First day of work

Well I've been home for about an hour now. The first day went quite well. I hope I didn't scare my supervisor by talking her ear off. Guess that's what happens when I am used to spending the day at home alone!

I did a LOT of typing. Have decided I need to get a wrist pad- the keyboard at home has one, but my little wrists were red from rubbing against the wood all day. I am copying an entire employee manual into the computer, as the property we are about to own only has paper copies on file. Tomorrow I get to do some spreadsheets, which will be fun. Really not a bad job, especially for what they are paying me! And I am so glad to be out of the house for a while.

I did get picked on for my American accent. All in good fun! Apparently my supervisor sent out an email to other departments warning them that she had a new girl, and not to be thrown off by my accent. Its still so funny to me, that I am the one with the funny accent. But I am learning heaps of Aussie! Just having a hard time sometimes trying to figure if the sentence I am copying is grammatically incorrect, or just Aussie. Word of the day- Demountable. Its what I would call a portable, like the ones at school. Interesting, huh?

BTW, Tupperware party went pretty well. I had 5 people show up. I ordered some stuff myself and got heaps of free stuff, so that was nice.

Well I am off to the Book Club meeting. Don't know what I was thinking, I am so going to be up past my bedtime! We only meet once a month though and I really want to discuss the book.

Cheers!

Walmart

I am a nerd, but I thought this was hilarious. I was doing some Christmas shopping for a friend who let me know that she would really like to get this book. So I was looking on Walmart.com, and this is the link to buy that book.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=1955935

Tonight the price of the book is over $1,000.00. Wow. I was highly amused. I even hit "add to cart" just to see. Yup, over $1,000 but only $2.60 for shipping. LOL.

I start work tomorrow, and it is time for bed. I am sure I will have a story to tell about my first day of work. Should be fun, I hope!

Tupperware

I'm having a Tupperware party tonight. I have finally succumbed to being a housewife. I decided that if I wanted to get together with people I was going to have to host something myself. Plus, there is nothing like earning free stuff, and the only way to do that is have a party.

So I have to finish cleaning the downstairs. I have worked this weekend like a madwoman. Then I have to go to the grocery store and figure out what the heck I am going to serve for refreshments. The Tupperware lady is demonstrating the juicer and some other things, and we are making strawberry Champagne cocktails. Should be yummy, right?

Well I hope people come. My worst fear is that no one will show up, but I have had two people RSVP. It would just be so embarrassing if no one came! The whole "hi I'm such a loser I can't even get people to come to a Tupperware party at my house" thing sucks. But it won't happen. It can't. At least one person will come, and if that's the case then I'll have a lot of champagne cocktails myself. Well gotta run. Eric is happily snoring away and I'm going to get him up here in a minute.

More to report tomorrow~

Singing in the bathroom

Just got done cleaning. Wow my life is so exciting. I think the neighbors are convinced I am nuts, though. I love to rock out to music while I clean. I don't think they could hear the music but they could probably hear me singing along while in the bathroom. Our bathroom acts like a microphone, and the only reason I know is because I can hear their bathroom pipes any time water is running. Like at 5 a.m when they are getting ready for work and I am sleeping. Oh well. They haven't knocked on the door yet and told me how obnoxious I am, so kudos to them. At least I was singing at a decent time of day- between 4 and 6pm.

I am addicted to eBay. I have been bidding on something (can't mention till after Christmas) and I keep losing my auctions. Just refuse to pay after a certain point. Part of me wonders if the thing is selling for too low if the people selling it are making bids to inflate the auction. I have no trust for these peeps online! Might end up having to pay at a regular store.

So one of my ex-roommates might be coming for a visit in the next month or so. How exciting is that? Very, very exciting. Only for a couple of days but that's not bad!! Hopefully it all works out. I would be so happy to show off my new home!

It is freaking hot here. I know I have mentioned this before, but yesterday another neighbor told me her thermometer was in the shade outside and reached 102 degrees. Isn't that wild? I went to the grocery yesterday and remembered what it was like to get a burn on your hand from the seatbelt. You would think after living in the Southwest for so long I would remember but those years in Ohio just totally made me forget about parts of your car being a torture instrument. LOL.

Employment!!

I have a job! Its official, I did manage to get hired!!

