...and I am home again (take 2)

So I have returned from my tour of Vietnam and Cambodia. Very tired and I have come home under the weather. Actually under the weather would be an understatement considering I have come home with dysentery. Won't go into it but if you are interested click.

So...where to start. I learned a lot for starters. It was a mixed bag honestly. Some things I was not prepared for other things I was quite pleasantly surprised. For example, most homes don't have running water (or clean water for that matter) yet there is an internet cafe on every corner. Land phone lines are non-existent however everyone has a mobile and they are cheap. BTW if you want to make a land line call and you dont have a mobile than you must go to the Ministry of Communications or a post office. Nice right? Oh yeah, the temp is like a billion degrees with 90% humidity. The air is so thick with moisture that if I tripped and fell, I would never hit the ground. Shit is like soup...no joke.

I met a lot of good people and my network is up and running. I understand now why people would pay big bucks for me because this network stuff is hard FUCKING work. Half the people I wanted to talk to have left (I learned the turnover rate in Cambodia is really high...gee that is weird). Plus I have learned that you can't just pop in and be like "time to work". No way...not Cambodia. It will take me awhile but I know at the end of next year I will be in there like swim wear. Plus I am cute:)

I like the Khmer's, they are very friendly and smiley. Not like the Vietnamese who scowled at me. Maybe they didn't smile at me cause they are still angry for the war. Who knows? Amazes me that the Khmer's have so very little and have been through 7 years of genocide and still seem very happy. I could not help but envy them in some way. It is like they have something that I do not, something that money can not buy. Its like an inner contentness and acceptance. Family is priority number ONE and that is all that matters. I am envious because I don't seem to have that "happiness" that they have. God, the word happiness is so over used I will have to find a new word for the Khmers.

I promise to post some pictures later, I have tons. For now I am trying to recover and rehydrate.

More later

Varekai

We saw it! Wooo hooo! I love Cirque du Soleil. All I have to say is that I am inspired to runaway and join the circus:)

I see Jesus!

Lori sent this to me. Hillarious!! Thanks girl! I love the website too:)

I see Jesus, do you? At least this time Jesus got creative in his "sightings"...toast and cheese are so cliche now. This morning in the dog park I kept my eyes peeled for Jesus. Damb...I saw Jesus everywhere!

Picnics

I had been in placed in charge of the annual PhD student picnic. Due to tighter regulations concerning alcohol at student events, everyone was limited to one drink each. Greta, though she is not a student, was asked to help. She was in charge of buying the cups... can you tell?

Table for SALE (small penis not included)

Gee...how can you tell this table is for sale by a man?

...aaaannnnd I am home again

So my whirlwind tour of Washington DC has come to a close. Fine by me, I need to go back to Australia and dry out. Ok, does that sound weird to people? Let me say it again, I am going back to AUSTRALIA to DRY OUT.

Anyway, I am slowly adjusting back to local time. Sunday night I went to bed at 8pm, adrenaline keeping me up most of the day. Monday however, not so good. I started to decline around 2pm, left work to go "chill" at home with my dogs, napping by 3pm, and just decided to keep on sleeping at 4pm. SO I slept from 4pm to 7am the next morning. Not to shabby...Tues I actually did a full day of work and went to bed at 9pm but it is 5:30 am right now and who is up blogging? Fuck!!!! When will I be normal?

Everything was fantastic in my trip. It was nice to see my friends and even my family. Too short but nice to know I will be back in May. My one complaint was security. It was baaaaaaddddd. It took me 1 hour and 58 minutes to clear security at Dulles on my flight to LAX. Yes people, almost 2 hours. Lucky for me I arrived 3 hours ahead of time for my domestic flight:/ I don't seem to be the only one to think the wait times are bad because I just read an interesting piece in the Post about it. Ick.

