hello all,
i am planning on what i will be doing once my time in australia is finished. i will be leaving here the start of march, after about a week at home i will be heading to the oexmann art award in england. after visiting with my family there i would like to travel to spain and walk the camino de santiago de compostela. tommy told me it is a six week trek, so it would be april to the start of may. if you are interested or know anyone else who be interested please put me in touch with them. right now this is all just an idea, not sure if i will actually follow through. however, it would be a great adventure...
thanks,
j
ps ill be posting some stories soon.
here are some links with information.
http://www.vagabondish.com/hiking-camino-de-santiago-de-compostela/
http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/
Monday, December 15, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
thanksgiving down under
since the last post ive been doing a lot of the same thing. working a lot, still saving. things are slowing down now which is good. meredith is two weeks away, then it will be christmas, then time for falls, and soon after i will be off on more adventures. time is flying.
i celebrated thanksgiving a few days ago with pat and sierra. we cooked dinner at pat's house. it was a lot of fun. good company. good wine. good food. not much more a girl could ask for!
we cooked:
twice baked potatoes
mashed potatoes
carrots
corn
mac and cheese
salad
stuffing
a frozen apple pie (which i SWEAR tasted like chicken soup!)
pat was in charge of the twice baked potatoes, here he is with the finished product. he looks like a super dweeb.
the full table.
my plate. lots of carbs... im still exhausted from digesting.
even possum had some dinner.
nana's pie and vienetta. we are pretty sure nana (as larissa would say) had alzheimer's.
all in all a very good thanksgiving. for those of you who celebrated i hope you enjoyed your holiday! for those of you who didnt celebrate i hope you enjoyed your day as well. :P
i celebrated thanksgiving a few days ago with pat and sierra. we cooked dinner at pat's house. it was a lot of fun. good company. good wine. good food. not much more a girl could ask for!
we cooked:
twice baked potatoes
mashed potatoes
carrots
corn
mac and cheese
salad
stuffing
a frozen apple pie (which i SWEAR tasted like chicken soup!)
pat was in charge of the twice baked potatoes, here he is with the finished product. he looks like a super dweeb.
the full table.
my plate. lots of carbs... im still exhausted from digesting.
even possum had some dinner.
nana's pie and vienetta. we are pretty sure nana (as larissa would say) had alzheimer's.
all in all a very good thanksgiving. for those of you who celebrated i hope you enjoyed your holiday! for those of you who didnt celebrate i hope you enjoyed your day as well. :P
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
plans under way
i finally bought my ticket for vietnam! ill be going at the start of february and i am very excited. i am also planning a trip to tasmania with christine in january, i think katie might be coming as well. meredith is also just around the corner! so much to look forward to.
ive spent the last few weeks working a lot, just trying to pick up as many shifts as i can to save up for the travel fund. it hasnt been to bad though as i really enjoy most of the people i work with/for.
this last week has been pretty busy. michael and christine were down from newcastle for a conference. leisa and al invited us all over for dinner and the next day i met up with them in st kilda for lunch. i met some of christine's family. after lunch i met pat's mom and we went down to chapel street.
i went to see the lucksmiths again last week, for their cd release. they always put on a good show.
i took a quick trip with pat and his mom to phillip island and wilson's prom. they rented a car and we all drove down together, well pat drove. he actually did a pretty good job! turned on the windshield wipers once and i only got scared about twice. it wasnt a very long drive down to phillip island and we got there right as the penguin parade was starting. we werent allowed to take photos of them because of the flash. im just going say that penguins are very cute, but smell horrible. http://www.phillipisland.net.au/penguinparade.html we stayed in a cute little hotel and got up the next day to see the nobbies. the nobbies are huge blocks of volcanic rock and the waves crash into them, then because of all the holes water sprays out everywhere.
the next day we drove to wilson's prom (didnt get lost!). wilson's prom is a national park and it was so cheap to get in! i was amazed, only 10.20. the main road throught he park is pretty uneventful and is surrounded by 'bush'. suddenly you get to a point with a huge valley on the left, then the ocean appears to the right. the beach we went to was called squeaky beach, because the sand squeaks under your feet! it was a gorgeous beach, literally the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. there were giant rocks everywhere and the sand was amazing. it felt very surreal to be in such a beautiful place. after the beach we headed back to melbourne.
last night after babysitting i went with pat to the rooftop cinema opening party. i dont go out as often as i should so it was kind of neat to see all of the well dressed melbourne hipsters drinking on a roof in the middle of the city. it is a really nice bar and i am looking forward to getting up there in the next few weeks.
nobbies.
nobbies.
view on the other side of the nobbies.
squeaky beach.
pat and his mom.
squeaky beach.
pat's mom at squeaky beach.
being crushed by rocks.
pat's mom on the rocks.
