Darcy Legalization Act of 2010

Today is a good day, reinforcing those precious tenets espoused by our forefathers-- freedom, liberty, and justice for all. Our little refugee has finally been accepted into Australian society. Darcy is now legally allowed to reside in the humble South Yarra abode in which she has been squatting for the past year.

You may be asking, how did this happen? Weren't you scared to death that your property management company would evict you if they even heard mention of the word "dog"? You're absolutely right . . . which is why we were sneaky about it. We informed the property management company that friends of ours were moving to Guam and couldn't take their cute little Westie with them, so they had asked us to care for her in their absence. (That's such a crazy story it has to be true!) The kindhearted property manager couldn't in good conscience turn down the poor little homeless dog, so as a result, Darcy's contraband status has been lifted and she is now a legal resident of South Yarra.

Break out the fireworks, and may January 21 forever be known as Darcy Independence Day!

Darcy before Legalization

Freedom to do anything -- even get sand on her face!

Crazy Melbourne Weather

I'm so hot right now (hello Zoolander). Possibly even tinkering on the verge of insanity. Yesterday was a scorching 110 degrees, and last night was the hottest night in Melbourne history. Stubborn heat refused to sink below 90 degrees the whole evening, a fact that I consistently registered each time I woke up in my sweat-drenched pajamas. As a result of the heat, our unairconditioned apartment is having an identity crisis and thinks it is a brick oven.

But never fear, Melbourne weather is certain to have some crazy anomaly up its sleeve. While today is calling for a high of 98, tomorrow we're back down to a glorious 70 degrees.

And that, my friends, is Melbourne weather in a nutshell.

Happy New Year!

And we're back! I know, I know, it's been too long, but Will and I are finally home from our extensive leave. Between two weeks of holiday and two weeks of living on Trinity's campus, we haven't actually been home for longer than two days in over a month, so it's a good feeling to kick back. Of course, we got back from Perth at 1.30 AM on Thursday, and Will had to be at work at 8.00 AM that morning (which was 5.00 AM Perth time), so kicking back didn't actually happen for him until this weekend. But finally -- we are well and truly ready to ring in the year of our lord 2010!

And in honor of the new year, I have several posts lined up, dating all the way back from Thanksgiving. Yes, Thanksgiving. In fact, I am so confident that these posts will actually be written and, well, posted that I will give you their topics IN ADVANCE! Be prepared to feast your eyes on recaps of the Holidays, Summer School (aka "why on earth were you babysitting a bunch of high schoolers, and seriously, did any of them really get pregnant?"), and the latest vacation.

And to get you really in the mood, here is the link to our Perth pictures. The first half of the pictures or so are from our first week spent in the city of Perth, and the second half are from the second week in Margaret River, a region about three hours outside of Perth with beautiful beaches, famous wineries, natural wildlife, and rich scenery. If you do not feel up to looking through all 400+ pictures, I will be recapping the trip in the near future. I promise.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kim.hearon/20091223WesternAustralia#

Until then, much love from the Stones as you all begin your new year.

Intermezzo

We're back at home for a total of two short days. Just long enough to unpack our bags, do laundry, repack our bags, and wake up at 3:30 AM to get on our 6:00 AM flight tomorrow morning. Oh, and feed our neighbors' cat while they are away. You remember, the one Darcy's in love with. In fact, in my attempts to tire her out so she won't be a psycho dog when we try to board her on the plane tomorrow (oh, I forgot to mention that Darcy's going with us to Perth. Yes, it probably is cruel and unusual punishment to put her back into the crate that she's already spent 25 hours in during her cross-continental voyage, but it's either that or fork out $500 in kennel fees... so cruel and unusual punishment it is), I left her with Mordi for the morning. It went a little bit like this:


When we leave another friend will be taking over caring for the cat, a fact that I'm sure will please Mordi immensely.

Wish I had Time . . .

I wish I had time to tell you about everything that's going on. Time to tell you about our Thanksgiving holiday (or lack thereof). Time to tell you about the American food store we found (after renting a car just to get there-- what one wouldn't do for canned pumpkin and yams on Thanksgiving!). Time to announce our Christmas holiday plans with the proper pomp and circumstance that information like that deserves (because it's actually really cool, and I'm really excited).

But there is no time. Why? Because I am in the midst of Summer School, playing mommy to 120 kids from 10 countries around the world, living on a college campus, and basically pulling my hair out and losing my voice as I run from one emergency to the next before tumbling exhausted into bed after 14-hour days.

Maybe two weeks from now, when it is all over, I will have time again. And then I will tell you about Thanksgiving. And the American food store. And the Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Dr. Pepper that I found. And the Thanksgiving dinner I cooked for 9 people in our 600 sq foot apartment. And our two-week holiday in Perth that's coming up (dang it, cat's out of the bag, WITHOUT the pomp and circumstance!).

Until then, think of me as I babysit my kids, and pray that no one dies or gets pregnant on my watch so I can please keep my job!

New York, New York

So here are some pictures I promised you . . .

