NNV- A Blog Down Under

We only had one day to share something cool of Brisbane with Barb and Stephen. They'd already been traveling around Australia for over three weeks. They'd been to Darwin, to Cairns, to Uluru, to Sydney. They'd identified more than 345 different bird species.

But, they hadn't found an emu nor seen a koala in the wild.

I couldn't really help with the "in the wild" part. But, I could get them someplace where they could cuddle a koala. That has to count for something!

So, on Thursday morning we headed out to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

It was a particularly good day for Lone Pine. The dingo pups were running, jumping, wrestling. One of the wombats was awake! There was movement among the ever sleepy koalas including a koala fight! (Of course, you aren't seeing any of this. Here. Have an emu.)

After, we buzzed up to Mount Coot-tha to enjoy the view of Brisbane and the lovely botanic gardens. MY original plan would have been to go North to the Mary Cairncross Rain Forest walk and the Glass House Mountains - but that was an additional 90 minutes or more of driving. I think they probably had enough driving and it was going to be getting late.

Many thanks to Barb and Stephen for including us in the tour of their seventh continent!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Zombie Walk - October

From Zombie Walk

You will not believe this. None of it.

This was our FIRST EVER Zombie walk

and

we did NOT dress up.

From Zombie Walk

You will note, however, that Kevin ended up "infected". I'm still waiting for him to turn.

From Zombie Walk

There were, as you'd expect from any plague, lots of victims. Interestingly, there were several cross genre zombies. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of my favorite - the Snow White zombie carrying in a little basket the head of one of the seven dwarves!

From Zombie Walk

My mother suggested that the make-up might irritate Zupe's tender allergy-prone skin. So, even though I explained to her that in a zombie apocolypse you were either zombie or meat, Zupe remained pink and perfect. There were, however, plenty of other young zombies including one who's Dad was eating a(nother) baby's foot.

From Zombie Walk

Brains!

From Zombie Walk

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Oh my God! Yet one more!!

This may not come as news to you, but I was gob-smacked to learn that the tune for "Baa Baa Black Sheep..." was the EXACT SAME tune as that of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
The story goes like this.

Kevin traded some games for this rocking chair. You've seen elements of the chair - mostly the back as it is supporting Zupe's super head. You may not have seen the cute little cat and dog that hang from a bar for easy play time. And, unless you've seen the video or been to our house or have one of these Fisher-Price chairs of your own, you wouldn't know that if you pull the bone that hangs under the dog, a little melody is played. For weeks I'd been singing along.

"Baa baa black sheep have you any wool?" (Though, to be honest I have trouble with the last line. Trust me here. Don't make me sing it.)

Then, one day, I said to myself, if not to Zupe, and then to Kevin - "Hey. The chair is playing a new tune!"

Kevin is the only one to respond. He said something like, "No."

My response, "Yes, I'm sure it used to play "Mary had a little lamb" (note- sheep song confusion... early sign of brain aging.) "Now it is playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"."

A day or two later it was playing "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" again.

It was about this time that I did a YouTube search for the two songs and compared the tunes and found that they ("Twinkle" and "Baa") were the same.

And, so I was happy and smarter and I had the option of singing either song when I heard the tune time after time after time.

Months past. Months.

One day I found myself singing along...."A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." (Go ahead. Check it out for yourself. I'll wait.)

(NOTE- This is not news to Wikipedia. Of course not.)

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Hey Google!

From

This is NOT a silhouette of a dead tree. Really. NOT DEAD. I feel strangely emotional about the searches for "Dead Tree Silhouette" that refer people to this image. (Not that I'm unhappy having them come to my blog or enjoy my photo.) AND, it is not a tree in Australia. This particular shot was taken near Webster, Ohio in the U.S.A.

Now, enjoy the tree and remember that new leaves are sleeping in its branches.

Saturday, October 01, 2011

Reality check

I spoke with my mother yesterday. That's no story. I speak with her almost every day. (We have a very good phone card.)

Anyway, she was saying that she was feeling a bit sad about me coming home to visit. She felt like she looked so old. And, she's gained 4 or 5 pounds.

But, then, she said, she saw my photo with Zupe.

