Little Things

Stripping, Swimming, and Traveling

2008-07-08T18:23:00.004-06:00

Somehow, despite being off work for almost two weeks, I haven't had much time to blog. Hopefully this post will catch you up a bit on my recent adventures.

My last day at my old job was Monday the 23rd. I had planned to work until Friday the 27th, but they said when developers leave, they usually ask them to leave immediately. I guess they're afraid of sabatoge or something. I would never to that (clearly!) so I was a little shocked when they said that. But, the more I got to thinking about it, the more I thought "Cool, more paid time off!" (they're required by law to pay out the full two weeks). They let me stay for a week after I gave notice, but I did get four unexpected days off. I originally planned to use the time to do fun things, but I've been planning to strip the wallpaper in my dining room and then paint this summer. I decided I'd much rather strip wallpaper when I'm off work than after a long day at the office. I did go blueberry picking with my cousin one morning (super fun and super cheap! I'm looking forward to eating the berries I froze all year long), but then I started the wallpaper job. The first picture is "before". It was taken a couple of years ago.

Stripping wallpaper is definitely not my favorite chore!! My back and shoulders begin screaming pretty much as soon as I pick up a scraper. Fortunately, this room was easier than the hallway that I did last summer. It only had about 2 layers of wallpaper on it, instead of the 5 or 6 that the hallway had. And occassionally, I was able to grab a piece and rip off a huge section of the outer paper and the backing! That made the chore go pretty quicky! Unlike last summer, the walls are actually in decent shape. I should be able to avoid having to do a skim coat of drywall mud before painting! Yay! I'm totally excited that my house is finally wallpaper free!! WOO-HOO-WOO!! The picture below is of the wallpaper-less walls. Once I get the paint done, I'll post a picture of the finished product.

After finishing the wallpaper project, my mom and I headed to Omaha for the swimming Olympic Trials! Oh my gosh! It was a blast!! We saw tons of world and American records! Swimming has gotten so fast in the ten years since I retired! But, it was cool for me because I still know a few of the swimmers that made the team and still just love to watch the sport! I jumped up and down with excitement when a fellow Northwestern grad made the team in the men's 100 back. Imagine me excited and then multiply that by about 10! That's how excited I was! This picture is of the awards ceremony for Michael Phelp's 400 IM. Notice the Micheal in yellow letters behind him? That was some cool sort of falling-hologram-thing (that's a very techincal term!) that spelled out swimmers names, events, USA Swimming, and even did a picture of the Olympic Ring logo. Very cool!
After four days in Omaha, my mom and I drove back to KC on Thursday and then turned around and flew to Hartford, CT with my dad first thing Friday morning! I got up at 3:15 a.m.!!! I'm used to getting up around 5:15 or 5:30, but anything in the "3s" is EARLY! After arriving in Hartford, we rented a car and I drove four hours north to Middlebury, VT, where a good family friend of ours, Erica Hill, got married. Mark drove up from Philly for the weekend and we had a GREAT time!

Middlebury is a picturesque quaint New England town, nestled in the mountains of Vermont. It's so green up there. The Middlebury campus has a big "green" in the middle, with old stone buildings around it. The wedding was lovely! Good food, great company, and fun dancing made for an awesome evening!

And then yesterday, I started my new job! It's going well so far, but I'll share more about that in a future post.

This might be the best family photo we've taken in a while!

Devil in the White City

2008-06-22T16:14:00.002-06:00

I recently finished reading Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. My swim coach loaned it to me, but then said "I hated it. It's gruesome and scary". So my question to him was "why did you loan it to me, then????". (He didn't have a response to that.) I ran out of other books to read so I decided to give it a try. I honestly didn't even know what it was about when I started reading. For one thing, I thought it was fiction. Although it reads like a novel, it's not. It's the true story of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and a serial killer who takes advantage of the fair to lure single women to their death's. I didn't find it scary, though. If it had been about a killer who broke into women's house through their front windows or screened-in porches, that would have freaked me out! But, I don't think the author went in to too much detail about the murders. He got the point across, but that's not what I take away from the book. I mostly recall the fascinating details about how the World's Fair came to be and the amazing accomplishments to get it built. I'm sort of ashamed that I lived in Chicagoland for seven years but didn't really know any of this story. I mean, I knew Chicago had hosted a world's fair, but that's about it. I couldn't have told you when it was, where it was, what the attractions were, or any other relevant detail. I totally recommend this book to anyone with even a slight interest in history.

