Odds and Ends

So far I've been enjoying a relaxing weekend. I spent all of yesterday afternoon outside of Bunnings Warehouse (the equivalent of Home Depot) peddling sausage sandwiches to raise money for the Sutherland Shire Brass Band. I can't believe I'm saying this, but interacting with random people who came to buy paint or flowerpots or whatever and detoured over to my sausage cart kind of made me miss working in customer service. I guess it helps that I only had to be there for 3 hours and wasn't getting paid, so I didn't have to be overly cheerful. I slept in a bit today (Sunday) but by the time I woke up it was already about 80 degrees, so I'm just waiting for my laundry to finish and then I'm hitting the beach.
I always feel like I'm missing out on a lot being so far away from home in November. I tried calling mom on her birthday but she could only hear static, which was kind of depressing. Thanksgiving was especially hard; it has always been one of my favorite holidays, since you don't have to worry about buying presents and everyone gets to overeat and drink too much. This year it was just me and my roommate, so I didn't bother with a big dinner or anything. I decided to make pumpkin pies from scratch to celebrate. I found a recipe online, but when I started putting everything together I realized everything was in Aussie terminology (apparently 185 grams of brown sugar= about 1 American cup). They don't stock canned pumpkin puree in the stores here, so I steamed a pumpkin and then pureed it in our blender. I also realized that I do not own a rolling pin, and nearly gave up on the crust, which was extremely weird and lumpy and gross looking. Despite all of the setbacks, it actually turned out really well! I took one pie to work, where not a single person in the office had ever tasted pumpkin pie. It was completely gone by the end of the day, so I feel like my attempt to indoctrinate Australia on American food customs was a success. Yay!

Jacaranda

It’s been kind of chilly and rainy here lately, which is annoying because I was hoping for a really hot spring and summer this year. One thing that has assured me that it is actually spring are the Jacaranda trees. They were one of the things I really noticed when I first arrived last year, and it’s amazing to think that already another year has gone by. There are a TON of them in the Sutherland Shire (my neighborhood) and I learned that during the 70’s there was a hospital that would give parents a seedling Jacaranda tree to take home with every new baby. Now, there are 40 year old Jacaranda trees all over the place! They have really beautiful purple flowers, which are starting to fall now that we’re headed into summer. It kind of reminds me of the cherry trees on the quad at UW, except these actually match the school colors! I went for a walk on my lunch break and took a couple of photos around Surry Hills. These are a bit younger than the ones near my house, but you get the idea.

Four More Years!

I've been trying to keep up on the election today. It's so frustrating to be at work, when four years ago I was sitting on my parents' couch stuffing my face with guacamole. There is a lot of interest in the election here, but I've been getting most of my updates via US news sites. I have to say, so far the results have mostly been a relief. And early this morning, I received proof that I have done my part: