world vegan day

besides the halloween party (pictures downloading as i type) we also went to world vegan day celebrations last weekend. this was the 4th annual celebration held in melbourne for world vegan day. the past 2 we've been away (cuz it usually falls on cup weekend and we tend to go away then) so we had only attended the first melbourne vegan day event in 2003. that involved us and about 25 others (and their dogs) all huddling under a small tent in albert park in the rain eating vegie burgers by gold coin donation and hearing about a few vegan organazations. this one was HUGE compared to that. the only problem was that it was out in east malvern (involved a tram ride and a train ride and then free shuttle bus to get there from our house). TONS of AMAZING vegan food though and lots of cool vegan products. fnb also had a stall which we ended up running for a bit (well zac did most of it, i took off in search of coffee. and another round of samples of chocolates and bread and whatever else i could find).

almost up again

our computer decided to die on the weekend 8(. fortunately it did it slowly so we had a chance to back up everything on it. long story short, zac's sister's boyfriend spent a good part of 3 days (or maybe 3 1/2) finding out our hard drive died, getting us a new one, installing stuff, buying bits and pieces, and coming back over to get stuff working. yea jay!!!!! we're now back up and running and faster than ever.
i have fun photos from zac's cousin's halloween party on the weekend but i'm still in the middle of re-installing everything on our backup disks, catching up on ebay stuff so i haven't downloaded the photos from the camera yet but i will have them up on here in a day or 2 (lea and sal).

banned!

i came across a blog that was talking about this article. vegemite has been banned in the usa?!?! the reason they give is that vegemite contains folate (in the usa, this can only be added to breads and cereals). that doesn't seem like much of a reason. it was really expensive in the usa anyway ($3.89US for a tiny jar) but now poor aussie ex-pats in the usa will have to depend on friends and relatives providing them with their vegemite (hopefully they can still bring it through airport security or post it as a gift).

near escape

we had a near escapee at work the other day. every once in a while i'll catch a group of boys trying to climb the fence (its about 6 feet high and bars that just go straight up and down except for one that goes across near the top, they have almost no chance of doing it). i've even caught them stacking up old tires that we have around the yard so they could climb ontop of those and jump the fence. this time it was one of the girls though. when i arrived at work at lunch time i just heard one of the staff saying to a group of girls "no, you're not going to the lolly shop so just forget it and go play somewhere else!!!" thought that was a bit weird but i just left it. after lunch i was inside with my new coworker (starting monday) and a girl who wasn't feeling great (the heat i think) so we let her start rest time early. my almost-old coworker (today is her last day before she starts maternity leave!!) came in and said the girls were trying to get out to go to the lolly shop so she made a fake lolly shop for them. she went off to the toilet (as she does about a million times a day now that she's pretty pregnant). a minute later a couple kids came running in looking for my co-worker and said "'mary' is stuck." i told them to go out and tell one of the other teachers outside (i couldn't go and leave the one girl inside). after they went out i said to my new co-worker (who knows the kids cuz she was a student with us a couple months ago) that 'mary' is probably a little stuck but she does tend to cry about nothing to get attention. we started wondering where she was stuck and my new coworker said "she wouldn't be stuck in the fence, would she?". we didn't think so. then one of the staff came in just as my old coworker was heading back outside and yelled "quick! go around the front side, 'mary' is stuck in the fence!!" i had to stay inside and just wait. a couple minutes later they came in and explained she'd tried to escape to the lolly shop again (do they even know where one is???) and she got her whole body through the bars and got stuck somewhere around her head. they got her out-- it actually scared her a bit (but not enough that she hasn't tried it a couple times since then). she's now banned from the area where she can get near the fence (if you just turn your head from her for 5 seconds she's trying to get though!!!). funny part is that the part of the fence she was goin through just led to a little enclosed area at the front of the building where we keep the bins. if she'd gone thru less than a metre from where she tried she would have been on the street. i'm sure if she had been able to get through she would have just stood there and cried no really knowing what to do next. this weekend we're getting shade cloth to cover ALL the fenced areas of the yard (we have one large secton fenced off now, down a side alley so kids don't stick their hands out while giant trucks squeeze down the alley). we were dreading her parents reaction when we explained to them but they actually found it funny.

