Merry Christmas

At the end of a really wonderful day, filled with family and fun, I just want to extend my hopes that everyone had such a great day and that their season continues to be merry!

It's Almost Here...

I'm not sure what I think about Christmas anymore. I mean, I still enjoy it - I like the music and the anticipation. The thing about Christmas, however, is that it's really all about the anticipation. That's it. The exciting part happens so quickly ON Christmas - that the bulk of the "joy" is in the anticipation. It's eagerly waiting to see the children's faces as they rush to the fireplace that morning. It's the savory aromas that waft out from the kitchen while we salivate over the impending meal. It's the carols on the radio becoming more and more frequent as Christmas nears.

For our family - well, for Alexandra and myself - it's overdosing on carols early on... and never letting them up. It's the long and arduous drive from southern Illinois to Connecticut. It's the hope of snow upon arrival and the hope for no snow on the journey. It's decorating my father's tree with the ornaments that document my childhood and now Alex's. It's passing down the stories of Christmases past to a new generation - and creating new traditions with her.

Of course, our holiday lasts a little longer, I guess, than most. We are able to spend over a week visiting with friends and family whom we don't see very often anymore. We partake of so many experiences that used to be so ordinary - and now are a rare treat. I drink my Dunkin' Donuts coffee and Alexandra enjoys her Friendly's sundaes and we're both a little happier.

It's the end of the day on the 23rd. I'm not sure entirely how productive today has been for me, but it's been enjoyable. And tomorrow the anticipation will increase - especially as I prepare to do a whole lot of wrapping that I've been putting off.

Caroling, caroling, baking and singing will be the order of the day. Anticipation.

I'm sorry - was I WANTING cold weather??

I know I was bemoaning the warm weather back in Illinois the other day - but I think I'll take a sunny 65 degree day over the bone-chilling cold that I'm dealing with at present.  

Of course, I love the idea of a white Christmas.  Bing Crosby instilled that in me long long ago.  I just put the dog outside, though, and the minute that I was outside was enough to get under my skin and chill me to the core.

Brrr....

So I'm going to make some hot chocolate tonight to warm my cold cold heart.  Tomorrow we're going sledding and then decorating Grandpa's Christmas tree.  We're also going to catch up on our baking.  I'm hoping that all this activity will make me forget that chilling feeling invading my soul... or at least my bones.

This is the week before Christmas, right?

... the reason I ask is that it's 65 degrees outside and sunny with blue blue skies.  Oh, there's a puffy white cloud over my car, but other than that...

The idea of driving back to CT tomorrow morning with these conditions shining down upon me - well, that's not so bad.  The problem comes with the fact that the rest of the country (or at least the part that I'll be traversing) is covered in multiple inches of snow.  

Don't get me wrong, I love a white Christmas.  

It's been a year, however, since the last time I made this drive - and being out of practice, I'm a little nervous about the drive to begin with.  After all, not only is it a hellishly long trip, I'm doing it with Alexandra, two guinea pigs, two hamsters, and the puppy.  The hellish nature increases exponentially with each being.

At the end of journey, we will be rewarded with seeing our friends and family back home, catching up, and relaxing of a sort (okay, I have some writing to do too).  

Then, two weeks later, we'll do the trip in reverse!

Happy Holidays! - Our Digital Christmas Letter

Happy holidays from our family to yours!  

Welcome to our digital Christmas letter!  It’s that time of year again – and we’re trying something a little different. 

As technology advances and we’re brought back into contact with so many people in our lives,

we’re trying a more techno-savvy method of conveying our holiday greetings to everyone we love!

(I’ve been assured that this is acceptable and not tacky by multiple people…)

2008 has been an interesting year for us, filled with all kinds of highs and lows.  My teaching assistantship ended last year, which found me working for the graduate assistant union in the spring semester and scrambling for employment in the fall.  I found it at the campus Starbuck’s – as well as a great appreciation for teaching! Since I started there, my constant latte addiction has been cured.  I’m much better now about going without my coffee!

Alexandra finished up her first year at St. Andrew’s school with an excellent report card and jumped right into second grade with gusto.  She’s still taking her regular dance classes (advanced ballet as well as jazz/hip hop), participating in the Southern Illinois Children’s Choir’s Apprentice Choir, active in Brownies (I’m her troop leader), and simply being the crazy kid she was born to be! 

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the year for us was a trip this past summer to Australia to visit our family – and, of course, do some sightseeing.  We spent five weeks visiting Sydney, Toowoomba, Lismore, and Canberra, with trips to Burleigh Heads, Hervey Bay, the Big Banana and Australia Zoo!  While the experience of traveling to Australia itself was definitely incredible, getting to spend time with our family there was certainly the best part for both of us.  It was so wonderful to spend time with my cousins – as well as finally meet all the children!  Alexandra also adored meeting all of her Australian cousins for the first time – and hasn’t stopped talking about them since!  According to her, we’ll be going back every year.  According to me, we’ll see.

My fourth year at SIUC has found me starting a new program here – working on a second MA in Linguistics, specifically Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).  The new department is really welcoming and I’m enjoying working on my skills at teaching English.  I can’t wait to apply what I’m learning in this program to what I’ve already gained through teaching English to native speakers.

This past autumn has also brought us to a new home – Alexandra and I moved out of the student housing where we’d lived for three years and into a house about twenty minutes outside of Carbondale.  Alex is most appreciative of the big yard that came with the house (not to mention the fact that she has her own room plus a playroom!) and I’m still in my honeymoon phase with the laundry room!  Just before we moved, I managed to break my wrist, putting a damper on the whole moving adventure.  Five weeks later, two days after I took the brace off, I fell and sprained that same wrist.  Oops!  This autumn also brought a new addition to our family – we adopted a very sweet little beagle puppy, Violet Whey (aka VW Beagle), who has since kept us very busy.  She’s quite the handful, but a wonderful playmate for Alex and such a loving little girl!

From Alexandra, Violet Whey, the hamsters (Hannah and Lily), the guinea pigs (Hermione and Gigi) and myself, we wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season with all the love and joy that accompanies this time of year. 

With love, Kylie, Alexandra, and all the girls

 

Papers are all handed in...

... and except for a quiz in Phonetics tomorrow morning, this semester is over for me!

There are a couple more things that I'd like to get done tonight, but I'm not overly concerned whether that happens or not.  I still have my hours at Starbucks to spur my daily trips into town and, of course, Alexandra has to go to school until the end of next week.  

Now that things are handed in, though, I'm trying to map out my activity for the next few days.  The hours that have been spent on school work can now be applied towards preparing for the holidays - with gusto!

I'm looking forward to completing the photo albums in the next couple of days and am contemplating making some cards as well.  While I'm not going to send out cards this year (after all, every year I get the cards and usually forget to mail them) - I'm trying to come up with some creative way of wishing everyone who's important to me a very happy holidays.  The problem lies in the fact that so many people whom we love are scattered all over this planet.  We can't very well deliver a plate of cookies to people in Japan, Australia, and Germany (if I'm forgetting your country and you're not close, then I'm talking about you too!).

Of course, avoiding the obligatory Christmas cards also means avoiding writing the obligatory Christmas letter... which may actually be of use this year (especially considering we moved rather suddenly in October).  

I guess I'm just torn about the card issue after all.  We'll see what I decide.  

If I don't have your current address, though, shoot me an email - just in case!

xxxooo

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

... at least, that's what "they" say.

At present, though, I'm overwhelmed with too much worked that's piled up on me throughout the semester.  At least for the next two days, I'm SWAMPED.  

My thesis is written and handed in to my committee.  I'm still operating under the assumption that I'm defending next week - no date has been set yet, though.  

I'm sad to note that my work hours will be cut with the end of the semester - after all, no students means a lot less work.  The extra time at home is nice, of course, but the smaller paychecks really aren't.

Alexandra is an activity magnet during the weekends leading up to Christmas!  This coming weekend brings her First Reconciliation, marching in the Lights Fantastic Parade, and a Brownie Troop dinner.  I also have my work Christmas party - and did I mention that all of this occurs on the same day?  

Next weekend is even more busy with activities completely filling Saturday and Sunday - two Christmas concerts, a birthday party, and two scheduled shopping dates.  