I start Wednesday. I am excited. I don't know how great the job will be but I guess I will just have to wait and see. I will be an Operations Assistant for a hotel group, which owns and/or manages 7 or 8 hotels and resorts in this state. Since I got my degree in Hospitality, and I love hotel management, this should be an informative career move for me. I've now worked at the front desk, in catering, the restaurant, and now get to work hotel operations. Cool!

It will be different from anything I've done before, but a lot of it is office/clerical type stuff. But I get my own desk and computer, which is awesome. And they are willing to be very flexible with the schedule, which is what I need. Especially when I have to take big chunks of time off to go home, see the rest of Oz, ect.

So now I will wait to see how much I like it. Hopefully it will be wonderful but I shall know more in a couple of weeks.

Anyhow, that's my news. Now back to more online shopping!!

:)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Well, its a day early but we celebrated today. I made brownies from scratch (which I am so proud of- I always get the box kind but felt like being a good wife for once) and we went to Eric's co-workers house. It was kind of crazy but fun. I am slowly but surely starting to make friends. Not all of them are people I would necessarily hang out with if I could pick and choose, but they all seem like nice people. And it is a small community here, so you take what you can get. Also I really think that great friends are so hard to come by. I knew a lot of people when we lived in Ohio but only made one great friend. Anyone who will drive across the country with you and actually meet all the other crazy people you love, and still like you at the end of a 25 hour road trip is a GREAT friend!

So Thanksgiving dinner was fun. I was surprised that we actually got to eat turkey. I hope it didn't cost the people who threw the party too much. It amazed me how much turkey cost here, but DUH its not an indigenous animal. Silly me. After dinner some people played poker, Eric and some guys played Spades, and I played board games with a bunch of girls. It was a lot of fun. I met several new people but at least it was a small enough group that I could remember some of their names at the end of the night. Nothing more embarrassing than calling someone the wrong name! But it was a very nice night. And we have so much to be thankful for. Tomorrow I will make a nice little dinner for the two of us (no turkey though) and we can tell each other what we are thankful for, because I think that is a great reason to celebrate a holiday. Not just about the Turkey, same as Christmas isn't all about the presents, right?

Speaking of Christmas- I hope to get the tree out tomorrow! It so doesn't feel like its almost here. I have to admit I am going to sorely miss being in the States for Black Friday- now that was a day I definitely got into in the last couple of years. I think its the dormant "hunter gatherer" sense that comes to life and makes you jump into the fray. I always felt such a load of happiness at getting a couple of items on Super Sale. Ah, well. I shall have to look online this year.

It is late here and I have to be up early tomorrow, so I should run. I hope whoever reads this has a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Don't forget to be thankful for something- even if its something small like being grateful for running water. Where would we be without it? :)

Night!

Reading, writing, knitting?

I just finished reading Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. What a cute book. It was very sweet, and made me feel in touch with my inner teenager. Really, I spent time looking through my old yearbooks while I was in the middle of the books. Awww.

So the book is about a magic pair of pants that one of four friends finds, and the magic is that the pants fit all four girls. And they fit good, hugging curves and all that jazz. So they decide to send the pants to each other over the summer since the girls are all going to different locations, and let the pants remind them of their friendships. They have ten rules for the pants, and I think one of my favorite rules was "You cannot pick your nose while wearing the Pants. However, you can rub your nose with your finger and kinda pick it at the same time." Too funny! Who hasn't ever done this? Its terrible when you get caught doing it in your car at a stoplight or something. Not that I know, right?

Had an interview today. Might be getting a job, yay! I have another interview Monday. I wanted to do some temping, but they have a permanent position that I finding more about on Monday. I definitely only want part time, since I know that we are going to do some serious traveling while we are here. I mean, why move to another country if you can't take advantage of it, right? So hopefully I will find out more about that on Monday, and put an update on then!

I need to catch up on my knitting this weekend. Since I didn't have any friends (or internet) for a long time I learned how to knit. So I am working on a potholder and blanket currently. I've already made another potholder and two scarves, so I am doing pretty good. I hope the baby blanket turns out okay, though. The good news is the person I am making it for will love me even if its not knit perfect. She'll just know that her next child's blanket will be a lot better! LOL.

Anyhow, if you are reading this hope that you have a great weekend! Ciao!

