd email them to see if they had gotten the email from the recruiter. Well, I open up my email and there was an email from one of my references asking what type of role I had applied for so she could use key terms about me suited to the role. She had gotten the email that morning when she got to work and started on it then and there. This guy knows he is emailing people in California, does he not understand how time zones work? E said she emailed the form back to him that night, which he probably got when he came in to the office yesterday and since then I haven't heard anything from him. So I still don't know if I've gotten this job or not. It's been a loooooooong process though! I've started to check the job boards again just in case this one doesn't come through. It's frustrating having it all be up in the air for so long. My bank account is getting painfully low again and I would love to not have to depend on MOTH Dude solely for money. I mean, we share our money and don't keep track or anything, but when one person isn't bringing in ANY money, it's pretty obvious who is doing most of the "sharing".

Friday night I made Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken and we watched "She's Out of Your League". Saturday MOTH Dude got up before me and read out in the yard. I got up and wrapped Lo's birthday present and then we were off to her party. We got there about an hour late, but even still ended up being there from about 12:15 to 8:30! She seemed like she had a great day and it was so cute to watch her smash a whole chunk of cake in to her face. We came home and were exhausted and asleep by about 10:30.

Sunday Moth got up before me again (miracle!) and was out in the yard reading when I woke up. I went on Facebook to check something my Mom had posted when Tinkerbell messaged to see what we were up to later. I had felt bad because the night before she left the party with Junior at around 6 and I said if we were going out later, I'd be the DD and come pick her up and she seemed excited to have her sister-in-law watch Junior and have a night out, but then we all got old and lazy and didn't end up going out so she stayed at home, too. So anyway, she suggested that we go get a drink Sunday afternoon. We ran out and did our grocery shopping and then I came home and baked cupcakes for the Sunday Family BBQ. We then met her, Croc, and the Teacher at a local pub and had a couple of drinks and it was a fun hour and a half sitting around laughing and talking and they had a really good guy singing and playing guitar and time was slipping away from us so we had to get going because Moth's Pop is a stickler for being on time and we were already late.

Tomorrow I've got a hot date with the Runner to go get our hair did by the Hairdresser and to check out her and the Smooth Talker's new house and puppy! The Smooth Talker suckered me in to making him cupcakes and since he and the Runner finally got engaged and it was just his birthday, I figured "why not?" so I'll be baking them fresh in the morning before I see her. Thursday is trivia night with Croc and the Teacher and Croc's parents. Did I mention we won the jackpot last week, but had to split it with another team. Still, we ended up winning $73! Friday night, MOTH is off to Queensland, as I have previously mentioned, for his cousin's wedding and I might have a night out with Tinkerbell, Potential Sis In Law, the Teacher, and the Hairdresser and LC if they are around. Tinkerbell wants to dance. I'm not a dancer, but I'll go to hang out and to be the DD for everyone so they can have a big night if they want to. I've also started a diet this week (basically just trying to eat less, no dessert through the week, and eating as much organic fruits, meats, and veggies as possible) and am working on a 30 before 30 list that I'll share with you guys soon.

That's about all from here, keep those fingers crossed about the job for me!

Don't Let Your Inhibitions Guide Your Way

2010-07-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

I've started a list of 30 things (well 27 for now) that I want to do before I'm 30. That means I've got a little longer than 4 and a half years to get this stuff done. I know it's not the most original blog post, as I have seen it done in a bunch of different variations on a bunch of different blogs, but I think it's important to put things out in to the universe if you want them to happen so here it goes universe:

1. Get married. (I'm engaged so well on my way to this one-September 2012)

2. Find steady employment.

3. Lose weight, I won't specify a number, but it's intimidating.

4. Travel to South Africa.

5. Finally travel to Melbourne.

6. Finally travel to the Gold Coast.

7. Visit 2 new states in the U.S.

8. Paddle an Outrigger Canoe.

9. Save enough money for a down payment on a house.

10. Buy starter and learn how to make really good San Francisco style sourdough bread.

11. Learn how to make my own barbeque sauce.

12. Attempt to make mozzarella cheese at home.

13. See a movie at a drive in theater.

14. Keep this blog going for at least another 2 years.

15. Do the majority of my shopping at farmers markets and try and eat more locally grown foods and foods that are actually in season for where I live. Only eat chicken that has been ethically raised.

16. Go on a long bike ride along the CA coast.

17. Buy a beach cruiser.

18. Go camping more often. Camp in the mountains near Julian again, like we used to every Memorial Day Weekend growing up.

19. Plant a fruit and vegetable garden, maintain, and harvest it.

20. Get a dog (or 3, plus a cat, some chickens, a goat, and one of those little teacup pigs).

21. Read Michael Pollan's 4 books: In Defense of Food, The Omnivore's Dilemna (I'm halfway through this one), Food Rules and the Botany of Desire.

22. Smoke pot, but only if it becomes legal in California! (Seriously, how did I get through high school without ever trying it? I'm a good girl is how!)

23. Go on a whale watching trip in Monterey Bay.

24. Visit Julian and my God Parents again.

25. Go apple and/or berry picking.

26. See Blink 182 in concert.

27. Third time's a charm- finally see Brand New in concert.

What are your goals for yourself over the next couple of years? I'd love to hear all or part of other peoples' 30 before 30 list or whatever your variation of it is (if you've done it on your blog before, send me the link just in case I haven't read it before).

Happy Birthday to You

2010-07-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today is my Mom's birthday- Happy Birthday Mom! A combination of bad weather here, summer there, missing loved ones' birthdays, and the 4th of July makes me miss home. It's hard to hear about all the fun I'm missing out on and all the changes that are happening at my parents' house- kitchen remodel, things that were planted in the garden while I was there are fruiting now, my sister is back living with them, and just the day-to-day stuff you don't think of while you're there.

I've got too much time on my hands to think about these things, though, and the crummy weather has been keeping me inside, rather than out on my walks. I still haven't heard back about the job, but know they are still contacting my references and waiting to analyze the results of my physical (great hearing, perfect vision, and yes, I can touch my toes, thank you very much! but surprisingly the urine sample I gave was only going to be analyzed for blood, protein, and sugar, not drugs as is normal for most jobs in the U.S. these days).

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I think I may have gotten one of the positions so once I start training full time I won't have time to sit around and be sad. We also seem to have a really full rest of the month in terms of our weekends. Lo turned 1 on the 6th and tomorrow we are all getting together to celebrate her birthday. I know LC has been running around like crazy organizing and cleaning for the party for the past few months so I'm sure she'll be excited when tomorrow is finally here. Next weekend won't be busy for me, but MOTH Dude is flying up to Queensland for his cousin's wedding. I was invited, but we didn't know what my job situation or our money situation would be like when it was time to book the tickets so I opted to not go. Plus, once again, I'm a princess and I might have had to sleep on the floor for a few nights and I just can't handle it, and no one else in the family was getting a hotel room so it would've looked weird if we had. Lastly, the weekend after that we are celebrating Christmas in July with all of our friends over at The Soccer Player and the Hairdresser's place and it'll be fun to come up with a few recipes to try out for then.

August and September we don't have a lot planned for yet, but there is Nae's birthday to buy for and both of MOTH's parents have birthdays then, as well as Australian Father's Day so I'm sure we'll be kept busy with those events.

I'm also pretty excited because we are going to have our engagement party in October and MOTH Dude has agreed that a luau sounds like a fun party to throw (thanks for the suggestion LC!). I've already found a bunch of recipes that I'd like to make and Croc made the suggestion last night that we should turn part of our backyard in to a beach since MOTH's uncle can get us sand for really cheap. It sounds fun and crazy, although, I'm not sure if it's a good idea since we've been having trouble with a cat in our yard and wouldn't want our sand to turn in to a giant cat box.....yuck!

After writing all of our plans out, I've actually cheered myself up a bit. I'm missing out on things back home, but it's nice to have friends here who keep us busy and with plans of our own.