tight fit!
ive spent the last few weeks working a lot, just trying to pick up as many shifts as i can to save up for the travel fund. it hasnt been to bad though as i really enjoy most of the people i work with/for.
this last week has been pretty busy. michael and christine were down from newcastle for a conference. leisa and al invited us all over for dinner and the next day i met up with them in st kilda for lunch. i met some of christine's family. after lunch i met pat's mom and we went down to chapel street.
i went to see the lucksmiths again last week, for their cd release. they always put on a good show.
i took a quick trip with pat and his mom to phillip island and wilson's prom. they rented a car and we all drove down together, well pat drove. he actually did a pretty good job! turned on the windshield wipers once and i only got scared about twice. it wasnt a very long drive down to phillip island and we got there right as the penguin parade was starting. we werent allowed to take photos of them because of the flash. im just going say that penguins are very cute, but smell horrible. http://www.phillipisland.net.au/penguinparade.html we stayed in a cute little hotel and got up the next day to see the nobbies. the nobbies are huge blocks of volcanic rock and the waves crash into them, then because of all the holes water sprays out everywhere.
the next day we drove to wilson's prom (didnt get lost!). wilson's prom is a national park and it was so cheap to get in! i was amazed, only 10.20. the main road throught he park is pretty uneventful and is surrounded by 'bush'. suddenly you get to a point with a huge valley on the left, then the ocean appears to the right. the beach we went to was called squeaky beach, because the sand squeaks under your feet! it was a gorgeous beach, literally the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. there were giant rocks everywhere and the sand was amazing. it felt very surreal to be in such a beautiful place. after the beach we headed back to melbourne.
last night after babysitting i went with pat to the rooftop cinema opening party. i dont go out as often as i should so it was kind of neat to see all of the well dressed melbourne hipsters drinking on a roof in the middle of the city. it is a really nice bar and i am looking forward to getting up there in the next few weeks.
nobbies.
nobbies.
view on the other side of the nobbies.
squeaky beach.
pat and his mom.
squeaky beach.
pat's mom at squeaky beach.
being crushed by rocks.
pat's mom on the rocks.
tight fit!
Friday, October 24, 2008
James Alexander George Oexmann
i am aunt maggie! how strange.
here is maria with james.
he was born in lexington, kentucky at st joseph east hospital at 4:45 pm on october 23, 2008.
charles, maria and james.
9 pounds 10 onces, 21 in long.
charles and james.
here is maria with james.
he was born in lexington, kentucky at st joseph east hospital at 4:45 pm on october 23, 2008.
charles, maria and james.
9 pounds 10 onces, 21 in long.
charles and james.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
more free time= very good thing
so after much consideration i decided to leave my job at torta. things were getting a bit hectic trying to juggle all the jobs, also i realized i can make more than enough with catering and babysitting. this means that i now work about four days a week instead of working almost everyday. i have submitted a volunteer application to RRR and hope to hear back from them soon.
the last two weeks have been pretty good. last sunday i went to vic markets to do my grocery shopping. i enjoy going to the market, however it seemed that most of my fruit went off quicker than normal. in fact the basil i purchased went off the next day! maybe i didnt store it properly. that night pat and i went to the alderman for a drink. i looked across from where we were sitting and i saw the girl from AIH chatting with the bass player from the lucksmiths! i was too nervous to say anything, even though i interviewed her a few months ago, so eventually pat got up and introduced us to them. we had a nice talk about boulder and the recording session they did for 1190. i also made a fool of myself and looked super creepy in front of mark. i kept saying things like: oh god im so creepy! sorry for interrupting you! ive seen you play so many times let me recount EVERY DETAIL of those nights!... i really need to learn how to carry on proper conversations.
the week was pretty slow, did some babysitting for leisa on wed. that night i helped her and al set up for gabe's third birthday party. it was pirate theme and all the kiddos dressed up. leisa made a pirate cake while al transformed the trampoline into a giant pirate ship. i was the consultant and stood watching them with my hands on my hips giving directions. the party was a big success. the kids walked the plank, went on a treasure hunt, and played pass the parcel. there were also lots of temporary tattoos floating around, three of which formed a pirate sleeve on my lower left arm. temporary tattoos are just as much fun as i remembered, but a lot more difficult to remove... i scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed but couldnt get them to come off. finally i soaked my arm in a tub for about twenty minutes and after a little scrubbing they came off.
well its a big night in tonight so i think ill go make some dinner! thanks for checking in!
