we got food everywhere as if the party was catered

Cadbury is big at home, especially around Easter, but it is huge in Australia all year long.  Generally, there are all the usual suspects -- giant candy bars, creme eggs at Easter -- but they have even more, like ice cream and cute little koala bears filled with caramel.  (FYI - I nearly shit my pants when I saw the ice cream the first time, but it's not as good as I thought it would be!  I was picturing like creme eggs ice cream, but flavor selection blows...USA ice cream is far superior to all Australian ice creams thus far.  Also sucking here is the delicious Skinny Cow... same brand, different treats, not as good, and soooo pricey!).  Anyway, I was surprised to not see the (in)famous Cadbury mini eggs around in the grocery store.  I was looking, but not too hard, as I wanted and didnt want to find them at the same time.  But, last weekend, there they were set up along the wall in the register line at Target, along with a million other treats I dont even know about...calling me.  They dont sell the individual size, so I was forced to buy the big one.  Fuckin A, every time I look in the fridge -- even just for water -- I come out with a lil chunkaaa paw full of mini eggs.  Why are they so good?!?!?  Mini eggs must be destroyed, and I am taking it personally upon myself to see to their demise...in my tummy. Also shocking is that Jason thinks peanut M&Ms are better than mini eggs!  I think he's insane!  Does anyone else think this???

In Darwin news, lots going on. We bombed the house yesterday and fucked up those ants big time.  I just couldnt take it anymore.  The bombs worked, and there are dead ants in places I didnt even know we had ants.  It is sooooooo nice to cook or sit at the counter and not see a single ant.  I could not be happier!  Somewhat troubling was the appearance of 2 rogue ants late in the evening today. They were spotted on the ceiling, but I havent seen any of their friends around since.  Should we take bets on how long before they are back in full swing?  I give it 2 more days before they are filtering back to behind the sink.

We obvs had to leave the house while the chemical warfare was taking place, so we went to this farmers' market type place about a mile from my house.  It was so cute, and it exists in Darwin!  The only bad thing was it was so incredibly crowded, I couldnt deal with being there for very long.  Tons of veggies, food stands, local plants and flowers, and of course like any market, some nice things for sale, but mostly handmade junk people think they can sell at ridiculous prices.  Seriously, why do so many people think they can make jewelry?  Your shit is ugly, fo real.  But it is so nice to have found this place!  I got some coffee beans, olive oil, veggies,and a dim sim for a snack (obvs there was a snack involved!).  Really like it there, but due to the amount of other people who also seem to really like it, I think I need to identify key sellers, get in there, get my shit, and get out.  And so many kids :-/

Lastly, I asked for recipes a couple weeks ago and got limited responses.  Send me your shit!  Even if it is just a link, I am so sick of EVERYTHING I make!  Please!

A to the N to the T to the S

So it's been a while since I have talked about the ants.  You might be thinking, "I wonder what is happening with Al and her ant problem," because I am sure that is what you sit at home and think about.  Well, if this has been weighing on your mind, let me fill you in.  Ants are out of fucking control!!! Tomorrow it comes down to chemical warfare, the day we have all been dreading.

I had put the borax sugar mix out a few weeks ago when they were attacking the drawers.  This mix seemed to get rid of drawer ants, but had no effect on ants in other areas, leading me to believe they were from separate colonies.  After drawer ants were gone, no one was touching big poison pile, so I moved it closer to another ant "hot spot" behind the stove.  Ants are eating that shit up, but at the same time, they have now established a path that runs from my hallway into the untidy upstairs neighbor place.  They are clearly running their crumbs from upstairs to the nest, which must be below our floor/outside.  At random times I have been finding them in my room too, particularly if I leave my laptop on the floor.  I told my co-worker about it and she totally freaked me out.  Apparently her mom had the same problem and then one day her comp stopped working -- turns out ants ate the wiring and shit never turned on again!  Obvs I am freaked!  Last night I took lap top apart and looks like all is good there, but I did some google research and this is a real thing!  Ants like to eat wires!  They have a history of destroying comps.

