Christmas Season!

You wouldn't know it from the picture, but that was taken the week before Christmas. Speechies-to-be very happy to be finished with Anatomy class and heading out to Fortitude Valley to see a classmate's band (we were late, and missed it. Aw.) From left to right we have Lisa, Hayley, me, and Amelia. Ronan was the one taking the picture. He's fitting in well...we are going to Sydney for New Year's with this exact group of girls + 1 more.

Now that I have time to actually do stuff though, it's decided to start raining! Why now? Yesterday we went to Queen St Mall so Ro could shop for souvenirs and a button up shirt (apparently there was a bit of a packing mishap!!) Today I thought we would explore South Bank but it was POURING so we ended up on a shopping expedition at Chermside with Lisa and Hayley who were determined to find New Year's dresses (Lisa succeeded, Hayley did not). Now we're having a quiet night in (much needed - I just fell asleep reading - guess that last week of studying like crazty and only being able to sleep for 4 hours before the exam took a toll!)

I miss Jeremy a lot. It sounds like he's having a blast in Canada with his Aussie sidekick, Damo. I'm sure quite a lot of stories will arise from the trip and I can't wait to hear them from Jeremy in person.

Christmas is just around the corner! Unbelievable. I was walking through Fairfield Gardens this afternoon to get to the library and "White Christmas" was playing. Not likely! The only way I'll see snow this year is on TV...or my top secret Christmas present from Damian! We were at a shopping centre on Sunday and there was this person demonstrating with this white powder that you put water on and it magically expanded in your hand and became snow. Damian insisted on buying it for me as a Christmas present but took it home to wrap it. Hilarious!! It comes in small tubs and people were very excited about it.

Scott is now gone and Ro will be here in less than a week! I don't envy the long flights that many people around me will soin be experiencing. YUCK. They're worth it in the end though. I can't wait for Anatomy to be done and Christmas holidays to begin!

Another Monday, done and over with...well, the school part at least!

The Gold Coast was fun, as usual! However, we happened to be there when "schoolies" was going on so we avoided certain areas...honestly, I am constantly hearing about cultural stuff that is totally different from Canada and schoolies is one of those things. Curious yet? Let me find som info...

Schoolies or Schoolies week refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates (known as "Schoolies" or "Leavers") having week-long holidays following the end of their final exams in late November and early December. Schoolies week first began at Broadbeach, Queensland in the 1970s, in the week after final exams. [1] Schoolies Week events began to be organised and the Gold Coast, Queensland attracted schoolies from all over Australia for celebrations. Since then, the tradition spread as Australian high school graduates celebrated their graduation with a week-long party at many popular tourist destinations around the country.
Schoolies week is considered by some as a cultural rite of passage in Australia. The most enduring Schoolies Week tradition is the first run down the beach and dive into the ocean after school is finished forever. That plunge of freedom is the essence of freedom Schoolies symbolises.

So in other words, it's a lot of 17 & 18 year olds having a whole week of partying and drinking when they finish high school. As you can imagine, there is alot of controversy surrounding schoolies. Evey year there are a lot of arrests, bad accidents, etc. Anyhow, we didn't see anything worth reporting, but that was probably because we stayed away from the problem zones!

It's HOT!!! Summer is officially still a few days away, but the heat arrived a few weeks ago and I don't think there will be a respite until March.

The walk to "uni" is nice, but getting to class covered in sweat is not the most pleasant thing i've experienced. Apparently UQ enjoys torturing students...we started our program on Monday and tomorrow we have our first test worth 15% of our grade. The next three Fridays after that, we have more 15% tests...and on the 4th Friday in addition to our test we also have our final exam worth 40%. HOW AWESOME!!! The backgrounds of the students are pretty diverse...we have people with degrees in Biomed, Biopharmaceuticals, Biology, Music, Speech Sciences, Psychology...and then there's me with my English degree! Hahaha. Very useful when you need to know a bazillion bones and joints and muscles...

We're taking Scott to the Gold Coast on Saturday and then he's heading off on a 6 night adventure - Fraser Island, Whitsundays, Hervey Bay...it sounds amazing!! I am jealous...after that, he's back here for a week and then off to Canada with Jeremy following not far behind. Then Ro gets here 3 days before my final exam...eeeeep. However, then I have 2 and a half weeks of sweet sweet vacation!

Today is officially Jeremy's last day of first year! Woohoo!! The timing is kind of funny, since Monday will be my first day of first year, so just as he's winding down I'll be gearing up. We start with an intenseive Anatomy course...9-5 Mon-Wed-Fri, 2 labs and 2 lectures per day. Fantastic. 4 chapters pre-reading required before the first day!!

Monday is also the day that Lisa is "moving out" and Scott is arriving in Brisbane. I think both J and I have really liked having Lisa as a roomie! It gave us some extra $$, which is always good. We saved on the grocery bill, and the three of us take turns cooking and washing the dishes. Pretty ideal, I'd say! We've settled into a little routine. It'll be sad to see her go, but she got a place in Fairfield so she'll be close by, and I'll see her in class all the time anyway!

Tonight Dr Ebert has invited us over for dinner - Sri Lankan curry. Sounds yummy. He's the doctor that Jeremy has been observing for the last two weeks. I'm sure it will be a tasty/fun time!

It just doesn't feel like November! I was talking to D'Arcy this morning and he said it's snowing in Ottawa - big, fluffy snowflakes. Sorry, but I don't miss that (yet).

When I arrived back in Brisbane mid-October it was a lovely surprise to see that the jacaranda trees had bloomed. They only flower for a few weeks, but during that time they are very hard to miss! Apparently they also remind students in Brisbane that it's exam time which isn't the best connotation for such a beautiful tree. They are almost back to being plain trees without the purple flowers now, but the frangipanis have started blossoming and those are gorgeous as well!

Here, have some Wikipedia knowledge:

Jacarandas in bloom have become closely associated with Brisbane and South East Queensland. The Brisbane City Council have used jacarandas to line avenues, and commercial developments in some areas, particularly along the Brisbane River have incorporated jacarandas into their landscape design. The trees are common in parks throughout the city, most notably in a long curved avenue in New Farm Park, in Goodna, and in private gardens. Brisbane's hilly geography allows views of the city and suburbs in which the brightly coloured flowers can be easily seen for miles. The jacaranda has become so much a part of the city's identity that contemporary art, particularly of streetscapes, often incorporates the flowering jacaranda, despite the fact that it only flowers for approximately six weeks from September through October.

Tomorrow we're getting a temporary roomie. Lisa, a girl from Ottawa who is starting Speech Pathology as well, is flying in from Canada and staying with us while she gets herself organized. I suppose she must be on the plane by now since she was leaving sometime Thursday. Next Friday we're planning on going to the mandatory international student orientation at UQ...Jeremy's already been so I've heard about it. "It's not wrong, it's different". Hahaha. Oh well! "Uni" starts soon. Pretty crazy. In two years I will FINALLY be finished!!!

