Ever Changing, Always Growing

This pregnant body is an interesting thing. Last Friday, I wore my regular jeans modified with a rubber band (because while they fit, it was uncomfortable to button them). Sunday, I tried to wear the same jeans, and the wouldn't even zip! Two days, I tell you, and now I'm wearing maternity pants full time. I guess it's really more about the hips than the belly though, because the same maternity pants were still too big a week ago, and now they stay up with no trouble. I knew my hips had started spreading when I put on a pair of regular dress pants two weeks ago and they split when I squatted down. :) My butt doesn't seem bigger (though I admit I may be delusional), so it has to be the hips.

I walked Georgia last night for the first time in WAY too long, and it felt weird in my belly. It's starting to protrude and feel heavier all the time. I walk around all day long, but going for a walk for the purpose of exercise was different. I really need to make that a regular habit again so that I'm not completely exhausted just from walking around with a giant belly. Oh, and it definitely won't be long before I can't stand in the shower and shave my legs because my belly is in the way. I realized last night that I was already having difficulty with that task - when did that happen?! I'm just amazed at how fast some of these changes happen!

I'm still waiting on that burst of energy that's supposed to come in the second trimester. I'm beginning to think someone made that up to encourage pregnant women to survive the debilitating fatigue of the first trimester. I'm not exhausted like I was then, but I've had no super energy for anything. I was planning to use that burst of energy to scrub my house, but at this rate I better just suffer through it and then have a nap. :)

Dave has been having sympathy symptoms, though I'm not sure he's totally bought into the idea. He says he's gained weight (I can't tell it) and his feet are swelling and hurt all the time. He's been sleeping hard and fast, which is virtually unheard of for him. He goes to bed when I do and gets up with the alarm in the morning, and he's usually a nighttime wanderer.

I'm also still waiting to feel this baby moving - though probably not as patiently as before. :) Dave was leaning his head on my belly the other day and I asked him if he heard anything in there. He tilted his head like he was listening, then yelped and said, "It grabbed my ear!" He's crazy and I love him for it. It made me laugh and laugh. He's really good at that.

His parents have bought our crib and changing table, and it should be delivered next weekend. This is somewhat inspiring me to clean the house and start working on cleaning out the baby's room. We need to add some shelves and move some stuff out of there to figure out where to put the baby furniture. It's very early still, but I feel like time is flying by and I don't want to be caught unprepared.

16 weeks

I am 16 weeks pregnant today - that means I'm starting the 5th month. All this dating stuff gets very confusing. Anyway, this is what my calendar says about the baby:

"The fetus is about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs 3 ounces. It can swallow! It has preliminary toenails and can move its eyes (though there's not a lot to see in there)." I'm not sure about the 5 1/2 inches because some things I read say 3 1/2 - who really knows?

Also, I found this more interesting information on another site:

"Genital organs clearly differentiated, grasps with hands, swims, kicks, turns, somersaults, (still not felt by the mother.)" Dave will especially like that bit of information.

1 Pound

I went to the doctor last week and I have only gained one pound in the four weeks since my last appointment. This is very good because last time I got a mini-lecture about gaining too fast. Most days I look pregnant rather than just fat now, but there are still some days that I just look fat. I'm starting to get significant looks from those who don't know, so I know that I'm at least making people suspicious now. Last week, I was in a meeting and I would bet my life that the lady sitting next to me turned to the guy on the other side of her with her hand covering her mouth and said, "Is she pregnant?" and pointed! LOL! I almost laughed out loud. I find it entertaining to watch people speculate. One of the guys that I worked with in Australia is here this week, and I'm pretty sure he's been told that I'm pregnant because when I walked up to shake his hand this morning, he immediately looked at my belly. That's another amusing thing for me. As soon as you tell someone, they look at the belly. Every person does that without fail.

Enough with that ramble. At this doctor visit, I sacrificed 4 tubes of blood (not as bad as the pint I was imagining). It took three pokes to find the vein for some reason. Usually they get it on the first try. Luckily, it doesn't hurt me and there are no ill affects unless I happen to look a the needle if it's in or near my arm - then I faint. I learned that the hard way the first time I gave blood and looked down at my arm while the needle was still in there. The next thing I remember, a cute boy was picking me up off the floor.

The appointment was quick and easy. I asked some questions and he checked the heartbeat and that was that. The heartbeat sounded good, but I forgot to ask what the rate was this time. I go back in four weeks for the big ultrasound - that will be on Valentine's day.

I still haven't felt the baby move yet. Dave asked me the other night, "What does it do in there?" I explained that it's moving all the time, playing and testing it's new muscles and reflexes and entertaining itself. That it probably sleeps when I'm moving around and plays when I'm resting, I just can't feel any of it yet. He thought that was really cool. I plan to drink some sugar and caffiene before the ultrasound so it will be doing something cool while we are watching. I have to wonder if the animals can sense the baby moving. Georgia was sitting in my lap the other night and she suddenly moved over so tht she wasn't directly in my lap, but leaning on me. I wondered then if the baby did something to cause that. It was weird.