All I have to say is thank GOD I am flying next to a developing nation where they have no security:)

Dog parties and disposable income

OH MY GOD! This is SOOOOOOOOO Todd and I! Same with our friends (well excluding Amy and Tad...they had to be "different":) No kids but plenty of dog parties. I love it! Check out this Post article.

By the way on Tues Oct 17th 2006 the US population will be 300 million! As an epidemiologist I find that quite remarkable:)

Back in the US of A

SO I made it. I survived a grueling (emphasis on) 23 hour journey home. My flight from BNE to LAX was 12 hours +2 hours of customs BS, then another 4.5 hours on home + 1.5 hours to moms house. I was so tired last night that I was having trouble dialing the phone. Seriously...no joke. It felt like I was 90ft underwater scuba diving trying to right my name on a waterboard. I popped a Xanax, washed it down with a Pinot Grigio and called it a loooooooong day. Then I woke up at 3am with the MOST excruiating back spasm (gee wonder how that happened?), it hurt so bad my eyes were watering and my legs were shaking. I called Todd to make me feel better and he informed me that he was cutting burrs out of Cappy's tail and he would love to take a break. At least things are normal back home!

Here I am in Winchester chillin, literally. In my bookbag I have 2 bottles of sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a 4 kinds of lip balm depending on the strength of the sun. No need for ANY of that here. Geez it is friggin cold. After I take all my Brisbane gear out, I have a wallet and some poop bags (for the dogs...thank you dirty minds). It is good to be back and it is somewhat comforting to see that nothing has changed. There are more leaves on the trees than when I left but still the same ol same ol.

Mom bought me a very swanky purse as a coming home present. I will post pictures of it soon. Greta will be WAY jealous and I will have to try my hardest to keep it away from her:)

Australia's baby bonus

Well Australia, much like the rest of the developed world, is going through a population "slump". They have a fertility rate of about 1.5 children per couple which is well below the replacement rate of 2.1. Singapore has a f.r. of 1.06 among ethnic Chinese and Japan is hovering around the same rate. Anyway, to encourage people to have kids, the Australian government is offering a $4000 baby bonus to perk up some interest. The slogan goes "One for mom, one for dad, and one for the country!" according to Peter Costello the treasurer.

Now lets step back for a moment. First of all, like any public campaign..."Who do you intend to target?" Mmmm, yes... who are you intending to target Mr. Costello? The poor and uneducated? Yes, I was thinking the same thing. What about the boom of babies being born to unwed teenage mothers. Yes, that group would be nice too! So lets see, we have poor, uneducated, young people who are breeding now. How is that supposed to be good for Australia? They were proclaiming that the policy is working because there were 15,000 more births in 2005 then 2004. I see it as 15,000 more potential dole recipients. Someone should check the economic status of those people who are breeding. I can assure the government that educated people making a decent salary are not enticed by $4000. I am not enticed at least.

At least America is not alone in its quest for the award of "Most stupid public policy". It goes right up there with Ashcroft requesting that Lady Liberty's breast be covered up.

All I have to say is "What the fuck"

...and people ask when I am coming back to the states. If the Amish are not safe from our societies psycho's, why would I be? After reading the Post article, I don't think I want to come back.

Monster Months

Ugh, I think the madness is about to begin. I have 4 plane tickets on my desk right now and a few e-tickets in my mailbox.

Oct 13-29 Washington, DC

Oct 30-Nov 10 multiple local overnight trips for OTD stuff not to mention Research Higher Degree (presenting) and an abstract due for the Global Health Conference in 07 (have not even started)

Nov 19-21 Sydney for OTD workshop

Nov 23-27 Hanoi, Vietnam for Health Policy and Reform Workshop

Nov 28-Dec 15 Phnom Penh, Cambodia for dissertation research

Rest of Dec will involve sleep then January is the beginning an intensive 3 months of field work in Cambodia.

Maybe we can do lunch next May?

