Monday, April 11, 2011
A.B.D. or Bust (but Australia one way or the other!)
So, it looks like I have my dates (almost) finalized for my written comprehensive exam and my oral defense of said writtens and my dissertation proposal. I will spend two whole days in a tiny room writing like crazy during the week of May 23rd, and then four hours talking circles around said answers and my proposal sometime between Jun 6-9. About the only thing keeping me going at this point is knowing that once I finish those hurdles, I will officially get to be A.B.D. (all but dissertation) and more importantly I will be just hours away from hopping a plane to head to Australia. :-)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Doctors, Cooking, and Weight
So, while my day has been less than productive, I am very happy to say that I did the near-impossible--I got Brett to go to the doctor!! After being sick for over a week, I was glad that he was able to get some professional help. The doctor wasn't able to give a ton of advice, but did say that we need to change Brett's diet to what doctors call a "bland diet". For a foodie like him, this was probably worse than a death sentence! But, we are taking the news in stride and doing our best to figure out the new food requirements (though I had to keep reminding him to focus on what he CAN eat and not on the CAN'T eat side of the list.) Considering I want to lose weight too (so I look better in all those awesome Australia pics!), being so conscious about what we're putting in our bodies can't hurt. Hopefully it will settle Brett's stomach issues enough that he can be taken off the bland diet before our trip (esp. since tomatos are a no-no and he would be miserable to be home and still not get that yummy tomato paste he craves and raves about!).
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
April's Visa
My visa has been approved! Apparently Australia is willing to let me in! What were they thinking? ;-)
~April
~April
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Penguin Parade
Brett and I were going through the South Australia visitors guidebook today and there was a mention of a "Parade of Penguins" listed under Must-Do's. I LOVE the idea of a penguin parade and am imagining little penguins marching in step to a candence with some very talented little penguin baton twirler leading the line. Probably not what actually happens, but until I am proven wrong, that's what I'm hoping for. :-)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Bloody Snow
I have been meaning to write a post on snow for the past week or so; specifically addressing a lie that my mum used to tell me. She used to always tell me that when she was a kid, she used to have to walk 5 miles through 6 inches of snow to get to school each day. It took me until I was around 9-10 years old that I realised that although my mum is really old, she probably wasn't around in the last ice age, which would have been the only way that my home town would even come close to getting snow. So, in the spirit of showing her what it is really like to try to get to school in the snow, I thought I would recount my morning.
Yesterday the day started off with steady rain and the forecast was for rain all day. Around 3pm however the rain turned to snow and a fairly serious sort of snow at that. I was staying at April's house and by the time we went to bed it was still snowing and there was at least 4 inches of snow on the ground. This morning I needed to head into the office, so that meant extracting my car (I also decided to de-snow April's car and move it to the other side of the street for her). The de-snowing of the cars probably took me 10 mins or so, which is fairly average for a snowing morning here, so that wasn't too bad. If you remember the road on which April lives, it is quite steep and the way the cars are parked means that I had to drive in reverse up the hill to get out of our parking spots. I moved April's car first and, due to the wonders of 4 wheel drive, did not have the slightest problem. I was able to back straight out, drive around the block and park her car nice and close to her building.
Therefore, with wildly misplaced confidence, I jumped into my car and attempted to back out. I engage the car in reverse, slowly take the clutch out and attempt to back out. The first thing that happens is my front wheels begin to spin (I, unlike April, only have front wheel drive) and the front of the car slips three feet down the hill. This has two consequences, first it causes me to swear, a lot. The second is that it means that my car is now parked at a really odd angle and taking up two parking spots, which means I cannot just leave it there and retreat back to April's place and stay there for the day. I have to move my car. Bugger. Luckily there is no-one parked that close to me, so my 3 foot lurch did not end up with me in the side of someone's car. So there is that, but I am still stuck with a car that only wants to go down the hill sideways rather than up it in an orderly fashion.
I would attempt to describe how difficult it is to try and do a reverse hill start with a manual transmission and 4 inches of snow under your tyres, but it is really one of those things that cannot be captured in words. If you do not have enough throttle you risk sliding forward into a snow bank, if you have to much your tyres spin and you go sideways down a hill.
Thus, I have only one option, to clear the snow out from under my tyres. With my wildly misplaced optimism still intact, I first try to do this with a combination of hands and kicking the snow away. After about 10 mins of this I admit defeat and decided I need actual tools to get this done. I decide to go check the little utility shed in April's building and 'borrow' the landlord's snow shovel. After about 15 mins of shoveling I finally manage to clear enough of the parking space for my car to make it to the plowed road ( I worked out that the trick was to clear the snow in a crescent shape, that way when the front of my car slipped, it would slip onto the road that I had cleared).
45 mins later, I was finally on the road, but I was so covered in snow that I had to stop home for a change of clothes first as mine were soaked by this stage. Thus, to my mum, I would like to say you have no idea how hard it is to drive 8 feet in four inches of snow. Give me 5 miles of walking in 6 inches of snow any day!
Yesterday the day started off with steady rain and the forecast was for rain all day. Around 3pm however the rain turned to snow and a fairly serious sort of snow at that. I was staying at April's house and by the time we went to bed it was still snowing and there was at least 4 inches of snow on the ground. This morning I needed to head into the office, so that meant extracting my car (I also decided to de-snow April's car and move it to the other side of the street for her). The de-snowing of the cars probably took me 10 mins or so, which is fairly average for a snowing morning here, so that wasn't too bad. If you remember the road on which April lives, it is quite steep and the way the cars are parked means that I had to drive in reverse up the hill to get out of our parking spots. I moved April's car first and, due to the wonders of 4 wheel drive, did not have the slightest problem. I was able to back straight out, drive around the block and park her car nice and close to her building.
