my little froggy friend... he stuck to the glass fence with his feets. poor little bugger, it was SO hot that day for him in the sun... i think it was 33 or something??
02 December 2004
wow, i SUCK at this!
well, so much for keeping my blog consistently updated. :P it's not like i don't have the time, either, since i'm not working yet.... i can't even COUNT the number of times that i've opened up a window to do a new post, and then been distracted by something.... my skills in procrastination are extraordinary, don't you think?
yuck!
well, here it is, dec. 3rd by my calendar, and oh my gosh, i leave for canada in exactly 2 weeks time! well, not for canada... we leave melbourne on the 17th, fly to sydney for the evening to spend with t's dad and stepmom, and then we leave sydney on the 18th. we go through taipei, and have an 18 hour stopover there, and then finally head to canada at 1pm on the 19th, arriving at 8am... isn't that TOO COOL??? we're going to be traveling back in time! :D literally! that just fascinates me for some reason. ah well, simple things amuse simple minds.
since it is the 3rd, and it's been a month and two weeks since my last post, i should do as i promised, and give some updates, no? let me just consult my calendar, and i'll outline how busy we've been these last 6 weeks.
okay, let's start from the weekend of the 17th of october. i already told you about todd's 10 year reunion, and even posted some pictures from the mayhem in ballarat... let us pick up where we left off...
right, the weekend after (that was the 23rd), we had an oktoberfest party at our house, in conjunction with our neighbour trent. we just kept the doors to both apartments open, and people moved in and out as they pleased, along with occupying the landing for periods of time as well. we had a great turnout, including bozza, brain, matt & caroline, emily & frodo, greg & brook, and heaps of other people from deakin's i.t.s. division (the division that todd works for: information technology services). since our first party-go-er arrived at around 1pm (brain), we thought it wasn't out of line to cut it short at mignight, and go out to dance. todd, bozza, matt, caroline & i all headed down to a club across the street from the uni campus called lamby's, and danced the night away. :D more mayhem ensued, as bozza, on the way home from lamby's, decided he wanted to climb on the roof of a parked car, and as todd and bozza decided to try to walk on their hands. we'll excuse them though, as they were celebrating the opening of todd's bottle of gold label jim beam... 15 year old bourbon, that's a good enough reason as any. (anyone who tells you that aussies don't drink is full of CRAP!!!) anyway... both boz and t were hurtin' units the next day, but i do believe that was t's sacrifice to 'injure' bozza in the same way bozza 'injured' him a few years ago after a soccer match. apparently the night included hiding from the police in a completely transparent glass bus shelter... you get my point. ;)
todd with his stein for the day's festivities.
brain getting cuddly with matt on our couch while caroline has a good laugh.
todd and boz, with the suspect bourbon.
me, doing... ummm... i don't know. but don't you like my t-shirt?
the night after oktoberfest, t and i had tickets to go see a comedian named jimeoin. he's irish, but has been living here in aus for quite awhile... t figures somewhere around the 10 year mark or so. it's the first time i've ever seen comedians live, and OH MY GOSH, it was HILARIOUS!!! i had another cold (OF COURSE), so everytime i laughed, i coughed, but it was well worth it. over the next week, i assaulted my immune system with vitamin c and echinacea... and it worked.
two days later was not a happy day. todd's grampa, john elder galloway, passed away after having a stroke. he'd been in hospital for about the last year, so in a way it was a bit of a relief, but there was still sadness, of course. we drove up to sydney on wednesday, and attended the funeral on thursday. a crappy situation to meet all of my future in-laws. however, i did get to meet them, and they are a great group of people! very caring, open crew, and despite the reason for meeting them, seemed very fun.
todd and i decided not to 'waste' the long trip up, and went sight-seeing in sydney with his dad on friday. it was a very abbreviated version of sight-seeing in sydney, but we'll do a better job of it one day. we also decided on the way home to not waste our trip, and make a slight detour off of our map. we stopped in canberra, the australia capital, and did the tourist thing there as well. it was fun, we stayed in a hostel, went for greek for dinner that night (AMAZING food), and also went up to the telstra tower that night. the next day, we went to see parliament house (sent ourselves a postcard from there), the australian war memorial, and the canadian high commission. at the australian war memorial, we saw a tree that had a leaf that looked like a maple (not sure if it was though), but i took a pic anyway.
