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

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!

You Taste So Sweet For Only Me

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!

A Kona Hema 'O Ka Lani

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.

Waves roll in and the waves roll out. See the water squirting out of your spout.

Boyfriend and I are still on our get healthy kick (I mean, it's only been a week, we would be wusses if we had burnt out already) so Saturday afternoon we thought instead of lazing aroud and wasting a day we'd head down to the beach for a nice, long walk. We hadn't even gotten in to the parking lot on the hill that overlooks Soldiers Beach when I told Boyfriend to pull in to the first spot he could find. I thought I had seen a whale. I think we just missed it doing a full breach because there was no way that I could've just seen a little spout of water from where we were and I saw like a whole wall of water in the air. So we jumped out of the car and sure enough we soon spotted a couple of whales way far out. They didn't breach again in the 10 minutes we watched them, but it was still neat to see them surfacing and the shower of mist that they blew out of their blow holes.

We then walked the beach and

the tide was super, super low.There

was a bit of water cut off by a huge sa

ndbar and we walked through it to get on to the sandbar and out to nearly where the sur

fers were. The water was absolutely freezing and we couldn't believethere were a couple of kids out without wetsuits on, but then Boyfriend and I both agreed at that age we would've done the same thing.

As we walked along we saw a ton of tiny little jelly blobs on the beach. They looked like bubbles on the sand, but once you got up close to them you could see they were solid.

Further along the beach we came to this outcrop of rocks offshore by about two feet and we walked through calf

deep water out to the rocks to look in

their holes to see if we could find any fish or crabs. As we got up on the rocks we were blown away because there was a deep crevice between the two sets of rocks that looked to be about ten feet deep and filled with water! Like I said,

we were only about two feet fromdry sand and here was this deep pool of water. I had never seen anything like it. Boyfriend ran back to the car to get his phone so we could take pictures of it.

When he got back he said he really wanted to jump in and see how deep it was so I said go for it. He jumped in at the far end of the rocks where it was closer to thewaves, but actually a lot shallower.He walked further and further in to the crevice and was trying to dive down to figure out how deep it was, but the water was so cold that he couldn't get any air in to his lungs.

He finally put his hands over his head and

sunk down and we measured it to be about 6.5 feet deep at that point, probably 7 feet at the d

eepest and this was at low, low tide. When we walked back past it later the tide was up and it was at least 10 feet deep at it's deepest point then.

We walked on to the end of the bay and were

blown away to see just how low the tide was.

We were standing 15 feet out from the normal tide line and could see on the rocks behind us where we would normally be standing. We explored the tide pools and came across lots of cool shells. Boyfriend found a really big snail shell with a snail still in it. When we turned it over and it was unfurling itself, it looked a lot like a cow'stongue...gross!

We walked the length of the bay back and up to the car and headed home to get ready for the night. We had a proper date night and went to dinner and a movie.

For dinner we headed out to this town called Terrigal, which is about a 40 minute drive from us and on the beach, but I had never been there before. We went to a cute restaurant called the Cove right on the water and we were sat on a closed in balcony overlooking the water. We sat and ate and watched the boats just beyond the breaking waves bobbing up and down. The desserts looked amazing but we were worried that we would be late to the movie so we had to skip it this time, but I'd love to go back and try some, as well as drink more of this yummy, warm, spiced, red wine we had. It tasted like Christmas!

We headed over to Erina to see Inglourious Basterds. The theater there was so much bigger and nicer than the one we normally go to. It felt like an American movie theater. They even had nachos! And unlike how the Greater Union cinemas do it now, they didn't have assigned seating so you could go in and sit where you like (you don't know how much the assigned seating thing seems weird to me and bugs me).

We both thought the movie was really good. It was gory in a few parts, but you expect that from Quentin Tarantino, don't you? For it being a movie about Nazis, we sure laughed a lot! Boyfriend is still quoting lines to me today from it.

