Marathon Training

T-minus 8 weeks before the Great Ocean Road. I did 20 miles this Sat and it was OK. I have done 20 miles before but I did not feel 100%. However, it was really humid so I will cut myself some slack. My goal for this race is to finish in under 5 hours. So far, if I maintain my pace, I will finish at 4 hours and 59 min. YIKES! No room for lallygagging as my dad would say.

Cheesecake

All Todd wanted for his birthday was a cheesecake. Not just any cheesecake but my famous lime cheesecake. This cake is not for the lactose intolerant. In addition to Philly cream cheese there is a substantial heaping of full fat sour cream. Here is a picture of my finished product! It turned out so nice and super duper yummy. I am so domestic:)

Speaking of birthday, the other picture is of Todd and myself on my 30th b-day in Melbourne. Who fell asleep by the pool and forgot to cover her face?????

Has anyone seen my laptop?????

I have waited, and waited, and waited for my FUCKING laptop to arrive. I am so over this! Dell called me last Friday and said they would deliver it on Monday between 9am and 1pm. I said that is an awfully long interval, but hey how can I argue when I work from home. Anyway, 3:30pm rolls around and no laptop and no phone call to say they are running late. I call Dell that night and they say the usual "We are so sorry for the inconvenience. Can we arrange an after hours delivery on Tues? The courier will be there between 5pm and 9pm" Whatever, sure...why not? Needless to say, last night I went to bed at 10pm with no laptop. I am waiting for Dell to open up so I can tear them a new one. I hope that this whole delivery thing is just some kind of "comedy of errors" but I have a sneaky suspicion it is just pure incompetence.

The thing that gets me is this...why does the delivery industry act as if they operate in some parallel universe? I mean that, if we say to a business colleague "I will be there at noon" and don't show up, it would be extremely rude and unprofessional. We would never stand for it, nor would we do it ourselves. Why do we let the delivery companies get away with it? What makes them so different? Ah, the question for my next PhD!

Laptop

I bought a new one. I hate myself. I am a product of America's consumer culture:( Worst of all, my new piece of conspicuous consumption comes with a copy of Vista and all it maladies. I had no choice. I can hear the Apple people screaming "Helooooo, over here" but I had two problems with Apple. First, to get the laptop I wanted from Apple I would have had to spend twice as much as I did for my new Dell. Secondly, I regularly use 3 software programs that do not have a Mac version. These programs are SO memory hungry that I am not even sure virtual windows could do the job. Plus if the program ran really slow then I would shoot myself for even attempting such a gesture. Even the guy at the Apple store told me to get a PC (sigh).

So why did I do it? I gave into the weight factor. First of all, I should premise why weight is such an issue. I am SO over America's war for oil plan that I ride my bike everywhere (lost 9.2lb in 3 months as a happy side note). Carrying a heavy book bag with books + external hard drive + CD's was getting a bit much. My data programs and digital interviews are HUMONGOUS. I measure their size in MB. So I figured carrying one laptop as opposed to all that other junk would be easier. I have NO intention of driving (too high maintenance for the bus, so that is not an option) so I can carry more stuff. There, nuff said. Plus, with my 2 overseas conferences this year it will be nice to be connected...at least periodically.

For Vichet

Vichet,
Here is the link for an excerpt from Hip Hop Girls. Sorry I could not send in an e-mail, it was too big! Give it a minute for the icon to appear.

Hottest Day

It was 40C on Saturday (that is 104F for US people and 313 Kelivn for science nerds)! The heat was unbelievable! No, it was not a "dry" heat. This is Queensland! There is nothing up here called "dry heat". It was friggin humid and I wanted to DIE. Unfortunately, Saturday's are my long runs:( I got up at 4:45am and ran 25 km. I finished at 8:30 and that was about 3 hours too late. It was GOD awful! Needless to say, I came home and wanted to nap. IMPOSSIBLE because who wants to lay on a mattress when it feels like the sun in your house. And that BS about Queenslander houses being built for the heat? Biggest bunch of BS EVER. It was 41 in our house! Greta gave us salvation by inviting us over to her (cold) pool to play classic catch. So nice and my body temperature plummeted.

So you are probably asking, why didn't you turn the A/C on? Well we don't have one. We have a small floor unit that we can use but it is only half ass. Todd and I both had lots of work to do on Sat so we put it in the office and blasted it. The dogs came in and sat around the unit and Cappy put her head right in the way of the fan. It was blowing her fur everywhere. I finally succumbed and passed out on my yoga mat hoping that I would die in my sleep to end the misery. Alas, I did not and now I have about 20 pages of work that needs to be written by...oooh 3 hours from now. Thank GOD it cooled off on Sunday or else I would have bailed from this town. Amazing I tell you!