And the Rockets Red Glare

2010-07-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

I didn't have the most traditional 4th of July this year but I did manage to serve strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight so that was something. Also, in keeping with another American 4th tradition, I burnt my right hand and part of my left very, very badly. I can't say it was on anything as cool as fireworks, though. Nope, I burnt my hands when the boiling hot water I had just put in our hot water bottle for bed came spilling back out at me. MOTH Dude has jerry rigged a handkerchief with pieces of fresh aloe under it in to a bandage that he has wrapped my hand in and I'll wait and see in the morning how bad it actually is.

Jai Ho

2010-06-29T20:36:00.001-07:00

How awesome am I? I just made a Slum Dog Millionaire joke at a call center job interview and got a call back! I also was the only one or one of 2 in the group interview who had never worked at a call center before, woohoo!

Today Was a Fairytale. You Were the Prince.

2010-06-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

Haha, ok, so maybe I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek with my title or maybe today really was a fairytale, just a real world fairytale rather than a Disney one. The day itself wasn't anything too great: I did a bit of work online, dishes, two loads of laundry and had a two second chat with my sister, however tonight, tonight is where it got good. At about 7:15 I heard a car pull up in to the driveway and that really freaked me out because I wasn't expecting anyone and MOTH Dude doesn't get home until about 8:45, but there he was walking in our back door an hour and a half early! Dinner wasn't even ready. It was so nice to have him come home at a normal time. To top it off the soup I made was delicious and halfway through it MOTH Dude surprised me with a Cherry Dr. Pepper-score! I'm sure it probably doesn't sound like much to anyone else, but I couldn't think of a better Monday night.

I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life

2010-06-24T01:17:00.001-07:00

Just recently Bun's little sister Mini-Bun posted her Prom pictures and gosh did that make me feel really, really old! Mini-Bun was 9, maybe 10, when we graduated from high school so it's surprising how fast the end of her own Senior year has snuck up on us. Mini-Bun looked stunning and like a true California surfer girl on her big day. She looked stylish and effortless and that's due to the fact that I believe she did her own hair and makeup and reused a dress from a previous dance. Who does that?! Who is that cool at 17-18 to say, "Hey Mom, it's cool, I don't need a new dress to the big dance because I've got one that I've already used that will work great again"? Mini-Bun=Awesome!

Seeing her Prom pictures and coupled with the fact that I just saw a friend's Facebook page that is still covered with pics of her and her old high school crew got me thinking about my own Prom night and what a blast it was. I had been to 3 other dances over the 4 years of high school and all of them were awkward/awful. As a freshman I went to the Homecoming dance with a boy I had gone to grade school with. He didn't go to my same high school and I didn't know anyone there and we hadn't seen each other in 6 months so we didn't have a lot to talk about and I can't remember if we danced or not. As a junior I thought I was asking a cute guy I had met once to the dance and my friends were going to ask his friends so we could all go in a group. They never got around to actually asking the friends so there I was again with a guy I didn't really know, but luckily he was friends with my sisters boyfriend at the time so we kindof hung with them for the night. We left as soon as we were allowed to and went back to Bun's house. At this point I kind of liked the guy, but he didn't seem to be paying enough attention for my liking. So I decided to get drunk for the first time in my life off some blue koolaid and vodka concoction that Bun and her cousin had whipped up. I ended up drinking way too much and acting like a complete tool, even saying I was going to jump off the balcony on to Bun's Mom's Navigator (3 feet) below! (What did I think I was going to accomplish, a sprained ankle?? Haha, so dramatic! I still can not talk to Bun's cousin without her bringing up "I'm going to jump on the Navi" without fail, soooooo not fun introducing her to new people, especially new boyfriends who always got to hear the story, too!) (P.S. Sorry Mom for getting drunk at 16 and you not knowing until now. I guess there is a reason for the legal drinking age not to be 16!) So the dance date took off and we never spoke again because he didn't want to deal with that kind of bullshit, rightly so. The next dance I went to was Homecoming my senior year. I thought I was going in a small group of the cool kids, but turns out it was more like the top 100 coolest kids, and me and my date didn't get an invite to their after party...ouch! I also hated my shoes, wasn't a huge fan of my dress, none of my real friends were at the dance, and my date was the Loser ExBoyfriend who didn't go to the school.

Finally, finally, for senior Prom everything came together. We partied with the football boys every weekend and I sat next to one of the team captains in Math that year and we really hit it off. We had made out one weekend (sorry, again, Mom, and it was just making out), but really only because Bun had left us alone downstairs at her house and I was too young and dumb to say "No" to a popular boy. I mean, he didn't force me or anything, that's not what I'm saying, but I would've been happy not to make out with him that night, too. Anyway, so all of us decide we should go as a group and hire a limo, do pictures together, then have an after party at someone's house. The Team Captain asked me by bringing me two different bouquets at lunch one day and I was excited to be going with him because we were really good friends by then and the Loser ExBF was out of the picture for the moment.

The night of Prom I was running late because Nae wanted to follow us over to where we were going to be taking pictures beforehand to have her pictures done there, too, but her friend was running late and I finally just had to go. I got there and the Team Captain was pretty pissed because picture time was over and we had to leave and he and I only got a snap or two before jumping in the limo, but as we were taking those few quick snaps he said something really nice- "that I looked so beautiful, I was worth the wait"...awwww!

On the ride over to the Long Beach Convention Center, we laughed and talked and had a good time and then one of the boy's pulled out a bong, nicknamed Snoop Bong, and started taking huge rips off of it. Me, Bun, and Candie (another old friend whom I've only briefly wrote about to chronicle the demise of our friendship) just thought it was hilarious, but the other girls in the group who we weren't really close to were spazzing out and saying we were all going to get contact highs or wreak of pot smoke and not be allowed in to the dance (and they were the types of girls who had those huge, poofy princess dresses so smoke probably could've hid up under one of their layers or something) so the guy put the bong away. As we walked in to the dance, we took our couples photo and group photo. The picture of me and the Team Captain is a great one- I am standing with my back to his chest and just as they were taking the picture the Team Captain whispered something really naughty in to my ear that made me laugh and that is our picture- him with a big smile and me mid-laugh. I also got a great picture with Nae- we are both in our fancy black dresses and I had her jump up in to my arms like I was a groom carrying her across the threshold.

The rest of the dance I had a great time running around and chatting with people and taking pictures with friends I was only going to see for two more weeks of school. The Team Captain was in fine form, having mixed some Shrooms in with his Mac n Cheese when we got to the dance and he was super funny to hang with. We had one dance that night and not being a dancer that was enough for me and the Team Captain being the charmer he is danced with tons of girls the whole night and it was nice to not be with a boyfriend where I'd have to care or be jealous if he spent the night dancing with other girls.

Prior to the dance, the Team Captain and I told people if they couldn't think of anyone to write for Prom King and Queen, vote us. I thought it was a bit of a joke because I was pretty anti school spirit. A lot of people in my homeroom thought it was funny so they put us down. Well, a friend of my sister's was on the dance committee or student council had come up to her a few days before the dance and told her that we had enough votes to make it on to the court, but I guess with school politics we somehow didn't make it on the ballot. Didn't matter in the end, the two nicest kids from our class won it and I thought that was pretty great.

At the end of the night we piled back in to the limo and headed out to a ritzy community in the hills above Newport Beach to spend the night at the Co-Captain's (and Bun's date) house. I must have been pretty tired because I don't remember much from the night. I got upstairs early to claim a couch because Princess D doesn't really do well sleeping on floors. After I had gotten in my pajamas, the Team Captain came upstairs and asked me if we were going to hook up that night. I said "No" and he, ever the gentleman, asked if it was okay if he went and hooked up with someone else! I said "Sure, go for it, good luck!" or something to that effect and then the Team Captain proceeded to whip out his guitar and serenade me with this reggae song that I loved how he sung before going off to fulfill all of his stereotypical Prom night fantasies. It was really, really nice and honestly, I thought it was a perfect night and a perfect Prom. I had fun, I looked good, there was no stress, and I got to spend it with all the people who meant the most to me at that point in my life.