I've definitely been slack with this blog lately, but I've been called out by my father outlaw so I suppose it's time for a post!

Spring in Brisbane is lovely. I'd say maybe even the best time for a visit. I think Scott (aka Canadian visitor #3) is in for some great weather.

I've been living the lonely life for a week and a bit. Jeremy is out in Bundaberg living in a caravan park with Sean. They're doing a 2 week elective at the hospital there. It sounds like it's been a real learning experience - they've put canullas in, taken histories, done some physical exams, etc. It's strange to have the whole house to myself! Tuna comes and goes as he pleases and is cuddly when he wants me to feed him. Darn cat.

I had a fantastic weekend! Damian and I decided to head up to Bundaberg to see the boys and break in his new (old...but new to him) car. We packed up "Scratchy" (what the car has been christened) Friday night and made the five hour drive up the coast. It just so happened that some friends of Damo and Sean were also driving up from Brisbane to visit one of their friends who lives in Bundy and works as a journalist (A Margaret Atwood loving journalist in Bundaberg? We got along great!!). So once we got to the caravan park, we met up with the girls at a bar and proceeded to get acquainted with Bundaberg's nightlife. It really is a lovely town - very tropical and beach-y - reminded me of Port Elgin, Ontario but on a grander scale. Basically the whole weekend was spent swimming in the ocean and meeting fun people. How can you go wrong? We also had the chance to go to a real Bundaberg house party - a Halloween party nonetheless! I had resigned myself to not participating in Halloween this year but was pleasantly surprised at how into it people were! J and my costumes were very last minute bottom of the barrel cheap masks and weapons but for some reason they were quite popular. Anyhow, I suppose that's enough for now! I'll try to be better with this thing!

Spoke too soon - I have not thwarted the magpie. I got attacked again today and it was really scary! I could feel its wings on my face as it maniacally shrieked and flung itself onto my helmet. I probably looked hilarious, biking down the road, screaming every time it hit me...then I turned onto another road and it stopped.

Not long before I can escape the evil magpies for awhile though! Yay. I'm looking forward to it. It'll be nice to hang out in a country where the birds aren't crazy. Except for the one legged hissing geese at certain campgrounds, but I don't plan on going near that campground again!

The weekend was fun. Friday we stopped in at an engagement party for some fellow Canadians who are getting married in November. They've been engaged for awhile, but one of their friends wanted to throw them an Aussie engagement party. These same friends invited Jeremy and I to a Canadian Thanksgiving in Brisbane, but I'll actually be in Canada for it. It's nice to know that Jeremy will be taken care of on Thanksgiving though, with a turkey and everthing!! Saturday I made myself scarce as Jeremy was inviting friends over to play Dungeons and Dragons..............they played from 3:30 pm to 1 am. I was gone from 10 am to 11 pm, but still caught the tail end. One of the guys he had over was Sandra from Speechnet's husband Chris, which I found a bit weird...oh well! They had lots of fun and are planning to do it again soon. While they were fighting orcs and things, I was off at a racetrack watching cars race. Not really my thing, but a friend called and had a free ticket and wanted some company so it seemed like a new and different thing to do! She then dropped me off in the city and I met up with Kristen for burgers and a movie. A full day indeed.

Soon!!!!!!!!

I have outsmarted those darn magpies. Changed my route - and it's a better route now!! Hah!! Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.

Let's see. Tonight I'm being kicked out of my own house so that Jeremy can play Axis and Allies with his soulmate Sean and another friend, Damian. Whatever, just gives me an excuse for a girly movie night with Amy :)

Our anniversary. We made it a year! Woohoo...hehehe. We started the weekend off with Peking duck dinner in Darra with Sarah and Brian. Basically, you order a whole duck for the table and it's made into a three course meal. We had crepes with duck skin, chopped up duck and veggies in a giant lettuce leaf, and duck soup. It was a neat experience. Then we headed back to S & B's for a campfire! Probably my only one of the year. We took off early so we could get a good night's sleep and be up bright and early to get the train to the Gold Coast. Our hotel room was lovely...and had a very strange/hilarious feature. There was a window where you could see right into the bathroom from the outside room...it was covered by blinds, but the blinds were on the outside of the bathroom, so anyone could just fling them up at any time and see you in the freakin bathroom! Bizarre. A couple of people I know stayed in the same hotel recently and we all laughed about how strange it was. Swam in the ocean, had nice Italian dinner, sat by the ocean at night, famous Surfer's Paradise buffet breakfast, Pacific Fair shopping Centre...all in all, wonderful!

Let me start off by saying - we had an amazing anniversary weekend at the Gold Coast and I'll update about it soon.

Still don't have internet at home! Argh!!!

I came here specifically to write about an Australian rite of passage which I was subjected to today (and didn't particularly like, AT ALL!!!!!) I was biking along the side of a busy road, and all of a sudden realized this crazy bird was dive-bombing me and shrieking. I crossed the road and it stopped...so I just kind of took it as a strange thing that happened. About 15 minutes later, I was still biking and the same kind (I don't know if it was the same one) of bird was actually BASHING ITSELF INTO MY HELMET!!!! I was telling someone about it and they knew exactly what kind of bird it was. Apparently this is common. I looked it up and this is what the website had to say:

In winter and early spring, many Australians start scanning the skies for a crazy black and white bundle of feathers. It's coming into breeding season for the Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen, and when they are feeding chicks they can be quite frightening. Many of us have childhood memories of aggressive magpies, and indeed, a national survey has found that 90 per cent of males and 72 per cent of females have been attacked by a magpie at some time in their life!
Being the target of a magpie’s ire is an inevitable part of growing up in Australia. Or is it? Certainly, when magpies pounce, they can do real damage. The Injury Surveillance Information System (ISIS) is a national collection of hospital emergency department attendance records. Their data shows that of 59 magpie attacks, the eye was the birds’ most common target.
Magpies seem to get particularly infuriated by bicycles: nearly half of those attacked were riding a bike at the time.
Most magpies attack the same few individuals again and again, possibly because they remind the bird of someone who once hurt them.
Interestingly, most magpies which attack pedestrians attack the same few individuals over and over again. If they attack others, it’s probably a case of mistaken identity, says Dr Jones. He believes such magpies may have had an early traumatic experience – perhaps someone who looked like these people had harmed the magpies chicks, or even 'rescued' a fledgling, something the parent mistook as predation. Magpies are able to recognise and remember individual human faces, even if the person wears different clothes!

HOW SCARY IS THAT????

I'M SERIOUSLY TERRIFIED.

They go for the eyes. They remember individuals. They have a great sense of timing and will attack at the same time each day. They hate bikes.

Not to mention, it's still technically winter and it's 33 DEGREES!!! Biking in this weather is not the most pleasant thing I've ever done.

But - swimming in the ocean on the weekend was amazing.

1 month till Canada!

Still don't have internet at home. AaNet is awesome!

