Hi everyone! I've been so slack lately with my HFDUs (haven't sent one since before Christmas and my trip to America!), that I'll have to resort to bullet points this time around. Hopefully this will somewhat relieve what would otherwise be a very painful read…….
- My trip home was fantastic! I caught up with lots and lots of people, did a whirlwind your of Houston, Dallas, and Austin, and caught up on all of my Mexican food cravings. I had a great time driving around again, and flew up to New York to spend New Year's Eve with a girlfriend who lives up there. I enjoyed the time with friends and family, especially Christmas and all of the shopping afterwards. My trip was the perfect length - enough to get everything in, but not too much to where I got bored and wished I was back in Australia again;
- When I returned home to Australia, B was of course waiting with open arms and I was glad to be back and start my normal life again. Strange that I say now that Australia is my normal life, but I suppose that would happen after 1 1/2 years!;
- I flew up to Sydney for 2 weeks to work on a special project and really enjoyed my time up there. We spent Australia Day (National holiday) working, so we got treated to dinner by the partner at the Top Restaurant in Sydney. I ate many things that I had never eaten before in my life, but it was a great experience and a well-deserved treat;
- The Australian Open was the last 2 weeks in January and B & I had grounds passes with C & B (our Scottish friends), so basically, that means that we got on to the grounds but not actually into the arena where the tennis is played. Instead, we sat in a beer garden with hundreds of others, eating, drinking, chatting, and watching the match on the big screen. It was a perfect day and I actually preferred to be out in the beer garden where I could breathe out loud, rather than in the arena where I would literally have to hold my breath in order to not distract the players;
- B & I drove along the Great Ocean Road (I did it once in Nov 2003 in my car) on his motorbike. It was a test for me as it was a long time on the back of the bike, and I had to pack extremely carefully so that everything we took could fit in the bag that sat on the back rack of his bike. I LOVED IT!! It was so enjoyable on the bike, even though I suffered from helmet hair and a sore bum most of the weekend. We stopped for 2 nights along the Great Ocean Road and did some amazing walks through rainforests and played around in the cute towns along the way. It was a completely different experience from when I drove in the car, and B was having a ball driving the bike the entire time;
- Other weekends have been filled with friends BBQs in the good weather and catching up on movies in the bad. We even went to the drive-in theatre one night! I have only been about twice in my life during high school, so it was great fun. The sound actually comes through a radio station rather than outside speakers, so you actually have a lot of privacy. We've also caught a movie at the Moonlight Cinema (outside, under the stars, at the Botanical Gardens). It was a great experience and B's first exposure to Ferris Bueller's Day Off!;
- We took C & B (the Scots) down to B's holiday house in Lakes Entrance for a weekend of fishing and relaxing. The mornings were full of fishing in the surf and the lakes, the afternoons were full of naps and reading the gossip in magazines, and the evenings were spent prawning (big shrimp) in the lakes, having a BBQ, playing Cranium, and enjoying the fact that we were out of the big city. I caught 2 fish on the weekend, one of which was a 9 lb trevally! You can bet the photos of me and the big guy are up on the website, as well as many others. We ate the fish that we caught in the morning for lunch, the fish that we caught in the afternoon for dinner, and the prawns that we caught at night for lunch the next day :-) Talk about being self-sufficient!;
- I just celebrated my birthday (for those who don’t know how old I am I'm not telling!) and C and I had a nice joint birthday dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse (like Fogo de Chao) with all of the girls. The boys were a bit jealous that they weren't invited, and looking back, it probably didn't make much sense that we ate that much meat without the boys! B & I went to a comedy club and dinner for my birthday and out to dinner at my favorite Nepalese restaurant for Valentine's Day. Let me just say that I'm feeling very old these days……..;
- I've started a belly dancing class and absolutely love it! I really didn't know what to expect, but I'm taking it with a couple of girls that I know, so it makes it social as well as a chance to get a bit of exercise. We’ve been to 5 classes now, and actually have a bit of a routine started. We have a recital coming up at the end up class that we are all a bit excited about!;
- As part of my New Year's resolutions, I decided that I would begin donating blood on a regular basis. Sooooo, I stayed true to my resolution and had an appointment at the Red Cross at the beginning of February. It was a bit of an ordeal, but after I recovered from the needle injection, I enjoyed watching the blood being sucked out of me and going into a nice little bag. Unfortunately, what normally takes about 8-10 minutes to donate the specified amount of blood took me 15 minutes! The nurse said that I must have small veins or something. I must say that I was not amused.;
- This past weekend a group of 10 of us went up to the Grampians National Park to enjoy a weekend away. It's about a 3 hour drive from Melbourne and we rented a huge house that slept 13, so it was fully furnished and stocked up for us with the basic necessities. We spent the weekend horseback riding, bushwalking (hiking), riding bikes, lazing around, playing board games, and enjoying the ever popular Aussie BBQ. Unfortunately B couldn't go as he had a weekend away at footy camp for pre-season training, but I had fun with the others anyway.;
- A couple of long weekends are coming up - I think a Labour Day, Easter weekend, and Anzac Day, so hopefully I will have a chance to get some more fishing and relaxing in. This weekend is the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, so I'll be hearing the buzz of the cars driving around the track all weekend as I'm only a few kilometres away;
- Our softball team has made it into the finals, so next time I send an email, hopefully I can say that we have won the Grand Final! The season has gone by so fast, but I guess time flies when you're having fun. There is always the end-of-season softball party to look forward too…...;
- Most of you probably don't know that I'm coming back to the States at the end of the year or beginning of 2006, or at least that's the plan. I'm not sure exactly where or when, but Australia will have to put up with me for a while longer. That being said, everyone who intends to visit needs to make plans soon as I'm not here forever and I would love for you to come over!
Okay, that's it for now. I'm sure I've left out heaps of what's been going on, but that's what I get for waiting nearly 3 months since my last Edition. I'll try to be better about it, but no promises! I would love to hear about what's been going on with each of you.
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