In the midst of all this hoopla, I'm trying to adopt a new Christmas outlook.  Yes, Alexandra will get presents from me and from Santa.  However, most of the other people in our lives will be receiving baked goods (oh yes, there will be cookies!) and handmade photo albums.  We're embracing the idea that Christmas should come from the heart - and so are trying to cut down on the "stuff" that the holiday has become.  

I won't lie and say the economy hasn't spurred this change, but I'm not upset about it either.  I really like the idea of putting the effort to make the gifts for everyone rather than looking for stuff.  

That said, I'm enjoying Sirius' 24/7 Christmas Carol station and trying to psych myself up for a joyous season (provided I get all this writing done soon!)...

Is 32 too old to go "emo"?

Fourteen years ago, I fell in love with a vampire.  Brad Pitt stole my heart in the movie version of "Interview With A Vampire" - and I was hooked.  I could still probably recite the entire film.  

A few years later, I began reading the Anne Rice books and found myself immersed within worlds of witches and vampires - living so well amongst the rest of the world.  I read every book she wrote - and I think owned them all too.  I'm still regretting the fact that a few of those books got sold in a yard sale just prior to my moving to Illinois.  

However, they were in that yard sale for a reason.  I'd outgrown such romantic fantasies as vampires and I was a much more practical adult moving on with her life.  Those that didn't sell got packed up with the rest of my books - those that did, I hope they bring joy to whomever is reading them now.  

I'm too much of a grown up to be pulled into such wonderfully fictitious worlds.  

A few months ago I started seeing all these mentions of "Twilight" scattered around Facebook.  Ah, the next teenage girl thing, I thought.  A movie based on a young adult book - yeah, there's such a dearth of those.  

Then the buzz reached some of the undergraduates I know.  Okay - they're still fairly young, though, right?  I'm above such things.

Then the buzz landed on a friend, older than me, in an administrator position.  She lent me her copy - which landed in a pile of books that "I'll get to when I have the time."  It sat there.

Twilight, the movie, was released on Friday to scores of lines and sold out theatres.  By now, I knew it was a teen vampire flick; the book remained unread, unopened, now in a box that moved with us into our new home.  

I agreed to succumb to the hype to watch the movie 

- vampires can be a pleasant distraction, right?  

Saturday show, 4:00 pm.  Lots of previews and then....

It's now 4:03 on Sunday afternoon.  Exactly 24 hours ago, I was settling in to my seat at the movie theatre, about to watch a fun vampire movie.  In the past 24 hours, I've watched the movie, read the entire first book, dreamed of my own personal vampire, and become obsessed with the book's main character.  I won't run to the movies practically every night for the next three weeks (okay, yes, I MAY have done that with Interview With A Vampire) - but I'm anxiously awaiting the movie's release onto dvd and I may allow Alex to see the movie (so I can watch it again).  I am, however, jonesing for the second book...

So how is it that this movie has thrown me with such vehemence back into my vampire lust of ten years ago?  The book is excellent, I think.  While the story is centered around the angst that is adolescence, I think the writing is more compelling than I remember Rice's series.  

My solution to my obsession?  

Well, I want to read read read - which I don't really have a problem with.  

And then shrug and embrace it.  

Since the only other option is to dye my hair black and attain a level of "emo" that I would never have even reached at the peak of my emotional youth, I'm already practicing my shrug.

A Quick Word to the Wise...

While I'm always a fan of a good movie, I discovered that there is a time and a place for all such movies.  That is, even good movies should be watched only in an appropriate context.

I'm a single mom - and as such, I spend most of my time (when we're not in school, that is) with my darling daughter.  Tonight, however, Alexandra is at a sleepover birthday party.  She went home after school with her friends and will be picked up tomorrow morning around 11am.  I haven't seen her since dropping her off at school this morning.  On days like today, I miss the little kid.  

I decided tonight, though, that I could go see a movie without Miss Alex - a grown up movie.  I'd wanted to see "The Changeling" since discovering that Jeffrey Donovan was in it - and this was my chance.  I roped a friend into seeing it with me and we planned for the 10pm showing.

This is where I should have done a little more planning, or at least reconnaissance, before going to this movie tonight.  

Don't get me wrong - it was a really good movie.  Donovan played a prick, yes, but whenever I see him, I picture him doing situps up an incline and eating blueberry yogurt.  I love that guy.  Jolie was good as well, as was Malkovich, but I have my favorites....

I digress - this was not the movie to see on a night when I don't have my daughter.  A movie based on an unsolved missing child case is never a good idea on nights when she's not safely tucked in bed in the room next to mine.  

Now What?

I spent the past three months anxiously (no, not in a good way) anticipating my phonetics presentation of Dutch.  I finished that yesterday.  I also had to put together a micro teaching demonstration in French - did that this morning.  My thesis has been looming over my head for a year and a half and I am now at the end - I'm defending in about three weeks (probably a little less).  I'm sitting at Panera, having soup for dinner with Alexandra, before a Girl Scout council meeting ... and it just hit me.

Now what?

Of course, life goes on and I need to keep looking for gainful employment (emphasis on that gainful part) and what not.  I still have a paper and a bunch of smaller assignments that I need to get done over Thanksgiving break, as well as my pre-defense revisions - but all of a sudden I feel as though a rather large weight has been lifted from me.  I fear that it may be that all my stresses have finally numbed me?  

I guess that I'll just take this moment - be it fleeting or lasting - and savour the hugs and snuggles from Alex, the facepainting decorating my right hand, the sourdough goodness encompassed by chicken and wild rice soup.  I'll go to this meeting, then go home and enjoy the peacefulness that is my existence this evening.

I may actually take tonight to read for ... wait for it ... PLEASURE.

"The Holidays" are approaching...

... and no.  I'm not the least bit freaked out.  Okay, maybe a little.  

I just have to keep reminding myself that the lowering gas prices are going to make it all better.  After all, isn't that what this latest attempt at economic stimulus is supposed to do?  It's no longer over $40 to fill my car's tank.  Yesterday I did it for under $20.  Is that enough to really help people, though?

I suppose the extra $20 is a boon and all - and it does relieve a certain amount of anxiety.  I'm still on the hunt for another job, though - not to replace but to supplement my current employment.  

So with all this economic malarkey (and really, what else can it be called, the present US economy), Thanksgiving and Christmas and all that are just around the corner.  Alexandra and I will not be having Thanksgiving dinner with our family this year - the trip back to CT would be too much of a hardship financially, not to mention the annoyance of the long trip, the missed school for Alex, and the stress of moving a veritable zoo of animals 1000 miles for a week.  

We're cool with that, though, and are planning to have friends over to our house for the holiday.  I'm not making the turducken I'd originally proposed - especially not after finding out how expensive those are!  A traditional turkey, with Kylie's special stuffing, will suffice as the main course.  

What we're doing for Christmas, however, is still up in the air.  As Starbucks won't be offering me any hours while they're closed for break, the viability of remaining in Illinois for the break is ... well, slight.  I guess it all hinges on whether I find another job today.  My day's goals do include filling out some applications.  It was pointed out to me, though, that the ever-decreasing gas prices will at least make the trip more affordable than I'd originally planned.  

All will be okay, I know - but I'd prefer to live without such stress.

... at least Alex just wants Uno and Scrabble for Christmas :-)

Do I Expect Too Much?

I was explaining to someone today how Alexandra was so offended that she couldn't vote - how it really wasn't fair that adults who don't know who Obama and McCain were could vote while she couldn't, even though she'd been following the races since before the primaries, because she's seven years old.

"Why doesn't that surprise me, coming from your daughter?"

I advocate social responsibility - and I do so in my daughter.  Voting is a privilege that should be cherished - and something to be viewed, not as a chore, but an opportunity.  

I hope that I'm instilling such values within Alexandra.

I was more than a little shocked to be confronted with so many people today who had not voted and were not going to vote - and who were not even registered to vote.  

I guess I shouldn't take offense at the flippant remark - after all, she is a politically aware and socially responsible child - and a child of whom I am extremely proud.

Are You a US Citizen? VOTE ON TUESDAY!

About a month ago, I commented to Alexandra (who has been very invested in the Obama campaign since Clinton removed herself from the democratic race) that she wasn't able to vote in this election.  There were many tears and she raised some good points - she's paid attention to the newscasts, the debates, the candidates.  She knows who she supports.  Why can't she vote?  