Panda photos

Pictures are from the National Zoo


Well my little Tai is a hefty 69 pounds now! Ah how fast they grow up. I heard that the new Asia Trail will be opening Oct 16 and will house some sloth bears (including the new baby), otters, slamanders, clouded leopards, and of course the pandas. It sounds really nice and will be substantially bigger than the exhibit now. When I go back to DC in October I am going to check it out! So excited!

Pictures from Inskip Point

A few weeks ago we went up the Sunshine Coast to Inskip and camped on the beach. The water up here in Queensland is the color of sapphires and emeralds, not that dingy brown of the Atlantic. You can see your toes in 5 ft of water, just like a pool! We had an EXCELLENT time and we really look forward to doing it again, and again, and again. This weekend we are buying our friend's station wagon. I am so SIKED...now we can go camping all the time!


"Look out Todd, it's a SHARK...oh, never mind, it is just my dogs!"
















Dog's fast asleep on first night...they were WHIPPED!














Strange man who kept following me around















Beach out front of our tent!














View from the campsite
















On our way home

Jaguar

I have decided that my present to myself, after I finish my PhD, will be a Jaguar XK coupe. I have always wanted one and Todd said that if I make the "big money" I can buy what I want. Well duh...of course I will! Many people my age start saving for their kids college but I say "fuck that!"...I haven't even paid off my own! Plus a Jaguar sounds so much more sexy than college:)

Ugh, the fight of the fertile

I am soooooo over birth control! Over it, done, finished, I am calling it quits. I can't get my fucking NuvaRing over here, which is the only thing that did not give me any side effects, and I tried Implanon (little plastic rod under the skin of your arm). It has been in Oz for a number of years and just introduced to the US this past July. FUCKING BLOWS...stay away! Not that this is a blog about my libido, but has anybody seen it? I can not find it anywhere? This seems to be a common side effect: "a small decrease in sex drive has been reported by a small percentage of women in our study..." Uh hello, no one said it would take a holiday!!!

However, that is nothing compared to the 11 pounds I put on in 2 months! E-L-E-V-E-N!!! This is where things get wacky. I am actually exercising 2X a day in prep for my triathalon. My diet is stellar and I STILL put on the weight. VERY VERY frustrating. I called up the doc and she said "A small percentage of women do gain weight rapidly for no apparent reason"! Reason? Jesus when they said weight gain was possible, I was thinking the normal 1-3 lbs a year (which most women gain regardless of being on BC). But 11 in 2 months? As an aside, why does everybody always use the word "small?" So I have made an appt to have the sucker removed even though it has only been 2 months. The nurse wanted me to wait and I was like HELLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOO, do you want to see if I gain another 11?

So on that note I told Todd that I was giving up on sex...just not worth it. I take my chances with 11 pounds or take my chances with a screaming baby and stretch marks...hmmm abstinence doesn't seem all that bad anymore.

Confirmation of Candidature-COMPLETE

Ah, thank GOD that is complete! My first year of work, condensed into 6 months. I had my doubts but somehow I pulled it off. It was the 4 months of writing condensed into 4 weeks that scared the shit out of me. So anyway, I am no longer a provisional student but a PhD candidate. Yeah!

The presentation went really well and I got a lot of good questions and criticism. I welcome it ALL! In the end it will only make my dissertation better. To celebrate, I took off Tuesday and played with the pups all day long and had a nap. However, now it is back to the grind. My project coordinator position ends in 2 months and I have a lot of stuff to finish before that time. Plus, I will be in the US for 2 weeks in October so that does not leave me a lot of wiggle room to wrap up a project that has been going on for 2 years.

In the mean time I will bask in my accomplishment as a form of earned procrastination:)

IT IS ABOUT TIME!

