Christmas Eve

Just a quick note to say that Lara's going home on Jan 8th. :(

Here's us looking HOT (hehehe) in Joanne's with our 4th of July headbands.

I love you lots, Lara, and I know we'll see each other again. Unfortunately, since I'm going to Pittsburgh tomorrow and Lara's heading off to New York on the 28th, this was our 2nd last weekend together, and I already ruined it by getting sick yesterday. I'm still sick today so might not be able to see her.

In other news, Aspen was just stunning. Like, breathtaking.

That's the view from the parking lot of our apartment.

I mostly spent my time not sleeping and wandering around town. Apparently Heidi Klum, Seal and Mariah Carey were in town, but I didn't see them. :( Dammit!!! Lol.

The sleighride was quite possibly the most fantastic experience ever. I wish the photos of the mountains surrounding us came out well, but take my word for it, the views were stunning. And the stars! Gorgeous. We got picked up by a horse and carriage in front of the apartment and were taken to the golf course to do the sleighride. Then afterwards we got horse and carriage delivered to the apartment. All of my photos of the night include the kids in them, so I can't put them up, but just take my word for it.

Unfortunately, whilst we were in Aspen, Denver had a huge blizzard and was closed for a few days. Luckily though, it opened again at lunchtime on Friday, the day we were leaving, and our flight out of denver was at 3:55. The "unfortunately" part comes from the fact that for some reason Aspen airport was closed. WTF?? It was a perfect day. They made the decision at 1am that day. And the only way for us to get to Denver to make the flight? We had to get a taxi to take us. :O Yes, that's right. It was a nice one, but it was a 5 hr drive and cost F&J $800! But it was that or have to stay in Aspen til tomorrow evening (Christmas) and pay $600 p/night for the apartment.

The drive was stunning though.

That was pretty much the view the entire way. =) And it didn't feel like a 5hr drive at all.

Denver Airport was nuts though. The security line literally snaked around the entire rectangular shape of the airport, almost doubling up on itself. John is part of the star alliance thingy that lets him go on this shorter line, so we went straight through. I felt so bad for the people in an hour and a half wait though.

So that was our holiday.

I think the lack of sleep has caught up with me because I have a fever today and my glands are all swollen. I think I'm just exhausted. :( I'm going to try and rest as much as possible today, but I still have to finish my Christmas shopping and wrap my gifts, cos we're going to Pittsburgh tomorrow for a few days to spend time with John's family.

So if I don't get a chance to get online before we leave,

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!

The Psychic

Just came back from the psychic. I spent a grand total of 7 minutes with her and $50. Lol. But it was fun. I think I should have gotten my tarot cards read instead because at least it might have taken longer, and I would have saved $10.

She told me I'm doing the right thing by staying here. She said that there's dysfunction and depression at home, and she felt that I will be too depressed if I'm in that situation. She said I feel lonely and conflicted at the moment, but to stick it out and think of my path clearly and it will be fine. She also said that she sees teaching in my future, and that next year I will be concentrating on that. She said I've been working a lot lately and have been very stressed. Maybe she got that from the dark circles upon circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep I've had since I got here.

She then did the usual relationships thing. BTW, I'll marry an Aussie in my late 20s early 30s and have two kids. Hehehe.

=) I think I was supposed to go in with questions. She kept asking, "Do you have any questions you'd like answered?" and I was like, erm... arrr.... I even asked a stupid question, "Should I work new year's eve?" Apparently, yes. =)

Re. People's comments

Hi all. I just thought I'd respond to a few of the comments this blog has received lately.

I don't know if anyone realises, but this blog reflects how I'm feeling at the time that I post. As with everyone, I have good days and bad days. A lot of the time I find that I'm posting when I have bad days for several reasons:

1. When I'm having a bad day I feel the need to vent my frustrations
2. Often times when things are great I don't have time to actually post
3. I work really long days and am constantly tired, which doesn't bode well for me
4. This is an extreme situation. It's tough to be pulled out of your comfort level and have to deal with situations, issues and people you've never had to face before without your usual support network behind you. That's why I have this blog, so that I can connect with the people I love and need when times are tough.
5. And this is the most important one: I am being positive about things. That's just it. I think that's what makes this situation so hard. I start out everyday trying to be happy and deciding that this will be the day that things click. Then things start chipping away and it's just incredibly hard.

And that's the bottom line.

So maybe take the time to read the whole blog and find out how things have actually been, then pass judgement. Or don't whatever. I'm not fussed.

So,on a completely different note: ASPEN.

Aspen is just stunning. Like, indescribably stunning. I almost wish I enjoyed skiing or snowboarding. Almost. Lol. It ain't that pretty. ;) But it is.

The family head out early (like, 8ish) to go skiing/snowboarding, then I bum around the apartment for awhile trying to nap. Yes, me, trying to nap. Those that know me know that I cannot nap. But I might be suffering from altitude sickness which can manifest in insomnia and headaches, among other things. I definately have the insomnia and headaches part down pat. I tried taking one of John's sleeping tablets last night, but it only worked for about 4 hours, and I woke up at 1:30 and kept tossing the rest of the night. And it's not like I'm not exhausted or anything. Oh well.

There are so many Aussies here. And New Zealanders. And South Africans. And, surprisingly, Chicagoans! Seriously. We've bumped into so many people who are not only from Chicago, but live/d right near us or actually in our suburb! Small world.

I'm not doing much shopping, because the stores don't really cater to the non- rich and famous. Lol. But I've done a lot of window shopping and people watching. I love seeing the typical Aspeners. You know, they're draped in fur, Birkin or Kelly bag in one hand and Gucci or Prada shopping bag in the other. =) Love it!

What else to mention? Not much else. I want to go see the psychic here tomorrow. It's pricey ($50 for psychic reading, or $40 for tarot reading) but I've wanted to go since I saw the sign on the first day. I'm trying to arrange sleighride tonight which will be so exciting if we can do it!

I haven't done as much reading as I was hoping to do. I had brought two extra books on top on the current book I'm reading (The Sorrows of Young Werther) but it just hasn't worked out that way. I might go try and find a cafe to sit in today and just drink coffee and read.

Crisis Averted

Came home from a day at the museum with Kelly. A cheque was on my bed for the next two weeks.

Crisis Averted. =)

-_-

It's been a long week. I've averaged about 5 hours' sleep each night. Sarah was sick Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At 12 on Thursday I got a call from Jack's school saying he was sick so he stayed home the rest of Thursday and today. It's 7:35 at night and I'm still working. I've had only half a day to myself. And I have my period.

Needless to say, I've cried every day this week.

Jack was a little prick to me this morning and I called poor Emma at 3am Sydney time and sobbed to her. Poor Em. :( I'm sorry, and thank you so much!

I'm about to cry again because I'm so bloody tired. If the kids are home from school sick, why don't thier "parents" come home early from work, if not to see their sick kids, then at least to relieve me so that I'm not working over my 10.5 hours a day or 45 hours a week? I'm sure I've done more than that.

And to top it off, we're off to Aspen on a 6am flight on Sunday morning. And I haven't been paid for next week yet. And America's so bloody backwards that you can't deposit a cheque into an account held in another state. So I don't know why Frances didn't give me next week's pay with my cheque... unless I'm not getting paid for next week... Maybe the holiday is my payment? If it is, then I'm not going. I don't even ski.

I'm just so tired.

Santa's Little Helpers!

So Sunday was the day of the big Christmas party. Lara and I were there to entertain the kiddies. Frances' friend had organised all these crafts and things and we had to help the kids, make sure the DVD player had a Christmas DVD in it and refill the kids' snacks.