My 30th Birthday Goal

I have decided that since I am turning 30 this year, and supposedly leaving my youth behind, I would do something to remind myself that I am still young and fit. So I have entered myself in the Great Ocean Road Marathon (26 miles or 45 km) in May. Hopefully, I will have what alcoholics call a moment of clarity, and realize what I have done. Until then, Happy Birthday to me!

Yoga Forms

There are so many types of yoga out there. Here is another to add to the list..."Australian Yoga"

Indian Yoga












Australian Yoga

Cute commercial

Gertie sent me this video and I nearly fell over laughing. I am sure a few parents out there appreciate it:)

An interesting article from the Post

KITE RUNNER BANNED IN AFGANISTAN

Ugh, is there a cinema in Afganistan? Last I heard, 90% of the country didn't have electricity. WTF? Bizzare news.

2007 Round Up

So another year has passed. I feel old because the year disappeared on me. My elders tell me that time goes by quickly when you get old. This is not good for a procrastinator.

Anyway, here are some highlights of 2007!!!

KP's Birthday with Gertie in Port Douglas, Queensland



















Mossman Gorge, Port Douglas, QLD














Casey's Birthday at New Farm Park in Brisbane














Chinese New Year with Wei Loong














Mornington Peninsula vineyard; Melbourne, Victoria














Wine tasting Katia style














Moreton Island sand dunes (10 stories tall!) Moreton Island, Queensland














Angkor Wat sunset; Siem Reap, Cambodia












Cambodian friends!














Todd, Katia and Tobey on Day 1 of trek to summit of Mt. Kinabalu; Borneo, Malaysia
















Summit of Mt. Kinabalu in the FREEZING rain! (Note: We started in tropical rainforest)















Day 8 of our 10 day bike tour of New Zealand. Crossing of 45th parallel close to Cromwell. New Zealand, South Island.














Lake Tekapo (glacial lake) on Christmas Day in New Zealand.











Milford Sound cruise for New Year's Eve; Fjordland National Park, Milford Sound, New Zealand.














New Years Day 2008! Milford Sound.

Long time no see

I have turned into the kind of blogger I hate the most, someone who does not update their blog! However, I have a good excuse...I have been in the jungles of Borneo followed by a romp of the Cambodian countryside. Can't help it...I like to spoil myself:) I am in Cambodia at the moment trying to get some work done but my busy social calendar is making that difficult. This is a town where there is lots to do and great ways to procrastinate:(

As soon as I get home i will be sure to post some pics of our amazing adventures.

Busy busy busy

We have had a very busy few weeks. Todd's mom came for a 2 week visit and we did a lot of sightseeing. Todd and Mary went up to Port Douglas and the GBR for a little R and R. I stayed behind and defended the fort:( We did embark on numerous little day trips in and around Brisbane. There is really so much to see in this area of Queensland and it was nice to have a reason to go exploring.

Todd and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday. We went on a yoga retreat to Murwillumbah with his yoga studio. It was the second time we had gone and we had such a lovely and relaxing time. I spent plenty of time by the pool, eating, walking, eating some more, and stretching. Murwillumbah is on the NSW-QLD border in one of the most breathtaking areas of Australia. Lucky for us, it is only 1.5 hours from our house. Picture undulating green hills full of sheep and cattle. Everything is bright green and lush. Ahhh, say it with me "Gorgeous!"

I am now in super panic mode. I leave next week for India for my conference followed by a trip to Borneo and then on to Cambodia for a month. I expect to be back in Brisbane sometime in mid-December. Needless to say I have a lot to do before I leave. Anyhow, enjoy the pictures...I must get to work!





Todd and Mom at GBR














Todd and Kids at Glasshouse Mountains














Waterfall at Springbrook National Park













Kookaburra chill'n














Can you spot the koala?















Posing in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens by Mt.Cootha














Tagalooma Wrecks off of Moreton Island, Brisbane. The Brisbane City Council sunk these dredging vessels in the 60's to create an artificial reef. The area is full of colorful fish, dolphins, and dugongs (relative of the manatee). We did some snorkeling.















Moreton Island















Todd on Moreton Island beach














Katia coming down one big ass sand dune! It is 10 stories high!!!