Speaking of Georgia, she had a rather traumatic afternoon yesterday. It started nicely with a trip to the football field to play football. Georgia LOVES football. Then some dogs came to play. They did fine at first, but one was a Border Collie, and like most Border Collies, it was very dominant. They got along fine, but Border Collie kept herding her when she fetched the ball. The last time she did it, she (the Border Collie) bit Georgia's tongue. I think it was accidental, but it was still traumatic. Now, tongue bleeds look way worse than they are, so I was trying to get her to rinse her mouth to I could see the wound. She barely did and it just kept bleeding. Once we got her home, she started licking her leg (I think she got into some ants on the field) and that made it bleed more. I had to put a towel under her, and I still ended up cleaning blood out of the carpet. Side note - peroxide works wonderfully on blood stains. Anyway, once she quit licking, it quit bleeding and she passed out from sheer exhaustion. She was already tired when the dogs got there to play, so she was really worn out. I didn't even have to tell her to kennel up this morning, and she didn't wait to make sure I got her cookie. Once I caught up with her, she was patiently waiting for me to lock her in.

On the cat front, Jewel did NOT enjoy the snow. She tiptoed through it with her back arched while it fell on her and the look on her face clearly said, "What the crap is this stuff?" I'll post snow pictures as soon as I remember.

A New Adventure

It's possible that most everyone who reads this already knows, but just in case, Dave and I are expecting our first baby! I am 13 weeks along and due in July (10th, they say, but who really knows?). I'll be sharing the adventure in this blog, so proceed carefully lest it's too much information for you.

My pregnancy calendar says this about the baby: "Your baby is now about the size of a lime, roughly three inches in length, and tips the scale at around three-quarters ounce. Your baby's eyes will begin moving from the side of his head towards the front as his face begins to develop. At the end of this week, little ears will move to their proper spot as well. Your baby even has fingerprints now!" This translates into: "Your baby is starting to look less alien and more human." A couple of weeks ago I shared a picture of what the baby looked like at the time with Dave and he said, "We are having an alien?" :) He is getting excited, I think. He bought the baby a blanket for Christmas and wrote it a letter. It made me cry. The baby will use that blanket to go home from the hospital. He keeps asking me when I will have uncontrollable gas, because that's the part he is looking forward to - and apparently, that's the bit of knowledge he has retained in all the things he's heard about pregnancy. He's such a boy. :)

To answer the question, "How are you feeling?", which I've been asked 10,000 times already, I feel pretty good right now. There was some morning sickness in the first couple of months, but it's gone now. I have also recovered from my energy crisis - I have NEVER been so tired in my life. The exhaustion was almost debilitating at times and I'm glad that is over; it is weird for me to be so tired and unable to keep up my normal activities. After coming back from Australia, I was on a serious cooking strike because food wasn't at all appealing to me (yet I still managed to gain 6 lbs. in one month?). Now, I can cook again, and that's wonderful because it's good therapy for me. What I canNOT do is eat steak - nor can I smell it or look at it. I'm almost gagging while writing about it. It was one of my favorite foods, but NOT right now. I am craving salty things, especially pickles, pickle juice (don't DARE throw away a jar of pickle juice in my house!), and olives. It was Mexican and fast food for a while - as in that's all that sounded remotely appealing - but now I can eat most things without pause. This is good because 6 lbs. is too much weight to gain in FOUR WEEKS so I really need to be making healthier food choices. I do not subscribe to the notion that I'm eating for two (it just isn't true - the baby is the size of a lime right now), so I'm trying to be smart and stamp out my guilty feelings because I ate all of my snacks before lunch today. After all, I should eat when I'm hungry, I just shouldn't eat tacos and nachos and Mexican pizzas from Taco Bell.

My boobs have grown a full size already, and judging by the pain, I'm guessing they aren't finished yet. While I admit that I am excited about this part, it presents a challenge that I didn't foresee: most of my regular shirts (not t-shirts) don't fit right now. Hmm. However, for my sister's wedding reception (oh yeah, she eloped on December 1st) I will be wearing a dress that shows my new cleavage since this is the only time in my life that I will have any. Someone said, "But you will have a big belly, too." To which I replied, "So."

Which brings me to another point, just this week I've noticed that I'm a bit moodier than normal. Now normally I have a tendency to get fired up about things when I have a strong opinion, but I'm generally pretty stoic with my moods. Not so lately; there haven't been any drastic mood swings, no throwing of silverware (though it sounds like fun and I'm wondering if I can allow myself to use pregnancy as an excuse to throw something? It's so out of character.), no random and uncontrollable crying, but my level of irritability has increased. I wonder how bad this will get?

There are other random aches and pains, that sometimes catch me off guard and make me worry, but nothing too serious at this point. Those are called "round ligament pain" and that's politically correct for anything from mild stretching in the lower belly to sharp, shooting pain. I just had my first sharp, shooting one and it was interesting. Made my breath catch. I do find it more difficult to get comfortable at night, but once I am, I sleep as well as normal (well, except for the bathroom trips, those are new). I had to steal Dave's pillow to get comfortable, but I figured this was a worthy cause considering he can sleep upright if necessary. My belly isn't big yet (it just looks like I've gained too much weight right now), but it sure does feel heavy in the evenings. I can't imagine what it will be like when it's really big.

The most adventurous part of this adventure so far has been the surprise puke attacks. I said my morning sickness was gone, but the puking is not. My gag reflex is VERY sensitive, so brushing my teeth is always a sketchy scenario - this is when the surprise attacks happen. That's okay though, because I'd rather puke and be done than feel like puking for hours on end.

