Back in Sunny Australia

I am back in sunny Adelaide after a whirlwind month and a half at home. Thanksgivings (I had 2), baked dozens of cookies, visited all of my relatives, Christmas parties, a brief stomach virus, weddings, evenings out with friends- it was a lot to fit in. I wished I had about a week more to spend with my immediate family, but I wanted to get back to Aus in time for New Years, and I had already bought the ticket, so it was happening.

I just got in yesterday afternoon after nearly 30 hours of travel. Just the highlights: I had a lovely lunch out with my parents at Bandidos, then we walked around Hillsborough a bit before going to the airport. When I checked in at RDU, the Dallas-LA leg of my trip had been cancelled, so I had to stand at the counter for 15 minutes while the lady typed and talked on the phone to try and find me a new route. I ended up flying RDU-Chicago-LA, with almost the same time schedule, so it worked out. Chicago O'Hare airport has this amazing thing in the bathrooms where it automatically replaces the toilet cover when a new person arrives- it's motion activated. Maybe I am behind the times, but I haven't seen this before and I was amazed. (You begin to realize how much you have traveled in the past few years when you can tell people which airports in America and Australia have the best bathroom facilities.) The flights through America were uneventful and on time. I must have been taken off that "list" at airport security, because I was not bomb or drug swiped in either country (I think maybe when I asked the security guy about it last time, he realized I was "onto him" and took me off the list). The flight from LA to Melbourne was great. I have decided that if I can help it, I am flying Qantas internationally to Australia from now on. The seats were huge, the service was great, they gave us menus for the dinner and breakfast. I had a window seat, but I only had to climb over 1 person, and I had a special compartment at the window to put my stuff in so it didn't have to be under the seat. I actually slept a little because I was comfortable. It was pretty great. The flight from Melbourne to Adelaide ended up being delayed about 15 minutes and Marie picked me up at the airport. I was sooooo exhausted by then, and she dropped me off at home (I love Marie!). I showered (the best showers are after being at the beach all day, after days of camping, or after 30 hours of flying), then unpacked everything. I was excited that nothing broke. Then I watched a movie and fought sleep for a few hours and Sarah made me a great dinner of chicken and mashed potatoes and veggies. I managed to stay awake until around 9pm, then I slept for 11 hours, haha.

I woke up this morning, had breakfast, called my parents, then went shopping. Here is what I hope to accomplish in the next few months that I am here:

Working for at least a month in vineyards nearby
Weekend visit to Melbourne
Visit the Shreeves in Perth
Develop a tan with lots of beach visits

Welcome Home: Turkey, Broken Shoes at Weddings and Birthday Bar fights

I have been home nearly 3 weeks, so I decided I needed to update the blog so my Aussies know what I am up to.

The first week was kind of a blur... or blurry, rather. It took me all week to get my sleep schedule back to eastern standard time. I was dozing off at 3pm, and waking up at 4am. But I think I finally worked it out. I had a hotdog roast and wilderness walk at the "Caswell Estate" the first weekend I was home. It was great to see all of my Cheek family and my curves girls and spend some time out at the farm. Then Thursday was Thanksgiving. I technically had 2 thanksgivings because we ate lunch with the Rudisills in Raleigh, then had dinner with the Cheeks in Efland. SO MUCH FOOD, but it was all so good. The weekend was Dan's wedding. It was so great to see many people I had not seen since college. I was "Australia girl" all night, which was fine, at least I had something to say to people. Matt had an atrocious "No shave November" flesh colored mustache, which he spent explaining to strangers all night when introduced. I enjoyed teaming up with his girlfriend Esther to torture him all night; Esther has my stamp of approval :) (Love you Matt, haha). I got to see Couch for the first time since Hines's wedding and talk to him a little. I also talked to JP, Dave, and Andrew, people I haven't seen in a long time. At first, people were a little awkward, but it was funny to see that when drinking, none of them had really changed from how I remembered them in college, haha. I ended up with an unglued shoe by the end of the night and had to walk shoeless to the cab, but it was a great night.

I spent 4 days with Grandma in Efland, which was wonderful. We did a lot of baking, making biscotti and almond cranberry cake while I was there. I made my spaghetti sauce for them one night; both she and Pop were very impressed and Pop had seconds of just the sauce. I was sad to leave, but will spend a couple more days there before I go back to Australia. Last night I went out with Elizabeth for her birthday. We ate at an Italian restaurant name Gravy then went out to bars. In a place called The Oxford, some very drunk guy started a bar fight with a woman. He grabbed her face and pushed it away, then everyone was pushing and shoving. I swooped Elizabeth out of the way, saving her life, haha. The guy was ejected from the bar, and some other man that saw how close we were to danger bought our whole group aftershock shots. It was a good ending to a bar fight.

I've got lots of stuff planned in the coming weeks: Christmas parties, cookie baking, more visiting and socializing. Yay Christmas!