I know that some of my avid readers are probably very concerned because there has not been a post from me for several days. Well, I would like to tell you, I am still safe and sound here in Gawler. I have also hooked my camera up and am going to share a few pictures. If I had my laptop able to work here I would be able to post a lot more, but we are going to give this a shot. It takes forever to upload pictures on the desktop so just bare with me for this round.


First, I have held a python... OHHHH, scary... I know.... it is my host families, granddaughters. Here I am holding it, it hasn't eaten for about two weeks so I was a little concerned that it may be interested in my arm. No need to worry though, we fed the snake a mouse and I still have my arm.

Second, the best part of this trip so far has been the Research Center that we went to on the first day. It was all based around sheep, and I LOVE sheep. They have thousands and thousands of sheep and the majority of them are Merrino sheep, which means that they are bred for their wool. While we were there we were waiting for the cutters to show up so that they could start shearing the sheep. The cutters also bring with them the clippers. I think that they were going to let me shear one, except for the fact that there were no shearers to do it with. They also had an awesome sheep dog working the farm. Here you can see how specially trained the dog is/was.

Now, I know what you are thinking.... STOP... The dog is trained to walk across the sheep's back in order to herd them. It was great! This is also the same farm where Dolly the sheep was cloned and lived out her long life. They are currently in the process for finding a cure for Huntington's Disease using sheep. This was all so fascinating!

Something that I have noticed about Australian's very quickly is how green they are! Here are a few examples. The recycling can is bigger then the trash can. We hardly have the electricity on in the house. I mean, we have the basic needs but lights are optional. They do a lot of this with natural lighting through open windows. Also, while I was washing my laundry today, my host family told me that they shut the water off to my laundry while I was taking a shower. Apparently water is very scarce down here in Gawler. We had the chance to visit one lady who oppeartes her entire home 100% Green. She has HUGE solor panels that collect the sunlight and store that energy. She also has a way to collect all of the rain water and use that for showers, drinking, dishes, etc. etc. It was all very fascinating. She has 56 acres and with that she has promised the government that she will turn it into it's natural state of plant and animal life.

Also, because electricity is so expensive, we hang all of our clothes out to dry and not use the dryer because the cost is so much.

Finally, I know what you have all been wondering. Have I seen a kangaroo? Well, not only have I seen one, I have eaten one! They are actually not as cute as you all think that they are. Consider it equivalent to our deer. They can total out a car, eat your crops and destroy habitats. Some of the males can stand at over 9 feet tall and during mating season (which is right now) can be vey aggressive. Following is what happened when one of these kangaroos tried to pick a fight with me one evening. I used my mad ninja fighting skills to knock it to the ground. Actually, this is just road kill that we found on the side of the road.

WARNING: There are several pictures that follow that some of you may find disgusting.

What time is it?

I apologize to my readers in advance, there are no pictures with this post. That is because I have no wireless to hook my laptop up to. I am borrowing Warren and Lynette's computer for the time being. After 30+ hours flying, I can say that we have safely made it to Adelaide. This post is going to be short (as their grandaughters just arrived) and I am EXHAUSTED. Unlike some people on my 14 hour flight, I was not able to sleep more than 7 hours. Which meant that there were 7 more hours of sitting, not streching, but sitting. Let's just say that I have now watched Iron Man 2, Friends, Cash Cab, etc. for those 7 hours. I didn't think it would end. Especially when I found out that the lady sitting next to me has TB. Interesting... yes:) Amazing... more than you can imagine! I tried Kangaroo today. Without realizing it I ordered it raw, like it 'maybe' brushed the grill. It was delicious! I also had some salt and pepper squid.... equisite!

Like I said, this post is going to be short and sweet, be watching for more!

48 Hours and Counting

Holy Moly, where has the time gone???? It seemed that just yesterday I was posting about 16 days being left and now we are into counting the hours, not just the days anymore. The anticipation is building, along with the anxiety, excitement, etc. I stayed home today so that I could finish up my to do list. At this time I think that I have all of my to do errands run, it's just a few things here and there that need to be taken care of before I take off! Here are some pictures of my suitcase thus far. My goal is to take one large suitcase down there and two carry-on pieces. While I am down in Australia I plan on purchasing an additional piece of luggage and loading it up with gifts, etc for everyone. There is also a significant amount of space that I will have back in my initial large suitcase from the gifts that I am taking down there.