The day before, I'd overheard someone talk about who they were going to vote for: "you know, that guy who elected that woman for president."  How could I then disagree with her words?  She knew more about what was going on in US politics than adults who would be voting.

She'll be with me as I cast my vote in the morning.  She'll also get to vote in a mock election tomorrow at her school.  Her vote, however, won't be counted in the general Presidential election.  

I have family on the other side of the world - some of whom have pointed out how, really, unfair it is that the whole world can't vote in the US Presidential elections.  While it's true that our president is OUR president and so should only be elected by the US citizenry, our choice has repercussions that are felt throughout the world.  There truly are people all over the world who would like to be able to vote in this election.

I received an email today from moveon.org.  I'm not a huge fan of moveon.org - I've just been too lazy really to unsubscribe from their emails.  However, I really appreciated today's email:

Dear MoveOn member,

You don't live in Ohio. You don't live in Florida. The chance is pretty small that Illinois will decide the presidential election. So: Why vote?

Here's why. This list is important—so please read it, and then pass it along. And remember: To find out where to vote, what you need to bring, or when the polls close, click here: www.voteforchange.com.

The Top 5 Reasons To Vote In Illinois 
Or: Why It Still Means A Thing Even If It Ain't Got That Swing

1. Big margin = big mandate. The popular vote doesn't put anyone in the White House, but it affects what presidents can do when they get there. Want Obama to be able to actually do the stuff he's been talking about? Pass universal health care? End the war? Then we need a landslide.
   
   
2. The other things on the ballot matter! For example: Congress. Without more support in the House and Senate, Obama will have a hard time getting progressive laws passed. Plus, there are other important local races and ballot questions in some places. 
   
   
3. If you don't vote, everyone can find out. Voting records are public. (Not who you voted for, justwhether you voted.) Pretty soon, finding out whether you voted could be as easy as Googling you.
   
   
4. Help make history. You could cast one of the votes that elect the first African-American president. If we win, we'll tell our grandchildren about this election, and they'll tell their grandchildren. Do you really want to have to explain to your great-great-grandchildren that you were just too busy to vote in the most important election in your lifetime? 
   
   
5. People died so you'd have the right to vote. Self-government—voting to choose our own leaders—is the original American dream. We are heir to a centuries-long struggle for freedom: the American revolution, and the battles to extend the franchise to those without property, to women, to people of color, and to young people. This year, many will still be denied their right to vote. For those of us who have that right, it's precious. If we waste it, we dishonor those who fought for it and those who fight still. 
   
   Live your values. Love your country. Vote.

I can't stress enough how much I want everyone to go vote tomorrow.  While I have my own opinions as to who to vote for, I'm not even asking that everyone go vote for the candidate I support.  I really just want to stress over and over and over that we should all get out to vote.  I've pointed out in previous blogs the struggles women went through in years past to get us the right to vote - now I'm pointing out the privilege we all have in being able to vote tomorrow.  Take advantage - be proud of what we're able to do - VOTE.

Did I Step Into an Alternate Reality?

The economy sucks.  It finally hit me – at the bottom of the economic barrel – recently.  I get it now.  The economy sucks.  Even Alexandra is aware of this – offering to bust open her piggy bank to pay for food.  The economy sucks.

 

I ventured for the first time today to DCI Biologicals.  Those people who are in Carbondale know what I’m talking about.  It’s that big stone building that I’ve always thought looked abandoned.  I’ve never seen a person walk in or out of the front doors – and it’s always looked kind of seedy.  When I told friends that I was going to go there, they made comments about meth addicts and the like.  Oh boy, I thought.

 

Well, okay – this isn’t the cream of the crop of society, to say the least.  I’ll grant them that.  I don’t see anyone around here who look like they’ve been ripping the skin off their faces, though.  There are remarkably quite a few normal looking people here – of course, a number of college students. 

 

I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

I walked through the doors and blinked repeatedly.  At 11 am, there were no free seats in the lobby area.  I’d say the room holds (seat-wise) about 30-40 people.  I couldn’t believe that it was full.  Wow.

 

After waiting a while, I at least got to fill out my first form and talk with someone who works here.  I smiled and said it didn’t look like the crashing economy was hurting them in anyway – that, if anything, it looked to be helping them.  She laughed and said they’re now getting all kinds of phone calls asking what other things they’ll buy.  I shudder to wonder what, beyond plasma, these people want to sell.  

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

We're having an issue lately in our house: an issue with telling the truth.  Alex has never been the kind of child who tells wild and imaginative tales - she's always been the tattler in most situations, really.  Or, if she isn't telling on someone to the authority figure relative to the incident, she's likely to tell me about it later that evening.  

Last year, at just about this time, they had a speaker at her school, the local DARE officer, who talked to the younger grades about alcohol awareness.  Alex was honest at that assembly to the point of over-sharing.  I was the parent in charge of the event, the only parent at the assembly, and wishing I could drown my embarrassment in a really big strawberry margarita.  

So who is this kid who has taken residence in my home, who looks just like my little girl, who cannot tell the truth if her life depended upon it?  

Alexandra, did you feed the guinea pigs?  Yes.  Then why don't they have any food?  Oh.

Alexandra, did you take a shower?  Yes.  Then why is your hair still dry?  Oh.

Alexandra, did you do your homework?  Yes.  Can I see it? *tears* I forgot what I was saying!

When I got to her choir rehearsal tonight, I noticed a little stuffed animal on her desk.  I beckoned her over (they were still in their break) to let her know I'd gotten there and to give her a hug.  

Did you get a new stuffed animal?  No.  What's the animal on your desk?  I don't have one!

She walked back to her desk and took the animal from the desk and, reaching under the desk to her friend sitting in front of her, passed it away from her in what was an obvious attempt to hide the thing from me.

I've had a few people now tell me it's a phase and that she'll grow out of it.  It's so unlike the Alexandra I've known ... well, since her birth ... though, that it's driving me absolutely batty.

To Wax Political for a Moment...

There is an anti-abortion organization that has taken up protesting outside of where my classes are held.  For the past two days, images of aborted fetuses have been erected in comparison with images of the holocaust.  They're in the free speech area of the university - and they're being sponsored by an RSO.  They can be there and they can display these images.  

Yesterday, at the same time as local elementary schools were letting out 5, 6, 7 year olds (okay, all elementary school aged children), this organization thought it appropriate to drive a truck bearing these images throughout the town.  They went beyond the university - the presumed target of the protest - and happened to pick the same time that elementary schools let their children out nationwide.  "We weren't specifically targeting 5 year olds" was the response I received upon challenging the ethics of doing so.

Protests like these - specifically those that attempt to engage the entire community, regardless of whether that engagement is appropriate - get my dander up.  It's not so much the issue - in fact it's an issue that I remain constantly torn about - as their methods.  My daughter goes to a conservative Catholic elementary school.  Oftentimes I even shudder at how conservative it is.  She takes the bus to and from school every day from our church parking lot.  The bus is owned by the school and is driven by one of the parents with a CDL.  At school she is not allowed to watch anything rated higher than PG.  In order for her to watch even PG, I had to sign a blanket permission slip at the start of the year.  She exists ( at least when it comes to school ) in a bubble.  Yesterday, as she got off her bus, she was met with these images driving past the parking lot.  

Again, the issue itself is something with which I continue to struggle.  My own beliefs dictate that life is sacred and that I would NEVER have an abortion.  So, in my own life, I am pro-life.  I would never advocate that another individual have an abortion.  However, I would also NEVER want my beliefs forced upon another individual in the same way that I would never want someone else's beliefs forced upon me.  I would (and do) support any woman's informed choice in the matter.  

I've been attacked a couple of times recently for calling my daughter a choice.  Perhaps I misspoke.  She is my daughter, the most important person in my life.  HAVING HER was the best choice I ever made.  

My lunch is now over and I have to go back to work.  

xxx ooo

My Adventures into the Land of Cooking...

Alexandra discovered one of the greatest delights in Australian cuisine this summer - sausage rolls.  They're a pastry covered sausage - no casing on the meat.  I'd had them before and never really liked them, but this time even I appreciated them heartily.  

When we discovered that we would have to bring something to an international potluck this weekend, Alex and I immediately figured we'd make little sausage rolls.  After all, the Australian part is our heritage and they're yummy!