Here's how we set the basement up:

Sure, it doesn't look like it, but it was a lot of hard work getting the shower curtains up to hide the rest of the basement, and stringing lighting everywhere. It doesn't sound like it, it was really hard work! But fun. =) We got to wear Santa hats and aprons with the word ELF on it. =)

Oh, and we also had a VERY special visitor....

Bless him. He had all the kids give him their Christmas wish lists and read "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" to them before having to run off to the North Pole to make last minute adjustments to his presents.

So it was a good night. =)

Next week, Aspen!

=)

Sorry about the hiatus. I've just been flat out... lying on my back doing nothing... :P Nah, seriously, I've been very busy.

I've given up on doing a DC post. I just can't muster up the willpower. :(
Here's a few of my fave pics though:



Lara and I in front of the Capitol Building, my absolute fave. It was so bloody impressive. It actually made me jealous of Americans. Lol. I want a building like that!!!!!



Me in front of the absolutely UNimpressive White House. It was too far and you couldn't see it without all the trees in the way.



The balcony where Lincoln was shot in the Ford Theatre.



GOD. I MEAN Lincoln. Seriously though, the way this "memorial" is set up it reminded me of the old pictures of the temple of Zeus and how you'd walk in and there's this big mother Zeus sitting on his throne in all his might waiting for worshippers. Only, ZEUS IS A GOD!!!



FOREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JENNAY???



Of course, I absolutely HAD to go to Watergate. It's just an apartment block. I was so disappointed. You'd think they'd have a sign saying, "Here's where the Democratic party's offices were" or something. But that's cool. At least I can say I've been there.

So yes. Washington DC, in a nutshell. I'm thinking that I should have taken photos of all the homeless people I saw there, because the place was filled with them. You couldn't walk one block without two or three homeless guys lying down there. It's so sad.

So enough about that. That was SO two weeks ago. ;)

Let me tell you about last weekend.

Well, on Friday morning we'd woken up to find out that IT HAD SNOWED!!!!!!! And not snow like that "snow" we had in October, but real, honest to goodness SNOW! We got about 6 or 7 inches and it's still there. Had my first experience with REAL COLD and PLOWING A DRIVEWAY and SHOVELLING A SIDEWALK. Lol.



Right, now I can go home. Done!

=)

It's very pretty, but sooooooo very cold. Right now it's -10 Celcius, but with windchill feels like -18 (according to weather.com). And it's sunny. Lol.

So it only really snowed Thursday night/Friday morning but the snow is still there a week later. It hasn't started melting at all. And something that I find really funny is that people don't clean the snow off their cars if their cards were parked outside when it snowed. They just dig the car out, turn on the defrosters and drive around with the snow on their roof.



I'll leave this post here but I need to update soon about my weekend with Jen. FYI, we couldn't go to Philli cos O'Hare was snowed in and a whole bunch of flights were cancelled, but our weekend was still awesome.

On the teaching thing, I was all set to add some highschool teaching things to my UAC application, BUT CAN'T FIND ANY COURSES!!! How does that work?

Ok, love you all!

GRRRRRR

Last night I spent an hour and a half typing up my Washington post. It was brilliant: it had photos and commentary; it was both witty and insightful. It is no more. Stupid Blogger went down on me when I pressed "Publish".

If I get a chance to do so I'll redo this arvo or tonight.

In completely different news, my friend Jenny is coming this weekend. You all remember Jen? She was at the training school with me and I visited her in Vermont. I'm so excited to see her!!



But things are a little different to my original plan of showing Chicago to her....

WE'RE OFF TO PHILADELPHIA!!!

Yuhuh. How random's that? My hostdad is taking Jack to a football game (Army vs Navy) and all his college friends will be there so he'll want to go out with them after, so, how's this for desperation to get drunk: Jenny and I are going so Jack is looked after. Lol! We leave mega early Saturday morning and get back Sunday arvo. Meh, it's all good. I have no money though, cos I spent it at Washington, and this weeks' pay has been spent on my bloody medication. (Had my ENT appointment. Turns out I really AM allergic to the country!)

So yah. That's my week. My second last lit class today. I love my class and I'm going to miss it, so I baked (yeah, that's right) ANZAC cookies to take in tonight. =)

Oh, and can anyonehelp my dilema? I've applied for all B Education (Primary) degrees (I'll probably only get into Bathurst though) but I've been thinking that maybe I shouldn't teach Primary school, and maybe I should become an English and History teacher for highschool?? I'm so torn at the moment and I'm not sure if I can even change my preferences. Gotta check the UAC site...

In the meantime, if you guys are really wanting to see pics and read about what we did, click on the link on the left for Lara's blog. She's good and has put her posts up already. =) Her English is a little different but is understandable.

Ciao!

Will update later

Hey guys. Just a quick note to say that Washington was great. I'll update later this evening.

Ciao!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So, It's now 8pm on our Thanksgiving night.

The entire day was spent getting ready for lunch/dinner at 3pm. Frances' parents came down from Wisconsin, and Frances' friends, a couple from South Africa and their gorgeous baby, also came.

Then we ate lots of yummy food, sat around talking for a bit, then started cleaning up.

The End.

I dunno. Bit of an anti-climax, especially since Frances was saying it's her favourite holiday. They didn't even do that thing they always do in the movies where before the meal they sit and all say what they are thankful for. :( I didn't even take any photos. Well, one of the table cos it was set really nicely. That's it though.

So... yeah.

I guess it allows me to use up all that un-used excitement on WASHINGTON DC TOMORROW!!!!!

Lara's coming over soon to stay the night cos we have to get up mega early. Woot!!!

Drama Drama Drama!

So last night and tonight we're staying in a hotel because the house is all fumey from the laquer (sp?) the floor people have had to put down. You know, it's great cos I have so much stuff due tonight for my class (essay, need to read another 100 pages of book) and am now living out of the library.

It would have helped if the library had been open yesterday.

I got here (I'm at the library now) at 9 yesterday morning, and there's a sign saying that they're closed for the day. *shakes fist* So I had to go to Lara's, hung out there a little and then went to her local library for a couple of hours. Got a bit of the essay done.

Then last night was just hectic. Jack and I had to go to Starbucks after school to do his homework there because of the library being shut. Then it was just activity after activity and eventually culminated in Jack and I driving to the airport to pick up Frances (she'd gone to North Carolina the night before on business). Then I stayed up late reading the Illinois State road rules so I could do the test this morning. SO wasn't looking forward to it.

Anyway, this morning was a little slow, and I'd had very little sleep (YOU try sleeping in a room with 3 others!), so poor Jack had a very impatient au pair to deal with. Plus I was nervous about doing the test. I just didn't want to do it. I've put it off for so long. My international driver's licence has been invalid for like, 3 months now! So I dragged myself off there this morning at 9. The ID you need is nuts! I needed my passport, my social seurity card, a bill or something with my address, and the car's insurance card. I swear all I needed for my NSW licence was a birth certificate or passport!

Anyway, I paid the fee (ONLY $10!!!!!), I did the written test - it's literally a written test in that it's on paper... TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE!!! and is only 20 questions long- and then comes the driving test.

OH MY GOD!

Guys, no wonder there are so many bad drivers here. Seriously, we drove around for 5 minutes. The guy told me what to do, as in, WHAT TO DO! Like, there's this weird thing when you park on the curb where you have to, depending on whether you're parking up hill or down hill, angle your wheels in a certain direction. I had completely forgotten what I'd read about this last night, but the guy's like, "Turn your wheel this way, a little more, now, ease it forward a bit" etc. Why can't they be that helpful in the NSW tests? Oh, that's right: THEY WANT PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY DRIVE TO BE OUT ON THE ROADS.

Really, I left there feeling very worried about my road safety. It makes me wonder just how bad the people who fail must be...

