Thanksgiving

After collecting all of Ter Bear's recipes I attempted to make a Thanksgiving dinner with all the toppings! With a good deal of help from the mom Carolyn and daughter Kristy, we managed to whip up a solid remake of an American Turkey Day.  I put my business education to work and strategically delegated the cooking of the turkey to the dad Rick.

We invited over some family friends invovled in softball and I ate my first thanksgiving dinner outside.  Our dinner consisted of turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, strawberry salad, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and lots of wine. I'm proud to say the main course was flawless but we weren't so lucky with the pies. The combo of overcooking and improper ingredients left the pecan pie pretty dark and the pumpkin pie tasting more like a slice of cheesecake. However, my guests didn't know any better and loved them all the same. Overall, my first attempt at cooking a Thanksgiving meal was successful but I will be looking forward to leaving the cooking to the experts next year!

Hamish & Andy

I am in love with Hamish & Andy... they are two Aussie entertainers (they do everything from tv to radio) and here are some of my favorite clips from them, enjoy!

Ghosting

Ghosting 2.0

3 Step Hiding

Cab Drivers

College Round 2

Just got back from a four day trip to Sydney for our first tournament with the West Australia National team. WA is one of five teams from each region in Australia plus the New Zealand team. Throughout my time here all six teams will compete in four tournaments and the team with the best overall record will win the Gilley's Shield.

The trip turned out to be deja vue of my college playing days... minus some rain delays and add in a couple beers. The long weekend included all of the MN softball necessities: travel suits, team vans, ice baths, sandwiches inbetween games, banning of cell phones, and my favorite post-game massage :)  I had a fun time but just like coach B always said to us during school, this is a business trip not vacation. My teammates had a good time teasing me about how much I loved my first trip to Sydney... with all the well known sights that I got to see!

While there was no opera house in my weekend, I did have a great time and our team finished 6 for 6. I pitched four of the games and survived my first weekend of solid heat. Each opposing team had a handful of past olympic players on them which was lots of fun to compete against. Also, we played at the 2000 Sydney olympic stadium which was exciting and attended a big Australia softball banquet on Saturday night. While the banquet did little to entertain me we were allowed to have some beverages to pass the time. Definitely different from college!

Minimum Wage

Since I have too much free time the team hooked me up with a job at a local baseball/softball gear store called Fielders Choice. Everyone who works at Fielders is on the Perth baseball or softball team, so it's more of a casual hangout than job.  Our store doesn't put prices on anything so depending on how well you know the workers and how loyal you are to buying at Fielders, the prices you get vary. Basically we just make up a price when you ask... this has to be illegal, but no one seems to think it's weird! I've only worked one day so far but in that day I managed to shoot off multiple emails, catch up on perezhilton.com, and even creep on facebook.  While work may be dull, our pay check is not! Minimum wage in au is $16.70/hr but most retail places pay around $20. In addition, your work buys you lunch everyday and you get paid during your lunch break. I'd love to bring this concept back to the states!

While I'm not punching the clock at Fielders I am also coaching a grade school softball team. It is the least competitive form of softball ever! We have a team bag filled with floppy cloth gloves and one metal bat that each home team needs to supply. The girls use a glove from the team bag and then leave it at their position so the other team can use it while we bat. While the softball may be at a low level, my girls treat every play like it is the game winner of the world series! The girls are 13-14, so even the littlest thing gets a full minute of high pitched screaming. Even though I usually leave the games deaf I still love coaching these girls. The school that they go to is a preppy private boarding school where they were polo uniforms and sweaters. They love trying to talk to me in an American accent and they always bombard me with 50 questions. So far we have only lost once and our last game is on Thursday so hopefully we will place first in the league!

Shocking Victory

Yesterday was the Melbourne Cup which is a HUGE horse race that "stops the nation". People on the east half of the country get work off because it is considered a holiday and the west half takes a couple hour break during the day to celebrate and watch the race. After reading up on all the stats I strategically picked my horse based a little on the numbers and a lot on uniform color. Surprisingly, I ended up with no luck. However, I did enter a pool at work where you pick a horse out of a hat and my guy came in dead last which actually meant that I got my money back. So overall I came out even on the day.

Today the paper was filled with all the fashionistas and celebrities that attended the race in their big hats. No worries, America represented nicely by sending the Madden brothers from Good Charlotte to the race. I guess Benji Madden blindly chose the winning horse (named Shocking) and the paper captured a huge picture of him celebrating in his maroon fedora. America's finest, ladies and gentlemen!