So, did reading this bring back any fun or funny dance memories for any of you? Did anyone lose their virginity in the back of a limo or the back of a Ford Fiesta that night? Did you love what you wore? Hate what you wore? Go with someone your regretted or your future spouse? What was the highlight or lowlight for you that night?

The Time Has Come for Colds and Overcoats

2010-06-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

This is the Father's Day Card Boyfriend sent to my Dad, saying it reminded him of me!

It probably feels that way, but this blog isn't turning in to a recipe blog, I promise. It's just for now, while the weather sways between sunny and kindof warmish and freezing and overcast/rainy there aren't a whole lot of adventures going on in my life. Plus, I'm really trying to focus on finding on job so that doesn't make for very exciting days, either.

Boyfriend's name has been resolved, sortof. I'd prefer to call him Beau because it means both handsome and someone's sweetheart which Boyfriend is and it's also a guy's name so it'd be easy just to start referring to him as that, but after reading everyone's suggestions in the comments he would like to be called MOTH Dude, like some sort of super hero! He has been thinking up a MOTH Dude theme song, contemplating what sort of outfit MOTH Dude should wear, and even referring to himself (in public!) as MOTH Dude to drive me crazy!

Friday night MOTH Dude and I headed out to an uncelebratory dinner for me not getting the job. There is a SsS BBQ Barn not far from us and we've been wanting to try it because they serve ribs. It wasn't that great and we won't be going back. I ordered a margarita and it tasted like a frozen lemonade, I don't think there was any tequila in it at all. The ribs fell of the bone, but there was less than you'd get at Tony Roma's in Sydney and they needed more sauce. MOTH Dude was starving so he ordered a damper roll that was $5 and the size of a bread roll! We were full when we left, but not satisfied and for $87 you want to leave a place satisfied!

After that, we went over to the Soccer Player and the Hairdresser's place and hung out with them and the baby and it was just a fun, relaxed night sitting around talking and watching the football game on in the background.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Farmer's Market at The Entrance with MOTH's parents. It was a beautiful day and although the market was super crowded and more expensive and had less produce than I am used to, it was nice that after we were done shopping that we could sit on the walkway with our feet hanging over the water and look for schools of fish swimming by. Saturday night, we went over to the Farmer and Tinkerbell's house and it was another fun, relaxed night of sitting around and talking with friends.

Sunday morning, I slept in super later, while MOTH actually got up early and was productive. He went out for a dive at one of the local beaches and it was so cute to see him when he got home because he was bursting with excitement and happiness over all that he had seen. He told me all about it then proceeded to pass out for 3 hours, while I baked up a storm for our weekly dinner at his grandparents' house.

And that was our weekend! Now it's Monday, nearly noon my time and I'm waiting for my family to get back from dinner so I can call my Dad for Father's Day. I'm also working on finishing up my contracting job for the University my Mom is working for and I've got soup started in the Crocpot. So yeah, it's not a recipe blog, but I do have another recipe for you all today. Now a) I claim to not eat pork, but I ate ribs the other day and there is ham in this soup, so I guess I go through phases and b) Yes, I know ham and lentil soup sounds kind of yuck/boring, but it's actually really, really good! One of our family friends threw this together with stuff she found in our fridge the day after Easter and I was skeptical at first, but after having a taste I was hooked and had been craving it ever since! It's really cheap and easy to make, which is a bonus, too! MOTH and I both agreed that the soup kind of tastes like smokey Mexican beans.

You Will Need

1. Crocpot

2. 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3. 1 Medium Brown Onion

4. 1 Heading Tablespoon of Minced Garlic

5. 1 Large or 2 Medium Ham Hocks

6. 1.5 Liters of Chicken Broth (I use a brand called Massel)

7. 1 Bag of Green Lentils, I think the bag is about 300 grams? or maybe 1.5 cups worth, dried

8. Blender

What To Do

1. Turn your Crocpot on to high and add Olive Oil.

2. Chop up the Onion and add that and the Garlic to the Oil. Let sit for a few minutes, I don't know if this really sautes them or not since Crocpots cook at such a low heat, but I like to pretend it does anyway.

3. Throw in your Ham Hock(s).

4. Add .5-1 Liter of the Chicken Broth.

5. Let the Ham Hock(s) simmer away on low for 6 hours. Meanwhile, soak your Lentils in water for 6-7 hours (can also be done before hand and soaked the night before).

6. Add Lentils to Broth and turn up to high for 2-3 hours, until Lentils are soft and all meat is falling off the bones.

7. Fish out the bone and fat.

8. Scoop half of the Lentils, Ham, and Broth out and into a blender and blend on a medium setting for about 15 seconds.

9. Pour the blended stuff back in with the Broth and other Lentils and mix the two batches together.

10. Serve with hot bread.

We got 6 HUGE servings out of this.

I Can Tell You Buy at Costco

2010-06-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

Look at me, I'm a delicious heart attack on a plate!

Have you ever been at least 500 miles from the nearest Costco and found yourself craving a Chicken Bake? No?? It's only us?

From the first time he came to California, Boyfriend was hooked on Costco's Chicken Bakes. I think they are probably about 25% of the reason he now makes the trip out to visit my family every year!

After his second trip to the States, Boyfriend asked if I could try and find out how to make the Chicken Bakes at home so I found a copy-cat recipe and he has been happy ever since.

What You Will Need

1. Enough pizza dough for one pizza. (I used one of the Aldi pizza kits with the pre-made, but uncooked dough)

2. Mozzarella cheese

3. Parmesan Cheese

4. Green Onions

5. 2 Slices of cooked Bacon

6. 1 Cooked Chicken Breast

7. Cesar Salad Dressing (Don't make the mistake I did this last time and get the Aussie stuff because it's cheaper-it was kinda sweet and really gross! Stick with Paul Newman or Cardini's)

What To Do

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2.Roll out pizza dough in to a rectangle (Aldi's is already in this shape). If you'd like to make 2 chicken bakes, rather than one large one, then cut your rectangle in half so you are left with 2 long, skinny pieces.

3. Cut up 2 green onions, using the majority of the white end from both of them and the green end from 1 of them.

4. Spread between 1-2 tablespoons of the Cesar dressing on to the pizza dough (dough should have a thin layer of dressing across all of it).

5. Sprinkle mozzarella over the dressing, again you want a thin layer across all of the dough.

6. Spread chicken pieces, bacon pieces, and green onion slices across the mozzarella using as much of each ingredient as you like.

7. Sprinkle more mozzarella over the top of the chicken, bacon, and green onion so that ingredients are lightly covered.

8. Sprinkle a small amount of parmesan cheese over the mozzarella.

9. Roll dough in to a burrito like shape and tuck in ends of dough so that fillings don't spill out.

10. Spread a handful of parmesan cheese over the top of the Chicken Bake and make sure you press it in to the dough a bit so it doesn't fall off.

11. Bake on an oiled or baking paper lined cookie sheet in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Just Around the Corner There's Heartache.

2010-06-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Grrrrrr, f*ing grrrrr!

I just got a rejection letter from the university. I'm really upset. After having no luck finding a job last year here I thought coming across a job ad for an International Student Support Officer at my old university was serendipitous. I thought who better to help other international students than someone who has been one? Who better to help people work through their frustrations at being a foreigner in Australia than someone who still gets frustrated being a foreigner themselves? I guess the university didn't see that.

I'm embarrassed that I told everyone that I was going for this job because now they are all waiting to hear that I have gotten it and I haven't. What if Boyfriend's parents are right- "What if she never finds a job here?" My hope is feeling a little worn and I'm missing home right now and have visions of myself in some awesome job right now if only we were living there and not here.

Here's the thing, though- everyday is a choice. Today I'm going to choose to be sad and have a good cry about not getting the job I really wanted, but tomorrow crying and being sad isn't going to help me. Tomorrow I have to choose to move on, to put on my happy and determined face and start the search again. (Jesus, Allah, Buddha, and the Rainbow Serpent give me the strength to put on that happy face tomorrow, I'm gonna need it!)

