HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!!!

i do hope that everyone has a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving!!! We miss not being with our family today, that is for sure!!! I went into town in Ayr today and got my hair done and was trying to explain to the girls in the shop what Thanksgiving was. One of the girls said "oh that is the day when they show it on tv with the big feast and the big parade!" and I agreed that that was part of it!!! But the best part is just being with family and friends and being thankful for all that God has blessed us with. And we have been blessed. Beyond belief. I have had my share of negativity lately and I am realizing today that there is just no place for that and I had better shape up and be grateful for all that I have!!! So I am!!!

Chris and I came back home tonight and since there was still no gas---(-I may have to call and talk to a real person tomorrow-)---we thawed some steaks out and did some veggies in the microwave and steaks on the bbq and we ate just fine!!! It was a long day for Chris---he is doing budgets (again) and I know that it gets tiring looking at numbers all day so he is going to hit the hay early I think. I am trying to get the boys organized for our trip tomorrow to Port Douglas so I am collecting laundry and trying to get it started so I can get it all run through and dried before we leave tomorrow afternoon. It has been raining the past day so it is kind of sticky and wet out right now and I seem to be the only one in the house that is hot!!! Hormones perhaps???? Nahhh!

I tried to load a picture of my new friends down by the house in Ayr----don't tell anyone but I have been spoiliing them a bit when I drive by them with carrots and apples!!! They see the car and come on over now so I think I have made friends for life!

Oh and I got the sweetest letter from a sweet lady who used to go to Epworth---Edith Arthur. I had sent her a note because I found a bookmark that she had made me in one of my Bibles and wrote her a quick note to tell her that it had made it all the way to Australia. I guess she was so happy to get my letter and wrote right back along with her wonderful daughter, Nancy, who included a note. It made my day to hear from her and know that my letter had made her smile!!! So that was something else to be thankful for today----letters from friends who come into our lives at different points and make us smile!!!

So as the families all gather-----the Chiles side in Ada with Colleen and Bryan and Meredith in their new home and the Brown side in Reynoldsburg with Carla and Christopher ---we think of you all and are thankful for what you mean to us!!!!! See you soon!

Sad Face

This is a pretty good example of how I looked yesterday after finding out AFTER making my pumpkin pie and NOT smelling the yummy smells coming from the oven after 45 minutes......
You guessed it----opened the door and no baking was going on----out of gas. I was very upset. I guess i just thought we had an endless supply----never really gave it much thought!!! I figured we were on a schedule and they came and refilled it but guess I was wrong!!! I have so much to learn!!!

So, after a few tears (yes---I will admit to that!) I dumped the pie in the rubbish bin and got some chicken breasts out to thaw to cook on the bbq. Fortunately the stove/oven is the only thing that uses the bottled gas so we are fine otherwise and I ordered a refill but have no idea when that will happen. As I have seen on the website now there is a service that they offer that makes sure this does not happen but did they tell me about that when I got the service started....NOOOOOOO! Aaron was so sweet---told me "No worries-Mama Bear---we can just do it next week!" so that is when we will do it! Thanksgiving a bit late.

And to top it off last night the garage door broke and we cannot close it. And of course Chris' keys are in it. All in all--not the best of days. No word from anyone on that issue and when that will get fixed. CALGON take me away. Oh wait---I don't have a tub..................

But through it all I am so thankful!!! Thankful that I have a family (both sides of it) that love us and support us from afar and that I have a husband who allows me to have the adventure of a lifetime!!! Hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving a few days early!!!

Waterfall at Paluma

I think the sun was in our eyes.......we weren't smiling!!!

So what should I write about today?? Hmmm....we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving a few days early this week----of course Chris has to work and Thursday night was getting a little bit difficult to make the dinner as we will be in Ayr Wednesday and Thursday and I didn't want to have to ask Aaron and Thom to do the cooking!!! Plus we will be getting ready on Thursday night to leave for Port Douglas on Friday morning so........we will celebrate turkey day on Tuesday instead of Thursday!! Works for me!!!