freezing again

so after some hot and warm spring days it suddenly changed today (during my 4 minute ride to work). i knew today was supposed to only have a top of 20C but it was sunny in the morning and it was nice in the sun (with a long sleeve top on). i put my jean jacket in my bag cuz we were gonna go out straight from work. as i was riding in the sun suddenly went behind the clouds. then the wind picked up and pollen and leaves and everything else was blowing in my face. about a minute from work it felt like rain was gonna start pouring down any second (and it was dark enough from the big storm cloudds too). the rain didn't acutally start until just before i finished setting up the kids lunches outside 45 min later (fortunately i'd placed them all under cover). it was sooooo COLD though!!!! by 4pm the rain/drizzle (we didn't even get a decent rain from all the clouds) cleared a bit (it was still windy) but some of the kids were going crazy inside. my co-worker took them out and just let them go wild for an hour. i stayed inside cleaning up and was very glad i'd put my jacket in my bag-- it wasn't even warm enough but it was definately better than nothing. i had to go outside for 10 min and i just about FROZE. only 1 or2 kids complained though (and almost all of them were underdressed) and i told those kids they could come inside. i told zac i didn't want to go out tonite either. it was a stay home and watch movies kind of nite. i just heard tomorrow is only supposed to top 16C!!! its supposed to be back up at 29C by tuesday..... until then i'll be sitting infront of the heater.

100

i got this off the journey. the one's i've done are in blue

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you’ and meant it!
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea (I was on land watching it.)
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights (not very well but you can see them in southern b.c. sometimes)
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s nappy
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Visited all 7 states and territories in Australia
40. Taken care of someone who was drunk
41. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
42. Watched wild whales
43. Stolen a sign
44. Backpacked in Europe
45. Taken a road-trip
46. Gone rock climbing
48. Midnight walk on the beach
49. Gone sky diving
50. Taken a train through Europe
51. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
52. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table, and had a meal with them
53. Milked a cow
54. Alphabetized your CDs
55. Sung karaoke (only as a group—no way you’d get me up there alone)
56. Lounged around in bed all day
57. Gone scuba diving
58. Kissed in the rain
59. Gone to a drive-in theatre
60. Started a business
61. Taken a martial arts class
62. Been in a movie
63. Crashed a party
64. Gone without food for 5 days
65. Gotten a tattoo
66. Got flowers for no reason
67. Performed on stage
68. Been to Las Vegas
69. Recorded music
70. Eaten shark
71. Buried one/both of your parents (my dad)
72. Been on a cruise ship
73. Spoken more than one language fluently
74. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
75. Walked the Sydney Harbour Bridge (Not the climb, just the walk across the footpath and up the tower bit)
76. Had plastic surgery
77. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
78. Wrote articles for a large publication
77. Lost over 50 kilo's
79. Piloted an airplane
80. Petted a stingray
81. Broken someone’s heart
82. Broken a bone
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Parasailed
86. Skipped all your school reunions (I missed mt 10 year high school one the other day—it was on the other side of the world though.)
87. Shaved your head (Well, more of a very, very short hair cut.)
88. Caused a car accident
89. Pretended to be "sick"
90. Surfed in the ocean (body surfed)
91. Saved someone's life
92. Fainted (multiple times—be glad when all band rooms/pubs are smoke free here in 9 months)
93. Been in the room while someone is giving birth
94. Hitchhiked
95. Adopted a child
96. Been caught daydreaming
97. Been to Ayers Rock
98. Called off a wedding engagement
99. Donated your blood
100. Become a follower of Jesus Christ (haven’t been living that very well the last few years though) 8(

you know you drink too much when....