I also think I've decided that I might be beginning to enjoy nonfiction-history-that-reads-like-a-novel more than a lot of the fiction I've read recently. There just doesn't seem to be that much good fiction out there right now. Maybe I'm just missing it somehow? Honestly, I can't think of a GREAT fiction book that I've read since the 7th Harry Potter last summer.

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

2008-06-17T17:02:00.003-06:00

No, I'm not sporting any new rings or anything. But, I will get to spend a lot more time thinking about jewelry when I start my new job at Helzberg Diamonds on July 7th!!!!!! I'll be a Project Manager/Developer in the IT department. They're located in North Kansas City, about 3 miles north of where I currently work. I am totally excited!!

I told the folks at my current job the news yesterday. They tried to get me to stay, but I'm convinced that it's time for a change. I did get sad as I was telling some of my teammates that I'm leaving. I'll miss my close friends there. I've been wanting the news to be public, because I've felt a little guilty keeping something from them. So, I'm glad everything is out in the open and I can continue with the "moving on" process.

I totally saw God's hand in this decision. For example, while I was in the interview process, I wanted to read a book written by the guy that ran Helzberg for about 40 years. The book is really geared toured coaching someone on entrepreneurship, but the author gives tons of examples from his days at Helzberg. So, I figured it'd be a good introduction to the company and the culture. I looked it up on the online catalog for the county library and discovered they have two copies of it. One at the main library (not near my house) and one at the branch closest to me!!! I totally see that as a God thing. Providing an easy way for me to get and read the book.

I was also worried about the timing of the new job because of some financial benefits I'd get from Block at the end of June. But, God worked that out, too. Because of some schedule constraints, the interview process took a little longer than the hiring manager intended. He even apologized to me for it taking so long. I thought to myself "no, that's really quite all right". Because the longer it delayed, the better it would be for me in terms of leaving Block.

Also, I already had a vacation planned for the first week in July (going to the swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha and then the wedding of a close family friend in VT). I was worried my vacation would conflict with starting a new job. But, the hiring manager was totally cool about that, too.

Oh, and it worked out so that I only have to work one day next week at my current job but they'll pay me for the whole week. I'm open to suggestions on what I should do (I've never been to the Liberty Memorial and am thinking this might be a great time to go see it). I'm also planning to start stripping the wallpaper in my dining room (the only room left in my house that still has wallpaper).

Life is good. Praise the LORD!

Good Friends

2008-06-11T18:33:00.005-06:00

This past weekend, I drove to St Louis to visit Nanci, Aaron, their daughter Becca, and our friend Marissa. Marissa flew in from Minnesota for the weekend. Nanci, Mariss, and I were in the same sorority in college and have stayed close friends (side note: I'm having a hard time believing that my 10 year college reunion is this fall. How can 10 years possibly have gone by?). Nanci grew up in St Louis, but she has lived in Israel, North Carolina and Connecticut since college. I jumped up and down with excitement (and clapped, too!) when she and her husband decided to move to St Louis a couple summers ago! I can make it from my house to hers in 3 and half hours. SOOOO great!

Becca is 11 months old and is just the cutest thing. She smiles, laughs, and is very easy going. Mariss and I think she looks exactly like her daddy. It's funny, because Nanci doesn't see the resemblance.

Anyway, we had a great weekend!!!! It's so fun to be with friends that have known me for so long. They know all my back history, so to speak. Even though I only see Nance about once a year (we talk on the phone all the time, though) and Mariss once every couple of years, it's always like no time has passed when we're together. When we get together, we mostly just sit around and chat. And that is totally cool. I love friends like that. No agenda needed. Just being together is enough.

We did make an excursion to the Missouri Botanical Gardens on Saturday, though. I've been wanting to see the gardens ever since my brother was in med school at Wash U in St Louis. He told me they were great and he was right!

Yard Work Girl

2008-05-31T14:44:00.004-06:00

After touring the construction site of the KC Performing Arts Center with my P.E.O. chapter this morning (the concert hall and future home of the KC Symphany is behind me), I tackled all the yard work I should have been doing this spring but managed to put off for various reasons (Australia, scrapbooking, working, swimming, other more-fun-than-yard-work-things, etc).