Last night, while we bought our supplies, I hit snag one.  The only uncased sausage we could buy was bratwurst.  While we both love bratwurst, that wasn't quite the flavor we were looking for.

I was reminded by a friend, though, that in order to make these accessible to all the attendants of the potluck,  I should avoid making anything with pork.  Okay - we'll be making the final batch with ground beef, I guess.

I discovered today, while making my first attempt at these tasty treats, that filo dough is NOT as hard to work with as I'd heard.  Even with one hand immobilized in a cast, I was able to maneuver the sheets of pastry, brush melted butter, cut them, and roll the sausage up in it.  I will admit that turning the rolls in the oven, later on, did prove to be a bit challenging...

I've tested the first batch on a few of my coworkers - all of whom appreciated the bratwurst snack.  However, the overall consensus is - after all my work with that filo dough - I should use crescent roll dough.  While that may make them quicker to make, it also means that I'll have to cook the meat ahead of the rolls.  Filo may stay in the oven for long periods of time to cook the insides, but crescent roll dough doesn't do well past about 7 minutes.

Perhaps I'll look around online for a recipe for sausage rolls...

Really, I'm Okay...

Though, granted, I can't type too well at the moment.

I will, however, catch up on blogging at some point fairly soon.

I gave blood yesterday afternoon because... well, because that's what I do. If there's a blood drive, I'm a groupie. Hey - it's for a good cause. 
In retrospect, I should have eaten first... but I hadn't scheduled that into my "day off."

I passed out as they were finishing me up. Yeah, I was the crazy lady laying upside down in a gurney with a wet paper towel on my forehead in the middle of the student center...

I felt better - I had to! - and I went to get all the stuff for the Brownie meeting that afternoon at Alex's school. There were groceries and oodles of papers because we were preparing dinner for the girls' parents and then having a quick meeting for them to let them know what's going on with our troop for the fall. 

Coordinating ten 7,8, and 9 year old girls to make a dinner and all feel included was not as simple as I'd thought it would be. It went off well, though. I was a little dizzy still from the fainting, but not too bad. I even got to eat about half a cup of baked ziti once everyone else was served (busy busy busy). We had a quick ceremony for the parents, then the meeting with the paperwork.

Cleanup was pretty simple and everyone was out pretty early. I had to carry out all the filled out forms back to my car, as well as various other papers. It was while I was lugging all that outside ...

Did I mention that I was wearing my usual non-Starbucks footwear that consist of approximately 3" heeled sandals?

I stepped weirdly, twisted an ankle, fell over, and put my right hand out to catch myself.

I now have a fractured wrist, a big bruise on my knee, and another humongous bruise across my hip.

I feel foolish, but I'm okay. The timing just stinks because we're trying to move next weekend which means I need to pack!

... and then I remember how little she is.

Alex hasn't been well since Thursday.  Friday morning found her vomiting (though she was hiding it in the bathroom at school so she could go on her field trip...).  She was sent home from school after throwing up on the ride back from the orchard.  

All weekend, she's been not-Alex.  Whinier than usual, lethargic (she slept for almost 48 hours straight), disoriented, and complaining of dizziness.  My girl's been ill.  This morning she appeared to be over it - she was perky and acting more like the kid I know her to be.  We went out (I didn't know until we were outside that it was during the remnants of the hurricane) and had lunch, then went to Petco and Barnes & Noble.  It was at Barnes & Noble that she suddenly broke down, crying, complaining of weakness and feeling dizzy.  By the time we got to the car (and I carried her from the store to the car), she was a wreck.  She alternated between sobbing and sleeping all the way back to the apartment.  

Okay - prompt care at our doctor's office was booked for the rest of the day and didn't have access to MRIs etc today anyway.  They recommended I just take her directly to the emergency room.  My first inclination was to agree, but I took a moment and instead called a friend who is a nurse and who works with pediatrics.  

Pedialyte (the clear kind that is most like water), vanilla Carnation breakfast mix in her milk, and calorie rich food was pretty much forced into my still discombobulated baby.  Needless to say, she was less than thrilled, but if it was between that and spending the night at the hospital, I chose the forcing fluids and foods down her.

The result?  Well, she seems better tonight, as she's finally settling down for the evening.  I'm hoping (praying is actually a better word for it!) that she's well enough for school tomorrow.  

But how weak and exhausted she was after only two days of being sick makes me realize that despite how grown up she's becoming, this little girl is still little ... and she's still my baby.  And on that note, I think I'm going to go give her a cuddle before she falls asleep.

She's Growing Up So Fast...

She's grabbed the phone and wandered into the other room, having a very in depth conversation with a friend.  I'm not privvy to such things anymore.  

Her recent fascination with bras has resulted in her owning a few little sports bra type garments.  They aren't going to hurt and they're appeasing her constant desire to wear a bra.  I suppose they're the modern day equivalent to the Wonder Woman underoos  I had as a child.  Those, however, weren't touted as a bra and panties set.  *sigh*

Last night, before she fell asleep, she was laying in bed, reading a chapter book, without pictures.  I almost burst into tears.  

Where did my baby go?

Toothless Wonder!

Alexandra lost her second tooth this evening, as she lay sick in bed, watching Monk on the computer. She was excited and perked up for about three minutes, before falling back into her pitiful sick little kid routine.

What's funny is that the tooth above the missing one looks missing too. Actually it's just being pushed out to the side by her grownup tooth coming in...


Of course, the tooth was promptly washed off and placed in a tooth fairy approved receptacle. Alex is looking forward to collecting her money in the morning... There was no thought whatsoever to the promise she made to Auntie Tracey, my cousin, that in exchange for money while in Australia, she would send her next lost tooth to her.

I love the picture I snapped of her just after the tooth came out - really, does that little girl look like she's been home, sick in bed, all day??

I guess braids make me look young...

This morning, between classes, I felt the compulsion to pull my hair into two neat braids.  I usually wear it up in a makeshift bun, or just down and loose.  I was feeling a bit Gwyneth Paltrowesque from Sliding Doors, though, so the braids were done.  

After braiding my hair, I had multiple people I knew (well!) walk past me completely not recognizing me.  As I walked through the student center to clock in to work, I had a young girl, probably a freshman or sophomore, stop me and ask me if I'd registered to vote yet.  It actually took me a moment to comprehend the question.  I blinked at her before saying "uhm, yeah, when you were like four."

I guess the braids make me look different - and apparently younger.  One of my co-baristas suggested that if the 'do makes me look 18, I should stick with it.  I think I might.

Really, why do any of us think we're so smart?

A friend of mine in college used to point out that we thought we were smart because our parents told us we were.  We would laugh at that - after all, don't all parents think that their children are geniuses - or at least of above average intelligence...?

Tonight I cleaned out the guinea pig cage and gave both piggies a bath.  I'm probably the most compulsive guinea pig bather in the world - but their lack of hygiene in their habitat makes me need to bathe them.  So, the baby shampoo comes out, and they get a good washing...  

I think they looked lovely by the time they'd finished drying, snuggled deep within a terry cloth towel burrow.  They snuggled with me; they even snuggled with Alexandra (who cried because one of them moved and her hind claw touched her leg...).  They were so sweet.

These are the girls after their bath and their cage cleaning... Gigi is the brown and white one on the left; Hermione is the black and white one on the right.  You can't see her cool auburn eyepatch over her left eye in these pictures...

Anyway, so they were clean and I went into the bathroom after all of that and... the bathtub wasn't letting out its water.  I grabbed a plunger and fought with the drain... to no avail.

I don't actually own a plumber's snake (not being a plumber and all...) but I tore apart a wire coat hanger and attempted to use it as a snake.  For two hours I fought with that drain.  I finally walked away, assuming it was just slow and it'd empty tonight and I'd call someone to fix it in the morning.  I didn't think the university would appreciate, however, the plumbing emergency caused by guinea pig fur...  After all, that could be the only cause of this, right?

I checked the tub later on, assuming the water would be gone by then - and to my dismay the level hadn't decreased at all.  Egads!  What was I going to do about my own shower in the morning??  I wasn't about to stand in dirty guinea pig water, after all!  I grabbed the plunger and my makeshift snake and prepared to do battle again.  I plunged and I plunged...  and my hand banged into the toggle switch that closes the drain.  

At least it didn't hit it too badly, though.  After all, if the switch had been down, it would have been painful.