i think it's a maple leaf, don't you?
i think i've decided that i have a bit of an obsession with photographing vegetation... it fascinates me, and i have close to 100 pictures (if not more, if you include the non-digital ones) of flowers, etc.... maybe i should seek help?
the next week was pretty low-key. it was the week of the melbourne cup, but we didn't go. i'm kind of glad, because it POURED that day anyway. i'll get to see it next year hopefully. the weekend of nov. 6th, we went to warnambool for a 7-a-side soccer tourney that boz had asked todd to play in with him... funny enough, todd didn't remember committing to it, but i did. (interesting that bozza remembered though!) they ended up doing far better than they thought they would, almost taking their division (out of 4 teams). they ended up losing their last game to the home-town favourites in a sudden-death penalty shoot-out (good job PETE!). ah well, it was all in good fun.
the week of nov. 8th to the 14th was basically non-eventful, except for two things.
1) todd went to queenscliff for a conference for work, and although it's only a 25 minute drive away, stayed there (the whole lot of them did). it was the first time todd and i have been apart for longer than 12 hours in the 3 months that we've been together. it was weird really, because he's totally my best friend, and i missed him like crazy. but, we survived... i watched alot of movies, and he played poker with the boys. :D
2) i DROVE!!!!! okay, for one, this is the first time i've driven since i left canada, and for TWO, they drive on the wrong side of the road here!!!!!! :D i didn't crash, and my only issue is that i kept reaching for my gear shift where my door was, and turned the windshield wipers on everytime i went to turn on the signal light. :P i'm getting better though. i still REACH for the windshield wipers, but i don't actually turn them on anymore before i realize, oh RIGHT, the signal is on the OTHER side of the steering wheel. :P it was fun! :D
the next week after that... the 15th of nov to the 21st... totally uneventful until the last day. todd's first triathlon of the brooks series! http://www.supersprint.com.au if you want to check out how long the distances are for the 6 races, etc. fyi, this one was a 150m swim, 5km ride, and 1.5km run. he came up not too bad, with a total time of 30m28s, placing 152 in the male category. not bad, eh? after that, despite t being totally knackered, we went and visited bozza. poor dude was SICK the night before, bad head cold, and we drug him out of bed! watched the cricket, and went TENPIN BOWLING! it was a blast... and bozza and i decided that todd is a closet alley-rat... the booger got FOUR strikes in our second game!!! i tell ya, he's not going into work early on those days he says he is... he's going bowling! he won't admit it though... he's too ashamed of the truth!!! :D
todd at the beginning of the run portion of the triathlon.
the next week was again, uneventful, that is, until the weekend came along. todd and i flew up to newcastle to go visit his dad, doug, and doug's partner, margaret, at their home in forster, new south wales. it was absolutely GORGEOUS up there, and we had a nice relaxing weekend, sun-bathing, swimming in their pool, playing with their dog roy, and just visiting with doug and margaret away from the hubub of the city, and without the cloud overhanging of jack's death and funeral (todd's grampa). we had some great meals, i tried kangaroo sausages, and i baked a granny smith apple pie for doug. (mmm... pie...) we didn't take as many pictures as we should have, but we did take a few, mainly of the reptiles. (no mom, no snakes.) we came home from the farmer's market on saturday to find a gecko in the house, so margaret and i cornered him to put him outside, and t took a pic or 2 of me holding him... and a little froggy decided to come out next to the pool, and i took a couple of pics of him too. the birds were absolutely GORGEOUS up there, so colourful and tropical! all in all, a wonderful weekend, and we were disappointed to come home. (i haven't posted any pics from that weekend 'cause they're still all on the camera, i'll do that this weekend.)
well, that brings us up to speed!
this weekend is busy too... with tea party on the agenda for saturday night, and then rollerblading in middle park again on sunday, along with a meeting with some of t's high school buds for his OTHER 10 year reunion. this meeting isn't the reunion itself, that's actually on the 11th, this is just a planning meeting, since t is one of the ones helping with it. and well, next week is again, low-key, until the weekend... with the reunion on the saturday, and then t's next triathlon on the sunday..... then 5 days later, we're OUTTA HERE!
not sure if i'll get to post again before we leave... packing and all that jazz, ya know? but, if not, i'll have some GREAT stories to post either when we get back from canada, or while we're there... including stories about snowboarding (skismithers, silver star, and mt. baker), parties (christmas party for the grill, new years with my dad's family, going out with fluff), good food, and visiting tons of great people.