We will not be finding out (on purpose, anyway) if the baby is a boy or a girl. We both want it to be a surprise at the end. At my last appointment, I got lectured about my weight and I got to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler. As soon as he stuck it my belly, you could hear it - he didn't even have to look for it. It was 150 beats per minute at the time, which is perfectly normal. So far, everything looks good and healthy. I'll have my big ultrasound in February, and they will measure the baby and make sure it is developing normally. I was offered a blood test for Spina Bifida and Downs Syndrome at my next appointment, but I will decline. I don't want to know and those tests aren't accurate enough for me to worry about the results for the rest of my pregnancy.

In other news...
My sister got married on December 1st. I'm ecstatic for her and we are planning her reception for February.

Squirt no longer lives with us. He came home while I was in Australia and left again. I haven't seen him since before I left. I've given up on him. I know someone is taking care of him because there have been sightings and he is quite fat these days.

Gypsy has learned to catch and kill birds. She DOES eat them, but she also leaves the feathers all over the house and they are the devil to clean up.

Georgia has been glued to me since I got back from Aussie land. I think this is normal for pets of pregnant women. I can't wait for her to meet her new sibling. The cats? I'm less enthusiastic about them meeting the baby. I foresee trouble on that front.

That's enough for now.

Featherdale and the Blue Mountains

Saturday we went on 4 wheel drive tour of the mountains, a wildlife park, and Olympic Park. It was good fun and I got to mark a few things off of my Australia to-do list (i.e. pet a kangaroo - check, see a Tasmanian Devil - check). Every time I've tried to put the pictures in this blog, I've had issues with my Internet connection so I'm posting a link to them instead. See pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/roper.amanda/Sydney?authkey=1UhApAFJQFI

At Featherdale Wildlife Park the kangaroos roam free and it's a very hands-on experience. I was able to pet kangaroos and koalas, and I saw various sorts of other Australian animals that we do not have in the States, including the Tasmanian Devil, Saltwater Crocodile, the Dingo, the Wombat, and so many colorful birds that I lost count. A few words about the animals (because I'm a nerd and I love animals). The kangaroo is the national symbol and Australia is probably the only country that EATS their national symbol (they say it tastes like.......venison, not chicken). To give you a frame of reference, the kangaroos here are like deer at home. They roam free, they become roadkill, people hunt and eat them, and they have a huge population. There are only about 20 million people in the whole country of Australia; there are at least 40 million kangaroos. There are many, many species - no, they aren't all big red ones like you are picturing in your head. The female kangaroos have a very unusual ability: they can reserve an embryo for up to two years. It works like this: Mama Kangaroo usually has two babies at once, an older one that stays with her and a joey in the pouch (for up to six months), plus the reserved embryo. When the kangaroos are hunted by Dingos, the Dingo goes for the slowest - the mother, because she is weighted down by the joey. Mama Kangaroo sacrifices the joey and brings the reserved embryo out of hibernation (or something like that) to develop into a new baby. I don't know how she does it, but it's certainly something I didn't know before I came here. The kangaroos were my favorite because they are inquisitive, like cats or dogs. Some have very soft fur and some have very coarse fur. I thought they were really neat.

Koalas sleep 18 hours a day, so they are pretty boring most of the time. They also do NOT smell like cough drops, regardless of what you have been told. They smell like wild animals (think Zoo). Anyway, the fur is not very soft. It's thick and dense and has a texture similiar to low-pile carpet - this is to protect them from the hot sun while they sleep all day. Also, they are kind of mean, from what I gather. We asked the guy that was supervising the Koala we got to pet if it was smart to put our faces close to it (because the people before us did); he said, "I wouldn't get that close to this one." It was busy eating, but I was still cautious. They have BIG claws.

The saltwater crocodile in my pictures is only about 6 feet long. They get up to 20 feet in length. It is one of Australia's top three deadly animals. And it lives in the OCEAN. That just doesn't seem right. Sharks? Yes. Jellyfish? Yes. (Someone died yesterday from a jellyfish sting, they rank in the most deadliest, too.) Crocodiles? Umm, I think I'll just stay on the beach.

The Blue Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range - which separates the coast from the desert. They are called Blue Mountains because the Blue Gum trees (also known as Blue Eucalyptus) emit a gas that causes a blue haze over the mountains. I don't know if you can see it in the pictures, but you can in person. The mountains smell like cough drops. It was amazing to see the different vegetation here. One of the coolest things about Australia is that the plant and animal life is so different than anything I've seen before (even more different than the thigh-sized aloe plants in Spain). They have trees still that date back to the Jurassic era. Isn't that cool?

Sunday, we took a ferry to Manly Beach. I did not take my camera there, so no pictures, sorry (though, I'm kicking myself). If I come back (and I probably will), I'll take pictures of it. It is on the Pacific Ocean and there are stretches of beach mixed with cliffs and rocks. It's very scenic and the water is beautiful. It isn't Carribean clear, but its a beautiful blue-green color. The sand, well, let's just say there's no place like the Gulf of Mexico for beach sand. Manly was much more my speed than Sydney. It's a very laid back beach town with a 30 minute commute by ferry to the city. If I had to live here, I think I'd want to live in Manly. Who wouldn't want to go to work by boat every morning?

What else? Oh! I finally had a decent steak last night at a place in Darling Harbour called The Meat and Wine Company. They had meat. And wine. It was wonderful and I wouldn't mind eating there for the rest of the trip. That's enough for now. I have work to do.