I was so excited yesterday when the postie brought me a CARE package from my sister!!! Yippee!!! My first real package here and it was filled with lots of goodies. Of course it was opened and "rifled" through by quarantine---there are a lot of things on the "do not send list" such as any kind of fruit, nuts, seeds, soil, plants, medicine, etc. Australia is pretty strict about letting things get into their country so you do have to make sure before you send that you don't have anything that would break the rules. Paula sent me REAL Q-tips (not the wimpy ones you find here), cocoa peeps!!!, coffee creamer (yum), and some "girl" stuff which I am sure quarantine had a great time looking at wondering why THAT was being sent! Hey, you get used to what you are used to and there are just some things that I miss!!! So anyway--THANK YOU, PAULA!!!

It is pretty hot and steamy here but we are surviving. I am trying to not use the oven (though today it will be going for the old turkey breast and pumpkin pie!) and the dryer and we have all the fans on high so we will make it. We are all trying to store up the heat so that when we come back to the US we will be warm!! Ha! It is just a fact of life here that it is hot and we have enjoyed the really nice warm weather so now we will just get used to the hotter stuff!!! No big deal!

Oh and Austar was to come yesterday. I know you guys all want to know the latest!! The technician called me on Friday and said that he would come on Monday to install it as he had all the parts of the mount that he needed and had lined up someone to help him with it. He had another house in Bushland Beach (the next little burb down the road) that he was doing---a 3 story that they had been waiting for 2 years to do!!! So they were going to knock them both out in one day. Yesterday I get a call at 9:30 from Daryl saying that the mount disappeared from the warehouse and no one knows where it is. He was a little mad to put it mildly as he had spent all weekend moving and had left Cairns at 4 am to come do these jobs. He expected me to yell about it and I was very nice to him---it isn't his fault the company is incompetent!!! So he ordered yet another mount from Brisbane and hopes to get back this week but I am not going to hold my breath. We will be gone on Friday and next Monday so those days won't work. I did not even tell Chris they were coming because I just knew it wasn't going to happen! This poor guy was really upset ----he talked to me for about 10 minutes and just kept apologizing and all and it is not his fault! But trust me--if we ever DO manage to get it installed I will be contacting the main office to tell them my feelings about my "welcome to Australia" by them!!! LOL In the big scheme of things it is not a biggie but they need to work on their logistics or something!

The tide is messing up my walking schedule this week! I need to walk first thing in the morning and it is too high of tide right now. Thom ran later in the day yesterday and felt sick afterwards----I guess I am not being a good enough mom and telling him to not go in the heat of the day! I just figured the boys were smart enough to figure out that it is really hot then!!!

I have the pumpkin cooked (my first made from scratch pumpkin pie...) and will do that this morning. I am a little worried about the oven though as it is less than reliable when it comes to baking. I can't wait to come use Dad's oven at Christmas to make some decent cookies and to be able to have CRISCO!!!! I bought what I think is pie crust so I will keep you posted on how this whole Thanksgiving thing goes. No french fried onions either so no yummy green beans.....they just don't know what they are missing!!!

Well enough ramblings for one morning!!! Will fill you in on the festivities later!

Great Weekend!!!

Looking out from Flagstaff Hill near Bowen

Horseshoe Bay Beach

Horseshoe Bay

Waves crashing on the window of the boat on the way back from the Whitsundays!

Aaron and Thomas trying to dry out after the first boat ride to the islands!

We are back from a fantastic weekend!!! I am kind of tired so I hope that this makes sense!!! Friday we were supposed to pick Chris up from the airport around 6 pm and leave from there for Airlie Beach but......the flight kept getting delayed so the plans changed!!! Chris' boss and another CSR person and Chris ended up using the rental car they had in Mackay and driving back to Townsville. So the boys and I loaded up the car and started driving with the plan to meet them on the road someplace! It took forever to get through Townsville since we were hitting it right around 5 on a Friday afternoon but we did and finally met Chris at a servo 2 hours or so down the road. From there we drove to Airlie Beach, checked into our cute little bed and breakfast and then walked downtown to Hogs Breath Cafe for a bite to eat.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed to the shower to get ready for our big adventure to the Whitsundays Islands and was greeted with a trickle of water and then no water!!! I gave it some time but it didn't get better so Chris went up to call the owner at 6:30 am to find out what the deal was. Evidentially some "hooligan" had turned her water off during the night---the bed and breakfast is on the waterfront and there is a big park right below it so there is a lot of "activity" there and someone was just messing around. I am VERY glad it was easily fixed or we would have not had such a great start to the day ! After we all got ready we headed to the harbor to catch the boat to the first island. We had gotten an island hopper pass so we could do whatever we wanted on our own timetable and it did turn out to be the best way for us to do it. We got on the boat and decided to sit on the top deck. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! Can I say that again?? BIG MASSIVE MISTAKE! Once we started the captain told us we might want to sit on the right side of the boat to avoid getting splashed as it was really rough out. We scooted over as far as we could but alas-----it was not far enough. NO ONE was safe on the top deck. We got totally drenched and it was combination of salt water and suntan lotion dripping in our eyes!!! I was not even dry by the end of the day and my big complaint was that my hair was a total wreck the rest of the day---so don't expect to see any cute "couple pictures"!!! We managed to make our way down to the bottom of the boat and stood down there but still got sprayed !! but it was fun but not quite the way I thought the day would start.