So it's our anniversary this weekend and we decided we'd spend the day at the Gold Coast playing in the ocean, and then stay for one night. I booked the least expensive thing that I found, which happened to be the Holiday Inn. I had to talk to Sandra (who was my boss at SpeechNet) on the phone the other day and she mentioned that she was going away to the Gold Coast with her husband for a birthday trip, just for one night. In the 11 years since they've had kids, it will be their 4th night away. So anyway - guess where they're staying? Aaaaah! Strange coincidence - I think she's hoping that we won't run into each other, since Jeremy and her husband Chris will likely start talking about Dungeons and Dragons and it will be all over...

We're still loving the new house, even without the internet...maybe more! Haha. I've read so many books this past week. One of them was recommended by my mother-in-law (hm, I don't use that term often!!). March, by Geraldine Brooks. It was excellent! It's the story of Mr. March, the dad from Little Women who is away for basically the whole book (Little Women) and the author is really adept at interweaving his story with what's going on back at home, and throwing in a few surprises and little plot twists you'd never expect. I need to read more by her...I've really enjoyed the two books that I've read.

We also tried to go to Ekka last weekend. Ekka is the Brisbane equivalent of the Ex in Ottawa, but for some reason it's a GIGANTIC deal here!! We set out on Sunday, which was an absolutely gorgeous day and somehow Jeremy was able to navigate us through the public transit system to where it was. But as we "rocked up" (hahaha..I love that expression, Australians use it all the time) we noticed that the rides seemed to be not quite right...and there were no crowds...and, well, the ticket booths were closed. Yep. We managed to pick the day it was being taken down. We still had a great day walking around the Valley, looking at the stalls on the Brunswick St mall, and then meeting up with Sean for $2 steak. 2 DOLLARS. Yes. That is right.

Right, and my trip back to Canada is finalized - FINALLY - so I'll be in that neck of the woods starting Sept 24th for a couple of weeks. Yay!

Alright, I get it. No one's interested in my meat cakes. I thought they were cool.

We were supposed to get the keys for our new place today but LJ Hooker munged it - what a surprise. "Munged it" = Australian slang for messed it up. So irritating.

What else? Our neighbour Annette had to go back into the hospital. She has damage to her heart. They're not sure if it is because of the cancer treatments or if she had a virus or something. Jeremy and I went to visit her on Sunday. She seemed to be doing really well - was catching up on her knitting. She was happy to see us and we stayed awhile. She should be home this week.

Never book anything with the ADventure Travel Company in Westboro. They suck.

Ugh. I'm really frustrated at the moment. I would like to arrange my flight home on the round trip ticket that we bought in December, but the extremely incompetent employees at the Westboro Travel place that we got the tickets haven't responded to three e-mails and a phone call. I feel like I'm going to explode with rage!! I found amazing deals to get back to Brisbane from Canada but if I keep postponing it, I'll miss out and I just......will be incredibly angry. Sigh.

Think happy thoughts. We had Jeremy's birthday bash here last night. It was so much fun! I think it was probably Jeremy's dream birthday party...hehe. Here are a couple of reasons why...

Mmmm...cupcakes with vanilla icing and cherries on top. Wait though! Something seems different...that's not a cherry! That's not icing! And that is certainly not cake! I thought that I would make a longtime birthday wish of Jeremy's come true and make (wait for it...) MEAT CUPCAKES! Yes, the "cake" is Paula Deen's fabulous meatloaf recipe, topped with mashed potato icing and a red pickled onion as the finishing touch!But wait! Could it be? A beautiful birthday cake...but again, on closer inspection you will see that Jen made Jeremy a MEAT CAKE! What are the odds that his birthday wish would be granted by two people on the same day?
An inside look at the meaty goodness that is Jen's meat cake.

You see, Jeremy does not like sweets and for years he has been sending me links to websites with meat cakes on them I finally gave in (but put my own little twist on it by making cupcakes). When Jen and Chris arrived, I exclaimed excitedly that the cupcakes were made out of meat and Chris gave me a weird look and said "Now that's just strange. Meat?" However, less than 10 minutes later they revealed their own special surprise!! Teehee.

Other potluck goodies included chili, shepherd's pie, pasta salad, sausages, guacamole...etc. Seriously, Jeremy's fantasyland.

Tonight we're hosting Brendan and Jackie. They're here on their honeymoon...earlier in the week they were at the Whitsundays. Since Brendan used to be in med school with Jeremy (but got accepted to McMaster and is now back in Canada.........SAD) He wanted Jackie to meet all the fun friends he made while he was in Brisbane. Aw - I'm excited!

Well, hello there.

I am still alive in Australia. Working like crazy to finish a bunch of group sessions, as I will no longer be employed as of next week and finished sessions = a hefty bonus for me! Sandra's (my boss) family members have been ridden with illnesses for over a week now...it started last Monday with her daughter and something that may have been swine flu, then hit her husband and middle son with flus, a chest infection and an ear infection, and now her oldest son possibly has the mumps! Gaaaah - stay away from me!! She, remarkably, is surviving and still healthy...but I have to wonder how long that will last seeing as she's up all night tending to their various needs!

Jeremy's birthday is tomorrow and we're celebrating with a potluck party this Friday. Incidentally, we also happen to be moving this weekend. I don't know where we'll find the time and organization to pull that off, but luckily it's to a house just across the street so efforts will be minimal! I have to admit, we got kind of lazy and basically just picked the house because it's in the same neighbourhood and has enough room for J to have an office as well as accommodate future guests. Fairfield really is the best place for us right now. It's walking distance to UQ - a reasonable walk, though on sweltering hot days it becomes less pleasant - and I can bike to work in about 40 minutes. This will be my 4th week of biking. It's fantastic! I save money and I can run by my own schedule. I'm also kind of getting used to biking on the opposite side of the road...which may help for driving, if I ever decide to be insane and drive here!!!

It was our lovely friend Jen's birthday this past weekend and she had a really fun party!! I won't bore you with the details but I will mention a new Australian thing that I tried. Musk sticks!!! I had never even heard of these things, but the one I had was tasty. You wouldn't think that a musk stick would be something you eat, but yes...yes...let's see if trusty Wikipedia can help me with this one...

Musk sticks are a popular confection in Australia and New Zealand, available from many different suppliers. Having withstood the test of time,^[1] musk sticks consist of a pink semi-soft stick, usually extruded with a ridged cross-section. Their flavour and aroma is quite floral, reminiscent of musk perfume. They are also called 'musk sweets' and 'musk lollies'. Also available is a fruit-flavored variant called "Fruit sticks", which look like coloured musk sticks.

There ya go. Not really an elaborate description, but it gets the job done! I've also posted a picture of them at the beginning of the entry for your viewing pleasure (can't miss it!)

It's amusing to me that we still continue to have minor linguistic snafus. Take the saying "I lucked out." To me, that means that something good happened. In other words, I was lucky or got all the luck. Australians don't really use the saying but they interpret as bad luck - as in, my luck ran out. My coworker Amy tried to use it the other day: "I really lucked out. I got a speeding ticket on the way to work." It sounds so wrong to me!