This morning, I was getting dressed when I noticed ants in my bedroom closet.  What the fucking fuck?  They have never been there before!  I wiped them away and thought, why the fuck would they be in here.  It's clothes only, no food/chunka snacks or anything.  It didnt take much investigation to discover they were eating Jason's leather belt which was hanging in the corner!  Now this is a belt that matches a suit which he hasnt worn for months!  There's no food on this belt, they are actually going for the leather.  I was ready to leave for work, so I washed it in the sink and left.  Come home 8 hours later, belt is covered!  AFTER I WASHED IT!  Now they are just everywhere.  In tupperwares, sealed packages, etc.  So tomorrow, we bomb.  And we will complain to the landlord, but what can you really do when you live in an apt complex??  in darwin!  is there any escaping the ANTS?!?!?!

hello? is it me you're looking for

It's Saturday night.  I am fully stocked with snacks (cheese, crackers, hummus I made) and wine was buy one get one free, so I have 2 bottles.  And I am home alone because I have not one single friend to come over and sit on the couch talking shit or have a dance party :-(  WEHHHHHHHH!!!  weh weh WEH!!!  However, before you offer suggestions on how I should go about friend-making, I will say this.  My heart is just not in it.  I am sick of moving and "putting myself out there."  As an adult, I have made some really great, great friends.  I want those friends, not new ones.  I know Darwin is short term and I am moving again in less than 2 years.  So what's the point?  Well, I guess I should stop whining then.  wehh

But as it turns out, I dont really have a choice.  The 3 months of solitude is approaching (btw -- good news, it will be 3 months minus 2 weeks in the middle).  Maybe I need just one friend.  It is so much easier to meet other people when you are not rolling solo all the time.  If I have just one friend, they might know people and I will have several friends!  It could happen...are there people like me in Darwin???

Big news going on is some camper is missing so they are searching the bodies of crocs to see if he got eaten, lol.  Also some dumbass at the wildlife park was up in the lion cage scratching the lion and he got fucked up.  HAHAHA, lion was not having it!  Argh, and there is a gecko in my room right now and I dont know how to get it out, but I dont want to sleep in there with it running around!!!!  omg!

Time for some bitching

What else?  I don't get why every restaurant in Darwin feels they need to offer the exact same fucking menu.   I don't even have to go in the place and I can tell what they will serve.  Sure there are the few rare exceptions -- specialty places like Greek, Italian, Indian etc but if you just roll into a normal Aussie restaurant, you're gonna get the same shit...everywhere.  On the road trip, I found this to be true in other parts of Aus as well.  In fact, in wine country, I had a major breakdown because I couldn't take it anymore -- lol, sad but that is a true story.  I refused to eat and instead had 3 glasses of wine :-P

Anyway, no matter where you go, here's what you will likely be offered:
Appetizers (called entrees here) :
garlic bread
trio of dips (seriously, everywhere has this and it sucks.  it's 3 dips, whatever they have hanging around with some stale pita...ew)
bowl of chips (aka fries)
bowl of wedges (aka steak fries)

that's it -- those are all the choices and they all blow -- hard!  Sometimes we will go for a happy hour and want a snack.  "oh idk -- it's just so hard to choose between chips or wedges...I just dont know if I feel like a thicker fry today" FML

Salads:
Caesar salad with or without chicken
thai beef salad -- which, if you have ever had that, know it's not really a salad.  it's noodles with beef and some greens, but mostly noodle

Entrees (called mains) :
fish and chips
chicken schnitzel with gravy or parm
lamb chop
"steak burger"  aka steak sandwich
"burger" regular hamburger, often topped with pineapple and beetroot  - they love the fucking beetroot here
"chicken burger"aka fried chicken sandwich -- which 1st time ordering I thought I was getting something like a turkey burger
steak
another kind of steak
strange pizzas with toppings like bbq sauce
random asian foods like laksa and pho

Ahhhh!  I can't take it anymore!  I am so sick of those foods, therefore I never eat out.  Not to mention basically nothing is on lil chunkaaa's diet! I can't be mowing down on schnitzels and fish and chips!

In job news, shit is going down at cappuccino typing gig.  I am basically the only one who works there now, as my only co-worker has quit.  Needless to say, that didn't go over well.  Owning your own small business really sucks.  When you only have a few employees, losing one is like losing a whole department.  They asked me today what my intentions are if I dont get gov gig.  I said idk, still looking etc.  Truth is they are very nice people (it's a family, but they all work in an office down south) but I don't really want to work in a small start up company.  I just want a stable job.

Speaking of gov job, I received this message from them today:

Alexandra

Just to keep you up to date with proceedings – the recruitment file has gone up for approval by our placement committee, so I hope to have an answer for you in the next couple of days.

wtffff????  Is it MY recruitment file?  Someone else's?  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN????  I am starting to lose interest, lol.  But really, it is kinda making me have some doubts...  mainly how difficult is it going to be to get things done in this office?  I remember they asked some question at the interview like, what do you do when youre faced with a challenging situation that is beyond your control... or something.  I think I am already understanding that.