More Tidbits

As weird as supper has been, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day here. There is a little cafe across the street from the hotel that has wonderful breakfast and coffee. The coffee here is better than coffee at home, and so is the bacon, and the eggs, for that matter. They are fresher, I think, because they remind me of fresh eggs straight out of the chicken's nest (you thought I would write "butt", didn't you? Or, to quote Miss Sipsy from "Fried Green Tomatoes": "They come straight out the chickens' ---!" Pardon my random movie quote; I digress.). Anyway, fresh eggs are a rarity for us unless you live on a farm.

We found a very good restaurant last night, and I ate shrimp linguine that tasted like something I would make at home. I was very satisfied with that and I can see us going back there.

What else? The birds are very tame. The walk along the sidewalks with you like they are people. One even wandered into and around the food court yesterday at lunch. It's a little gross, but still very amusing to see a bird walking around the food court. They also have bats the size of vultures that sound like fighting cats when they scream. I'll get to see those more up close and personal on Saturday when I take a tour that goes to an animal park. They are HUGE.

Lilies must be local and in season right now because there are arrangements of them in nearly every building. They are beautiful, but the smell starts to get to me after a while. The crosswalk signs (the ones that tell you when to walk - we don't have them in the 'ham but other big cities do) sound like they are shooting you with a laser tag gun when you push the button. Then they beep and beep until you can cross the street.

Yesterday was the Melbourne Cup, which is The Race that Stops the Country. Literally, I think we were the only ones working after lunch. It's a horse race that lasts approximately 6 minutes, followed by continous partying for the rest of the day and night. It's very comparable to the Kentucky Derby. It was interesting to experience it. The whole city was out partying last night. There were lines and lines of people waiting to get into bars and nightclubs.

I know there are other things I want to share, but they've escaped me right now. I'll post them later when I remember.

Some Pictures from Sydney

This is the Harbor Bridge. If you are crazy enough, you can pay $200 Australian dollars to be tied to a cable and walk across the very top of it. I am not that crazy.













This is the world-famous Sydney Opera House at night. I understand that on special occasions they light it up in different colors. It really is impressive. It sort of looks like it's just floating in the water.












This is the skyline from the harbor.












The Opera House from the ferry.

There will be plenty more later.

Beware the Fish of the Day

There is a heavy Asian influence in Sydney, which means lots and lots of Thai, Chinese, Korean, etc. restaurants. We ate at a place call Sailor's Thai tonight. Thai food here is not like Thai food at Surin in Birmingham, so I struggled to find something recognizable on the menu. I settled on the fish of the day - deep fried with a hot and sour sauce, thinking that was a pretty safe bet, especially when I learned the fish of the day was snapper.

Like me, I'm sure you are picturing nice golden fried, boneless fillets.

Imagine my surprise when the fish of the day was not only whole, but still had the head, eyeballs and teeth! And not only did it have a head, eyeballs and teeth, but it was POSED on the plate rather than lying flat out like one would imagine a plated fillet. An immediate silence fell upon our table as we looked at those fishes. It took a moment to comprehend that that was what I ordered. Then some sort of chaos erupted as I tried to regain my composure and a picture was taken of me and my supper.

Now, here's where my good raising comes into play. I ate the fish because that's what I ordered and my Daddy taught me how to eat fish. I have a vague recollection of eating fish with the head still on at some point in my life, but somehow this time was just more shocking. I turned it's toothy little face away from me so I wouldn't have to see it as I ate, and it was really good! It was a lot of work for not a lot of food (because of all the bones), so ironically, I am snacking on Gold Fish crackers while I type this. :)

We'll call it an Extreme Dining Experience. I have a feeling I am going to lose weight on this trip.

14 Hours on a Plane is NOT My Favorite

First order of business, it is 7:54 p.m., Sunday, November 4th as I'm writing this entry. The time difference is now 17 hours instead of 15 because Australia sprang forward while we fell back for Daylight Savings Time. It's twisting my mind. I think Dave and I have finally coordinated when I can call him and when we can chat online.

I got here at 7:30 this morning (Sunday) after traveling 25 hours in the air, not including layovers. I tried to sleep on the plane, but it's almost impossible to sleep soundly in such a cramped and crowded space. I thought my legs were going to die before I got off that plane this morning. I think I went 41 hours without a shower, because I took one at 6:30 Eastern time Friday morning and then flew and flew and flew until Saturday afternoon (Central time). Needless to say, I felt disgusting. I do not like flying for that long.

The hotel is very nice and once I FINALLY got into my room (check in time was 2), I was not disappointed. The bathroom is fabulous, with a separate oversized tub and shower. Oh, and the toilet water does flow the wrong way here, for those who wanted to know. They also drive on the wrong side of the road, which is just really bizarre when you are riding in a taxi.

When we got here this morning, we went to breakfast and walked around the city. I've already seen the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, Darling Harbor and various other things I cannot remember. The architecture here is really cool, a lot of old mixed with new. The city is just BEAUTIFUL. A friend of mine told me it was the most beautiful city in the world, and I think he may be right. I'll have pictures later because I'm cheating from a friend of mine since I didn't take my camera out with me today. For now, I'm going to bed. I don't know how much I slept on the plane, but it wasn't much and I have to get up in a few hours to chat with Dave.