This week marks the end of "State of Origin", a rugby league thingy that we've been loosely following. The most interesting part for me is the rivalry between Queensland and New South Wales. It's not unlike the Sens and Leafs business, and the colours are even kind of similar. QLD is maroon, NSW is blue.

The State of Origin is an annual best-of-three series of rugby league football matches between the Maroons, representing the state of Queensland, and the Blues, representing the state of New South Wales. The State of Origin series is one of Australia's and the region's premier sporting events, attracting a huge television audience and usually selling out the stadiums in which the games are played^[1]. State of Origin football is frequently cited as being the highest-level of rugby league played anywhere in the world, despite the existence of international tournaments and it being a domestic competition^[2][3][4].

Players are selected to play for the state in which they played their first senior football, hence the name 'state of origin'. Prior to 1980 players were only selected for interstate matches on the basis of where they were playing their club football at the time. In both 1980 and 1981 there were two interstate matches under the old selection rules and one "State of Origin" match. From 1982 onwards a best-of-three match series has been played around the middle of the rugby league season. Since the inception of the series, total victories for each side are extraordinarily even.

Queensland has already won the first two games of the series, so this game is just...well, if Queensland wins again it's really embarrassing for NSW, and if NSW wins, it just doesn't matter! Muahahaha. The third match is actually in Brisbane so I predict that the city will be insane this Wednesday!

I feel like this defines who I am. My whole identity. How can I not?

Friends!

Being in Australia with Jeremy is awesome, but life is even better when you make new friends to have fun with! Since Jeremy is napping and I'm not really doing anything productive at the moment, I just thought I'd give a little insight into some of ours mates in Brisbane!


Narelle and Kristy. I met these girls the weekend after Tracee left, which was good because I needed some giggles after saying goodbye. We got along immediately and have hilarious times whenever we see each other. They are a couple of my very favourite people - eager to show me new Australian things, prone to dance parties in living rooms, and just all around good people. They are also members of a bike gang (bicycles!!!) for girls only. The headless man in the back is Damian, Kristy's boyfriend.


The person you want to focus on here is Jen, the very blonde Aussie on the left (and only girl, so I'm sure you'd figure out who Jen was even without the description!) She's in Jeremy's class. The girl is 23, already a pharmacist, and in a few years will be a doctor as well. She came through for me on Anti-Man's day, rounding up the troops of her girl friends so we could have a night out while the boys did their own thing. She was the one who introduced us to Fortitude Valley...and what an intro it was!


On the left, we have Brian and Sarah. Sarah is Wendy and Jim's daughter (we stayed with W & J for 10 days when we arrived in Australia). They are engaged and just found out they're going to have a baby! Lovely, lovely people - they lent us camping gear for Straddie, introduced us to the $10 steak place, and were the first people in Australia that I introduced to the land of Quelf. Couldn't have had a better game to kick off Quelf's intro to Brisbane! Towards the back in the red shirt we have Felipe. Our first week, we headed out to the Gold Coast with him. He's busy studying exams at QUT right now, but we get together whenever we have the chance.
Kristen and Gavin! I met Kristen through this Canadians in Brisbane group and I'm super happy that I did. She's here working as a nanny for an Australian family but is going home in August :( She met Gavin here in Brisbane...though he's actually from England. He is really funny and always up for a get together. This picture was taken at the beach house on the Sunshine Coast - they came and visited!
Sean on the left. He hangs out with us a lot, so this probably isn't the first time I've mentioned him. He's also in Jeremy's class and they are quite similar in many ways...they like camping and beer and...beer...and...steak...oh yeah and talking about history and politics ALL THE TIME. I like Sean. We've camped at Straddie with him, gone to the Sunshine Coast, and regularly frequent the $10 steak place. Brendan is in the middle, but he's leaving (!!!!!) as he was accepted to the med program at McMaster. He'll be back here on his honeymoon...but it's not the same! He was my Winchester buddy, who went to North Dundas. Sad sad...but happy for him, since now he gets to be near his wife/fiancee/whatever!

Kristen, Leanne and I in the Crocoseum at the Australia Zoo. Crikey!

Looks like we can breathe a bit easier about the whole moving thing. I called the real estate company to settle up with our final payment, and was told that we have a new leasing agent (the third one in 5 months). When I spoke with her, she said the owner had contacted them and though he's still planning to rip the place down, he's not in such a rush any more. This means that as of July 15th, we'll no longer have a lease but be living here on a month to month basis. Basically, we agreed that we would still like to move (seeing as how he can basically just tell us we have to leave any time he feels like it) but now we won't be in a crazy rushed panic to find a place before we have to leave! Whew.

Jeremy and Leanne spent the day at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and I haven't seen them yet. I'm sure it was lots of fun. It was a lovely day to be outside walking around and cuddling koalas!

Tomorrow we're heading up to Mount Coo-tha to show Leanne the highest point in Brisbane. Then we have a dinner date at Wendy and Jim's. We haven't seen them for ages! (note to Ross & Kathy - they have some exciting news, have you heard?) It's always amusing to hang out there for awhile and Leanne will see where we stayed for our first ten days in Australia.

Sunshine Coast in two days - I'm excited!!!

Less than 2 days till Leanne arrives!

Going over the schedule in my head - well, let's just say I think she'll get her money's worth (but might be dead at the end of it!)

Thurs - she gets here
Fri - MBBS Keg 3 (Karaoke Keg)
Sat - Relax/recover
Sunday - Australia Zoo
Monday - South Bank/Shopping
Tuesday - Koala Sanctuary/Trivia night
Wednesday - Mount Coo-tha, possibly Wendy and Jim, movie night with some girlfriends
Thursday to Monday - Sunshine Coast beach house!!!
Tuesday to Friday - She does her own thing (reef or whatever!)
Friday - Gold Coast day trip, Fortitude Valley at night
Saturday - she leaves for Sydney! Crazy.

Basically as soon as she leaves, I need to go on the hunt for a new place. I keep looking right now in the hopes that something will appear, but they're all advertised as available now, or June 15th or something and we're not out of here till July 15th.

Oh Fairfield. We'll miss our ugly house and our awesome neighbours...but here's to new opportunities!

Queen's Birthday weekend was great. It's funny how you basically have an automatic topic of conversation (Canada) anywhere you go . Though the people we hang out with most probably are getting crazy sick of hearing why we're in Australia, why Jeremy chose to do med school here, what I'm doing at the moment, etc!

It's pretty unbelievable that I only have two more months to work at SpeechNet. Time flies. I really like it there - it'll be difficult to find something that compares. The people are wonderful - ALL of them - and it's just so much fun. Today my boss said that it was the first time she had hired any kind of support person and she struck gold on the first try and didn't know what she'd do when I had to leave! Lovely woman, she is. My therapy sessions are going really well, except that I keep forgetting that they don't pronounce the /r/ at the end of a word and I keep emphasizing it. Whoops! I'll have to drill that into my brain. Dinna! Rivva! Cah!