We visited South Molle Island first, walked around a bit, sat by the pool and had a coffee while the boys went to the beach for a bit. This cruise really just took you to the different resorts on the islands and you could just use the pools, the beaches, whatever for as long as you wanted to. There were some hiking trails but we never were really able to find where we were supposed to go for that and we decided that we wanted to catch the boat to the next place. This time we went downstairs......

The next stop was Daydream Island and it was really more developed and a beatiful resort. Our tour guide for the day, Aaron, led the way and we found our way around the island, grabbed some lunch, looked at the living reef lagoons that they had,walked around, took pictures of the pretty things----including the 3 bigger than life mermaids that welcomed you to the island. Great photo opportunity---I was thinking that there must be millions of pictures of those mermaids with various people. I took pictures of the boys but Chris was pretty laid back by then so he wasn't into being photographed!

We really had fun but the boys were getting a little sunburned despite the sunscreen being applied all the time----and we were all getting a little tired so we decided to forego the next island and just head home. Whew---the ride back was REALLY choppy and we got seats in the enclosed part below and the water was just crashing over the windows the whole trip so we were very glad to be below.

We got back to the bed and breakfast, showered and headed out for dinner at a nice little place that Chris and i had eaten before. The boys were going to go out later and check out the town but everyone was a little lethargic from the day in the sun so they decided to skip it and just stay in. I found the bed and breakfast cat to play with and enticed it to come in for awhile (think I miss my kitties??) and then we all crashed.

Slept in a bit this morning and then headed into town to walk around but it was so crazy hot we were all just melting away so instead of shopping like I wanted to we headed out of town. I did find a shop that had aboriginal art that seemed pretty authentic so i bought a couple small pictures that I will have to get stretched someplace but they will be a great memento of Australia when we leave. We drove to Bowen, found some great beaches and waded a bit before heading back home. We did stop in Ayr at the house so the boys could see where we go a couple days a week, showed them the mills and even stopped for cane trains! The horsies were in the mango grove by the house so I stopped and gave them apples (shhhh--don't tell their owners!) and gave them a pat! They saw the car and came right over----last week I gave them carrots so maybe we have something going now.!!!!

We stopped and got Kentucky Fried Chicken on the way home----sent Aaron and Thom in to order and they came out and said "don't ever ask us to do that again". I guess is was a redneck place and pretty confusing and once we got the food home we decided that it was not the KFC that we know!!! Oh well---it was kind of like something from home!!!

We are trying to cool the house down--it is going to be in the 90's all week it looks like and humid so we will be sweating it but hopefully we can get it cooled down a bit. We are watching the Australian Idol finals tonight and going to crash after that I am sure!!! I will try to post more pictures tomorrow!!!

Whew boy---It is getting WARM!

Whewie---it is getting hot and steamy here. Supposed to be a high of 33 today which translates to 91 or so...all I know is that this was the worst day for the power company to do some work today and have our power off for 4 1/2 hours!!! We had all the ceiling fans cranked up on high overnight and when the power went off it was pretty stifling. But we survived and everyone seems to be napping now (except me!) but I might be headed that way.

I went with Chris to the Burdekin on Wednesday and we left the boys home alone. They did just fine and dandy and the house was in good shape when we got back home on Thursday so I didn't need to worry! Chris had a meeting in Townsville on Thursday afternoon so I dropped him off on our way home, picked Aaron up and went back into town to get his hair cut before picking Chris back up after work. Today I dropped him at the airport so he could fly to Mackay for the day and then the boys and I will pick him up at 6ish and head on down to Airlie Beach for our funfilled island hopping weekend!!! I told Chris I am going to be exhausted in a couple of weeks with all that we have going on!!!