Today is just a lazy day. Boyfriend is sitting out in the sun right now reading and then he's got big plans to wash the car. I'm doing laundry and stoked that it'll dry on the line in one day because today is hot like summer and sunny here. I'm also going to make some jam thumb print cookies (the recipe is over at this blog http://www.survivingoz.com/) to take to a bbq at Nan and Pop's tonight. We are also bringing REAL american style hotdogs to their house tonight for our dinner! All in all, a real nice weekend!

Oh yeah, we saw The Hangover on Friday night, too, and I would recommend it for a good laugh, too, if you haven't seen it yet. I just love the little baby that they find (especially, and I don't know why this part killed me so much, when they just strap him in with a seat belt in the car like it was normal, and safe, to do with a baby)!

Hope you all had a nice weekend, too. Enjoy those last days of summer while you still can. I hear that it's supposed to be an El Nino year which means lots of rainy days for the upcoming winter.

Wastin' Away Again in Margaritaville

Saturday afternoon Boyfriend and I got ready and headed down to meet Stylez and Turk for a fun night of Mexican and booze, or as we call it: a Mexibooze night, and karaoke. We were running late and so was Stylez so once we got there we started our walk to find a cab into Glebe and to the restaurant- The Flying Fajita Sistas. Once there, we met up with another friend whom Stylez, Turk, and Boyfriend had all worked with waaaaay back in the day and his girlfriend. Stylez and I immediately ordered margaritas and the boys ordered Dos Equis (XX) in honor of my Dad because that is what he always gets when he has Mexican food. The drinks came and they were fantastic. I feel like I probably gulped mine down but it was the best margarita I have had in a long time. We ordered an appetizer for the table and I really liked the cheese dip (top right yellow), smokey salsa (top left red), and the bean dip (bottom right white and brown) which was just like beans you'd get as a side dish at a CA Mexican place. Of course the lighting was awful in both places we went so I've had to borrow other people's pictures

that I found online.

After that we ordered our dinners and Boyfriend and I shared a fajita platter for two. He chose snapper and I chose shrimp for my meat. We also decided to order a litre of white sangria for the table. The snapper and the shrimp were so delicious, like "WHOA" they were so good! The tortillas were just "Meh" that came with it, Guzmen y Gomez has better ones, and I wasn't a fan of the black beans or rice that came as part of the meal. I really wished they would have served more of the "bean dip" instead. The waitresses were really, really dumb and would come to ask if we needed water or anything and then when we asked for more booze were told someone else would have to come and get our drinks (this wasn't a bus person or a person under 18 so I dunno why she couldn't have) and they didn't know basic stuff like they threw in a bunch of tortillas in to two warmers instead of 4 for the 4 of us who got fajitas but didn't tell us that and handed them to the people with two single orders rather than one for me and Boyfriend and one for them to split and then couldn't tell us how many tortillas we were each supposed to get with our meal when we were then trying to divy the tortillas out. I thought the sangria was just "Meh", as well. I had wanted to try sangria and now I have, but I wish I would've gotten another margarita instead. If you go on a warm night, I'd suggest asking to sit out back; they've got the cutest little patio area to sit out in. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday and they do $3 tacos and I'm pretty sure $3 shots of tequila. All in all I can't wait to go back for margaritas, the snapper, the shrimp, and the bean dip. Check them out at http://www.flyingfajitasistas.com.au/ or they are located at 66 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe.