Walkin in a Winter Wonderland

2010-06-10T03:23:00.000-07:00

Image from Kevin and Amanda

Well....that's what I should be doing! I've been slacking this week on my walks. I'm really nervous about getting this job and it's all I can think of. So instead of walking, I've been watching old episodes of Australia's Next Top Model and eating things that taste really, really good but probably aren't the healthiest for me.

If you're looking for comfort food, tonight's recipe will hit the spot! I know it doesn't look like much in the pictures, but it is heavenly. Boyfriend isn't home yet and after trying the sauce, I had to have a little bowl to hold me over til he gets here.

Grilled Chicken Pasta in a Tomato Cream Sauce

Recipe from Kevin and Amanda via the Pioneer Woman (They also have really nice step-by-step pictures on their blog you should check out for more details.)

Here's What You'll Need

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Montreal Steak seasoning (I didn't have this so I used some other chicken seasoning we had)

1/2 pound penne pasta

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup chicken broth

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce (I didn't know what this meant so I used some really plain, organic pasta sauce)

1 cup heavy cream (I used 300 ml of whipping cream)

1/2 to 1 tsp salt & pepper (to taste)

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (Didn't have)

6-8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonaded (Boyfriend was supposed to bring this home from his parents' bush but he forgot)

Directions

Rinse chicken breasts in cold water. (Oops!)

Layer between sheets of wax paper and pound to even thickness. (I just cut my chicken in to really thin strips)

Season both sides with Montreal Steak seasoning.

Preheat grill for medium high heat, lightly oil grate, and grill chicken breasts on medium high heat for 6-8 mins each side. OR heat 2 tbsp butter & 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Once the butter and olive oil is nice and hot, add chicken breasts and cook 5 mins each side. Set chicken aside to cool.

In a large pot, boil water with 1 tbsp salt. Add 1/2 lb penne pasta noodles and boil according to package directions.

Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is tender, but do not let the garlic turn brown (about 3-5 mins).

Add the chicken broth to the pan and allow to reduce by half.

Meanwhile, slice chicken.

Once the broth has reduced, stir in tomato sauce. Add the heavy cream and stir well to combine.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low. (Mine didn't need any salt so taste before adding)

Chop the parsley and basil, add to sauce and mix well. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Stir well to coat. (I also tossed the chicken in to the mix.)

Serve pasta on plates, top with sliced chicken.

Gold Guns Girls

2010-06-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

Nae got me in to this Metric song right before she left for South Africa and now it is my happy song. She says it would make a good, brisk walking song...a song she would've listen to running between classes on campus at UCSC. Anyway, it's different than "Help, I'm Alive" so whether you loved or hated that song (and even if you started out liking it you probably hate it now because it is played on the radio every 5 minutes) you should check this one out anyway, in my opinion.

You Can Have the Best of Me

2010-06-07T01:05:00.000-07:00

I got up with Boyfriend at 5:15 this morning...man, I had forgotten how early 5:15 is! Only a couple of weeks ago I was getting up on my own at that time while I was adjusting to being back in the time zone, but this morning it was a definite struggle and man, oh man, was it cold! I took a train and then a bus out to my old university and had over an hour to kill so I did some wandering around. I also went to check in at the graduation office to ask them how I go about getting my diploma (a year late, but minor details). Apparently it had been mailed over last May to my parents' new address, but we never received it so they are looking in to it for me.

Soon enough it was time to head to the HR Department and do the interview. It was held on the Aussie 1st floor (but what I would call the 2nd floor) and it was sweltering in the waiting room. I thought maybe it was just me, sweating bullets, nervous about the task at hand, but then I overheard a few ladies walking by commenting on the heat, as well, and felt better. Luckily, when the main interviewer came to get me she assured me the interview room was much cooler and it was, though when I stood up after the interview I was sweaty behind my knees from being nervous!

I think the interview went fairly well. All three of the interviewers were really nice and gave reassuring smiles and head nods as I spoke so that made me feel more comfortable, too. I don't know if all of my answers dazzled them, but I did my best and answered truthfully and tried to dazzle them with my personality because I figure in a customer support role like that, that will be a deciding factor. As you always do after an interview, I analyzed every thing I had said and realized there were a few things I had wished I had added, but hadn't so when I sent my thank you email to them this afternoon I added those two clarifications. I've never sent a thank you note after an interview, but I have read a lot recently about what a good idea they are. If nothing else, if they hadn't seen my enthusiasm in the interview, they could see it in my follow through. They ended the meeting by saying they had a bunch of candidates to interview today (yikes!) and that tomorrow they would check our references and that I could expect to hear back later in the week or more likely, early next week. I'll be anxiously waiting it out and trying to think positively until I know. This job would do a lot to help me finally, finally feel settled here- I've got the family unit, I've got a little house we're settled in to, now all I need is a job like every other person my age has and I'll feel normal. Keep those fingers and toes crossed for me!

After I left Newcastle, L.C. and Lo came and picked me up from the train station since I can't get a car until I have a job (and getting a job would be easier I think if I had a car to easily get me wherever I needed to go, but oh well, that's how it goes I guess) and we went out to lunch at our local club. Getting to catch up with L.C. over good food and seeing little Lo's cheeky, smiling face was the perfect way to destress after the interview so thanks girls! And I seriously don't know how Boyfriend functions-getting up at 5am, not getting home til after 8pm- because after I got dropped off, I checked emails, sent the thank you email and then was out cold for about 2 hours! Haha, I'm in for a rude awakening when I get a job and can't sleep off my early mornings in the middle of the day anymore!

And I Won't Tell 'Em Your Name

2010-06-04T00:26:00.000-07:00

We've been engaged for exactly 4 months now and I still don't know what to call Boyfriend, at least as far as the blog goes. Calling him Fiance as a pseudonym seems lame. Referring to him as my Fiance in general still seems strange. I read this online Cosmo article the other day that said something about getting engaged is so cool because "you no longer have to refer to him as your boyfriend, which sounds so childish, now you can be an adult and call him your Fiance." I just think the word sounds so posh and uppity and even if that is what Boyfriend now is, I feel dumb saying it, unless I can use it to my advantage -like sometimes if I enter an online giveaway for a cooking appliance or something, I'll make sure to mention the fact that I'm newly engaged and my Fiance and I need stuff for the house (which is true) but I don't go saying to other people "Oh my Fiance this and that..." So the search is on for a new blog name for the man in my life; maybe he'll just let me use his real name already? It would make writing about him easier because there have been plenty of times where I have slipped and just written in his name only to notice it a little while later and have had to come back and change it.

I made it a point to keep this blog semi-anonymous because no one else in my life signed up to be apart of it when I decided to do it, but now that they do know about it, some people don't care whether you know who they are or not, like Nae, and how she agreed to let me share photos of her on here. I also started out thinking I'd keep myself anonymous, but I don't mind that people know I'm Dana and not Little D. This blog is just an unlocked journal that whoever wants to can read; it's a positive thing so I don't need to hide behind anonymity, plus it's hard to stay anonymous when I link to the blog in my Yanks Down Under profile or to some of my posts on Facebook! I will still keep up the pseudonyms for our friends, though, because I think they prefer it that way and without knowing who they are in real life, I don't think it makes a difference to the stories I tell calling her M******, as opposed to the Hairdresser, for example.

Anyway, to wrap it up, if my main man does not let me use his name on the blog, does anyone have any suggestions on what I could start calling him?

Well You'll Never Gain Weight From a Doughnut Hole

2010-06-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

ETA: Well I certainly have great timing as June 4th is National Doughnut Day, too funny!

Who knew Tori Amos sung a song about doughnuts??

Boyfriend didn't get home until 10:30 Wednesday night and after a long walk, some work, and being by myself all day I got bored. I was craving a maple bar, but they don't do that here so I thought it would be a perfect time to try and make my own doughnuts (who knows with ideas like this how I've managed to lose 5 pounds since I've gotten back!) and use the maple extract I had brought over to try and recreate them. Well, the maple ones didn't turn out; my glaze was too runny and the flavor was off.