In about 4 and a half hours today, in addition to making myself look completely disgusting (dirt everywhere, including under my finger nails which drives me crazy), I've managed to:

clean the gutters (really old standing water smells really bad, by the way)
trim the hedges in my front yard without cutting the extension cord
rake up the trimmed hedge branches and a few miscellaneous leaves that got mixed in
put new mulch around the tree in the front yard
spread down a lime treatment in the front yard, which is what the Tru-Green guy that knocked on my door on Thursday night said I need to get new grass to grow again
sweep the driveway (had to use the manual sweeper instead of the blower because some of the little hurricane goodies were stuck to the driveway)
move all the remaining firewood from the back yard to the garage.
rake up the leaves from the back porch
move the wind chimes from the screened-in porch to the hanging basket cord outside
re-stake the rain gauge in to the yard. hope it stays because it makes me happy to know how much rain has fallen
mix a new batch of weed sprayer and spray for weeds in the front and back
discover that yard work accompanied by tunes from an ipod isn't all that bad

The last item on the list may be the best accomplishment of all. Maybe now I'll enjoy yard work more?

65 Years!

2008-05-22T11:27:00.003-06:00

Today is my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary! Can you believe that? A lot of people don't even live to be 65, let alone be married that long. The met at the University of Kansas, where they had an accounting class together. She was one of the few female accounting majors. He called her one night to ask for the homework assignment...despite the fact that he lived with at least half a dozen people that could have given it to him! He knew what he really wanted! Somehow a date resulted from the phone call and the rest is history. Early on in their dating, he asked her to make him a pie. He's a pie lover, you see, and he needed to make sure she was up to the challenge. She passed with flying colors and has been making pies for our family ever since! They married after graduation and a little over a year later, my mom was born. My uncle was born three years after that. They have been an example for how a marriage should be: love each other, take care of each other, stay committed to each other. I love you, Gran and Grandpa!!

Better than the Book!

2008-05-19T16:36:00.005-06:00

I finally saw Wicked!!! I gave my mom a ticket for Mother's Day, which considering she'd already seen it twice, might have been more a gift for me than for her. Regardless, I finally got to go and I loved it!!!! When I read the book about four years ago, I seriously disliked it. I have a rule that I never stop reading a book I've started (Moby Dick is the only exception), so I kept reading it even though the first 3/4's were really hard to get in to (and it's not short). By the last 1/4, I finally cared about the characters and wanted to find out what happened, so it read a little quicker towards the end. But, when I heard that it was a musical, I was shocked. My first thought was "oh, it's so terrible, who would want to see it?". But people who had seen it, and whose opinions I trust, told me it was fabulous and that I would love it. I had a hard time picturing this...the book is long, and philosophical, and not entertaining. I just couldn't picture how it could be a great musical. I sure was wrong!!

The music is fun, fast-moving, and up beat. The story also moves along quickly. I feel that a lot of musicals have random songs that serve absolutely no purpose. They're just there to be another song. That isn't the case with Wicked at all. Every song advances the plot in some way. Plus, all the philosophy which bogs down the book is touched on and presented in the musical, but without having to suffer through a long-winded author's preachiness. The viewer can think about the issues and come to his own conclusions. Plus, it's cool to see how some of the elements from "The Wizard of Oz" tie in or came to be. Overall, it's one of my top two favorite musicals of all time! If you ever have the chance, go to Wicked!!! And tell me, so I can go with you!!!

Lessons Learned, Part II

2008-05-11T12:03:00.002-06:00

The purpose of an electric hedge trimmer is to trim the hedges, not the heavy duty orange extension cord.

It's been an eventful week at my house.

Lessons Learned

2008-05-08T08:59:00.002-06:00

1. If you ever scorch your carpet, a lot of Oxi Clean carpet stain remover will get the stain out.

2. Don't leave your flat-iron curling iron sitting on the carpet when it's on.

The Beauty of Home

2008-05-04T18:01:00.004-06:00

There's just something about being home. The spring colors in my backyard. My own pillow. Internet whenever I want it without being charged (other than that little cable bill I pay each month). My own car, which I can drive on the right (literally and figuratively) side of the road. More than 5 shirts to wear. My DVR with my favorite programs waiting for me to watch them. My comfy couch.

Sigh. Traveling is great! New sights, culture, words, food, adventures. But, coming home is great, too!

Australian Favorites

2008-05-01T16:41:00.008-06:00

-Per Shelly’s request. My mom and I share our favorites in several categories at the end of each trip we take. Like a said in a previous post, we can (and did!) make this game go on for a while, so I apologize in advance for the length of this post.

