Gone on a Lucky Country

I've had some thoughts tumbling around inside this big empty head of mine for the past week.  As most of you will have inferred from my last post, I've been thinking far too much recently.  I feel sufficiently recovered this week thanks to all of the other wonderful ex-pat friends and fellow bloggers that flooded me with support (thanks ladies)....  Ah yes, also shout-outs to my sisters, Meaghan, my fabulously understanding husband and the vast quantities of bourbon that I ingested on Friday night.

So, with my new positive outlook on life, I am going to skip the blog entry that I had planned about how hard it is to be an American in another country and to always feel like you are being judged and looked to as the representative of your entire nation; and I am going to concentrate on something that will continue to build on my positivity.  But, if you are interested in knowing exactly how I (and many other American ex-pats) am feeling about this topic, I strongly suggest you navigate yourself to this post that C. in Oz wrote on her blog this week.  It sums it up perfectly - so perfectly in fact that she deserves beer and chicken salted chips for writing it.

I am going to the world famous Taronga Zoo thanks to Kim and her generously offered guest pass.  Please look for a posting about this in the near future with many pictures of animals!

Other things that I have been doing/thinking about:

I am refinishing the Armoire that Joe and I trash-picked (from this post) and it is nearing end stages.  I decided to take off the polyurethane, give it a light sand and then paint it an slightly antique white.  I'll keep you updated...

We are feeding the neighbors cats this weekend as they are on their last holiday before their baby is born.  The cats are cute; but the experience has definitely cemented for me the idea that all animals should do their business outside.

Joe is calling the moving company this morning with threats of violence and dismemberment (not really, I made the dismemberment part up) if our stuff is not delivered tomorrow.  Sigh....  I am cautiously optimistic...

We went to a place called The Counter which is a U.S burger joint complete with real milkshakes, REAL KETCHUP and some incredible burgers.  This was our second time out with an ex-pat couple that we met last weekend.  They are epic and filled with awesome (the burgers and the couple)...  It is a testament to how good the burgers were that I completely forgot to take a picture of anything while we were there.  Anywho, the way The Counter works is that they give you a menu on which you can build your own perfect burger by checking the appropriate boxes.  So, you choose what type of meat, type of bun or salad, your toppings etc... right down to mayo and pickles. I got a grilled pineapple ring on my burger and it was very reminiscent of Ruby Tuesdays.  I know where we will be going from now on when we are craving a taste of America!