I sold the Bed!

It happened yesterday. I posted an ad on Gumtree, which is like Craigslist. Within 24hrs, I got a phone call and within 48 hrs I got 3 phone calls, but the bed went to the first person.
We decided to sell the bed first so we could move our futon into the bedroom and make the lounge room our moving/packing area.
This was all amazing until bedtime last night when we discovered that the futon isn't very comfortable.
Is it possible to wake up more tired than when you went to bed?

I was able to put some puzzle pieces together today as well. When I started crying last night because the prawns (shrimp) I got at the market were rotten (after only 1 day!) and that was the main ingredient in our dinner..."Dinner's ruined" wah wah wah. Yeah, that prolly wasn't over the prawns. It was over the selling the bed and taking
our first step toward actually leaving our Aussie home. I noticed I was missing the bed last night when tried to rest my hand and lean on the spot that foot-board normally is/was. I was brushing my teeth and I nearly fell backward.

By the way, I did ring the market and I can get my $11 back for the prawns.

Yoga Envy

I'm almost done with my 30 day yoga program. The price included 5 classes per week. I have done pretty well with hitting that mark.
I have been practicing mainly 1 form of yoga for about 3 yrs. This was mostly because of money. It was a great deal, they let me clean the studio in return for free yoga. When I could no longer do that, I would just attend the classes when my friend was teaching and she didn't seem to mind letting me slide in gratis.

Here in OZ, I have discovery several veins of yoga. I have been fully taking advantage of the discounts and deals offered to a newcomer at a studio. It's usually "pay for one class and get 7-10 for free". Making the rounds with this, I have seen lots of yogis.

I also use my gym membership to attend our gym yoga. Just to say this, there IS a difference between gym yoga and studio yoga. You only know this if you have done both. Due to our normal gym instructor, Jerrod, taking holiday, we have had the pleasure and boredom of having substitutes. Some of them suck (boredom), but a few are really good and bring a kind twist to our normal routine. While we love the diversity, we welcome the return our long time teacher and his soothing voice. Recently coming from a NY holiday, I think he realized he is far too kind to us and is pulling out some new poses to challenge our practice.

Back to the studio...I am normally pretty comfortable in class. I can do a lot, but that has come with work and practice. Sometimes though, just sometimes there is a crazy yogi - like a human pretzel- that shows up. The last 2 days, Miss Bendy has come to class. It's not so much that I want to be like her (yes it is), but I really just want to watch. Like in most situations, staring is not allowed in yoga class. It's not the normal poses she does that I want to see, it's the ones I'm not good at...like I'm not able to do a headstand, tripod or crow. Somewhere between kindergarten and turning 31, I have unlearnt tripod. Crow is the same thing, only your head isn't touching the ground.

This is me attempting to do crow. The second the flash went off, I toppled over.

So, Miss Bendy can do tripod into headstand. It's pretty fucking amazing. A few others can do it too, it's just that she does it like an acrobat. Now, not to be funny, but there just happens to be an acrobatic school in my neighborhood so in all probability, she could be circus folk.

While in class with her yesterday, I thought up yoga envy. Then we both returned to class today. During class the teacher said something along the lines of "doing what your body can and not pushing it just so the pose looks good." This was an excellent reminder that yoga comes with time. Then I thought of golf. Golf comes with time. Then I thought of parenting. Then keeping up with the Joneses. And it just came back to me. About everything. I have to be reminded not to compare myself to others. My yoga practice is great and I discover new limits every time I try. It's like that with everything. I have to work with what I have. I have to work within my limits, but it's okay to push and challenge and hopefully grow.

This is bridge (or full back bend), it's the hardest thing I can do. My friend Nan helped me with it when she was here in Feb. When I say help, that means my ass was the same height as my knees and she wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled up. See...that's how it's supposed to feel. Ugh.

I only took the photos, because I've spoilt you with this format forever! Using self timer and then getting into the poses was a challenge! If I could have swung a golf club instead, I would have. Muahh!

Stuff for Sale!

We are leaving Melbourne on June 3rd. We need to clean out our things by the end of May.
Here are some photos. You can view the entire contents list & pricing by clicking here.
This is pick up only. We are located in South Yarra.

Please call or email with questions:
Lisa 04 3499 2791, Ldecaire@gmail

BIG DEAL-the lot! All apartment contents on list - NOT including the bed - for $300. Great if you are just starting out!

Let's Make a Deal! If your are interested in more than a few things, please let me know what items you are wanting and we can make a deal. Also, if you would like to see a specific item, I can email you a photo.

File cabinet, fair condition $25

Wine rack (9 bottles) -$10, assorted lamps, square table with fixed legs -$15, small wood table/shelf -$5

Wood cart with wheels and sliding center shelf $10

Queen size bed with black metal head and foot board + sheets and pillows $100

Holiday!

One thing most other countries better than the US is VACATION! Aussie employees get a mandatory 4 weeks of holiday leave at minimum! There is a campaign called "No Leave, No Life" to promote holidaying in Australia. Their catch phrase is "Win the work/life battle with an Aussie holiday."
There are billboards for this campaign all over. We first saw them in the train station in Sydney, now they have made their way to South Yarra as well. They are great!