Favorite place we went = Vasse Felix winery in Margaret River. If I lived in Western Australia, I would want to have my wedding reception there. The restaurant is sort of like a tree house, nestled in the trees overlooking the gorgeous green of the yard and vineyard. It’s also incredibly quiet and relaxing. The Blue Mountains are my second choice. I’d love to go back there someday to hike and explore some more.

Favorite activity = Biking on Rottnest Island. Peaceful. Hair blowing in the wind. Scenic. Uncrowded. Mom conquered a fear she’s had for 30 years. Good stuff!

Favorite restaurant = Vasse Felix winery, for the overall combination of a beautiful setting, friendly people, and great food.

Favorite food (main course)= The tuna steak I had at Vasse Felix winery.

Favorite food (dessert) = Rosemary ice cream at Vasse Felix winery. Okay, I know that sounds like a very strange type of ice cream, but it was GREAT!! I don’t even know how to describe it, but it was probably the best ice cream I’ve ever had.

Favorite meal that wasn’t Vasse Felix = Tea at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. Fancy setting. Orange Pekoe tea that was really good. And, I discovered that milk and sugar in tea is a good thing! (I felt so British!!). Flaky pastries. Fabulous preserves for an incredibly moist scone. Tasty finger sandwiches. A time to just sit and relax and enjoy a rare treat.

Favorite shopping = Fremantle Markets. For the variety of items available there, for the cool things we found (and bought!), for the great prices, for the time that we walked from stall to stall and bought food for dinner.

Favorite beach = One of the bays on Rottnest Island. For the seclusion, sunshine, white sand, and blue, blue water.

Favorite animal = Kangaroo!!! So sweet and gentle!

Biggest Surprise = Snow in the Blue Mountains? Rain in Perth? Not having to show an ID at any point on our domestic flight from Perth to Sydney?

Favorite Sign = “Don’t be a tosser”. What’s your first thought at what this means? Well, when I first saw it, I thought it meant, “Don’t puke”. (Eloquent, I know.) Turns out it actually means don’t litter. My second favorite sign, which I unfortunately don’t have a picture of, is “Dangerous Goods Not Allowed in Tunnel”. Are they allowed other places?

Favorite Spoken Australian phrase = “They’re having a good tustle, yes quite a good tustle indeed”. The announcer at the swim meet said this during every close race between a couple of swimmers in a heat. I love it! I think I might start using it at home. My mom’s favorite is “No drama”. It means pretty much the same thing as “No worries”. I also might have to throw that in to some future conversations.

Favorite Australian spelling = Gaol. Despite reading several books using this word and knowing the meaning of it, I always thought it was pronounced “Gay-ol”. Little did I know it’s actually pronounced “jail”. Very strange. I like most of the Australian spellings for things (cheque, organisation, etc) but this just seems very odd to me.

Favorite Coin or Currency = The bills are kind of interesting because they have a little clear see-through spot in them. But, my favorite item of currency is the 2 dollar coin. It’s about the same size and weight as a British pound, so I kept thinking of it as a “two-pounder”. We’d be getting money out for a bus and I’d say “Oh, I have a two-pounder”.

Favorite thing they have that we don’t = There’s a tie in this category for me. The toilets have the ability to do a half flush or a full flush. I think that’s cool and quite practical. My other favorite invention is that each outlet has the ability to be turned on or off. This is cool because it’s a good way to get rid of all that “phantom power” that is used when items are plugged in to an outlet but not turned on. There, rather than having to unplug everything, you could just turn the outlet to off and voila, power saved!

Favorite wine = 2002 Shiraz at the Sandalford winery. We got to taste a special vintage that normal tasters don’t get to try. It was flavorful and super smooth. It’s not possible to ship wine to the US (well, I guess it is but it’s crazy expensive), so we contemplated trying to take a couple bottles home with us but decided not to risk them getting broken. We have the name of a distributer in the US, so we will definitely be looking it up now that we're home. So good!!

Favorite walk = Down 200+ steps (and then back up!) to the Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains. The good exercise resulted in breathtaking views!

Favorite method of transportation = Mine was driving on the left hand side of the road. I pretty much got the hang of it after a couple of days. I even stopped turning on the wind shield wipers instead of the turn signal and figured out the roundabouts. My mom’s favorite method was all the buses we took in Sydney because she was quite proud of us that we figured out how to get where we wanted to go on them.