After dinner, we hopped in to another cab that took us in to the heart of the city to the karaoke place- Echo Point. It's run by Japanese people and has lots of Japanese snacks and drinks to buy from the front desk. It isn't like normal karaoke because you order private rooms to sing in, rather than do it in a room full of strangers. We had about 10 people hanging out in ours. There is just a tv, a karaoke machine, coffee table, a black light, and some comfy seats built into the walls in the room and you punch in the songs you want to do and go for it. I had fun watching everyone sing. I did not take a turn on the mic. Some of the girls sang love songs, the boys sang a bunch of random stuff from Prince to Metallica to the Prodigy, and Stylez, Turk and Boyfriend normally sang as a threesome and chose cool punk/alternative songs like GreenDay, Weezer, and Blink. I even got Boyfriend and Stylez to sing me a duet of "I'm the One Who Wants to Be with You" by Mr. Big! It was $16-$17 for each of us for a 3 hour session, I think. It's a fun way to spend a night every once in awhile. If you are a karaoke fanatic then you should take a group of friends to Echo Point. They've got all their songs listed on their website (I think they've got over 1,000 to choose from) (http://www.echopoint.com.au/), too, so you can have your set list picked out for the night before you arrive like Boyfriend's one friend did!

I don't normally keep track of Boyfriend's drinking because I'm not his parole officer (before you ask, no, he doesn't really have a parole officer) and I figure he can handle himself and he knows his limit, but I maybe should've been a little vigilant on Saturday night because he was drinking sake, which he's only had a couple of times before and always during a meal. He ended up getting drunker than I realized on that and beer and when we headed back to Turk and Stylez's place and went to bed, he immediately had to get up and be sick. All in all he was probably up about 6 times puking through out the night, but at least he was really neat about it and didn't get it all over their super cute house!

In the morning he was still feeling crappy, but felt a little better because Turk and Stylez hadn't heard him being sick or been kept up by it like I thought they might have because it seemed to echo all across the downstairs of their house, where their spare bathroom and guest bedroom is. We decided to go to a local place for breakfast and they thought maybe it was best to just bring us breakfast back or to at least drive over, but I thought the walk in the fresh air might do Boyfriend some good. Right before we left, he had to make a quick dash to the bathroom to be sick again and then he said he felt lots better. The walk through their neighborhood was really nice. No one was out, it was a quiet Sunday morning and the view if you turned and looked was of the Sydney skyline, CentrePoint Tower, and the tops of the Harbour Bridge. We sat inside because all the outside seats were taken and Boyfriend made it through breakfast feeling just ok. We walked back to Turk and Stylez's place, chatted a bit longer, then hit the road.

Boyfriend's Dad's birthday is this week, so is Nae's, and Bob just moved in to his new place so we figured while we were close, we might as well hit up Ikea...the only one in NSW, I think. I was in heaven once we got inside! Boyfriend seemed to pick up a bit, too, and we had fun looking at all the neatly designed furniture and bedding and stuff they had. Boyfriend especially liked all the kitchen designs they had displayed. We came away with some office and home stuff for Boyfriend, a funny little present for Nae, lots of new kitchen stuff for Bob, struck out on stuff for his Dad, and got me a vase for $4 and a couch cover that I had wanted when I bought my couch 3 years ago since the couch is white and was the cheapest one they had, but didn't think I could afford it then (in the last year my couch has suddenly looked thrashed so it was awesome that we could buy a black cover for it that would better hide stains). We also had to have a look at all the good Swedish food they had at the food shop past the registers and bought some yummy cookies, blueberry concentrate drink, a non-alcoholic pear cider, a Daime chocolate bar that Stylez recommended, and some salted black licorice (yuck!) that Turk recommended, as well as the meatballs, at the last minute, because everyone else in line had at least one bag of them and Turk had said they were delicious, too.

We got back on the road and Boyfriend was not feeling so great. He asked if he got us out of the City could I manage the drive on the freeway home? I have never driven more than about 10 miles maybe and never on the freeway so I was a bit nervous, but said if he just rested and didn't fall asleep on me, I'd do it. Once I got going, it was as easy as driving on the regular side of the road, and soon, I was passing slow pokes. The drive took about an hour and we got home just as it was getting dark. We basically had time to unload the car, go to the bathroom, and then we were back on the road to Nan and Pop's for Sunday dinner...this week a bbq for Boyfriend's Dad's birthday. Lots of the cousins were there and they brought their babies with them and it was good to catch up with the girls and have a cuddle and a play with the babies. The one little girl is about 1 and a half years old and is so smart- she remembered my name after the first time I played with her and still remembers me months later and always calls out "Little D, Little D" to get my attention and get me to come play with her. For some reason she was afraid of Boyfriend last night and would run away or hide her face in my shoulder anytime he came near! Don't they say that kids and dogs can sense when someone is evil? Haha, just kidding Babe!

