So what if Australians don't really care about America's independence day!  Liz and I still managed to round up our Aussi e friends and throw one hell of a party with the help of Shel dog (Sheldon)!  We served Jambalaya and ribs on the barB!  In true American fashion, we played a few games of beer pong and ended the night with smores!  You could have sworn that smores were crack, people just couldn't get enough.  I would say all in all, the night was fantastic...from what I can remember. The next day however was a day of regrets because overnight our apartment had been converted to a frat house.  Empty bottles and cups everywhere, the smell of stale beer, and perhaps a little bit of spue.  We took the day nice and slow and even five days later, we are attempting to fumigate the stinch that is lingering in the air! 

The fourth of july party has been the latest in my life.  I am just taking each day as it comes and with every day comes a little more sadness.  I was having cuddles with Neil the wombat as he drank his bottle and I had to stop myself from crying!  The end is so near and I feel like one huge titty baby!  All I know is that my friends here better be planning a huge going away party, only to be topped by my homies who should be planning a welcome home

Oh man, the count down begins!  We have officially booked our tickets home and this harsh reality has hit me like a ton of bricks.  Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to be returning home and a minute longer would be too long but it is going to be a heart felt good bye.  The last 9 months have been unreal and to sum it up, one incredible and life changing adventure.  When we set out on this journey, Liz and I expected to travel and see as much as possible but little did we know that we would fall in love with Perth and want to stay put.  We thought long and hard about our decision and we decided no travel adventures could be better than the people we have met and grown very close to.  Heck, saying good bye would be easy had we hopped around but I think we know that we have made life long friends that we would be happy to visit in the future. 

By far one of my favorite adventures has been my job at the wildlife park and I am very grateful to have had this opportunity.  I am thrilled to go to work everyday and the people that surround me quickly became my family down under!  I plan on pursuing a similar career back home but it will be pretty hard to mimic the work I have done out here.  All I know is that where ever I work, I intend on convincing them to get wombats and kangaroos!  Who knows, I may even be the owner of my own wildlife park one day...Dad, can I borrow some money please?

I am freaking out about returning home and I can’t even put my head around all of the things that will be different.  Let’s see…there is a possibility that I will be unpacking my suitcase in a home that is not the one I have lived in all my life, there are a couple of bundles of joy that I am eager to meet, my nieces and godchild are almost all grown up, my dog may or may not remember me, and I will be putting on about thirty pounds from eating everything I have missed since I have been gone!  Oh and I think most of you will be pleased to hear that I did not get knocked up while I was out here and as cute as these Aussie boys are, none of them really tickled my pickle! 

My birthday is coming up and I have lots of great friends planning a gathering.  I filled them in on the fact that from the first of June to the ninth, I celebrate my birthday.  I think Liz and I are planning to play super golf for my birthday and I can’t wait.  We went shopping in the city yesterday and I figured she was looking for present hints so I tried to drop them as much as possible ; ).  It will be different to spend my birthday with someone other than my girls back home but I think it will still be fun! 

Adventures here have been pretty low key but not completely boring.   I took a small day trip with Tracey to a place called Penguin Island where we got to see a total of ten penguins but they were still freaking cute.  My boss gave birth to twins and she kindly let Jess and I visit her and the babies in the hospital.  They were born three months premature so they are super tiny but two very strong little boys that have put up quite a fight!  I had this past weekend off so Liz and I went with her friends Sheldon and Vick, to play a little B-ball.  My competitive side definitely came out but we still managed to keep it fun!  After B-ball, we met my girls, Trace and Jess, for some Mexican food and then we went out with Sheldon and Vick to a classy jazz club.  I have seen a couple of great movies, Night at the Museum II and Star Trek and had dinner with a group of friends from work which was a blast. 

All in all, things are still amazing and in case you are wondering what day I am coming home, don’t bother asking because it is a surprise!  My mom already tried to ask me and I wouldn’t tell her even though she threatened not to tell me where she will be living.  It’s all in good fun and probably the best surprise you will have all year (not to toot my own horn)!  I love you all and miss you more than you can ever imagine!  I thought I would let you know the top ten things that I miss most!

10.) All things Cajun Cher and taco bell.

9.) My Alma Mata including all things Zeta and “the group” Hoo Rah!

