My Work Day, by the Numbers

Number of minutes late...

Departing my house: 11 (0641)

Arriving at the hospital for 0730 meeting: -11 (0719 arrival)

Starting the staff meeting: 6

Traffic...

School buses and other vehicles driving 5 mph under the speed limit: 3

Yellow lights sped through: 2

Gracefulness...

Panera bags and boxes to carry for breakfast meeting: 5

Panera handles that ripped off and sent breakfast items tumbling onto parking lot: 1

Times dropping my personal laptop onto the pavement: 1

Laptop cords tripped over: 3

Coffee spills down the front of my sweater: 2

Stains removed from sweater using soap & water: 0

Head-Desk...

Corrections to meeting minutes (by one incredibly picky manager): 8

Go-To-Meeting problems: at least 10

Times that I had to mute a director who was causing an echo: 6

Minutes meeting took: 107 

Winning...

People given OJ and coffee from my cart who I met passing in the halls: 7

Working Hours left until my 4 day weekend: 6

Days until vacation: 10  

Just keep swimming running. Another 5k Friday. And a date to see Catching Fire tomorrow. And my third year of attending an awesome Thanksgiving celebration with friends who are family to me. Unfortunately Jay has to work, so we'll be having second Thanksgiving with my mother on Saturday. Hopefully there will also be some time to pack this weekend.

My Week

It's been a very busy week at work and home. So not much time for posts.

Had to put up this sign at work... people here have problems closing the fridge door 

Yesterday I performed surgery on our laminating machine. File this under "other duties as assigned."

And some leftover bananas from our trip to Lake Rawlings that never made it out of the back window of my car. Yuck.

This afternoon I'm off to Lewes, DE for a stress-free weekend with many of my favorite ladies. I am looking forward to margaritas and slutty pumpkins. We are planning on relaxing, drinking and stuffing our faces. And maybe a run on Saturday at the park and some kayaking.

I am debating whether it's worth it to bring my camera. I'm sure there will be lots of opportunities for photos, but I don't think I want to deal with anything bigger than my iphone.

West Virginia, Chicken Drama, Running and SCUBA... BUSY!

Last weekend we packed up the family and headed down to visit our friends at Snowshoe, WV.

It also happened to be the same weekend as Blues, Brews & BBQ. Perfect timing.

Our friends' daughter Grace was turning 2, so we brought her some books. However, we didn't want her almost 4 year old brother to feel left out, so Jay picked out a book for him.

Blues, Brews, BBQ and... ziplining?

I tried the Nutty Blonde from Morgantown Brewing Company. Oddly delicious!

Grace grew tired of her birthday tutu, so everyone took turns wearing it.

Jay... everyone's favorite uncle.

Double yolker from one of our Anconas

We arrived home to discover that two of our new girls finally started laying... AND one of our roosters was missing. A few feathers were the only clue of his disappearance.

Post-run and filthy from wing clipping. This is Lucky, no worse for the wear after her neck degloving injury when she was two weeks old

Monday morning I received a phone call from one of my girlfriends. A neighbor had posted on my Facebook page that a dog was attacking our chickens. That explains what happened to the rooster!

I'm pretty sure that the dog belongs to one of the neighbors at the end of our village, but of course they don't keep it confined to a yard or tied up. I can't blame the poor dog, it's the people that are the problem. Our neighbor called animal control who caught it and took it to the humane society. The animal control officer said that someone pulled in the driveway after they caught the dog. The person claimed that the dog had been hanging out there and they thought that the previous owners had left it. I don't buy it for a second... I'm sure that the person was just worried about getting in trouble.

The neighbor managed to get the hen away from the dog. It looks like it was my silver laced wyandotte, who is a gorgeous bird. She doesn't appear to have any blood or wounds fortunately. Poor girl.

The flighty hens (Anconas, White Marans, Easter Eggers and Wyandottes) all had their wings clipped when I got home from my run at Adkins Arboretum. No more escaping their run to get into trouble. Only supervised free ranging from here on out!

Running is going well. I'm slow, but I've been sticking with the C25k program. I start Week 6 with my next run. Last night I was supposed to run 20 minutes straight with no stopping. I opted for a lovely wooded path that turned out to be narrow and filled with roots and spiderwebs. So between the arachnoleptic fits and tripping over things, I made it to 11 minutes before I had to walk. However, I only walked for a minute & a half before finishing the rest of the program. Not too shabby.