Blue Friday

The point of this goofy picture is that I am wearing the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl ring. Indy is having "Blue Friday" because the Colts are playing the Patriots in town this weekend, and of course, they are both undefeated and this is supposed to be the biggest NFL game of the season so far, etc. Work was quickly degenerating into play as we left OneAmerica Tower at lunch time today.

OneAmerica is hosting a publicity event for the Colts and people were streaming in to register for prizes and get autographs from the cheerleaders. I got there before it got too crowded (because I needed to be on the way to the airport), so I got to wear the ring for a picture. I'm hoping this will make up for the fact that I didn't get a poster autographed by the cheerleaders for Dave - they weren't there yet when I left. The city is buzzing with excitement, and I imagine it will be one big tailgate party before the day is over.

Work went well here this week, and now it's time to fly to St. Louis, then to Los Angeles, and finally to Sydney. Let's all hope the trip is enjoyable and quick.

Oh, and Go Colts! (Someone will have to let me know who wins the game because I doubt I'll get to see the game from halfway around the world.)

Aussie Trip Tips

These are some tips that my coworker who is already in Australia sent to me. I am sharing them here because they are amusing, and maybe interesting to some.

In response to my anxiety over how the whole visa process works:

"1. Fill out immigration form on plane.
2. Get off the plane.
3. Walk to immigration.
4. Show passport and smile.
5. Walk to baggage claim.
6. Get bags.
7. Walk to customs.
8. Show form to customs and smile.
9. Explain that you are smuggling in contraband and illegal substances… again smile.
10. Go through security.
11. Walk to exit.
12. Get in Taxi
13. Go to hotel
14. Check in, take shower, and begin feeling like a human again."

He is a smarty pants. :)

The formula for overcoming jet lag when I arrive:

"So, when you get on your way here you need to stay awake until about hour 3 of the flight to Sydney. You are not going to like it, you are going to be tired, but trust me stay awake. At hour 3 take some sleeping pills (if you have them) and sleep as long as you can. When you wake up there still will be about 2 hours of the flight left. Drink coffee with breakfast. When you land in Sydney it will be fairly early in the morning. Get to the hotel, unpack, shower but do not go to sleep. Get out of the hotel, take a walk to the harbor, do something to keep you busy until lunch. Have something to eat and go back to the hotel. Take a nap. Now this is very important: do not take a nap longer than about 2 hours otherwise you will have a hard time sleeping at night. Have an early dinner and stay awake until at least 8:30. If you can pull that off, then you should be fairly awake and ok on Monday."

Other general tips:

"-ATMs dispense Australian dollars, you won’t need to bring USD and change it to AUD
-Ride in the front of Taxis
-Australians don’t know how to form a line, they just form a mob.
-You don’t have to tip. If you do, only tip a small amount. If you pay with cash leave the “silver” change. On a CC, round up to the nearest $5 increment.
-Sydney is pretty formal, all the time.
-On the day you arrive, try to stay awake until 8:30 or 9 that night.
-I hope you like Asian/Thai/Sea food.
-Its summer here. For C to F temp conversion, double it and add 32. That should be about right.
-Lunch time is typically 1 PM. I recommend eating something for breakfast.
-Paper money is in $5 dollar increments. There are $1 and $2 coins, they are gold in color. Everything else is cents, although no pennies, everything rounds to the nearest 5 cents.
-They drive on the wrong side of the road, and the walk on the wrong side of the sidewalk.
-Power outlets must be turned on to work. Push the switch down.

Australian Language guide:
Fortnight = 2 weeks
Loo = Restroom
Lift = Elevator
Ta = Thank you
No worries = You’re welcome
Oh that’s alright = You’re welcome
Queue = Line
Cheers = Regards
Uni = Short for University or College
How you going? = How are you doing?
“and Bob’s your uncle” = “And that is that”.
“talked the leg off a horse” = done talking about that now
“give us a hoy” = call me
Mate = Buddy
Happy with that = I understand (can be a question, “Do you understand?”)
Dodgy = Shady, suspect, something isn’t quite right
The bill = (at a restaurant) the check
Angry Ben = $20 bill (they are red and have Ben Franklin on them)
Brekkie = Breakfast
Football = probably rugby, but can be Australian rules football or American football (see below)
Grid Iron = American football
Soccer = what everyone other than the US and Australia call football
The American Embassy = McDonald’s

Australian Coffee guide:
Short Black = Shot of Espresso
Tall Black = Shot of Espresso with water
Flat White = Shot of Espresso with milk
Latte = Shot of Espresso with steamed milk
Filtered Coffee = American black coffee"

So there you go, first hand travel tips in case you ever go to Australia. It should be fun. I'm sure they will love my accent as much as I will love theirs. :)

Preparing for a Trip Down Under

I hear/read that Australians don't really call their country "Down Under," but I have to wonder how true that is given the popularity of the phrase. I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough. :)

Among other things I'm struggling with about this trip, it's Spring time in Australia - just as it's starting to feel like Fall here. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one, and truthfully, I'm tired of my warm weather clothes. :) To make this world adventure even more interesting, I have to fly to Indianapolis first, where it is quickly becoming Winter - by my Southern standards, anyway. My suitcase is going to be so confused.