So that took me 4 hours, and now I'm off to finish my essay, read my book, and DIE. :P

Love you all!

Technical Difficulties

So, between yesterday and today my blog was down for some reason. And now it's just working. Very odd.

Whatevs. I'll take what I can get.

So it's early (9:20am) and we have people here that are making a big cabinet/wall think downstairs and stripping the carpet in the loungeroom and putting wood it. They're going to be here all week and we might need to stay in a hotel overnight on Tuesday or Wednesday because of the fumes.

Of course this is the week my essay's due.

I also have an appointment with an ENT specialist today. Yay.

One last thing: It's so sad about Belinda Emmett's death. I heard about it on Friday night and called nan because I know she really loved her. She's been sick for so long so I guess it's for the best...

A Lesson On German

Hey guys.

So last week I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I decided it was not a good feeling. So I cleaned my room (not that it was really messy or anything, but I had a few pairs of shoes on the ground and tidied up my dresser) and that made a big difference to how I was feeling.

I've also decided that I have to start thinking positively. This has been the hardest part because I'm just not a glass-half-full person. I also don't know what I should start thinking positively about. :P I'm nuts.

So, Friday morning I went to the airport one hour away to pick up their rellos who had come to visit, then I had to drop them off downtown at the Field Museum. I was not feeling the best (and looking the best, thanks Lara and Judith for letting me know :P) because I'd had 4 hours' sleep the night before after talking to Mary online all night. That evening was also hectic because I was the parent volunteer for Jack's Chess club and we had to go straight from there to the train station and pick the rellos up (it was POURING down so they couldn't walk home), then go home, get dressed and go to karate. It was just GO GO GO!

Anyway, last Sunday Jack had his exams for karate. Before last night he was a whitebelt with two stripes. He needed four more stripes to become an orange belt, something he told me was very had to do. Well, he got it!!! It was very exciting. I started clapping before everyone and Jack just stood there with this huge grin on his face. SO CUTE!

Anyway, we went home and had one of the lasagnes I cooked. It was OK, except that this lasagne is made with uncooked lasagne sheets, and when I was making it it didn't look finished so I put some sheets on the top, which I shouldn't have done because they didn't soften. Oh well. Eat around it.

So everything was so busy on Friday night that I couldn't go to the movies with Lara and Judith. Apparently I didn't miss much because they went to that Russel Crowe movie "A Good Day" or something like that and they fell asleep in it.

Saturday was my first sample sale. We had to put our names on the list to go there about a month and a half ago. Yeah, severely unimpressed. There were no real bargains. Sergio Rossi shoes were 75% off, but they were all ugly. Plus, I had no money. So we were there for a couple of hours. I heard two Aussie songs in a row, and I was saying to Sarah that it's so weird because they weren't internationally famous songs ("Pash" by Kate Cebrano and "Weir" by Killing Heidi) and then the vendor told us that the owners were Australian. Good on 'em for their music selections. Also heard "Island Home" by Christine Anu and a few INXS songs.

Then we went to this vintage store that Frances and Sarah had bought dresses at for their cousin's deb ball that they were going to and they had some really pretty clothes. Mostly 80s dresses though. Next door was a second-had clothing store and it was much closer to my price-range. I bought a gorgeous beanie (you'll all DIE when you see me wearing it! tooooooooo cute!) and a little cap. Lots of fun.

After this we went to Michigan Ave. By this time it was 5:30. I had planned on being home at around 2pm to hang out with Lara. Yeah, no. Went into Saks 5th Ave (saw the most STUNNING Oscar de la Renta dress... perfect for my next red carpet event, and only $8500, but I'm sure I can have Oscar send one round as a gift), then Neiman Marcus (or as Frances likes to call it, Needless Mark-ups) and Tiffany & Co. Found my engagement ring, now I just need to find a man. It was only around $7000. Pittance! If he loves me he'll work 5 jobs to make it happen!

Ended up getting home around 7:30 and went straight to Lara's. She was babysitting til 12:30 so Judith and I were keeping her company. Lara's mum had sent these Maggi mixes from Germany and it was soooooo yum! We had this creamy chicken with zucchini and carrots. Mmmm.

Bummed at her place then came home and crashed. So far that's my weekend. The family's left now on their way to the airport. Lara will be over in a couple of hours to watch some Kath and Kim then we're off to Starbucks and Old Navy.

Oh, and Frances asked Sarah yesterday if she'd be disappointed if we didn't go to Paris.... so I guess we're not going? It's nice to be kept in the loop, considering that we would be going this Saturday...

OK. And now it's time for our GERMAN LESSON!!!

OK girls and boys. It seems we've been doing everything wrong. Lara explained to me about scheisse (pronounced "shy-seh"). We have always said scheissen to mean "shit", however boys and girls, this is incorrect! Scheissen actually means "shitting". So when we say "Scheissen!" when something has annoyed us or we hurt ourselves, we are really saying, "Shitting!", which doesn't really make too much sense.

Also, we have also been saying, "scheissen hausen" which also isn't correct. It would be "schiesse haus". But it would be silley to say it in Germany because they don't use this expression and would think you've been in Amsterdam and the effects of the coffee shops haven't worn off...

So today was pretty much the only day I have this week which is like normal, as in, look after Jack for an hour in the morning to get him ready for school, then have the kids for about 4 hours in the evening. (Every other day this week is just ridiculously busy with me running bloody errands or taking people places and shit.)

Garr. I'm just so tired. Of everything.

And I'm so stressed about money. I called nan on the phone today and just started crying. I have $140 saved up for DC and I still have to pay for the hostel $60 when I get there. Plus, My meds are so expensive and I have to see an Ear, Nose, Throat guy on Monday and I don't know if I have to pay for it myself or whether my trav insurance covers it. And to top it all off, last week mum called and I mentioned her leaning me money and suddenly she's really busy and will call me tomorrow and I haven't heard from her since.

Another thing, everyone's telling me how lucky I am to be going to Paris and stuff and why aren't I excited and blah, but this money situation has me so stressed and all I can think about is that I'll need money so I can buy some bloody souveniers. Plus, my non-enthusiasm about the trip makes me ungrateful.

I'm just tired. And I think Frances is cranky because I've left a basket of laundry upstairs (the washing machine and dryer are up there) for the last couple of days. I just forgot them. Everything's clean. I just forgot they were up there.

And I have an essay due next Thursday, and Frances suggested that I spend Friday at the Museum of Science and Industry with her rellos that I have to pick up at the airport that takes 45 mins to get to Friday morning, and I said that I wanted to work on my essay a bit, and she asked if I planned on being busy between now and next Thursday, when the essay's due, meaning do it next week. I'm just tired of leaving things to the last minute. But I said, no you're right. I can do it next week. Another wasted day. Plus, I have to make two lasagnes. One for us to eat on Friday night to welcome the rellos and one to freeze and eat in two weeks' time when Frances' friends come.

Oh, and I also have to go to the parenting class tomorrow because John's out of town. So now instead of going to Lara's house for coffee and whinging, I'm here doing the required reading. So my tomorrow's gone too.

And this computer is dying and won't connect to the net, so instead of me being able to post this tonight I have to post it tomorrow. But I’m still going to date it as posted yesterday, just to be confusing.

But hey, at least the Dems have taken back the House of Reps, and Bush'll be out of office in two years' time. But I just don't care anymore.

Since when has murder been a crime?

I'm ready to kill.

I have the headache from hell. No, scratch that. Satan isn't powerful enough to give me a headache of this magnitude. Damn you, GOD!!! (Have I told you all he hates me?)

The kids are off school today and are driving me nuts. Seriously. I've been really nice to them and go out of my way to do something for them, then they decide they want even more and get cranky when I won't do it.

Does that make sense?

