Friday, January 26, 2007

Happy Australia Day, Mate!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. OI!OI!OI! Goes the now familiar chant.

I wanted to say congratulations to fellow blogger and my nearby American "friend" Mooselet and her family for becoming Australian citizens today. How exciting for them! It's like becoming an American citizen on Independence Day.

This season is also known as storm season here in Queensland. Last night we got a real whopper according to The Hubby. Didn't seem all that bad, except for the fast that we had just picked up some DIY bookshelves from the warehouse and they were getting wet in the trailer behind the car as we rushed home. Did I mention that we have TWO sets of gates in our new home? Yep! TWO! One at the street and one at the entrance to the carport and front of the house. They are all of a little over a car length apart so one can park between them for convenience, but we had to get the car AND trailer under the carport ASAP last night. I was completely drenched by the time Hubby got the car parked. Oh, he ALSO put blankets on top of the boxes to help keep the rain off? WTF? It only made things worse! Heavy wet blankets on top of cardboard boxes. Right now those blankets are lying on the carport floor in a heap where I was barely able to drag them off because they were so water-logged and heavy.

We did succeed in getting the bookcases inside and dry, Thank God for not so small miracles. So, after we got all dry and cleaned up, Hubby decides we are now NOT gonna go out to eat, which I'd been looking forward to all day! Grrrrrrr. I convinced him to anyway. We drove first to the local Tavern. One look inside told me We did not want to eat there, so good naturedly drove down to the local Irish Pub. We could hear the badly tuned cover band inside before we even parked. Worse yet, gamely, we walked to the door. As we approached, there were two men standing outside for a smoke....not so uncommon here as smoking is not permitted in any establishments. However, when I passed them I got a whiff of something that was defintely NOT tobacco. WEED! OMG! I honestly cannot remember the last time...no wait, I can remember the last time I smelled it. LOL! Anywho, I was appalled. In public? Here? In suburban Brisbane? I was shocked. This city is in many ways like New Orleans, hot and humid, laid back people and attitudes. But weed in public? I'd never have imagined it. In New Orleans one just expects to see it pretty much everywhere, it's no big deal...but I suppose that's a story for another time.

Well, the music was way too loud for my tastes. I wanted something quiet and intimate for supper. I did get it, by way of Red Rooster and take-away LOL! We ended up home eating our chips and chicken in the new recliners in front of the telly. What a night it was! At least it ended peacefully, with no one maimed beyond recognition and with full bellies to boot. Nice way to end a Thursday night if I do say so myself.

5 comments:

Sister Mary Lisa said...

Sounds like a soggy adventure. Gotta love it.

skinnylittleblonde said...

LOl, soggy blankets are never good ... no matter what.
Too funny about the two cats smoking pot in public...what were they thinking! When I was in HS, we would pack a tiny broken up bud into the end of our cigarettes. After a puff or two we thought all incriminating evidence was gone. Ah, to be young & dumb...

Mooselet said...

Hey thanks chickie!!! We did the Aussie Aussie Aussie chant several times during the ceremony - Pine Rivers is so laid back!

We got very little rain up this end of Brissie. Good for my laundry, bad for my pool. Soggy blankets are no fun - best get them out to dry before they start stinking.

You weren't up in Strathpine were you? I swear I smelt that distinctive smell several weeks ago outside the Westfield shopping mall. :-)

kitten said...

Mooselet: Glad you had a good day! Sorry ya'll didn't get much rain, we're down in Woodridge, we got something like 40mm in half an hour. It was pretty neat *grin*. Yep blankies are all dry now, hung them up over the fence first thing...I hate the smell of mildewed laundry worse than anything. BTW, I got to use my Downy dryer sheets this morning in my new clothes dryer *WOOT!! Does happy dance*

Anonymous said...

Ugh, we used to have neighbours who smoked weed the way other people smoke cigarettes... the smell permeated our house ('cause of course we have to have the windows open) and it was horrid. Not sure about QLD but the possession laws in the NT are much more relaxed than the US, that's why you see so many people doing it out in the open.

Hope your storm season is a good one, I know y'all need the rain! And yayyyyy on the Downy dryer sheets! A couple of years ago when my parents visited, they left a whole bunch of Bounce and it was sooo nice. (though nowadays I don't have a dryer and just use fabric softner instead, but still...heheh)