HFDU - 20th Anniversary Edition

Originally sent: December 13 ,2004

Hi everyone - just one more email before I head home for the holidays. It's the 20th Anniversary Edition, which means one of two things. Either I have provided all of you with some entertaining stories and information over the past year and a half that I have been in Australia, or I have nothing better to do with my time than act like what I do in my life is important to all of you. Probably a little of both, but at least you have all learned bits and pieces about Australia and me that you didn't previously know!

The last month has been quite busy. I started it off with a hens night and wedding. A girl that I work with got married to a guy who used to work for my company, so there were lots of work people at the wedding. The hen's day/night involved a group of ladies bused out to the vineyards for the day and then back into the city for going out later that evening. It was a great time! The boys had their buck's day/night on a chartered boat fishing in the bay, and I trust that they enjoyed their time as well. The wedding was very enjoyable as well. There are actually a lot more differences in "wedding etiquette" than I would have thought, so it was a learning experience for me. Customs and traditions are just different, for example, there are wedding cars (typically old Rolls Royces, mustangs, etc.) that take the wedding party all around town to different spots for photos in between the wedding ceremony and the reception. There is usually about 2-3 hours between the wedding and the reception to allow for this, but then the reception offers a full sit-down meal and plenty of dancing late into the night.

One weekend we had Corporate Games, which is a weekend event that gets all of the large corporations from around Melbourne together to complete against each other, with the proceeds going to a selected charity. My company had over 100 people participate and we won in several events. I participated in the 5k run, and was honestly just happy to finish! Our footy team won the premiership which was exciting, even though it meant that I was at the field until 6:30 that night cheering on B & the boys. B & I also spent a weekend at his family's holiday house in Lakes Entrance, about 3 1/2 hours away from Melbourne. We sent the weekend surf fishing (which required us to get up at 5am), boating & fishing in the lakes, fishing in the river, and playing cards with the family at night. At our campfire at the river, I made B s'mores for the first time with ingredients from the USA Foods Store. He was impressed :-) I caught one fish (an Australian Salmon) and 2 crabs, so I was pretty excited. We ate them for lunch!

Our softball team is going okay, but we have already lost 2 games, which puts us at just over .500. We look really good this year though, as we found a sponsor and have some great shirts and caps to play in! I still really, really enjoy playing and definitely will for as long as I'm in Australia. I took at business trip to Adelaide for a couple of days, which was really pretty uneventful, but it earned me some more Qantas frequent flyer points which is always a bonus! I don't mind getting away from my normal life every now and then, and the hotel that I got to stay in was fabulous!

Myself and K from Boston cooked a Thanksgiving dinner for 8 and it turned out really well! We made roasted chicken (turkey is REALLY expensive), mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, salads, homemade dinner rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. It was yummy and the Australians and Scots enjoyed it as well. I didn't expect it to affect me as much as it did, but it made me happy, and a bit sad, that we were celebrating Thanksgiving. It made me realize that I was away from my family and friends who really understand Thanksgiving, but I did made everyone go around the table to say what they were thankful for, and they actually all participated! It was overall a great evening and the weather was perfect for drinking wine on the balcony.

I've just completed the granting of my second wish for the Starlight Children's Foundation and it was so rewarding! My little "D" wanted a motorbike, so we arranged it for him and we threw a BBQ at his grandparents house where he had his bike delivered and got to ride around on it. He was a natural! Because he doesn’t have full use of his right hand, they had to modify the bike so that the throttle was on the left side, as well as the brake, so it was perfect for him! He was so excited and was riding around making motorbike noises. I have also kicked off a Teams for Dreams program for Starlight within my group at work. We are aiming to raise $5,000 to sponsor a wish child as a group, so I've organized a trivia night, auction, and other smaller fundraising activities so that we can grant a wish together. I was surprised at how involved the group has gotten as I thought everyone was pretty apathetic towards helping out, but I have been pleasantly surprised!

This past weekend we had our Group Christmas Party at a local pub. We started at 12:30pm with lunch and awards/announcements, etc. and most people didn't finish up until 3am! I must admit that I left early with a few people to go to dinner for one of our friends birthdays, but the energy in my group never ceases to amaze me! Of course, the stories once back in the office are always entertaining :-) I had a bit of bad luck last week when my handbag was stolen at a restaurant by an old lady. It was more of an inconvenience than anything, except she's got my mobile phone with everyone's numbers programmed in there. It also had my Texas driver's license (luckily not my passport!), but a lady called from a town about an hour away on Friday saying that she found my wallet in her garden! Strange, but at least I'm getting back my driver's license.

At this time next week I'll be home, shopping, catching up with everyone, and eating plenty of Mexican food! I'm actually a lot more in the Christmas spirit this year, and Melbourne seems to be more in the spirit as well. It'll be strange to be away from the home that I have known for the last year and a half, but I'll try not to miss Australia too much while I'm back in the States :-)
I wish each of you a happy holiday season and best wishes for 2005! Hopefully I'll have the chance to catch up with many of you in the coming weeks.