Monday, June 28, 2010

So Much Going On

(Kitty) Sorry it's been so long since we posted anything here. Life just seems to go faster and faster all the time! And sooo many people who read this are on Facebook so... Here's hoping someone wants to read this here.  {grin}

So, since last you heard from our far-away heroes, they went to Melbourne to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. First, it was an awesome trip! Melbourne is totally different from Sydney - downtown has a different kind of architecture and vibe, a different kind of artsyness. It seemed a bit more relaxed and chill. The downtown area is near the river, which leads to the ocean, instead of Sydney's downtown on the harbour where you can practically see the ocean. I know it sounds weird, but John and I were happy to visit Costco there - ate Costco pizza for lunch twice in four days! Yum! LOL!

When we returned, Kitty went back to school (it had been the two-week mid-semester break at uni - what everyone calls university here, even though I still tend to just say "school") and John went back to work. I got a bad cold in Melbourne, so our running schedule got seriously messed up as I tried to get over that and as I prepared for the final papers in my three classes.  Things went well, though, and I finally finished my first semester on the 10th of June. It'll still be a a few weeks until I find out my grades.

John and I were WAAAY excited when our friend and adopted little brother Dougie came to visit us for two weeks on June 7. The first few days I raced to finish my last assignment - but Doug assured me I should relax because he brought homework, too! I showed him around Sydney some, he took pictures of the Opera House, John showed him around where he worked, then John had five days off in a row with a public holiday on a Monday. My friend Shannon took us around the South Coast area, which was awesome! Then we took a day to the Blue Mountains, went to the Taronga Zoo, wandered around The Rocks, walked the Bondi to Coogee Beach Walk, ate all kinds of yummy foods, and so much more!

Then for the rest of the second week, Doug and I watched a little of the FIFA World Cup, watched several episodes of Master Chef Australia (which I'm hooked on now and am watching while I type this!), did some reading and relaxing, met John for lunch or dinner several times, etc. It was very sad when Doug had to go home, but he promised to come back - and we're holding him to it! On the upside, the man has a super-heater inside him and was rarely cold even though it's winter here, so the first thing John and I did when we got home was turn on both the electric and gas heaters in the living room for the rest of the day! LOL!

Since then, John and I finally got back into a running schedule last week. Couldn't have happened at a colder time. At 6:00 this morning it was 5 degrees Celsius, 41 degrees Farhenheit with a 1C/34F degree wind chill factor! It was gorgeous to run by moonlight in the park until the sun rose, but this is the first time we turned down our street - where there is almost always a bit of an ocean breeze - and I ran the rest of the way home! LOL! The wind was too cold to walk!

That's everything I can think of. Those who know me and how I don't like to cook and therefore am not very good at it will be happy to know I'm actually learning some things by watching the Master Chef TV show! I made us a lamb chop meal a few nights ago that was fabulous. And the local grocery store chain, Coles, is the Master Chef sponsor so they have recipe cards in the store with some of the dishes the cooks are making. I picked up the beef stroganoff recipe to make soon! Woo-hoo!

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