Return To Flight

I'm currently watching NASA tv on the web. STS-114, shuttle Discovery, is scheduled to launch today. This is so cool, to watch them getting their suits on, and entering the cabin, and to follow the launch minute by minute. Wikipedia also has continuing coverage. I so hope this goes off without a hitch.

God bless, Commander Eileen Collins, Steve Robinson, Jim Kelly, Andy Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, Charlie Camarda, and Soichi Noguchi.

Take My Money, Please

Yesterday was my weekly session with the trainer, Esther. I know I'm really lucky to have her, she's very enthusiastic and supportive. I look forward to going everyday. I even did 5 minutes on the cross-trainer, which is 5 more minutes than I did last week. Baby steps. It took me a while to get in this shape, it'll take a while to fix it.
Last week, Stephen came home with 4 or 5 tubs of ice cream, (to take down to put in his son's freezer). Who do you suppose was in line behind him at the checkout? My trainer, Esther. She was so amused ( it is a funny story), she had to share it with Stephen's trainer, Bernard. (And it is a funny story.)
We've been trying to make some changes here, get people in to do some work like putting in new gates outside, and new windows inside. It is really hard to get anyone to even return a call. They're so casual about the possibility of new business, it's hard for me to grasp. "Oh, you want to give me money? I can't be bothered right now, maybe I'll be in touch next week." And it's not an isolated case, we run into it all the time. On the bright side, we don't ever have to worry about Australia taking over the world.

Septic Tank Follies

septic tank follies
Originally uploaded by ozgirl36.

Here you can see the lid of the tank that I finally found. I had the impression that I would pull up a few bricks, and see the concrete of the lid directly underneath. Not so much. It was covered by sand, so I had to go digging for it, after first locating it with the fork. It's done now, so all's well that ends well. The guy was quite a character, typical Aussie working man(in the really short shorts that they wear). He said "Someone's going to have fun replacing all these pavers. Someone about your size?"

At The Gym

Yesterday I went to the gym, had my fitness test... let's just say I didn't pass. It was very depressing to see in numbers how much weight I've put on, how generally unfit I am. On the other hand, the trainer I worked with was really nice, really enthusiastic, and she made it really easy for me. I actually enjoyed it, and if I can coax my thigh muscles into it, I'm going back today. She put me on the elliptical trainer(like cross country skiing) and I did 3 minutes. Oh, I've got so far to go, but I feel good about my chances of getting there. Hopefully this summer, I'll be showing off a toned body, with a couple of new tattoos.
Living out in the country means septic system. Which have to be cleaned periodically. The lid for the tank is somewhere under the patio...I think. I've been doing a little excavating this morning, pulling up bricks. When the former owners pointed it out to us, I thought "Yeah, no bother, that'll be really easy to remember." Now, anyone who knows me even slightly is laughing their ass off at that. Isn't it amazing how we can deceive ourselves...me thinking I had a hope in hell of remembering it without writing it down. Well, I'm paying for that bit of vanity right now, I'll tell you.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Today, I pulled half a dozen lemons off the tree in the back yard.
How cool is that?

Tomorrow, I have to go to the gym. We've signed up for memberships, and tomorrow is my meeting with the trainer for a 'fitness and health assessment'. *sigh*...er, I mean YAY!

Back From Hiatus

So, I took some time off from posting, partly because I wasn't in Australia anymore, but mostly because... well, nevermind why. I'm back, full stop.

When I store my pans, I put a handi-wipe between them (the ones that are stacked) to protect the teflon from scratches. Yes, yes, I know, anal-retentive, whatever. Anyway, I went to get my stir-fry pan, and noticed that the towel looked a little...chewed. Holes that I'm pretty sure weren't there when I stored it. Mice? I sure as hell hope not, but figure the odds. So, Stephen got some traps, and some bait, and last night we put out the traps. No mice were killed (yet). I am soooo not looking forward to the traps actually trapping something. But, Stephen is totally cool with me being a screaming female, so that's all right, he'll be dealing with the small dead furry bodies.

I went to the endodontist on Thursday. My dentist referred me to a specialist because she couldn't finish the root canal, after 2 tries at it. They allowed Stephen to come in with me, and he sat watching my torture. He used a dental dam, which involves a device that keeps your jaws open, and a piece of latex isolating the tooth to be worked on. So I had to keep my jaws open wide for over an hour, and he kept saying "Open wider", and I'm thinking "It won't get any wider!" Stephen used a really good analogy. You know how, in "Mary Poppins", where Mary puts a coat rack into her carpetbag, and you think - that'll never fit. It was like that with the files the dentist put down into my tooth, they just kept getting longer as he cleaned more out. Stephen said he expected them to come out the bottom of my jaw. I hope you're all completely squicked out now - misery loves company. The good news is, he finished cleaning out my tooth. The bad news? Well, due to the fact that I can get codeine over the counter, there is no bad news.

I'm in the process of putting all of my recipes onto my new computer - iMac G5, 20 inch monitor. It's a thing of beauty, and I am a lucky, lucky girl.