The boys have been working on a sand castle but the going is slow . The picture above is from a couple days ago and it has expanded and gotten more defined but Thomas thinks they need a book on sand castle building or something because it is harder than they thought! I wanted them to make a mermaid...

So things are busy here as I am sure they are for all of you reading! Just trying to stay cool and have some adventures worth writing about! I am sure I will be able to get some good pictures the next couple of days so I will post them when I can!!!

No Shadow Tuesday!!!!

Are you ready for it???? I AM!!! Today is officially No Shadow Tuesday in our little area!!! That means that the sun will be directly overheard today and hence---no shadow!!! The problem is that this morning as I am looking outside it is very cloudy and blowy and actually looks a bit like rain so maybe I will have to keep the festivities down to a minimum!

One more thing we miss----decent thermal coffee cups!!!! Chris and I have gotten probably 4 since we have been here and they are all disabled in some way---either they leak, the bottom becomes sticky and won't move on the counter, the lids don't fit right even though I have been diligent to not put them in the dishwasher or they just plain fall apart! And I haven't bought cheapo ones either! So add that to the list of things to get in the US at Christmas to bring back!!! it is those little things that make the difference to me, you know???

I just found a blog that gives you a prompt each day to write about something for a minute which is a kind of neat idea !. Today's prompt was "what fashion should never come back?" I was thinking about that and there are several but I think I would have to go with leisure suits---how did anyone ever think that those were nice looking??? Let me know what you think should never come back as a fashion trend---I am sure there are some strong opinions out there on this!!!!

A trip to the Rainforest

Aaron and Thomas trying to get the perfect picture.

Looking out from Paluma

An example of a buttress

Beautiful View from the top of Paluma

These pictures don't really do it justice but it was a beautiful trek to Paluma today. Paluma is a little place at the top of a very steep and windy road----really wide enough for 1 1/2 cars so you have to really be careful when you drive! I left the driving to Chris. The funny thing is that we had tried to make this trip the first weekend after we had moved here and Chris only had 3 days of driving on the left hand side of the road under his belt. I felt MUCH better this time!!!

We did a nice long hike into the rainforest----did not see too many animals but then we weren't the quietest hikers either!!! What I did discover is that there is a HUGE difference between hiking when you are 48 and hiking when you are 20!!!!! Aaron and Thomas were quite considerate of us "old agers" but they were definitely more spry than we were. It was a fun hike, we all worked up a sweat and we saw some beautiful things. After we hiked a bit we headed to the Rainforest Inn for a bit of lunch which was delicious!!! Aaron and I both had panini and Chris had an avocado salad which which looked yummy. Thomas had some huge chicken sandwich and we all shared some potato wedges with sweet chili sauce----one of our Australian favorites now. YUM!

After lunch we headed to a pottery place which was really in the back of the potter's house. He was a really nice guy, explained the difference to me between gas fired and woodfired and showed me a lot of neat pictures of things he had done. I found a little teapot (you KNOW I couldn't turn that down) and a couple small things to bring back for gifts and happily left with a nice souvenior. The potter---Len Cook----was a nice guy---very talented and quite personable. www.lencookpottery.com

So we are all settled in for the evening and planning on watching Australian Idol---our lame Sunday night activity---down to 3 now so it is getting intense. The boys were amazed that it was still going on since we had watched it with them when they were here in September on their spring break. Will blog more tomorrow!!!

Sunny days!!!

Here we are on Castle Hill!!! It was a blazing hot day and we drove up the hill (only saw a couple walkers today) and it was breezy and cool at the top so we cooled off a bit while we showed the boys Townsville and surrounding area from up high. We had a great day---did a little bit of hiking here and there and just enjoyed being together. Thomas was nice enough to take a 3/4 family picture for us-----maybe we can photoshop Micah in later.

We came back home and I took a long nap----for some reason i was beat today and had a headache and just needed to take a little rest. Felt some better afterwards and by supper time (Chris did steaks and potatoes on the bbq) I was feeling much better. It is so nice to have the boys here. I am doing laundry (I think every single thing that Aaron brought with him was dirty) and trying to get them some clean clothes.