That was when I realized that at some point I had closed the drain.  I flipped the switch down and the water all whirled away.  

Over two hours trying to unblock a closed drain.  One flick of the switch to let all the water out of the unblocked tub.

At least the guinea pigs are happy and clean!

Getting things accomplished...

I have a bad habit of wanting to curl into a little ball.  This goes back to my college days when I first was diagnosed with dysthymia - and has reoccurred throughout my life since.  When things become too overwhelming, I shut down.  

This happened to me this morning.  I got the girls off to the school bus (I had Emily because her mom had to be at work early this morning) and then, rather than my usual head straight to school routine, I went home and went back to bed ... supposedly for 20 minutes, really for about two and a half hours.  

I was meant to be in class this morning; I had to work on the thesis today; I have homework due for Linguistics tomorrow; I need to rectify my residency status with the university; I have to get paperwork to Pearson in the next few days; etc etc etc.  With all this looming, I shut down and slept.  I guess it's my coping mechanism.

At two this afternoon, I motivated myself to get showered and dressed and to start getting stuff done.  By the time I picked Alex and Emily up from school, I'd taken care of my car issues and gotten my proof of voter registration.  From there we made a couple of stops on the way home which resulted in all the paperwork being submitted for my residency status to be cleared up.  Mail was sent; packages were picked up.  

I'm about to sit down and hammer out the linguistics homework now - while the girls (I still have Emily - her mom ran into a situation at the hospital and is staying late) are laying in bed, reading books.  In about 20 minutes, they will be told to sleep and I will finish up that homework (there's still an issue with one of the problems, but I won't be able to deal with that until tomorrow before class, really).  

I know I won't have all the revisions on my thesis done for tomorrow.  However, I want to have some of the major ones addressed and be able to talk competently with my advisor by tomorrow morning at 8am.  Good luck to me on that one, yes.  I need to get the thing over and done with, though.  No more curling into a little ball - the thesis is hanging over my head and I'm frankly sick of it.  

I have a plan.  It may involve not sleeping until tomorrow night, but it's a plan nonetheless.  

Alexandra and Emily may be bearing the brunt of my going off the deep end today - but I did get them ice cream cones tonight after dinner...  that's something, right?

If I Didn't Have Bad Luck...

I'd seriously have no luck at all!

So tonight, just as I was about to fall asleep, I decided to quickly check the numbers in my student account to make sure everything has been taken care of...

There's $3000 more owed to the university than what I'd been accounting for.  WHAT???  I went through bunches of pages in my account before finding the one that explained all this...

I'm being charged tuition as a non-resident of Illinois.

Where exactly SIUC thinks I've been living for the past three years is beyond me.  

I now have to prove to the university that I've lived in Illinois for the past six months.  This is the same university that holds my stinking lease.  The same university that I've attended in residency for the past three years.  

I defy any and all people to explain to me where the school thinks I've been living all this time.  My permanent address on all my ... well, everything ... is in Carbondale.  It's not even outside of the park district, for heaven's sake!  I've been a Brownie leader in Jackson County for the past year.  

Do they really think I've been commuting?

Well, at least now I know how I'm filling tomorrow morning before classes...

I have finally been to the Fair!

Okay, this may be our fourth year in Carbondale, but it's the first time I've managed to get to the DuQuoin State Fair.  We went yesterday with friends and had a lovely time.  The girls got wristbands that allowed them unlimited access to the rides.  We wandered the fair and visited the tents and were given all sorts of goodies.  I ate a piece of taffy that was so sticky it pulled out my crown.  We're talking a good fair experience.

We fell asleep within about ten minutes of arriving home - completely worn out - and slept for almost 14 hours straight.  Did I mention it was a good time at the fair?

When I woke up, though, I felt hungover.  And here I am, hours later, so feeling that way.  Sadly, I had no alcohol last night to account for this condition... 

You don't think the carnies slipped something into the freshly squezzed (sic) lemonade???

She's a Spoiled Rotten Ass Brat!

I love the things that come out of children's mouths...

Regarding another, rather bad influence type, child in the children's choir, this was the term one of Alex's friends blurted out to a circle of three mothers.  

If you love Japan so much, why don't you just live there??

Alex spat this out to a friend of mine who teaches English as a Second Language... a friend who lived there for a while.  

Uhm, I did.

Oh, said Alex.

I still giggle over the whole "spoiled rotten ASS brat" thing.

Gas Makes Me Depressed...

I had to put some money in my gas tank today - a chore I've come to loathe.  I handed the clerk a twenty and told him to put it on pump six.  Then I walked back to the car to fill the tank.  I watched the money start to click away and my eyes and mind both wandered for the next $19.90 or so - until the pump stopped at $20.00.  I looked at the gauge under the money to see that I'd pumped a total of 5.57 gallons into my car.  My shoulders slumped and I got back into the driver's seat.  I turned the key and the fuel indicator didn't get up to the halfway mark (yes, I was at empty, I know).

I realized that when I first got this car, two years ago, it took less than $20 to fill my car.  To be on the safe side, that was how much I allotted for refueling on a regular basis.  Now it gets me 5.57 gallons.  

Perhaps the kicker of all of this is that when I pulled into the service station, only minutes before, I was thrilled to see the price of gas had gone down yet again.  I'm realizing, though, that until it gets down to $20 to fill my gas tank, I'm not going to get my spirits up about the gas prices again.

To stick it to the man, or at least the Huck's station down the road from the apartment, I'm using their wireless now, while not having just purchased anything from their store.  Booyah!

Nightly Negotiations...

Last night, as Alexandra was headed to bed, she paused and looked at me.  

"Mommie, can we talk tomorrow?"

"About what?"

"Well, I want to discuss my bedtime."

Alexandra hates going to bed early.  I can't fault her for that, really - after all, I hate going to bed early as well.  But it becomes a fight and often I give in and let her stay up.  After all, I'm staying up, aren't I?

As we missed the bus by about 30 seconds this morning, I looked at her and asked if she understood why we need to stick to early bedtimes.  It wasn't a completely hopeless situation - we just had to go to the late bus stop and wait around for it to come.  Yet that meant that I missed out on about half an hour of morning study time in favor of watching Alexandra and Daylen and Gavin (they missed it by about 15 seconds!) waiting for the school bus to arrive.  I also got to witness the woman whose driveway is the bus stop get upset with the preschool children running in her flowerbeds.  I can't fault her for that - the mothers were standing right there and watching their children demolish the landscaping.  

What I can fault, however, is my inability to enforce early bedtimes in my home.  Tonight Alexandra and I will go to bed early... well, we would if it weren't for this Choral Union I've joined.  I don't get home tonight until around 9:30pm.  

Maybe this wasn't the best idea I've ever had...

Reasonable bedtimes should be my first priority, though.  

Seriously? What Kind of Society Have We Become??

While walking through Walmart's grocery section last night, I was saddened to realize that so few things that I'd discovered I loved in Australia exist over here.  The yummy spinach and cashew dips, the rice crackers, passionfruit yogurt, passionfruit ice cream...  I was lamenting these things to the friend with whom I was shopping.  She was kind enough to point out something that we have, that Australia most likely does not:

Yeah, we have "Meal in a Bucket"

It's times like these when I'm just proud to be an American...?

I'm Barista, Hear Me Roar!

I had my first day of training at Starbucks today.  Four hours of training and the end result is that I can now press the button and brew a pot of coffee.  Four hours of training for that.  

I don't know why I'm frustrated by this - it's no different than the tedious training processes with TGIFridays, Friendlys, Disney, Bath & Body Works... it's a large corporation and extremely self important.  I find myself again in the role of corporate peon.  This time, though, it's in the named role of "BARISTA" 

I'm an effing barista, baby!

I promised Tim, my trainer at Starbucks, a shout out on my blog tonight - so this is it.  I'm going to have "dreams" (read: nightmarish dreams?) of the three main actions: being welcoming, being considerate, being knowledgeable, being involved, and being genuine... by the way, I genuinely forgot that last action and had to look it up in my "Green Apron Book"

I love the proprietary handbooks that corporations thrust upon their workers!

Now, though, I'm finishing up an application for a scholarship, then gathering the materials I need to complete my eligibility for scoring various standardized testing services...

Peace out and I'll post a more interesting blog later!

