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!

Ah yes, the literature review

Dun, dun, dun...it has arrived. Time to sit down and really comb through the literature. Ugh, my procrastination abilities are in full swing. I have re-laced all my running shoes, cleaned my trash can with a q-tip, clipped the dog's nails, browsed the internet for further ways to procrastinate, and now I am blogging. I just can't seem to organize my thoughts as to what I need to extract from all the readings. My mentor tells me that I should be asking critical thinking questions about the current literature and what methods they used. Oh GOD, that could take me years to ask questions like that! I am despairing, what do I do?

Supposedly the lit review is 1/3 of my PhD work. Greaaaaat...so in other words, don't fuck it up.

I am so tired it is pathetic. I have been going to bed at 7pm (hmmm, sub-conscious procrastination?) and sleeping until 7am. 12 hours...huh? Who needs that much sleep? Certainly not someone who sits in front of a computer all day! I really knocked my head last week and I am wondering if that might have something to do with it. After my run in (no pun intended) with the bike last week I have been unable to run. So I popped on the elliptical trainer for a workout. Nearly killed myself! I bent down to scratch my leg and the handles (which move with your feet, and my feet were still moving) knocked me on the head and I fell off the machine. I have a huge bump on my head and sometimes it throbs. Exercise is going to kill me! Sheesh, I can't even procrastinate by exercising!

Biking and running

So this week is off to a really rough start. Not good actually. There has been much maritial strife (can't we all just get along?), which I won't go into because I am tired of thinking about it and my eyes are STILL puffy 2 days later, and other stressors that seem bad, but are not...I have low tolerance right now. My bad week was started on Monday by an event I never thought would happen.

I am off for my run on Monday in the park. Nice day, clear sky, and about 60F...perfect running weather. I am on the path when all of a sudden this girl on her bike comes hurling down the hill (not on the bike path, obviously taking a precarious short cut) when she loses control and smacks head on into me. The front of her bike smashes into my knees and knock me back along the path. I literally was soaring in the air. I landed on my hip and skid across the path. To add insult to injury she keeps moving in my direction and runs over my knee when I am on the ground. She has the gall to say "OH MY GOD, are you ok?" No bitch, I am not fucking ok. She was in her school uniform and all of a sudden 30 teenage girls approach on their bike (it was PE class) and stare down at me. I was mortified and in terrible pain. Bad girl for taking shortcuts. She ate it also, but not as bad as I. Ugh. So my run got cancelled and my knees are blue from the bruising. Plus I hit my head and I have a dull thud on the right side of my head. Next time I run, I will bring my helmet. I can not run, chase the dog, or even move quickly. That makes me the most mad, no running. Errrrrr, how will I deal with my stress now?

Pictures!

Voila, PICTURES! Here are some pics of our most recent adventures and day to day life.


Picnic with Greta, Mr. T (Greta's BF), and Todd



Me and Greta at her b-day party at the Ruby Tramp in Surfer's



Todd in the tree at O'Reilly's



Me at O'Reillys on the tree top walk



Mr. T changing Greta's tire on the way to O'Reillys. You go Mr. T!

Scouting mission

Soooooo, my safe world of lit reviews and e-mailing contacts abroad was...shall I say "enhanced". I have been advised to plan a scouting mission to Cambodia, namely Phnom Penh, for sometime this year. I had always anticipated going there of course, but reality starts to set in at one point. All of a sudden I became very anxious and nervous about traveling to such a 1) developing nation 2) a country where very few people speak english 3) sharing a bathroom down the hall (luxury to have one on each floor). "Ok" I think, I can do this. I am a seasoned traveler who has been to all sorts of places. For some reason I can not console my fears of traveling to such a foreign city. I figured that my anxiety stems from the thought of going alone. I am trying to persuade Todd to take a week and go with me, but that really depends on his working situation. Of course, there is the added burden of finding someone to watch Cappy while we are both gone. God, why is this making me so nervous? Terrible.

I tried to look at places to stay and most are very decent (thanks to all the expats and UN workers) but I don't know the lay of the land and I want to stay in a safe area that is easy to get to. The nice part is that the middle range hotels only cost $5-$10USD a night. However; I want to steer clear of the "popular" places cause I don't want to deal with backpackers while I am trying to get sleep and work done. PLUS, I don't have a personal contact in the city yet who can help me with my questions. Ugh...this is going to require some leg work. My legs are tired already.

I am also trying to hunt down a Khmer tutor and get my French conversation skills up and running. Ideally I should have the basic Khmer phrases under my belt and fall back on my French to fill in the gaps. English is still not widely spoken. If it is, it is usually spoken by the tourist guides and hawkers; not government personnel who I will be working with.

So I propose this: If you are a seasoned traveler, adventurous, and can rough it, I invite you along to keep me company. Ok, I am desperate...I will pay. Just name your price! There must be a clause in my travel grant that allows for friends to travel in cases of critical emotional support.

...on being a student

Ah yes, the student lifestyle. God I miss having a real job that pays! Now that I am settled, I can finally reflect on what I have done to myself. Shit, is this really what I want? Oh GOD, what have I got myself into? Whose idea was this anyway? So in order to simplify my thoughts I have made a list of pros and cons on being a student.

Pros:
1. Set my own hours
2. I where ultra-comfy clothes all the time (expected to look poor...no problem!)
3. I get unlimited library access plus no limit on check out items
4. If I am hung over, I just don't come in. Simple!
5. Lots of free food
6. Firm ass. No car=walk EVERYWHERE. Including walking home with groceries and wine.

Cons:
1. That double espresso every morning that used to be routine, is now a luxury
2. Lot's of reading, much of it is very dense
3. No money. My paycheck is a 1/4 of what it used to be
4. No shopping sprees...PERIOD
5. No respect, I am truly a grunt now
6. People assume I know stuff and lots of it. Sorry to let them down.
7. To poor to have a car, but that leads to pro #6

I am sure as time goes on I will more to add to the list, much more. For the time being I will try to enjoy it as much as possible.