No, sadly my train is not made of camels :(

So, even though the Aussies get 4 weeks, they feel like they should get more. You know, the whole "work hard, play hard" deal. According to this article, the US is doing okay, but we are more in line with the all work Asia market than the laid back Europeans. I have met several people here who take their 4 weeks all at once and do an African safari, tour the US or trek through Europe. These month long vacations do sound enticing. What do you think?

And today I acquired boxes

We are leaving Oz in 34 days. 10 of those days we will be on holiday. I am trying to keep it all together and not get too flustered with the huge amount of items that need to be sold or given away. With only one proper closet, our house seems a bit cluttered an it's starting to make me antsy. But I would like for our house to remain homey and not sell too much stuff too soon.
In an attempt to enjoy my last few weeks of living abroad, I joined a 30 day yoga program. I am 12 days into it and have done yoga 10 of those days. It is helping me get out of the house, stay active, eat better and calm the fuck down.
In class the other day, I had a thought pass through my mind: I need boxes. I said to myself, "Yes, that is a good idea. I will organize that today. Now, shut up."
Later I went to Safeway and asked for boxes. They were more than happy to provide me this service. They keep banana boxes for people. You ask for them, they save them after the nightly unpacking and you pick them up in the morning. Easy.
This morning, I knew I had to pick up the boxes. I realized that having this one simple item would put my mind at ease. What I did not realize was I would have to put them somewhere until I really needed them. Fortunately, we are borrowing our friends' car whilst they are traveling on holiday. It's an SUV. Now it has become the perfect mobile storage unit. Awesome.
I stated thinking more about this banana box thing. My Dad always said to get banana boxes for moving. They are very sturdy and have lids. No need to tape the bottoms or do the funky one flap-in, other-flap-out tapeless style and they are stackable. He would always acquire an embarrassing amount of boxes for me before I moved. I bet if I was to ask my Mom, right this very moment, if they have any banana boxes, they would probably have one or two empty ones laying in the garage, for just in case.
So it seems, now I have these boxes and just knowing they are there is comforting.

More Lingo

In The States, sometimes you are know by your job. He's a plumber or she's an electrician. As a group, they can all be know as tradesmen/people. However, that sounds a bit stuffy. So in true Australian custom, they have nicknamed these people "tradies." As in, "ladies love the tradies." By the way, an electrician is called a sparky. This is a favorite of mine, isn't it brilliant!
So now you know about tradies. The next thing, is their apparel. We thought it was strange to walk down the street and see an entire shop dedicated to neon orange and yellow clothing. Apparently it's like a law or something for tradies to wear highly noticeable apparel. You know, for safety. So the clothes are referred to as "hi vis gear". You know, for high visibility.

Here is my mate, Patrick, sporting the outfit he wears for his new job. The matching socks are a new requirement. Hats off to Pat; he just secured an apprenticeship for a glazing and aluminium company. It is so refreshing to see someone really excited about their job. He is psyched. He is making custom windows with aluminium frames. And, NO, I didn't spell it wrong! They say allu mini um here. It's British.

Cat Sitting

Our German friends planned a long holiday away. To our pleasure, they took us up on our offer to house their cat for 4.5 weeks while they tour various countries.

Buster is a Manx cat. Essentially, this means he doesn't have a tail. He kind of has a "nubbin". It is a bit weird, as it moves around, like a normal tail wagging. Coincidentally, Jim has taken to calling him "Nubbins."

As of today, his new fave lounge spot is some prime real estate on the counter. I think maybe he feels camouflaged there.

Getting used to having a borrowed animal takes some getting used to. We loved the idea of having a furry little beast running around. We assumed that he would sleep with us and love to be pet. To the contrary, Buster likes being pet for a while. At 9pm he turns into a demon, running all over the place. He has an internal alarm clock that didn't get the message about Daylight Savings Time. He was waking and mewing at our door (demon mode prohibits allowance into the bedroom) 5 am instead of 6. We had a little chat about it. It seems to be sorted out now.

The calm before the storm

After two weeks, we now have all grown accustom to, and acceptant of one another. Buster is up in my bidness all day. He sleeps on the desk, curled up right in front of my laptop. If I am in the kitchen, he is standing right there, curiously waiting to see what I am doing or if I will put a round object on the counter for him to knock off. He has created a running track from one end of our lounge room to the other. It goes right through my keyboard.

Desk Kitteh

I have accepted that I can't control him. If our house was bigger, I would see him less. But our house is tiny. If he isn't near me, I know he is under the bed. (This is me turning into a big softy) Buster is waiting in the middle of the room when I come in the front door. He greets me with his special dolphin speak, as he doesn't meow in the normal sense. He is so cute and soft and makes me laugh. When he does make me mad, I have to remember that he doesn't know any better. Sometimes though, I wonder if that's just what he wants me think.

An unflattering rear shot of a skillful escape. Mr Kitteh No Tail.