Our SCUBA class is almost over. It's been a lot of fun and I will miss the regular pool work. I never thought that I would end up being so comfortable underwater - especially considering my fear of deep water. The difficulties that I had doing the skills during Discover SCUBA in Australia are almost laughable to me now. I can now set up my gear, doff and don my SCUBA equipment at depth and the surface, remove & replace my mask and clear it, use an alternate air source, recover my regulator, maintain neutral buoyancy (it's admittedly a work in progress), do a tired diver tow, all sorts of things.

The final exam is on Wednesday and we'll be doing our open water checkout dives on September 28th and 29th at Lake Rawlings. I was hoping to get our Advanced Open Water course completed next... which we really could do by mid-October. However, we are hoping to buy a new car by the end of the year and we need to put any extra cash towards a down payment. Not to mention that we'll probably be spending a lot of money when we get our puppy! No word on a breeding yet, so it looks like we'll be bringing home puppy closer to Christmas or even January.

That's the latest dirt! 

Wordless Wednesday

The problem with planning group vacations

At the beginning of the year, I was at Harry’s with my girlfriends sipping cocktails and having a great time. Since Australia was looming on the horizon, we were talking about vacations and wouldn’t it be fun if we could all go somewhere together!?

I have that timeshare in the Dominican Republic.

We all squealed with excitement. Let’s do it! December!

In the following weeks, lists were made. There had to be the perfect mix of people… we wanted no-drama, fun people. Folks were blacklisted. If you fought publicly with your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, you were out. Like a wedding, there were more friends we wanted to invite than we could accommodate. Even worse, we had to divide the list between us – Jay and I could only invite at most 5 people each. So we narrowed the list to those most likely to say yes. For me, that ended up being only the girlfriends (and their intended guests) present at Harry’s.

I made arrangements with a Shareholder Lifestyle Vacation Club friend to use one of her weeks to get a better deal (saving $180 a person on the all-inclusive fee). The $1200 all-inclusive price (including airfare) made this trip a no-brainer. Cheaper than a week in Ocean City. Seriously, who could say no?

After careful planning, an email was sent to the chosen few.

There was a lot of initial enthusiasm with the first responses.

Can’t wait!

The wheels fell off the cart a few weeks ago. People who had given us verbal confirmations were now turning down the invitation. Initially, we weren’t concerned… there were others that we’d love to have. But those were also the folks we thought wouldn’t be able to make it for one reason or another.

I think - Maybe we’ll cancel it altogether, save our vacation time and go somewhere we really want to go next year, like Europe. Or maybe get back to Australia to see Nancy and Darryl. Get to see Uluru and maybe even Perth.

Then our friends found a good airfare. They asked me if it was still happening. We had six people (us, the other couple and two of my girlfriends) at that point, so I said go ahead and book it.

Four days later, I got an email from my girlfriends. They were really sorry, but they had an awesome opportunity come up for another vacation in September. Basically the kind of thing that was much more exciting than the Dominican Republic. 

Having done much of the planning with them, I was majorly bummed. However, my husband was seriously pissed off. This was their idea to begin with! 

Then there was a message from an invited couple who weren't able to make it because of a new job. They had a suggestion:  Ryan and Kristy LOVE to travel! We mentioned it to them and they would be interested.

Umm, okay but we didn’t invite them. They’re a lot of fun, but I’ve only hung out with them a handful of times. And of course we’re friends on Facebook. Could they be a secret disaster on vacation? Hopefully not. I sent Kristy a message on Facebook about the trip.

Count us in, this place looks amazing.

And then…

Please let me know when you guys get the airfare, I am not an experienced traveler. This would be my first trip out of the US. Thanks.

I know that I’m a travel snob. Especially compared to most Americans. I acknowledge this. But how can someone say that they love to travel when they’ve never been out of the good old USA?

Anyone want to go to Puerto Plata December 7^th-14^th? (I'm serious, we need at least two more people or it will be an extra $67 a person)

We'll save you a drink!

Or will we? 

Couch 25k First Week

Tonight I did my third run of Couch 25k. I'm so glad that I have two days to rest... I pushed myself a little too hard tonight and am pretty sore. 

