March....

Just sitting outside this morning looking at the river and having a nice cup of green tea. I woke up at 5am. I wish I was joking. Everyday I seem to wake up earlier and earlier. Maybe I need more exercise? Hmm, not sure I'm desperate enough for that yet.

Tonight about 38 people either from Bechtel or other expats are gathering here in our function room for a potluck dinner. A little over a year ago, this started with about 6 women getting together once a week for coffee....lately, we've had 16 or more for coffee on Wednesdays! Close friendships are being formed and various groups of people are getting together for fun. What a lifeline they've become for me. They help Brisbane feel like "home".

One of those women, Mairi, has been especially helpful lately. The owners of our

apartment want to move back in so we've been asked to vacate at the end of lease. Of course, this sent me into a complete tailspin (because that's how I work) and Mairi has held my hand throughout the whole thing.....listening to my rantings, going to see apartments and basically reminding me that everything really will be fine. A special thanks goes out to the group of gals

sitting near me at coffee this week, too, because I was in fine form ranting like a madwoman about diplomatic clauses and the cost of rents and more. I'm lucky they didn't get together and try to medicate me. Mairi also spoke to her building manager and found out about an apartment that was coming available soon and we were able to jump on it before someone else could! It's quite perfect for us. Not so big that I'll hate cleaning it but big enough for a family that includes two teenagers. And it has my beloved river view. We'll be on the 29th floor. I can't get the "Jeffersons" theme song out of my head. I can't imagine living that high up but I guess I'm about to find out what it's like! We'll be moving in May and I'll post photos as soon as I can.

Last weekend we went to a Granite Belt Wine Tasting at South Bank with Mairi and Jimmy. Well, if that wasn't a perfect day, I don't know what would be. Beautiful warm sunshine, good company,

lovely wines....and even with the flood damage, South Bank is still gorgeous.

Also, last weekend was the St. Patrick's Day Parade. I was expecting something really big so made

us get there early. People didn't really start showing up until about 10 minutes before we started. When I was a kid we used to have to arrive really early to get a spot for the Christmas Parade in Bristol, TN!!!! Or so it seemed. Maybe it just seemed like a really long time to sit there waiting for it to start because I was little kid. Anyway, no big deal, because we ran into Ralph and MC right away and got to chat with them. Just before the parade started Mairi and Jimmy joined us. I don't know that I've ever seen that many kilts in one place in my whole life. Afterwards, Jimmy, Mairi, Ben and I went to the casino for lunch and being the big spenders that we are, we played $20 on roulette and I'm happy to say Ben and I broke even.

How Did This Happen?

Take a look at how tall Benji is now. I know it didn't happen overnight but it sure seems like it did! It's strange being the shortest person in the family.

20 Years

Last night was Ben's Service Award Dinner to recognise his 20 years of service to Bechtel. We taxied to Augustine's on George Street. Benji joined us but Kelsey was busy with other things. It was a lovely evening even if I did have trouble staying awake. It's a shame I'm ready for bed by 8:30 every night. But, anyway, very nice things were said about my wonderful husband and he deserved all of it and more.

Finally, a car

Coming up on April 17th, we will have lived here for 2 years. During that time, we've rented a car occasionally but other than that have depended on ferries, buses and trains. A couple of days before the big flood, we were thinking maybe it might time to get a car. After the flood, we were sure we wanted one. So, we did it! We bought a 2003 Honda CRV. I'll try to post photos later. I'm not sure what to name her.....I'm trying to get a feel for her personality so I'll have to let you know what I come up with;-)

Gold Coast/Surfer's Paradise

I drove straight from the campground to the Nerang train station to pick up the rest of my family. Off we went to Surfer's Paradise for the weekend. We checked in early to find that the hotel was not exactly what we were expecting but that's okay. Not the end of the world and at least we had a view of the beach. Kelsey and I had a successful shopping trip and Ben and Benji had a blast in the arcade. Playing in the ocean, some half way decent restaurants, and a hot spa (the first one I've been in here in Australia!!!) gave us a relaxing weekend and some nice family time.