8.) Weekends at the Lake House

7.) Downtown laffy taffy with my home girls and the random country things we do

6.) Challenging my nieces and sis n law to wii fit

5.) Shopping with my God child and catching up with Mrs. Lynn every other Friday when she kicks me out of bed to clean

4.) Playing tennis and golf with the most important men in my life

3.) Holidays with family especially when it includes watching Renee open gifts and a video camera with a bag of old clothes

2.) Acting the fool with my sis and getting to watch prime time tele with my mom on my favorite couch with the sleep blanket

1.) MARTINI!!!! My dog not the beverage

Where do I even start with this blog????  How about with my rendition of “When Animals Attack”?  I have to give you a little back ground first.  I learned a new run (morning task) at work and this is a run that involves some of our more feisty animals…take for example, our Tasmanian Devils.  I was really excited to learn this run and in the beginning things were going beautifully until April fool’s day…go figure!

At the start of work on the first day of April, things began as usual and I started my run that includes tidying up (scooping poop) enclosures and filling up feed dishes.  I went in and out of the devil enclosures with no problem and then on to the quolls.  For everyone who doesn’t know what a quoll is, let me explain.  They are a carnivorous marsupial that gets about as big as a cat so they have pretty sharp teeth and claws to shred poor innocent animals to pieces.  When I was taught the run, I was told to be cautious with the quolls because they can become aggressive.  I hadn’t had any trouble with them so I let my guard down a bit.  I entered the enclosure that belongs to Max the quoll and started to move some stuff around that had come down over night.   I was a bit startled when I saw him jump down because he normally stays sound asleep while I am in there.  My first instinct was to use my rake to keep him at a distance but when that rake got caught on a tree in his enclosure you could say that the shit hit the fan.  He jumped on my leg and gripped my pants tightly with his mouth.  It wasn’t bad at first because he only had fabric in his mouth but when I tried to pry him off he quickly found flesh.  I spent the next five minutes trying to wrestle this thing off of my leg.  At one point I kicked him so hard that he flew against the wall and I swear he slid down it slowly just like in the movies.  Every time I thought I could make my escape he would leap right back on my leg.  I tried to call for help in a very calm voice over the radio but of course my supervisor was on the phone and couldn’t hear me.  Once I managed to get out, I was shaken up a bit and breathing heavily because it was a really good work out trying to get that demon off of me.  I called up my supervisor again and told him to meet me in the section that I was in and when he walked up all I did was show him my legs which were scratched and bleeding.  He felt pretty bad and sent me down the back to get cleaned up.

The awkward part actually started when I met Debbie down the back so that she could administer proper first aid.  You see, the majority of the wounds were around my ankles but there were a few instances where Max managed to grab hold of my thighs.  When I saw Debbie, I told her that she would have to be ok with seeing my ass because I had to drop my pants.  Now for all of you who know me well, I will assure you that I was wearing underwear so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.  For a good thirty minutes, I sat in the staff area with my pants pulled down while Debbie doctored me up.  The poor woman is five months pregnant with twins and was down on all fours cleaning my wounds.  She was a champ. There were only a few staff members that walked in with awkward looks on their faces.  I am not sure if it was because I was bleeding or if it was the fact that I was in my underwear.  Needless to say I found out later that it is breeding season for the quolls so Max took his sexual frustration out on the first innocent bystander he could. 

Now on to other things, I have had Tracey’s car for the past two and half weeks and I it has been awesome.  I never have to worry about a train or catching the bus and I also get to sleep in for a whole extra hour.  I have gotten pretty used to operating the manual transmission but I still do stall occasionally and hear funny noises coming from the engine but no worries!  I did run into problem on the second day that I had her car because I went to open the door and the handle broke off.  Obviously just from wear and tear but never the less I did it so I had to fix it.  Luckily Jess’s boyfriend knows people and just how to put door handles back on so it will be good as new in no time.  Thanks to the car, Liz and I were able to play Supa Golf on our day off.  Supa golf is basically a twisted game of golf with oversized clubs and balls.  We had so much fun and I sucked it up in the end when I turned out to be the loser.  Everything with Liz and I is a freaking competition and I swear that we both have a secret tally that allows us to keep track of who will be the gold medalist in the end.