Therefore, with wildly misplaced confidence, I jumped into my car and attempted to back out. I engage the car in reverse, slowly take the clutch out and attempt to back out. The first thing that happens is my front wheels begin to spin (I, unlike April, only have front wheel drive) and the front of the car slips three feet down the hill. This has two consequences, first it causes me to swear, a lot. The second is that it means that my car is now parked at a really odd angle and taking up two parking spots, which means I cannot just leave it there and retreat back to April's place and stay there for the day. I have to move my car. Bugger. Luckily there is no-one parked that close to me, so my 3 foot lurch did not end up with me in the side of someone's car. So there is that, but I am still stuck with a car that only wants to go down the hill sideways rather than up it in an orderly fashion.
I would attempt to describe how difficult it is to try and do a reverse hill start with a manual transmission and 4 inches of snow under your tyres, but it is really one of those things that cannot be captured in words. If you do not have enough throttle you risk sliding forward into a snow bank, if you have to much your tyres spin and you go sideways down a hill.
Thus, I have only one option, to clear the snow out from under my tyres. With my wildly misplaced optimism still intact, I first try to do this with a combination of hands and kicking the snow away. After about 10 mins of this I admit defeat and decided I need actual tools to get this done. I decide to go check the little utility shed in April's building and 'borrow' the landlord's snow shovel. After about 15 mins of shoveling I finally manage to clear enough of the parking space for my car to make it to the plowed road ( I worked out that the trick was to clear the snow in a crescent shape, that way when the front of my car slipped, it would slip onto the road that I had cleared).
45 mins later, I was finally on the road, but I was so covered in snow that I had to stop home for a change of clothes first as mine were soaked by this stage. Thus, to my mum, I would like to say you have no idea how hard it is to drive 8 feet in four inches of snow. Give me 5 miles of walking in 6 inches of snow any day!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A, B, C, D... (A Weekend Roundup)
Brett and I got a lot done this weekend (I apologize in advance for typos, I'm enjoying our special wine from our trip to Texas!). Here, the ABC's of our weekend:
A= Anticipation. We logged on to Skype multiple times trying to get in touch with Brett's Mom, to no success. But, perhaps things always work out the way they are supposed to, because it wasn't until after all those attempts that Brett and I had a good long talk and realized that the dates of the trip home he was trying to confirm might not be the best anyway (at least not if he wants a cute Texan to accompany him).
A=Academics. We got a lot, well maybe not A LOT, but definitely enough, work done this weekend. Brett was a great help in trying to get me back on track and getting a few of my major projects done.
B=Bilbies. I learned the difference between a bunny and a bilby. Apparently in Australia, the Easter Bilby visits all the children instead of the Easter Bunny (they must be very distant cousins). So, Brett looked up this native Australian on Wikipedia and showed me a picture and put up with all my silly questions about bilbies. Brett and I have decided we want to dye Easter eggs this year. Wonder who will deliver them...will it be the Easter Bunny (since we're int he U.S.) or the Easter Bilby (who looks after all the Displaced Australians, big and small...)
C=Chores. I washed all of Brett's dishes today. And did his laundry. It was part of a deal where he edited some of my writing and I did his household work. But it still made me feel very domestic. :-)
D=Dexter. I introduced Brett to the TV show Dexter this weekend. Yes, it's about a serial killer who murders other serial killers while holding down a day job as a blood splatter analysis for the police department (it's sorta a cult classic among the CLJ department). Brett seems to like it. I'm glad that he is able to see that there is a big difference between his brand of social-awkwardness and the "I kill people for fun" variety. Of course, we started with Season 1 and they are about to start Season 7 in the fall, so we have a lot of catch-up to do.
A= Anticipation. We logged on to Skype multiple times trying to get in touch with Brett's Mom, to no success. But, perhaps things always work out the way they are supposed to, because it wasn't until after all those attempts that Brett and I had a good long talk and realized that the dates of the trip home he was trying to confirm might not be the best anyway (at least not if he wants a cute Texan to accompany him).
A=Academics. We got a lot, well maybe not A LOT, but definitely enough, work done this weekend. Brett was a great help in trying to get me back on track and getting a few of my major projects done.
B=Bilbies. I learned the difference between a bunny and a bilby. Apparently in Australia, the Easter Bilby visits all the children instead of the Easter Bunny (they must be very distant cousins). So, Brett looked up this native Australian on Wikipedia and showed me a picture and put up with all my silly questions about bilbies. Brett and I have decided we want to dye Easter eggs this year. Wonder who will deliver them...will it be the Easter Bunny (since we're int he U.S.) or the Easter Bilby (who looks after all the Displaced Australians, big and small...)
C=Chores. I washed all of Brett's dishes today. And did his laundry. It was part of a deal where he edited some of my writing and I did his household work. But it still made me feel very domestic. :-)
D=Dexter. I introduced Brett to the TV show Dexter this weekend. Yes, it's about a serial killer who murders other serial killers while holding down a day job as a blood splatter analysis for the police department (it's sorta a cult classic among the CLJ department). Brett seems to like it. I'm glad that he is able to see that there is a big difference between his brand of social-awkwardness and the "I kill people for fun" variety. Of course, we started with Season 1 and they are about to start Season 7 in the fall, so we have a lot of catch-up to do.
Smile Removal
Brett and I had a long talk tonight about his upcoming trip to Australia. Apparently there was a bit of a miscommunication about my availability this summer. Now, with the knowledge that I might be able to join him, Brett thinks he needs the services of someone who specializes in smile removal. I think smiles are appropriate and will prevent him from paying anyone to take away that facial expression I love so much. So, watch out Australia, this is one Texan who's ready to see what you're all about!
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