Maybe in Oz

Meet Ditto, the GIANT Huntsman Spider that seems to be living on my car.  Ditto first introduced himself to us last Friday night after a lovely sunset stroll at the beach.  While I was waiting in the car for Phil to finish his run, this giant hairy brown spider crawled across the passenger door window and completely freaked me out.  I refused to leave the car that night until Phil made sure it wasn't lurking around the doorway ready to pounce on me. Then yesterday Phil was driving and saw this thing moving out of the corner of his eye.  That was how he got the name Ditto - because it was the second time we saw him.  This thing is seriously scary - we need to keep the kitten away from him so she doesn't get eaten.  I'm surprised we haven't seen him eat any of the cockatoos in the backyard. Well today I almost had an accident thanks to Ditto.  I was driving to work, and there he was, crawling on the window.  I freaked.  First I thought he w...

We must thrive on chaos.  Last year we had 12 months full of it, and now things have finally slowed down to normal.  So what do we do?  Get a kitten, of course! We had been debating for awhile, have even had approval from our landlord for a few months.  But we had house guests coming, a trip to the states, it just didn't seem like the right time.  Then yesterday Karen (from our Aussie family) asked if we had any little new ones.  After a few horrified seconds thinking she was asking about babies, I realized she meant cats or dogs.  I also realized that with Phil home during the day and me in town for awhile, it might be a good time to get one.  Why not, it's only a kitten, right?  (Aren't those usually famous last words?) We went to the RSPCA today (the local shelter) and while we were walking down the aisle full of cages a white paw stuck out and swiped at us.  We looked inside and saw two crazy kittens, one black and white and one ...

It was nice to spend a few days last week in San Diego, even if it was very brief and hectic.  I've heard that the hardest part about moving away is moving back, and I am beginning to see why.  It was crazy to see how much had already changed in 7 months - births, deaths, engagements, graduations, broken bones, weight loss, even the penny looked different.  In some ways I had never left, but I could tell that the world was still spinning.  Some of my friends hadn't even seen each other since we last saw them.  Some have made new friends.  Life goes on. I couldn't get over how hard I found it driving over there.  I have been focusing so much on living life here that the lines over what's "right" or "new" have blurred.  It took me two weeks to stop reaching to the left to shift into reverse - and to think - I've reached to the right to shift for almost 15 years but it only took a few months to cause chaos.  I was also surprised to find that I...

Tonight is the last of my 12 nights in Texas, tomorrow I'll head to San Diego for a couple days and then finally I'll head back home.  To Australia.  Because that's where I live :)!  It's been really interesting experiencing this country having seen a different perspective, and I really wish Phil could have experienced this with me because it is such a trip rediscovering the things we used to think were normal. I found myself turning onto the wrong side of the road once, but it was only with intense effort that it didn't happen more often.  Driving here is so confusing because now I've  learned another way and it's really hard to keep track of which way is "right."  The vehicles here are so big, but fortunately the parking spots are equally as large.  Gas is so cheap - though I've heard a few people complain that it's expensive.  Can you imagine paying $6 a gallon?  That's basically what it costs in Oz.  Forget about paying at the pu...