Saturday, January 17, 2009

Put another shrimp on the barbie!

Yep, I'm heading out of the awful winter mess for Australia next month. I'm leaving on February 12 and heading back on March 1. Hopefully by then we'll just have a couple more snowstorms to endure and the end will be in sight.

Basically I'm going to be flying into Sydney a day before my students arrive and I'm going to assist with their orientation. Besides important things like giving them cell phones and teaching them how not to offend the locals, I'll be going with them abseiling in the Blue Mountains and cruising on the Harbour. We'll be hitting the zoo and petting koalas and kangaroos. In fact, I hope to eat kangaroo on this visit. Especially since all my meals will be comped.

It's going to be lovely to get out of Indiana and into beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Sydney, but it's also going to be tremendously hard work with extremely long days and hundreds of slightly spoiled college kids to keep track of. I can't wait to meet some of them, especially the ones who call me day in and day out.

I've been told by my co-workers to insist on an afternoon off so I can at least spend a few glorious moments basking in the sun and jumping into Bondi or Coogee Beach.

Work is incredibly busy since all of these students are leaving next month and they are starting to pack. "Should I bring my hair dryer?" "How do I call home?" "Do I really need khakis?" "I have an arrest violation and my visa isn't approved!" (True story)

Things at home are good except this weather. It's incredibly frustrating and the snow never seems to end. The highlight of the upcoming week? The Killers concert in Chicago! YES!

Hope all is well with each of you. Will finally have some fun photos soon!

Friday, January 02, 2009

2009 - Year of the List

I have done a horrible job of updating this blog. I’m surprised blogger hasn’t closed my account!

Things are going well in Indiana. Ken and I have basically been splitting our time at the apartment during the week and near our hometowns on the weekends. For January and February, it is our goal to stay put a bit more and get to know the surrounding area a bit more. I think some cross country skiing is in our future.

With the new year comes new resolutions. My 101 list is up in September 2009 and I am currently trying to get a ton done quickly in January. So right now, I am making my tub slippery with exfoliating body wash, running to the bathroom because I’m trying to drink 8 glasses of water a day, chugging huge glasses of water to take my horse pill of a multivitamin, and burning a nice doublewick candle to relax. I have also contacted some guy to help me set up an IRA and am making a visit to the bank today to continue with my savings plan.

There are some items that should be easy enough to complete, like eating a hot dog in Chicago. I’m thinking a trip to a pre-season Detroit Lions game should be cheap and could be easily coupled with a trip over the border to Canada. I’m heading to Australia next month and if they send me to Brisbane, I can count it as a new state (Queensland).

Last year I made a fitness related goal of working out at least 20 times a month. I was supposed to reward myself with a delicious treat for achieving 20 and then give myself $5 to spend on cute workout wear for every day above 20. I made my goal every month except April (12) thanks to India and December (19) thanks to bad weather and too much going on. I’m proud of myself! And I never did the treats/money thing either. It was all willpower! This year, my goal is to increase my strength with more weight-related exercises.

Since this is my last year in my 20s, I plan to try to make it memorable and to make it count for something. Crossing off items off of my 101 list will help and I have some other ideas of how to make it better. Brooke gave me a great book of crafts and I’m going to try to be artsy for once in my life. I also have a big trip planned (in my mind at least) and will reveal it once it all comes to fruition. I’m also thinking of starting some volunteer work next month and Ken and I are exploring our options. I want to give blood once a year has passed since India --- apparently they still have malaria in India or some jazz like that. I also need to start working on my next 101 list!

I’ve had a bit of a lull at work compared to the past couple of months (hence the Friday morning blog post). It will pick up again next week and will continue until my students (and me!) leave for Australia in February.

Hope you all are having an excellent ‘09 so far! I have updated my 101 blog and will continue to do so at a more regular rate from now on.