It turned out to be one of those weekends that are so jam packed you don't feel as if you've had a real weekend, but I love those and had a great time! Today I put my tutoring ad in two of the local papers and one will run on Wednesday and Friday in the one paper and the other will be delivered in to people's mailboxes in the area later in the month. I'm so excited and can't wait to see how many calls I get! Fingers crossed for me guys because I really could use the income.

Oh yeah, and check out Stylez's stuff at reJENerate (link up the top) she's got a blog, a website, and stuff on Etsy. I saw some of her bags lying around at her house and their are some cute ones right now. She also has been doing custom bridal and bridal party clutches that are cool and fun and match without being too matchy, if you know what I mean. She will have an order from me if I ever take a stroll down the aisle!

I am the Eggman, They are the Eggmen, I am the Walrus

This Friday all 12 of us in the group got together, plus Baby Lo, for LC and Bob Marley's first night out again with the group. We went out to dinner and then headed back to Croc and the Teacher's place to hang out. Croc and the Soccer Player had been out shooting the weekend before. They hunt feral animals like foxes, pigs, and goats, as well as kangaroos who are breeding out of control. This trip they shot mostly pigs and saw lots of emus sitting on nests. The boys were told once an emu is disturbed off its nest, they don't tend to come back to it so Croc took an egg from one of the nests that they had accidentally scared an emu off of. I asked to see it and that's it in the picture. Upclose it is really dark blue with light blue flecks. I gagged the first time I shook the egg because you could hear the little emu's head clunking against the side of the shell. Croc wants to get an incubator and raise a few emus out on his mom and dad's property eventually.

Boyfriend and I had planned to go ice skating over the weekend because we have been having some pretty dull ones lately with Boyfriend having to work and us being broke. When we got up, we had a message from Croc saying come over to his place and hang out with him and the Teacher and all of the Teacher's Sydney friends for the night. We felt like maybe we were getting a pity invite since Croc thought we had "Fuck all" to do for the night, but they assured us that it wasn't and to come on over. So we grocery shopped and decided to put ice skating off til the next day.

We arrived at Croc and the Teacher's to find a campfire in the backyard (they live in a townhouse and have a tiny backyard, too!) which had a lamb and then beef roasted in a camp oven on it. There was also a rotisserie spit and it had a chicken and a piglet that Croc and the Soccer Player had shot the weekend before on it. There were also yabbies that had been steamed. Yabbies look like tiny little lobsters and are the same as crayfish or related to them. I had a bite of one of the claws and it tasted like crab to me, while Boyfriend had a bite of the tail and said that bit tasted like shrimp. The Teacher's friends were all nice and easy to talk soon so the night was moving along fairly quickly. Croc asked Boyfriend if we'd like to stay the night so they could get drunk together and I said I didn't mind. I wasn't really drinking, I had less than 2 glasses of wine the whole night. At 1opm exactly, Croc and the Teacher's next door neighbor came over and asked us to keep it down. You could barely hear the music we were playing inside and we had only had the didgeridoo outside for about 5 minutes when they came over. It was a rager my no means and it was 10pm on a Saturday night! I couldn't believe how uptight the neighbors were. After the Teacher's friends left, we sat out by the campfire for another hour or so then headed off to bed.