Boyfriend called just as I started to make the doughnuts and he said I sounded busy so I told him "I'm in the middle of making doughnuts" and he nonchalantly, like I make doughnuts everyday and not at all like this was the first time he's heard of me making doughnuts says, "Oh, well can you make me some cinnamon and sugar ones then" so I did and thank goodness for his request because those ones turned out really, really good! I thought these were the best straight out of the oil and still hot, but Boyfriend had a bunch of doughnut holes for a snack at work the next day and he came home raving about how good they were.

Here's the basic doughnut recipe from LoveToKnow.com and then all I did was drop them straight from the oil and in to a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

Doughnut Recipe

2 1/2 cups flour (plus lots of extra for when you roll the dough out)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 quarts oil for deep frying (I put about half a cup in the bottom of my wok and topped it off with probably another 1/4 of a cup halfway through so don't waste all this oil from the start)

Stir the dry ingredients together.
Mix in the milk, beaten egg, and vanilla.
Heat the butter until melted and beat in to the flour mixture.
Let chill for one hour.
Bring oil to 370 degrees. (I didn't have a thermometer so just get the oil nice and hot and turn it down if your doughnts start to brown to quickly)
Knead and roll out dough, then cut with a thick, round cutter. (My dough was VERY sticky so you'll probably need to add a lot of flour to keep it from sticking. I used an extra large mug for my outside circle and an egg cup for my inside circle.)
Using smaller circle, cut out the middle to create a doughnut shape.
Drop doughnuts into oil until they cooked through and light brown then immediately drop in to your cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Home is Waiting Here for You When You Return

2010-06-02T23:07:00.000-07:00

Nae has made it back safe and sound to Santa Cruz. I spoke to her earlier today, after 30 hours of flying and stops in Dakar, Senegal and Washington, D.C. She sounded happy and not at all tired. She said she misses South Africa already and would like to move there. Maybe someday she will find a way to. I was glad to hear her voice again and to hear more details about some of the things she saw and did. The fire has been lit under her bum to pursue grad school so that she can propose a cool project idea and get back down to S.A. to study sharks upclose and personal again.

Anyway, these pictures have nothing to do with Nae's return, but are from walks I've taken over the past few days. I hope you enjoy. (Be warned, you might get bored-there are lots of mushroom pictures! Haha, I don't know why I think they are so neat.)

An area that has become a swamp where there was never water last year.

Kookaburra blending in with the trees and grey sky.

The little flash of color in the top left is one of two rainbow lorikeets that flew past me as I walked close to their nesting spot.

There are tons of ugly termite mounds on trees along the path.

The only bright spot in our backyard.

Looks like we will have a few more bananas this year.

I think this might be garlic. We have a garlic plant in our front yard at home and these flowers look really similar.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to try and build a castle in our neighborhood. They ran out of money and it was never completed.

Isn't this one freaky? I've never seen a mushroom like it. It looks like it should be from a Super Mario Brothers game. There is a little fly on top and I don't know if this mushroom was its home or its deathtrap.

And You'll Show Up for Work with a Smile You'll be Better and You'll be Smarter and More Grown Up...

2010-06-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Woooooooo! I got a call this morning telling me I had made the shortlist for the University job I really want! I'm going in for an interview on Monday so now I have plenty of time to psyche myself out/up for it ;) I'm obviously very excited and hope that you all will keep your fingers crossed for me.

I also had a phone interview with another company after sending them in my resume earlier in the day and it is nice to have a potential backup option, as well.

I've got some recipes I should post up soon (I might attempt to make donuts this afternoon!) and also some pictures from my walks over the past few days.

You Taste So Sweet For Only Me

2010-05-30T04:45:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy of Annie's Eats

Pretty much every Sunday night we go over to Boyfriend's Grandparent's house (Nan and Pop's) and before I left and since I've been back, I try and bring something to contribute to the dinner. Over the last three weeks I've made bread rolls twice that one of Boyfriend's cousins said was just about the best thing he's ever eaten, that lemon cake I put the recipe up for in April, chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, and tonight I brought bread and brownies. Seven of the local cousins were there tonight, along with an aunt, two uncles, and three baby second cousins; the crowded nights like tonight are always the most fun there.

It was my first time making brownies from scratch and I was pretty nervous about how they would turn out, but they were so good. They were a lot richer than store bought brownie mix brownies and by the time I got out to get a real serving (compared to the tasters serving I had before I put them out ;D ) they were all gone! Make these as soon as possible, you won't regret it!

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats recipe for Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies:

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:
5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (For the first two ingredients I used a 100g-about a third larger sized bar than a regular sized Hershey's bar- organic, dark chocolate bar, chopped)
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into quarters (I used salted and omitted the salt later in the recipe)
3 tbsp. cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa powder I brought from home...yum!)
3 large eggs
1¼ cups (8¾ oz.) sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract (I added a 3rd tsp just because I always add extra vanilla)
½ tsp. salt (remember to omit if you used salted butter earlier)
1 cup (5 oz.) all-purpose flour

1 cup of dark or milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Place an oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F. Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. (I lined my baking dish with baking paper instead.)

In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt; whisk until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated. Then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined. (Stir in cup of chocolate chips.) (It took me a while to get the flour evenly incorporated and I was worried it would affect the texture of the brownies, but they turned out fabulously – no need to worry.) (Unlike the original author, I found that everything incorporated very easily and I only stirred for about 20-30 seconds by hand.) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes (Make sure you watch your brownies! I set my timer for 25 minutes and I think they were pretty much done then. I left them in for another 3 minutes and they came out with a slightly crunchy top and were thick and fudgy in the middle). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours (I was in a hurry so I just left mine in the baking dish and they were easy to cut and remove when we had them a few hours later).

Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares as desired. Store in an air-tight container. (I've never had brownies last long enough where I needed to store them in an air-tight container!)

I'm still waiting to hear back on the job. I'm not worried yet because the job only closed last Wednesday so I'm hoping I will hear from them by this Wednesday and if not, I will call and ask if there is anything else I can provide them with to help make their decision easier. I still really, really want this job!!

It's supposed to rain again over the next few days. I think it's rained for about 12-14 of the 17 days I've been here so far! If it's not raining, I'll get my walks in (though they aren't as nice without my Dad to walk with) and I've got lots of good things on the menu for Boyfriend and I for dinner this week so I'll be busy every night in the kitchen: Mu shoo Chicken, Roasted Chicken and Mashed Potatoes, Fajitas, Spring Rolls, and something else that I can't think of off the top of my head but is asian inspired.

Hope you all have had/are having a nice weekend. Enjoy that summer weather everyone in the Northern Hemisphere; I'm down here super jealous of you!

Cause I Can Picture all the Pictures of You and Me on Your Walls

2010-05-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

Here is another big batch of pictures of what Nae has been up to in South Africa. She leaves in a few days time and I'm sure she is starting to get sad about it, but it seems like she has had such an amazing time down there and I know she'll make it back again if she sets her heart and mind to it.

The bridge Nae jumped off of. It is supposed to be the highest bungee jump spot in the world.

She walked off rather than jumped off.

View from the top of Table Mountain looking towards Lion Head.

Cable car up.

Nae called this a Daussie, which must be it's South African name. I know it as a Rock Hyrax. Can you believe these guys are the closest living relative to elephants? From what I remember of seeing them in Kenya, they are about the size of a rabbit.

Rock Hyrax contemplating a swim.

I messaged Nae and said something along the lines of "Wow, now I know why they didn't put pictures of the rooms on the youth hostel website" before I realized that this was actually the prison at Robben Island, where the great Nelson Mandela was kept for many years.

Nae always finds a way to get her bronze on.

Nae said this was the best day of her life because she got to see 2 different breaches and got to tag a shark herself.

Coastline along Mossel Bay.

Near Cape Town.

Penguins in Cape Town.

A cheetah cub licking Nae's hand, or as my parents said was probably more likely, "A cheetah cub tasting Nae"

Lemurs sunning themselves at Cango Wildlife Ranch

Nae getting to pet cheetah cubs

Nae with white tiger cubs

Nae with adult cheetahs, she said they were purring the whole time

Feeding day at Cango, it's a donkey head!