Favorite toilet = Queen Victoria Building. Hands down! A sliding door to gain access to the restrooms, granite countertops with basin-less sinks, stained glass windows in the actual stalls. High class!! Especially for a shopping mall!

Favorite items that I’m glad I brought: Laptop and fleece. Would have been uninformed and cold without them.

Favorite tour guide = Definitely Krissy from the Bridge Climb! She was cheery, encouraging, knowledgeable and fun! AnnaLea at the Opera House would be my second choice because of her great accent and resemblance to Julianna Margulies.

Worst restaurant = The Globe, next to the Hilton in Perth. Snooty people, bad food, and way too expensive

Most uncomfortable moment(s) = Walking down a very, very, very crowded street in Sydney our first night here. It was dark, we didn’t know where we were going, and I just really hate crowds. I was afraid I’d get mugged (irrational, I’m sure) so was very glad to eat dinner and get back to the hotel safe and sound.

Last Full Australian Day

2008-04-29T05:08:00.002-06:00

Today was our last full day in Australia. Sadness. It was a good day, though. We started out by taking the monorail to downtown Sydney to do some shopping. Although other methods of transportation were available, we felt compelled to try the monorail since it goes right past our hotel window. And when I say right past, I mean it’s level with our window and no more than 6 feet away. Thankfully, it stops running around 10 pm on weeknights, but it’s slightly annoying.

After shopping, we had tea at a very fancy tea room in the Queen Victoria Building. The whole building is just about the nicest mall you’ll ever see. Ornate tile floors, stained glass windows above each store front, granite tile sinks in the bathroom (or maybe I should say “toilets”, as that’s what they’re called here). The tea was excellent (I decided that milk and sugar in tea can be a good thing!) and the pastries…oh, the pastries. Incredibly light pastries. Oh, and scones. Now, these were definitely not the type of scones we have in the US. They were moist. And oh so light. Mmm…mmm…good!!

After tea, we took the bus to Bondi beach. Beautiful!

Huge waves make the ocean here a little rough for swimming, but I wouldn’t mind training in this pool every day. Talk about a great setting…it would be a scenic excursion at every practice!

Over dinner tonight, we shared our “best” and “worst” moments of the trip. Favorite food, favorite restaurant, favorite place we went, favorite activity, favorite wine, favorite tour guide, favorite sign (highlights coming in a future post), favorite Australian phrase, favorite thing in Australia that we don’t have/do in the US, worst restaurant, most uncomfortable moment, most surprising, etc. We can make this game go on for awhile because it’s a fun way to relive a great trip.

Cold, Blue Mountains

2008-04-28T16:42:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, we toured the Blue Mountains, so named because of the thousands and thousands of Eucalyptus trees found there. The oil they produce hangs in the air and makes them appear quite blue from a distance. Our tour guide also tried to convince us that the wind blows in and blows all the dust away. I’m not sure how much stock I put in that explanation, though. Regardless, it really is incredible. We looked across several valleys that were just so blue. And different shades of blue. Some darker and some lighter.

The very tall sandstone cliffs add to the beauty of the mountains. The cliffs, combined with the greens and blues of the trees, make a stunning contract in textures and colors. It would be really fun to come back here some time and be able to stay longer, hike, etc.

The top picture is the Three Sisters. It’s a classic image of the Blue Mountains. Aboriginal legend states that a medicine man was tasked with fighting an evil beast and in order to protect his three daughters while he was away, he changed them in to stone. He did kill the beast, but not before being changed in to an animal himself and losing his ability to turn the girls back into humans again. Thus, the Three Sisters are still visible today.
When planning what to pack for this trip, I contemplated the weather, expecting it to be in the 70s most of the time, with cooler days and evenings in the 60s. That’s what weather.com told me, anyway. So, we were a little unprepared for the SNOW that hit us in the Blue Mountains. The high temp was no more than 46, with probably a wind chill in the 30s (strong, biting wind) and snow/sleet flurries on a couple of occasions. I even purchased gloves at one of the gift stores to keep my hands warm. Chalk that up to another dumb traveling decision: I even brought gloves with me, thinking I might need them at the pool if I were cold and wet, but of course I left them in my suitcase at the hotel yesterday morning. Oh well!
You can sort of see the different shades of blue in this photo. Imagine a whole valley that blue.

Successful Summit!

2008-04-27T05:08:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, we left our comfy little apartment in Perth and flew to Sydney. The flight took most of the day…since it left an hour late, is 4 hours in length, and we lost two hours along the way. So by the time we arrived in Sydney and got to the hotel, all we did was eat dinner and go to bed.