I leave for Indy on the 30th, and then I leave Indy for Sydney on the 2nd of November. I won't be home again until November 16th - that's almost three full weeks. That's my biggest struggle. It's a LOOOONNGG way from home and a lot happens around my life in a month. Australia is 15 hours ahead of Birmingham, so the time difference is going to make communication interesting. There will be lots of email, I'm sure.

Everyone keeps telling me this is a "chance of a lifetime" because I will probably never get to go to Australia again (I might if my company has any say in it), and I DO get that. However, it would be a BETTER "chance of a lifetime" if Dave was going with me. He has a trial during that time, so he can't make the trip. Perhaps if I'd been married 20 years already, I might jump at the chance to spend three weeks away from my husband (I shudder at that thought, too, but that's a rant for another day), but right now I'm just sad about it. A night or two away is a good break when I need one, three weeks is a freaking long time, especially knowing I can't call him when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night because he will be sleeping or working or something. (By the way, I could never be in the military and be deployed for months or years at a time. Nothing doing there, and that's why I'm not.) And, how much will I miss my dog?!? She'll think I abandoned her. :(

All whining aside, I'll take this "chance of a lifetime" and enjoy it because I've always wanted to go to Australia. There are lots of things to see and do in Sydney, and I hear the shopping is good. That's a positive because since I'm losing the month of November to work, I'll need to do some Christmas shopping. I plan to blog from there, provided I'm not completely slammed with work and I don't forget my camera, so look for pictures in the next couple of weeks.

Jewel vs. The Lizard

As we pulled into the driveway after church on Sunday, Jewel was crossing the street from her other yard (the accross the street neighbors') with something in her mouth. This inspired a discussion of whether the thing was a mouse or a lizard and whether it was alive or dead. It was a lizard, and it was alive. I know this because she let it go and caught it again twice more before bringing it to the front porch for the final showdown.

I happened to be watching through the front door when I saw Jewel and the lizard squared off, face to face. That lizard was not going to go easily. It's mouth was open like it was hissing at her, and every time she moved it moved. The juked and jived for several minutes before she launched what I'm sure she expected to be the death blow. It was not. That lizard grabbed onto her toe and would not let go! She was slinging it around, biting it, and it was still hanging on. She finally gave a hard shake of the paw and the lizard released it's jaws and slammed into the glass door! It did not die. It slid to the ground and looked at her again. She walked off and started bathing like she meant for that to happen. When I left them, the lizard had mostly disappeared into a hole and she was diligently trying to pull it back out my the tail. I'm quite sure it died eventually due to internal injuries, but she didn't get the satisfaction of killing it.

Kitten Sittin'

Dave and I have a house guest for a couple of days - a calico kitten. Her name is Talim, but she goes by Kitty. She belongs to one of my coworkers, and we are keeping her because he's having some maintenance done in his apartment. Talim looks a lot like Jewel E. Cat; I think it's because of her stripes. Twice last night I saw her and thought she was Jewel.

My cats are wondering when we got a new cat, and the girls don't seem too thrilled with her - though they both enjoyed her food for breakfast. Gypsy spent the morning stalking and talking to the kitten, so I left her outside today. I felt that my Street Cat shouldn't be left unsupervised with an innocent. Jewel seemed a little shocked to see a new face in the house and decided to spend the day outside as well. Squirt (who is home for a visit - more about that later) doesn't seem to care, but Talim likes his tail. He lies with it hanging off the end table and it's just too much for her to resist. She was also intrigued to see other cats because she is an only cat at home. Squirt is keeping her company inside today.

Georgia is equally excited about and intimidated by the new kitten. She can only look at her from the corner of her eye for fear of the Evil Death Ray that is emitted when making eye contact with an unknown cat. Also, she is jealous and must sit on my feet and insist that I pet her instead of the kitten. However, she did feel compelled to pounce at said kitten this morning - which, as you can imagine, caused quite an uproar in my house.

The kitten is just young and fiesty enough to wander all over the house, transforming into a Halloween cat only when she hears a noise or sees movement. :) Dave is enjoying her kittenish ways - he played Dental Floss with her last night and loved it.

So, Squirt Black Cat - apparently he lives at my father's house now. Twice my brother has brought him home to our house because he was in their backyard, or better yet, he wandered into their house. He had been there before, but he's frequenting their yard more often now. My brother wants to keep him - I don't think he realizes that the choice isn't his. Squirt lives where he wants to live. He takes care of himself, too, since he comes home fatter than when he left. I think he's going to my dad's now because people and a dog moved into our old house. I'm hoping this means he'll start staying home, but I've been hoping that for 5 months now.

A Tiny Taste of Paradise

Well, I guess the term "paradise" is relative, especially if you are a native of Mexico. At any rate, this is a picture of the waterfront in Progreso, Mexico. We stopped there for several hours while on our cruise. Progreso hasn't become a complete tourist trap yet, so I really liked it there. We visited the pink flamingo feeding area, the salt flats, and some Mayan ruins. There were thousands and thousands of pink flamingos there. They have a refuge for them, and if you kill one (by accident or otherwise) you go to jail. It was really cool to see them standing along the side of the road.


We had a wonderful time. I needed the week of thinking about nothing other than when and what I was going to eat again. And, Dave will tell you, I thought about that a lot. The food was fabulous and there was so much of it!

We also went to Cozumel, but we'd been there before. We just walked and shopped and ate some more. We did find an "Only a Dollar" store there, so I bought some wooden bracelets.