Mothers. They really know how to pick you up.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Saturday morning with the orchid trees

Zupe and I took off after breakfast to make some photos of the blooming orchid trees. They are gorgeous and something I look forward to each year. In fact, when asked last year about what I'd miss if/when we moved from Australia, my answer was immediate. "Orchid trees."

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Poppy dreams

from Roma Street Parkland 2011

Friday, September 09, 2011

Busy, busy, busy week - with a surprise ending

Zupe had his 3 month sleep study on Monday. We managed to arrive on-time and much to my surprise were free to wander about (= get supper) until 6:30. They were very surprised when I responded to their "bedtime" question with 8 PM. (What would they have said to last night's almost 10 PM turn-in? In our defense, he did have a long and late nap (3+ hours waking after 5 PM) AND we were partying. Partying - that's always an acceptable excuse for a late night, right? There isn't a minimum age for that, is there? I can't see anything that contradicts that in my little yellow baby's first year in Qld book.)

Monday was the sleep study. I tried to get him to bed earlier - but I think it was likely closer to 8:30 before he both drifted off and I could thump him into bed without him waking and staying awake. (It took 2 tries.) He slept well - until the nurse woke him (and me) at 3 AM because he had wet himself and his bed and he was cold and restless. By the time we had him and his bed changed, he was WIDE AWAKE. It took 45 minutes or so of hand watching then nursing then hand watching then... until he was once again sleeping. I spent the rest of the night jumping from dream to dream to dream - mostly about getting results of the sleep study - sometimes good, sometimes bad. Each dream I'd think this is just a dream and then I'd "wake up" to the real result appointment and ...

Tuesday we saw a physical therapist who believes he is delayed a few weeks (4 to 6 is my estimation) that is consistent with the time he spent in the hospital - not eating well, not waking well, and having a limited stimulus environment. She doesn't think he needs therapy only MORE TUMMY TIME. (This will not please the boy.)

Wednesday - after a little "fender-bender" (oh joy) - we saw the chiropractor who noted tightness in the left neck and right hip as well as subluxation in the left occipital bone and left sphenoid. He thought these could affect breathing and made adjustments with his handy, spring-loaded adjuster instrument. Zupe was asleep until the thumping started. He woke, seemed momentarily disturbed, then relaxed and enjoyed the massage. I'm assigned to massage his neck and hips, practice moving his arms and legs - particularly opposing limbs together, and hanging him upside down to allow his spine to stretch out. (We haven't done the latter. That has to be supremely well timed. Too soon after eating and you create a "waterfall". Too far after a feeding and he is likely to become SAD. It was a good experience. I felt positive about having something I could do that might be helpful.

Thursday was the real appointment to get the results of the sleep test. We met with a doctor we had never encountered before who told us the sleep study was PERFECT. The number of apneic episodes was within the normal range for a baby of his age. He was normally saturated both on and off oxygen. Our secret hope was that Zupe would be reduced to only night-time oxygen - but we were discharged. NO MORE OXYGEN!!! Not in the morning, not in the evening, not at night!! I was told to wait for 1 month before returning our oxygen canisters in case we encountered a problem. (That is a bit nerve wracking - waiting to be sure he doesn't crash and burn.)

After, Zupe and I met with a new pediatrician who was fabulous. He spent over an hour discussing my concerns and his: why the oxygen? eczema, developmental delay, plagiocephaly (or my baby has a flat spot on his head), feeding solids... What a difference from ped-one. Wow. Why did I delay?

Then, we headed to the Mater Mother's hospital to visit the special care unit nurses, the midwives on the eleventh floor, and the lactation consultants. By the end Zupe, having not napped all morning and early afternoon, was a sobbing heap and we had to limp away. (Sorry Gail - he is usually a happy boy.)

YES! We are FREE!!

(First official "I've got no tapes 'cause I don't need 'em" photo!)

Sunday, September 04, 2011

Happy Australian Father's Day!

from your number-one Australian son!

And, his mom!!

I love you, Kevin....I mean, Dad.

This house is under a python watch...

which I think is better than a zombie watch or a plaque watch. Yes. Definitely better.