Eating Camel

So we went out to dinner last night. At a steakhouse, yum! Let me tell you- the food was great, but these people have the TGIFridays singers beat. The restaurant wasn't busy at all. I think maybe 6 tables had people at them? So the waitress brings out this "bobble board" and asks people if they want to play it. Where you wobble it back and forth and it makes that somewhat weird noise- kind of like playing the saw. So two people got bobble boards at their tables, and then all the waiters and waitresses came out and this song starts playing on the speakers. They had to clap, sing, and dance along to the song. By dance I mean like when I was in elementary school and sang "Pizza Hut, McDonalds" song and made the little gestures for Pizza Hut. It was so hilarious. I clapped along because I felt bad for the workers. The song said something about "a sheep or two and a kangaroo, and an old rocking chair"

It just made me decide that the Flair in Fridays was nothing compared to this! So I had a steak, since we were at a steakhouse, but Eric was adventurous. He had a Camel Fillet. Be proud of me, I actually tasted it. He also had crocodile for an appetizer, and again I had a taste. I really didn't like the way the camel tasted compared to my steak (it was a lot sweeter) but the croc tasted a little like pork. And a lot like the sauce it was drowned in. But the dinner was very nice, and the food was delicious. Makes me feel sorry for the camels though. Apparently they were abandoned when people started using road trains to transport things through Australia, so now there are thousands of camels running wild through Oz and people hunt them down. Seems so sad to me!

Speaking of road trains (if you don't know what a road train is it's like a semi pulling more than one trailer- usually at least 3 or 4) Today we saw the funniest one as we were sitting at an intersection. Waiting for the light, and I see this big rig pulling through the intersection. The cab is bright purple, and on first impression I thought it had a representation of God painted along the door. This beared man in a long white robe with a long white beard and light shining down on him. Then I noticed Gollum sitting beneath the man, and realize that its Gandolf painted 6 feet tall on the side of the cab! As the truck pulls through the intersection I can see the back of the cab which has Lord of the Rings painted in gold (straight from the movie poster) above the faces of Sam, Frodo and I think Liv Tyler. Too crazy! Now granted this was all in about 30 seconds, so I almost thought I was hallucinating until I heard Eric snort. We just looked at each other and laughed and laughed... That guy is a SERIOUS fan. Really- I can' t even imagine how much it cost to have his cab done like that. But it did put a smile in my day, and I am so not knocking LOTR... Its just unusual to see it heading down the road like that. Too bad I didn't have my camera!

Well we are off- I think we are going over to someone's house to play board games. Don't laugh- we take entertainment wherever we can get it! :)

Lights, Camera, action!

Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days. There really hasn't been a lot going on in my life. Eric has been working, but has the next couple of days off- Yay! I plan on dragging him with me to do some Christmas shopping. I tried to do that this weekend but mysteriously we never got around to it. He is a slippery man when it comes to shopping! However I did some looking around today and have an idea about what I want to get people, so it shouldn't take too long!

This weekend the weather was pretty nice, but it rained on and off all day Saturday. Saturday night we went out for a drive. Eric loves to photograph the native Aussie wildlife. So we went out driving, and several times "Eagle Eyes Eric" saw a gecko in the road. We have a routine now- we pull over, he grabs the camera and his flashlight and I grab my flashlight. Then he identifies the gecko (or whatever) and hands me his flashlight while he crouches down. I take both lights, shine them on the lizard, and wait for his directions. Then he takes pictures while we try to keep the gecko from running away. After a few shots its back in the Jeep until he spots another one. Its all quite exciting! :)

So I will have to put some pics up of the geckos and stuff once we get high speed internet. Who knows when that might be since the internet company still hasn't informed us that the line has been turned on. Grrr. Aussie customer service is something quite different, let me tell you. We ordered dsl on October 25th or so, and still are dealing with dial up in the meantime. Which wouldn't be so frustrating if I didn't get kicked off every so often, and always when I'm in the middle of something. Ah, well.

Not a whole lot planned for this week. I'm hoping to go to the pool soon. With as sunny as it is maybe I can get some sort of color on me other than a lovely pasty white. Have to tan through the sunscreen though since they have some of the strongest UV rays in the world here. But would be nice to cool off in the water! Still can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week. Doesn't feel like it at all! I do miss the leaves changing for fall. Hard to believe that it will be snowing in some places in the US soon. Going to be a very strange Christmas with weather in the upper 90's!