Example: I told Sarah last night that she should organise to do something with her friends today because she has the day off. Then she says, "Yeah, that's a good idea." Crickets chirp. WELL THEN CALL YOUR BLOODY FRIENDS AND ORGANISE SOMETHING NOW. Oh, she's waiting for Gianna to call her back. Anyway, 5 minutes ago she says, "Hey Sarah. Can you pick up my friend and take us to the Mall?" Um. NO. Firstly, it's 1pm. Jack's playdate arrives at 1:30. The mall takes 20mins to get to. Then she's annoyed because I can't manipulate time.

OK. Now she's going to invite a friend over. A friend that I have to pick up. And drop home. I'm sick of driving all her friends around. I'm over it.

Then Jack's in a shit mood to. They can all go screw themselves.

This week sucks.

Did you notice that I wrote down their full names? It's because I don't even give a shit.

And I'm swearing heaps too. Whatever.

Argh! Frustrating!

J was annoying me so much this morning. He spent ages putting his shoes on. First he was mucking about with them on his hands and sliding around the floor, then he spent 10 minutes putting them on. ARGH! So bloody frustrating! And he kept saying "You do it" and any other day I would have but yesterday I read chapter 3 of the parenting handbook (more on this later) and it talked about encouraging children by allowing them to do things themselves rather than doing it for them, which gives them the idea of being an underachiever, or something like that. Whatevs.

Then, because it's -3degC outside (but apparently feels like -7, according to weather.com), F told me to put him in a particular puffy coat with gloves and beanie. So I put him in it, and by this time he was in a bad mood having had to spend all that time putting his shoes on, and all this other stuff that he was complaining about how the coat was too thick, blah blah blah, and he threw his gloves off. Anyway, long story short, I got the shits, told him only babies act that way (I wonder what the parenting handbook would say about that?) and he ended up being totally late. I also told him that I will no longer be getting up early to make him a hot breakfast tomorrow morning because his attitude wasn't worth the effort for me, and he wouldn't be watching any TV today. Then he's like, "I want to call my mom" and I said that if he wasn't late I'd let him, and I showed him the note his mum left me instructing me to put him in that coat.

Little shit.

So yeah. That was my morning.

And now I'm on here typing instead of getting ready to go to this parenting class. Not in the mood. It's actually J-dad's class that he's been taking the past 2 weeks but he can't make this one so he's asked me to go. I don't want to. I have so much reading to do for college tonight, but I can't exactly say no. Plus, it's all going to be real parents there so I won't have any fun. And I have to watch what I say because I won't be able to say certain things because it'll probably get back to J-dad.

Please make Friday come sooner.

Gay PAREE!!!!

Ok guys, guess what!


Oh, go on, guess.


You know you want to....

Lol.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'M GOING TO PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yuhuh. But only for a few days. I'm going on November 19- 22. Does anyone see a problem in this?? No? I'll fill you in: I'm going to Washington DC on the 24th. Yeah. And I was struggling to save up enough for that. Sheiz. (you like that Lara? Did I spell it right?) Granted, I don't have to pay for flights, accom or anything like that, but HELLO?! Souveniers!!! :(

In my excitement, I also feel a bit bummed. When I thought about me going to Europe some day, I tended to think I'd be going with unlimited amounts of time and cash. A weekend visit was not what I was expecting.

Hi, my name is Sarah, and I am an ungrateful biatch.

Hi Sarah.

So yeah, I really am excited though. The money thing has got me down though, and the fact that it's getting bloody cold over here and I realise that my "winter" clothes just ain't gonna cut it.

And did I mention I was poor?!

Looks like I might make a call to mummy and negotiate a loan of sorts. Hopefully the sort I don't have to pay back *wink wink*.

In other news, I got back from the movies about an hour ago where I saw The Departed. I now have a potty mouth (even WORSE than before, if you can imagine it), and am still in shock over the ending. :O

I figure we should play a drinking game to it. Every time someone says the f-word you take a fraction of a sip of your drink. We'd all be passed out after 10 minutes. Some sentences were constructed solely of the f-word. Lol.

Oh, and this weekend we're carving PUMPKINS for Halloween!!! I'm so excited! You can bet that there'll be photos.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, I really am still p.o'ed about this morning (refer to previous post). Ah well.

Baby CHEESES

My GOD. I've come to the conclusion that I can't win. From now on I'm not even going to attempt small-talk with J-dad.

Today was a silly morning. I had to get up at 6 to take S to her ortho appt so she could get to school on time. F left it up to J-dad and I which role to take (either getting J ready for school or accompanying S to her ortho appt) and J-dad said he was fine to get J ready for school. J's normal routine is to get up at 7:30, brekkie done by 8am at latest (that's on a bad day), brush teeth, wash face by 8:05, dressed and hair brushed by 8:15, shoes on and out the door by 8:20 to meet his walking group.

So I got home at a few minutes after 8 from dropping Sarah off at school and J-dad's on his laptop, J's reading his book, an egg is sitting on the bench and not much is happening. So I make J close his book and start eating. It took him til 8:15 to eat it all. I thought that if we hurried we could still make the walking group. J-dad made some flippant comment about me not making J hot breakfasts. Meanwhile, did he see how long it took him to have J's brekkie ready? 20 mins. I make J a hot brekkie if he tells me the night before that he wants one so I can make it before he wakes up so it doesn't waste time. So far J has only asked for a hot brekkie once, and other times he asks for grits (which are foul and I don't really know what they are... kind of like flakes of wheat, only add water and heat, then mix in a tonne of grated cheese) and I make those at least once a week. So that comment really pissed me off.

So anyway, I ended up getting J ready by 8:26 and decided to walk with him to the walking group just in case they had already left. The thing about J is that he walks soooo slowly. In fact, he does everything slooooowly. It gets VERY annoying when you have places to be. In that regard, he is exactly like his dad who, whenever he decides to come with me to take the kids to an activity, or decides to take them himself, always makes us late because he's on the phone or on his computer or whatever.

Maybe THAT's why when I got home and made a joking comment about J not being able to hurry if his life depended on it, rather than just being FRIENDLY and saying, something silly like, "Ah, kids these days" or WHATEVER - anything, just for conversation's sake! - he retorts, "Well, that's who he is. Life is good for him. Wouldn't you like to be able to do that?" blah blah.

Um... whatever.

Seriously, it's like this ALL the TIME. Sometimes I just need an adult to talk to and whinge about some things - not even whinge, just make silly comments to - and normally when I do the person is F, or Lara, or ANYONE SANE and they say, "Oh, I know" and I feel better.

But with J-dad, you can't say anything about his kids without him coming to their defense. Because his kids couldn't possibly be less than perfect. Yes, I understand that they're children and as such act like children. But children can sometimes be frustrating!! Everyone acknowledges that! But not J-dad.

I just had a thought. Maybe cos he's never around his children, that's why he thinks they're the bees' knees. I know people that everyone hates, but I don't mind them because I don't see them everyday and have to deal with them all the time.

For those that I didn't tell why I was having the problems before, this is basically it. I'm over J-dad constantly undermining me in front of the kids and he always makes me feel awkward when I say things to him, such as what happened this morning. After he said, "Wouldn't you like to be able to do that?" I mumbled some non-answer and went straight into my room to write this post.

So from now on, I'm not going to speak to him about his children. So it looks like I won't be speaking to him. Lol.

But next time he makes comments about F doing something he doesn't like, or bitching about her to me, rather than what I was doing before, which was cringing on the inside wondering "what do I say when I agree with her?!" and usually saying, "Oh, really?" or some other non-sensical answer, I'm just going to say, "Well, that's F. Life is good for her. She's an adult and can make those decisions." Or whatever.