Tomorrow we are going to go to Paluma---Chris and I had gone there way back the first weekend when we were here but could not go all that way up the mountain as there was an accident so hopefully this time we will make it to the top. It is a very steep, narrow and windy road....yikes!!! I will keep my eyes closed!!! But it should be a fun day and a chance to see some rain forest!!! More pictures coming I am sure!

Saturday from the veranda!

I think I have told you about the Wicked rental vans that are everywhere---this is one that we saw when we were hiking someplace. some of them are just plain funny and some border on raunchy---this one kind of is borderline. I saw one on the ferry on Magnetic island that is my favorite one so far----had a huge picture of Darth Vader on the side and on the back it said "Come to the Dark Side-----we have cookies!" They have some pretty funny ones that is for sure and it is a cheap way to get around Australia I guess.

Chris and i are sitting on the veranda with our laptops and coffee this morning trying to be quiet. I picked the boys up yesterday at the airport and we stopped on the way home to get some toiletries for Aaron since he left everything behind in order to keep his luggage weight down. I have spent more than I can reveal on groceries in the past 2 days in preparation for 2 growing boys though they both said they have been eating like one meal a day. I need to get them back to eating right!!! There are roadworks everywhere and the grocery store we stopped at on the way home had the exit shut since they are working on the Bruce highway there so of course it was not clearly marked where to go. Now if I KNEW what the streets were it would have been a piece of cake but I finally figured it out after a couple of dead ends and we made it home to find Chris had beaten us home. They scarfed down some sloppy joes i had made and it was 3:30 by then so of course they did not feel like eating dinner at 6:30 but Aaron did eat some later.

It is so nice to have them here. Aaron has really long hair and new dark glasses and he just does not look like himself!!! Today we are going to go into Townsville and go to Castle Hill and then another park or something to hike around a bit. The air is just dead still right now so I think it is going to be hot hot hot today. We usually have a breeze out here and at 8:30 am it is pretty darn steamy already.

So the adventures have begun and I will let you know how our visit goes!!! 30 days till our trip back to the US---am i excited??? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting for Baby Bear to Arrive!

Aaron is on his way---he called and is delayed in Sydney but should be here by 2ish so I will leave in a bit to go pick him up. I made sloppy joes this morning as the boys requested that for lunch--it will be a late one by the time we get them all loaded and stop at the store to pick up a few items but they will be happy to eat whenever I am sure! I am so excited!!! I have to store up this next month in my memory banks as I won't have this kind of time with him again!

Am cleaning madly and getting ready for their arrival so not much to post right now but I will leave you with a joke...
A PRIEST and a rabbi were sitting next to each other in an aeroplane. After a while, the priest turned to the rabbi and asked, "Is it still a requirement of your faith that you not eat pork?" The rabbi responded, "Yes, that is still one of our laws." The priest then asked, "Have you ever eaten pork?" "Yes, on one occasion I did succumb to temptation and tasted a ham sandwich." The priest nodded in understanding and went on with his reading. The rabbi asked the priest, "Father, is it still a requirement of your church that you remain celibate?" The priest replied, "Yes, that is still very much a part of our faith." The rabbi asked, "Father, have you ever fallen to the temptations of the flesh?" The priest replied, "Yes, rabbi, on one occasion I was weak." The rabbi nodded understandingly and said, "Beats the hell out of a ham sandwich, doesn't it?"

I am tired of being "escalated"....

Pictures from Magnetic Island

After a fantastic 2 1/2 days at Magnetic Island we are home. I had such a great time! Janette and I spent Tuesday walking a bit, shopping a bit, had coffee at The Fat Possum (don't you love it) and lunch back at the Peppers Resort. We decided we were just happy to sit on the balcony chatting in the afternoon and did until it was time to leave---they were nice enough to extend my check out time till 4 so we checked out and then waited for the guys to finish up. Took the ferry back to Townsville, made it home by 6;30 pm and had a quick supper before crashing!!!