Today, we took the bus to Circular Quay (pronounced “Key”). We shopped in a great market in “The Rocks” neighborhood and found some more great buys. This market is only open on weekends, so we’re really thankful we got the timing right!

After shopping, we headed to the Opera House for a tour. It was a little surreal to both of us to actually be standing in and around the Opera House. It’s such an iconic image for Sydney and for Australia that it just seemed unreal that we were actually there. The tour was fascinating! We learned all about the construction and even saw some of the designs that were rejected. Good thing, too, because they were all rectangular and boring!

Did you know that there are over 1.5 million tiles in this roof? The architect spent over a year working with a tile company on the design of these tiles! They take on different hues, depending on the light.

After the Opera House, we climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge! We walked along this very beam! I first learned about the Bridge Climb from “The Amazing Race” back in 2001. I’ve been wanting to do it ever since! Mom wasn’t sure she would be able to do it…a couple of doctors (including one in the family) advised her against it, but after talking with the Bridge Climb people this morning, she decided to give it a go. She did great! We summitted! See the flags in the top picture? We were standing up there! It actually wasn’t scary at all. Incredible views. Daylight on the way up and dusk on the way down. Very cool!

Stanford Redoux

2008-04-25T05:27:00.004-06:00

Well, I completed my sweep of placing exactly how I did at the 2006 Worlds Championships at Stanford with a second place finish in the open water swim. The winner isn't someone that swam any of the pool events. She must have only signed up for the open water. I haven't seen the times yet, so I'm not sure how far ahead of me she was. I gotta confess, I'm a little disappointed with another second place finish. My goal for this meet was to win *something*. I wasn't particulary choosy about which event I wanted to win, just at least one. I know it sounds a little odd to be disappointed with second place at the World Championships, but my competitive spirit wanted a first place finish. If I had swum good times, I might be happier with my placings, but since my times weren't all the great, either, I'm disappointed. Oh well.
We've had a great trip so far, seen some really cool things, had some good adventures (including almost getting a $300 speeding ticket today...thankfully the cop was in a good mood and took pity on the foreigner and only gave me a "caution"), so I really can't complain. And, we're off to Sydney tomorrow morning! Harbour Bridge here I come!

The girl on the right in the above picture is Alicia from San Francisco. We got to know each other this week by swimming mostly the same events. We also ran into her twice outside the competition. This photo was taken about 5 minutes before hopping in to the slightly cold water. And for those that know me and water temperature, if I thought it was cold, it was pretty dang cold. But, once the race started, the water temp felt great.

I'm somewhere in this mass of swimmers. Perhaps the second one since that's where I finished up. But, I think there were 2 girls ahead of me at the start, one may have been in the younger age group, so I'd guess I'm the third one in this photo. Who really knows.

400 Free

2008-04-24T06:25:00.006-06:00

Amazingly, I didn't take any pictures today. So here are a couple from previous days.

We drove to Fremantle this morning to go back to the markets (Mom is looking for a couple items for some friends of hers) but when we walked up, the doors were closed. Turns out, they're only open on Fridays and weekends. Whoops!! Guess I should have checked that out online before driving over there. It's a good thing it's only about 20 minutes away. Mom got a pastry (a daily treat for her) and then we headed back to Perth. We attempted to shop a little in downtown Perth but gave up due to lack of parking. We ended up just eating lunch at the hotel and then watching "National Treasure" on TV before heading to the pool.

The 400 free was today. I swam okay and got second place. The girl that won wasn't in my heat, so we weren't able to race. I was ahead of her split at the 300 by a whole second, but she must have an amazing finishing kick because she ended up beating me by .33 one-hundredths. This is the same girl that came from behind the last 100 of the 800 to win, too. Oh well.

Tomorrow is the open water swim. It's 3K...1.5K down the Swan River and then back. Should be fun!

Also, a random thought: we just returned from dinner. Kangaroo was listed on one of the restuarant menus that we glanced at while walking past. After petting one yesterday, I could never eat it. They just seem too gentle and sweet. I don't have that same "conviction" about cows, chicken, pigs, etc. But there's just something about the kangaroo that makes them special to me now and I can't imagine eating one.

Standing behind the blocks before the 200 free. That's me in the black suit (it's actually blue but apparently it looks black when wet) and the black cap, the fourth swimmer in from the left.

