Winter to summer.... (my spider tale)

Winter gives way to summer...and millipedes give way to spiders. I'll take the millipedes crunching under my feet, crawling through my sheets, and covering any surface during wet weather to this, thank you very much. Any day.

Winter had me grossed out on a daily basis because of those nasty things. They are everywhere, in everyone's homes, on the ceiling, on the sidewalks, in the bathtub. I was so happy to see them fade to nonexistence in the warmer weather that spring brought. Yet, as we are now in summer, I am dismayed and horrified to see that the numbers of large, disgusting spiders has exponentially increased.

Particularly in my yard.

The other night at a friend's house for dinner, we sat on the patio outside and watched a big one spin its gargantuan web right in front of us. Fascinating...from a distance. There is one in Andrew's driveway, attached to some branches, that is as big as my palm and expecting babies with the nasty white pouch that has been hanging out in its web, undisturbed (!?!), for weeks. And then there is my yard.

Our friendly neighborhood spiders spin their webs at dusk every day, and by morning they have packed them all up to wait out the daylight in hiding. My nightly walk from the car to the front porch has become quite treacherous of late. I have developed a crazy arm-flailing, karate-chopping, bag-swinging walk to get myself safely to shelter each night. I no longer care what the neighbors think. These suckers are nasty and I am NOT getting their webs on me (the strands of which are, by the way, thicker than the coarsest hairs on my head). Once they choose a place, they are likely to rebuild their webs in the same location for several nights.

I've been successful so far. A few times I've seen the spider resting in the center of its web before I walked into it, and thankfully those were nights Andrew was bringing me home so he took care of it. But tonight it was just me. Me vs. the spider. That one spider who decided to spin its web right across the stairs, blocking my way to the front door.

I froze there for awhile, completely uncertain what to do. I was unarmed; my purse was not going to be sacrificed for this one, so blatantly standing between me and safety (not to mention my bed). My flailing got me only so far, tearing down some peripheral strands. A few flimsy sticks and long pieces of grass thrown in that direction only skimmed the edge or lodged themselves in the sticky web. I was sweating bullets by then; my ammunition was not even fazing the thing and I was certain I felt webs and spiders all over me.

Just as I was about to surrender defeat and go sleep in the car, I thought to check in the boot (aka trunk; it's an Australian car so it has a boot rather than a trunk, as I see it) of the car. There I found the long rainbow umbrella that would be my savior.

I seriously poked and prodded and threw stuff until the entire web was gone, and yet still that horrible beast dangled there on its final strand of web, hanging down face level right in the middle of the steps. I waved the umbrella around it for awhile, but still it dangled, clearly ready to throw itself in attack at anyone who tried to pass. Finally I whacked it with the umbrella and watched it scurry up to the roof overhanging the steps. My flailing ritual carried me to the door, and I was soon safely inside.

Until tomorrow night...............

[Note: if you need to be reminded of what I'm dealing with, click here.]

I got a sparkly

How cute is this? I just cut myself right out of the photo. :)
May in Seattle...we'll be the Mr. and Mrs. Apparently I was destined for a multi-continental life! :)

things that make you go hmm...

proud to be an American?

One of the beauties of dating a non-American is that you get to have your country poked fun at all the time! Andrew's aunt in particular likes to forward amusing emails about my countrymen, and you can bet that these find their way into my inbox as well. Perhaps I'll share a few of them with you! This is the most recent, and I have to say that my mouth and nose were turned up almost immediately and I think I felt sick by the time I got to the bottom. Some of the things we come up with - sick!!! ... Enjoy! ;)

American cuisine at its finest
Americans wonder why they're dying earlier .....

Corn Dog Pizza The Double Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt Three bacon-stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches for buns, cheese, bacon and two four-ounce beefs patties. French Fry-Encased Hot Dog On A Stick Turbaconucken A chicken inside a duck inside a turkey, all wrapped in bacon The Hamdog A hot dog wrapped in a beef patty that’s deep fried, covered with chili, cheese, onions, served on a hoagie bun topped with two fistfuls of fries and a fried egg. Tombstone Deep Dish Pizza Vending Machine Bacon Shell Tacos The Meat Ship Made from bacon, sausages, pastry, franks and pork mince. Chicago Deep Dish Pizza Gregory’s 120 Ounce Steak In-N-Out 100x100 Burger Bacon Donut Tongue And Pastrami Sandwich Waffle Couch Waffle fries with gravy and mozzarella The Bacon Explosion Two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and slathered in barbecue sauce. Bob Evens Sausage Gravy Machine Baconnaise

office space

Just got back from Sydney ... I had some time in the Blue Mountains with IT, and Andrew saw a bunch of clients. In preparation for moving there soon, we looked at heaps of office spaces for his shop that he will open.