I made sure to take some long weekends for Leanne's visit. That's another great thing about my work. I always get paid the same amount of money and if I take time off, I just work extra hours the next pay period. Really flexible and accommodating which is quite helpful when you have people flying for 25 hours to hang out with you (and...see another country and stuff).

Less than three weeks till we are relaxing and partying in this lovely beach house:


Yay!

T-9 Days until the big June exam. I look at the sample exam last night and felt slightly ill, and I'm not even taking the thing!

Yesterday I tried out a trivia evening with my friend Marion from work. She goes fairly regularly with a group of friends, and since trivia was one of Jeremy and my favourite things to do in Ottawa I thought I would check it out while he stayed at home studying. It was different. A guy with a microphone stands up and reads questions to everyone at the pub. Tables get a sheet to fill in the answers, and you trade with another table when it's time for them to be corrected. There are prizes and everything! We came in second, but sadly I can't take much credit for it........Oh well, it was fun!

It's only been a couple of weeks since Tracee left, and already we're looking forward to another Canadian visitor! Perfect timing - again - since she's arriving the week after Jeremy's big exam and she'll be here while he's on holidays! Excellent. There's a beach house on the Sunshine Coast with our name on it :)

This week I was lucky enough to acquire a bike! I'm borrowing it from Sarah until her 6 year old niece grows into it, so I think it's safe to say I'll have it for awhile. I biked to work once...got lost, got turned around, was late...but I'll be doing it more often. I also biked to West End for yoga. That is a crazy workout: major hills, 2 hours of yoga, then more hills on the way home! I'm hoping that biking might prepare me for someday driving on the crazy side of the road...not likely!

Autumn in Brisbane is like summer in Canada...if summer in Canada was sunny and 25 degrees every day, dropping to a brisk 10-15 degrees at night. LOVE IT!

Finally - Sydney!

This is the beach we spent Easter at. Crashing ocean waves, pretty sky, an old man with a metal detector, fabulous Indian food, and good friends!
Famous thing. Hehe.
Another famous thing :)
The Sydney Aquarium!
Jeremy humouring me by posing with the mermaid...heh. The couldn't walk with those tails on...so they had to hop. Hilarious.
Sydney Harbour at night - we went for dinner with Gemma, who had just arrived from the UK the day before! (hostel roomie)
The famous Bungan Beach.
Kuringai National Park with Tristan
Base Hostel, Sydney!
Drinks at the Scary Canary with Adrian, who thought we were so cool he left the karaoke place to hang out with us!

Australia, land of strange fruits!

I had seen these in the grocery store and was appalled by their appearance but let me tell you, this is the most delicious fruit in the world! Friday evening we went to Sarah and Brian's to introduce them to Quelf. Yes, thanks to Tracee Quelf has been introduced to Australia with the same copious amounts of hilarity that it brought to Canada! They had one of these hideous looking fruits in their kitchen and Brian proclaimed that it was his very favourite. Sarah insisted on cutting it open and OH MY GOD...it tastes like dessert!! Anyway, if you ever have a chance to try one, I highly recommend it :)

Yesterday we went to a play called "He Died with a Felafel in his Hand" at the Brisbane Arts Theatre. It was highly entertaining (if extremely inappropriate) and rife with Australianisms! From there we made our way to "The Fox" to meet up with Sean and attend the May Ball after party. The May Ball was a med student event that we chose to forego as it would have cost about $250 and was basically just a dinner, dance and open bar. So...due to the open bar, the well dressed med students were in various stages of ridiculousness as they began arriving. Our friend Jen introuced me to one of her friends as "Jeremy's husband"...hehehe. It was at The Fox that we came to the conclusion that there are many med students we like separately or in small groups, but a few hundred intoxicated ones are a bit much!

Tomorrow is Labour Day! How weird is that?

So it seems that working at SpeechNet has finally (well, it's only been three months - but at the same time, holy moly, it's been three months!!) paid off, kinda. I'm getting my own client to do therapy with! It's only a couple of hours each week, but the pay is double what I'm making now and well...it's a client. He's been seeing Amy for therapy for awhile and she suggested to Sandra that I could possibly take over if everyone was in agreement. So it seems that everyone is and starting next week I will be doing real therapy. It is a bit scary since my last placement was March/April 2009 and I haven't had any practice since then but I observed a session today and I think I'll be fine! Australia doesn't have Communicative Disorders Assistants. They have something called a "Therapy Aide" but apparently those are more widely used in Occupational Therapy and Physio. If I get into school here I wonder if I can do a thesis on the use of CDAs! Probably not...but it's so useful...with all the crazy waiting lists for speech pathologists, CDAs can help people be seen faster and get the therapy they need!

Straddie!

Stradbroke Island aka one of the most wonderful, beautiful places I've ever been. Clear pristine perfect temperature ocean water, white soft sand, blue skies, big waves, amazing scenery - and all for about $10 a night camping!

Final grade for stats class? A+. Now I really promise I won't talk about it anymore! It has, however, been part of my life in Australia since we moved here so I feel that it is relevant. Not to mention, for a few of the days Tracee was here I was chained to my stats textbook and could barely socialize, so I am actually quite proud that my work paid off!

I had such a fantastic weekend! I was a little bummed about Tracee being gone, but I decided to be proactive. Our super fantastic neighbours (T can vouch for their awesomeness) were sent away by their kids on Saturday so that they (the kids and their friends) could complete a huge landscaping project on the front yard in preparation for Annette's Supporters Party on May 9th (she's done her cancer treatments!! Yay!!) Anyhow, Saturday was a gorgeous day and Jeremy wouldn't even be torn away from his med school stuff to go on a "study walk" (we walk, I quiz him with flashcards). I was feeling really shy/intimidated to saunter over to a yard full of about 15 20-something Aussie boys 'n girls, but I decided to go for it and it was a lot of fun! I got really dirty and scratched hauling pieces of turf from a big pile and laying them in the yard, shoveling dirt into wheelbarrows, and planting flowers. Annette and Mike loved it! Then I had to wash the soil off and venture by myself to the other side of town for Felipe's poker party. We met Felipe in January - he had come with his girlfriend Yvonne, who is in Jeremy's class. She broke up with him shortly after (and they're still living together, eeeep!) but we've remained friends with Felipe. Jeremy was being good and continuing to study, so I managed to make it to Felipe's alive by myself and had lots of fun! (But lost $5 - oh well...)

Sunday was St George's Day and we headed to the city to meet Gav, Kristen and Pia for some Morris Dancing, dragon-slaying, blood pudding eating festivities. I TRIED BLOOD PUDDING. Gaaaaah!! I have to say, it didn't taste too bad...kinda like sausages...but just the thought almost had me gagging as I tried to swallow it! We ended up taking the ferry across the river to meet up with Sean (favourite Aussie friend, see St Patrick's Day pics!) and some of his friends. I met some really cool girls, yay!! We went to Sean's new apartment (he used to live in Strathpine (FAR AWAY) with his parents and just moved close to us (and the $10 steak) last week!!