We are back to real life now and it will probably be another two months before I get to update this blog again. :(

There has been so much happening lately, I'm feeling overwhelmed about updating this thing.

Animals first - Jewel E. Cat looks like someone socked her one. The left side of her face is swollen, and I don't know why. She's also being VERY sweet, and that's out of character. I looked for fang marks because I think she may have tangled with a snake, but I can't really tell if that's what bit her. Then again, it could have been a spider or a bee or ants. At any rate, she's locked in the house for observation. I've narrowed the time frame to between 6 and 7:30 tonight, so we'll see if she swells some more or acts seriously ill. She's an expensive cat.

Squirt is MIA. He refused to come inside Thursday a week ago and I haven't seen him since. Dave says he saw him at the old house on Sunday, but he certainly isn't coming when I whistle for him.

Gypsy the Street Cat has somehow turned into a spoiled house cat. She thinks that if I'm cooking or using the can opener, then she needs some of whatever it is. She ate cantelope the other day.

Aside from puking 5 gallons on my new carpet, Georgia's life has been relatively ordinary lately. Thank goodness.

The people - We are both working on a lot of church stuff. The pastor resigned, so we are looking for a new one, setting up new committees and teachers for the next church year (which starts tomorrow), and working on the parsonage. It's keeping us very busy. Dave has meetings a couple of nights a week, and I've been painting the parsonage. We started work on it last weekend without anyone knowing because it needs to be done and we didn't feel like thinking about setting a meeting to talk about making a list of things that need to be done to the parsonage. One of the things about the "sleepy little church" is that they like to talk a lot and not do much. We are slowly (well, Dave is mostly) getting things stirred up - and it's good. We didn't tell anyone about painting, but people found out and showed up and we bypassed the whole meeting junk. I'm excited about it. I've also agreed to teach the toddler Sunday school class for the year. This Sunday is the first time. I'm not too sure about teaching toddlers (19 months through 2 years), but we'll see how it goes. At the very least, it should be entertaining. :) I'm also still maintaining the church website, and I really enjoy it, but I wish I had more time to work on it.

Dave's parents are listing their house for sale (yes, the house they just moved into in January), and looking for a house down here. They've visited quite a bit lately. They looked at my Grandmama's house last weekend because she has moved to a nursing home now. That's pretty sad. It's very weird to see Daddy and the aunts and uncle cleaning out that house. It sucks, really, because she always lived there.

There is also a nasty rumor that a new residential development is going to be built right behind our back fence. Supposedly, it's 40 apartments and 69 townhouses. We'll see how it goes. I'm sure it will happen at some point, so I'm planning to plant rows of pine trees behind the fence so they can be growing in preparation for that day.

I can't wait for Labor Day weekend. I need three days in a row. Our cruise is 15 days away. I NEED it badly. We both do.

Oh by the way, I just re-read this and realized that I'm starting to talk/type like my boss, who natively speaks French. So, if something reads strangely, that's probably what's happened. Also, I spent several days this week with some German co-workers and I found myself picking up some of their sentence structure, too. :) It's funny how that happens. I really have to admire the people I work with because the majority of them don't natively speak English. I can't imagine moving to another country and learning the language fluently enough to communicate in a business setting. Amazing.

Critters by the Creek

Today was Montevallo's first annual Critters by the Creek event. It's like Doo Dah Day, but probably better because it's by the creek and you don't have to drive downtown. :) It's just another one of many "by the Creek" events we have here, because the creek runs through our city park. The Shelby County Humane Society was there with adoptable pets and they were running a micro-chip clinic. Furtastic Pets Grooming did the contest prizes and the free stuff, and the MHS band boosters sold refreshements. The Montevallo and Calera Police Departments and the Shelby County Sheriff's department were there with the K-9 units, inlcuding some Chocolate Lab puppies in training! There was a pretty big turn out; lots of different breeds of dogs, a miniature horse, a rabbit, and a parrot.

Georgia did the Hokey Pokey in the Talent Contest, and she won 2nd place! The picture above shows her loot. The gift basket had samples of her food, a bag of treats, some toys, and a gift certificate to the groomers. The 1st place winner was also a Chocolate Lab, named Petey. His owner is a fireman, and he taught Petey to stop, drop, and roll when he says, "You're on fire!" Then he says, "Crawl out of the fire!" and Petey crawls across the ground. It was a good trick. The parrot, whose name is Jimmy B (as in Buffet), was also in the talent contest. He plays dead and rolls over. :)

We let Georgia swim in the creek while we were there, and she had a blast retrieving a stick. Now, she's sleeping at my feet. All those dogs and people wore her out. All in all, I think the event was a success, and some money and supplies were raised for the Humane Society. I hope it will be even bigger next year.

A Rant About Feeling Left Out

There is a saying that you get out of things what you put into them. I've found this to be true in every organization I've been involved in. It was true of the sorority, it was true of group work in grad school, and it's also true in church.

I have a real problem with people who get mad and whine that they have been excluded when they make no effort to be included. When they exclude themselves and expect others to bend over backward to try to include them. It drives me nuts. It drives me nuts because typically in an organization, 20% of the people do 80% of the work while asking for others to volunteer!! If there is an announcement presented on four different mediums for help that is needed, and you do not step up to help, then you deserve to feel left out. What else do you need? A personal phone call? Because you are so much more important than all the other people who respond to those announcements with willingness and excitement for the job at hand? Pardon my rant, but this is one thing that I can't stand. I work hard, and I work hard at being social when I absolutley am not a social person, so DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE BEEN EXCLUDED WHEN I NEVER SEE YOUR FACE AT A FUNCTION.