A few of us from work got together the other night and went bowling and like a beast, I dominated!  I got lip for my form because I do the whole one leg behind the other motion when I bowl.  In the end no one was laughing!  It was a fun night so we decided to do it all over again but with laser tag.  That was a walk back in time for me and I thought of the good ole Q Zar from back home that later turned into that under aged club where my best friends and I went every damn weekend because it was the cool thing to do!  Oh good times.  Laser tag was a lot of fun and after sucking it up the first round I decided game on for the second round.  I came in fourth place and that was good enough for me!  The best part about the night was that the games were short and I was able to rush home to watch Grey’s Anatomy.  We finally have the latest season here in Australia so I love every minute of it.  I seriously almost canceled laser tag because I didn’t want to miss the new episode…kind of an addict!

Liz and I got our casino fix last week and it was fun because Jess, Jase, and his sister Tara came with us.  Our luck seems to be running out and instead of stopping while we were ahead we decided we would lose our money instead…so much more fun right?  We played roulette the entire night and while we ended up short everyone else had a successful night so Liz and I decided that we can’t have friends with us at the casino because it stunts our luck and it is bad for our business (gambling…remember our fund from the last blog?)  We are planning on spending Easter at the casino so cross your fingers that our luck returns!

Things are smooth sailing here in Australia and I couldn’t be happier…as long as I don’t think about home, oh wait that’s impossible.  I miss home terribly and I am so torn between my home sickness and the amount of fun that I am having here.  I still have no clue about when I am coming home but I will be sure to let you know when we figure things out.  I just want you all to know that I think about you often and can’t wait to give you the biggest hug you have ever had!  I love you!

Sorry for the delayed blog but there have been plenty of distractions that mean I have a lot to write about.  I can’t believe March finally got here because I had been counting down the days until my Mom’s visit since I arrived in Australia but as fast as March got here, it is already over and I am in shock at how time is flying!  Of course the visit from my Mom and Viv was incredible so enjoy reading all about it.

First of all, just a little word of advice to everyone; if you are going to visit Australia please allow yourself a minimum of three weeks.  As much as we got to do, I didn’t even put a dent in the amazing things that I could have shown them for the week that they were here.  I was anticipating their arrival with extreme intensity and they could not get here soon enough.  I had arranged a taxi from work so that I could work a half day and just around the time of picking them up, I get word that their flight had been delayed!  Go figure!  Instead of hanging out at the airport, I went home with Tracey to get showered, ate dinner, and hung out with the girls for a bit until Jess took me to the airport.  I got there just in time to run into my Mom and Viv walking to the door with their luggage.  It was a surreal moment and it took a sec for reality to set in!  After our long hugs and kisses, we settled the rental car and took off in our fly convertible.  I put them straight to bed because I knew the next seven days were going to be non stop!

Their first full day in Australia just so happened to be my mom’s birthday so we made it an action packed day.  I took them straight to the wildlife park so they could experience kangaroos, wombats, and koalas!  At our wombat show, Debbie who was the commentator gave my mom a special birthday wish in front of the big crowd so she wasn’t too happy about that but it gave the rest of us a good laugh.  Tracey told everyone at the morning staff meeting that we were coming in and that it was my mom’s birthday so everyone I introduced her to over exaggerated the greeting and birthday wishes. Take for example my Italian friend, Andy…he grabs hold of her hand and starts to kiss it while exclaiming that my mom is a legend and he is so grateful to meet her!  It actually got to the point where my Mom was freaked out by all the enthusiasm!  She loved all of my friends and her favorite part was getting to bottle feed Hazel, a joey kangaroo.  After the park, we had lunch at a brewery and then headed to King’s park for the most breathtaking view of the city.  It was the shortened version of King’s park because we had dinner plans with Maureen but they got the picture and off we went back to my apartment.  We got all dolled up and met Maureen at her place for a few drinks.  She has the best view of the Swan River so my Mom and Viv enjoyed that and then it was off to Spaghi’s for a lovely birthday dinner.  We all enjoyed ourselves…some a little too much but all in good fun of course!