Even with all that fun though, on Monday I found myself missing Zaphod's and all the old familiarity of Ottawa.

Ta!

Parents! You no longer have an answering machine?? If you don't call me, and I can't leave a message for you...how are we ever supposed to talk? Miss you.

Today is ANZAC Day. In honour of it, Jeremy made me watch Gallipoli last night. I was less than thrilled at the prospect and as a result was cranky throughout the movie (but it was actually a fairly decent movie and is helped by the fact that Mel Gibson was really attractive in 1981!) Now where can I get me an ANZAC biscuit?

Mmmm. Speaking of ANZAC biscuits, Tristan (Jeremy's second cousin Karen's son, for those of you not up to date with the names thrown out here) makes the most delicious ones I've ever tasted. Yum. Talk about many talents - this kid can bake, make really cool art, play the drums, run 10 k without blinking an eye and build all sorts of awesome contraptions...I'm probably only getting the tip of the iceberg there! I haven't really delved into the Sydney visit since I want PICTURES and Jeremy for some reason uploaded them onto the TV computer and now I don't know how to get them over to mine. Trials and tribulations, I tell you!

Let's go back to ANZAC Day and to help me out, I will resort to the always helpful Wikipedia definition.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.^[1] The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand.^[2] This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.

You may also be curious as to what exactly ANZAC biscuits are. I turn again to the ever useful Wikipedia...

ANZAC Biscuits are a sweet biscuit made using rolled oats, flour, coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, bicarbonate of soda and boiling water. ANZAC biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I. The biscuit appears to be a variation of Scottish oat cakes, possibly via the Scottish-influenced city of Dunedin, New Zealand. The ingredients do not spoil easily so the biscuits kept well during naval transportation to loved ones who were fighting abroad. ^[1]

Biscuits issued to soldiers by the Army referred to as ANZAC tiles or ANZAC wafers differed from the popular ANZAC biscuit. ANZAC tiles and wafers were hard tack, a bread substitute, which had a long shelf life and was very hard. ^[2]

History lesson for the day is over. If you'd like to learn more...um...watch Galipolli??

It's sad that something you looked forward to so much ends so quickly! Tracee was up bright and early this morning (maybe even before the birds?!?) and on her way to the airport. We had such a great time. On the way home today I checked out a bunch of books from the library because what with not having a houseguest anymore, being done with statistics, and Jeremy's exam coming up in June I think life will be much quieter for awhile.

While Tracee was here she:

-became acquainted with the Brisbane train system
- became addicted to "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
-shopped in Stones Corners
-shopped in the CBD (City)
-walked up the hill of doom
-went to the Muddy Farmer
-fell asleep at her own lasagna party
-got to see the reef (I want to go so badly!)
-ate as much traditional/un-traditional Aussie food as we could feed her (rissoles, meat pie, kangaroo, gross pink sausages, Lamington's)
-went out in Fortitude Valley
-got to hang out in Sydney for awhile
-met Karen and Tristan
-had Indian and Vietnamese food for the first time
-yum-cha!
-koala cuddled
-camped in paradise aka Stradbroke Island

So many more things than that, even!!! I also got to do all of those things, except for the reef. It was fantastic to do some tourist stuff, finally and to experience it with my best friend! Yay. Now I have to pay for it, as I took a week off and to make up for it I'll be working double my usual hours next week (which really isn't so bad, it's nice that we can compromise and I still make the usual amount of $$ even with having a week off!)

Jeremy was sick, sadly, for pretty much his whole week of holidays. Don't you love that? Finally you have a second to relax and have fun and your body lets down its guard and then you feel yucky for your whole time of relaxation. It seems quite unfair, especially since from now till June it will be non-stop schoolwork and studying. I'll have to find a few more hobbies to occupy my time...

After x amount of bottles of wine with your bff who is going home soon :(

how can you not say

I got 96.76% on my Stats exam

even though they clearly made a mistake

for the moment

that mark

on a stats exam

I'm a FREAKIN math genius!!!

Well, here I am back in Brisbane. Home sweet home. It really is home now...you know when you go away for awhile and it feels so good just to walk in the door? Yep, that's the feeling. I almost didn't make it! If my second train hadn't been timed to perfection, the airline might not have let me on to my flight and then there would have been tears and gnashing of teeth. I made it though and that's what matters!

I had a great Easter. Sunday we spent the day laying and playing on the beach. The water was cool, but I like that! Jeremy (kinda) surfed and Tracee worked on her burn. After a day at the beach we had the most amazing Indian Easter dinner you could possibly imagine, then went right back to the beach. It was just lovely. At the same time, it did feel strange not to be doing the regular mad dash from Ottawa to Russell to Brockville then back to Ottawa and gorging ourselves on all sorts of feasts and having the family time that is usually associated with Easter. I feel lucky that I was with two people that I consider part of my family anyway (I married Jeremy so I suppose that does count and Tracee is the sister I never had!)

As for the non-Easter parts of the Sydney trip - I think I may leave that post for another day. We did a lot, met some wonderful people and I think we were lucky all around with hosts/weather/locations/attractions/meals...I think pictures would do the Sydney post more justice but the camera is still IN Sydney with J & T, so the two people who still may possily read this can wait with bated breath until I get it back and write a *true* Sydney post.

Tracee has not had an accurate picture of the weather in Brisbane. Brisbane has already received double the average rainfall for April and it's not even HALFway through the month!

After tomorrow, I promise no more talking about stats :)

Tomorrow we fly out to Sydney. We have a good list of things to do. Let's see how much we can cross off of it! I'm a little sad, as tomorrow night is also UQMS Rainbow Keg Night, which everyone is going to. Damn! However, Tracee and I figure that if we give the Sydney trip a name, we won't really care about missing Rainbow Keg. So...sultry sassy sloshed smashed super Sydney surfing soiree(s) is definitely something to look forward to. Really, who cares about a keg party when you have a whole amazing city to explore - and are meeting Karen, spending time on the beach, seeing the sights, having your first stay in a hostel and actually having your first real vacation time in Australia!

Autumn in Australia is the best. It's like nice Canadian summer days all the time. We've had more rain than usual...must be our Canadian visitor's influence on the weather! Today she was in Cairns and we had beautiful weather in Brisbane! We've been laughing about the weather predictions here: "Showers, tending to rain at times" and "A shower or two" (but what if there are three??)

Tracee left for Cairns this morning! I'm a *tad* jealous that she'll see the Reef before I do - but also excited for her and looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing the stories!