African Rain Spider...looks like a bigger version of the Australian Huntsmen

A New Hope

2010-05-23T23:34:00.000-07:00

Image via http://www.indesignlive.com/articles/projects/mexicano-nuovo

I finished my resume earlier today and submitted it to the University for that job I mentioned last week as an International Student Support Officer. I am actually really, really excited about it and after I read over the job ad again I thought to myself, "Yep, this is it, this is the job for me" so I am hoping I get an interview for it and with any luck will get the position. Keep thinking positively for me. I am trying to and I am even starting to have dreams about myself in the position so hopefully my mind is giving me a sign, somehow, that it is meant to be. We are getting way ahead of ourselves (and I know I'll be majorly disappointed if I don't get this position) and have already thought about what we'd do with my paycheck (save for a house, wedding, and honeymoon, as well as emergencies) and try and continue just living off of Boyfriend's paycheck. It would be such a great thing to happen for us. Plus, I could really use the confidence boost after having such crappy luck finding a job last year.

Boyfriend and I saw Robin Hood this weekend; it was pretty good. I liked it; didn't love it, didn't hate it. I agree with the one reviewer who Russell Crowe got mad at for saying his accent sounded Irish at times. The other big excitement from the weekend was that we went down to our local mall and they now have a decent Mexican fast food place there called Mad Mex. We both had burritos, which at $9.90 are pretty steep if you're thinking in terms of American pricing, but not bad for here. I liked that they actually had black beans and their chicken was seasoned decently. They put a lot of rice in their burritos and it is plain tasting white rice and nothing special so I'd probably skip it next time. Boyfriend got 2 different kinds of Dos Equis beer and they were $7 but worth it he said. We also ended up scoring free churros and some really good hot fudge dipping sauce. I think we'll be eating a lot of Mad Mex from now on because it's only a little bit more expensive than going to KFC or McDonald's and a lot tastier! I also see that Mad Mex are selling franchises right now so maybe if the University job doesn't pan out I could get my parents to invest in a Mad Mex with me and put one in up near the University and all those American kids desperate for some somewhat authentic Mexican food.

You Never Feel the Jet Lag Unless You're Trying to Fit In

2010-05-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten how lonely life is here sometimes. I know, I know-there is always an adjustment period for a few weeks or even a month or two where I always think of home, but even without longing for home, life can be pretty lonely when you spend the whole day by yourself.

Yesterday was my first day home alone while Boyfriend was at work. We got up at 5, he left by 6, and I tried to wait up for him but he had a meeting with the London office at 6:15 and didn't get home til about 10 and by that time I was passed out. It also didn't help that it was raining so I couldn't go out and do my 10,000 steps.

I wasn't ever lonely when Boyfriend was here, working from home, and the days seemed to fly by, even if I didn't have any work to do. It was the same after Boyfriend left California; the days with my Dad flew by, even if all we did was go for a walk and grab lunch somewhere.

Luckily, L.C. and Baby Lo are coming over in a little bit to hang out, still no walk today, though, as the rain has not let up since Boyfriend left this morning. Once they are gone, I've got work to do for my Mom and I found a few interesting job ads that I want to send in my resume for, including one in the International Student Department at my old university. I figure I would make a good candidate since I was an International student there so I know what these kids are going through, plus I went to the University so I know the environment and ethos of it. I think if I can just find myself some work quickly then I will feel a lot better about everything. Please, please, please keep your fingers crossed for me and send some positive energy out in to the universe for me that my job hunt goes easier this year than last.

Took My Chances on a Big Jet Plane

2010-05-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

So....Surprise! I'm back in Aus! This has actually been in the works for about 3 weeks now (I finally got all of my paperwork sent in to the Embassy, got and passed my phone interview, celebrated Mother's Day with my family, and then booked my tickets down here), but we wanted to surprise our friends and Boyfriend's family so we've been keeping it a secret.

I arrived at 6am on Thursday morning after an empty and uneventful flight and stayed the night at Crowne Plaza Darling Harbour. Luckily, they had a good rate going for the night because I find staying at nicer hotels when I first arrive, they are more apt to let me in to a room as soon as I arrive, which is what happened when I walked in the door there at 8am. After having a nap, I walked down and met Boyfriend for lunch near his work. It was so good to see him again and of course he teased me for being awkward and nervous on seeing him again. I then sat along the harbor for a while and watched a guy catch 3 fish in not more than 15 minutes before going back to the hotel to sleep some more. Boyfriend came to the hotel after work, got changed and took me out for a special dinner to one of our most favorite restaurants- Malaya. At about 8:30 (0r 3:30 am CA time) I was ready to pass out. The next morning we got up, hit Starbucks, then walked the length of the harbor down to Boyfriend's work. I spent the day shopping at a little asian grocery store and in the fruit and veggie section of Paddy's Market, loading myself down with even more stuff to try and lug on the train with us later! I also brought Boyfriend the other half of my lunch and found a Medicare office to sign up for the free healthcare I am now entitled to. Overall, doing all that walking back and forth across the city, I did about 18,500 steps for the day...over 9 miles! Friday night I was exhausted by the time we made it back to our house on the Coast.

Saturday, I was wide awake from 5am so I started unpacking all of my luggage while Boyfriend slept. We then went to visit his Grandpa and bring him some American souvenirs. Arushed fter that we rushed to the grocery stores because Boyfriend had invited our friends over for a barbecue that afternoon. When they arrived, I stayed hidden in our room for 15-20 minutes and I heard the Teacher and the Hairdresser ask Boyfriend if there was any word on when I was coming back. Once they all got settled and weren't expecting it, I jumped in to the doorway and they all looked at me stunned for a few seconds processing that I was actually there. I think I yelled, "Surprise!" before everyone jumped up to hug me...only the Teacher had hypothesized a few days earlier that I might be in town. It was a really fun night, with much to celebrate- my return, our engagement, and I finally got to meet the Hairdresser and Soccer Player's baby and he is gorgeous! We even discussed the possibility of having our wedding in California because our friends said they'd love to have the excuse of a wedding to come out and finally see some of the U.S. It is all so exciting to think about and the boys are really pumped to come over and buy guns (OMG!) and start hunting raccoons, haha!

After we ate and the baby was asleep, we sat outside around our barrel fire. We weren't super loud, as there were only 6 of us (the other part of the group was at a motocross thing) and our fire wasn't particularly raging, when we heard fire trucks in the distance. They got closer and closer and we said, "Imagine if it was for our fire" when 2 fire engines and a police car pulled up in front of our house! When the boys went out to meet them, the firemen asked if they were at the right house because they couldn't see our fire, but someone had called 000 (the Aus version of 911) to report it. They came in to the backyard, took one look at it, and left. I just wonder which neighbor a) could see it to begin with and b) called emergency services without coming over to check it out up close? As I said, we weren't too loud because there wasn't a lot of us and we had a baby inside sleeping and it was only about 9:30 so I don't think we were bothering anyone. Oh well, it added even more excitement to the night!

Anyway, I am really missing my family, but it has been nice to be back with Boyfriend and to see my friends after so long. Later today, L.C., Lo, and Bob Marley are stopping in for a visit then we have Sunday dinner at Nan and Pop's and they nor any of the aunts, uncles, or cousins know I'm back so it'll be another fun surprise!

Tomorrow, I join the real world again and begin the job hunt.

I'm Not Sensing a Thing and It's My Life and There is Nothing I Can Think to Write

2010-05-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

And Sometimes When You're On, You're Really...On and Your Friends They Sing Along and They Love You

2010-05-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

The other night Mom and I celebrated Mother's Day early. I took her to see "An Evening with David Sedaris." He is a favorite author of both of ours and an incredibly funny guy. You may have heard him on NPR's "Thisweather American Life" or seen his equally funny sister, Amy, on a late night show like David Letterman. We laughed until we had tears in our eyes. My favorite part of the night was a story he told about getting stuck in airports and when he made the comment "I wondered if they were just being petty and judgemental like me....because I could go on for hours" I was dying because that reminds me of all the bitch sessions I've had with friends over the years. It was a great night out with my Mom and I would recommend for everyone to go see David on tour if you have the chance.