Thank FUCKING GOD Plan B was finally approved. The rest of the world, including developing nations, have offered Plan B over the counter for years. Even Thailand is 10 years ahead of us. God we are pathetic...but perhaps we are making strides. Well maybe not a stride but a shuffle. Check out the article at CNN

Remembering N'Awlins

It is really hard to believe that Katrina struck nearly a year ago. About this time last year me, Greta and Lori were having a great time in N'Awlins. I found this pic of me and Greta clowning around in the French Quarter. As you can see we were up to no good. We spent the day walking around the Quarter, attending various Happy Hours (we love the 3 drinks for the price of 1 special that abounded), meeting a Voodoo priestess, etc. I think back to the guy who took our picture and I wonder what happened to his studio. Is he there? Did he bail? The soul of NO is the people. The buildings are nice and all, but could NO ever be the same without its soul? Part of me wants to go back but part of me does not want to ruin the memory I have on NO.

I was reading in the Post the other day about where we are 1 year later when it comes to disaster preparation. Nearly 50% of those polled thought we were prepared for this years hurricane season. Uh hellooooo out there. NOTHING, Nada, Zip, has been done to the NO levies. They merely patched up the holes and most experts agree that a category 2 could easily destroy the levies. Great...such a stupid false sense of optimism my country has. Ick, makes me sick.

Weekend, wonderful weekend!

It is a SUPER DUPER Saturday morning here in Bris-Vegas! Just spectacular. It is 9am and about 80 with sun outside. For the first time in months, I don't have to put my sweater on in the morning. Spring is on its way!

Casey is looking up from between my legs under the desk begging. "Where is my piece of kiwi fruit". He loves fruit, actually he loves anything for that matter. Cappy is asleep at the door keeping an eye out for dad to wake up. Ahhh, such a classic tv show morning. To top off that morning, I am going to write all day. Ick...not so nice. I am working on some revisions for next Mondays confirmation and I dread what Peter will give me next week.

To punish myself further I have given up bread for the next month. I am such a carb-o-holic that I can easily attribute the 5lbs (and tightness in the jeans) I have gained to bread. When I lost those 40lbs in 1999, I gave up bread and it just dropped off. My body is fucking addicted to that stuff. It sticks to my thighs. Not fair. It actually gets easier everyday, so I just have to stick with it.

Ekka day!

Wed is a public holiday for Ekka (short for exhibition). Usually I am not into that kind of thing as I have a great fear of carnies, small children with ice cream, and ferris wheels. However, the thing is literally being held across the street from my work and it seems alright. Everyone goes and everyone really seems to like it. So I thought I would succumb to peer pressure and give it a try. It runs for 10 days with Aug 15th being the official day off. We are going to go to the dog show (I missed the golden showing last tues) which will be an "open" session of all dogs and pups. I am super excited about that. We are going with Phil and Glen who are Ekka experts. So this will be my first taste of the "REAL" Brisbane. Hey why not? Anything to get me away from this lit review!


Ah speaking of that. It is coming along. I am in super writing mode which is a god send. Sometimes it is sooooo hard to get started. The GIS component of my research is also coming along, thanks to UNESCO Bangkok for the map and Greta for her GIS expertise. At least that is one less thing I have to worry about.

We did go camping this past weekend up to Inskip Point on the Sunshine coast. We camped on the beach and played in the surf all day long, I even got a tan. It was beautiful and Todd's first taste of "tropical Queensland". I am trying to convince him that the rest of Australia is not like Brisbane. While the city is nice, it is not as tropical and restful as up north. The dogs had a blast playing in the water and Cappy was in it NON-STOP. We literally had to drag her out by her collar when it was getting dark. I swear she was taking a nap while she was floating. Strange dog.

Confirmation coming!

Oh god, I am overwhelmed! My inital date for my candidature confirmation was supposed to be middle of November. However, due to a scholarship requirement for next year I have to be confirmed by August 31. So long story short, I am condensing 4 months of writing down to 4 weeks. Plus work a part time job, spend quality time with my husband and dogs, and find some time to sleep. This is turning out to be very difficult and tiring.

