A beautiful Saturday

Yesterday morning I woke up a bit earlier than usual (probably around 9:00...yes, that's early) and upon walking into the bathroom was bathed in brilliant morning sunlight. I love Sydney on a sunny day, which in all honesty is most days but we've had a fair share of rain lately. I walked to Redfern station a few weeks ago to do a full day of gluten-free baking over at Maria's, and when I left the house it was already raining. No matter, umbrella in hand I ventured out. As I continued on the 15 minute walk, the drizzle turned into a downpour. By the time I got to the station, my whole front was soaked from belly to tips of my toes, and there was no use in avoiding puddles--they couldn't make my squishing feet any wetter! I couldn't help but smile as I walked through the rain, but I admit I was a bit cold and the teeth were chattery by the time I got over to Maria's. I also missed my pants as I wedged into little Maria's cargo pants. I cannot wait for the day that I have a clothes dryer again!

To say the least, we've had our fair share of gray weather and I have been delighted to see the sun out! I came back to bed after my morning bathroom break to find Marcus, as usual, still succumbing to the sweetness of sleep. I let him continue his slumber and laid in bed reading until he decided it was time to officially wake up. One of my oldest single habits was laying in bed on a weekend morning reading to my heart's content, so I enjoy an extra hour in bed in the morning with a good book in hand. (I'm still reading "The Mists of Avalon"...an epic book with 1000 pages. Just 100 more to go!) Eventually Marcus did wake up and we had tea and coffee out on the back porch, soaking in the biting sun and trying to figure out what we'd do for the day. We broke out the handy Australia guide and decided to drive down to Wollongong, see the 1:00 pm laser show at the Science Center (it was in the book, so we figured why not?), then drive back along the scenic coastal highway. Good plan!

We drove down, badly singing duets and serenades. My favorite was Marcus's version of "Rocket Man" which consisted of him singing, "Rocket maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan" over and over again because he didn't know any other words to the song. Wait, did I say singing? It would be more accurately classified as a groan or a warble. :) I un-sneakily reached my hand over and turned up the volume on the radio...

We got to the science center in perfect time and after wandering around in the center for long enough to realize that the human eyes are pretty messed up (they had all manner of eye-trick exhibits showing how our eyes trick us all the time), we entered the planetarium for one of the most memorable half hours of my life. Our guide, who was far too excited about the lasers, first showed us just a few minutes' worth of what the night sky looks like far outside of city limits. But then he got to the good stuff. The laser show. It was priceless. It was right from the early 90's with old school technology. This was a classic laser show with laser-generated pictures shown alongside music, though without a theme like the laser shows in Seattle. (I may have been to one on yet another bored occasion...) The first song came on--Enya. How can you not love a laser show that begins with Enya?! Her music was set to screen saver-like projections. That's where the giggles began. The next song was "In The Jungle" complete with badly drawn, jilted pictures of jungle animals--lions, monkeys, elephants and...kangaroos. ? That's the first jungle I've ever seen kangaroos in... Next we were graced with the presence of none other than the Prince himself--"cause tonight we're gonna party like it's nine-teen niiiiinety nine." There was laser fun-fetti (that's right, fun-fetti--get into the 90's frame of mind, yo!), big flashes of 1's and 9's, and then, oh then we had a full-on laser version of Prince's head with barely moving laser lips, simulating a singing effect. At this point I was pretty much doubled over laughing, wondering if I would be offending the ever so gracious, laser-loving guide. Didn't matter. It was too funny to hold the laughter within. Then there was a Beatles song complete with happy suns, suns with shades on, exploding rainbows, and flowery laser designs. And after that there was random music accompanied by pictures of American football players, baseball players, women outfitted in short red dresses that looked like prostitutes, not to mention naked men running. I wasn't expecting any porn in the show! But there it was and I laughed for pretty much the rest of the show. It was worth every penny!

Afterward we went and explored the rest of the interactive center that had all kinds of fun stuff to play with. We measured the electricity in our hands (apparently Marcus is more electric than I am), tried our endurance by hanging on a jungle gym bar as long as we could, failed at putting together a 3-d block, and made mini tornadoes in water. We also saw a few dinosaurs.

Don't ask why I stuck out my tongue, there is no reasoning.