Kangaroos: Soft and Gentle

2008-04-23T18:28:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we drove north of Perth to the Swan Valley and went to a wild animal park. We got to pet kangaroos!!! Their fur is so incredibly soft. Softer than most stuffed animals I own. They were very gentle and not scared of people. We also got to feed them. The littlest ones would come up and put their front paws right on our hands. So cool!!

See the joey in the momma's pouch?

We also got to see and touch some koalas. Did you know that they sleep 20 hours a day? What a life! This one almost looks fake to me.

Any guesses on what this is? A Tasmanian Devil! Did you know that was actually a real animal? I sure didn't. This one was doing his daily exercise routine in his enclosure. He ran down the path, looped around, and then down the path again. Over and over. He's sort of funny looking, isn't he? A cross between a pig and a dog?

The Past Two Days in Photos

2008-04-23T03:05:00.004-06:00

The past two days have been busy! We've done too many things to blog about in detail (mostly because I'm tired and don't feel like typing a ton), so here are some photos that capture some of our adventures. We drove down to Margaret River (about 3 hours south of Perth) on Monday and had a LOVELY lunch at the Vasse Felix winery. This was the view from our table. So beautiful! And peaceful! And relaxing!

Then, we finally saw the Indian Ocean! All the stories I've heard about miles and miles of beautiful, white sand beaches are true. The ocean was relatively warm. I just stuck my feet in, but it would have been a good temp for a swim.

On Tuesday, we took a ferry down the Swan River. We passed the most expensive house in Australia along the way. It could be yours for only $84 millon. We then ferried over to Rottnest Island. No cars allowed on the island. Every one bikes around, so I managed to get Mom on a bike for the first time in 30 years...last time she rode she broke her jaw. She was pretty nervous at first, but she did great! Next stop: Tour de France!

We biked from bay to bay and ran out of syonyms for "beautiful", "gorgeous", "unspoiled", "isolated", "unpopulated", "breathtaking".

The island also has some inland lakes, which are up to 7 times saltier than the ocean. The salt, combined with the algea, makes them look pink. Notice the pinkish/purplish color on the far right of the above photo?

Shopping, Swimming, Sight Seeing

2008-04-20T17:42:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we drove down to Fremantle in the morning to do some more shopping in the markets. There were lots of great deals to be had! Some items were very typically Australian, and other items were imported from places like India and China. One of the neatest vendors we found sells items made from Jarrah trees, which are quite common in Western Australia. It's a dark, almost redish wood, very beautiful. Items at the markets are about 3x less expensive than in traditional stores. Being the shoppers that we are, we loved it!!

In the afternoon, it was back to the hotel for a lunch of egg salad sandwiches and an apple. My mom first began making me egg salad sandwiches before swim meets when I was 7 years old! The tradition continues! Despite not having Durkees, or salt and pepper, the salad turned out great. Maybe the eggs came from saltier chickens?

I swam the 200 free yesterday afternoon. Apparently the official competition website isn't doing a very good job of posting results (not sure why...seems like that would be an important feature of the website?). I had a pretty good swim...my time was just 1.4 seconds slower than at Stanford two years ago. I took third place. So far, I've placed exactly the same as I did at Stanford.

After the meet, we walked through Kings Park. It's a huge park built on some bluffs that overlook the Swan River, another river with a native name that I can't remember right now, and the city of Perth. It was established in the early 1900s by settlers of Perth who wanted to preserve the early "feel" of Perth and Western Australia.

After Kings Park, we had dinner at the Old Swan Brewery, located on the Swan River. We both had pork cutlets with pineapple salsa. Yummy! We saved room for dessert...which did not disappoint. The chef gets total style points for these creations. The pink stuff on the creme brulee is like cotton candy and that's toffee sitting on top of the strawberries. I can't remember the last time I photographed my dessert!

(Sorry about the blurriness...I'm not very good at holding the camera super still while on the night setting.)

Fremantle

2008-04-19T18:11:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, I swam the 200 back in the morning. This is the indoor pool. The guys and girls alternate days in the indoor and outdoor competition pools. My 200 free and 400 free will be outside. I was a little worried about how I'd swim yesterday, given the late hour of my 800 free, my lack of warmdown afterwards, and the fact that restaurants in Perth don't seem to be open past 9 pm. After trying unsuccessfully for about an hour to find a place to eat after the 800, we finally gave up and made oatmeal and peanut butter at the hotel. It's good thing that's one of my favorite meals! But, I seem to have recovered okay and swam well yesterday morning. I went about the same time as I did at Worlds two years ago at Stanford (only .08 seconds slower) and got 4th place. I'm happy with that swim!