I unfortunately had work for the next two days so I left Liz to keep the two busy.  Their first outing proved to be disastrous because while on the freeway they witnessed a wreck that was really bad so being the first on the scene led them to a pretty brutal site.  My Mom was interviewed by the news so she was famous after only one day in Australia.  They managed to enjoy the rest of their day and find time to cook spaghetti for me so that when I got home I had a hot meal waiting.  The next day Liz took them to her winery and a few other stops in Swan Valley.  Needless to say the winery was their favorite part and they ended up spending a whopping five hours there!  It was a fun sight when they picked me up from work that day!  We set off to eat sushi that night at a very traditional restaurant where you took your shoes off and practically sat on the ground.  We enjoyed ourselves and some more lovely wine.  My mom was exhausted so she hit the sack while Viv, Liz, and I went to The Windsor for a few more booze.  We had a fun time drinking and hearing the latest gossip.  After a few drinks, we walked on home and went to bed.

The next morning, was the start of our adventure to Margaret River.  A few wrong turns along the way added plenty of character to the trip but alas we arrived in the heart of Margaret River. Our place at Merribrook Retreat was stunning and set in a lovely, peaceful forest so we enjoyed the quiet atmosphere (well what was quiet until we got there.)  I took them to the coast so they could see the beautiful beaches along the Indian Ocean and after wine and beer we decided to walk the nature trail around our retreat.  Viv was desperate to find a kangaroo in the wild to photograph so I tried to find one but in the end we wound up with nada!  The next day we hit up a local winery for lunch and then headed to the coast again for some rest and relaxation on the beach.  It was a pretty laid back day and we appreciated every minute of it.  We decided to stay an extra day so for our last day we hit the shops.  We ended the evening with some great pasta made in the retreat’s kitchen and dinner on the lake.  It was amazing and we all really enjoyed ourselves. 

Now the rest of the trip could have been better with a little more planning but I thought winging it would have sufficed…man was I wrong.  I have been hearing all about the land of the giants which is this infamous tree walk a little further south than Margaret River so I thought it would be worth the drive.  Well that drive left us in the car ALL day long!  It may have been worth it once we arrived at the tree walk but I forgot the small detail about my Mom being acrophobic.  I told her it was like walking on a bridge but that really wasn’t the case.  Not to mention we were all starving and I promised them that there would be a restaurant near the tree walk and there wasn’t.    The tree walk should have taken a half hour but when my mom hit that platform, she was through it in about ten seconds.  It was definitely not like a bridge…much more wobbly!  We had a good laugh as the three of us hung back and watched her run through the trees and not look up at a single one!  It was a pretty cool experience but again a small plan would have made a world of difference.  We hit the road shortly after the tree walk and drove and drove and drove and then drove some more until we finally arrived back home.

We spent their last day in the city letting them shop and enjoy downtown Perth.  Viv was in heaven with all of the shopping that was to be done.  We ended their trip with dinner at the casino with Maureen and her friend Mary.  Mary is part Scottish and she and Viv definitely hit it off even though Viv didn’t understand most of what Mary was saying.  The food was great and the company was fantastic.  To top it off, we hit up the casino floor for some gambling with Mom’s money…the best kind of gambling there is.  Liz and I once again had a very successful night at the roulette table and we are officially addicted.  We signed up for the casino club that night and we officially have a gambling fund that I am convinced will make us rich.  If you are interested in donating please email me!

Their departure date came way too fast and I was in denial that it was already time to drop them off.  It was hard to get dressed for work that morning knowing that when I got back home, they wouldn’t be there.   We all managed to say our goodbyes without crying and Ms. VIv threatened me with another visit if I didn’t come home soon.  It was with out a doubt a fun experience having them as my house guests.  I can only hope that they enjoyed everything as much as I did.  I know it made my mom feel a lot better about me being here knowing that Liz and I are doing just fine.  They were off to Sydney with rejuvenated excitement for the remainder of their trip.  I would like to report that they arrived safely back home with a greater appreciation for air conditioning and in Ms. Viv’s case…AMERICAN BEER.  She didn’t hesitate to ask every last bartender if they had American beer behind the bar and you could see the look of shock on their faces every time she asked.

Needless to say they were off and my life turned back to normal so it was off to work that morning for a full day of tours!  Giving tours are the absolute worst when you just don’t have the enthusiasm and considering my mood, it made for a hard day.  Maybe reading this blog will encourage some of you to come and visit me.  There is a chance that I will stay the full year so if you can’t bare to go that long without seeing me then I suggest you book your ticket!  I hope all is well back in the great U S of A.  I miss all of you tremendously and I can’t wait to see you in Australia!