My office is filled with diagrams, flow charts, and literally a 2 meter stack of papers in one corner. If it fell over on a child, it would kill him. NO joke. Let's see what else...1 week of styrofoam coffee cups, an Everest size pile of water bottles, napkins, and coke cans. Lovely...it smells good in here too. Oh yeah, that must be the 1 week stack of gym clothes that I keep forgetting to bring home.

On that note, I am going to bed. I am whipped!

Madonna night at The Globe

All I need to say is Madonna night at The Globe and show a couple of pictures; and the rest is pretty obvious. Greta and I had a great time dancing NON STOP! From the moment we arrived to the moment we left our feet were moving. IT was the best night out I have had in...well years! However the hang over the next day was BRUTAL ugh, just thinking about my headache gives me a headache. Eh, it was worth it!

Bad National Geographic!

Nat'l Geographic got me all excited with news that Mei Xiang and Tai Shan were going to be on the cover of the July issue. Well it seemed that they don't know how to count. They held a poll on 3 potential covers and the "Rome" one got the most votes but under the panda cover it says "Editor's Winner". WTF? I got online last month and RENEWED my subscription soley for the purpose of seeing my panda on the cover of FUCKING National Geographic. But NOOOOOOOOOO...now I have a subscription for something I get for FREE in the library. Errrrrrr I am SOOOOOO MADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD! I want MY PANDA ON THE FRONT COVER! Who would vote for skulls over a panda face? Bastards...I hate you!

Now in case I have this all wrong, help me out. In Australia the cover for NG July is the picture of the skulls. Can SOMEBODY confirm that this is true for the US? I figured that there was only one edition...but I have been wrong before!

Picture Time!

Here are some new pics to add to the collection!

Front Garden















Backyard Heart Garden















Cappers swimming















Bad Cappy who rolled in dirt after her swim (she is Todd's dog when she does that!)













Todd and Greter













Casey with a bun he found on his walk (did you know there is also a sock in there too!)

Material things I miss

I don't miss the US per se, but I do miss some material things from the States. These are some things that I not only miss but CRAVE!

1. Black beans
2. York peppermint patties (I did find some at a "speciality chocolate" shop down town and I bought a bag for $15.00! YOWZA...I used to buy a bag at CVS for $0.99)
3. Bath and Body works Rosemerry/Peppermint body wash and lotion
4. A-1 Steak Sauce
5. Girdelli brownies
6. Playtex tampons
7. Mom's chicken pot-pie
8. Listranni's pizza
9. Good coffee
10. Roosevelt Island
11. Inexpensive paperback books (I have no IDEA why books are so expensive over here!)
12. Ditropan XL for my overactive bladder (not approved and never will be)
13. Inexpensive CDs
14. Whole Paycheck (I mean Whole Foods)
15. Being able to get to another major city quickly (not possible in Oz)
16. Last but not least my friends

In all fairness, these are some things I LOVE about Brisbane
1. Close to the best beaches
2. All the fresh fruit and veggies you can eat
3. Excellent wine (and very affordable)
4. No huge crowds
5. Lots of space
6. Perfect weather
7. Close to Greta
8. 36 hour work weeks (well ok, not for me at least)
9. No hustle and bustle of DC
10. Clean air
11. Being able to afford a yard AND be a student at the same time
12. Line drying my clothes (no one owns a dryer in Queensland!) and feeling evironmentally responsible for doing so.
13. Ease of recycling everything
14. Composting
15. Year round garden of veggies and flowers
16. New friends

Power and Sex: Sex in the city?

I have been inspired by Foucault to add another dimension to my studies of Cambodian adolescent health. Adolescents, particularly female adolescents, are vulnerable to power differentials. I am curious how this tranlates into sexual encounters and the decision making process of whether or not to have sex. I am perplexed though because because I know so little of power and sexuality in my own culture I am not sure where to start in another. My mentors both agree that not addressing power and sex in my thesis would leave a big hole, so I have to find away to address it with what little knowledge I have of Khmer culture.

