When in doubt-ask for help

Went to the beach the other day.  Thought I had things under control...sometimes my own independence lets me down...The Australian sun shows now mercy!!

*i know, surprising with my wingspan

 

Just when you let your guard down...

I feel like the fear gigantic, venomous animals here has taken a bit of a back seat with me lately.  I haven't had any snakes coiled up under the house, or any massive spiders hiding on in our shoes that get left outside.  The only real fright I've had lately was when I went outside last night and a fruit bat swooped out of our front tree.  Not at my head, I don't think...but it was petrifying none the less.  The sound of those wings make it sounds like an albatross flying away!!

Anyway, I came in from a walk with the dogs today and went to the bathroom to wash my hands.  Turn the corner and WHAM, I'm met by this little guy.  Just chillin, hangin out, surveying the scene.  He could have maybe considered a classier perch, but he seems pretty content there.  So much so, that he/she is still kickin back 2.5 hours later.  I just close the door and hope he is gone when I come back.

*who knows, maybe he's potty trained?

*something about that evil little smile scares me.

 A few weeks ago I almost lost my mind when I came in to this:

I swear I am NEVER going to the bathroom in the middle of the night again!!  The funniest part is when you tell these kinds of stories to a fellow Queenslander all bug-eyed with a slight shrill in your voice and all you get is "yeah mate, that's normal".

Hindsight is 20/20...

 We recently bought return tickets to Honolulu on sale with a new airline here, Air Australia.  An existing airline from 2008 had re-branded to Air Australia in November with a huge launch party in Hawaii, and even claiming to announce profits for their first term.  February 17th rolls around, and they have now gone into voluntary administration.  Fan-FREAKIN-tastic.  They have since left 4000 ppl stranded around the world, and have an estimated 100 000 tickets that were sold for the future.

People are rushing around like crazy in a mad dash to recover whatever funds they can.  We are in a dispute with our bank at the moment...and hope there will be some sort of recover from our credit card, but we are not sure if we will be able to go on our trip in May!!! :(  The replacement fares are more than double per ticket than we paid.  Yes the tickets were cheap, but this is out of control!  It was a deal we just couldn't pass up along with all the other gypsy hopefuls craving a little R & R.  Nothin like payin into some crooked dipsh*t's retirement fund all in the name of fun.

Anyway, hopefully there is something positive that will come out of everything as there is apparently class action being taken towards travel agents and the travel ombudsman as tickets were apparently sold while the company was circling the drain.  Pretty sad to read the many stories of people who have spent thousands, and even taken out travel insurance-all to watch their money disappear with their dream vacation.  

We are REALLY hoping that we can still afford the trip, and have I guess learned a hard and valuable lesson: not to take a chance on a smaller airline (despite the fact that most airlines operate in 'the red' these days).  Anyway, we'll keep everyone posted-otherwise we might have to conference skype everyone instead. :( Noooooooooo!

An eventful few months...

Christmas has come and gone, and I haven't written much since then so this will be my effort in hopefully writing a few necessary posts.

1. I want to say that we bought a jetski, but really I should say that Chris has gained a son.  He has been hounding me for a boat for a while now, and we decided to compromise on a jetski.  It arrived at our house in the afternoon, and when I came home from work I was greeted by Chris, a sponge, the hose and a HUGE smile on his face.  He had already washed it down and was just basking in its presence-beaming with pride.  The Ferris Bueller's Day Off quote came to mind as he reached for the shammy to lovingly dry it off "he never drives it, he just rubs it with a diaper".  Hopefully that won't be true about the driving part though...

We took it out on Australia Day (Jan 26th) and, oh man, can that baby HAUL!  I have heard all the stats from Chris, but this thing is top of the range, "supercharged" with 215 horsepower (same as a motorcycle engine).  Apparently it can pull at least 2 skiers at once, but we have yet to put that to the test.  I guess just ooooooone more reason to entice people over for a visit! hehehe.

kid + candy shop

2. People that have heard my husband's voice know that it is pretty gruff.  I tried to find a good video to post, but most involve us acting like idiots, so preserving our dignity is much more beneficial than illustrating a point.  It never used to be that way, but tackles like this...every game for the past few years have resulted in his vocal chords retreating into hiding.

Originally we thought it was just scarred, and that over time it would go back to normal-but no such luck.  He saw an ear-nose-throat specialist who thought he could make it better.  Chris had surgery at the end of january and wasn't allowed to speak or even WHISPER for 7 days.

We are still hoping that it will improve but haven't had much luck yet.  Hopefully it will just take time.

I have however stumbled across this video which would be excellent practice.  Turns out Ken Tamplin could teach him a few tricks of the trade, as he has quite the range.  Turns out I have now watched this video a baker's dozen times, and still find it hilarious.

Ok so that might be jumping the gun just a bit, but according to Ken, he'll be singing like a songbird by lunch time.  Maybe I'll slow it down and start with something like this:

I love this singing pig!


3.  We have booked a trip back home for a visit in MAY!!!!  We are excited and will spend time in LA, Edmonton, _______maybe another stop, and Honolulu for a week with our aussie friends who are meeting us on the way back.  We are EXCITED and can't wait to see everyone and catch up in person!

4.  We have a new foster pooch.  Meet Ralph.  He is a bull arab, crossed with adorable.  He is huge, and a big love bug.  He was also scheduled for euthanasia which just breaks our hearts.  He is fast becoming close friends with our other fluff ball, and we are loving having 2 dogs.  Makes me feel a tiny bit less guilty when we are at work during the day.  Woomble has been spayed, and Ralphie will go at the end of the month.  We will be relieved when that happens as the RSPCA invests that money in them and then they cannot be destroyed.  Next stop, finding them homes.  Sadly we are falling in love with them by the minute, but we still want to keep fostering to keep such lovely animals from being killed.

this guy has the wisest eyes. i sometimes feel like he understands english and can tell what i'm thinking.

 

 

 

 

our little motley crue. we love them.

he's HUGE!