Other than that, not too much to report. We have been having some seriously nice weather and I have been taking full advantage of it by laying out and working on my tan before I eventually return to Australia and winter. There are tons of things sprouting in the greenhouse and I have had fun going out each morning to see what has happened over night out there. Haven't heard too much more from Nae but she assures us she is ok. Boyfriend seems to be pretty lonely and bored a lot on the weekends, but our friends have been really good and invited him out to lots of things to keep him company. They have even discussed with him the idea of coming out here for either just a trip or in conjunction with our wedding so that is a very exciting possibly for he and I to discuss and then for us to plan with everyone!

I've got my fingers crossed for some big, exciting news to share with you guys sometime soon (i.e. getting my visa and going back to Australia) so keep your fingers crossed with me!

So, Is That What You Call a Getaway? Tell Me What You Got Away With.

2010-04-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

Nae was robbed on Friday while out doing a dolphin survey with another girl. She didn't give Mom a lot of details, probably because she didn't want to scare us, but the not knowing is pretty scary, too. Did they have knives? guns? threaten them in some other way? Are they people she had seen before or known?

What she did say is they took her camera, and the equivalent of about $50 U.S., but not her wallet, and also her headlamp. The police came by to question her multiple times and told her they hoped this didn't put her off visiting South Africa again. She is trying to make light of the situation and says at least she doesn't have to do dolphin surveys again for awhile and that they will never have to go back to the spot again.

Thank God she is alive! Thank God they didn't take much and did not harm her or her friend. Someone was looking out for her that day. Maybe now she will heed our and all of our South African friends' warnings to be vigilant while there.

Live Through This and You Won't Look Back

2010-04-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say right now. I haven't been feeling particularly well for about a week. I'm really missing Boyfriend. I'm sick of the visa process. I can't wait to get back to Australia to see Boyfriend and my friends, but then I know I'll be sad, missing my family back in California. I'm selfish, spoiled, a brat; I don't think about it as "you've got the best of both worlds," I think about it as I'm always missing a piece of my heart. Let's hope tomorrow has me feeling better and with something more optimistic to write about.

Jaws Swimming Theme Part 3

2010-04-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a ton more pictures from Nae's adventure so far. This weekend she may be going on a game drive and bungee jumping (I hope not!). The pictures are from where they do their dolphin surveys at and from Cango Wildlife Ranch, which Boyfriend and I are now dying to go to, especially because Nae says the facilities are top notch for the animals, the zoo keepers are really knowledgeable, and because for an extra $20 you can pet the cheetahs and lions!

Ostrich egg over a light to see if their is a chick inside.

Sophie the dwarf ostrich

Emu

Ostrich rides...Nae was going to do it until she saw the ostrich fall on top of one of the riders

Weaver bird nest

Weaver bird

One of Nae's friends commented on the photo that this thing was super creepy, when Nae told her it was a stork, she said "You mean to tell me that ugly thing is what delivers the babies?!"

Nae doesn't think these are native to South Africa. I know they are to Australia because it's what we get by the dozen in our backyard when we put sunflower seeds out.

Cool picnic sign. I love baobab trees!

Golden Orb Spider

Nae's group took some kids to a wildlife park. Here is her commentary on this picture, it kills me: "The children with the tiger that kept trying to rip through the cage and grab them...special moments"

A lion cub that is being raised by dogs.

Nae's commentary: "The cutest skunk ever. Her name is Flower and she bites."

They found a tortoise literally trying to cross the road so they got out and moved it in to the bush.

A local bar with swings for seats, but Nae says the height they have the swings at makes it pretty dangerous as you could crack your head on the counter.

The countryside. Mom says it reminds her of the California desert.

Nice set rolling in.

Surfers right in the shark zone. Nae's research boat sits just outside the swill line tracking sharks here. There are 50 resident sharks in the bay and the older, bigger sharks are moving in this month to feed on the seals....this guy is a dedicated surfer!

A Kona Hema 'O Ka Lani

2010-04-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

Image Source

I made these Pacific Rim Burgers that I had seen on the Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy Blog a couple of weekends back and thought they were so, so good. My parents thought they were "interesting" and didn't seem as in to them as I was. I might make these again when I got back to Australia and get Boyfriend's opinion of them because I was really surprised that my parents weren't raving over these burgers like I was. I served them with sweet potato fries (and I thought the mayo made a good dip for the fries, too) and I thought it was the perfect backyard barbecued dinner to celebrate the start of spring.

Pacific Rim Burgers with Ginger Mayonnaise
Adapted from Kristine Snyder and The Food Network

1 1/4 pounds ground chicken ( I used one pack of Trader Joe's minced chicken and it was just a little over 1.25 pounds)
2/3 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves, plus extra for garnish
1 clove garlic, minced (I use 2 cloves.)
1 teaspoon Asian hot chili sauce (I use Sambal Oelek and add 2 teasoons!) (I didn't have this so I sprinkled some red pepper flakes in)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup bottled teriyaki glaze (I didn't have any so I used soy sauce)
4 teaspoons honey (I use 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus extra for hands
4 sesame buns, split and toasted
1 seedless cucumber, peeled and sliced very thinly (any one want to tell me how you easily deseed a cucumber without being left with just the outside ring? guess I misread this and I was supposed to buy seedless to begin with!)
Ginger Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

…
In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, panko, egg, green onions, chopped cilantro, garlic, chili sauce, and salt. With oiled hands, form mixture into 4 patties ( I think I got more like 6-7 good sized patties out of my meat mixture).

…

In a small bowl, mix together the teriyaki glaze and honey. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken patties and cook on both sides, brushing each side with the teriyaki-honey mixture, about 10 minutes, or until fully cooked through. (SGCC Note: I find that the glaze sometimes starts to burn before the burgers are cooked through, so I sear the burgers and finish them off for 10 minutes in a 400 degrees F. oven)

(I did my burgers on the bbq)

…

Place burgers on toasted buns and top with cucumber and Ginger Mayonnaise. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and cucumber slices.

Ginger Mayonnaise

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used light mayo because that is what we had open)

(I think that I ended up adding more relish and ginger and lime juice and garlic to my mayo to give it a stronger flavor so start out with this and then add extra as needed for your taste)

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
…
In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to use.

If I Could, I Would Shrink Myself...And Remove Whatever Makes You Hurt But I am to Weak to be Your Cure

2010-04-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Mom and I got up bright and early and hit the road down to Orange County. I posted on my Facebook that I was going to be in town and got a few well wishes from friends to have fun while I was there and a teasingly angry email from my best guy friend from high asking why he hadn't been informed that I would be around and that we should head out and get a drink together. I hadn't made any solid plans to see friends, though, because the reason we were in town was not a fun one (it never seems to be these days!)- we were there because my Grandma recently found a large lump in her breast that turned out to be cancerous and she was being rushed in to surgery. She had had breast cancer about 8 years ago and on the other side, but this cancer is completely different.

Friday morning we got up and were at the hospital by 7am. Grandma seemed in good spirits considering and went in for surgery at 10:30. The doctor came out when it was done and Mom went over to see him. I thought he would just give her a general debriefing like I had seen other doctors come out and do with other patients' families so I opted to stay with our stuff and hold on to our seats. When Mom got over to the doctor, he directed her in to a small office and closed the door-"Ah, shit" I thought, this can't be good news. And it wasn't. Grandma had made it out of the surgery fine, that was one hurdle, but the bad news was that the cancer had spread in to both lymph nodes they had checked so they had had to remove the other ones and were going to process those to see if the cancer had spread.

