Today, I was supposed to run a 10K

Things to do when preparing for a 10K:

-- Go to bed early the night before - tired legs = slow time --- CHECK
-- Consume carbs  > 1 hr before running for energy --- 2 croissants - CHECK
-- Dress for chilly, rainy Melbourne weather (leggings, under armor) --- CHECK
-- Pring off direction to running course --- CHECK
-- Remember to bring shoes and race number --- double CHECK
-- Show up on correct day --- #EPICFAIL

That's right, I got up (and made Hyatt get up to drive me) at 6:15 am. I ate breakfast, groomed, got dressed, double checked directions and we drove the 20 minutes to the Newport Running Club track. It was down by Docklands so that was very cool - got to see a few cargo ships going out to sea.

Walk up to registration desk to check in and old (but very in-shape and intimidating) man tells me I'm at the wrong race.

Scuse me?

"The Sri Chimnoy is tomorrow."
"Ha. Good one. But seriously."
"It's tomorrow, today is the Old Men Running Club practice." (not real name of club but whatevs)
"Omigod."

I start to leave -- "Wait, stay and run with us today. It will be a good practice."

Are you kidding me? It's 7:45 AM on a SATURDAY and it's raining. I'm not doing a so-called "fun practice run."

I am so thankful that I married a patient man who didn't kill me when I got back into Lois and told him the news. I am also appalled at this conundrum because I am so ORGANIZED. Hyatt is always the one who forgets dates/times (he missed his GRE b/c of a similar situation) - what the heck is happening to me? Answer: old age.

So - now I get to repeat the same process tomorrow. Oh joy. Still hope I don't collapse from exhaustion.

Cheers
~ FroBuzz ~

Yes, we are cool

I would like to claim that we are the first Americans to plank in Australia. Any challengers?

Those kegs were on campus and you have no idea how hard it was for Hyatt to keep his balance up there.

Cheers,

FroBuzz

Mac n' Cheese!

A few days ago we got some more boxes from the states! We're so excited about our great stuff - thanks so much Lenny and Candace!

Chips Ahoy = gone in two days. Look at all that mac n' cheese - yummy!

Sweet stuff and movies!

Cap'n Crunch - all that is missing is some chocolate frozen yogurt

Proud to be purple! EMAW

Thanks again Lenny and Candace - you girls rock!

Cheers
~ FroBuzz ~

Peek into the FroBuzz Flat

Alright folks - you've been waiting for this for a long, long time. I have finally 'decorated' enough to warrant some pictures of our cute little flat at St. Hildas College. Hope you like them - we love our flat!

The hallway to our flat - the first door on the right (in the picture) is the laundry room (free!)

Aaaaand, we're going in

Ta-da! Our table, some chairs and our book/movie/card/storage shelf.

We eat a lot of fruit - I bought that sweet glass bowl for $4 at Savers

All the cards we've received - thanks, ya'll!

Our books - 1/2 of those we've bought since being in Australia and others people have sent to us.

 Movies (thanks Candace and Lenny) and The Office - it's a staple

Some of the few decorations we have - that figurine is called Father and Daughter. Podge gave it to me before we left for Australia.

And the rest of our decor - that figurine is Close To Me - given to me by my Aunt Daisy.  I have one more that my cousin Courtney gave to me but I forgot to pack it. :(  Aunt Jody sent me the family picture 

The living area - Majors Grattan and Glenda Savage lended us the tv b/c the flat didn't come with one.

The kitchen - very spacious :)  We don't use it a lot because all of our meals are provided

Contents of our fridge - drinks and condiments. Beer, iced tea, crystal light, milk, ketchup, jelly, butter, cheese, eggs and cream. Lots of meals can be created with all this....

Gotta have the basics - Hyatt is in withdrawal because he doesn't have hundreds of spice containers

We could absolutely NOT survive without our SpongeBob popcorn popper

More of the living space - the cabinet has all of the rest of our food, dishes and the Wii!

Standing in living space looking at the other end of the flat.

Master bedroom - Hyatt's mom made those green pillowcases

The workspace

My side of the closet - yes that is the entirety of clothes I was able to bring

  Hyatt's side - he also has a dresser that is behind the door.

Couldn't come to Australia without bringing our boots! We've got bullhide, ostrich and caiman all being represented in this picture.

Hope you liked getting a glimpse of our place -- if you want to see more, fly over here and visit us!

Cheers,

~ FroBuzz ~

The new Aussie "Planking" craze

Hello from Aussieland!

