Mardi Gras: T minus 4 days

Hey who is counting?

Wrapping up

Well, I bought ALL the airline tickets! Whew! Each leg is with a different airline it seems, so I have STACKS of tickets. Not to mention car rental confirmations and Australian dosmetic tickets for when we fly back down to Sydney to pick up Cappers in April. I am this close (__) to be overwhelmed. There is just SO much to do in such a short period of time. It is hard to be flexible when dates are now set and tickets purchased. I found out yesterday that Cappy + her crate are 13 pounds over the limit to check her as "baggage" so I was told that she must go as "cargo". Instead of costing us $100 to send her from Dulles to LAX it is now $395. How can I possibly say "Nah, that is too expensive" when I just bought her an $1800 ticket from LAX to SYD? I can't, which is why I will suck it up and just pay the fucking $400. My piece of mind just got more expensive and $400 seems trivial at this point.

Cappy seems to know something is up. She sticks to me like white on rice when I come to visit. She also gets veeerrrry nervous when I go to the car. Poor girl just doesn't understand. The quarantine station called last night to confirm her reservation for 30 days at Hotel Quarantine. I won't even go into how much that costs a night. I wish I could say "NO thanks, she'll stay at home with us." I promised her that when we come to pick her up, i will take her swim'n. I promise promise. We are also bringing our camping gear with us from Hawaii so we can camp on our way back to Brisbane once we leave Sydney. That should be lots of fun!

I also gave my 7 day notice to work and my last day is Tues the 28th. I couldn't miss the Mardi Gras party could I? Then we leave on the 5th to go see some peeps in LAX, then visit Todd's fam in San Diego and then off to Hawaii for some R and R. Ahhhh, R and R. It seems so elusive today. Particularly when I have not slept well for a week. Nervous tummy and all.

Country weekend

Since Todd was gone this weekend, I thought I would use the opportunity to get some R and R in the country with my dog. We had a great Saturday. We played Frisbee, dug holes, carried shoes around the yard, collected smelly things, etc. All the things dogs love to do. My girl is doing just fine at mom's, but I miss her terribly and leaving her breaks my heart. She doesn't understand why I leave her. Uhhh the frustration. Try rationalizing with a golden!

My sister was kind enough to give me a massage today. She rocks! Who else would give me a 2 hour massage for free? That's right...only someone who you have been blackmailing since 16! She better massage me or else I will tell our parents her "little" secret!

Step 1 Securing a visa: Mission Accomplished

Visa application: accepted and granted. Step 2: Cappy's medical clearance.

What a nice b-day present!

BTW check out the picture of Tai Shan in his first encounter with snow last week!

Happy Birthday to ME!

In celebration of my b-day this year, I decided to walk down the Australian embassy and lodge my visa application. The BEST present will be to get it back in a timely fashion. We will wait and see. Australia and the US have a lot in common, like culture, food, work ethics, etc. The one thing that sticks out as our most common attribute is this: our governments love paperwork. Lot's of it! They adore it! Need it! Crave it! As a Federal employee I know this first hand. You have to fill out some form called "US-GOV-12-121" to take a long bathroom break. I am sure Australia has something similar. My visa application weighed 2.2 pounds (about 4.4kg) when it was finished. Ahhhh soon it will all be over.

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy a nice lunch at Breadline. I am going to have the tangy curry chicken salad on a whole wheat roll. The roll is so European that it takes the roof off of your mouth. Mmmmmm. Then for after work I am doing happy hour with my pops next door. Finally, I will go home take a bath and crawl into bed early. Todd is gone which means the bed is MINE and all 8 pillows! What more does a girl really need?

Of mice, men, and Lyme disease?

My dog has Lyme disease. A routine blood test just brought be the happy news. Is the WORLD against me? How come EVERY time I try to get to Oz something fucking happens. If it's not us, it's the dog! Urrrrrrr! No matter! It is nothing a round of antibiotics won't clean up. Only 21 days of 350mg of doxy. For those not familiar with ab dosing this is about what you would give to an adult. My dog is 80 pounds and 3ft long not a 5'5 man weighing 160 pounds. Holy smokes! Well, with that dosing she should be free from about everything including most STI's. No chlamydia for my dog!

Visas, medical clearances, money, dogs, oh my!

Good GOD does it take a village to get the Peterson-Watkins clan overseas. It seems everytime I turn around there is some stupid requirement or money. One or the other, and often both. Cappy went in for her blood draws today, yep $400 gone. Not to mention the $400 we have already spent on rabies titers, vaccinations, check ups and God I can't remember. Oh, than there is us! 2 chest x-rays (not covered by insurance), 2 medical examinations (partially covered), months of prescriptions, and a whopping $325 visa application fee. Nice...

Oh yeah, and to make matters more stressful we can't buy a ticket until we have our visas and Cappy has her quarantine clearance. So that puts us into the beginning of March and oh my...I have to be there by March 24. Yeah right! Todd wants to see his family on the way out. We are also planning on stopping in Hawaii for some R and R. The longer the visa process takes the more time we have to cut out of family and friend visits. One thing we decided is off limits is Hawaii. Selfishly the family and friend visits have to be minimized so we can maximize Hawaii and REST. "Sorry 85 year old Grandma, but I have beaches to tan on" It is a NECESSITY at this point that I wean myself off the Xanax and back on to good old wine. I can not go into my doctoral program in the state I am in now.