Apparently, I brought a little friend with me from the campground. When I put on my swimsuit at the hotel, I felt something scurrying against my thigh. I would like to point out that I kept my screams contained. Everyone should be proud of me. The damn thing was huge. Like a baby huntsman or something with very furry legs. Ben was my hero when he threw it over the balcony.

Surfer's Paradise is a nice place to visit but is very touristy and loud. There were people drunk in the streets in the middle of the night and, well, drunk people aren't usually very quiet. These were no exception. At some point, I was awoken by what sounded like drag racing. I felt like I needed to do something to protect us from those cars....we were on the 16th floor so we were safe but you know what adrenalin can do to ya. Next time I think I want to visit a nice quiet beach

Camping at Bigriggen-Days 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

Nothing like a stinking hot day to make you appreciate your .40 cents/4 minutes worth of water in the shower each evening. And an evening breeze.

Many more families arrived on our third day. Benji enjoyed having more people there and was soon tubing down the rapids. It was great to see friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Leanne had me drive her car to the pick up point for the hikers. Turns out I CAN drive a manual transmission car here even with the gearshift on the wrong side of the car. I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself. Gotta take my kudos where I can, right?

Unbelievably, there's a damn fish in the swimming hole that bites hard enough to draw blood. Just when I think I've asked every question possible, I find out something like this. Everyone assured me it doesn't hurt much but I suspect that Australians are made of tougher stuff than the average person, especially if I'm that average person.

On the fourth night, I found a little spider on my mattress in the tent. I nearly crapped my pants. Probably harmless but how would I know? Needless to say, the little fella went to meet his maker. No memorial service is planned.

Sing along by the campfire was fun. Benji was totally in his element and it made me happy to see him enjoying himself so much.

Casey saw a yellow-faced whip snake. So glad it was him and not me. I would have been terrified. When he told me about it, I thought he was joking since it had such an unusual name.

On the fifth day, I finally went swimming. Everyone assured me that the fish bites were only happening in one area. The theory was that it was an eel tailed catfish and they are territorial so as long as we stay out of their territory, they will leave us alone. By this day, Benji was ready to leave so he gets a ride the next day with Casey.

Leanne and I saw a red bellied black snake. Luckily we were in the car. But, I was pleased to see that it was so easy to identify. I've been assured they are not aggressive. Small comfort.

My last day there was spent moving from shady spot to shady spot chatting with my friends. Sometime during the night a possum decided to use the area behind my tent for a toilet. OMG, what a stench. I don't have words to describe it.

Camping at Bigriggen-Day 2

Day 2 found me awake at 5am scrambling to get to the toilet. OMG, it was a long walk. On the walk back though we saw 5 wallabies (I assume...it's not like I'm Australian or anything so I could be wrong). Being American, we thought this was pretty darn cool.

Breakfast was bacon, egg and cheese on an english muffin. My favourite camp breakfast. I figured I'd better get organised so I started sorting everything while it was still cool out. Leanne had given me a brand new sharp as a razor knife and don't you know, the first thing it cut was my finger! OUCH! She had gone out for a hike and there I was at the campsite by myself wondering if the sight of my own finger dripping a disgusting amount of blood was going to make me pass out. Thankfully, I didn't. I scrambled around trying to find the band-aids I knew I'd brought but, of course, I couldn't find them because I wasn't organised YET. I borrowed a band-aid from Suzanne and since she had small children, the bandages were yellow with red and blue balloons. I told her that oddly enough, they did make my boo boo feel better!

Wound bandaged, I sat down and had a nice cup of dandelion tea and wished the toilet was closer. (This wishing the toilet was closer is gonna be a theme, trust me.)

After nearly two years of living here, I still couldn't believe my luck. I mean, there I was sitting in a Australian campground, listening to birds that I couldn't name, looking at trees I can only vaguely identify, sipping tea and enjoying a cool breeze. I'm not sure I could even stand it if my life got any better!

I managed to cut another finger later in the day. I have no idea how. I wasn't even near a knife.

Benji and I spent some time playing a trivia game and then he went off to the kiosk to buy some marshmallows since I had totally forgotten to buy that camp necessity. Oops. Then he went off to gather some firewood, singing songs and generally just being his normal happy self.

I was ready for bed by 8pm but Benji invited me to sit by the campfire with him. That's certainly an invitation I can't refuse.