Looks like she'll have a whole week of hostel stays! Should be interesting to see how that goes. Our plans for accommodation in Sydney were changed so now I've booked us into the Base Sydney hostel for this Thursday and Friday nights, and the Sydney YHA Beach House Hostel for Saturday and Sunday nights! I'm intrigued and apprehensive about this whole hostel deal - I wouldn't say I'm hostile about hostels (like you, mum!) but I've never been to one so I guess I'll just have to see how it goes! While booking I read the reviews and chose the ones less likely to have bed bugs....eeeeeeep, just thinking about it gives me the heebie jeebies! The locations seem good - the first one is right in the city centre, so we can walk to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and all the other must-see things in Sydney. The second one is about half an hour from the city, but as the name suggests it is right on the beach and comes with FREE surf board hire! Hopefully that won't lead to bruises in awkward places and wrenched knees as on our honeymoon...bahahaha. Surfing is fun but scary and sometimes hurt-y!

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to leaving a whole day early so I can write my Statistics exam at UQ on Tuesday! How cool is that, seriously. Who would want an extra day in Sydney when they could be doing something as AMAZING as writing a Stats exam?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!!!

I think it's April 1st in Australia AND Canada at the moment, so it seems the perfect time for a birthday post. I hope you kept those senior citizen starter kits because now you'll really be needing them!! Hehehe...just kidding! I bet at work you're going to get everyone stopping by and not believing that you're 50 AT ALL!! I hope you have a wonderful day. I've instructed Ronan to give you multiple birthday hugs on my behalf. Love you lots!

Tracee will be here tomorrow!

Last night we were invited to the neighbours for a BBQ. Ok. We started off with bruschetta, then had jumbo shrimp (SHRIMP ON THE BARBIE!! FINALLY!! - but they actually call them "prawns" here), then for the main course...chicken AND sausage AND steak, scalloped potatos (called a potato bake) stirfried veggies...it was a BBQ extraordinaire! For dessert there were two kinds of squares and Frangipani pie! When we left, they piled our arms up with leftovers and also gave us a bottle of Tia Maria. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled. I love our neighbours!! I'm so happy that Annette will be done her radiation treatments just before Easter weekend. It's been a tough 7 months for them but they never fail to be the most generous, friendly, wonderful people and we appreciate it so much!

Karen, this is what Jeremy was talking to you about the other day.

How does the Mosquito™ system work?
Mosquito™ is essentially a sounder unit that emits a very high frequency modulated tone that is completely harmless even with long term use. The unit has been thoroughly tested by the NPL, NHS, ISVR, RSPCH, BSHC etc. to ensure it complies with all relevant legislation. Please find copies of these reports and more on the RESEARCH page.

I am not a teenager, will the Mosquito™ annoy me?
This is very unlikely and research has shown that the majority of people over the age of 25, have lost the ability to hear at this frequency range. It should be borne in mind, however, that the unit usually has the desired effect – moving the crowds away – within just a few minutes, at which time the unit can be turned off. So even if you are able to hear the noise to some degree, you would not have to put up with it for long.

This website:
http://www.noloitering.ca/tone.html

gives you the chance to try to hear it at the teenage setting, and then gives an adult example of what a teen might hear.

Jeremy was so sad one night. He was at the computer and he said "Can you hear something?" I said "Yeah...kind of a high pitched irritating squeal". He couldn't hear it, his ears are too old!! Bahahaha. Well, next year maybe that frequency will be gone for me as well. At least I've gotten the chance to hear it once in my life :P

Ontario has the Big Apple...

Queensland has the Big PINEapple! Hehehe...I'll have to check this out sometime!

Well, we didn't end up going to the Sunshine Coast, unfortunately. I'm sure it will still be there next time we have the opportunity (at least, I hope so...and also hope that it's not covered in oil...eep)

We had a make-your-own pizza night at the neighbour's house yesterday! This time we actually talked to the kids as well instead of just Annette and Mike. They all seem like a fun bunch. I'll be sad to move out from beside them, but not as sad about the house, maybe...

I have to give Ro a belated b-day shout out on here (it's only fair). Happy 24th birthday - you're almost as old as me! Hehe. Hope you're still having a blast living it up in Florida. The beer is definitely cheaper there than here, let me tell you!

Jeremy had an exam today. Not a writing exam, but a physical exam. He had been practicing on me all week. Annette came over while he was palpating me and we had a good laugh about that! No matter which way you try to explain it, it sounds kinda interesting.

We're in the midst of preparing for Tracee's visit! Lasagna party is imminent and I can't wait!!!

Die stats die...

So now I'm cancelling Friday night plans in order to do Statistics assignments. It's just so very wrong. CAN'T WAIT TILL APRIL 15th - done done done with Statistics. Ugh!

Oh well, our plans for tomorrow are pretty amazing. We're going to the Sunshine Coast for the first time with some friends - and we don't have to take the train! Kristen has a car so we're getting up early and driving there and spending the day on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. There's nothing else I'd rather spend a weekend doing than hanging out on the beach. Not thinking about stats.

I went to my first meeting of the "Third Thursday" book club yesterday. It was fun! We sat on cozy couches and had a glass of wine and talked about Edinburgh and how it was portrayed differently in the two books we had read. An eclectic mix of people - there was Wendy, myself (the only Canadian), Jill (a doctor from Brisbane), Cathy (from Georgia, has lived in Australia for 10 years), Asabi (from Oklahoma/California, has been here a year, a water management engineer) and another lady whose name I forget and who didn't really talk very much.

Oh, and most importantly: Happy Birthday Shane!!! Can't believe little Shaney is 21 already. xox

St Paddy's Day, Aussie-style - Just for you Kim, since you requested more pictures :)

The scene of the crime. (The "Irish" pub...which only had one Irish beer...Guinness) Just a short walk from Sydney St!

Drink 2 Guinness, get a free hat (it was basically essential to get the hat, so...we did our civic duty!) Posing in lovely hats with my favourite Aussie!!!

Green nails are a must.

Coveting Jeremy's satchel.

Jeremy won a free satchel and he's very proud (valued at $50!! The most valuable prize available!)

Yep ladies and gentleman, in less than two weeks, Tracee will be here! We are going to have the greatest time. Plans have been made for Sydney, camping on Stradbroke Island (T, we decided to go camping on Cylinder Beach on Straddie...we don't need to rent a 4WD and it has a lot of facilities so you don't need to be afraid now...there's even a pub!!), the KOALA SANCTUARY (!!!) where you can also "cuddle" a croc, Fortitude Valley, Gold Coast, possibly Sunshine Coast, etc. Just to give you an idea of our camping location...voila, Exhibit A - Cylinder Beach:

I have an interview on Thursday with the Cerebral Palsy League as a "Family Assistant". They may not want me, since I don't have a car - but we'll see how the interview goes! It's a casual position, anywhere from 4 - 20 hours a week...and it would be nice to have the extra $$ as well as more experience with CP. I'll definitely be playing up my placement at the Rehabilitation Centre in Ottawa where I worked closely with a few patients who have CP - programming augmentative alternative communication devices, educating home workers on the use of the devices, consulting with the patients to develop personalized programs, etc. So...who knows!