Through this process I have learned one lesson. God help you if you need a wellness check up with your PCP. Many docs could not see us until May/June. Just the other day I read that the US is having a primary care physician shortage crisis. NO SHIT! What is even worse is that most of the practicing PCP's are over the age of 55. Guess who will be retiring soon? Even the radiologist who did my paper work said that if the country continues in this direction he just might come over and join me. Good luck Mr. Radiologist in getting that PCP appt! I just keep reminding myself that this is all in the name of having a better quality of life:)

SNOW!

Oh my GOD, could it be true? Will we see snow in Feb? I hardly believe it considering last week the temps were in the 60's. Todd left for work with shorts in his bag. No mas! Alas the temps are falling and a BIG low pressure is moving up from the gulf. They are predicting 5-8in at least in the DC area and if the system stalls out, it could be a lot more. Lori, good luck comin' down cause I hear Boston is going to be feeling a blizzard. What a shitty weekend for travel. Oh well, for some reason I agreed to run tomm morning. What the hell was I thinking?

My friend Cornelius just sent me a picture of his 18 mo old Christian. I am going to hire him to shovel my driveway as he appears to be very experienced. Those Germans, their so fastidious when it comes to snow shoveling. My CA boy needs some more training.

I'm leaving on a jet plane

So long DC, I am out of here. I have taken Australian matters into my own hands (as they are the only hands I really trust) and I am making it happen. Details aside, we are out of here. I need to be there by March 24 which means we are moving very quickly. Hopefully we will make a pit stop in Hawaii to visit our adopted dads. So much to do, so little time. Anyone need some furniture?

Waiting

Applications for my scholarship close on Thursday and I am very impatient. Meanwhile I am looking at other jobs across the country, that sucks too. I need a vacation to sort everything out.

Some good news(?):/

So I think I might have some good news. I was the recipient of the "2005 19th St Gold's Gym hardest ass award"...No not the hard ass award (although I probably derserve that too). After the committee reviewed the polaroids (don't I have to give permission for someone to take a picture of my ass-when the hell did they do that?)I was given the grand news after spin class. It seems the competition was tough, but I pulled through. The criteria was straight forward according to the guys. One had to be assured that a quarter could bounce off of it. Here's to running! Too bad my ass can't get me a scholarship to grad school. Alas, I will not be burdened with my schooling quest today. Today I shall celebrate my hard ass. Thanks Gold's Gym and thanks to my running shoes!

Stars not aligned

Ok, I have to blog again today. I decided last week that since I am going through a tough period I would live vicariously through my friends. I figure, "hey, someone out there has got to have some good news to share." I have enough friends that there had to be at least one thing to be excited about. So I sat down and contacted my friends and family but alas; no. You have let me down. I have come to the conclusion that the stars are not aligned because I was hard pressed to find ANYONE with some good news to share. What is going on people? You have disappointed me in my time of good news need. Here are some snipets I got back...tisk tisk...pathetic:

"K good to hear from ya, dog died last week...rough times."

"...didn't get the job or the raise, f*in sucks."

"My JOB is sooooo boring, I want to kill myself..."

"Me and B broke up, I caught him cheating on me at..."

"Mum's arthritis is getting worse, I worry about her."

"My cat ran away, we have no idea where she is."

"I auditioned on Broadway last week, but I didn't get the part."

"OUT OF OFFICE REPLY: Due to a family emergency, I will be out until Feb 24..." (damn!)

COME ON PEOPLE, work with me here. Lori is the only one with any decent news. She had a kick ass interview but no word yet on the job. Come on girl, save us all! Tell me that this non-profit is going to start you at 80K with a parking spot and 4 weeks of vacation!

PINK VIDEO

I am not really a fan of Pink but I thought her new video "Stupid Girls" was well done. She really makes fun of those celebreties who love to get their name in the news and I think it is hillarious! See if you can pick out the celebs she goes after.
Click on the "Pink Video" and it will take you to the site.

Things I miss

My dog
My bed
My kinck-nacks
My Greta
My wine rack
My dog's hair all over my black pants
My dog's dried drool all over my black pants
My dog's water dish that I always manage to step in
My paper towel holder
My sanity and ability to be rational
My energy
My check book (where are you???)
My tan
My long runs


Ok to be fair, I have to give thanks for the things I have:

My Todd
My mom and dad
My friends who love me no matter what I do, or don't do
My excellent health and extraorinarily low cholesterol:)
My job (sometimes)
My temp housing
My bottles of wine
My money (even if it inaccessible)
My determination and stubbornness
My hope for Australia
My thick skin
My ability to say "I don't care" and mean it
My inability to be fearful of most things, particularly men in power.
My balls to stand up for what I believe in when most would run and hide, even if it invokes controversy.
My size 6 jeans that are probably an 8, but say 6 anyway and make me feel skinny
My big container of peanuts
Pandas
Madonna

Anybody seen winter?

I am seriously concerned about this warming trend. It just might be a slow warm up to prepare us for our entry into hell. Yesterday, Jan 30, at National Airport the temp at noon was 64 F (17.7 C and for those science nerds 290.85 Kelvin). People have been blaming global warming, but a meteorologist at NOAA blame it on a high pressure system that has parked itself off the mid-Atlantic coast. Everytime cold air comes down from Canada, the high pressure essentially sends it back to Canada (keep your fucking cold air eh)and to the north east. This Jan is going on the books as one of the 10 warmest Januaries since the late 1800's. YIKES! In the Post somebody called the Hidden Oaks nature center to report praying mantises were hatching. Another person reported seeing bats on Sunday. We are effectively experiencing Florida temps in Jan. BIZZARE! However, you won't here any complaints from me. After all by the time the world goes under water, I will be long dead. Plus there is nothing like running in shorts and a t-shirt in the dead of winter. Bring on the global warming!