But you know what? I'm not dead yet!

Sunday I'll start week two. Hopefully I'll be more patient next week and not push myself so hard.

This is my first day. Actually wasn't too bad.

My second day was awful... it was hot, I felt like crap and I was exhausted. I was just happy to survive.

Today felt like the best day and obviously it was based on my average speed and everything. However, my body is paying for it. I stupidly threw in a few intervals of higher intensity running when I shouldn't have. Consequently, my knees and feet aren't very happy with me at the moment. Progress not perfection. I need to remember this. I'm not going to be able to run a 5k tomorrow or even next week. I have to build up to it or I'm going to hurt myself (as usual). 

Last night was our first SCUBA class and as luck would have it, we had our swim test. In order to get your open water certification, you're required to swim 200 yards (untimed and any style) and float/tread water for ten minutes. Thinking of my previous exercises of death in the pool, I thought "no problem." Hell, I was swimming 100 yards using just my arms and not kicking. I neglected to remember that the last time that I did exercises of death in the pool was two months ago. Yeah. Oops. So my bad-ass self decides to go into the locker room and grab my goggles so that I can show my 15 classmates (who have already started) what an awesome swimmer I am. 

Did I mention that all 15 of us were also confined to two lanes because the college wasn't prepared for us? Talk about a total clusterf*ck.

By the time I re-entered the pool area, everyone had already completed about 100 yards of their swim. No big deal, right? I dove in. The water was as warm as bathwater. Gross. Right after I dove in, my band-aid started flopping around. Great. I'd just had blood drawn at the doctor's office before class, so I ripped off the band-aid and started swimming with the latex-cotton-mess in my fist. Not sure if you've ever swam with a closed fist before, but it's not too easy. I passed a few of my classmates, trying to make up for my time out of the pool and catch up... but not so easily done with my closed fist. On the start of my 3rd lap, I saw Jay coming towards me in the next lane (finishing his swim). I begged him to take my soggy blood-soaked band-aid. It took some convincing, but he's a pretty awesome husband. 

I was finally free to use both my hands effectively.

About 100 yards into my swim, I started to suck air. The pool was too warm, I'd just eaten Chipotle, and I'd had an awful run the day before. I stopped trying to impress everyone and flipped on to my back. By this time, everyone was out of the water and watching the stragglers finish. Swimming on my back was too easy. I was trying so hard to get it over with that I wasn't paying attention and whacked myself in the head at the end of the pool. After that fiasco, I decided to watch where I was going so that I didn't run into any more walls. The problem is that I'm not very good at the crawl and am much better at the breast stroke. Which of course is slower and requires more energy. So everyone watched as I took my sweet ass time on the last 50 yards. But I refused to doggy paddle. And I passed the test. 

So this week I've had two wins. I'll take them.

No big plans for this weekend, which is just what I need.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

101 in 1001 or 202 in 21

Here is our 202 list... the list isn't perfect. I think there are a few things and ideas repeated, but I've managed to assemble things in a somewhat chronological order.

I'll post my itinerary soon with photos from each day.

As you can see with number one, we began our journey in New Jersey on May 10th.

