Packing off to Perth

Hyatt was asked to speak at a swine conference in Perth which is in Western Australia. See visual below.

That may not seem like a long ways but it's actually about 2100 miles - which is almost the equivalent of driving from LA,CA to NY,NY.

We're flying, incidentally.

By the time you read this (depending on when you log on to get caught up on our exciting lives), we'll either be enroute to the airporto or in the air on the way to Perth. Don't worry, the blog will continue to supply you with roughly 3-5 minutes of entertainment while we're gone.

While in Perth we plan to go whale watching (I love whales), visit the Maritime Museum and probably go to Rottnest Island. Pictures will be provided later, duh. We're also going to visit some hog farms and a cattle station to get our ag on while we're there. I'll try to snap a picture of Hyatt while he's being all important and stuff. It should prove to be an exciting trip.

Stay tuned for more exciting FroBuzz adventures!

Until tomorrow,

~ Brandi ~

Rest in Pieces

Lois died.

Remember Lois?

A short synopsis of her death (in Hyatt's words):

"She overheated on the way to Dookie. Cracked the headgasket which ruined the aluminum block. She was towed to Wallan, stripped of her registration and is now sitting in the junkyard."

We got a refund on the remainder of her registration (whoo hoo for ~ $250) but unfortunately we won't be able to re-sell her in December which leaves us out $1000. Such is life and sometimes life sucks.

Most importantly, we're on foot. Thank goodness we live in the city and not 2 hours away. We can still take the trams or walk to the few destinations we visit.

A short obituary by me:

Lois, you will not be forgotten. We will miss your squeaky fanbelt, broken backseat window and shoddy paint job. May you be reincarnated as a shiny, black Chevrolet Corvette.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in the name of the Lois Frobose Memorial Scholarship for American-Australian Fulbright Recipients.

Until tomorrow,
~ Buzzard ~

Marriage Revelation #13

I'm certain I've had more than 13 revelations since we've been married, but 13 is my favorite number so it seemed fitting.

This is not only a revelation about our marriage, but about myself which affects our marriage. It runs full circle - get it?

I was clicking away on the wonderful world of Pinterest (if you don't know what Pinterest is, I'll invite you. No one should be deprived of pinning) and saw this list:

I read it and suddenly realized aloud - "I'm an introvert." Holy crap. It took me 25 years to figure this out about MYSELF. So many things that Hyatt and I get into teensy arguments about stem from these personality characteristics.

I've always known Hyatt was an extrovert but I kind of thought I was too because I'm very outgoing and loud around my friends and family but once I saw all of those pieces of information together in one list - it made it very clear to me why Hyatt and I get frustrated with each other. Hyatt is the first extrovert I've ever been in a relationship with (and definitely the only one I've married) so it's safe to say we have some personality clashes.

I promptly emailed him this list and told him that A) this would explain so much for him B) understanding and committing these traits to memory would help us grow as a couple and C) if he avoided doing these things, we'd argue less and be happy more.

I guess that goes to show that we never stop learning about ourselves or each other. Many thanks to Pinterest for helping me discover my inner introvert!

Until tomorrow,

~ Buzzard ~

p.s. just before I posted this, Hyatt told me he 'was glad I'm coming out." Cripes.

Sorry for my/our absence!

I'll be the first to admit that I have really been slacking in posting on this blog. Things have been really busy lately, let me catch you up.

-- Hyatt's trial started, stopped and has recommenced.
-- Andy, Mandy and Kristen visited June 25-July 6 - we had an epic roadtrip. Several posts on this to come.
-- Lindsey, Candace and Jenny K. are visiting us right now so we're busy having fun around Melbourne and are going to Cairns in three days.

I've been busy working on my thesis, writing columns for Grass and Grain and Farm Talk and of course, blogging on Buzzard's Beat, Food For Thought and NCBA's YPC Cattle Call. Hyatt and I have also been very busy planking - get excited.

So, in short - we've been busy but I'm planning to blog my brains out so you guys can see what's been going on.

See ya on the flip,
FroBuzz

p.s. -who wants another post from Hyatt?!?!!? I do! I do!

Overwhelmed American in Australia

Approximately 30 minutes ago, I started seeing tweets that completely took me by surprise.  Osama Bin Laden is dead. Those words took a few minutes to set in; and then I was overcome by a wave of mixed emotion. Relief, joy, sadness - I started crying. This all happened while I was on a conference call with the Australian Pig Industry discussing a conference in November. I actually wrote this post during that call.

My first thought is a tremendous thank you to all of the American Armed Forces soldiers and their families. Your efforts were not in vain and your struggles will never be forgotten. I know exactly where I was on September 11, 2001 and I know that I'll remember exactly where I was on May 2, 2011.

While I am grateful that our country has united as one of the result of the atrocious WTC attacks in order to bring down this heinous terrorist, I am fully aware of the thousands of terrorists still at large in the Middle East. No doubt, they will continue to strive to annhilate those who do not agree with their mindset or values.  The war is not over, but a battle has been won. We're obviously not through seeing terrorist attacks however, this is an extremely moving, emotional and proud day to be an American.

I'm about to leave to go to work and I know that my colleagues will not fully understand the brevity of this situation, how can they?  As Hyatt and I watched President Obama's address to the nation, I felt such a swell of pride to be an American - this swell will be hard to contain.

This is such an incoherent post - I'm not sure how to end it so I'll just say:

God Bless our Troops and God Bless America.

Cheers,
FroBuzz