i hope to get to see y'all when i'm there!
kisses, d.
yuck!
well, here it is, dec. 3rd by my calendar, and oh my gosh, i leave for canada in exactly 2 weeks time! well, not for canada... we leave melbourne on the 17th, fly to sydney for the evening to spend with t's dad and stepmom, and then we leave sydney on the 18th. we go through taipei, and have an 18 hour stopover there, and then finally head to canada at 1pm on the 19th, arriving at 8am... isn't that TOO COOL??? we're going to be traveling back in time! :D literally! that just fascinates me for some reason. ah well, simple things amuse simple minds.
since it is the 3rd, and it's been a month and two weeks since my last post, i should do as i promised, and give some updates, no? let me just consult my calendar, and i'll outline how busy we've been these last 6 weeks.
okay, let's start from the weekend of the 17th of october. i already told you about todd's 10 year reunion, and even posted some pictures from the mayhem in ballarat... let us pick up where we left off...
right, the weekend after (that was the 23rd), we had an oktoberfest party at our house, in conjunction with our neighbour trent. we just kept the doors to both apartments open, and people moved in and out as they pleased, along with occupying the landing for periods of time as well. we had a great turnout, including bozza, brain, matt & caroline, emily & frodo, greg & brook, and heaps of other people from deakin's i.t.s. division (the division that todd works for: information technology services). since our first party-go-er arrived at around 1pm (brain), we thought it wasn't out of line to cut it short at mignight, and go out to dance. todd, bozza, matt, caroline & i all headed down to a club across the street from the uni campus called lamby's, and danced the night away. :D more mayhem ensued, as bozza, on the way home from lamby's, decided he wanted to climb on the roof of a parked car, and as todd and bozza decided to try to walk on their hands. we'll excuse them though, as they were celebrating the opening of todd's bottle of gold label jim beam... 15 year old bourbon, that's a good enough reason as any. (anyone who tells you that aussies don't drink is full of CRAP!!!) anyway... both boz and t were hurtin' units the next day, but i do believe that was t's sacrifice to 'injure' bozza in the same way bozza 'injured' him a few years ago after a soccer match. apparently the night included hiding from the police in a completely transparent glass bus shelter... you get my point. ;)
todd with his stein for the day's festivities.
brain getting cuddly with matt on our couch while caroline has a good laugh.
todd and boz, with the suspect bourbon.
me, doing... ummm... i don't know. but don't you like my t-shirt?
the night after oktoberfest, t and i had tickets to go see a comedian named jimeoin. he's irish, but has been living here in aus for quite awhile... t figures somewhere around the 10 year mark or so. it's the first time i've ever seen comedians live, and OH MY GOSH, it was HILARIOUS!!! i had another cold (OF COURSE), so everytime i laughed, i coughed, but it was well worth it. over the next week, i assaulted my immune system with vitamin c and echinacea... and it worked.
two days later was not a happy day. todd's grampa, john elder galloway, passed away after having a stroke. he'd been in hospital for about the last year, so in a way it was a bit of a relief, but there was still sadness, of course. we drove up to sydney on wednesday, and attended the funeral on thursday. a crappy situation to meet all of my future in-laws. however, i did get to meet them, and they are a great group of people! very caring, open crew, and despite the reason for meeting them, seemed very fun.
todd and i decided not to 'waste' the long trip up, and went sight-seeing in sydney with his dad on friday. it was a very abbreviated version of sight-seeing in sydney, but we'll do a better job of it one day. we also decided on the way home to not waste our trip, and make a slight detour off of our map. we stopped in canberra, the australia capital, and did the tourist thing there as well. it was fun, we stayed in a hostel, went for greek for dinner that night (AMAZING food), and also went up to the telstra tower that night. the next day, we went to see parliament house (sent ourselves a postcard from there), the australian war memorial, and the canadian high commission. at the australian war memorial, we saw a tree that had a leaf that looked like a maple (not sure if it was though), but i took a pic anyway.
i think it's a maple leaf, don't you?
i think i've decided that i have a bit of an obsession with photographing vegetation... it fascinates me, and i have close to 100 pictures (if not more, if you include the non-digital ones) of flowers, etc.... maybe i should seek help?