Today I decided to try to call the satellite tv people again since I had not heard back from them in almost 2 weeks. Every time I call they have to review the whole file, go through all the notes, try to understand what is going on and it is rather frustrating. Well today I once again got "escalated". I guess that is their term for priority or something but I told the girl on the phone today that I was getting tired of being escalated...she laughed and said she understood and said that they would have us enjoying Austar soon......later in the afternoon I got a call from the last guy who was here doing the install and he said that one piece of the special mount came in but not the other so he was coming back into Townsville and was going to check and see if it was in. He promised he would call me to tell me if they could come tomorrow---no call so I assume that means no. but at least he has my mobile number and if I am gone he can leave a message on that if I can't get it. This whole thing has been pretty ridiculous.

Aaron and Thom will be coming on Friday!!! I can not wait!! Poor Aaron was having problems with his eyes being all gunky and irritated, went to the eye doctor in Melbourne and found out he has giant papillary conjunctivitus which is common in long term contact lens wearers. His brother says it is because he did not change them often enough, etc. (and he is the eye expert of the family) but who knows. I guess the eye doctor says it happens a lot and the usual treatment (other than the obvious of not wearing contacts) is steroid drops. Since she couldnt' monitor him she would not give them to him but he got some other kind and got new glasses. So he is back to glasses for several months but at least it is not something super major that means he will lose his eyesight!!!

Have not seen any wild critters today---I know you guys are all loving all my critters that I have been seeing here !!! I did see a rock wallaby when we were on Magnetic Island but it moved too quick for a photo op!!! The lorakeets were very noisy today outside ---not sure what had them all riled up but they were going at it when I was hanging laundry.

Will most likely go with Chris for the day to Ayr tomorrow so I can do some shopping and then Friday I get to go to the airport to pick the boys up! Yippee!!!

Island Fun

Gotta love that top picture!!!! We are on Magnetic Island---came over from Townsville on the ferry yesterday and will be here through tomorrow. Chris has meetings all the rest of today and tomorrow so he will be tied up but I am having a great time. Last night there was a really nice dinner for the CSR folks and partners so I met a few more wives and we shared a great meal. Today they had 2 groups that went on jet skis around some of the bays and the other wife who is still here (the rest went home to jobs and children) and I went over on the bus with them, walked the beach and cheered them on. The group our husbands were on looked like they had a great time. I think it is going to be difficult for them to sit in meetings the rest of the day!

So i am going to chill out this afternoon and probably just hang out in the room and read until dinner time when Jeanette and I are going to meet another woman who is coming in for the sessions tomorrow and go to dinner with her which will be nice. Not sure what we will do tomorrow---we will have to check out of the room way before the guys are done so we will probalby just hang out around the pool or something. I don't know!! We will see!

The resort is beautiful and the island is small and pretty uncommercial (is that a word?) compared to what some are and it is just a really pretty place with nice beaches and great places to hike. The "team" can go on a hike at 5:30 am tomorrow but I am thinking that that is not going to happen with Chris as it is optional!!! I tihnk he will choose sleep over the hike!!

Before I forget today is my mom's birthday so Happy Birthday Mother!!! Next year is the big one!!! Chris' mom would have celebrated her 71st birthday yesterday and my nephew Thomas will celebrate his birthday tomorrow so happy birthday to him too! Of course all my days are 15 hours ahead of you....so it isn't really her birthday quite yet!!!

Will try to take more pics to share of the island before we go.

A Little Welcome Home Visitor!

Yep, there he was--just waiting for us in the driveway when we got home from Ayr this afternoon. A beautiful guy as long as he stays outside where he belongs!!! I suspect he lives in the foliage in the front yard and was out sunning himself when we got home. I stalked him with the camera.....probably traumatized him but wanted to record yet another creature of Australia!

Now you may think this is silly but today I washed the car. No, that is not the silly part. The silly part is that when I washed the car I felt like I was "home" again. Let me explain.....I drove up to the car wash and decided to do the self wash thingy since I am still relatively young and able. Plus there was a lady in the automatic one saying it was not working so that was not an option. When I got my change and went to put in the coins imagine my surprise when I saw that the selection dial was an exact replica of the one I used to use in Mooresville, NC!!!! I was so excited!!! Complete with foamy brush!!! Now I know that that seems like a very small and insignificant thing but when you are surrounded by things that are not quite what you are used to it was a nice feeling to know that I actually knew how to operate this car wash thingy and could do it successfully without having to ask anyone anything!!! As I said---a little bit of home in Ayr, Queensland.