After swimming, we were starving! We had passed a little restaurant called "Woodpecker Pizza" on the way to the pool several times, so we decided to try it for lunch. It was yummy!! We split a shrimp, canadian bacon, and mushroom pizza. Man it tasted good! We both really liked the decor of the restaurant, too. Those are wine bottles hanging on the far wall in the picture. Every thing I've read says that it's not necessary to tip the servers, but it feels so weird. I always feel like we're cheating them out of something.

After lunch, we headed to Fremantle. It's about 20km south of Perth. Fremantle has quite a history of prisons. Most of the town and infrastructure was built by prisoners fresh off the convict ships from England. We toured the Fremantle Prison, which was in use from the 1850s until 1991. One of the most shocking aspects of the prison is that they used a "bucket system" for toilets...even in 1991. The prison guards even learned not to walk down the center of the main cell block or they'd end up with human waste dumped all over them from the upper cells.

Prisoners must have been shorter back in the 1850s!

After the tour, we did some shopping in the Fremantle Markets. If you've ever seen "The Amazing Race", the markets are somewhat like some of the markets they've been to on the show. Lots of little stalls, with vendors selling everything from jewelry to clothes to Aboriginal items to photos to boomerangs to food. We didn't have enough time to browse through everything we wanted to yesterday, so we're going back there this morning before I swim the 200 free in the afternoon.

We concluded the day with a fabulous dinner. I had a fillet, which is apparently pronounced "fill-it" here and Mom had duck breast. We also enjoyed a bottle of wine from New Zealand. Overall, it was a great day!

Swan Bells

2008-04-18T18:48:00.004-06:00

The pictures are of the Swan Bell tower and the view from the observation deck on the tower. The tower holds 18 *big* bells that were brought over from a church in England. We got to try to ring the bells....it's really hard! The top of the tower provides beautiful views of the city of Perth and the Swan River.

This is the outdoor competition pool.

I swam the 800 free last night. Supposedly it never rains in Perth, but a thunderstorm blew in right before my heat, so the event was delayed about 2.5 hours. I swam okay, not great, and got 2nd place. The 200 back is this morning and then we're headed to Fremantle in the afternoon to take in some of the history and shopping.

Where's the Turn Signal?

2008-04-17T17:27:00.003-06:00

Greetings from Perth!!!
We arrived without incident yesterday. Well, mostly without incident...I managed to drop my laptop while going through security in Sydney. Oppss!!! But, it booted up and is working like a charm so far.

Driving on the left side of the road is an adventure (for me, my mom is scared spitless...not sure what that says about my driving?). I'm getting the hang of it, but the hardest part is that the turn signal is on the right side of the steering wheel. The wind shield wipers are on the left. So almost every time I try to signal, I first turn the wipers on, yell out "Dang it" and then try to actually turn the signal on before turning. Oh, and down is "right" and up is "left", so that's backwards too. And apparently Australians don't believe in a lot of street signs, so we've had a few "detours" but it's a beautiful city and we're beginning to get it figured out!

I haven't taken any pictures yet but will do that today and try to post some soon.
G'Day Mate!

Australia Bound

2008-04-13T13:21:00.002-06:00

I leave Tuesday for Australia!!! My mom and I will be there for about two weeks. I'm competing in the Masters Swimming World Championships for five days. I'm swimming the 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 200 back and a 3K open water swim. We'll be sight seeing and having adventures the rest of the time. I'll try to post pictures/updates frequently. I'm not looking forward to the 14 hour flight from LA to Sydney and THEN a 5 hour flight from Sydney to Perth, but hopefully we'll be able to sleep a lot of the time. Down Under here I come!!

National Champs!!!

2008-04-08T10:16:00.001-06:00

NATIONAL CHAMPS!! ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!

What a Game!

2008-04-06T06:37:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my totally awesome brother, who scored us some fabulous tickets, I am currently in San Antonio, celebrating the Jayhawks amazing victory over North Carolina in the Final Four!! What a game! I usually think I'm pretty relaxed during the game (certainly the most relaxed person in my family), but last night's game was exciting from the get-go. I was jumping up and down and yelling and clapping and woo-hooing!! And then when KU let UNC back into the game in the second half, I was so nervous. But KU extended the lead again and oh my gosh!!! The excitement!! Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU!!!!