They say being a commercial real estate agent is easier than residential, because it's much less emotional. Finding a work space is quite different than finding a place to call home (which we will soon have to do as well!). But finding a place for a shop, with the right environment, the right appeal - knowing that many of the clientele will be female - at the right price, in the right location, with the right specifications and requirements ... natural light, water capability, discreet ... it's just like looking for a home.

We think we found a building we like with a couple of options in it. Something to get excited about, potentially! And I, too, am starting to look forward to being in the office regularly in Sydney, continuing to carve out my role and find my place. I've been working from home here in Adelaide, officially for IT USA until my work visa comes through, so it will be great to be able to land and settle in Sydney when the time comes.

Lots to look ahead to... :)

My boyfriend cut my hair.

If you didn't already know, Andrew deals with hair. Hair loss and regrowth and replacement and all of that "re-" stuff that has to do with losing one's hair. For men and women, whether it's from pattern baldness or alopecia or trichotillomania or chemotherapy. He has helped a lot of people. You can look at his website if you want.

Many moons ago, he went to trade school to become a hairdresser. He still does this, though most of his time is taken up with managing, sales, marketing, and consulting. The majority of his clients here in Adelaide are men, while new interstate clients (Sydney and Melbourne) are about 80% female. Still, over the past 16 years, he's cut a lot of men's hair. Not so much women's hair.

When we met, he informed me that he would never cut my hair. He didn't want my hating my hair to ever come between us. Fair enough.

Until tonight! One of his employees has been cutting my hair, but I haven't had time to get in and lately it has been desperately needing a cut. So badly that Andrew can hardly stand to look at me. (Ok, it's not that bad.) "My girlfriend has mushroom hair," he whimpered today. So that was it. We are heading to Sydney tomorrow for work and I guess I could no longer be seen in public that way. He marched me down to the shop tonight for a cut (and color, why not).

He was nervous that he wouldn't like it. I was nervous that I wouldn't like it.

But - he did great. :) I really miss my long hair so it's still a bit too short for me, but it's a really good cut. Yay for both of us - he got good practice with a flat iron and I no longer have mushroom hair. :)

blurbs

Ok, happy February. It's been a busy time, I am completely distracted and excited. But anyway, there are quite a few fun things we have done in the past few weeks. I've got photos of it all, but they're on Andrew's camera and I can't be bothered to upload them. :)

Tour Down Under ... We hung out with Lance Armstrong for a few days a couple weeks ago. We went and saw the opening race (which means we saw hundreds of riders fly past us for approximately 45 seconds and then it was done), and then we went to the final race a week later. Most days they were out riding around South Australia, but the last race was right in the city of Adelaide - a little 4 km circle that they went around and around and around (90 km worth!!). So we got the rush of air and adrenalin from a wall of 130 professional riders blowing past a whole bunch of times. Lance was easy to spot - generally in last place. Or almost. :)

Australia Day ... was January 26. We went with a couple of friends to the Barossa Valley, one of Adelaide's wine regions. Chris and Amy are a fun couple; really enjoyable to hang out with and good companions for a day under the hot sun - at a Sting concert! Mr. Gordon Sumner (AKA Sting) brought his crew and joined the Melbourne orchestra for a great concert under the stars in the Barossa. Fun day and great music!

Bike ride ... we did our own tour down under the other day; I borrowed Andrew's housemate's mountain bike and he rode his (instead of his road bike, to be fair to me) and we had a lovely ride down to the beach. Since we didn't leave until about 6:30pm, and we had dinner and caught the sunset down there, we didn't start to head back until after 9pm. It made for a bit of a long day. 40 km in all; my longest ride in quite some time. By the time we were nearing home again, it was after 10pm and I was a bit tired (and cranky, but who's keeping track). Andrew came up behind me on his bike and began to push me - it was great fun! I was going faster than I had gone all night! Only wish he had thought of that earlier. :)

Glenelg ... is another beach area here. This past weekend we drove (much appreciated this time, vs. riding bikes) down there, had a lovely dinner and walked on the beach. I love summer in January and February! We've had just a few days of unbearable heat, but for the most part it's been really pleasant.

Enjoying my days in Adelaide for who knows how much longer we will have here...