Chris is sacked out in the recliner and I don't blame him. He has had a very long 3 days and deserves some nappage. Tomorrow we will probably putter around the house and do some yardwork (provided Gianni Goanna is not in the yard...) since we have negledted it badly. Sunday we will take the ferry over to Magnetic Island where Chris has a working retreat thing-not sure what it is called exactlly. They are doing some team building (a canoe trip) and some meetings Monday and Tuesday. the great thing is that partners get to go so Sunday night we all have dinner together and then Monday night the spouses will eat together and the CSR folks will have their little dealio. Sounds like fun and hopefully some of the other women will be staying till Tuesday too. If not, I will find the beach, the pool, whatever and read!!! I am working my way through Jodi Picoult and Dean Koontz among others. What a life!!! I LOVE it!!!

Thinking about some things!

Well, the US now has a new president elect and I am sure that everyone is very glad to have the election over with so the ads and calls will subside----it is amazing how invested Australia seems to be in the whole process. You would think it was their country that was having the election!! When someone finds out you are American that is all they want to talk to you about---politics in America. Now maybe that will end, too! We shall see.

I have a lot of people on my mind today ---found out that several of my friends who have been ill are not doing well including my wonderful friend Tom Johnson from Epworth. If you all would add him to your prayer list I would be really thrilled---prayer does work and he needs a great deal of support and love coming his way right now as well as for his wife Virginia. Also my friend Cheryl whose son has had a scary night and trip to the ER that they can determine what is going on with him. I know that there are more but these 2 are really on my mind right now.

I am at the "other" house today and if you can keep up with me and where I am you are doing better than me! I feel like I am Waldo somedays!!! We packed up the car yesterday morning and headed to Ayr and I dropped Chris off at one of the mills and came on to the house. i unloaded everything and realized that neither one of us had grabbed my briefcase which had my laptop, phone charger, books, camera, ipod, basically all the things I use when I am down here in this sparse house. So I had to make a decision. Be here for 3 days with absolutely nothing to do or drive back to Saunders Beach to get it! So I drove back. My first long distance solo drive and I did just fine, thank you very much. It isn't that far----less than 3 hours total there and back but with all the blasted roadworks it is a pain. You never know from one day to the next what part of the road you will be driving on and what roads will be closed and since I am not the seasoned driver here like Chris I am not always sure where I am going! But I did just fine and made it back in time to boot up my computer to watch the election stuff coming in. Which was my goal for the day anyway!

Not sure what I will be up to today---I may drive to the beach and walk or chill out---Chris shouldn't have such a long day today and we are looking forward to eating at the Chinese restaurant in town tonight for dinner. Yum!!! Life is good!!!

More things I miss

1. Real Qtips
2. Reese's Cups
3. Sweet Tea or any iced tea in restaurants--it does not exist here
4. Micah (I get to see Aaron next week for a month)
   
5. Newsweek magazine
6. watching Rachael Ray on tv
7. Secret antiperspirant (I used my last yesterday...now I will stink)
8. Wintergreen Dentyne gum
   

Melbourne Cup 2008

The first Tuesday of November the country of Australia stops!!! Not for the US election (that is actually tomorrow for us...if that makes sense) but the running of the Melbourne Cup horse race. It is quite an event and even if you do not go to the race itself most people plan luncheons and parties around the race. The ladies go all out and wear beautiful dresses and hats to match and get all dressed up which is pretty nice to see. Lorrae had invited me to the luncheon that the grammar school that her kids go to do as a fundraiser. It was held at a restaurant close to the casino we stayed at when we flew down in March and was a lovely place. All the ladies looked so nice all dressed up and they had a fashion show, drawings, (betting, of course), and then we had a nice lunch before the race. The race was on a huge screen and was a real nail biter---a photo finish---there was no way you could have told who the winner was without it and the winner was Viewed. It was a fun time and part of the Australian culture for sure!

Well I am off to pack the suitcase again---this time for a few days down in Ayr. I am avoiding the Cole's car park...don't want any more dings in my car!!!

More to look at!!!

Cape Hillsborough National Park

Kookaburra up close and personal

Fitch Hatton George

A new friend in Ayr

We are back home after a long weekend away and a great time. I was having some problems getting pictures posted so there may be some duplicates up here now but oh well. I took tons of pictures this week and I need to weed some of them out. I have about 50 of kookaburras I think! That is the beauty of digital cameras, though! You can delete and not worry about it!!! I really am thinking I need something with a bit more of a zoom--when I use the max zoom on mine it distorts it too much or something.