Dolphins racing our boat, so cool!

New Picture

My friend Ian took this picture of me back in July. I wonder if the monk and I are looking at the same beast???

More Cambodia pics

I have decided that I have WAY TOO MANY Cambodia pictures. Therefore I will devote 2008 to visiting more SE Asian countries. I have my eye on Laos and Burma (Myanmar). I think Burma will early next year with my friend David but Laos evades me. I have no idea when I will have the time to fit it in! Plus Lisa wants to meet up somewhere "different" for her spring break. Perhaps Kiribati, outter islands of Japan, Manado, I just don't know! God help me when I get a job. I will be so miserable:(


Some Wat in the middle of nowhere




















Bai! Or rice to the white folk.














Typical house in the countryside














Hashers! Those crazy people:)

What I will never become

A mother who hangs out with her baby and other "mommies" at the mall during lunch time. They drive me CRAZY and crowd the Starbucks!

and I am home again...

So nice to be home! I am relaxing to Thelonius Monk and trying to procrastinate a little longer. My trip was a success and I want the high to last, but I know that reality is going to set in soon enough. I had a reality check the other day when I realized that in order to gradute in Dec 2008 my dissertation needs to be submitted by Oct 13 2008. That gives me about one year to write up my thoughts. Folks, I have A LOT of thoughts. However, I have much planned for the rest of the year so I think I will start Jan sometime. I will be out of the country starting Oct 2nd and not coming back until Jan 3rd so the idea of starting something only to put it on hold seems foolish.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my last trip.

Women in my focus group














local kids















me on my hash run



















common running obstacle
















My friend Ian and I next to our ghetto broke down tuk-tuk














Favorite pic from the zoo

More updates

Well...let's see...what have I been doing? Actually, best to ask "what haven't I done?" I am exhausted from all the work. Seriously, I want to go home and rest. The data collection is really in full swing but the days are long and the heat is punishing. I spend most of my time hiding from the sun or wiping my face. Seriously, Cambodians DO NOT SWEAT. It is the most amazing thing to me.

I have been engaging in some runs with the Phnom Pehn Hash House Harriers. The runs have quenched my appetite for rice paddies. If I see another rice paddy I will vomit. They are so lovely though and the kids LOVE to chase us through the fields. Cambodians are FAST! My social calendar has also never been more full. That could explain a lot of the late mornings:/ I have also enjoyed hanging out with my friend Ian, from England, who makes PP so much better! It is really the people around the place and not the place itself. Actually, PP is a dump and few people would argue with me. However, I have had a better time socially here then in the US or Australia but the living is hard.

I did receive good news that my abstract for the 4th Annual Conference on Reproductive Health and Sexuality in South Asia was accepted for a 30 min oral presentation! I am super excited and this will be the largest (and most significant) presentation yet. It is in Hyderbad, India in October. All I need now is $$$ to go...but I am working on that.

I will post pics when I get home. I am working off my very old lap top and I am afraid that if I hiccup the thing will stop working. Come on baby, hold together for a few more weeks!

It looks like I will head home next week, which is good. I miss my boy, dogs and bed!

Cambodia...again

Well I am back and playing researcher again. Pretending is a lot of fun:)

I have not written much b/c I am BUSY most of the time. Here is the update:

In Phnom Penh until mid August. I am house sitting in the lap of luxury. I have a cleaner, a security guard and a gardener. My friend Ian from the UK is also living with me!!! Yeah for friends in Cambodia. This house is so huge that it feels eerily empty with just me, so it is nice to have some company. I also have internet which means I can surf anytime and bother my friends with endless Skype calls that cost about $0.021 a minute. Super cool! I am sold on Skype plus it is the only way to make an international phone call, so I don't have much choice in the matter.

Let's see what else...I joined my local sports club (rubbing elbows with Khmer high society) and my little yoga studio down the road. I even went to the Phnom Tamao zoo. We broke down in our tuk-tuk about 20km from PP and were stuck for an hour until the carburetor got fixed. That was not good. Too bad having all these neat things doesn't enhance my research. On the contrary, I have so many other fun things to do that my research...is well...slow. To even make matters worse I was asked to go on a 5 day trek around the Mekong Delta which is hard to say no to. I will be very pissed at myself if after a month I have done nothing:(

I miss everyone and will posts some pictures soon.

Happy Birthday Cappers

My big girl is 3 (21 in dog years)! Happy Birthday to my baby!