To tell our story backward, something that is becoming a tradition for this blog, Friday we RETURNED from our "get away" trip to the Gold Coast. (Kevin was actually there working. It was only Zupe and I who were getting away from the rat race of Hibiscus Circuit.) I had this excellent idea that while Kevin was busy Friday morning, I'd bop over to IKEA and pick up two items. I knew exactly what I wanted and where to find them. This was a very good thing.

I arrived about 11:30 giving me just over an hour to shop before I had to drive back south to retrieve Kevin. (I hadn't realized it would take an hour - which is longer than it takes to get to IKEA from our house! - for the trip. I'm pretty terrible at those "its on the way" estimations of just how close things are. Case in point - the Springfield Mall is not "just outside Troy". This estimation skill is also the reason that I once had only one square of a soda cracker to eat between Ashville and Durham NC. But, that's another story.) So, I unloaded the sleeping - now awake - Zupe-man and hurried inside.

Where he began crying.

Retire to parents' room. Change baby. Nurse baby. Load baby into stroller.

I now have 30 minutes.

Hit the sales floor.

Baby starts screaming.

Find another parents' room, prepare a bottle, and encourage speed slurping. Burp baby, load him up, and while he's not happy, he's a bit quieter.

Ten minutes left.

I really tried to buzz through the living room and child's room sections, but every person and his grandmother were there. And, grandmothers do not walk quickly. Nor do they make easily passable objects what with the way they are linked arm and arm across the walkway with random child/grandchild. Even the siren of Zupe in distress could not part those seas.

Still, I found the sofa cushions - but the style I had seen before - granted, it was years ago - was no longer sold. Nor could I find any teething rails in the child's section. (Maybe they never existed.)

****Now, if you are Kevin, and you probably are, you're asking me "When are you getting to the pythons? How much longer?" I give you a quiet, puzzled and slightly hurt look, become a bit jangled and confused and my story telling slows WAY down.*****

Zupe did settle down once back in the car. Me, I have a headache. We arrive back in Broadbeach with enough time to buy a hamburger in McDonald's drivethru and pick up Kevin.

Traffic.

Home around 3:30. Take pain medication. Supper at 5. Maybe eating will help my head. I call for Chinese but can't find my car keys and must borrow Kevin's. (He doesn't understand how I can misplace my keys and be rather unconcerned. I know they'll turn up. They're in the house amongst all the bags we've unpacked. Somewhere.)

I take Zupe into Kevin's room to watch "thirtysomething" and nurse him. Six-ish. Maybe six-thirty-ish. I now am feeling a bit nauseated and lights make me feel worse.

Kevin comes in and tells me that Zelda has eaten a diaper. Or, at least torn it to bits. I have no two brain cells to rub together so I tell him to call the Pet ER. (I try to call Rob to ask him to think...but his phone isn't talking to my phone. I don't know where my keys are anyway.)

Kevin replaces Zupe's oxygen tapes. (Well done!) and carries him out to the car. I take Zelda and the diaper bag. Oh, and the bucket in case I vomit in the car.

To the ER. They take Zelda to the back. Kevin and Zupe sit on the bench. I check out where the bathroom is then go outside to sit where it is cool and dark. And, where I could discretely vomit in a bush in a hurry.

I don't vomit. Zelda does. (She had a little chemical persuasion.)

They find only a little of the paper/plastic and not the fluffy absorbent (= obstructive) inside material. They offer to admit her with IV fluids but we decline.

Everybody and bucket back into the car. I keep my eyes closed and the window open.

We arrive back home to find the front doors standing open. Both doors. Wide open. From the backseat I can see my computer and my camera on my desk - so I'm pretty, pretty, pretty sure there's been no theft. Kevin goes in first. "Hello". Checks every room. Checks behind every door. No one in the house. Nothing missing.

It is pretty obvious that I simply "forgot" to close the doors on my way out of the house. It has been open for close to 90 minutes. Plenty of time for a big-ass PYTHON (there it is!) to slither into the house!!

Hence - a python watch.

Now, practically, I think it is highly unlikely that a python would have come inside. I don't think they'd be out traveling in the cool evening. I think they'd all be holed up and watching TV. Dingoes, on the other hand....

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Another one bites the dust...

This photo appears in my photoblog. I shot it the day I unpacked my new kettle in mid June. I'm in that photo as is Zupe.

