Friday 20 February 2009

More Cowbell


Um, actually I meant to say...more snow, whoo-hoo! We may get 6 inches or more tomorrow night. As the stupid blonde chick said in the airport, BOO YEAH!

The Gold





So I think I've babbled on about the old girl scout song before ( I bloody hated the girl scouts by the way ), but these are some of the golds. It's great to catch up with old friends:)

Thursday 19 February 2009

Spoilt for Choice


I'm seriously taking advantage of the deals here. Would you believe the above bottle of beer was only $1.50! I don't think I'll ever clothes shop in Australia again. As long as I come home every couple of years or less, I'll just stock up here. I've gotten 4 pairs of work trousers, 5 tops, 3 pairs of shoes, 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of King sized pillowcases and a set of pillow protectors, various toiletry type items from Walmart, some candy for the family, and probably some other things I can't remember at the moment, all for under $400! And, it's going to snow again tonight. It couldn't get better;)

Tuesday 17 February 2009

I Don't Belong Here Anymore


Of all the travelling and living abroad I've done over the past few years, this is my first time home that I feel like I've changed to the point where I really don't fit in here anymore. Aside from turning the windshield wipers on when I intend to signal a turn, I can tell I've changed, a lot. There is an anonymity with people here, a distance, that I used to appreciate. Now it just makes me feel like people don't care about each other. People here seem to have a little bubble around them, aside from the immigrants, who I feel more of a connection with, even at the fast food places and shopping centers. Genuine friendliness is few and far between. I'm a walking novelty, as everyone wants to talk to me about the bushfires and anything else Australian (or Kiwi, as it's close enough right). I don't think I could ever live here again, yet at the same time, I'm still learning to live in Oz and don't fully fit in there yet. Oh well, at least I had some proper nachos today;)

Monday 16 February 2009

Snow and Shopping

Ok so my friends think I'm nuts for being excited enough to jump up and down over the snow, but it is gorgeous and I hope it snows lots more (I may be sorry I said that later). I'm off to the mall in a few to take part in shopping session #2, wondering if my confusion will be any less this time.

Sunday 15 February 2009

Reverse Culture Shock


Welcome to the world of American sized portions (that is the giant cookie above). And everything is severely cheap too. It's like I died and went to Christmas heaven;) I'm too tired to write a proper post. Been sleeping at night but not enough because my clock is off. More later...

Monday 2 February 2009

In Praise of Hot Weather


Well, I am now thinking that this whole thing has been interesting, almost to the point of enjoyment, so getting a/c could be a couple of years off, rather than next year. Our weekends lately have generally focused on either the house or Steve's cars (meaning himself working on the cars or spending all day on the sofa 'researching' car stuff). This weekend we really had no choice but to get out of the house. We spent about 6 hours at the mall Saturday. I don't think my friends and I even spent that much time at the mall when I was 13. Sunday afternoon we went to the local pool for about 3 hours. Steve's lived in the neighborhood for 12+ years and this was his first time. There are 3 pools and a waterslide (the latter costs extra so we didn't do it this time around). Two of the pools are actually covered over with pergola-type coverings and there is plenty of lawn space to chill out, much of it in shade. They even have bbqs! And this is no American-style pool...there is splashing, jumping in, and kiddies have all kinds of floaty toys. It was pretty cool.