Colorado, the "I'm a dirty slacker" edition

So, um, WHOOPS. I've been in Colorado for two weeks and have yet to say anything about it. This is not to say that I haven't been doing anything worth reporting. Just that I've been an epic slacker in writing about it! Personally, I'm just impressed at how long I've spent sitting on what my brain thinks is the driver's side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, without freaking out.

So what have I done so far? Been to two zoos, one museum, one art gallery, one food festival, two trivia nights, one tea factory, one baseball game, one reconstructed Anasazi cliff dwelling, and the Garden of the Gods.

But let's go back to the beginning. Arriving in Colorado was something of a shock, as the temperature was about 10 degrees C hotter than it had been in Chicago - mid 30s rather than mid 20s. The day after I arrived, my ankles swelled up to fairly spectacular cankles of doom dimensions. Uncertain whether it was a side effect of the heat, the altitude, or the flight the previous day, I consulted my mum via email. Her response [paraphrased, of course]? "Booze is a diuretic. Have a drink and you'll be fine. Or, you know, there's tea. But go with the booze!" So I did - Lyndsy and I went to trivia and I ordered some Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider. Which the waitress referred to as beer. Which, WHAT?!
Me: I'll have the Woodchuck hard cider, thanks.
Her: We have another Woodchuck on tap if you'd prefer a draught beer?
Me: Um. But I want cider.
Her: It is cider.
Me: *confused dog head tilt*

Dear America, CIDER IS NOT BEER. That is all. Love, me.

To continue my faith in America's public education system, one of the rounds at trivia was geography based. They had a slightly weird system where you took up your answer for each question on a tiny sheet of paper rather than turning in one big sheet at the end of the round. For the geography round, each question had two parts. If you knew the answer from the first part, you got two points. If you needed the second, you only got one point.
Quiz dude: Name the second longest river in Europe, starting in Germany and ending in the Black Sea
Me: *scribbles down 'Danube' by the time he gets to the word Europe, and hands it in just after he says 'Sea'*
Quiz dude: If you guys know this that quickly, you're my heroes... *looks at answer sheet* HOLY CRAP!! How do you know that?!?!

The second part of the question was "This river has a colourful dance tune named after it." Then it came time for the answer.
Quiz dude: It's the... Da... Da... Da...NOOB? The DaNOOB. Is that right? Do you guys know?
Me and Lyndsy: *face palm*

Needless to say, we won the geography round, and got free dessert as a result #score

And on that note, it's late and I'm going to bed. I'll endeavour to try and catch up on the Colorado related stories soon. With photos. You're welcome... ;)

K xx

A milestone

One year ago today, I went to see 'Julie and Julia' with my friends from work, L and L. I came home, sat down on the sofa with my laptop, and started a blog. Yes, folks. It's my (as much as I hate the word) blogiversary today!

It's been quite a year. I've started working full time again. Been to Thailand with my BFFs Nessa and Kat. I've baked FAR too much for my own good, and fobbed as much of it as possible off on other people. I've convinced Sara to get a 12 month visa and hang out in Canberra for a year (mwahahaha!). I've been to Tasmania twice, the Lachlan Valley once, Sydney twice, and my beloved Melbourne ten times (although on two occasions I didn't leave the airport).

I've been asked to be a bridesmaid. I've moved house to somewhere much closer to the city, much more convenient, and with a much nicer housemate. I've learnt some rather disturbing facts courtesy of our weekly trivia night (did you know that the world record for the most number of children a woman has given birth to is 69? She was pregnant TWENTY SEVEN TIMES... In 18th century Russia. And died, not in childbirth, but at the age of 80. Insane...). I've discovered Ashes to Ashes, Gavin & Stacey, 30 Rock, and True Blood. I've conquered pastry crust, yeast-based baking, and cupcake decorating. I've bought an SLR and taken my rather crappy photography to the next level.

I've hit 'Publish Post' eighty five times, including this one. Oh, and I'm planning something special for my 100th post, when I eventually get there. So stick around. There's plenty more snark, sarcasm, and chocolate where the last 12 months came from....................... ;)

K xx

PS. Dear Guy at the Bus Stop Yesterday,
Really? When you left home in the morning you thought a navy suit and tie on the top half, complete with pocket handkerchief, and MAROON TROUSERS that were an inch too short on the bottom half was the way to go?? Dude... Everyone on the bus stop had "WTF??" expressions. It's time for a wardrobe review...