Cheerio

The vote was taken yesterday morning, and no new prime minister.  They voted 30something to 70something to keep Julia Gillard.  So basically 1/3 of her party and 1/4 of her own cabinet voted for change.  Everyone is saying the same thing, it's ridiculous, they have kissed next election goodbye, etc.  Still funny to me!  My coworker told me the news yesterday after the vote happened.  I said something like this whole scenario is so bizarre to me, and she said, "Me too.  Is the parliamentary system like this in England?"   I kinda shrugged like idk and she said, "You're from there, right?"  WHAT?! No, I am American!  "You sound British to me."  Obvs I was highly offended!  Peeps always say Canada, which although offensive, is understandable, but never British!  LMFAO WTF FML

STILL no word on the job :(  what the fucking fuck (WTFF)??  This must be like a major decision!  I just want to know so I can stop wondering and planning 50 different scenarios of if I do vs dont get it.  Typing cappuccino job is getting better.  I have responsibilities now, other than retyping.  I still want to go home if I am left in Darwin for 3 months, but realistically idk if I can.  Seeing my fam is always the most important for me, but I think at some point I have to try and stay put for a minute and get my shit together.  Last week I thought I would turn down job, just to have opportunity to go home.  I realize I can't do that and I need to accept the fact that I really live here -- at least for now.  It is a scary thought. 

That being said, I was thinking of moving into the 21st century and getting my first smart phone.  Now, I don't know if I really need it, but right now I am rocking total flip phone circa 2004 -- legit I think my mom had this phone in 04.  Coincidentally, it's Jason's mom's old phone.  Here is what it looks like:  http://www.cellularreviewer.com/lg-c3310-review-2/  LOL..  it's from the days when a color screen and camera were cool.  I also have been apprehensive about getting a phone contract (the whole I dont really live here thing) so it is a pay as you go phone.  Sometimes I run out of minutes mid-call.  Is it time for grown-ups phone??

"You suck! I quit!"

Australian politics is nutso.  Seriously, it is so funny to watch this shit.  There is major drama going on right now, and I can't get enough.  Australia is still part of that ol' Parliament / Commonwealth / whateveryouwanttocallit  system.  There is the Queen (Elizabeth), the Senate, and the House of Representatives.  When you vote at election time -- and voting is mandatory -- you vote for the party, not the individual.  The elected party then votes internally and chooses the person they would like to be the leader, ie Prime Minister.  Currently, the Labor Party is in control and shit is going DOWN!

The Prime Minister is Julia Gillard and the Foreign Minister was Kevin Rudd -- until yesterday when he resigned in Washington.  These bitches HATE each other, and they don't hide it.  Rudd said during his surprise resignation that he was quitting because she sucks so bad he can't work with her.  They are in the same party!  He has been talking shit for a while now, but I don't think anyone thought it would get this ugly.  Gillard struck back in a press conference today and said they would put it up for ballot.  So now all the politicians in Labor are going to vote on Monday who they want their leader to be.  If they vote in K-Rudd (as the media calls him), then he becomes the PM, Gillard and her cabinet would be out.  Fucked up, huh??  So Monday there could be a new Prime Minister.

In the meantime, the party is using this opportunity to publicly slam each other!  Peeps are coming out as being on one side or the other, making it publicly known who they intend to vote for and why.  Funny thing is Rudd has already been the PM before and got kicked out.  I don't understand how they think this is effective and if I was a voter, I would be pissed off!  Get your shit together!

Google it if you would like to know more, especially since my rendition is not well researched, just what I have been seeing on  the news.  It really is quite interesting to watch, even if you're not into politics, the mudslinging is hilarious.

Here's a video that tells you a little more.  Watch it, it's funny.

http://theprojecttv.com.au/video.htm?movideo_p=39696&movideo_m=164536

Double Post

Curious question for my gardening friends...  who has successfully grown parsley from seed?  I have grown it in MA, but I wouldn't say too successfully.  I think out of a whole package of seeds, I ended up with one plant that died.  Anyway, I would think most herbs/veggies would like the climate here... My tomato def likes it and basil/other herbs are taking off, but parsley will NOT germinate.  I read to pour boiling water over the seeds and soak them overnight, but still nothin.  Anyone have advice for me??

BTW, bitching about prices again, I am growing every herb possible because they run $3-4 a bunch here in the market -- WTF LMAO??? I am not paying that!

Also, I feel like I am in a cooking rut.  Same recipes, over and over.  Anyone got anything delicious for me?  In exchange, I will give you the recipe for my own dish I invented (kinda... maybe a dish I adapted lol) low fat chicken enchiladas with homemade sauce.  And if you are vegetarian, subtract chicken, add bean.  BTW-- they don't sell black beans here...like not at all!  Very frustrating!