After the science center we turned right back around and headed up the scenic coastal highway. The scenery was gorgeous and much of the road was right along the oceanside cliffs. We had every intention of stopping off for lunch at one of the cliffside pubs along the way but the first was closed and looked pretty condemned, and the second was far too overpriced so we continued on our way...and when we got to Royal National Park we realized we had gone too far for food and our stomachs were grumbling. Nevertheless, we pulled over in the first sunny spot we saw to more fully appreciate the view and what should we see but a huge ice cream truck! Now, you may think that because this was a sunny day, it was warm but there was an icy breeze that would keep most sane people indoors. But this is Australia. So there were plenty of people afoot, even attempting picnics! Blankets being blown about...not such a good idea. Anyway, we saw the ice cream truck and figured that was going to be our best bet at food for the next hour. To our delight we found that they served food. Mmm, hotdogs. Or actually, a robber dog, which is a hot dog (the scary pink kind we ate up in the Northern Territory), cheese, and onion. We were prepared for sauteed onions, but what we got was the dried, flaky, chip-looking onion pieces. The lady told us it adds texture. Bleh. We ate the tepidly warm dogs and tried to look at them as little as possible. Luckily we finished without any harm done. :) Then despite the cold we decided that ice cream cones were in order. The ice cream trucks here aren't any regular old ice cream trucks, either. While I do miss the little tiny scooter-like cars and converted postal vehicle ice cream trucks of my childhood that played The Entertainer incessantly, the ice cream trucks here are...better. They do soft serve! Soft serve cones that you can get dipped in chocolate with sprinkles or nuts or flakey little chocolate bars. We opted for the chocolate dipped cones with nuts on top, and it was every bit as good as we'd hoped. In the last two bites, Marcus eyed my cone, half the size of his, and then we looked at each other and both our eyes flickered with competition. So I shoved the remains of my cone (which, need I mention again, was half the size of his cone) into my mouth, thus ending any competition he might have in mind. He started telling me how childish I was, and I burst into giggles at that statement. Can you blame me? This was the mouth it came out of:

Smears of chocolate...sorry my dear, it's too funny to stay in my camera! I love you! :)

I insisted on this particularly cheesy picture. But I am not ashamed.

Then the hotdog lady took this one for us.
She was even kind enough to get in part of the touristically acclaimed suspension bridge (look right above my shoulder). This is a local attraction which blows my mind--who would care about a bridge with this kind of beauty?
It was a gorgeous if a sometimes blinding drive home. Think sunset with a windshield covered in pollen. We made it home safely, had a bit of a sit-down, then got ready for an early birthday dinner with Maria and Adam. We went out to a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Newtown which was pricey, but it's the best Mexican food I've had here. After gorging ourselves on quesadillas and fajitas, we went to a cocktail bar up the road where I got carded! I hate when that happens, especially since I don't make a habit of taking my passport out with me and my license got stolen in Alice Springs. Oy. We opted to go to the downstairs bar and let Maria buy drinks. All was good, and my cocktails were entirely well-presented.

Yum. Say hello to Maria and Adam, a pair that constantly has me in stitches.
And of course my happy partner in crime.

It's been a while since I posted any pictures, so I figured I'd do a bit of bombardment today. :)

Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm not sure what to expect. Nobody at the office knows it's my birthday, since that's not exactly something you go shouting from the rooftops and I haven't been there long enough for anyone to really know. So I'll take myself out to lunch and get something good for dessert. I'm thinking about the fancy sandwich shop that has a lunchtime line that will leave you waiting most of your lunch period. I've heard they do a fantastic brownie, so I might be sold. After work Marcus is taking me out to dinner at a place yet to be determined, but I'm leaving it in his hands. Other than that, we're having a BYOD(essert) party on Saturday with our local friends. I'm excited because I've heard there will be no less than two cheesecakes. Cheesecake makes a happy Tina...we're going to watch So I Married An Axe Murderer and Clue. It's my birthday and I get to do what I want! Chances are good that all the friends will end up out back drinking and chatting away until the early hours of the morning while Marcus and I sit inside, wrapped in blankets, watching my favorite movies alone. Well, no expectations other than dessert and movies, and quite frankly the combination of those two always makes me happy!

26. Here already. The last year has flown by and I know the years aren't going to slow down, but rather continue to go faster and faster. In the last year I've followed my heart across the world and tried to integrate (sometimes I think successfully, other times I think not quite so successfully) to another culture and way of life. I've gained international work experience and worked at two not for profits as well as for the Australian government. I've seen wild kangaroos, breaching whales (pictures still coming!), and some of the most desolate places on earth. I've sweated through the hottest weather I've ever known and frozen in a big drafty house with no central heating. I've baked dozens and dozens of batches of cookies and learned how to cook vegetables. As of the 7th of August, I will have stayed in one country for a whole year (I haven't done that since I first left the US to study abroad in Austria in 2002). I've become accustomed to seeing new scenery and using spray deodorant. My nationality has been mistaken for that of Ireland, Canada, Germany, Norway and Sweden. I've spent more money on two pairs of shoes than I spent on shoes in probably an entire year in Seattle. I've missed home like crazy, but I've enjoyed every minute spent with Marcus. It's been a rough year, but I'm slowly beginning to have a better appreciation for Sydney. My first year in Seattle was miserable and it took a good couple of years before I could call it home. I need more time, I know this. One year isn't enough to judge and I'm going to try to find some perspective that will give me the right level of appreciation for this place. It's different. Different isn't bad, but it does take time. And, fingers crossed, I should have plenty of that.

I hope that this next year finds me in a job more fitting of my abilities and enrolled in a master's program. I hope I find that perspective I know is inside of me that, the part that makes me grateful for all I have, big and small. I hope I find a place to dedicate some of my free time, a place that could really use (and knows how to use!) their volunteers. I hope some of my friends and family are able to visit. I hope that I learn to appreciate this beautiful country with a vengeance. I hope for happiness.