Braving the winter blues...

I don't know if I've mentioned but Matt's car is a heap of junk - The Magna. It broke down a few weeks back, stranding us, along with his sister Emily on the side of the road in Kangaroo Point. We spent 4 hours waiting for a tow truck and all in all the night was a complete FAIL! This weekend is taking that same route. Yesterday night, after 8 hellish hours on Cancer Counsil's cold calling to regular gift PIG program (trust me, you don't want to know) - we found (actually Matt found) a tick on his dog, Sully. Quite a big deal in the Redlands, where paralysis ticks are very common. Apparently, in the span of 24 hours, they can completely paralyze a dog - so we had to keep a vigilant eye on Sully all night, to make sure he was able to walk. We passed the time by playing Little Big Planet - a sweet game involving an adventurous sack person who travels through this strange and beautiful planet, collecting stickers and items of clothing along the way.

Today, we woke up bright and early, fully intent on spending the day out at O'Reilly's - It's a mountain range an hour and a half outside of Brisbane. Unfortunately, because the Magna is like a 90 year old man, we didn't trust it to climb the mountain without breaking down so we ended up going out to the small island of Coochiemudlo. It's just a short ferry ride from Victoria Point, about 10 minutes away from Matt's place. We were going to rent kayaks and paddle around the island but upon arriving, we found out the kayak place was closed. It did end up being a lovely day though. We did the 5 km walk around the island, on the beaches, and when the tide was too high, along the public roads. Saw some really cool Australian foliage, indigenous to the area. Saw a kid with no arm holding a coconut. Saw a train car in someone's back yard and an elaborate birdhouse/princess village made from mosaic glass and making good use of the color purple.

For a day where everything seemed to be going wrong, it was actually pretty damn good! We're back at Matts place now, removing the skirting boards in his room so his parents can install hardwood floors. (fun)

Looking forward to Pizza Capers! (Matt just read this and said we're probably not going to have it so now I am a bit sad)

Aurevoir for now! (P.S feel free to comment on the haste of this most recent post.)

July Shmuly

No to ask. No to ask. Fuck off. No to ask. No to ask. Refused Call. No to ask. Wrong Number. No to ask. Yes, you guessed it. I'm still telefundraising (audible sigh). I am just past 3 months now and it's not getting any better. In my defense, I HAVE devoted countless hours to "seeking alternative employment" but unfortunately, as my work visa expires in 2 months I'm having trouble finding a suitable assignment. The silver lining is I'm down to part time hours (as per my own request), working only Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week so that's made the job a little bit more bearable. Quite honestly though, I am looking forward to getting back to Canada where I will be able to look for more suitable, long-term work. I have officially booked my flights back to Victoria for the 7th of October and am quivering with anticipation. It's been a long and eventful year but I'm ready for a little taste of home (aka Sharon's cooking, mom's hugs, RMRM, hot wings and bridge with Caitlin, maple syrop, etc. etc.) It's going to be difficult to leave this life I've built for myself behind - I will miss Matt and his family immensely, but Matt's looking at coming to Victoria in January so we will just need to spend a couple of months apart, see how we go. Since I last wrote, I've had a busy month and a bit. On the 18th of June, Matt and I went to a Cabaret about bi-polar, which hit close to home because it's got a bit of history in the family. Then, on the 25th, we went to a piano concerto at QPac (part of my birthday present) which was brilliant. The piano playing was smooth as butter and my favorite instruments in the orchestra were the crashing symbols and the double bass. For the most part our big, expensive nights out were in July, so for the past few weekends we've just been lazing about in Cleveland - working our way through the "Full Metal Alchemist" series, an Anime about two brothers on a journey to find a philosopher's stone. On the 5th of July, Magda and Zibby moved out of the apartment so we had a big send off for them - a Polish BBQ and a CRAZZZYYYY party. They've now been replaced by an English couple, Robbie and Lorna. Matt's just gotten a new job doing social media at EB Games and life in general is motoring along at a steady pace. Anyways, time's about to run out for me, so I will say goodbye for now :) Keep the comments rolling in, I always love to hear from everyone. xxxx Claire