Random Thoughts/ Funny story

Here is some stuff I just want to stop thinking about blogging and have no interest in making into some kind of narrative:

Top 3 reasons I think D was supposed to be on our honeymooon with us:

3. There was something about the places we went to that for some reason I kept thinking that D would really appreciate. After seeing how much he appreciated Vegas, I cant imagine the enthusiasm for something on the other side of the world.

2. On our walk back from getting groceries in Aitutaki, and island of 1000 people, we heard, blaring loudly, The Humpty Dance.

1. Sometime at the beginning of our trip we saw a 'classic' D woman, wearing a homestar runner t-shirt. We cant remember where exactly we saw her, but it was somewhere in French Polynesia. That was the clearest sign (hence number 1)

The best thing I brought with on the trip: band-aids.

The price of sun tan lotion in Bora Bora: $28 US.

Our favorite non-us show (that was just now brought to the US): Deal or No Deal. Their version is better than our Howie Mandel version.

People keep asking what our favorite part of the trip was. We went places that were so different its hard to say. Swimming with sharks was awesome. Climbing the Fox Glacier was most excellent. Sea kayaking in Doubtful Sound was amazing. Uluru (and the aboriginal culture) blew our minds. The water in French Polynesia is unlike anywhere else. Even though Aitutaki boasts to have the best lagoon, it cant hold a candle to Bora Bora. The singing on Rarotonga definitely was the best musical experience, and we heard a lot of great music. I might go back to Raro just to hear another church service. And the people we met were so gracious. Totally top notch.

So, funny story. Yesterday I was on my way into work and while exiting the train, the doors started to close. I reached out to push them open, as did the guy in front of me. As a result my hand was pinned between the door, and the wall. Normally this would have been a 'oh, ouch' and move along scenario. However, the finger that got stuck was the one with the granuloma on it. Within seconds my hand was covered in blood, literally dripping blood. You can imagine the guys face who did it. Complete shock and dumbfoundedness. I kept saying 'it was just an accident, dont worry about it. I work upstairs and will handle it there.' He keep staring at the inordinate amount of blood saying 'I am so sorry. What do we do. So sorry.' and then finally 'I have a wetnap.' I took the wetnap in hopes of making him feel better. I used it to keep blood off the floor. As I expected, all is fine. But the drama level was superb.

Speaking of which, I saw the doctor today for my pre-op physical. As usual, she was great. And Jamie and I were pleased to find out that I was not pregnant. Apparently both of us were concerned that I was, although we hadnt talked about it. I have been dizzy and feeling a general malaise, different than anything I have experienced before. Having never been pregnant and recently married, that was where both our minds went. Apparently Jamie was already preparing, and I was preparing for Jamies freakout. Truth be told, I have always been much more pro-life than I let on, well, particulary for myself. I am officially pro-choice because I think some decisions are too complex for me to judge and I will leave that to the persons involved and their maker if they have one (which is also why I am against the death penalty.) But for me, there is no real choice to be made. So while Jamie and I are not actively choosing to have kids, I wasnt too upset at the possibility of having one because, for me, when you are pregnant thats it. And still, glad to hear that wasnt what was going on. Now, I still dont know why I havent been feeling well, but frankly I dont care. As I told my doctor, its always a pleasure to see you, but frankly, we are seeing far too much of each other. I hope I dont see you again soon. She agreed.

Ok, rambling way too much.

Home

Well we are finally back home, and man it is good to be home. Sort of. Its been a less than stellar return for us. While we are so glad to be back and be able to talk to our friends and family, reality has delivered a whole bunch of 1-2 punches. Some highlights are that my mom and Eagles dad both fell and are in pain (both will be ok eventually), we were served with a lien for our building (which means we cant sell it til its resolved), my work paid me while I was gone which I have to repay so we have less money than we thought (and we were already broke), the only copy of our professional wedding photos was on a hard drive that crashed so we dont know if we will get those back (although there is still a chance), and I have a friend who isnt talking to me and from what I can tell may never talk to me. And I have surgery this week. And I am swampped at work, complete with having to make late night conference calls to China. And Eagle is sick. And the condo is in shambles.