Today was our first day in the new clinic. It's so much nicer! Unfortunately the phone and internet aren't hooked up yet, which is a bit of an issue! I'm able to remotely check the messages using Sandra's cell phone, but the reception is not the greatest and I keep getting disconnected while trying to book appointments!

Things we miss

Jeremy had a big craving for North American hamburgers
(no beetroot), no fried egg, with kethcup, mustard and relish)
and it made me wonder what we're missing from home...

- hamburgers (Jeremy)
- real cider...the ones here are two sweet (both of us)
- Max (both of us!!!!)
- Canadian beer (Jeremy)
- Zaphod's (both)
- poutine from the chipwagon besides Zaphod's (mostly me)
- the Nichol farm (both of us)
- normal house renting (both)
- cheese curds (guess that goes with the poutine!)
- board games!!!! (me - I'm really sad I didn't bring Quelf)
- not being at school all the time (Jeremy)
- a car (both of us...sometimes)
- NOT DOING STATS! (me)
- the huge selection of pickles at the grocery store (both)
- having a hair straightener that isn't broken :( :( :( (me)

Blah blah blah...obviously we miss our family
and friends the most out of all those things,
but there's nothing wrong with a materialistic post once
in awhile.  Funny how most of those things are edible. 
Oh well, what can I say?

Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why would I want to be anywhere else?

Every Friday afternoon shortly after I get home from work, a truck slowly drives by the house going "CLANG CLANG CLANG. CLANG CLANG CLANG". Could it be...an ice cream truck? In the suburbs?? Last week I ran out to go see. It was an icecream truck but instead of selling individual popsicles and cones, they sell boxes of ice cream and other cold treats. A neighbour came out and asked for a box of popsicles...for her dog?!? Apparently it is not uncommon for the ice cream truck man to have regular customers buying frozen yummies for their pups. WEIRD.

Tickets to Sydney are booked! We're heading there for Easter - should be wonderful. We want to get in everything we can in a few days time. Meeting up with Tracee who'll be flying in from Cairns after her Great Barrier Reef adventure - my little traveler! Hehe.

This week at work is fairly hectic. The office is moving - to bigger and better things! Right now space is limited and the bathroom is actually outside...with no sink. The new place is two floors and will have TWO bathrooms!! Wow. It will add a couple of km to my walk but as long as the weather stays under 30 degrees I'll be okay. Lately it hasn't been so stiflingly hot which makes the walk home a lot more pleasant even if I get rained on. There's actually been a breeze!!!!

More differences:

- no construction paper (at least, that's not what it's called here and people couldn't seem to figure it out from my description!)
- beets are called beetroot. "It's always beetroot, never beet!" Also, hamburgers usually have a "beetroot" on them as well as a fried egg??
- canteloupe = rockmelon
- red and green peppers are red and green CAPSICUM. Jeremy had informed me of this before we came here and it's very strange to get used to!! Imagine going to Subway and telling them you want capsicum on your sub...
- little pancakes are called pikelets! Aw...cute.
- Afternoon = arvo

This weekend I'm helping move the old office to the new office...it's not exactly the beach!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah - I love it!

Got up early this morning (7:30 am on a Saturday??) and took the train ride out to Broad Beach on the Gold Coast. Imagine paying $6 for a train ride from Ottawa to Montreal. It's pretty much the equivalent. I have my moments with the transit system, but mostly it's pretty spectacular! (Brisbanites wouldn't agree, they all compare their transit to Europe and whine about how awful it is here...they have no idea!!!)

Jeremy and I spent the day playing in waves. It was 30 degrees (perfect weather), the ocean was just the right temperature, and the waves were big enough to be fun but not as crazy as they were the last time we went. It was honestly the most perfect day!

Heading out to a "Goon and Coon" party now! (Sorry if that sounds dirty, but it's not!)

Parrots are really pretty and colourful. They're also terrifyingly screechy when they dart out of the bushes. Almost suffered a heart attack this afternoon thanks to one of those lovely creatures! Flying things seem to enjoy swooping scarily out of the bushes at me. When Jeremy and I walk to Yeronga (the suburb beside Fairfield) there's a certain tree that a giant bat lives in. Every time we walk by, it gives me quite the fright! Jeremy calls the bat my "friend" now. Not only my friend - but my best friend! Hah.

My week was looking pretty bleak but things got better today. Lets just say stats course + neglecting to fill out a form to take the exam in Australia + really mean admin lady at Carleton = tears before breakfast a couple of days in a row. Then Carleton admin lady being slightly less mean (but still awful) + UQ being awesome = feeling of triumphance and love for UQ/nice Australian admin people.

Also, I stayed late at work today because I had to make ghost costumes. How fun is my job? Sandra (boss lady) and I made them, then modelled them for Amy. I think I might need to bring in a camera tomorrow so I can see the fruits of my labour...haha. Aw, thinking of that just made me miss Paola and her crazy ketchup dance antics!

Jeremy just got some Anatomy Flash Cards and keeps identifying things for me so I suppose I'll give him my full attention now.

Just over three weeks till super duper yay visiting time!

For anyone who cares to see our living conditions in Australia...and I know you're all waiting with bated breath...Voila!

Backyard. Our lovely chairs and wooden wind chimes. The sun sets on the other side of the house though. Darn! Sitting out here at night, you can see tons of bats flying around. In this picture you can also see where we cut through to the park, then across Fairfield Rd and to the shopping centre which contains such useful stores as Coles (groceries) and is a hop, skip and a jump from the Fairfield rail station!
THE BOUDOIR! (but I guess not actually since it's Jeremy's bedroom as well. I just wanted to use that term, okaaaay?) Nice dresser was from our neighbours (Annette and Mike, best neighbours ever!)
Another view!!!! Wow!!!! Please excuse the hideous curtains. We were going to do something about them but since this place = demolished in a few short months, it seems rather silly to bother with it.


N.B. - due to being boring/non-decorated, the guest room and office have been left out of this tour!

Ma Maison

$35 couch we found at a garage sale down the road! Best garage sale find ever! (Not so good for sleeping on though)
Cheapest shelf we could find at Ikea for a makeshift bookshelf. Pretty full even though we had to pack OUR ENTIRE LIFE into two suitcases each. Still made room for books!
"Dining room" - the lack of chairs for the dining room table still hasn't been remedied, but we have a table. It has a fruit bowl on it. In the corner, please take note of awesome brown bean bag chair, purchased at the same garage sale as the couch - $5! Ooooh, ooooh! From the very same garage sale, you can see our FREE telephone peeking out from behind the beanbag. Could life get any better?
Weird sink thing that's separate from the rest of the kitchen. Not so interesting.
Other part of the kitchen (lacking sink) Tons of counter/cupboard space. Now we have a microwave (our neighbours gave it to us). Apparently we know how to scavenge...is that a good thing??