1. Make a left in Jersey
2. Fall in love with Air New Zealand's Premium Economy
3. Cuddle a koala
4. Feed a kangaroo
5. Get molested by lorikeets
6. Be involved in an AFA (automatic fire alarm - this happened in Coolangatta)
7. Watch surfers
8. Walkabout
9. Use a public restroom (OZ has tons of really nice ones!!)
10. Try a flat white coffee
11. Eat beef cheeks
12. Try out SCUBA diving
13. Pet a sea turtle
14. Not get bitten by a carpet shark (Jay thought our dive instructor wanted him to pet it)
15. Find Nemo (found him MANY times!)
16. Watch the sun rise in Coolangatta
17. Pet a fish 
18. Play Apples to Apples
19. Jaywalk comfortably (it's harder than it looks when you're used to right-hand side driving)
20. Stand between two states (NSW and QLD)
21. Find a spot for dad in Coolangatta (he's in the dunes and under a pine tree - I thought he'd enjoy all the lorikeets)
22. Sing with Aunt Nancy (we had a little concert on my last night there)
23. Swallow a live fly (Jay drank a fly in his wineglass)
24. Find Whites Beach (black sand - we found a similar beach in Bayview, NZ)
25. Try Australian pizza 
26. Make a u-turn on the runway (Proserpine Airport is TINY!)
27. Concerns a boat... activity is censored! :)
28. Pee off of a boat
29. Not shower for two days (pact made by fellow Whitsunday Getaway couples)
30. Step in cow poo
31. Walk down railroad tracks
32. Find and try Korean BBQ (AWESOME - in Townsville)
33. Book the last hotel room (at the holiday inn in Townsville)
34. Smash toe in hotel room (seriously who puts a 1" metal lip between the bedroom and bathroom?)
35. Get freaked out in Dimbulah
36. Go over a scary f'n bridge (Destination Truth style!!)
37. Go through the Bismarck Range
38. Share the road.... with cows
39. Drive in the dark
40. Walk in a rainforest
41. Spot for dad in Daintree Rainforest (Daintree Discovery Center - seemed like his kinda place)
42. Eat rainforest ice cream
43. Ride a ferry (across croc-infested waters)
44. Go on a croc river cruise
45. Eat kangaroo (at the Daintree Tea House)
46. Drive windy roads in Daintree (and not die)
47. Figure out how to use air conditioning in hotel room (took us two hours - had to put our hotel key in a slot)
48. Chat with locals (yep, lots of that)
49. See how racist locals are (OMG the racism in OZ was bizarre)
50. Get elfed by a 9 year old (in Almaden of all places)
51. Feel like we were on Destination Truth (so many times)
52. Not see any wildlife in Daintree Discovery Center. $60
53. Have a wine and cheese night
54. Something censored to do with the Outback
55. Take pictures of Australian chickens
56. Steal an Outback newspaper (front page was about the Wheelbarrow Race)
57. Drive over a waterfall (did this several times)
58. See wild crocodiles
59. See a baby crocodile
60. Attempt to sneak into zoo at night (then later find out it was open and we could've gone in)
61. Feed a cassowary
62. Feed an animal prosciutto
63. Feed a wallaby
64. Get eaten by mosquitoes
65. Stay at a hotel in a zoo
66. Finish Kvothe (the Kingkiller Chronicles) - this was super sadface, we enjoyed this audiobook. Hope the author comes out with a new book soon!
67. Draw on each other (I think this happened on the wine and cheese night)
68. Eat strong and bitey cheese (I love what they call stuff over there)
69. Have Cuban rum
70. Enjoy the best mojito ever at Fish d'vine 
71. Boop a kangaroo
72. Pat a kookaburra
73. Pat a dingo 
74. Feed a croc prosciutto
75. Watch croc attack a piece of cured meat
76. Poke a squirrel glider
77. Feed a wallaby (hmm. it appears we did that in 63. oh well)
78. Feed a cockatoo or twenty
79. Taunt a cassowary
80. Something to do with a rainforest
81. Have a wallaby growl at you
82. Have a dingo snap at you
83. Get bitten by an emu
84. Touch a wombat
85. Feed a cassowary (oops, 61)
86. Feed a kookaburra
87. Start a croc feeding frenzy (oops! apparently they really enjoy salami - who knew?)
88. Break tooth on salami
89. Baby bird a croc (see breaking tooth on salami)
90. Boop a quolle
91. Visit the Giant Mango in Bowen
92. Dive 3 sites in the Great Barrier Reef - the Agincourt Reef and Low Isles on Poseidon
93. Learn more dive skills and actually be tested and expect to do stuff
94. Take regulator out of mouth on purpose
95. See a white-tipped reef shark
96. Hold a sea cucumber
97. Nearly get puked on
98. Ride the vomit comet
99. Run into Sally & Chris on the dock having happy hour after getting off dive boat
100. Surf the Bay on the front of the Poseidon a la Titanic
101. Stinky Plastic Couple - Ewww.
102. Get offered free drinks at the Sea Temple because our rooms weren't ready - AND WE WERE EARLY for check in!
103. Have a private hot tub session
104. BBQ our own food at Sea Temple on our rooftop deck
105. Wash a pack of cigarettes and try to hide it (Jay was supposed to quit smoking for this trip, but brought an emergency pack... he washed nearly the whole thing and made quite a mess)
106. Get upgraded to nice apartment
107. Buy souvenirs
108. Stay at Horse and Jockey in at Matamata
109. Have a terrible fried dinner at the Horse and Jockey (pork wontons and curly fries)
110. Hear neighbors in next room peeing because of hole in the wall
111. Leave Horse & Jockey via the fire exit