I went to bed with a headache and my stomach was not feeling right. I laid in bed for forever wondering if I was going to be sick or not, and if I was-why, but finally drifted off for a little bit. Then I woke back up feeling really gross and tried to breathe it out and I finally jumped out of bed and said to Boyfriend that I was going to be sick. So I ran down the stairs in my socks and a peacoat and only just made it to the bathroom where I puked up a whole lot. Boyfriend hates throw up (who doesn't?) and started gagging as soon as he came in to the bathroom...haha, makes me laugh to think about it. But we got it cleaned up and went back to bed. When we got up in the morning I apologized to Croc and the Teacher in case I had woken them up but they didn't hear me at all so that was good. We went home, took showers, then went back to bed. Boyfriend asked if I wanted to go ice skating, but I wasn't up for it. He then asked if I wanted to go see a movie, but nothing was playing at the right time and movies are $16.50 a piece here now so I said let's just rent a movie. He went out to run errands and I laid around. I felt like the room was spinning and decided to go back to sleep for awhile. And that was pretty much our weekend, other than being sick (and I still don't really know why I got sick like that), it was a pretty good one. I'm not sure we'll make it to the movies or ice skating next week either because I've heard rumors that we are meeting Turk and Styles for dinner at a Mexican food restaurant, the Flying Fajita Sisters, in Sydney and then maybe heading out to a karaoke bar with them and another friend. I will not be putting my SingStar skills to use, I promise!

In My Life I Love You More

Boyfriend comes from a huge, huge family. After 4.5 years of dating I am still meeting new cousins at every big family gathering that is held. His Dad is the oldest of 5 children and there are 13 cousins, as well as another 6-7 boyfriends and girlfriends of cousins, and about 6 children of cousins. On his Mom's side there are at least 11 cousins and stepcousins, who knows how many boyfriends/girlfriends/spouses, and like another 6 children of cousins. They are also really close to their extended families on both sides as well....great aunts, second cousins, all that.

I come from a really small family. I had 3 uncles, two who have passed away, and none of them were ever married. Nae and I were the only grandchildren on either side. We didn't have any cousins and we didn't have a lot of contact with our uncles growing up. It would've been nice to have cousins, and I think that's why I think of all the kids in our travel group as my cousins, but I don't really understand the bond that exists between "real" cousins. Anyway, when I first started dating Boyfriend and I had to go to the first couple of family gatherings I was really overwhelmed. Both sides are so loud and happy and friendly and there were just so many names to remember! I'm better now but for along time I would get anxious when I knew we were headed over to Nan and Pop's for a party because big crowds stress me out. Now I'm part of the group and am just as loud and chatty as any of them and feel some sympathy when a new boyfriend or girlfriend is first brought around, remembering how scary it all is!

This weekend was Nan and Pop's 60th wedding anniversary. We headed around to their place on Sunday night for a bbq and it was a really fun night. Once again, I met two new cousins and 3 new cousins' children and they were all really nice. There was good food, singing and dancing along to MJ's Thriller from one of Boyfriend's aunts, a beauty shop was set up by one of the little second cousins and ALL of the boy cousins, as well as her grandpa, great grandpa, great uncles, and great grandma got their hair done by her! Boyfriend's Mom got her hair AND makeup done. My hair was done up in the hottest side ponytail for the night and it was cute to sit and talk to this 9 year old about what was going on in her life. She and her sister were such loving little girls, once they had a quick chat with you they weren't shy about coming back to talk to you some more and they loved to give hugs.

At every big event, Pop likes to give a speech and this occassion was no different. He told about the history of how he and Nan had gotten together and gotten married and a little bit about their early married years. He talked about how much he loved everyone there and how proud he was of his family and about how he loved Nan so much. Their daughter was in the kitchen washing up and listening and was crying the whole time and said after the speech she wished she had someone like her Dad as a husband. Then Boyfriend's Mom and other aunt went to hug her and they started crying. Then Boyfriend's Dad got up, as the oldest child, and said a little speech about how glad all the kids were to have Nan and Pop as their parents and how they were grateful to them for always supporting the kids in everything they did. He got choked up about halfway through then just about everyone was crying with him! It was the sweetest thing. Then someone made a joke about how this was a happy occassion so what was with all the tears and everyone laughed and it went back to normal.