Random ramblings

It's been rainy and miserable since about 3pm today, and I've spent the past day and a half doing fairly mindless yet necessary admin tasks in the catalogue. So I felt the need to periodically scribble down random thoughts to entertain myself. Here we have the thrilling workings of my brain:

• Why is my office so damned cold?? Wearing two pairs of socks and a coat inside shouldn't be required in a building that has both central heating and back-up heaters that apparently kick in when the temperature INSIDE is between 6 degrees and 15 degrees...
• Why do the IT guys keep bringing fundraising Freddos to work? Don't they know I have no self-control when it comes to strawberry Freddo frogs?? *sigh*
• I'm digging a bunch of very un-me songs at the moment. Including, but not limited to, Hey Soul Sister by Train, The Cave by Mumford & Sons, Fill My Little World by Feeling, Nine in the Afternoon by Panic at the Disco, This Ain't a Love Song by Scouting for Girls, and I'm Not That Girl from the soundtrack of Wicked. All of which my iPod played during the admin-y boredom - for once, the iPod Gods have been on my side!!
• I'm disturbed that at Trivia last night I could identify Lyin' Eyes by the Eagles within two beats. More disturbed that I knew Stand By Your Man is a Tammy Wynette song. And most disturbed of all that I could identify Spandau Ballet's Gold when I've only heard the actual song once before...
• Series 3 of Ashes to Ashes may have been a total suckfest in my opinion, but thanks to it, Billy Joel's Uptown Girl will never fail to make my laugh hysterically...
• How did this list end up being so music-centric??
• The only thing that's going to get me through two hours at the gym tonight is the knowledge that it'll be Farmer Wants a Wife time when I get home. Woohoo!! Finally, Channel 9 has stopped screening reruns of tripe like Two and a Half Men and made a decent show!!
• It was so cold on my way to work this morning that in the 10 minutes it took me to walk the kilometre from my house to the bus stop, my entire face went numb. And no, I'm not exaggerating. There was ice on the perpetual puddles on my street...
• Screw this winter bullshit. Roll on Fake Spring!! [Canberra has a Fake Spring every year. It lulls you into a false sense of security with a spell of warm weather, and then hits you with a couple of extra weeks of arctic blasts and freezing temperatures...]
• I may have used my index finger as a knife to spread hummus on a rice cracker... It was easier than going to the kitchen and getting an actual knife. And I couldn't get the cracker into the corners of the container. No judging allowed...
• Why the hell is it dark at 4.50???? This. Is. Not. Cool.

And post-gym musings:

• Why did I just see an ad on TV encouraging people to drink chlorophyll for its toxin cleansing abilities?? That's just freaking weird...
• Why did I just see an ad on TV for a new fast-food breakfast wrap that used the word 'tortilla' pronounced tor-tiller???? Ew.
• Two weeks away from the Pump/Combat double was two weeks too many. It huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurts...
• This list is freaking boring, and if anyone actually reads this far, I shall be incredibly surprised.
• I should really go and pack, seeing as I'm going straight to the airport from work tomorrow night. And yet I'm sat here channel surfing now that Farmer Wants a Wife has finished.
• This is pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA

Oh, look. A reward for getting to the end of my spiel of nonsense!! ;)
K xx

Neglect and the reasons for it

I'm sorry - I've been neglecting my poor little blog recently. But with good reason - I haven't been in Canberra! Always a cause for excitement, it started out with flying to Melbourne, meeting up with Sara, and going to the zoo to see the new baby elephant:


After the trip to the zoo, it was off to the AC/DC concert:
Which was a night of awesomeness. Not quite as awesome as the Green Day concert, mind you. But still pretty damned awesome. And at least now I've gotten to see AC/DC before they stop touring/die!
Then it was on to a day of doing touristy stuff in Melbourne with Sara and Aerlyn, which included Eureka Tower:

Taking sample photos for work:

And one of my favourite places in Melbourne - the La Trobe Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria:

Then after a day of catching up with Cas, it was off to Tasmania for six days. Which is a story for another blog post... But anyway, I've been back from Tassie since Monday night, and have been running around like a crazy person ever since (seriously - we went straight from the airport to the Palace's trivia night!). But it's back to Canberra and normalcy this weekend. So rest assured, the neglect won't last much longer!!

Watch this space for exciting stories from Tasmania about tiger snakes, stupidly low shower heads, and lollies that have melted into bizarre blobs of gelatinous sugar!!

K xx :)