ARGH.
KHESBFKJBSFKLDSKNDSFKHGSKHg gKHGIHWIGEWHGHhgskldkhglhdsighewhg mns nbbdfv dscyuuiyuyujyuj\
Sorry. Just needed to pound out my frustration.

Halloween Party

So last night was the Cultural Care Halloween Party.



Lots of fun. It only went from 8-11pm, but that's cool. I trained it in with Lara, Patty and Andrea. I'm glad Patty and Andrea joined us on the train a few stations after we got on because otherwise we would have just looked too weird with the tonne of makeup Lara and I were wearing. =) We both came wearing 80's clothing. Lara looked a lot more Olivia Newton John, Let's Get Physical-esque, whereas I just looked like trash. :P Patty was a Vampire and Andrea was a bumble bee. Too cute!!


So we got Downtown and took a taxi to the HI hostel, were the party was being held. Well, first person I saw when I got down there was Vlatka, a girl I was good friends with at the training school but had forgotten to get her email address and all that. It was so good seeing her. She saw me first, and I hear this loud, "SARAH?!" and there she was!


Then I saw my friend Fatma, who had come as Foxy Cleopatra. She looked SO CUTE!! Lol. This photo of us is a little blurry, but it's the only one I've got of the two of us, and also the only one I have of me full-length.

My costume consisted of a side ponytail, too much hairspray, too much makeup (think bright blue eyeshadow) fluro-pink fishnet-footless tights, a men's shirt from Target that I but up, Madonna lace fingerless gloves and my metallic belt and shoes. Hehehe. Class, all the way.

So we then met up with our friend Kelly, who was there with her big group of au pairs. They'd come in a limo, which is a very smart move, considering the odd looks you get on the metra dressed as a whore with no fashion sense. Kelly came as the pot of god at the end of the rainbow. Very smart. She spray painted her t-shirt and had these pig cardboard pots of gold attached. I'm annoyed now that I don't have any full-length photos.

Kelly also came with her friend, also named Kelly, also from Australia. Her outfit was the funniest thing alive. Honest to god. I was with them all night, but no matter how often I looked at it, it still made me laugh:

If you can't read her shirt, it says: REDNECK AND PROUD.

Too funny!

There was a costume contest, and of the six finalists, two were Andrea and Kelly. Guess who won?

Our very own redneck. Excellent.

So yeah, it was a really good night. Lots of dancing and catching up with people. Almost everyone there was dressed as a witch though. That just shows how much more Lara and I rock. Even the trainride home was fun. The ticket collector started talking to us when he heard our accents and then kept chatting for the whole ride home.

There are some days when I have no patience for people who hear my accent. Basically, the general conversation goes: "So, where's that accent from?" "Australia." "Oh, how nice! I've always wanted to go there." "You really should, it's the best." "Wow, yeah. It's so pretty. And Kangaroos!" "Uh huh." That's when I'm in a reasonable-ish mood. Sometimes my answers are even shorter. But other times, having a different accent to everyone else is fine. I always meet really nice people and have interesting conversations. Like last night, where our ticket collector told me how much he likes Aboriginal women. =)

Now, you'll notice that I'm looking like an absolute heffer. I dunno. It could just be the baggy shirt, though I doubt it. According to the scales in the doctor's office, I've actually lost weight since being here, and had even lost 4 pounds in the 3 weeks between visits to the doctor. In total, I've lost at least 6 kilos since being here (I say at least because I can't quite remember what my original weight was, so it's either 6 or 9 kilos, depending on which weight I originally was). Here's the thing: I swear I've put it on, especially in the three weeks between visits to the doctor. During those weeks I felt like crap and basically consoled myself with cream cheese bagels and Cadbury's. Yet I lost 4 pounds. I haven't been excercising. At ALL. And my clothes all feel smaller (but that could be due to the fact that they're all being dried in the dryer, because no one here hangs clothing to dry). I dunno. Next week I'll need to go back to the doctor cos these drugs I'm on (steroids- lol!) aren't working. Stupid blocked ears. Grrrr. We'll see what my weight is then.

Hmmm

So, I didn't sort out anything from last week, just talked to a whole bunch of people and got a lot of advice.

Thanks to everyone that emailed me or commented me to see what was up. I dunno... I think it's really telling about who actually did try to find out what was wrong with me and why I was upset. There are a lot of people (actually, it's not really a lot if I think about it, just a select few) that have been really lax on keeping in contact with me while I'm over here. Think about it: I have to keep in contact with about 20-odd people. You have ONE. That one's been grating on my nerves for the last, oh, 3 months. I don't even think the people that's aimed at will get it. And I hope I don't worry those of you that actually had made an effort with me, even when sometimes I take awhile to respond to your emails or messages.

So anyway, this week has been better. No real confrontations or anything like that.

Except last night Lara and I met after my class. She was in tears and had been crying all afternoon. She's pretty sure she's going to leave because EDIT EDIT EDIT (paranoia- who knows?). Hopefully things can get sorted, if not she'll be gone. :( And I'll be so incredibly sad. She's seriously my best friend here. Hell, I'll count her on the list of the great friends I've had in my life. If she goes I'll be all alone. :( I have other friends here, but she's the one that I turn to for everything.

On brighter news, tomorrow's the Cultural Care Halloween party. I'm going dressed up 80s style. =)

Bleh

I haven't posted about Galena because that was such a fun day and lately I haven't been in a happy mood and I don't want to change my memories of the day by writing about it when I'm feeling this way.

Maybe I'm just PMSing, but this last week has really made me rethink the way I feel about certain things, and has made me actually consider coming home. I don't want to go into any details (you never know who reads this. I have no idea who I gave the address to. also, it'll take a long time to type).

I have another essay due this Thursday. This time I am even more stressed than I was last time because the readings and the essay topics just don't gel with me. Whatever.

Also, S is home sick today. Again. Over it.

Just thought you should all know...

THAT IT'S SNOWING!!!!!

Technically it's a flurry, but IT'S SNOWING!







And now the sun's come out and it's stopped. Oh well. :)

Wisconsin, The Fray, Aqualung

So yesterday was our road trip to Wisconsin. Lara came to my house, then I drove over to Patty's place and collected Patty and Andrea (a new au pair who also happens to be Patty's next-door neighbour).

First stop: Gurnee to pick up Kelly. I left my car at her place and she drove us to Wisconsin. She lives only 40 mins from Milwaukee!! I didn't realise (is that spelt correctly? I'm so confused by the z or s. I think I've been here to long) that she lives so close to the state border- like 10 minutes. I feel bad for all the times she's come out here to visit me. What a trooper!

So Milwaukee is pretty plain, as far as cities go. It's quite flat too. If you can see it clearly, that's a "reflection" of a building painted onto the side of another building. Lol. They've tried to create some artificial depth to the city. I thought it was pretty funny.

We didn't really spend much time there. Just stayed in a mall downtown, ate some lunch/dinner and grabbed a coffee.

We went to the concert about 2 hours early cos it was general admission. We would have gotten some really good places, but Lara and I wanted to buy some band shirts and they didn't take credit, so we had to go outside to get to the ATM and then line up again to go through the security search. Andrea hadn't bought a ticket (her's was a last minute decision to come) and we thought we could get her a ticket from a scalper or something cos it was sold out. Nup. So Patty decided to sell her ticket and go to a bar with Andrea and met up with one of her friends. That was cool. So Lara and I went to the concert.

Here's us waiting. Lol. That's Kelly in the middle. She's an Aussie, and she's the one who was a fan of The Fray. Lara and I only knew two of their songs from the radio.







Where we were standing was OK. Except during the supporting act, Aqualung, there with this really tall guy with a white man's fro (think rachel's brother's old hair, but on a bigger head). Not happy Jan. At least it didn't ruin my view of the hot guy from that group. ;)


That's the hot guy. Lol!!