Fall Semester, Day 2

It's nine in the morning and already a bloggable day!  

While the first day of school brought both Alexandra and myself to a state of anticipation marked by early rising and on-time-ness, the second day of the school year has brought a return to our normal patterns (somewhat).  It was a fight to get Alex out of bed this morning - and perhaps a fight for myself as well, considering the number of times I hit snooze.  We did make it to her bus stop in time for her to ride to school, but we did not leave the house early enough for me to stop at the gas station before taking her to the bus.  Oh well, I thought, I could just get gas this afternoon after my class and audition were over.

Unfortunately, my gas tank had other plans.  About a quarter mile after I'd left her bus stop, my car decided that it didn't like the fumes it was running on... and so it stopped running.  And I ran... out of gas.  Apparently, most of my friends who live in the area don't answer their cell phones at eight in the morning - at least not when their caller ID says Kylie.  Thankfully, AAA really is quick in Carbondale; someone brought me a couple of gallons of gas and I was on my way (to Huck's first, then school!).  

I now have gas in my tank, coffee in my belly, my reading homework from yesterday completed (what else do you do when you're sitting in a motionless car on Chatauqua?), and more than a bit of anticipation for my upcoming class and later choir audition.  

Tonight is Alexandra's first night back at Southern Illinois Children's Choir - which affords me the opportunity to get work done tonight as well, or at least some time on the computer while she's singing away.  We're getting back into the routine and I'm okay with that.  

My job hunt has made an interesting turn - I may be getting a part time job at the Starbucks on campus.  Considering I spend so much time (and money) here already, it makes sense.  I cut that expense, plus I regain a paycheck.  I'm putting my application in today and crossing my fingers.  I think the fact that I am friends with the manager (not to mention most of the staff) gives me a bit of an in.  :-D

Have I mentioned how I adore crony-ism in southern Illinois (when it suits my interests)?

First Day of School, Fall 2008

There's something about the first day of school.  It's a high, really.  I slept a total of about three hours last night and was buzzing without coffee this morning.  Alexandra got up with minimal reluctance on her part.  She was at school and organizing her desk before the bell rang.  This is the child who is habitually late for school because she hates waking up - and who often has to spend her recess cleaning out her desk because it's so messy.

I had my first two linguistics classes and got myself registered for the semester.  I stopped at Starbucks to get a coffee and sit down and check my email - and I'm feeling like life is good.

Why?

Yesterday (or was it Saturday?) I was questioning my time in academe.  I was doubting this was the right path for myself.  Today, as I buzzed around the English and Linguistics departments, I was at home.  I'm sad, of course, that I no longer have an office.  I'm also a little put off by some of the new faces in my home department (English).  The fact that one of them wanted to trash the paper towel snow man that Alex and Krystal made for me didn't exactly make me warm to them.  Yet there's a new PhD student who is from Stanthorpe in Queensland and we had a nice chat.  I have been lamenting the fact that so many of my friends have moved on this summer - yet found so many happy and welcoming, familiar faces today that I questioned that sadness.  Of course, I miss those who have left, but I'm not left alone by any means.

I'm excited about my classes this semester, about finishing my thesis and defending in the next couple (few?) weeks, and about everything...

I'm signed up for helping with the book fair at Alex's school this year, her class's Christmas party, and Red Ribbon Week - and will attempt to limit the school things to that.  I will do one Brownie troop with her - but am going to try to make her only do one this year.  

Basically, I'm involving myself, but hopefully not over-involving.

Now if I could just find a job...

The World's Oldest Profession...

I got an email today from a family member about the process of naming - and at one point it mentions that it could be called "the world's oldest profession."  I suppose Adam named before Eve fell in our misogynistic understanding of the beginning of the world.  So her assertion makes sense.  

However, my mental connection from that phrase to the act of prostitution remains firm.  She may have made a point about chronology, but society has entrenched that understanding further into my psyche than I care to admit.  

I'm sitting in Buffalo Wild Wings, yet again, utilizing their free wireless, an unused electrical outlet, and a booth, while Alexandra works on her Summer Bridge Book and we both snack on some appetizers.  I flat out told our waitress when our food came out so quickly that she wouldn't be getting rid of us as quickly, that we intended to use the internet for a little while at least.  My internet is down for the foreseeable future and so we spend an hour or two a day somewhere with internet access.  Lately, it's been BWW.  

I realized that my purchase of wings and a soda is tantamount to prostitution - I'm selling myself as a customer in order to use their wireless.  But then, isn't the restaurant doing the same thing, offering up their wireless in the hope that I will patronize their restaurant.  

I know people say that prostitution is the oldest form of capitalism... but I'm sitting here thinking that perhaps capitalism is just an extension of prostitution.  

Six of one, half a dozen of the other?

So if prostitution is evil and not to be condoned, how is it okay that we as a culture (I'm speaking here of America primarily - I don't think other places are quite as Gomorrah-esque as we are) promote capitalism as the American way and something to be embraced?

I'm watching Alexandra sit across the booth from me and eat her potato wedges with cheese and draw pictures of her family and glance up at the Olympics playing on the television behind me... and I'm so confused.  Am I a good mother because I tell her to chew with her mouth closed?  Am I a bad mother because in embracing capitalism, I'm modeling an acceptance of prostitution for her?  

She's healthy, she's working diligently on her math worksheet, and she just finished her milk.  

I guess I'm doing okay.

I need a hug!

If I haven't learned my lesson today, I'm not sure I ever will.  I have had to deal with very unhappy librarians across Illinois in an attempt to release the hold on my university account today.  I need to register, I had way too many overdue library books from all over the state, and I had a deadline.  

They were all willing to help, but there were more than a couple who were obviously not happy with my delay in returning those books - and they were less than thrilled at expediting my requests!

The library hold was eventually released, though, and I breathed a sigh of relief... only to discover that a new hold was put on my account a week ago by the bursar's office for my rent for the next semester - and I can't register until I've paid the rent through December???  Unfortunately, without registration, I'm also unable to get any financial aid - financial aid that would be paying for the rent through December.  

EGADS!

If I had gotten the library stuff taken care of the day I came back (or *gasp* before I left for Australia), this wouldn't have been an issue.  Now it's an almost $3000 issue.

The amount presently seems insurmountable, yet often seems so paltry.  This discrepancy, this lack of options, is really hitting home how much I need to just settle into a career as soon as possible rather than prolong my education.  That fact absolutely kills me - I would really rather continue in academia - but I fear that in order to be a good parent, a good adult, and a good person, and... well... responsible, I need to find something to permanently settle into.

As we were flying from San Francisco to Chicago, I listened to a girl sitting next to Alex talk to the guy on the other side of her.  She was saying that now that she's finished college, she's considering moving to Italy with a friend of her's and finding a random job to support herself for a year or two.  When the guy asked her if she'd considered graduate school, she responded that she didn't want to do anything like that - she wanted to get right into her career and grad school would just be a year or two of a delay.

I blinked my eyes and mentally went over what she'd said... grad school doesn't help in finding a career, but bumming around Italy does.  

She also said that she wanted to be someone who went out and did what they loved; she didn't want to be a victim of circumstance and just find herself in a career because she had to.  

What she said about grad school and Italy still doesn't jive well in my head... what she later said about finding something that she loves rather than finding something to do, that made sense.  So, now I'm trying to really figure out whether staying in school is something to do or something I love.  Is finding a career now something I'll love or something to do?  

I'm afraid that if I can't get this $2800 situation sorted in the next three days, circumstances are going to end up giving me a definite push towards finding a real job/career.  

But then, mightn't that be better than treading water for a year?

Trade ya!

I may have mentioned this on here before, but I've developed a new hobby and it is swapping!

There's this wonderful site where people go to randomly send mail (through the post, not usually through email) and to receive mail too!  You sign up, fill out your profile, and join whatever swaps suit your fancy.  I'm swapping mix cds, scrapbooking papers, stickers, toys, and all sorts of things.  I've been getting postcards in the mail often and have gained a few new penpals too!

Because of this new hobby, I'm currently trying to figure out how to make my own postcards...  

I'm having fun!

Back in Illinois...

Well, we're back - and have been for about a week.  I'm sure at some point I'll write out what we did in those last few days in Australia, but I've been having a bit of a rough transition back to the real world.  I think I really prefer to be on vacation.

