SYDNEY - - Saturday in Sydney for me is Retail Therapy Day and I've decided that I deserve it after a phone call from my mother this morning.
Every year, I schedule my birthday trip's end to coincide with Thanksgiving, that great American eating festival. Not a huge holiday, but one that my family traditionally shares at my mother's home and one that each and every member of my Chicago-area family would torture me for missing.
One of my brothers has been ill and will be having surgery the day before Thanksgiving. My mother even tried to convince me to change my flight so I could be home early (did I mention that he is the Golden Child in our very large family??). Anyway, since I had booked my flights a few months ago and the surgery was only set a few weeks ago, I had timing on my side. Also, he'll won't even awake from the surgery until I'm on the ground in Chicago, so I've got that going for me too.
Needless to say, I didn't change my schedule.
But my mother changed hers.
She called this morning to tell me that she's having Thanksgiving this Sunday! While I'm still in Australia!
Wonder if they'll save me any turkey?
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Does a stuffed shirt come with that?
SYDNEY, AU - - Freshly showered and prettied up after a day or two of sunning, I decided to tempt fate and head to an upscale after-work bar around the corner from my apartment (doesn't it sound cool to say I have a Sydney apartment?!?!).
I'm tempting fate because it was at this same bar that I met The Stalker last year. Remember him? The guy who invited me to lunch, changed it to a private meeting at some out-of-the-way place and then when I cancelled, proceeded to call my cell phone 25 times in three days???
Anyway, no Stalker this time. Yay! The bar was filled with men in all forms of business attire, primarily blues, grays and black suits and ties aplenty. My kind of scene! Apparently I'm not alone in my enthusiasm for the clientele as proven by this great line told to me by a lawyer fellow from New Zealand:
"They call this place the Dry Cleaners because girls come here to pick up a suit."
Alas, I left alone.
Must have forgotten my ticket.
I'm tempting fate because it was at this same bar that I met The Stalker last year. Remember him? The guy who invited me to lunch, changed it to a private meeting at some out-of-the-way place and then when I cancelled, proceeded to call my cell phone 25 times in three days???
Anyway, no Stalker this time. Yay! The bar was filled with men in all forms of business attire, primarily blues, grays and black suits and ties aplenty. My kind of scene! Apparently I'm not alone in my enthusiasm for the clientele as proven by this great line told to me by a lawyer fellow from New Zealand:
"They call this place the Dry Cleaners because girls come here to pick up a suit."
Alas, I left alone.
Must have forgotten my ticket.
Monday, November 12, 2007
PD is my MD
PORT DOUGLAS, AU - This place is my drug of choice. It's my relaxation medication.
I walk slower here (not SLOW, but slower).
Of course I walk slower here. Walk too fast and you miss the screeching blaze of rainbows as lorikeets race overhead. Swim too fast and you miss the amazing feat of glorious sea creatures that breathe water!
My breathing is slower here. My heartbeat, too.
The sky is much cleaner here and the colors much more vivid. It's like a life-sized allergy commercial where the views are blurry until the allergy medication kicks in and then viola! the world is brighter and clearer. I notice so much of nature here and it's because I'm moving at a slower pace that allows me to absorb all the beauty.
The only thing that doesn't slow for me is time and my time in PD is almost up. Tomorrow is my last day here and then down to Sydney.
sigh
I walk slower here (not SLOW, but slower).
Of course I walk slower here. Walk too fast and you miss the screeching blaze of rainbows as lorikeets race overhead. Swim too fast and you miss the amazing feat of glorious sea creatures that breathe water!
My breathing is slower here. My heartbeat, too.
The sky is much cleaner here and the colors much more vivid. It's like a life-sized allergy commercial where the views are blurry until the allergy medication kicks in and then viola! the world is brighter and clearer. I notice so much of nature here and it's because I'm moving at a slower pace that allows me to absorb all the beauty.
The only thing that doesn't slow for me is time and my time in PD is almost up. Tomorrow is my last day here and then down to Sydney.
sigh
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