That's the lead singer. We hadn't even heard of this group, but their music was pretty good. I dunno. After awhile it started to all sound the same, and our feet hurt from standing in the one position for so long, and we just wanted The Fray to start. Their last song was Brighter Than Sunshine, and I was shocked I actually knew it. I think it must've been on The OC or something.


The Fray were really good. As I said, I only knew the songs from the radio, and I thought they were OK. But that was it. I just went cos I wanted to go to a concert. ;) But watching them live was fantastic. I have to go out and buy their CD. Or at least borrow it from the library and burn the bugger. ;) Hehehe.

Unfortch, my pics of the hot guy from this band didn't turn out very well, but you can sort of make him out on these: he's the guy on the left with the guitar.


This weekend was actually really fun with road trips both days. =) I also went to another state apart from Wisconsin, but that's for my next post.

Ciao!

Things I love!

Ok. So I thought I'd compile a list of things that I have fallen in love with since I got here. It's a continual work in progress because I keep discovering new things.

Old Navy: This store is a godsend for me! It's cheap but trendy. I can't think of anything to compare it with back home... Maybe like Jeans West or Jay Jays, but cheaper, and with better stuff.

Goober's PB&J: Mum used to buy this stuff for Daniel and I when we were little and I've always loved it. Then, when I was about 6, the stopped selling it in the supermarkets. The day we ran out of our last jar was a sad day indeed. So how happy was I when I decided to have a peek through the peanut butter aisle and be greeted by the most beautiful sight of the Goober's jar, just as I remember it.

Hot Topic: Fun store with fun stuff. I've actually spent A LOT of money there, but hardly any of it's been on me. :P Darn you people I have to buy presents for! But I did buy this Hello Kitty top, and a few other bits and pieces there for myself.

Starbucks: This is basically where Lara and I hang out on weeknights, weekends, whenever. We live in there, chatting over our venti lattes, bitching and moaning about whatever.

Woodfield Mall: This is only about 20 mins away from us here and apparently used to be the biggest mall in the country, before the Mall of America was built. Compared to say, Parramatta, it's not that big. I mean, it'd take a big chunk of your day to get through, and it's HELL confusing, but considering that most malls are outdoor or strip malls, then this is a biggun.

Cheesecake Factory: Two words: Yummy Yummy!!!! Seriously, words cannot describe just how good this place is. They always give you too much food, so you doggie-bag it and have food for the rest of the week, and then you make way for the CHEESECAKE!!! Mmmm, I'm hungry just thinking of it!

Victoria's Secret: What can I say? I love it! The underwear's expensive though, so I don't shop there all the time, but they sell Pout, my fave makeup, and my eyeliner which cost $43 at home is only $18 here!!! Woot!

Sephora: Great makeup range. My fave brand they carry is Stilla. Bought my foundation there.

Torrid: Clothes that actually FIT me. Lol. I like it cos I'm a size 0 there. Deluding yourself is fun :P

Hallmark Store: Dude, they have a chain of stores that are huge and sell every Hallmark card imaginable. Hell, there are even, "Sorry about your divorce" cards!

Barnes & Noble: I went in there recently to buy a book for my class and came out 2 hours later with more than I really needed...

Panera Bread: We usually eat here cos it's cheap, and it's YUM! I get the "You Pick Two" deal, where for $6.55 you get half a sandwich (I get the hot sandwiches so it's only a quarter, but it's BIG) or soup or salad, and you choose two of those. I get the sandwich and salad. You also get a bit of bread or an apple as a side.

Deep Dish Pizza: This stuff ends up being really cheap because one slice is a meal in itself. Mmmmmm.

:'(

It's 8 degrees Celcius outside. I want to cry.

Sleepy

So yesterday was fun. HA!

I went to the doctor yesterday and after filling in about 5 years worth of paperwork saw my doctor. Well, actually, it's pretty silly the way the system works. When you make your appointment, the receptionist asks what's wrong with you. Then when you're filling out the mounds of paperwork they ask you to write what's wrong with you. Then a nurse takes you into the little room and asks you what's wrong with you. Then she leaves after taking your blood pressure and pulse and the doctor comes in.

Guess what he asks?

Yep, that's right.

So anyway, he was nice enough and gave me presecriptions for stuff. And he faxed the prescription straight to the supermarket I was going to pick it up at.

I went to pick it up...

AND NEARLY FAINTED BECAUSE IT COST $80!!!!!

Jesus Christ!!! Seriously, thank GOD Lara had given me some money cos I paid for the tickets to DC on my account, and on Saturday found I had $0.00 in my account. And hadn't deposited my cheque yet this week. :O Seriously. So luckily I had $100 in my wallet so I could pay. Then I hauled arse home to call my insurance agency and see whether it was covered. Luckily, it is, but I need to make a claim which'll take about 30 days to process before I get the money. Whatevs. I just need it back! Can you imagine $80 on meds?? That was just for one type of tablet!

Anyway, so apparently the blocked nose might be a type of hayfever? Instead of me getting a stuffy nose and all that jazz, I get blocked ears. Whatever. Anyway, the medication has unblocked ONE ear. Hehehe. I guess one is better than none.

So then I called the office thing that I had to volunteer for and said I was sick. *cough*cough* Yup. Then I parked myself in front of the comp and did my essay. Then S came home, then J, then I had to take J to his School of Religion class, and I stayed for the liturgy they had. It's weird. It was the first time I'd been to church since Mary's confirmation. That was 3 years ago!! Anyway, it was nice.

Then J and I came home, had dinner, then had to drop him off at his cubscouts meeting. Then I sat down and finished my essay, bibliography and all! Very exciting. I even thought of a nifty title: One View of the World. It doesn't really fit in with my essay, except the intro and conclusion, but that's OK. I'm still peeved I even HAD to have a title.

So yeah, now I've done the essay, today I can focus on reading the stuff for tonight's class... even though I'm going out and meeting up with Patty and Lara today... Woops. Lol.

Then tonight I have class. Something that really annoys me is that everyone puts their hand up to speak. But I can't do that! Uni broke me out of that habit. I don't understand how you can have a discussion when you put your hand up to say what you want to say. A discussion is free-flowing! It's very frustrating to put up your hand when you have a point to make, and people will sit there with their hand up patiently and I forget. :)

I got a Myspace

Find me on MySpace and be my friend!

First!

I saw my first RACCOON last night!!! It was very exciting. :) I stopped the car and sat there staring at it, and it sat there staring at me. I was giddy!!

In other news, I have an essay due on Thursday. So far I have one paragraph done. It needs to be about 1200 words. I'm not in the mood. I have a doctor's appt tomorrow cos I've been getting headaches, and I've had this ridiculous rash for like a month, and my ears have been blocked for a week. And before anyone suggests chewing gum or holding my nose and blowing out or whatever, it's not like that! Like, I can swallow and unblock them, but then they reblock, and sometimes then my sinuses get all blocked. And it gives me a headache cos I'm spending every waking moment trying to unblock my nose.

Also, tomorrow I have to go to this stupid office thing that I've volunteered for. Of all the weeks I chose, it's THIS WEEK when I have an essay due. :'( I want to cry cos it's not going to get done and I'm going to fail and I have a tonne of other things to do like plan Lara's birthday and I'm tired and for some reason 8 hours of sleep isn't enough and i fall asleep through the Colbert Report which is horrible because I love it so much, and then I struggle to wake up in the morning even though I've had a full 8 hours sleep. ARGH! Why is everything happening all at once?? Why didn't I try to start this essay last week?? Oh, that's right - I had to finish the readings before I could choose my topic and I didn't have much time last week. Why did I choose a bloody subject where I have to do essays??? Why didn't I just do Italian or Japanese, which I already know?????