So what does Foucault think of sex? He believed that sex in the western world " has broken with the tradition of ars erotica and bestowed upon itself a scientia sexualis by adapting the ancient procedure of the confession to the rules of scientific discourse." While S.E.Asia, S. Asia, Rome, and to some extent the Middle East have enjoyed sex as erotica, the Western world got hung up in the belief of sex as a dirty sin. This was no coincidence as after the Enlightenment there was also the rise of the church and the redemption of confessions. The confession has spread its effects far and wide; we confess our crimes, our sins, our thoughts and our desires. Whatever is most difficult to tell we offer up for scrutiny with the greatest precision. We confess in public and in private to parents, educators, doctors, loved ones in pleasure and in pain, things that would be impossible to tell anyone else. The confession can be voluntary or wrung from a person by violence or the threat of it. Sex, albeit hidden we are told, has been the privileged theme of confession from the Christian penance to the present day. We have made sex "scientific" and something to be analyzed. He was very interested in why we even talk about it and for that matter so am I. We talk about it but usually in medical terminology and negatively. In Thailand for example it is something very private but also pleasantly mysterious. Perhaps talking about it would lessen this privileged locus?

While Foucault did not believe in sex being repressed per se, but what is repressed is the act itself. In Victorian times anything pleasurable was repressed including sex. Therefore sex outside of marriage, outside of the bedroom, outside of the purposes for procreation was greatly frowned upon. Subsequently the only outlets for repressive feelings were the shrinks office and prostitution. Then the government got interested in sex and it all went downhill. So how come we can talk about it, but not really talk about it? This is an important issue I want to address with these female adolescents. I want to know where the power lies in discussing sex and the act of having sex. Who has the power? Who/what represses? Discourse is important because, language and knowledge are closely linked to power. Speech and writing are not simply the communication of facts that occurs in a vacuum. As important as what is said is who decides what is said. Foucault develops a complex body of thought out of the old saying that "knowledge is power." Whoever determines what can be talked about also determines what can be known. Whoever determines what can be known effectively determines how we think and who we are. According to Foucault, then, language and knowledge always have a political edge. So is relation to my question, who are those who hold the knowledge about sex in Khmer culture and how do they control it. Since they control the knowledge they also control the power. As they say "knowledge is king"!

Happy Birthday to Tai Shan

My big boy is 1! Happy birthday big guy. I miss you and I can't wait to see you this fall. I hope your fruitcicle rocks and you get lots of presents. Check out the link to the Post about his birthday party.

Missile and Dicks

Ah yes, I believe some posturing is going on between N. Korea and the USA. N. Korea is saying look at how big my dick, I mean missile, is and look at it fly. Only it didn't. It went limp...how embarrassing. W on the other hand sounded like a complete fool in his press conference when he said (and I quote) "A missile test by a hostile nation is a bad thing and we will have to look into it further." Hmmmm, I think we all know that W, thanks. Of course W's penis is quite small, so he sends Rumsfeld and Cheney out to display theirs. However, Korea does not seem impressed. So here we are. A bunch of men with small peniss' and big missiles. I believe this is a recipe for disaster.

Now a woman would get on the phone and be like "Bitch, why do you have to be so agro? Why you got to flaunt your shit in front of my man? Probabably fake too...Yeah that's right, I called your missles fake. No REAL missile would stand straight up like that... Oh you want to scrap? Bitch be at the corner in 2 minutes and I will bust your ass!" That is how women would do it. With their fingernails and hair pulling. Fair and square.

All I have to say is Katia for North Korean Ambassador!

My heart garden

Some girls get flowers and chocolate from their man, I get a whole garden. Yes, I am lucky. Who needs flowers that last a week when I can have a Mediterranean garden! Todd is growing me eggplant, pumpkin (ok, Australian), cucumber, basil, tomato, and blue flowers along the edge. My favorites! What makes it even better is that I have someone else weeding and watering it. This is a picture taken a month ago but with all the rain it has grown quickly. I am so spoiled!