the last two weeks have been pretty good. last sunday i went to vic markets to do my grocery shopping. i enjoy going to the market, however it seemed that most of my fruit went off quicker than normal. in fact the basil i purchased went off the next day! maybe i didnt store it properly. that night pat and i went to the alderman for a drink. i looked across from where we were sitting and i saw the girl from AIH chatting with the bass player from the lucksmiths! i was too nervous to say anything, even though i interviewed her a few months ago, so eventually pat got up and introduced us to them. we had a nice talk about boulder and the recording session they did for 1190. i also made a fool of myself and looked super creepy in front of mark. i kept saying things like: oh god im so creepy! sorry for interrupting you! ive seen you play so many times let me recount EVERY DETAIL of those nights!... i really need to learn how to carry on proper conversations.
the week was pretty slow, did some babysitting for leisa on wed. that night i helped her and al set up for gabe's third birthday party. it was pirate theme and all the kiddos dressed up. leisa made a pirate cake while al transformed the trampoline into a giant pirate ship. i was the consultant and stood watching them with my hands on my hips giving directions. the party was a big success. the kids walked the plank, went on a treasure hunt, and played pass the parcel. there were also lots of temporary tattoos floating around, three of which formed a pirate sleeve on my lower left arm. temporary tattoos are just as much fun as i remembered, but a lot more difficult to remove... i scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed but couldnt get them to come off. finally i soaked my arm in a tub for about twenty minutes and after a little scrubbing they came off.
well its a big night in tonight so i think ill go make some dinner! thanks for checking in!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
the parental units come for a visit!
g'day everyone! its been a hectic last few weeks! i got the chance to play tour guide for my folks (we probably should have hired a professional....). i had pretty much the whole time off, except for about three days.
the first day they were here we spent out time walking around a bit. i showed my parents cafe e torta and we went to the grocery store. mom and grandpa fell asleep before dinner so daddio and i went out to dumplings, lucky for us neither of us got food poisoning. the second day we went down to st kilda and saw some of the board walk opening. later that day we met with leisa and al at southbank. we went back to st kilda the next day to meet up with my dad's friend john. after breakfast i was lucky enough to get a massage with my mom while grandpa and daddio soaked in the salty sea baths. they pump salt water from the ocean into giant hot pools. grandpa loooooved it. in fact he enjoyed it so much that daddio got him a week long pass. the two of them went almost everyday. we all drove up to newcastle and my parents were fortunate to be able to visit michael and christine. i rode up with them in the car, but decided to fly back so i could work the day after. it was a long ride, however it was nice to visit. my parents spent the weekend in sydney with michael and christine. i think they had a wonderful time. once they got back to melbourne we had a few days to hang around before they had to head back to the US. the first day back mom and i did some shopping while grandpa and daddio explored the area around the apartment. we also went to leisa and al's for dinner that night. the next day dad and grandpa went to the forest to see the sawmills for dad's wood business. that night a few people came around to meet my parents, it was very laid back and i think everyone enjoyed the evening. on the last day before they left daddio and i took a drive down near frankston. it was nice to have a car to drive along the coast, it made me even more excited to start traveling. the next morning we checked out of the apartment and got coffee from torta before my parents had to head off to the airport.
this is my dad on his birthday (also the day they arrived). he is opening his birthday present. i was so excited they were coming that i went and checked into the hotel early and waited a few hours for them to get there. i also bought them happy birthday/welcome to australia muffins.
richard. he looks pretty good for having just ridden back from kentucky by car and suffered through the flight to australia.
here is is doing a tim tam slam. megan and pat came over with tim tams. daddio is obsessed with doing tim tam slams, i became a bit worried when he started doing them by himself.
tim tams and some coffee.
we had lunch at southbank with leisa, alister, hanna, gabe and josie. josie enjoyed riding on dad's shoulders. he also gave her ice cream for the first time!
here is leisa and gabe.
grandpa crashed that night! too much excitiment with the kiddos.
we popped into my house to have a look around. here i am with chris in out livingroom.
unfortunaly all the pictures from the car on the way up to newcastle are not flattering enough to put on the internet, so there will be no visual documentation from that portion. the car ride was pretty long but not unbearable. daddio drove the whole way. it was good to see michael and christine again, my parents were so excited.
here is michael at an overlook near newcastle.
michael trying to convince grandpa to go hang gliding (he even offered to pay!).
grandpa next to the hang gliding sign.
my mom at an overlook near nerlson bay. you might recognize this location from some of the pictures in an earlier post.
mom, michael and grandpa at the overlook.
mom on the beach!
the day after my parents left micheal was going to a biker event. here is grandpa warming up the seat for him!
grandpa in his couch potato shirt.
mom and grandpa behind michael's bike.
michael taking grandpa for a spin. ro's face is priceless! daddio is making sure he doesnt fall off the back.
grandpa looking at the rental car's engine. it was a wekkend of machines!
view from their motorboat on sydney harbor.
christine and mom in the hotel room in sydney.
grandpa and christine's father in sydney.