It's Ok Guys, I SURVIVED!

So yesterday afternoon at about 4:30 it started to rain. Which I thought was pretty bad. At 4:45 is was raining very heavily with thunder and lightning. Then F called and said to listen to the radio because there's been a.......

TORNADO WARNING!!!!!

OMG. I know I wasn't supposed to be, but I was excited. Then as I was getting J ready for karate the tornado warning siren went off. I don't think I've mentioned these yet, but the first Tuesday or Wednesday of every month they practice these for about 15 mins. They also canvas every TV station and put a test warning on. They sound like the old-fashion bomb-raid warnings. Lol.

So when it came on I grabbed J, a torch, a handheld radio and the bunny and we went into a little annex off the basement. We hung out there for about 45 mins playing "Guess Who" and reading.

And that's about it. Nothing but heavy rain occurred in our area. Funnel clouds were seen elsewhere, but none touched down.

So it's OK guys, I'm ALIVE!!! I know you were all so worried for me. :P

I'm so alive that I've booked my trip to Washington DC for the Thanksgiving weekend with Lara! Woot!

My Sunday

So today was nice. It was J-dad's birthday on Friday, but he was still in the Middle East on business and didn't get abck til last night, so we had a birthday brunch this morning. It was very nice. F went ALL OUT. Seriously, she's so good. They had some neighbours over too so it was fun.

This arvo we went to a SOCCER game. It was the Chicago Fire (the name's in relation to the Great Chicago Fire back in the olden days) vs. DC United. Chicago Fire won 1-0, but the game was delayed for 40 mins at the 67min mark because of the weather. Yucky rain!

Might go out for coffee with Lara tonight. Not sure.

Toodles, noodles!

Just a quickie...

...to say that I just got back from the Jerry Springer Show. Or should I say the STEVE show. Oh well. It was still fun. Almost didn't make it. Marita was coming in with me and we were meeting Jemma in there. Well, Jemma got in on time, but we were so late cos Marita's contact lense ripped and we had to go to her house to pick up another one. Argh. Stressful morning.

The show was OK. There were only two sets of guests and the first one was boring as. It was this guy who couldn't speak properly so I didn't understand a word he said. Something about his brother beating up his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his kids and that she left the brother and is now with him. You know, the usual. Anyway, the brother came out and was all, "Erm... I don't really care". They were milking him for all he had, and here's where the "reality" factor came in: the original angry brother was pulled off camera and told what to say to try and make the other brother react and start fighting. But the other guy was too stoned or something, and really couldn't give a damn so nothing happened.

The next set was much more interesting. It was a mother angry at her daughter for becoming a lesbian. The mother faught with the lesbian lover even in the ad break. Very funny.

So yeah. It was OK. They'll have to edit a lot out if they want it to be interesting. The comments were funny. And I didn't know this but if you flash then you get these "Jerry beads" which are just mardi gras beads. Lol. A few girls whipped out the puppies. Oh, and one of the girls that flashed got into a fight with one of the guests, but it was funny. The audience girl did it just for fun, but the lesbian-guest was totally cranky. Hehehe.

We could have stayed and gotten autographs and pics on the stage, but the taping ended at 2 instead of 1:30 like scheduled and Marita and I had to high-tale it outa there. In the end I got home just as Jack and Sarah got home, after much stress.

Hopefully I can got back again and take my time with it all and do the souveneirs and pics thing, and hopefully WITH Jerry. :)

Okie Dokie

So I don't update this blog very much for the simple fact that there's not much to say. School's back and everything's fallen into routine.

Monday: Soccer (J)
Tuesday: Choir (J), School of Religion (S)
Wednesday: School of Religion (J), Jazz (S)
Thursday: Gymnastics, both kids, Women in Lit class, me.
Friday: Karate (J)

So yeah, there's lots to do. This week we also have two Cubscouts meetings for Jack.

Jerry Springer's tomorrow, but I'm not too happy Jan. A guy from it called last night to confirm that I was going, and then at the end of the call sort of slipped in the fact that "Jerry might not be there on Wednesday, and if that's the case STEVE will run the show and that will be AWESOME!" Yeah, not too impressed. It's called the JERRY SPRINGER SHOW for a reason. Oh well, it should still be fun.

Something even better though is this little update from Oprah's website:

Current Reservation Availability
The ticket line for October reservations will open on Monday, September 18 at 11am ET. The phone number is 312-591-9222.

Whoohoo! I've been checking her site everyday to see when the ticket line opens and now I am totally going to have to sit by the phone all morning and call the moment it turns to 10am (central time).

Another thing that's got me excited is the ratings season is about to begin. :) I've already gotten back into Prison Break, but Ellen's started again (shut up. I love day time TV), Tyra's about to begin, and next week there's a whole lot more.

It's official...

I'm totally going to see Jerry Springer on Wednesday 13th Sept. So freaking excited.

But that's not nearly as exciting as seeing Oprah. Which is what Lara's doing on the 12th. :( So jealous!!! :P

Also, I'm going to see a band called The Fray in Wisconsin in October. Anyone know who they are?

Something's in the works.....

It's been a long week!

Went to a club called Accent on Saturday night. It was craptastic! Lol. Seriously, really bad. And hour to find parking, overly squishy, two tiny levels both playing the same bad music. Whoo! Party! Lol. Plus the people I went with weren't much fun.

So the family got back on Monday. It was good to see them all again, especially cos I hadn't seen S in a month dure to her going away to camp and all that. It was fun.

Tuesday night was tough for me though.

Remember in one of my first posts when I got here I mentioned a Swedish girl named Josephine? Well, she was only here as a summer au pair, and on Tuesday night we had her farewell dinner because she was leaving Thursday.

Pretty much all day Tuesday I was feeling a bit weepy, as Emma can attest to because she called me. :P Jose and I didn't spend much time together while she was here. In fact, we saw each other a total of 4 times in the last three months and spoke on the phone and net a bit more than that. But we just totally clicked from the word "go" and I consider her a close friend. When I saw her Tuesday night it was really hard for both of us. We went to dinner with a big group of her friends (many of whom are also my friends) and it was good. Unfortunately though, I had to work the next day, and since they live a solid half-hour's drive away I needed to leave straight after dinner and couldn't go on partying with them.

I think it really drove home how hard this whole experience is. I mean, it's hard leaving everyone at home behind, but in the back of your mind you know that they're still going to be there when you get back in a year. Jose lives in bloody Sweden! When the hell am I ever going to go there?

Also that night it was Maren's birthday. She was at the training school with Jose and I. She turned 21 the next day, but didn't tell anyone!! Lol. I found out on the way over there and felt terrible cos I didn't even have a card.

School started on Wednesday. They only went for an hour though. It was still good. Their first full day was Thursday. J-dad also left on a business trip that day, so now when they're at school I'm at home doing a whole lotta nothin'.

At least now though, I have my own school work to keep me occupied. I started my course on Thursday night at Harper College. I'm doing Women in Literature. I'm starting to wish I'd chosen an easier subject! You wouldn't believe the reading I have to do. But at least it'll keep me occupied. When the weather clears up I want to walk to the park and do my reading there, just to get out of the house for a bit.

Went and saw World Trade Centre (or Center here) with Lara and two other girls last night. Lara and I were in tears the whole way, but the other girls seemed unaffected by the whole thing. I dunno, it was weird. I didn't want to see the movie at all, but Lara's wanted to see it for ages. I actually didn't mind the movie. If they wanted, they could have made it even sadder and depressing. It was about 2 police officers that were pulled out of the rubble. I think the thing that was saddest was that they had some facts about the day at the end of the movie - did you know that only 20 people were pulled out of the rubble alive? That's so terrible. These guys were number 18 and 19.