Friday afternoon Grandma was pretty groggy, but not in a lot of pain because they had her on the good drugs. When we returned on Saturday morning, Grandma didn't remember that we had been there before and after her surgery the day before and she didn't think she had had the surgery yet, either. She told us that she was very unhappy because if she had had the surgery, she had heard it wasn't her doctor who had performed it, but an associate (which wasn't obviously the case) and she told the case worker who came in to the room to check on her just that (which we then had to correct). She was released Saturday afternoon and went from being in a lot pain and bitchy to being nice, happy Grandma who snuggled on the couch with me (a first in about 10 years since I am not the favorite granddaughter I once was since I am not skinny and Grandma has extreme disdain for anyone who is overweight) when she had taken some vicodin!

We left on Sunday afternoon to head to Cambria where we stayed the night to decompress after such a stressful weekend and Mom and I drove in two separate cars because Grandma decided she didn't want her car anymore and we took it so that Dad could sell it and make sure she got a fair price for it. It's a good thing she decided she didn't "want" to drive anymore because legally she can't. After getting in to two accidents in two consecutive Tuesday nights and taking out a total of 5 parked cars, her license has been revoked and her insurance is dropping her. We were just really fortunate that Grandma didn't hurt herself or anyone else.

If you ask me, this getting old thing doesn't sound like too much fun! I am feeling really badly for my Mom,too, because she is getting all of my Grandma's drama dumped on her. I don't mean to make it sound like we are cold, heartless people-the cancer stuff is a not drama at all and we are concerned for her about that, there is just a TON of other stuff that is drama, plain and simple, and, thus, avoidable that I'm choosing not to air on here that my Mom has to deal with in regards to Grandma all the time and it is definitely taking a toll and wearing Mom down.

We don't know the results of the other lymph nodes they removed yet, but we should know by the weekend so I'm sending some positive energy in to the universe that the cancer hasn't spread and I'd appreciate any positive energy or prayers you could send up for her, too.

Jaws Swimming Theme Part 2

2010-04-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

All photos by Nae

I got to briefly chat with Nae this morning on Facebook. She had just gotten back from being out on the boat all day and Nae said they saw 9 different sharks! I can only imagine how excited she must have been when the first one approached the boat. It took her nearly 25 years to see her first one in the wild and then 9 all in one day-fantastic! That girl is living her dream right now! She seems to really be liking South Africa in general, so far, too.

A few different people have asked me about what the food is like there so I asked Nae this morning and her two complaints were that a) the only time she's felt like she has really eaten veggies is when she cooked dinner for the house last night and b) that they like to put a lot of mayo on stuff there and Nae hates mayo!

Anyway, she is supposed to be emailing us later if she gets a chance to fill us in more about how it's all going so I'll share more when I know more. I've said to her that she should start a blog to chronicle her adventure there, but I don't think she will.

Jaws Swimming Theme

2010-04-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

Nae Nae made it safe and sound to Mossel Bay finally. We got up at 4:30 Tuesday morning, after no one really sleeping from excitement or nerves the night before, and took her to SFO. After that, we tracked her flight to Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. and then we did a lot of waiting to hear from her. She finally messaged me at about 1pm on Wednesday from her hotel room in Capetown. She said her flights went well and that she was able to sleep a lot. She even made a stop that she didn't realize she was going to make in the country of Senegal. After a few hours of sleep in her hotel, she was picked up at 4:30 am and taken back to the airport in Capetown where she was supposed to have a quick 45 minute flight out to where she was going to be doing her internship. For whatever reason her flight was cancelled or delayed and she spent about 10 hours waiting in the airport. Luckily, since she had booked that part of her flight only last week (she had thought the internship people picked her up in Capetown) she had to buy a business class ticket (which was only $300 roundtrip) so she at least got to do her waiting in the South African Airways Business Class Lounge. She finally made it to Mossel Bay yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and has been out to see the little town a bit. Today, she was off for a day and night trip to Seal Island to do some research on the seal population there. Her only gripe so far is that there only seems to be instant coffee in the house (just like Australia!), but she says if she gets desperate there is at least a coffee shop nearby. She posted a photo of the view from her house and it looks pretty nice. Hopefully she'll send us more updates and pictures soon so that I can share them with you!

After we had returned from the airport, we passed back out at the condo for a few hours then we went out to grab some lunch at a place just around the corner. The food was super good and they had tons of different beers to try. The prices were pretty reasonable, too. I had wanted to take Boyfriend there when we first visited the condo, but we ran out of time so it will definitely be on the "To Do" list for next Christmas when he is back. Anyway, it's called the 21st Amendment and I highly recommend it if you are near the stadium and looking for a place to grab food or a few beers.

There is Nothing to Keep Me from Coming Back to You

2010-04-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

Source

(Yes, I'm singing a love song to my food in the title there like only a fat kid could!)

Tonight I made Avocado Chicken Cakes, Cous Cous, and Mom pitched in and made an Organic Spinach Salad with Oranges and Trader Joe's Soy Sesame Dressing. It was so delish! Oh man, I'd go back and have seconds if I wasn't so full from my first mega serving. I don't think I've ever had cous cous before, is that weird? I've certainly never made it, but it was super simple and really tasty. Here are the recipes for the Avocado Chicken Cakes from the blog Cake, Batter, and Bowl and the Sauteed Garlic and Onion Cous Cous from Hot Off the Garlic Press. In case you've forgotten how I do this, my changes to their recipes will be in parenthesis as we go.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil (Like I really measure this stuff, I just poured some in to my fry pan)
1/2 cup chopped red onions (I used white)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used a big heaping tablespoon of the crushed stuff in a jar)
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I used 3 medium sized chicken breasts since this recipe says it serves 2)
1/2 avocado, mashed (mine was a little less than 1/2 cup) (I used 2 medium avocados)
1 cup panko (I poured out 2 cups but ended up with about 1/3-1/2 panko crumbs left over at the end)
1/4 teaspoon cumin (didn't measure, I just sprinkled some in)
1/4 teaspoon paprika (didn't have so I used some chili powder)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (no measuring, just sprinkling)
1/2 teaspoon salt (probably used a bit less than that)
1 egg, beaten (used 2 eggs since I was doubling the recipe)
5 tablespoons of your favorite salsa

Directions:

(Cook chicken if you haven't already)

Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and sauté onions for 5-7 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute.

In medium bowl, mix together the shredded chicken, onion mixture, avocado, 1/3 cup panko, cumin, paprika, oregano, salt, and egg. Shape mixture into 5 cakes that are 1/2-inch thick; lightly coat all sides of each cake in the remaining 2/3 cup panko.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. Add 2 chicken cakes and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and 3 chicken cakes. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of salsa over each chicken cake. (Maybe because I had my heat on high, but there is no way that 1/2 tablespoon was enough for 2 of the cakes, just pour some oil in, fry these guys off and if you need more, add more) Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition: 468 calories, 13.9g fat, 1.8g fiber, 45.3g protein per serving

Source

Sautéed Garlic and Onion Couscous:

2 drizzles of Olive oil, divided

1 clove garlic

1/3 of an onion, sliced into 1/2 rings

chicken stock or bouillon (I used Trader Joe's Organic Free Range Chicken Broth)

couscous (I used Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Cous Cous)

Add a drizzle of olive oil to small saucepan and in the onion. Saute over low heat until onions turn translucent, being careful not to burn the onion {this will probably take about 10 minutes}. Add a clove off finely minced garlic.

Make chicken stock out of the bouillon according to package directions, for mine it is 1 c. water to 1 tsp granules. Then add the stock to the onions and garlic and use as you would water according to package directions on your cous cous. (I had to add about another 1/2-3/4 cup of stock then what was called for on the recipe because my cous cous was looking dry half way through)

Sorry, this may be confusing. Each of the couscous brands has a different water to couscous ratio they use, so make up however much stock you need and then add however much couscous your package calls for, my current is 1 1/2 c. stock to 1 c. cous cous, plus the garlic and onions we added. The package will tell you the rest, which will likely be something like 'after combining the water {stock} and cous cous, remove from heat and leave it to absorb for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork and serving'.

Drizzle with another light drizzle of Olive Oil and serve. (I also added a tiny bit of salt and some cracked pepper to this)

All-in-all this was a fairly simple dinner to make. I did get the stove pretty messy with spilled cous cous and some oil splatters, but the taste made up for all of that. Hope you enjoy it!