While I say it's just 48 more hours, that is just until we leave. The trip there is going to be LONG. Tuesday afternoon we fly from MCI to O'Hare and then to LAX and then the LONG flight to Sydney (about 19 hours or so) and then from Sydney to Adelaide. If you have any suggestions about things to do while I am en route, please let me know!!! I am thinking about downloading the Wizard of Oz to my i tunes account so I can watch it on my way to Australia.

I will try to post AT least one more time before I leave!

Some Great Memories of a Great Man

As many of you may know by now, my uncle was killed last night in a farming accident. It was all so sudden and so sad. While none of us will ever know exactly what happened, I think that it is critical at this time to remember the good times that we had with Uncle Fred. Here are a few of mine.

One of the first memories that comes to mind for me is 'wrestling' my Uncle. If you know Fred, you know that he is a big man! Not just heavy, but extremely tall! He used to carry his pliers attached to his belt. As children we used to wrestle him to the ground to try to steal these from him. I can't remember a single time when we were ever successful as it usually ended up with someone pleading 'mercy' from being tickled too much. We used to have 'raids' with 3-4 grandchildren attacking him from the hallway as soon as he walked in.

If you ever knew Fred, you knew that during the holidays he would wear a Santa hat.... EVERY YEAR. There is some speculation about the hat: 1- Was it the same hat from year to year? and 2- Did he EVER wash it? If I had to bet on it, I would say that yes, it was the same hat every year and no, it had never been washed. He loved his Santa hat and would wear it all day, every day. One of my favorite pictures with him is the one attached here, we both wore our Santa hats that year:)



Several years back Uncle Fred inherited a dog from one of my cousin's ex-girlfriends. My uncle worked for the co-op for 25 years. He lived and breathed agriculture, farming and ranching. When I went over there one weekend to see this dog that he had gotten I was SHOCKED to find a 5 pound ball of fluff. The 'dog' he had gotten was one of those little yip yap dogs. Several months later she passed away and Uncle Fred immediately replaced her with another white fluffy dog, this time she weighed 8 pounds. He named her Lucy. Lucy went everywhere with Uncle Fred, to town, to the farm, to the store, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he would have taken her to work if he would have been allowed. My grandma has told me that Uncle Fred even let Lucy drive sometimes.

There are so many memories that I have of my Uncle. He mediated fights between me and my mom, he became a confidant, mentor and role model for me as I got older. We had a conversation a few weeks ago, he was in such good spirits, he had some advice for me and since then I have followed through with that. He was a hard worker and he loved what he did. More importantly, he loved farming and his family. His memories will always be with us and his spirit will always be in my heart.

Just 16 more days!

Let me give you a little background about this blog. Several months ago I received an email from a co-worker about a possibility to take a trip to Australia. My first thought was, 'no way, I can't leave my job, family, friends, etc. for a month" but then I rethought about this decision to apply. This was the opportunity of a life-time and I was crazy to pass it up. I decided to fill out the application and was selected for an interview. I found out several days later that I was one of five individuals from the North East part of Kansas to represent Kansas, specifically our Rotary district!!!!

Some background about the trip-
We leave on September 28 and come back on October 30. Each Rotary club has the ability to sponsor one individual to apply to attend. The North Topeka Rotary Club is my sponsoring group. I have met with them several times and they are a fantastic group of people! Our flight (app. 20 hours+) is paid for by the Rotary International organization. While we are in Australia we will stay with several host families (8 to be exact) for the month that we are there. We will be visiting with numerous Rotary International programs in Australia and learning about their culture and exploring our careers in another country. To sum it up we serve as ambassadors of Kansas to Australia.

Where are we going?
Adelaide! At first I had to do some research about where this city is! It is in South Central Australia, some refer to it as the city of churches. While we are there, we will tour many different cities and tourist attractions, including checking out some kangaroos and koala bears. There will be a lot of pictures to follow, especially once we leave.

SO, just 16 more days and we will be in the air headed 'Down Under'. In the mean time, there are lots of things to finish up: meeting with my staff, evaluations, setting new action plans for next year, etc. etc. The white board in my office just keeps getting longer and longer!