So that was my fun Friday evening! Lol!

I'm going Downtown with Lara today to apparently try "the world's best capuccino", or so her guidebook says. :P Should be interesting...

Too funny.

This has a bit of swearing in it so watch with caution. Oh, who am I kidding - everyone watch!!!

Feeling Homesick

I need ideas for a CD I want to make to make me feel even worse. :) So far I've downloaded a punk version of I Am Australian. I also have Working Class Man and Land Down Under.

I dunno. I think I'm homesick cos I'm lonely. I just realised that my friend Josephine is going home this week as well. :( I'm actually looking forward to the family coming back from camp today or tomorrow. I can't remember when it was.

So yeah. Suggestions for my CD.

Ta.

Vermont and Movies

Yo yo, peeps.

Got in from Vermont yesterday morning.

Didn't have the best time. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see Jen again, but unfortunately for me, part of my visa was lost on the way to Vermont (my guess, the guy who checked my bag. Bastard spent too long looking at my passport. I think he lost the piece of paper when I wasn't looking...) which prevented me from going to Canada. :( Not happy, Jan.

Jen did the best she could to keep me entertained though. Only problem was that there's not too much to do in Vermont. Seriously. There weren't even shopping malls to occupy our time!!! I think Chi-town has spoilt me :).

One thing Vermont does have though, is BEN & JERRY'S icecream. Unfortunately for me, during the three days I was with her, Jen got me totally hooked on the stuff. Very bad. But oh, so tasty! The first B&J shop was actually opened in Burlington, VT, so there's a factory there and everything, which we did a tour of.

I met her friend Rhea who was really nice too. She's leaving for home in October.

Not much else to say about it. It was just very relaxed. I had my first Martini at a bar there. Yeah, first and last. YUCK.

So onto the second topic: MOVIES.

I've been to the movies a lot lately. It's pretty much the only thing I can do with all my friends who are under 21.

First movie:
Talladega Nights. This movie was just so funny. It's also very, very, Anchorman. That's fine with me.

Second movie:
Clerks II. Also friggen hillarious. Seriously, I was crying I was laughing so hard. Good times.

Third movie:
Step Up. One word:



I went with a group of au pairs to see this last night. Most cliched movie I've see in a long time, but I knew that going in. Loved it! God he's so hot! And I left the movie wanting to go out dancing cos the music was so much fun.

I'm sorry? What did you say?



Ah, I see. :)

The Lolla Post

So last Saturday was Lollapalooza!!! In one word?? FANTASTIC. Seriously. But my GOD, it was a long day!

EDIT EDIT EDIT

Lolla was held at Grant Park and was HUGE. The size of the park dictated most of what I would see for the rest of the day because it literally took 20mins to walk from one side to the other. Luckily though, the acts that I came to see were all on the same section of the park.

I only saw three acts in full (saw lots of bits of different ones) but the three I saw were amazing.

ACT 1- WOLFMOTHER!!!!!



They went OFF!! Oh my god, they were awesome!! The crowd was insane and the band was so GOOD. Proud Aussie moment for me. :) There were people on the other side of the crowd and they were draped in Aussie flags and kept doing the Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie chant. I felt like a tool, but couldn't help joining in with the OI OI OI! Seriously, it must be built in or something- they start, I respond. The guy next to me goes, huh? And I'm like, "sorry, it's an aussie thing" and he's like, "oh, I thought you were Jewish or something." :P Hehehe. He was kidding. But then later he pokes me and yells, "Aussie Oi Aussie Oi!" Lol!! I obviously had to correct him.





It was great. I wasn't too far from the front- close enough to see them all properly, but not be in the mosh pit. Seriously, there were people with bloody noses and stuff. They were crazy.

Straight after was Gnarles Barkley. Everyone knows that they get dressed in costumes for every performance, so I was expecting something cool, but they were just dressed as 70s tennis players. Yawn.



You can't see anything really but their backdrop cos of the distance (and crappy camera). I dunno. Their set didn't really interest me too much. It's hard to get into it when you're so far away and the people around you aren't all into it.

I decided to leave after 15 mins and then I realised that Wolfmother were signing autographs in 45mins. I thought, great! Enough time to buy their album and line up. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. I went to the Virgin store tent to buy their CD and it was NOWHERE. I searched high and low, and then I overheard someone asking about it and they were told there were none left. Well, I wouldn't stand for that! I kept looking and finally spied one on the stand at the counter and nabbed it! I was so happy, and it only took me 15 minutes. :P So I took the CD and joined the line and waited. That was until one of the girls that worked there said that only people with blue wristbands could be on the line. I asked where I could get a wristband, only to be told that I needed to have bought their album today but they'd run out. I felt so bummed. :( It's all good though - I still managed to get their album for only $10!

So I hung around awhile more watching some random bands. My head was killing me though and my feet and legs ached. I was covered in dirt, and it was such a humid day that I was so sweaty and most likely covered in everyone else's sweat. So nasty. :S

The next act was Common.



If you squint, he's the guy in the green shirt.

Honestly, he was FANTASTIC. He freestyled so much of his act, it was awesome. He is very skilled. :) I just wish I knew more of his songs so I could have gotten into it more, but there were a couple I surprisingly knew. I didn't know they were by him.

There was an hour between his set and Kanye, so thinking I was brilliant I decided that instead of going to see the other bands, I would start making my way to the front of the stage and wait out the hour before Kanye.

It seems that everyone else that had gone to Common had the same idea. Lol! In the end, I got closer to the stage, but was still quite far back. But I was still closer that the THOUSANDS of people behind me. :) Unfortch, everyone infront of me was taller, and when their hands were all up I could only catch glimpses of Kanye.



That's not from my camera. That's from the Lolla site. My camera cannot take photos at night. they just come out all blurry and weird, even in night mode. Luckily during the hour-long wait I got chatting to this girl named Jill who was so nice and had a good camera, you know, the type that can actually take photos? Here is the link to the photos she took. To see the rest you'll need to use the linky thing on the right of the photo which has little caps of the photos and click more, then click on the photo itself. Note how red my face is. THAT IS SUNBURN. Lol. Andrea had these wet towelettes to refresh ourselves. It also took my sunscreen off. Lol. You can kind of notice that only half my cheeks are red due to my sunnies.

Did anyone else know that Kanye West has a signature hand thing? Everyone in the crowd knew this and acted appropriately:



That's also how he opened his show: just the camera zoomed in on his hands like that and the first song was Diamonds from Sierra Leone. Love that song.

The set got off the a rocky start cos his mike wasn't loud enough. He was so cranky and kept hitting it and saying, "Turn my f**king mike up!" After the first song it was all fixed, but he was saying, "Someone here won't have a job tomorrow." ;) The best quote of the entire day was when Kanye was talking about how when he wanted to go from producing to rapping his own material, "No one wanted to sign a guy that dresses like Carlton." [Banks, from the Fresh Prince of Bell Air.] Too funny.

I cannot stress enough how awesome Kanye West was. After the initial hiccups he did all his most famous songs and others that I didn't know cos I don't have his albums. Note to self: go to library and put on ipod.

Oh! And he brought Lupe out with him and he did Kick, Push, as well as Touch the Sky with Kanye, and he also brought Twista out. He also played a lot of the songs he's written an produced. I didn't know he did half of them, like Izzo by Jay Z, Encore, Slow Jams among others.

Honestly, even though I felt like I was going to throw up from the nastiness that was me by the end of the night, I was picked up so much by seeing Kanye. He is just AWESOME.

So yeah. That was last week.

This week is my holiday of sorts. J and his dad drove to Pennsylvania yesterday and the family will be at camp there for the rest of the week. I'm off to Vermont tomorrow to see my friend Jennifer.

Ciao!!