Unfortunately, I royally stink at managing things in my life - especially when I'm on the other side of the world.  Let's just say that I came back to pretty much everything in my life a shambles.  Three of our four crabs died while at the petsitter's - none of which were noticed, let alone removed from the cage, by the family watching the pets.  I guess we're lucky (?) the hamsters and guinea pigs survived their time there.  

I'm now in the process of job hunting, but reluctantly, which translates into poor job prospects.  Really, I just need a kick in my pants and I could probably sort everything out within a day or so - I just am looking for that ass kicking.

I had an interesting 32nd birthday yesterday - I felt as though I was simultaneously ignored for the most part and celebrated more than I've been in a while by others.  I had my first birthday cake in many years.  I had a much smaller celebration dinner than I have in the past couple of years.  It was a strange day full of lots of tears (did I mention how screwed up everything still is?) and some of the most caring gestures and thoughtful moments I've experienced in so long.

I'm still a little thrown by my birthday.

So oh my goodness - I feel basically like I've been on an emotional rollercoaster since returning from Australia a little over a week ago.  The wacked out sleep schedule I've been maintaining doesn't help that, either.  

But, I'm back - and I'm feeling like I'm going to accomplish a whole lot tomorrow.  I didn't want to abandon the blog, though - and felt as though I'd been negligent for the past two weeks or so.  My next blog will be about the joys of my new addiction - swapping!

Canberra: ACT is not quite the same as WDC

We’ve been in Canberra, visiting with my Uncle Lou since Monday evening.  As has been the case with each of our stops, this has been filled with activity.

Tuesday’s itinerary started off rather vague.  We had a plethora of options that centered around Parliament House – but we ended up spending a good part of the afternoon only at the new Parliament House.  We passed the old building on the way there, but were pleased to join a tour of the new building when we entered.  It was a fascinating tour, one that kept the attention of Alexandra, the interest of the adults, both the Americans (there was another American from Philly on the tour too!) and even the Australians.  While the building was actually opened about two months before I was in Canberra the last time (20 years ago), it’s still called the “new” Parliament House.  Uncle Lou had never taken a tour of the building either, so he also appreciated learning all about the building.

One of the neatest parts of the building is the fact that it’s basically built within a hill or mound – so Alexandra enjoyed practicing her cartwheels on the grass by the roof of the building.  Fathom that!

On Wednesday, we had decided to visit Cockington Green – a garden style park that contains beautiful miniature representations of buildings from around the world.  We went there in 1982 when I was five years old, and again in 1988 when I was eleven.  It’s a tradition of sorts, I think, in my family, to go there when visiting Canberra.  Alexandra had a good time looking at the buildings and at all the little people and what they were doing.  It was a bit of a struggle to get her to slow down to really see what was going on in the scenes, but she enjoyed it.  We got to ride on the steam train (the same train that I rode on in both my previous visits) and Alexandra pointed out numerous things for me to photograph – so many, in fact, that the one visit resulted in a full memory card. 

When I transferred the photos to my computer later that evening, I was amazed to see photos that were practically identical to some I’d taken when I was 11.  I’m still a bit creeped out by that.

After visiting the Garden there, Alex, Uncle Lou, and I walked across the street to the National Dinosaur Museum.  While it didn’t have an extensive collection of artifacts, I thought it was an interesting way of looking at the dinosaurs, in that it focused on the dinosaurs that had been discovered in Australia.  Although we may have seen exhibits of locally discovered dinosaurs in other places, none of them have displayed them in quite such a manner.

Thursday was a sunny day and so we decided to venture out to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve to see what animals we could see.  There was a massive bush fire in that area five years ago, wiping out a large number of the animals, including almost all of the koalas.  Almost because the day after the fires had decimated the bush, one koala was found high up in a Ribbon Gum Tree – in shock and with severe dehydration and burns.  The koala was nursed back to health over the course of years and dubbed “Lucky” by the people of Tidbinbilla and all of Canberra.  After two years, she was well enough to be returned to the Reserve, though not fully released into the wild.  While Lucky is now in permanent retirement (and so no longer able to be viewed by the public), the park has recently acquired seven koalas for their Eucalypt Forest.  We went on a leisurely walk through that forest in the hopes of spotting one of them, but weren’t fortunate to see one.  We went back towards the visitors’ centre and stopped at a rather cool play area for Alexandra to burn off some energy.  While there, we were treated with multiple visits from wandering emus.  When we finally reached the visitors’ centre, I wandered off to find some kangaroos and was able to approach a grouping of three ‘roos grazing nearby.  They were beautiful!  We also stopped on our drive out to photograph more kangaroos who were grazing in the grasses by the road.

From the reserve, we drove up to the nearby NASA space observation station.  We looked around at the displays, listened to the magnetic changes caused by traveling through Saturn’s rings (I got video!), and enjoyed a spirited debate with one of the guides there as to whether or not the moon landing was real or a hoax.  My favorite part of that conversation was the vehemence with which the man spoke against the Smithsonian’s allowance of the general public to touch the moon rock.  Actually, it’s apparently the third rock the museum has gone through since opening the display and according to this man, it was the last that NASA was going to allow them.

As we drove back to the house after our explorations of the Tidbinbilla area, I realized that all this bush we were driving through was part of the ACT – the Australia Capital Territory.  In my head, I’ve always equated the ACT with WDC in that they’re both little areas that serve as the capital area for the country.  I learned yesterday, though, that the majority of the ACT is actually bushland and sheep pastures. 

Which brings us to today – Friday.  The four of us, Alexandra, my dad, Uncle Lou, and myself, drove back into the Parliament area of Canberra to the National Australian Library – a beautiful building that seems to be much like the US’s Library of Congress and that has free wireless.  Yes, we based our tourist activities on the availability of wireless internet. 

After about two hours at the library catching up on the details of life that we’d missed, we had a quick lunch before going into Questacon, Canberra’s interactive museum of science and technology.  I vaguely remember going there twenty years ago, but really only remember that I thought it was “cool.”  I suppose that remark, coming from an overly angsty preteen, was high praise, but really it doesn’t begin to describe the experience.  We enjoyed hands on demonstrations of lots of different scientific principles, plus took a ride on a simulated 4.5 earthquake (it was pretty accurate), a simulated shark observation cage to watch it feeding, and an amazingly realistic simulated rollercoaster ride. 

Alex is curled up with her grandfather and Uncle Lou, watching “Enchanted” this evening before heading off to bed – the end of yet another long day.  

Monday from Canberra (7/28)

We left the cousins this morning in Queensland to fly down to Canberra.  What did we leave behind us?  This weekend has been a lot of fun – and just overall a lot.  We have a lot of cousins and they were all in full force during Gregory’s 50^th birthday celebration.  The only one missing from the Lukes’ clan was my cousin Michael – whom I haven’t seen since 1982.  I’ve actually decided that he may not exist… I don’t remember meeting him even when I was five.

The weekend at Burleigh Heads included an afternoon of swimming at the beach (the Pacific Ocean), a rousing game of Cranium between three generations and lots of wine and bourbon, and an outing to a natural bridge at a nearby state park.  

Sunday night brought us all to a mock-awards ceremony and some birthday cake for Gregory.  Each person in the family group of 22 was awarded their own special award.  Alexandra won a joint award with her cousin, Nikita, for being the cleanest campers.  I guess the fact that they took multiple hour-long showers was noticed by the adults – especially as Queensland is trying to deal with drought conditions. 

I was excited to win a box of chamomile tea – it was an appropriate gift for “camper who most enjoys alone time.”

Did I mention that there were 8 children, all under the age of ten?

 

Leaving Burleigh Heads this morning, we went into Brisbane for a bit with the girls – my cousins Marianne and Suzanne, their daughters, Regina and Nikita, my aunt, Dianne – and my cousin, Gregory, and his wife, Chelle.  We walked along South Bank – which is a beautiful section that the city created after the 1988 World Expo that took place in Brisbane, upon that site.  It’s really lovely.

 

As we begin our last week in Australia, we’re missing those cousins already – but looking forward to exploring Canberra and spending time with my Uncle Lou.

Another Belated Blog! (Friday, 7/25)

Where have we been and what have we been up to??