.... your son points to a vb bottle and repeatedly says "daddy."

we were at a family gathering at zac's aunts place today and at one point me, zac and some of his cousins were sitting outside. zacs 2 year old 2nd cousin wandered out and started chatting in his one word sentances to us. then he started pointing around the corner and saying "daddy". i thought his dad was around that area. zacs cousin got up and looked at what he was pointing at and saw the vb bottle he was pointing at while he was saying "daddy". we all started laughing. a minute later his grandma came to take him inside to eat. as she holding his hand walking him in, he was walking behind her pointing at every beer bottle he saw on his way in and saying "daddy."
it was pretty funny but you do have to wonder about the association he's made between daddy and beer (either that or cuz we all kept laughing at it, he kept doing, wondering why we thought it was sooooo funny).

photos@random

i came across a few photos while i was going thru them and thought i'd post them.


a mango zac brought home last week (sooooooo good). mango season is almost here!!!! (then they'll be cheap and available everywhere)


this is what the cat looks like right now while i'm typing this (zac took the photo 5 minutes ago). i'm more in a sideways twisted position but she, along with my legs still are in the same position


zac took this photo (i think thru the window) of one of the birds we get at our bird seed ring in the backyard.


a dragonfly at the front of the house a few weeks ago. it let us take a bunch of pictures before we finally had to force it to move so we could open the gate. 

too hot for spring

no, i'm not at the beach. but i wish i was. it was 30C yesterday (nice comfortable hot weather), didn't get below 21C overnite and its already 28C and its not even 10am yet!!!.
we went to a party last nite (a friend decided to have his party in the middle of the week just cuz no one else does). we rode over there at 9pm and i was comfortable just riding in a singlet (tank top). we sat out in the yard and it was really nice out. little scary though cuz its not even the middle of october yet and we're getting days like this. definately gonna be a big water shortage this summer.

happy "tofurkey" day

technically it’s tomorrow but its monday in oz now. i actually celebrated it yesterday with the canada club. we had a big potluck turkey lunch with probably around 80 people. it was really good. i even brought a nutloaf so zac would have something to eat and tammy (the fuctions co-ordinator) was nice enough to make cute little signs to put on the food that was vegan for zac 8). there was pumpkin pie too!!! Very exicting. The only pumpkin pie I’ve had in oz, zac’s mom made for me a couple times on Christmas and Canadian thanksgiving (she does an amazing job at it, especially considering they don’t do pumpkins as pie here and she has no idea what its supposed to taste like—and she makes them vegan so zac will eat them to). we had a raffle and I won a t-shirt left over from canada’s team at the commonwealth games (the club got a lot of stuff from that, i think they finally got rid of it all yesterday) and some tim hortons coffee (mmmmmmm). i made the coffee this morning and its sooooooo good. i’ve never really even been that fond of timmy’s coffee (is that un-canadian of me?)—i’m not one of the expats that gets off the plane in canada and runs for the nearest tim hortons but the coffee was better than i remember (i mainly like them cuz they were the only coffee place open past 10pm in langley so that’s where we’d go for late nite coffees/study procrastination in university (probably the only place in the world where you can get a decent coffee and a donought for under $3 too).
i found out something new yesterday too—the first thanksgiving was actually celebrated in canada. I always just assumed it was an American thing and Canada just sort of adopted it and gave the holiday a different day but no— canada started it. it was a celebration of an abundant harvest. maybe I’ll make some tofurkey for dinner tonite if I feel up to going to the shops to get stuff to make for dinner after work (cuz it wouldn’t be thanksgiving if you didn’t eat thanksgiving food and leftovers for a week straight).

ha ha. i just read over everythign i wrote. there’s a good reason i never went on to be an english major or minor in university. i LOVE (and definitely overuse) parentheses and I write very run-on sentances. i like it that way (and most of my psych profs didn’t care about my overuse of parentheses either but I tried to cut down on the run-ons in papers).