Phuket Laguna Triathlon

So I am toying with the idea of doing the Phuket Triathlon in December. I really, really, really, want to complete an Olympic distance triathlon this year, but the Australian race scene is very quiet at the end of the year. Could it be because it is summer and oppressively hot? I wager to guess "yes". So I was checking out the rules and under the running section it says that "you may run, walk, or crawl on the run section of the race." Holy smokes...CRAWL? Jesus, what kind of race is this anyway? I was pretty impressed to read that the winner gets an elephant ride. Oooooh an elephant ride. I wonder if the loser gets a panda.

In the news

Well it seems inevitable, DC is going to blow up. Who wants to bet that North Korea has their missile locked in on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? I am willing to put my money on it. Let's see what else, 2 soldiers were found dead in Iraq from apparent torture (according to the Post "barbaricaly tortured"). They were 23 and 25...nice. Iran is well on their way to fueling up the next test missile. Who wants to guess where that will be targeted at? The WHO announced that even though we have spent trillions of dollars in HIV/AIDS mitigation, we really have nothing impressive to show for it. What I want to tell the fucking WHO and all these other rich nations is that FIRST and FOREMOST you must address poverty. If a mom has to have sex to feed her kids, guess what prick head male leaders,...she is going to prostitute herself. No amount of bible speak or Christian rhetoric is going to stop her child from crying of hunger. WAKE UP! I would do it and so would most of you.

On that note, I am a bit distressed over my own research. I just read a bulletin put out by UNESCO which talks about reproductive health programs in South East Asia. Not good news. Basically, NGO's are pumping in huge amounts of money but the poverty is so overeaching that safe sex and family planning take a back seat. Unfortunately, women who have lots of kids are in poverty. Such a viscous cycle! So where does that leave me? I have no idea. How can I address reproductive health in a country where poverty has only INCREASED since they became liberated from the Khmer Rouge. Capitalism has done nothing (surprise surprise) to help Cambodians...especially women. So I feel like I am merely putting a band-aid on a femoral hemorrhage. How can I convince readers that RH is an important issue, if I don't really think it is anymore?

On a good note, researchers in China believe that there are more pandas in the wild then previously thought. Through DNA testing of panda feces they are able to track migration, numbers, and mating. I love DNA! Now that is one good piece of news!

The biggest birth event of the year!

Many of you are thinking Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie...no try again. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes? Nope! Amy and Tad Dunn take the front page with the new addition of baby Andy. Born May 26th at 7:05 am and came in at 8lb 12oz. Love the black hair! Ooooh how cute! Cody is now a proud brother! Congratulations to all of you guys!

Speaking of birthday, Happy birthday to my Cappers...she is 2!

Queen's Birthday

We had an excellent long weekend, which we celebrated in style. For the first time in months, we actually got some rain. It POURED on Saturday, which was a welcome sight. By Sunday it was clearing and we decided to head down to the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. The gardens are next to the river and it was a lovely morning alone...without any dogs. We had some coffee and lunch down town before heading back up to the house for some massive cleaning. Being that it was super wet and muddy on Saturday, you can imagine the state of our floors with 2 dogs by Sunday afternoon. Yeah, you don't have to imagine to hard. So we cleaned and cleaned on Sunday afternoon...all day...for a long time. Then I made a tasty snapper dinner and we went to bed early, very nice.

Monday was a beautiful day for a BBQ. We had Greta and Mr. T up plus our new friends Phil and Glen. They brought over their dogs too and we had a great time. We ate and drank for 5 hours. Then we topped off the day with an intense round of Bocci Ball in the park. Such a nice weekend. It sucks to be back in my office with no wine and cheese for lunch. Damn these long weekends!