I'm coming out of my blogging retirement to bring you an update about a new fad here in Australia that is taking the world by storm. It's called 'Planking'. What is that? I'm sure you're asking..... Well it isn't the most glamorous thing in the world, and I believe that's what makes it so random and hilarious.

It all started when rugby star David Williams showed off his 'planking' skills on live television during a match in Australia after scoring a try in Marck. 'Planking' essentially involves lying face down stiff as a board in often bizarre places in order for a funny photo opportunity. Check out the photo that started it all below.

Since starting this new fad, facebook groups and websites have sprung up featuring pictures of people 'planking' in the most random or difficult of places, including in the workplace, on moving vehicles, and basically anywhere you wouldn't expect. I've included a few of the more hilarious ones for your viewing pleasure below.

The downside for avid plankers is that a Brisbane man recently fell to his death during an incident where he was planking off the edge of a high-rise building, which prompted a response from the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, about the dangers of planking. Since then, employer's like the grocery chain Woolworths have begun firing workers who have taken pictures of themselves planking at work.

Although those fired have been made scapegoats out of their incidents, it has only fueled the fire for planking by making it more visible in the media. Brandi and I haven't found a great planking site yet, but watch out, because we are going back to the Opera House in June....

If you get a wild hair, start planking in the US and send us a pic!

Australia's taking the world by storm,

Hyatt

I GOT TO SEE A KOALA!

and quite possibly the coolest bird ever. But I'll get to that.

So, Vickey took us up to Healesville Sanctuary - she had coffee with her old boss and Hyatt and I got to see all the native Australian wildlife. Including koalas. Check. It. Out.

A goanna

Ibises

A lyre bird

The Black Breasted Buzzard - aka coolest bird on the planet. See that egg? Watch what happens

 The egg is going to meet its maker soon

BAM! Uses the rock to open the egg. Best bird ever.

Tasmanian Devil

Kookaburra

Parrot

Another parrot - did you know Australia is the parrot capital of the world?

I feel like I'm forgetting something.....hmmmm. Oh wait.

I didn't get to hold him but I did get pictures! Sleepy, grumpy koala

Hey you guys, shut up. I'm sleeping...

There was a new specimen at the Sanctuary, check it out too.

Scary, huh?

We had a blast - many thanks to Vickey for taking time out of her Saturday to take us up there!

Cheers

FroBuzz



Vocabulary Lessons

As expected, terminology for certain things differs between countries. Even when both countries speak English. For example:
Lesson #1:
"Wow - that shirt is too dear!"
Meaning: wow - that shirt is so expensive.   Expensive = too dear. Got it?

Lesson #2:
"Ok - get in the ute it's time to go."
Meaning: Ok - get in the truck it's time to go.   Truck = ute

What is a 'ute' you ask?  This is a ute - and they're everywhere. They look like a 1970's El Camino except they still make these. Fahri has one and it's badass.

Other fun vocab words in Australia
Tasty cheese - apparently it's ok to use adjectives interchangeably as brand names. Tasty cheese is supposedly cheddar cheese. But it's not yellow. Also, there is no American cheese here. Go figure.

Mackers - McDonalds. Duh. That should have been an easy one.

Capsicum - this is a pepper. I think most people already knew that but I was oblivious to the fact that a pepper could have another name. Stupid American.
Fairy Floss - cotton candy flavor. Hyatt loves those cheap icee pops and they have a flavor called fairy floss. It took us quite some time to get the courage up to try them.

I'm sure there will be many more vocab lessons but right now I'll answer the one question I'm sure you're all asking about this post....No, tasty cheese is NOT tasty.

Cheers,
~ FroBuzz~

Post w/out a Name

So big things are happening this week - let me catch you up on the developments in the house of FroBuzz.

-- Hyatt has finalized and set a date for his trial, so he is extremely excited about that.
-- He will also be coaching the first ever meats team at Melbourne University.
-- This Friday is 'our day in court' with the so-called landlord. Hopefully, we'll be getting a hefty chunk of change back from that encounter and can leave it behind once and for all.

Other than that, not much is going on. Last week we went to the Healesville Sancuary which was awesome and I promise to post pictures of all the wildlife we saw. We don't do much because $$ is tight and we're trying to save for when all of our friends come and visit (Mandy, Andy, Kristen, Lenny, Candace, Jenny, Doug and Hyatt's parents). We are so excited to see everyone soon.

We miss you all a ton - thanks again for all the birthday wishes. It was so kind of everyone. Look at all the love I got from overseas!

Personal favorite is probably the card that looks like a slice of bologna from my sister in law, Hannah.

Thanks to everyone again!

Cheers
~ FroBuzz ~