We had such a great weekend exploring around Mackay. We went to Cape Hillsborough National Park on Saturday after spending some time in the city exploring the town and the botanical gardens. The park was beautiful and we had a lot of fun walking the beach, looking at the volcanic rocks and watching wallabies hopping around. There weren't as many there as I thought there would be but I think it was because it was a little bit too early in the afternoon for them to be out. We left the hotel fairly early this morning and headed to Finch Hatton Gorge where we hiked for a couple of hours and saw some beautiful waterfalls and rainforest. We had planned to go to Eungella but since we had such a long drive back home we decided to save that for another day as that could take a day in itself to explore that ---you can see platypi there and we definitely want to see that!!! We drove (and drove and drove) 520 km today so we had plenty of time to sit in the car. We shared the drive on the way home so it wasn't too bad and stopped a couple places along the way too so that helped.

Got home and it looks like the council fixed our leaking water pipe or whatever it was and cleaned up well after themselves so that is a good thing. I have a lot of sweeping to do tomorrow---the tree in front sheds like crazy and it looks like fall instead of spring with all the leaves on the ground!!! I have a lot to get done in a couple of days as we are going back to the Burdekin house on Wednesday so I have to get stuff done tomorrow. Tuesday I am going to a Melbourne Cup Luncheon with Lorrae so that will be a lot of fun and a piece of Australian culture for sure!!!

Let's try this again!

Aren't I purty???

Wallaby

If you look really close you will see these are pelicans.

Tried to post yesterday but the fool thing wouldn't publish it for some reason!!! So I will put a few quick pictures up of our day and then write more when we get back home tonight to Saunders Beach!!! Okay check yesterday's post because it finally posted. Don't want you to miss the Mr. Science....

A day of fun and sightseeing!!!

This one I took for my Mom!!!!

Laughing Kookaburra

Me by a rock!!!

Chris playing with the rocks!

Wassup???

Pretty flowers

I took enough pictures today to fill up a couple photo albums so I will post them bit by bit!!! We had such a nice day!!! Got up and went into Mackay to find a breakfast place and ate a little brekkie before exploring the town a bit. I found a nice little shop with some Australian souvenirs in it so I bought some stuff in there (much to Chris' chagrin) and then we walked around some more. Nice town and looks like there are some nice shops to explore. Then we headed to the Botanical Gardens which were beautiful!!! They had tons of trails to walk and we saw pelicans and all kinds of other birds and tons of butterflies! That is one thing that I notice here----a lot more butterflies.

We spent awhile walking around enjoying the nature before heading back to the hotel. Decided to go hang out by the pool so we lounged for about an hour and half, read, and just enjoyed being there. There were only 2 little girls there the whole time we were there so we had the place to ourselves until we left and then a family came so our lounge chairs went to them. Pretty small pool and only a couple of decent lounge chairs so we were happy to share.

We took a little nap and then headed back out to Hillsborough National Park which one of my friends had told me about. It was a beautiful drive and totally worth the time it took to get there. Once we got there we started looking for wallabies as they come out on the beach in the afternoons and evenings. There weren't any on the beach but we did see several hanging out in the picnic areas so we took some shots of them. They were not tame enough to let me pat them but I imagine that some of them are since that is the place people go to "pat" them. One had a joey hanging out and it is neat to watch the mama eat and the joey leaning out eating at the same time. I took a video of one so I will post that sometime too.

We walked the beach and there were some great examples of volcanic rock so Chris got all excited and I filmed him explaining which he is kind of upset with me if it shows up on the blog.....We saw TONS of birds and quail and neat things I will have to get my bird book out to identify and it was such a beautiful evening!!! Saw a cane farmer burning what was left of the cane after the field was harvested on the way out of the area which is way different than the cane fires in the Burdekin area where they actually burn the cane before they harvest---much larger fires!!!

There is a wedding reception going on in the hotel now but it isn't too loud yet. There was a wedding outside our balcony both yesterday and today so I felt like I was eavesdropping on someone else's wedding or something but since we are on the 1st floor it is kind of right there!!! Not much you can do----just kind of watch from inside!

i am hoping this video loads---it is taking awhile but you can see my handsome hubby. I will post more photos later!!!