Awesome

If I had to sum up our trip thus far with a few photos:

mom and dad

me
colin
dad
dad
colin and me

Snorkeling was really pricey but I think we'll have to go another day. It was ridiculously fun.

E.

December!

My last day of work was on Friday last week, and I don't return until January 10th. We're having some family visit in a few days and we're going to experience some more of Australia with them! I'm pretty excited. When we first arrived here we were so busy looking for a place to live and then jobs, that we've just been going hard for 10 months and now we're ready for a sweet vacation. Yesterday was my first day off so we went to a new beach with some friends, and Colin got to play with his surf board that he got as an early Christmas gift. I got a boogie board which was a lot of fun too. It was so hot out I couldn't even walk barefoot on the sand. Despite multiple sunscreen applications, I burned my arms for the second time this week. I blame my cursed freckles!

After we got home from the beach we decided to head off to the grocery store for some dinner. I made Colin come with me because I was too wiped to go by myself, but he was disappointed because he was going to play in the backyard. After we parked we decided to re-park the car in a spot further ahead, but as soon as Colin turned the key we realized that our battery had bit the dust. I went inside to get the groceries while poor Colin walked around the parking lot asking people if they had jumper cables. When I came out he still hadn't found anyone with some, and we didn't know what we were going to do 'cause it was already 7pm and everything was closed. In the very moment we had given up, a car was about to park beside us, and they had jumper cables! Yay!

This morning our neighbors boosted our car for us so we could drive to get a new battery. Colin changed it in the store parking lot and now our car is good as gold. I feel so fortunate that the car waited until I didn't have to drive to work in the morning to die on me, and that it waited until we were home from the beach. It really couldn't have been better timing.

E.

Movemeber to November

With time growth occurs

In features and spirit

In time beats are made pleasant

Lets hear it

A façade of wisdom

May be gained with appearance

The pretence of distinction

Worn in brilliance

With Movember to November

Lets all remember

The duty to care for

Movember aftershock despair.

C.

Floundering husband

Today as we were sitting in traffic, slowly dying from 30 degree heat, I asked Colin if he's ever been attracted to a female belonging to any other culture/race/ethnicity. He thought about it for a moment and said, "Nope, I'm more of a plain Jane kind of guy." Then smiled at me and patted my leg.

I stared at him while he thought about his own words. He then proceeded to call me his exotic caucasian lady, etc... It was funny.

E.

My first year is done!

The exam period was intense however as it was all packed into two weeks so there wasn’t much waiting around which in turn made it go by quickly. I’ve come to the conclusion that 12:30 exams are much worse then 9:00 am exams as you sit around all morning waiting, doubting your understanding and knowledge of the material. I suppose it’s been three weeks now since I’ve had some time to relax. Evelyn’s ecstatic as she can now come home and not see a room of guys talking jargon and bouncing balls over the obstacles that scattered our living room for about three weeks. We had a good set up though. The couches were moved back, the plinth set up in the middle of the room, targets on walls, tape on the floor, chairs set up everywhere, a white board covered with a faded marker (they all ran out), one guy on the couch acting as assessor while another was a patient and the last working hard at covering all the aspects of a random issue drawn from a hat.

Drew pressed hard for a new nickname: “Webster” as he tried to memorize every definition possible but Pickles was solidified last night as he proceeded to down his second cup of pickle juice in what appears to be two weeks.

Over the exam period Mike pulled the plug on the x-box, which must have been hard cause his cousin sent him two new games. I guess he’s been waiting for them, for quite some time and they came about three weeks ago. He was strong and didn’t give into the temptation to plug the machine in. Drew however, brought his Wii back with him from the states. He needed two cords to allow us to play it here, so he ordered them online. Mike had Drew thinking that the cords had arrived for two days and was hidden in his room, until Drew found his package on the front porch. I’m pretty sure we played Mario kart that night, so much for no video games.

At home we all had study outfits. Drew wore a sweet pair of shorts his mom made him. They are very bright and have faces all over them. I wore shorts with knee high striped socks and a white T. and mike wore a pair of pants Drew’s mom also made which are literal clown pants. They puff out at the bottom and are striped and diamond checkered rainbow colors. He also put on a tight black punisher shirt that he picked up for Halloween. Mike made a dollar by wearing his outfit to our first exam. There were a lot of double takes as people walked by. However, he lost the dollar because he made us memorize something that Drew and I didn't think would be on the test and bet us that it would be.

Now it’s summer time. Weird.