112. Go from six people in our tour group at Hobbiton to fifty
113. Have a rather obnoxious tour guide at Hobbiton
114. Have a half pint at the Green Dragon
115. Get called a "Little Hobbit"
116. See bag End
117. See Gandalf's limb
118. Discover why the toilet squatting sign exists (in Hobbiton)
119. Hobbiton - where the urinal cakes are hobbit-sized and so are the beers
120. Have an awesome dinner at HuHu Cafe
121. Have awesome dessert at HuHu Cafe
122. Have best culinary experience EVER at HuHu (Waitomo)
123. Sleep in a Hobbit Motel
124. Meet Barry aka Billy Black
125. Abseil 35 meters and not get stuck or die
126. Zipline in pitch black under glow worms
127. Jump into freezing cold water (10C)
128. Ride a tube underground (blackwater raft)
129. Cave slide 
130. Survive double waterfall of death
131. Get invited hunting in Mississippi (and met our first Americans)
132. Stub toe on rock after caving trip and lose a toenail
133. Something about hot springs
134. Go skinny dipping in hot spring
135. Eat good Thai food
136. Something about a trailer
137. See Mount Doom from our breakfast table
138. Simply walk into Mordor (we figure that if we could see Mt Doom from our breakfast table, we were already in Mordor)
139. Have a disgusting cider (Elderflower & Apple and Black currant & Apple)
140. Pass a tractor without incident
141. Visit our new kiwi friends in Bayview/Napier (Sally & Chris)
142. Go on black beach and find cool shit
143. Find a spot for dad in Hawkes Bay (at the end of Franklin Road on the beach)
144. Get a private tour of Napier/Hastings by kiwis
145. Do a tasting at Cidery and TeMATA
146. Learn about scrumpy hands, possum and cone - best drinking games ever
147. Have an authentic kiwi dinner (roast & 3-veg)
148. Get completely shitfaced (7 bottles of wine, 2L scrumpy and a 6 pack of beer consumed by 4 people)
149. Eat a roach (that was all Jay - quite the entomologist this trip!)
150. Draw best map of USA ever 
151. Sleep in a vineyard (they grow Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot & Chardonnay varieties)
152. Spill stuff on our gracious hosts' carpet
153. Go wandering about hosts' house in underwear
154. Sleep naked in another bed from where you initially were sleeping (and wake up with no idea where you are)
155. Soak up spillage with socks
156. Wake up and have no idea where your husband is
157. Black out from Scrumpy (or everything else)
158. Drink 3 bottles of 2004 award-winning wine
159. Exclaim, "What the fuck happened last night??"
160. Puke
161. Consider leaving before your hosts wake up
162. Get invited to stay a second night
163. Try Ginger Beer
164. Drive with one of the worst hangovers ever (on the other side of the road through crazy mountain passes and one lane bridges_
165. Have a good lunch in Rotorua (Mac's Steaks)
166. Walk Lake Trail in Rotorua
167. Watch Asians with cameras feed birds an entire loaf of bread (despite signs)
168. Take a dump in a public toilet
169. See an Indian (presumable American Indian??) on horseback walk down a sidewalk in Tauranga
170. Learn Tauranga is not a place we want to stay
171. Pay a toll
172. Arrive in Mount Maunganui after doubting its existence (drove forever through shipyards)
173. Discover it's difficult to book hotels during the Queen's Birthday Weekend (observed June 3rd 2013)
174. Book the last available hotel in town at Macca's using their free wifi (Baywatch Motor Inn)
175. Develop a disturbing arrythmia (this was Jay, he eventually got better... we think it was due to an electrolyte imbalance from the puking/drinking plus lack of sleep)
176. Have the best pork belly ever (Latitude 37 or Vine in Taupo)
177. See (and play) the FJ Cruiser game
178. Tip a grateful waitress at Latitude 37
179. Find a spot for dad in Mt Maunganui
180. Avoid getting run into by runner (there was some kind of crazy run/walk/bike ride thing happening there)
181. Eat mincemeat pie - delicious!
182. Walk across a CRAZY bridge
183. Start a parking trend
184. Almost get run over by a mountain biker
185. Spot a giant mushroom
186. Successfully drop off rental car
187. Take a weird-ass bus ride
188. Spot homeless people (they're pretty much the same worldwide) - then consider giving them a bottle of wine
189. Mistakenly see Auckland by staying on a bus too long
190. Be surprised by an awesome dinner at Lord Nelson's in Auckland
191. Get a second Skycouch AND be undercharged for it
192. Catch the airport bus perfectly
193. Be test subjects for the egate (I was denied!)
194. Find and buy Cuban rum
195. Debate merits of buying a sheepskin rug at the airport. In hindsight, I kinda wish we had. Even though I have no idea what I'd do with it.
196. Kick a guy off Skycouch
197. Something about Cuban rum. What? You want mojitos?
198. Walk on Manhattan Beach Pier (back in CA)
199. Run into couple from our flight to the US from New Zealand (South Islanders) at El Sombrero in Manhattan Beach. They were heading to the Caribbean to spend a few months on a friend's yacht. You know, since their growing season is over (another vineyard owning couple).
200. Not lose wallet in El Segundo
201. Get Roxie to start (it took some coaxing, sweet girl... she has nearly 300k on her and she was sitting for THREE WEEKS!)
202. Survive the trip, including the drive home