the next week was pretty low-key. it was the week of the melbourne cup, but we didn't go. i'm kind of glad, because it POURED that day anyway. i'll get to see it next year hopefully. the weekend of nov. 6th, we went to warnambool for a 7-a-side soccer tourney that boz had asked todd to play in with him... funny enough, todd didn't remember committing to it, but i did. (interesting that bozza remembered though!) they ended up doing far better than they thought they would, almost taking their division (out of 4 teams). they ended up losing their last game to the home-town favourites in a sudden-death penalty shoot-out (good job PETE!). ah well, it was all in good fun.
the week of nov. 8th to the 14th was basically non-eventful, except for two things.
1) todd went to queenscliff for a conference for work, and although it's only a 25 minute drive away, stayed there (the whole lot of them did). it was the first time todd and i have been apart for longer than 12 hours in the 3 months that we've been together. it was weird really, because he's totally my best friend, and i missed him like crazy. but, we survived... i watched alot of movies, and he played poker with the boys. :D
2) i DROVE!!!!! okay, for one, this is the first time i've driven since i left canada, and for TWO, they drive on the wrong side of the road here!!!!!! :D i didn't crash, and my only issue is that i kept reaching for my gear shift where my door was, and turned the windshield wipers on everytime i went to turn on the signal light. :P i'm getting better though. i still REACH for the windshield wipers, but i don't actually turn them on anymore before i realize, oh RIGHT, the signal is on the OTHER side of the steering wheel. :P it was fun! :D
the next week after that... the 15th of nov to the 21st... totally uneventful until the last day. todd's first triathlon of the brooks series! http://www.supersprint.com.au if you want to check out how long the distances are for the 6 races, etc. fyi, this one was a 150m swim, 5km ride, and 1.5km run. he came up not too bad, with a total time of 30m28s, placing 152 in the male category. not bad, eh? after that, despite t being totally knackered, we went and visited bozza. poor dude was SICK the night before, bad head cold, and we drug him out of bed! watched the cricket, and went TENPIN BOWLING! it was a blast... and bozza and i decided that todd is a closet alley-rat... the booger got FOUR strikes in our second game!!! i tell ya, he's not going into work early on those days he says he is... he's going bowling! he won't admit it though... he's too ashamed of the truth!!! :D
todd at the beginning of the run portion of the triathlon.
the next week was again, uneventful, that is, until the weekend came along. todd and i flew up to newcastle to go visit his dad, doug, and doug's partner, margaret, at their home in forster, new south wales. it was absolutely GORGEOUS up there, and we had a nice relaxing weekend, sun-bathing, swimming in their pool, playing with their dog roy, and just visiting with doug and margaret away from the hubub of the city, and without the cloud overhanging of jack's death and funeral (todd's grampa). we had some great meals, i tried kangaroo sausages, and i baked a granny smith apple pie for doug. (mmm... pie...) we didn't take as many pictures as we should have, but we did take a few, mainly of the reptiles. (no mom, no snakes.) we came home from the farmer's market on saturday to find a gecko in the house, so margaret and i cornered him to put him outside, and t took a pic or 2 of me holding him... and a little froggy decided to come out next to the pool, and i took a couple of pics of him too. the birds were absolutely GORGEOUS up there, so colourful and tropical! all in all, a wonderful weekend, and we were disappointed to come home. (i haven't posted any pics from that weekend 'cause they're still all on the camera, i'll do that this weekend.)
well, that brings us up to speed!
this weekend is busy too... with tea party on the agenda for saturday night, and then rollerblading in middle park again on sunday, along with a meeting with some of t's high school buds for his OTHER 10 year reunion. this meeting isn't the reunion itself, that's actually on the 11th, this is just a planning meeting, since t is one of the ones helping with it. and well, next week is again, low-key, until the weekend... with the reunion on the saturday, and then t's next triathlon on the sunday..... then 5 days later, we're OUTTA HERE!
not sure if i'll get to post again before we leave... packing and all that jazz, ya know? but, if not, i'll have some GREAT stories to post either when we get back from canada, or while we're there... including stories about snowboarding (skismithers, silver star, and mt. baker), parties (christmas party for the grill, new years with my dad's family, going out with fluff), good food, and visiting tons of great people.
i hope to get to see y'all when i'm there!
kisses, d.
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