So, the next time you feel left out of something, take a minute to analyze your actions and determine if YOU made any effort. Did you volunteer for anything that anyone asked for help with in the last 6 months? Did you attend any special functions in the last 6 months? If not, then shut up about it, because I'm probably too busy doing 80% of the work to entertain your petty whining.

By Reader Request

It's been so long and so busy since I've been here, that I've been putting off updating this thing. Let's see, the cats have quit bringing dead rodents into the house because they are locked in or out unless we are home. No more free access unless there is parental supervision. On one occasion, I happened to intercept a live mouse as Jewel brought it through the window, so I just tossed it right back outside. There was also a tail-less salamander that I rescued, but that's about it. Thank goodness.

Squirt moved back to the old house one more time after our vacation to the beach, and since then he's been staying home. I didn't take any pictures at the beach, and I've been a slacker about getting some to share. Oh well, there's no need to post bikini pictures anyway. :) There were some quite funny beach incidents involving my sister and the sea gulls. She HATES birds and Dave can think of nothing funnier than tormenting her by planting bits of bread around her chair on the beach to attract the birds. It was a relaxing four days of nothing but sand, sun, books, and good food. I can't wait until September when we go on our cruise.

We all survived the wedding (some of us just barely) and the party afterwards was a blast. It couldn't have gone any better - good music, good food, good fun. Dave and I danced and danced. Both the ceremony and the reception turned out beautifully. It rained ALL day long until right before picture time, then it started back as the reception ended - our prayers were answered. We so needed the thing to go according to plan. Since it's over, I've been completely worthless. :) Here are a few pictures.

The ceremony in Orr Park.














The wedding party.














The bridesmaids.














The reception.













I counted down the days until the release of the final book of the Harry Potter series, then ended up spending that weekend in Atlanta. It wasn't everything I hoped for and more, but some good came out of it. There was an ugly scene with our friend whom we were staying with, and the entire experience really made me appreciate the fact that Dave is my best friend. Another good thing, this was Georgia's first vacation with us and she did great! We took her and our friend's boxer to the lake to swim and ride on the boat. She had a blast, and now I want to find more places to take her for vacation. She's so good, and she just went with the flow and did great. I'm reading Harry Potter now, and it's killing me that I have to put it down to sleep at night. :) I had so planned to read it all the day it came out. Oh well.

Hmm, church. Our preacher resigned and took a job at another church, so we are without a preacher right now. It's very strange around there right now. I've taken over maintaining the website, as the preacher's wife did that job previously. I'm actually pretty excited about it, since I'm a nerd and all. I may be building a site for Dave's law practice soon, too. He just has to decide what he wants on it.

I guess that's enough for now. I'll try to do better about updating more often - and taking pictures. :)

The Death Toll Rises

Seriously, we’ve moved beyond rodent control. I’ve lost count of how many mice the cats have killed. They even graduated to bunnies last week. The bunny count is 3 dead, 2 rescued and alive the last time I saw them. That’s right, rescued. They’ve taken to bringing live animals into the house via the pet door, and then killing them. Over the weekend, I was cleaning the toilet in the basement, and happened to see a bit of fur on the floor on the opposite side of the toilet. I stopped and said a little prayer: “Lord, please let this one be whole.” (The 3 dead ones were less than whole when we found them.) It was whole, but I wasn’t sure if it was alive, so I poked it. And it moved. I had to rescue it and give it a fighting chance to live, so I blocked off the bathroom, caught it, and took it outside. I decided that my new policy is to rescue the live animals and let them go outside to give them another chance at survival. If they stay in the house, they are goners (although I did notice that Georgia left enough dog food bits around her kennel that a bunny might be able to live in the basement for a while).

An update on Squirt, we had to retrieve him from the old house again yesterday. I really think he had gotten confused and thought we had just abandoned him there, instead of coming back home to the new house. When I went over to get him, he cried and cried at me. I took him home and put him at the food bowl, and he chowed down - several times. Every two hours, all through the night last night, he came crying through the house and all he needed was some to know we were there. I finally just started calling him to me and petting him until he went away again. I think he just had to make sure his family was still in the house. He stayed really close this morning while I was getting ready for work. I could see him lying in the floor outside the bathroom. Which meant I could also see Jewel bring him something from outside: a bunny. She brought a live bunny right inside and dropped it in front of him as if to say, “See what we do here at the new house?” The chase was on. The bunny ran back to the kitchen with the cats close behind, and I was right behind the cats. The bunny tried to jump out of a window, but it was closed so it went under the kitchen table instead. The cats chased it out from under the table, and I was waiting. I scooped it right up and took it outside and across the street the neighbor’s yard. Jewel gave me the stink eye when I got back inside, but Squirt was up for the game, so I’m hoping he’ll investigate further bunny hunting possibilities outside the house and stay for a while.

Georgia was a ball obsessed fool all weekend long. We got her a new pool, because she dug holes in the old one, so we spent Saturday and Sunday afternoons chasing balls and swimming. What a life.