Quote of the Day Oct. 22: “The first day I was here they said zed joint and I had no idea what they were talking about. What’s a zed? I knew I was in for a treat.” Drew McLaughlin

C.

Jacaranda

Colin has 3 more exams this week and I'm so excited for them to be over. I'm also excited for December 10th because I will be off work for 1 whole month. I don't know how our bank account will feel about it, but I'm hoping it will be understanding and gracious. heh...

In the last few weeks it's been getting pretty nice outside, we've been hitting the low to mid 20's and it's been super nice. It's been so warm that we've also been experiencing lots of thunder and lightening, including a tremendous lightening storm a week ago that was magnificent to watch. However, Friday, Saturday and Sunday the temperature and humidity SKYROCKETED. The boys attempted to study but were mostly just trying to stay awake. Cooking in the kitchen was painful, but fortunately we really only ate 1 meal a day + lots of snacks. I leave for work at 7am and I actually had the a/c going on my drive this morning. But at about 10am it started raining, and continued to do so for 7 hours. It is now blissfully cool and I can return to my normal routine of eating and sleeping in peace.

This last month has brought out lots of beautiful flowers, and my new favorite Aussie flower is from a tree called "Jacaranda". It's like a purple Australian version of our Cherry blossom tree. They're EVERYWHERE. Except in our yard.

Hope you're all well and enjoying your sweet sweet snow. I can't believe I won't touch any for over another year.

E.

Pickles

Today we received a package brought over by my brother and sister-in-law's friend, Ardelle. She was passing through Sydney on her way to Melbourne, so she "muled" a package from home. Colin went to the airport to meet her. I've been thinking about this package for a long time. Mostly because it contains a lot of sugary items, but also because it was something familiar from home that was thoughtfully picked out by loved ones. All day at work I couldn't wait to come home so I could rip into it and snack!

There was also a flash drive with tv shows and pictures on it! As well as a bag of turkish delights that Colin had already retrieved from the pile of goodies.

What a treat to come home to. Thanks family.

You might remember, dear reader, that we made a formal complaint regarding our previous landlord who neglected to give us our damage deposit back. We received a notice today informing us that both parties neglected to show up to the hearing which took place yesterday at 10:10am. We will have to inform them that we didn't receive notice in the first place, because we would have loved to be there. Fortunately Sachin didn't make an appearance from India. Then we really would have looked foolish.

The boys are in full study mode. I tried to take pictures of them last night but they stopped what they were doing as soon as I brought out the camera. Our living room looks pretty funny at the moment. There are tables set up to roll balls on, towels on coffee tables, tape all over the floor, stuff taped to the walls, laundry clips scattered, and the plinth is set up right in the middle of it all. 3 is a nice number to have for studying. 1 will be the patient, another the practitioner, and a third to critique. I made them a rhubarb-strawberry meringue pie last night because Drew had never tasted rhubarb before. I messed it up so it wasn't a very good first impression. While the pie was baking we got Drew to drink a cup of dill pickle juice for $2. It was super gross. Mike said that Drew wouldn't get the money if he threw up, so he kept it down. His new nickname is Pickles but I'm not sure if it'll stick.

We just booked tickets to go to the great barrier reef in December. I'm pretty excited! We're flying to Cairns, Queensland from Dec 16-21. I couldn't wait to tell everyone at work where we were going and after I did they looked at me like I was crazy. My boss' brother was in the room and he said, "Queensland is more of a winter vacation spot." Oops! So if the crocodiles, jellyfish, and sharks don't get me, then surely the heat will. I'm still looking forward to it but I'll make sure to book a hotel with a pool. Or at least a sprinkler.

We've been getting quite a few moths in our house lately, which explains why most of the used furniture in Sydney smells like moth balls. Yuck. Last night however, the mother of all moths was in our bedroom. I thought it was a giant spider at first. Colin killed it with a broom but was never able to locate the body. Later in the evening I was cleaning up our room, and when I was throwing my damp charcoal colored shirt into the laundry I was suddenly attacked by the angry queen moth. I screamed and ran out of the room. The boys again tried to exterminate it but it took refuge in the light fixture dangling from our 10 foot ceiling. About an hour later I went back into our room and could finally see the moth sitting on the edge of the fixture. It took Colin another 5 minutes of chasing the moth around the room but Colin eventually won. I have never seen an insect fight so hard for it's life, it actually made me feel bad.

Well I've got to go and eat some chocolate.

g'night! (that's the opposite of g'day)

E.