 

We left Lismore and New South Wales on Monday to go north to Hervey Bay and Fraser Island.  We took Regina (my cousin’s 14 year old daughter) with us and picked up Nikita from her mother (another one of my cousins) along the way.  As I pointed out to my uncle whom we visited while up at Hervey Bay, my father was traveling with four Windsor women – watch out for us!

 

Once we arrived at our accommodations in Hervey Bay, we were disappointed to discover that all the day tours for Tuesday to Fraser Island were booked.  No openings for us.  We decided instead to go on a whale watch cruise the next morning and spend the afternoon at the beach.  Mother nature had different plans for us, however.  We did get to enjoy the whale watching – despite the overcast weather on Tuesday.  There was only a few slight sprinklings of rain – the biggest complaint from the younger girls was the cold wind, but that was mostly the result of the boat going at high speeds to find the whales.  I had an absolutely wonderful time seeing the whales – and even managed to get a good photo of one right next to the boat!

After the whale watching cruise, however, we all wanted to go back and change into warm and dry clothing - and then didn’t really want to go to the beach when the rain began to come down a bit more frequently. 

We went to visit my Uncle Tony who lives up there that evening and then had a low key evening with some television viewing after dinner and then bed. 

 

Wednesday was another travel day for the five of us – going south from Hervey Bay to Beerwah, near Australia Zoo.  Yes, we decided that we would go see the home of the Crocodile Hunter at one point earlier in our trip – and when we thought about going on Friday, we discovered that Thursday was going to be Bindi Irwin’s tenth birthday and that all children got into the park for free.  Our plans quickly changed so that Thursday became the set-in-stone Australia Zoo day. 

Wednesday evening brought us my cousin Tracey for a little while – which was lovely to see her! 

Thursday (did I mention this was Australia Zoo day??) brought us rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  We managed, however, to have a really good time at Australia Zoo – which may have been influenced primarily from the last activity of our day being feeding and petting the kangaroos.  That morning though, before we’d even gone through the gates, the children had all gotten to pet a koala who was hanging out with a zoo keeper outside the front gate.  Lots of face painting and Crocodile Hunter excitement also occurred throughout the day – which seemed vaguely disturbing as there was an obvious lack of stingrays in any of the exhibits. 

There was – however – plenty of Bindi birthday cake. 

Alex and Regina tell me it was good – I was more in awe of the Bindi-wave and the Crikey wars – where they separated the crowds in the Crocoseum and challenged the sides to see who could yell Crikey the loudest.

We didn’t win.  I’m okay with that.

 

We left Beerwah this morning – Friday – on our way to the big camping weekend to celebrate my cousin Gregory’s 50^th birthday.  Because of the rain, though, plans were changed and instead of camping at Neurum Creek we are now pleasantly ensconced in a scouting dormitory in Burleigh Heads with 14 adults and 8 children – all my Australian family.  

A few pictures from Saturday...

Alexandra and Angus waiting at the car for the rest of us...

The beach we visited at Byron Bay

Alex and I at Byron Bay

two shots of the bay at sunset...

Just Another Day in Paradise...

We went down to Lismore to watch Regina play netball this morning - her team didn't win, but I enjoyed watching and learning about a new sport.  It's kind of like basketball; I have been told that it's the game that women used to play in the US as basketball.  It's just different from the basketball I know.  

After the game, we drove over to see where the boys (Angus and Drew) race their go-karts, then up to where all three children go to school.  Their campus is lovely!

When we got back to the house, we relaxed briefly and Alex took a ride with Angus on the riding lawn mower before getting into her swimsuit and taking (or attempting to take) a dip in the pool.  Once she realized how cold the water was, it wasn't too hard to convince her to get out of the water and go to the beach with us at Byron Bay.

Yesterday, as we drove back from Coff's Harbour, we must have passed a million kangaroos.  Okay, maybe not a million, but there were a lot.  It seemed as though every field we passed was filled with them.  Yet for all the 'roos we saw, I couldn't manage to get a photo of any.  That whole moving vehicle thing made photography difficult, to say the least.  I consoled myself with the idea that we'll be going to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's place) next week and will get good photo opportunities there.  

Today, on the way to Byron Bay, I had my camera out and at the ready.  Kangaroo warning signs, next 10 km, abounded.  Kangaroos, however, did not.  

We stayed at the beach until the sun went down.  Alex played in the water; I collected shells.  We all went for a walk up to the rocks and then we drove up to the lighthouse.  

Things we couldn't get over this afternoon:

1)  how soft the sand is at the beach.  and when you walk in the dry sand, it squeaks.  

2)  the gorgeous black sand just under the white top sand.  I'm kicking myself now that I didn't get a picture of the beautiful contrast in a simple smiley face drawn in the sand.

3)  the moon didn't rise until almost an hour after the sunset.  When it did, it was a huge fireball.  The moon, not the sun.

4)  Alex fell asleep in the car on the drive back to the house.  Unusual.

5)  Alex had a huge meltdown later on (around 8:30 or so) and had to be carried in to bed.

6)  why anyone would have settled in the midwest when there was a place on earth like Byron Bay at sunset.

G'day from Lismore (NSW)

I've been meaning to blog, I swear!

We arrived at my cousin Marianne (and family)'s home just outside of Lismore Tuesday afternoon.  It was a good ride down - we had meat pies and sausage rolls in the car (YUM!) and took a little stop in Surfer's Paradise to find the Hard Rock Cafe (we did!) and briefly visit the ocean.  Alex dipped her feet in the water and then we were off again!

Their home is beautiful - an amazing view down to the valley below out of their kitchen and living room windows... and lorikeets that come down to feed outside the kitchen door in the afternoon.  

Alexandra and Regina hit it off right away - Regina is twice Alex's age, but the 14 and 7 year olds play wonderfully together.  After all, Alex does say constantly that she wants to be a teenager.  

I think it took her a little bit longer to warm up to Angus.  The fact that he was working the first couple of days we were here may have contributed to that.  Actually, I'm fairly certain that his absence was really what made him seem more distant.  He's been with us yesterday and today, however, and Alex is really enjoying beating up on him.  Regina is teaching her well.

So, what have we done??  Wednesday morning brought us to see "Meet Dave" (thanks Regina for that recommendation) - Regina, Alexandra, myself, my Aunt Dianne, and my dad (oh, and Regina's friends).  My aunt loved it.  I'll allow it the place of best Eddie Murphy movie I've seen in a while.  It was better than I feared it would be.

Afterwards, Aunt Dianne, Dad, Alex, and I went into downtown Lismore, visited Heritage Park (a park with a pretty good playground and a train ride!) and wandered up and down the main street in town.  We had quite a day attached to what we thought was just an early trip to the movies.  

Thursday brought us back to Heritage Park for the NAIDOC festival (National Aboriginal Islander Day Observance Committee) which was lots of fun.  We all got our faces painted (well, Angus didn't, but he walked around with us for a while, so we'll give him that!); I got a platypus; Alex, a kangaroo; my dad, a boomerang; my aunt, a fish; Regina, a yin yang.  

It was fun!

We got back to the house and decided to visit the beach ... so off we went to Ballina, my dad, Alex, Regina, and myself, and visited the beach and collected some shells.  It was lovely. 

Happily, we got back to the house in time to go to the movies once again and see "Mama Mia."

Haven't seen it?  GO NOW!

The plan for today was to visit the Big Banana.  It's made appearances on the Disney Channel and was the top thing that Alex wanted to visit while in Australia.  fyi - the Big Banana is a lot smaller in person than it seems on the television.  We had assumed it was a building unto itself.  It's not; it's 11 meters long and 2 meters high.  Really, it's just a tunnel to walk through with some photos depicting banana growth inside it.  We took photos, ate frozen bananas, visited the gift shop and the candy factory, and lamented the over three hour drive it took to see the Big Banana.  

Yesterday, on the way to the beach at Ballina, we stopped briefly at the Big Prawn.  It wasn't as exciting as what we assumed the Big Banana would be, but it was the size of a building.  

The Big Prawn was more impressive.

So, today, after the visit to the Big Banana, we drove into Coff's Harbour and down to the beach - it was gorgeous!  We played in the ocean; I found some seashells.  Fish and chips for lunch and then a little bit of walking around before we got back into the car and off we went, back to the house.

I'm now curled up in my pajamas and exhausted in the living room...  I'll post photos later; dinner's served!