All in all it was a really great night. When we got home and were lying in bed, I said to Boyfriend that I hope someday we'll get a 60th anniversary party like that with all our family surrounding us and he made some joke and I was like, I was trying to be serious. So then he turns over and says to me that he wouldn't mind at all being with me for the next 60 years. I thought that was so sweet, but Boyfriend, being Boyfriend, then had to be cheeky and add that 61 years was probably his limit!

Party Like a Rockstar

Boyfriend, like me, is an energy drink FREAK. For awhile there, he was having 2 a day everyday, but then when he went in for his scuba course's doctor's examination he learned he has slightly high blood pressure and figured 2 energy drinks a day weren't helping that. And I was just as bad; I used to drink between 1-2 sugar free Rockstars everyday while working at the surfshop. When I moved out here I was disappointed in the taste, variety, and size of the energy drinks available. We went to this one concert series called "Rockstar Presents the Taste of Chaos Tour" in Sydney the first year after I moved here and we were all excited to have some Rockstar at the show because if they were sponsoring it, they must also be selling their product at the show, right? Wrong!

After visiting California for the first time, Boyfriend was blown away by the variety of energy drinks we carried....Rockstar, Monster, Lost...and the flavors...punch, cola, random, different coffee flavors, that it was a let down to rely on "V" and RedBull once we got back here. Last year we noticed Coles was finally carrying RockStars: my favorite the sugar free, the regular and a juice one. We went nuts at first and bought one for everyday of the week. Those were what Boyfriend had been drinking 2x daily when he had to slow down for fear of a heart attack.

Just yesterday we went to our local Coles which is pretty small and known for its lack of variety when Boyfriend started pointing at an endcap. There were cans of Monster Energy Drink! We went down the soda aisle and there was the regular, sugar free, and then two other flavors that I didn't recognize...an orange one and a yellow one I think. Anyway, we immediately loaded up our basket with about $15 worth of energy drinks. Boyfriend said he had been waiting for this moment to start drinking energy drinks again. I had my sugar free one at the family bbq last night and it was like sweet heaven on my lips!

Haha, anyway, a dumb thing to post about, I know, but just thought I'd let other energy drink aficionados out there know that Monster is in Australia now and there is something totally comforting about seeing a familiar product on the shelves here.

Up All Night

S is peacefully passed out on my bed right now, still trying to recover from last night’s party and yesterday’s running around to get ready for it.

It was nice to have everyone over to MY house and not to S’s parents place cause it just felt more relaxed and it didn’t matter if there were dishes everywhere or if we were being too loud or all inside, not that they really care, his parents have always been cool when we have people over, it just was more comfortable to me because I hate to leave their kitchen dirty or keep them from sleep for too long. Everyone said nice things about my house, even though it is kind of a shithole. They liked the backyard and, I agree, it is pretty spectacular.

We started talking about the blog because not many people knew I had one. Everyone was interested and wants the link to it, probably to make sure I’m not talking crap about them! Which is understandable because if someone told me they had written something about me online, I’d want to check it out, too, to make sure it was nice. So I’m emailing people the links to this page tomorrow and hopefully they like it. It was good because I got to talk to Tinkerbell about her description on the site, as she had already read it. She was concerned because I had said I was intimidated by her when I first met her and she thought maybe it was something she had done. I didn’t want her to feel bad, because I’ve said to her before that she was intimidating in the beginning, but this time I got to explain it to her and basically all it was is that she was the first of the girls in the group I had met and I was used to the “Mean Girl” mentality of all girls from back home so I just assumed all girls my age were like that everywhere and was just nervous to meet her. Thankfully Tinkerbell is nothing like the girls from back home and that’s why I like being friends with her! But it was good that she read it and that we could have a quick chat about it to clear the air because I definitely didn’t want her to feel weird about anything as she had never done anything to justify me feeling intimidated by her! She also asked about her name and I was like, “Oh, just because of the dress you wore to the races, you looked like Tinkerbell in it.” I don’t know, I thought it was cute, I hope she doesn’t hate the code name too much! Then everyone wanted to know their names on the site and the Soccer Player was like, “I don’t want to be the Soccer Player, I saw myself on film playing soccer last week and I don’t look so good” or something along those lines. Then Croc asked about his name and Croc HATES the internet, wants nothing to do with it, and the Teacher had already warned me about it before she knew I was using code names, but he just laughed and I think he likes that I think of him like Croc Dundee. S totally thinks he’s not going to have any friends left when people start reading this blog, but I just laugh because I like writing down are little group adventures.