Of course, all of this isnt necessarily bad. The issue with the friend not talking to me has brought up some really interesting things for Eagle and I to talk about. And some great changes in our lives are going to come out of it. Now, I cried about it for 6 1/2 hours but I think I am done. But it really brought up again all the things about the wedding that we were disappointed about. And to find out that the wedding was probably the last time I will see this friend was really upsetting. And really enlightening. We are now taking a good hard look at where we put our energy and money. Now that he and I are a family, we need to make sure that we arent wasting our energy on efforts that arent reciprical. And that is hard for both of us, because these people mean a lot to us, but we have a future to create and a partnership to nourish. Above and beyond the issue with my friend, we also cant be flying all over the country to visit friends who dont call and dont ever come to visit. Literally, we spend almost all our vacation time visiting people. That time, money, and energy could best be spent somewhere else. And please dont misunderstand, we arent talking about all our friends here, and certainly realize the importance of our good friends. And we arent angry at anyone who isnt reciprical, we just realize we cant put all the effort in by ourselves to make the friendship work. Part of us feels guilty about it, but when we think about it we realize that they are just already doing what we want to do. They spend their vacations in Hawaii or Europe or wherever, taking care of their marriage/relationship/family. We've been fools for not doing the same. And to reiterate, we love these people, think they are great, we just arent going to spend as much time and energy on the relationships.

Anyway, back to the good things. Of course, the surgery is a good thing as my finger is SOOO gross. The rest of it, well, it makes me laugh (with the exception of our parents pain of course). For some reason I have been convinced all along that something had happened with our wedding photos so I was already prepared for that. And, they could end up being just fine. Who knows. And with work, well, salary review comes up at the beginning of the year so heres hoping that all this work will pay off then.

More good news is that Eagles mom and step-dad are coming out for the holidays. We are quite excited as this will make it a large Christmas celebration as my family is coming to the city as well. We even bought furniture for the occasion! Unfortunately our table wont be in on time so we have to put up some card tables at my brothers. But I kinda like the idea of the whole family taking a walk down Lawrence together to have dinner.

Other good news is that Eagle had a good interview with the Baha'i today. We are hoping for a job offer before Christmas so we can celebrate that with his mom and Rick.

Ok, still going to post some honeymoon wrap-up in a bit, but all this was really wanted to be said so I did that first.

Jelly fish and a southern cross

Ahh, finally in Oz after all. Am terrible with nicknames. Well, actually, we only have one week left of our fantastic journey. Regardless of what I told anyone, we arrive back on Dec. 11th.

I dont have much time on this computer and its really hard to type on, but here are some Australian highlights...

In Sydney we met up with ICC, we went to the Opera House (actually tan in person,, not white like it looks), went to the zoo for an awesome free flying bird show. Really great. Went to the aquarium and saw a fabulous shark exhibit. We could have sat there all day. went out to the blue mountains and it was ok. Manly beach was fantastic and if we ever go back, Jamie and I would stay there. ICC went to Bondi, said it was ok. Went on a harbour cruise. The highlight was meeting up with the aforementioned friend we met in Aitutaki, Juels. She invited us to her brothers for an authentic Australian Barbei (no idea how to spell that.) And although it was similar to our bbqs, there was just something in the air that was different. And the company was superb. Everyone was so wonderful, reminded us of all of you. And Jamie is now fairly well educated on how to play cricket. I still only know thebasics. As he learned I was busyh having a hair removal conversation with a woman who admitted to me she was having it done, and had told no one else. We of course bonded.

Next was Uluru and it was worth every minute. We were very moved by the whole experience and Jamie and I were both completely infatuated by our guide who was translating our tour from our Aboriginal guide. I know its a rock, but I could have spent days there. We also went and saw another formation, the Olgas. Also quite impressive, but doesnt have quite the spiritual significance of Uluru. We couldnt get enough.

Next was an overnight stay in Alice Springs. I have known about the remoteness fo Alice Springs from Priscilla of course, so I was completely enthralled. Jamie, not so much. We did double our money at a casino though, so that was all good.

Next, we left ICC to head to Cairns while he explored Adelaide. We went to Fitzroy island where we scuba dived on an fringe reef. ANd because I love the drama, I managed to get stung by a jelly fish. On my face. Nice. Doing fine though, no worries. THe next day we went out to snorkel on the reef itself. Indescribable. We saw a fleet of squid and amazing psychodelic fish. If we didnt ruin our film, we did take pictures with our underwater camera. So fabulous. Now, we also went to a casino in Cairns, lost money, but met an illusionist there who invited us to his place a couple days later for lunch. His wife is from Thailand and cooked us an amazing fresh thai meal. So good. And hthe magician is well established so theconversation was great. We are now on Kangaroo Island and just saw the Little Penguins in their homes on the beach. Earlier we saw a wild kangaroo and wild koalas. of course, we have pictures of all of it. Speaking of which, according to our camera we have taken over 1200 pictures. Whoa.

Oh, and several folks mentioned seeing the southern cross. Not so easy. Saw it for the first time tonight and havebeen trying the whole time!

Ok, running out of time. Must post. Cant wait to see all of you!