Experiences and Choices

I'll apologize for this rambling post. There have been a few different versions as I was trying to work stuff out. I considered never posting it at all, but just in case it helps someone out, I thought I should put it out there. Maybe someone googles, "reverse culture shock" or "yearning for something more." Or maybe even "crumb snatchers." Who knows. But I hope that someone reads it and can relate to it.

Yes, this place is real. I've been there. I took the picture.

Since I returned from my trip, I’ve been suffering from reverse culture shock. Yes, I know it's a bit ridiculous since I was gone for only three weeks. Plenty of other people go on holiday, ahem, vacation for a month or longer, although not typically in the good ole USA. People hardly even use all of their meager vacation time here. On the other side of the ocean (in either direction), lots of young adults take gap years to travel the world. Oh how I envy them.

Your experiences change you. Sometimes the changes are temporary; others are permanent changes.

When I was 25 and my father died, it changed me permanently. It aged me in many ways. I realized that nothing is ever certain. It made me desperate to cling to anything that was the norm while he was alive (i.e. ex-boyfriend who I should’ve ditched way sooner). It made me a little on the impulsive side… since nothing was ever certain, why not live for today and for this very moment. I did a lot of stupid shit. 

But… I learned. Time and experience are the best teachers. Time and experience can change you. Yes, you’re still you… but a better version of you (hopefully).

Visiting Australia and New Zealand has changed me. In some ways I know that the changes will be temporary; jet lag, being back at work, driving (okay, riding – Jay did all the driving) on the other side of the road… the usual stuff. Mostly it's given me a yearning for something more. A new childlike wonder of the world - it's such an amazing place. People on the other side of the planet speak our language, yet are different in so many ways from us. For the first time, I think I would be more than capable of joining Josh Gates and his crew from Destination Truth. Searching for ghosts in Antarctica? That sounds fun! Diving to search for mermaids in Israel? Count me in! 

Survived the double waterfalls of doom. One of the craziest things I've ever done and I loved every second.

My life seems to have come to a crossroads. Or maybe I just think it’s at a crossroads. Maybe this wouldn’t be so panic-inducing if this hadn’t come at a time when we are finished the house, financially stable and planning for little crumb snatchers. Maybe because of aforementioned crumb snatchers, I want a better life for them. A better life for them and me - which means getting as far away as possible from immediate family members who drive me mad. Or maybe I'm just enjoying my life so much that I'm worried that kids will put a damper on my vacation plans. Sorry kids, we're not going to Disneyland - we're going to Uruguay.

There is an Aborigine with a didgeridoo in this picture. I wish I'd been able to frame him playing it.