Adventures in Brisbane

So Todd is in Hawaii doing what he needs to do and I am in Brisbane watching the homefront. How hard can that be? Sheesh I am super woman! My GOD when does he return! I am doing well but damn this single parent shit sucks.

Let's sum up some of my adventures:

I left Bruce (the beta) too close to the stove top the morning after Todd left. His glass bowl was really cold and I guess the heat contraction was just too much. I heard a crack and a hiss, as I was turning on my new vacuum for the first time, and I could not figure out what the noise was from. As soon as I walk in, his glass bowl falls apart and Bruce cruises across the hot range on his way to the floor. I save him off the hot burner and dump him in the dogs water dish. Well the dogs loved that. Fish in the bowl and nasty algae water EVERYWHERE. Being water dogs, they start playing in the water on the floor and continue to get really frisky and chase each other around the house. Meanwhile I have the bowl above my head trying to save Bruce from the dogs. I run across the floor to escape the dogs and I slip on the water which sends me hurtling into the family room. However Bruce remained unharmed. I still have to clean up the algae foot prints. Bruce was ok but a little stunned. The dogs were happier then pigs in shit, covered with algae water and chewing the sea grass. Nice...

I later try out my super duper vacuum. Serious Electrolux stuff. I spared no expense on this one. This shit has a car motor in it which means super suction power and heavy use. I need both in this house. I turned it on and went around the corner to move a chair and the puppy got to close. Sucked half of his little body right up. I was seriously afraid I would have to retrieve him in the HEPA filter. He was freaked out as I was trying to get his leg out of the hose. It didn't occur to me to turn off the vacuum first. Fucking house work...not for me! I nearly sucked up the dog.

So after a few days without Todd, cereal for breakfast was getting old. I decided to go marketing and fix myself something warm. I found my way around the supermarket ok and proceeded to cook myself a nice meal. I bake, not cook mind you. I burned the chicken, turned the broccoli into paste, and charred my potato. The potato caught on fire and I had to throw it out the window. The puppies thought that was great! Now there are bits of charred potato all over the yard. I ended up ordering pizza, it was safer.

I almost washed ANOTHER gecko! I saved him though. That will learn him for hiding in my sock. Todd would never forgive me!

Cappy is moping that Todd is gone and she insists on sleeping on the couch. She is clever and gets up there at 3am when I am not around. Last night I put on her Frontline behind her neck. Guess what slept on their back on the couch last night? Yeah...you are right. The couch is now ruined and I already am pricing having it re-upholestered. That oily mess will never come out. Great...

On a better note, we did get our crate and I put the bed together all by myself! I put the allergy cover on, set up the frame, and hoisted the oversized queen mattress on it myself. I am so proud of myself.

Introducing...

Todd and I have been engaging in un-protected sex and we created a puppy. IF ONLY! Actually, the truth is we fell in love with his big black eyes and decided to take him home with us. His name is Casey and he is a 12 week old golden (weird, another golden.) Cappy hates him. She is so jealous yet aloof at the same time.
She refuses to accept my pets/scratches when he is close by. Either I give her my full attention or none at all...she is such a diva. Oh well, she will come around. After all, how many first born children like their siblings at first? Not too many.


Dad is Bailey-the dark golden
Mom is Lilley-the light golden
and Casey is the little guy







Casey is from the country, about 1.5 hours south/west of Brisbane. He is very scared of cars and the noise from the cross walk signal. Not too many of those out in the bush. It is ironical that we got him. His grand father came from America (only 4 registered American Golden Retrievers in Queensland) and his mom is an Australian golden. The difference is that the American type are darker in color and bigger. The Australian (actually English type) are smaller and very light in color. He will fall somewhere between we think. He has a great manner and he is such an attention hog. Not like Cappy at all. Even as a pup, she was not very attention needy or cuddly. He is all that and more! We love him, even though he is a winger!