we're hers

i think ray spends more time with us then her other family now. she spends every nite curled up on our bed (usually getting more room on the bed then the 2 of us together) and she hangs around the house in the morning and evening too. last nite we decided to go for a walk down to the creek since it was such a warm nite. just after we left the driveway we heard ray running thru the front yard between our house and what we think is her house. we gave her a little scratch and then started walking off. she then started following us (she's done this once before). we just kept ignoring her thinking she might just stop and wait for us but she followed us a few hundred metres!! it was really funny cuz we could hear her bell and i kept looking over my shoulder and ray was running along the curb just a few metres behind us like she was a puppy or something. fortunately she stopped when the road took a slight bend. we figured she'd be there waiting for us when we got back. we ended up looping up the creek and coming down another side street right by our house. i told zac to jingle his keys (our call to get her to come). nothing. then a few seconds later while zac was opening the door i heard a faint bell sound and saw ray running along the footpath towards us from back where we left her. she had waited for us!!
so then she came in for a bit, asked to go out. came in again, asked to go out. i jingled the keys when i went to bed but nothing so i figured she was happy being out for the nite (her other people put her out at nite). at 3:45am the wind picked up and a small rain shower started. i woke up to the frantic cries of a cat at the door so i got up to let her in and a damp ray darted into the house and settled herself on the bed. she's back in bed again curled up with zac now (lazy cat). she knows who's her servants though. i'm sure her other family wouldn't have got out of bed to let a whiny cat in during the midddle of the nite.

mountain goats and bees

last nite we finally made it out to the mountain goat brewery for drinks. i can't believe we hadn't made the effort to go there before-- especially last year when i worked at a creche just around the corner from it on fridays (didn't even know that's where it was). its just on a back street in richmond behind victoria gardens. there's a bike fun group that goes every other friday for drinks and i get emails reminding everyone of the "fortnightly goatage". its about a 7km ride from our house but its not a bad ride (and once we have the time change at the end of the month it'll be light enough to ride in along the yarra-- the longer but more scenic route). they even let you park your bikes inside!!! they've set up a pub in the brewery and open every friday to the public. they've just got a few basic tables and some couches (which we scored) and some large crates as standing areas. they've hooked up some speakers and a few heat lamps (i'm sure they're necessary in the winter in the brick building). all of mountain goat's beer is good so you can't really go wrong. the also have a sampler tray where you get four glasses (i think about 1/2 a pot size) on a wood tray and each is a different brew.

and now the bees part of the title (which is a completely different story). this picture was taken just down the road from our house. we were walking home from the shops and we noticed someone had roped off a section of the footpath infront of their house. both me and zac said at the same time to eachother "isn't that illegal to block the footpath like that?" i was about to say unless there was some hazard maybe and then we noticed why the rope was there. all the bees were attached to the fence (it looked like one of those bee beards that those crazy bee people on tv let bees do to them). i don't know if there was something under the bees that made them go there or if they just decided that was a good spot to make a nest and they've been working hard to build there hive (i should go back again in a couple hours and see what they're doing--if they haven't been exterminated by then like i'm assuming is gonna happen).

jonah

we went to see jonah matranga the other nite at the evelyn. soooooo good!!! best gig i've been to in ages! all of his stuff that i knew, i knew from california (when jonah was onelinedrawing) cuz zac used to play it all the time in my car (even before we were good friends) and in his room so it reminded me of driving down the mountain to the city on sunny days and spending our after lunch break during the week listening to it.
jonah is so passionate about what he's doing and when he's up on stage its more like he's just playing for a group of friends cuz he loves to sing and play guitar. he played at our friends' wedding last year in america (unfortuantely it was 2 months before we were up there). he's just a genuinely nice person who's doing his passion for a living and doing it wholehartedly. i like how he tries soooo hard not to fit the corporate image of rock and roll-- no roadies, no encores, sliding scale for all his merch... all though he has ruined it a bit by having coke use one of his songs in an add last year. its ruined that song for me-- and i really liked it too. definately gonna be going to his gigs next time he's out in oz and any time it works out when we're in north america.
photo courtesy of smallstakes on flickr.