First off, the beautiful Mr. and Mrs. Smith as they exit their marriage ceremony (and the beautiful umbrella that kept them almost-if-not-completely dry). The ceremony took place in Central Park in a truly gorgeous garden (and thanks to my slowski-ness they've already been married a month before I could get around to posting pictures!)

The happy couple imitating Romeo and Juliet... uhh, actually on second thought let's hope not. Oh, and for the record I borrowed these professional pictures from Carissa's blog... I didn't just happen to take a picture of them kissing on a balcony. That would be weird.

After Carissa and Taylor left for their honeymoon the Hearon family swept into New York. Here's us in Central Park!

And here are the Hearon girls in Times Square, though you can't tell. I swear, if you zoomed out we would be standing in a square. With lots of lights. And people. And billboards. And time.

My fabulous parents on the Brooklyn Bridge

My sister and I on the Brooklyn Bridge... can't you see the family resemblance?

My sister and I in Central Park. If you look really closely you'll be able to see a phone by my ear. That's Will.

And last but certainly not least, a new summer haircut for Darcy. Poor thing -- it actually doesn't look that bad here, but the groomer (if that is in fact what he was; in retrospect, I saw no beauty certificate on his wall) gave her a poofy tail like a poodle, ginormous ears, and a really short-haired body. Ah well, this too shall pass.

Back Down Under

Hi, remember me? I'm the owner of this blog... and by owner I mean person who posts whenever she feels like it, then abandons her charge for weeks on end, then--when almost everyone has given up hope of a return--swoops back in to feed the blog-reading addiction with one more post, therefore renewing the hope that someday, SOMEDAY this blog might be maintained with regular updates. Sadly, regular updates are probably not in this particular blog's future, but hopefully we will all be appeased with not-so-regular, though invariably narcissistic and even occasionally semi-entertaining updates.

Mediocrity at its finest.

But in my defense I have been quite busy since returning Down Under from the City that Never Sleeps. And for those of you who were taking bets, NO I did not inadvertently get lost in Bloomingdales and miss my flight. YES I am now back in Australia and have been since last Saturday (after skipping over October 30 entirely... I still don't understand how that happens). So going directly from October 29 to October 31 had me landing in Australia on Halloween day, which was also a great excuse for not having a costume.

WILL: Honey, where's your costume?
ME: Sorry, I was planning on buying it on October 30, but that's right-- IT DIDN'T EXIST FOR ME.
WILL: Well how do you suggest we be Macaroni and Cheese without the cheese? Hmmmm???
ME: I'm sure you'll think of something, dear.

Although not having a costume wasn't as big a deal as I'm making it out to be, because a) upon landing, I slept through most of Halloween after my twenty-five hours of traveling, and b) Australians don't even celebrate the infamous holiday. (No Halloween, no Thanksgiving... makes the Holidays more like a holiday)

Upon landing in Australia I was also met with another semi-welcome event: summer! I swear that in my brief absence, summer has hit in full-force. When I left we were still fighting to stay in the 20s (that's high 60s, low 70s Fahrenheit), and I had to take a jacket with me everywhere. But over the last week and a half we have had pretty consistent 30-degree weather (that's in the upper 80s, low 90s Fahrenheit). I must say, the first few days of warm weather were quite welcome, but I'm beginning to regret my constant supplications for summer to arrive. Considering we have no air conditioning, no car, and not even an air conditioned office, this could be a really long summer season.

My travels (and by that I mean the trips themselves) were mostly uneventful. Except for the flight from Newark to San Francisco, where I practically had to fight to the death to keep my carry on from being checked through to my final destination. Unfortunately the flight was completely full and, being as I was one of the last ones to board, I hadn't laid claim to overhead bin space. Of course, after emphasizing again and again that my final destination was Melbourne, Australia, and how there was no way on earth that I would check my carry on through the whole way because it was filled with many valuable and breakable items (really, Fritos and Oreos... both very breakable and, in Australia, valuable as well!), I managed to snag a spot in the plane's coat closet. But not before one of the flight attendants told me that my only other option besides checking the carry on was catching the next flight out on my own dime. Whatever happened to customer service??? (not-so-subliminal message: never fly United!)

The trip itself was lovely. I had so much fun at Carissa and Taylor's wedding. They were both beautiful, New York was beautiful, and they threw a rocking good party! Unfortunately the weather was a little off on the day of the wedding, but the reception, meeting up with old friends, and the overall glamor of the wedding more than made up for it. It was SO GOOD to see old friends again, and I REALLY hope to see more of them in Australia soon!

After the wedding my family came to NYC to visit. My sister even flew in from San Diego, where she had moved less than a week and a half before, just to see me... well, me and the MET. But we all had a really great time walking around the city (and walking, and walking...) and keeping Carissa's apartment safe from burglaries :-). I'll try to post some pictures later.

Alright, I am sad to say that this post has taken me the entire day to write, and I am now officially tired. Jet lag still sneaks up on me at the oddest of times. Farewell, and goodnight.