these are almost all the pictures i have at the moment. i didnt get any of the other ones off dad's camera. hard to believe they were here a full two weeks! time went by so fast!
now it is back to work to save up money, things are still good in melbourn. i have a few babysitting gigs this week (today i had the task of supervising 7 kids all under the age of about five....). then im going to see mt eerie on tues with megan and the schonberg ensemble on thurs with pat. i also found a great compilation CD of melbourne music, it is called melbourne waters 2. i havent been able to find the first CD at the library but might by it from a local store. check it out if you can find it. i also found a CD by a guy named grand salvo, ive really enjoyed it. i am also reading no one belongs here more than you by miranda july. it is a collection of short stories and was suggested by a friend. it is a quick read but pretty good for tram rides.
the first day they were here we spent out time walking around a bit. i showed my parents cafe e torta and we went to the grocery store. mom and grandpa fell asleep before dinner so daddio and i went out to dumplings, lucky for us neither of us got food poisoning. the second day we went down to st kilda and saw some of the board walk opening. later that day we met with leisa and al at southbank. we went back to st kilda the next day to meet up with my dad's friend john. after breakfast i was lucky enough to get a massage with my mom while grandpa and daddio soaked in the salty sea baths. they pump salt water from the ocean into giant hot pools. grandpa loooooved it. in fact he enjoyed it so much that daddio got him a week long pass. the two of them went almost everyday. we all drove up to newcastle and my parents were fortunate to be able to visit michael and christine. i rode up with them in the car, but decided to fly back so i could work the day after. it was a long ride, however it was nice to visit. my parents spent the weekend in sydney with michael and christine. i think they had a wonderful time. once they got back to melbourne we had a few days to hang around before they had to head back to the US. the first day back mom and i did some shopping while grandpa and daddio explored the area around the apartment. we also went to leisa and al's for dinner that night. the next day dad and grandpa went to the forest to see the sawmills for dad's wood business. that night a few people came around to meet my parents, it was very laid back and i think everyone enjoyed the evening. on the last day before they left daddio and i took a drive down near frankston. it was nice to have a car to drive along the coast, it made me even more excited to start traveling. the next morning we checked out of the apartment and got coffee from torta before my parents had to head off to the airport.
this is my dad on his birthday (also the day they arrived). he is opening his birthday present. i was so excited they were coming that i went and checked into the hotel early and waited a few hours for them to get there. i also bought them happy birthday/welcome to australia muffins.
richard. he looks pretty good for having just ridden back from kentucky by car and suffered through the flight to australia.
here is is doing a tim tam slam. megan and pat came over with tim tams. daddio is obsessed with doing tim tam slams, i became a bit worried when he started doing them by himself.
tim tams and some coffee.
we had lunch at southbank with leisa, alister, hanna, gabe and josie. josie enjoyed riding on dad's shoulders. he also gave her ice cream for the first time!
here is leisa and gabe.
grandpa crashed that night! too much excitiment with the kiddos.
we popped into my house to have a look around. here i am with chris in out livingroom.
unfortunaly all the pictures from the car on the way up to newcastle are not flattering enough to put on the internet, so there will be no visual documentation from that portion. the car ride was pretty long but not unbearable. daddio drove the whole way. it was good to see michael and christine again, my parents were so excited.
here is michael at an overlook near newcastle.
michael trying to convince grandpa to go hang gliding (he even offered to pay!).
grandpa next to the hang gliding sign.
my mom at an overlook near nerlson bay. you might recognize this location from some of the pictures in an earlier post.
mom, michael and grandpa at the overlook.
mom on the beach!
the day after my parents left micheal was going to a biker event. here is grandpa warming up the seat for him!
grandpa in his couch potato shirt.
mom and grandpa behind michael's bike.
michael taking grandpa for a spin. ro's face is priceless! daddio is making sure he doesnt fall off the back.
grandpa looking at the rental car's engine. it was a wekkend of machines!
view from their motorboat on sydney harbor.
christine and mom in the hotel room in sydney.
grandpa and christine's father in sydney.
these are almost all the pictures i have at the moment. i didnt get any of the other ones off dad's camera. hard to believe they were here a full two weeks! time went by so fast!
now it is back to work to save up money, things are still good in melbourn. i have a few babysitting gigs this week (today i had the task of supervising 7 kids all under the age of about five....). then im going to see mt eerie on tues with megan and the schonberg ensemble on thurs with pat. i also found a great compilation CD of melbourne music, it is called melbourne waters 2. i havent been able to find the first CD at the library but might by it from a local store. check it out if you can find it. i also found a CD by a guy named grand salvo, ive really enjoyed it. i am also reading no one belongs here more than you by miranda july. it is a collection of short stories and was suggested by a friend. it is a quick read but pretty good for tram rides.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)