So yeah, all yesterday I was rushing around trying to buy all the food for the party, then cooking cupcakes, making lemonade and spinach dip and trying to get the house picked up. S was out back trying to get the yard all set up and just as Tinkerbell and the Farmer and Junior pulled up, he was hopping in the shower and I was throwing on clothes. Junior looked so cute in this shirt S and I had gotten him in CA and he had on little jeans and Etnies and all night long he was scooting around the floor on his butt because I guess he hates crawling. He is such a cute little guy and so flirty, I love it! Then Croc and the Teacher pulled up and started telling us all about their honeymoon to Thailand; bottom line is they wouldn’t recommend going, but it did make for some funny stories! The Teacher and Tinkerbell were a big help to me getting the rest of the food ready that I hadn’t had time to do and then shortly thereafter the Runner, the Smooth Talker, the Hairdresser, and the Soccer Player all showed up. LC and Bob Marley were running late, as they had a family BBQ earlier in the day for LC’s birthday (which is tomorrow). S's brother, who will no longer be called D, but "Bob the Builder" or just "Bob" came over to hang out with us, too, which is good because now that he's not living at home S (who will also be getting a new name on here shortly) doesn't get to see him as often and I know he misses hanging out with Bob. It was nice that he came over and ended up spending the night. The boys hung out in the back and the girls all hung inside. We were going to eat outside until we realized my backyard is pretty pitch black, even with the bonfire going, so everyone piled in to the house. My food went over well and like I said to Tinkerbell, “I love doing this kind of crap” so I was really glad that the hard work paid off and people liked what I had made. Everyone finally hung out by the fire and I sat with Bob Marley who was getting hammered and he was funny to talk to. Like I’ve said before, he is really quiet so it’s always good when he gets going. I think LC was pretty tired from her day so they took off fairly early and Bob Marley yelled back something like, “Fuck off Poofters” as they were leaving my backyard, just out of nowhere and hilarious. The Runner and I walked back in to the house to grab sweatshirts to wear because it is finally starting to get cold out at night here and as we came up to my laundry room a huge possum was swinging around trying to get on the roof. I yelled, “Raccoon” and then felt really dumb because there are no raccoons in Australia, but she knew what I meant. I’m glad I saw it because I was starting to think I was crazy and there weren’t really in my roof and that I was just getting freaked out by the noises of the house settling. Now I’m totally going to call my real estate guys again to have someone come out and catch them because all last night I could barely sleep listening to the possum run around in my ceiling. Croc Dundee then told us stories about trying to wrestle his friend “Singlet” who will hold on to you like a dog with a bone when he’s got you around the neck, but who can’t throw a punch at all. Croc said even the Hairdresser was able to beat Singlet up, which had us all cracking up because Singlet is so stocky and tough looking, you would never guess a girl could punch him out! Croc, the Teacher, the Hairdresser and the Soccer Player all got ready to go after that; they were off to play a prank on someone else in the group before going home and going to bed.

Just before, I went in to the fridge to make lunch from leftovers for me and S and all I found was the last hamburger with a big ole bite taken out of it-Thanks Guys! Anyway, it was a pretty mellow night but everyone seemed to have a good time. I know S really did, so I’m glad.