Need to finish this before I get kicked offline. More to come in the next couple of days.

Job seeking

I might be temping for a company soon! I went to a temp agency (that another American here reccomended) this afternoon and filled out my application along with my resume. I have an interview next week- the girl who hires people is out of town until Thursday, so I have an interview Friday morning. The receptionist was real nice, and the company is supposed to be pretty good. I am not too worried about the interview, but I sure do hate interviews. I don't know anyone who really likes them. I guess the more you go to the better you get at it, but I have only been to a couple of semi-professional interviews. The rest of the places I worked, it was just like "When can you work? Oh, and will you wear this ugly shirt as your daily uniform? Okay, you're hired" :)

I am looking forward to working here. I hope I don't get too spoiled, things are so much more laid back here than in the States. All the receptionists I have seen here usually are wearing capris and sandals. And thats the most formal I have seen here! I am sure some of it comes from it being so blasted hot here, but I think that all the Aussies in general are more relaxed about that sort of thing. I can't wait to work and see what its like!

I've also started doing my Christmas shopping online. Last night I put several things on my credit card- I just don't get the same sensation of the "giving spirit" when I shop online. Its not at all like leaving a store with full bags. Oh well. If I didn't do it online there wouldn't be hardly any presents this year, because the only major store we have is Kmart! And even that isn't very major. Eric went to get something at the store Monday night and he left around 6, and was back again in 20 minutes because the store closes at 5 every night but Thursday. How strange, especially for someone who is used to 24 hour Walmarts, and every other store being open until at least 9. But things are so much more relaxed here, and I guess they just don't have a need for the stores to stay open late.

Well I plan on doing a little more shopping tomorrow. Anything that needs to be mailed has to be taken care of by the end of the month or it won't get there by Christmas. The rest of my week looks pretty boring right now- I need to get some housecleaning done but have been feeling rebellious and ignoring it. I think its just wishing that the cleaning fairy will come in the middle of the night and take care of it... But I must have made the cleaning fairy mad, because she hasn't dropped by. If wishing doesn't work tonight then I guess I will actually have to get off my bum sometime tomorrow.

Saturday

Well today hasn't been very productive, but thats okay. I slept in pretty late, but I think that's what Saturdays are made for. Went to Kmart to grab a few things we needed. Kmart on a Saturday here is jam packed- I don't know what I was thinking! Even with the crowd we managed to make it through safely, without hurting anyone. Sometimes I still can't believe that Kmart is the best shopping we have here- I am so going mega shopping on any trips back to the States! Luckily there is online shopping, which gives you more options. Still rough to look at things and decide if you want them when you are online. Ah, well. I have been spending time looking online lately for Christmas gifts for Eric. And birthday presents- since his b-day is only 2 weeks before Christmas!!

We took the Jeep out for a drive today. Got to see a lot more of the mountain range from the southern side. Stopped at a gap, where there was a sign and some hiking, but the neat stuff was past the waterhole. And there was no way I was wading through stagnant water just to look at some stuff. With the weather here that waterhole will be dried up in a few weeks or so, and I am happy to wait. There was a family there with a couple of little girls who were getting in the water with nets and catching tadpoles. I hope for the tadpoles' sake that the water doesn't dry up too soon! We saw a TON of bugs once the sun set. It was kinda gross, the amount of moths and other yuckies that would hit the windshield. We also saw some neat critters out on the road- got a picture of one and its a legless lizard. Looks like a snake to me, but Eric explained the difference. I will have to put the pic up in a few days, hopefully once we have a high speed connection.

Well it is getting late and I know I am starting to ramble. Just wanted to put another post out there so I can fiddle around with this thing and see how everything works. I'm sure there will be more ramblings soon!

First Post

So this is my first post! I am starting a blog (also known as a web log). I've decided to take the Aussie Adventures newsletter a little farther- now I can keep an online diary of our adventures Down Under.

I hope that you find the posts amusing and entertaining. Hopefully not too scary, as I will be letting you into my thoughts! I also hope that this will hone my writing abilities, so that I am able to express myself clearly through writing.

I also plan to post some pictures, to give that extra oomph to the stories.

So enjoy, my readers. Please feel free to post any comments about anything you see here. Its always nice to hear from others around the world- isn't the Net a wonderful thing?

Cheers!