Australia is an amazing country. I love the people, the lifestyle, the egalitarian society, the free healthcare. Australia is a liberal’s utopian world (apart from the blatant racism that I witnessed, which was bizarre and went against everything they seem to stand for). They eat healthier and seem to take better care of themselves than Americans. People there are engaged with each other; you see them being more aware of their surroundings and not occupied with their phones. And most of them seem genuinely happy. 

Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors (I swear I'm going somewhere with this). Perhaps it’s because he writes travel books and I adore his sense of humor. His book In a Sunburned Country is my current favorite. After visiting the country, there is just no way that I could better summarize Australia.

Here are two of my favorite excerpts:

“The fact is, of course, we pay shamefully scant attention to our dear cousins Down Under- not entirely without reason, of course. Australia is after all mostly empty and a long way away. Its population, just over 18 million, is small by world standards - China grows by a larger amount each year- and its place in the world economy is  consequently peripheral; as an economic entity, it ranks about level with Illinois. Its sports are of little interest to us and the last television series it made that we watched with avidity was Skippy. From time to time it sends us useful things-opals, merino wool, Errol Flynn, the boomerang - but nothing we can't actually do without. Above all, Australia doesn't misbehave. It is stable and peaceful and good. It doesn't have coups, recklessly overfish, arm disagreeable despots, grow coca in provocative quantities, or throw its weight around in a brash and unseemly manner.”  (since publication Australia's population is now at 23 million)

“The people are immensely likable— cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted, and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water. They have a society that is prosperous, well ordered, and instinctively egalitarian. The food is excellent. The beer is cold. The sun nearly always shines. There is coffee on every corner. Rupert Murdoch no longer lives there. Life doesn't get much better than this.” 

When I arrived in Brisbane and hopped in my aunt’s car, I felt like I was going home. It felt strangely familiar. Three days spent in Coolangatta reminded me of going to Rehoboth Beach as a kid. It just felt right.

So I’m mourning the loss of my vacation and missing my auntie. I’m also wishing that I didn’t have this daily drudgery of going to work. I wish that I could do something else. In Australia, of course. What that is, I’m not quite sure. Don't get me wrong, I have a great job here. It pays well for the area (it should for some of the crap I put up with) and I have a nice flexible schedule. I even like most of the people that I work with. I also have FANTASTIC health insurance. Vacation time, not so much. But yes, it's a job and I am thrilled to be there.

Then there is the question:  Would my personality type even allow me to have a job that I adored 90% of the time before getting bored? I've probably changed my mind 10 times in my adult life about what I want to be when I "grow up." Just in the past year I've given serious thought to becoming a nurse or a social worker. Even my associate's degree is in general studies. With an emphasis in psych and business, of course. One of these days I need to just pick something and get a 4 year degree. One day. Here or somewhere else.

Maybe I could be a professional expressionist? Is that a  job? I'm great at making faces!

Okay, enough with the rambling. The next paragraph is what I've been trying to get at this whole time.

Since I’ve been home I’ve investigated how I can get to Australia permanently. If I ultimately decide that OZ is where I belong, getting there will be a huge challenge, as getting a visa to live there permanently isn’t easy. There are an awful lot of big decisions to make, but they start with small steps. However, the steps start with big decisions like what I should actually get a degree in. Or if I should take up something like becoming a wool classer or no, wait... a poultry farmer! Seriously. The wool classer is on the state sponsorship page for Western Australia as an occupation in demand. The poultry farmer is on a second list called schedule 2, where they have other occupations that they issue limited numbers of visas for. Hey, I'm kind of a poultry farmer. This hobby of mine might get me to OZ after all.

Fun with Grandma Grande's Furs

All of that said - to feel like I’m taking action I’m getting my open water diver certification. In some weird way, it's a connection to Australia for me. Becoming a scuba instructor (which itself would certainly take a lot of time and cost a lot of $$) is probably not the route that I would go to get to OZ, but getting my open water would be the first step. So on July 10th, I'll be strapping on 60 pounds of gear and jumping into the pool. I'm sure that I'll be thinking more clearly then.

More photos of the trip and less rambling about my life to come soon, I promise. Maybe even this weekend. We have a 202 list (101 wasn't enough) from our journey, which I'm hoping to share. Although there are a few things on that list not for public consumption! :)

Well, I'm back.

A few photos from our trip...

All of them will eventually be posted here: http://buffoalatonsdownunder.shutterfly.com/