Today, I tossed that kettle into the "bin". Yep. It died. Without ever boiling it dry or dropping it from the roof or running over it with the car. It's a curse. Please tell Kevin it's not my fault.

I'm considering going back to the whistling kettle on the stove variety. They aren't as fast or as energy efficient, but they have a much longer shelf-life.

Argh!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Living Dead

Loving my new book of short (zombie) stories. I'm very tempted to post the entire story "When the Zombies Win". It is more a poem. Truly a beautiful piece.

"Living with the Dead" by Molly Brown

The first thing that happens when the dead start waking is not that they go on a rampage like you wee in the movies, it's that you find out all your insurance policies are worthless. Sam Jenkins had a life insurance policy with his wife as the beneficiary, but the insurance company refused to pay out because they said Sam didn't meet their definition of dead.
Then Alic's mother got a huge bill from the hospital because her daughter -- being officially deceased -- was no longer covered by her health insurance.

She tried giving them vegetables, but the dead won't touch them. If you ask her, she'll tell you that no matter how hard she tries, she cannot get the dead to eat broccoli.

"When the Zombies Win" by Karina Sumner-Smith

When the zombies win, they will not fear. They will not laugh or rejoice, they will not regret, they will not mourn. And the world will turn and turn, seasons burning and freezing across the landscape, the sun flashing through the sky, and they will continue.
When the zombies win, they will not stop. They will still moan and cry and whisper, on and on until the lips rot from their faces, their vocal cords slide away...
One by one they will stop moving, flesh and bone and brain too broken to do anything more. And in that silence and stillness they will struggle--trapped and ruined, they will still yearn, still hunger, always reaching for that which was taken from them. That which they granted to so many of us, in such great numbers.
To stop. To sleep. To rest, just rest, and let the darkness come.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Thanks Mom!

My mother does not have cable TV. She has never had cable TV. She lives in a tiny little town in the middle of a corn field, alone, and watches programs from the 3 major networks and PBS. Well, actually, since the arrival of digital television, those few channels have expanded in number and so she gets some odd "Ohio" channel where she can watch, apparently any time of year, the highlights from the Ohio State Fair. (I myself on a recent visit got to watch both some dog agility trials AND a sheep shearing competition featuring both local Ohio and INTERNATIONAL shearers!)

This is not because she COULD NOT have cable TV. She just chooses not to. Too expensive. She's investing in Smucker's Seedless Black Raspberry Jelly. A person needs to know her priorities.

So, as a consequence, she watches a lot of public television. And, since she is home alone now, she is known to watch some TV during the DAY. (Don't let her know that I told you this!) One of the "new" programs that she's particularly fond of is "America's Test Kitchen". (I think she's like me. She enjoys eating and watching other people cook. Probably in that order.) Because she had some question about a recipe at one point, I went to their website. I tried to access the information, but you have to be a member. I signed up for the newsletter - but that wasn't enough. So, she never got that particular recipe.

I, however, just learned a VERY IMPORTANT LIFE LESSON.

If you store tomatoes upside down (with their stem and shoulders on the counter top), they will ripen without dehydrating so much. OBVIOUSLY, I learned this JUST A LITTLE TOO LATE. But, such is the way with IMPORTANT LIFE LESSONS!

This is how much I hate doing taxes!

Kevin is off watching "Conan the Barbarian". I am supposed to be doing our US taxes. This has been my number one priority since the first of August. That's why there have been NO blog entries. Must focus.

And, I will get them done! I will!

Right after lunch.

Living alone I created my "dish to plate" ratio for meals. Maximum 2:1. Maximum. Otherwise, you're doing too many dishes.

Dishwashing, however, beats taxes. Rock smashes scissors. Paper crushes rock.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

A musical interlude

Wish these photos were mine. (And, I could play guitar like this.)

Saturday, July 30, 2011

50 Reasons I Love You #37

From Singles 2012

"Go Team Venture!"

Hasn't too much time passed

without featuring Zelda??

That's what she says!

She also wants everyone to know that she is a model dog who doesn't mind being kicked by little feet and is patiently waiting for the "food dropping" phase of this project to begin. (That's how we sold the idea to her.)

She isn't getting enough walks.

She is, however, getting plenty of naps

Docs and crocs