Fish Lizard!



Ok, who knows about this because I def didnt!  2 nights ago Jason and I are walking around Bayview as we do every night.  We both noticed something on a rock near the water (same spot where we get the crabs, action hot spot).  I think wtf is that.  It looks like a fish, but it has legs!  And it's breathing air! It's a fish lizard!  Jason goes to get a closer look, and all of a sudden there are like 5 of these fish lizards!  Omfg!  They see us and run/swim away - cant tell which they are really doing because they look like they are running on the water, not putting their heads in! Obvs I was freaked out and immediately went home and googled this mysterious fish lizard.  Well, it's called a mudskipper - which I had heard people talking about here before but never bothered to ask what it was.  It's technically a fish, and those "legs" are technically fins that have evolved into leg looking things.  They breathe air 75% of the time, but can also breathe water!  Holy shit!  Will all fish soon walk on land?!  lololol. Seriously though, this fish lizard is apparently common in tropical muddy waters - just another reason why living in the tropics is freaky. 

Full swing back in Darwin these days.  My legs are covered in bites from bugs I never see.  I am constantly itchy and when I try to shave, my legs bleed.  It's real sex appeal.  Air conditioner is broken still until further notice, so def no making those cake pops!  Looks like we will be moving in July so I have decided to just work for the temp agency for the time being while trying to save money.  If I get a full time job in Darwin, I am going to have to stay here for another year and the thought of it pains me.  I just want out.  So temping it is.  I start monday (I hope).  Either that or I am trying to get hired as a tutor at the university.  It's a pretty crappy university, so I am hoping they take me hahaha. Ants are in full force too.  I have been spraying their trails so now they have dispersed to other locations in the apartment looking for new trail locations.  I think this is even worse, instead of confining them to one trail, now these explorer ants are all over the place -- one ant here and one ant there. 6 MORE MONTHS!



My new obsession

One of my last days in the US, I broke down and bought a Starbucks salted caramel cake pop ("broke down," as if I had been watching my diet at all!  lol).  I am telling you, there are few things on this earth as delicious as this tasty treat.  It is gooey chocolate cake on the inside, a chocolate outer layer, topped with a half coating of white chocolate, drizzled with caramel and further topped with sea salt omfgffffff!  There might even have been caramel INSIDE the cake pop as well, I was too shocked at its deliciousness to acutally process what was going on. 

So my problem:  OBVS there is not a Starbucks in Darwin.  And obvs Darwin is like 10 years behind everywhere else - I dont even think the cupcake craze has hit here yet, so def no cake pops anywhere.  So to taste this tasty treat again, I must make my own.  Pos this weekend I will attempt this seemingly impossible adventure of recreating the world's most delicious treat!  Only I know they are not going to come out as good and I will be disappointed.  Then again, it's not like I have anything else to do :-P

Job searching

So with my new visa I can finally get a real job now!  Filling out job apps for gov jobs here is a major hassle.  Instead of writing the traditional cover letter and tweaking it for different jobs, you to 'respond to the essential selection criteria.'  Meaning they provide a list of qualities you must have to get this job, and you then respond with the experience you have that matches the criteria.  And it's not some generic list -- each job is very specific.  It takes me hours to apply for one position.  The other day I spent all day working on one particularly specific app, only to start filling in the rest of the questionnaire and discover only Australian citizens are eligible to apply. FML. 

As you can imagine, I am procrastinating big time today.  When I woke up, I convinced myself I needed to eat a large breakfast because I couldnt be expected to on concentrate on an empty stomach.  I whipped up my signature smoothie (yogurt, half a banana, bunch of blueberries, almond milk, almond butter, and a tsp of vanilla extract -- yum, try it).  Then I thought, well I still have this half banana, I will make a banana sandwich to go along with it.  Now obvs I am too full to concentrate, so I am lying on my bed.  Have also decided I feel a slight headache coming on, so I should probably take a nap before that happens. 

This weekend is Australia day -- kinda the same as the 4th of July, I guess but without the winning independence part.  Michie Court ought to be going off this weekend.  It's usually one day, but since it's on a Saturday it's turned into a long weekend.  Ugh

I want to stop MOVING!!

I move more than anyone I know.  And I'm tired of it.  And I dont just move across town.  I move across the country and back and across the world and back and back again over and over.  At some point it was exciting and now it's just become annoying!  Well, I will be moving again this year. Jason is discharging from the army sooner than we had originally planned, so I will be leaving Darwin at some point relatively soon.  I am not complaining about leaving Darwin, I am just not ready for it!  In between all moves, I usually go home to mom's for a bit -- ok I end up there all the time haha.  But this move doesnt have that option as will be moving to southern Aus -- probs Melbourne.  Which means looking for a job AGAIN!  That is the absolute worst part about moving.  I live somewhere just long enough to make some connections and then I'm out!  Back to the job search.  At least I feel like my interview skills have improved :)

The heat is miserable here right now.  CONSTANT sweating, cold showers twice a day, always thirsty, always smelly, on and on.  In Darwin news, it seems a pack of wild dogs are terrorizing local farms and eating goats left and right.  These dogs are all over the news! Michie Ct is significantly quiter so far this year -- not convinced it will stay this way but there are a lot more kids running around here lately.  Which means kids in the pool all damn day as it's still summer vaca here. Douches in the pool to kids in the pool -- who pees more?

Big News!

First and foremost, just when I was going to write an entry bitching about Darwin, I logged into immigration website and saw that my visa app has been approved!!  I am so happy that it didnt end up dragging on and on and my immigration worries are over!  I never even heard a peep after submitting it, wasnt expecting much logging in, and then almost couldnt comprehend what I was reading when I saw visa status.  I guess after the 300 page app, they were satisfied I had covered everything, lol.  So woo hoo!  I can get a permanent job, come and go in and out of the country as I please, and get health insurance :-) 

My trip was good and despite being 6 weeks long, felt so short!  I dont think I will do another trip home over holidays again.  It was just wayyyy too busy and def didnt get to spend enough time with friends and family.  I did manage to gain 12 pounds though, LOL.  That is 2 lbs a week to do the math.  Lil Chunkaaa in da house!  Mowing down and replacing running with sitting by the fire drinking wine took its toll.  Anyway, I've been back a week and lost about 3 just eating like a normal person and not devouring every meal like it's my last.  Will keep updated on diet progress.  Today I am going to attempt a run.  Jason ran for the first time today in the Darwin heat and puked, lol.  I outta do really well...

So back in Darwin things suck as per uge.  It took 2 days of constant flying to get here from CA, over 40 hours...  so that was awesome and I felt great when we arrived, NOT!   Get home and a bottle of hot sauce has shattered in my bag, all over clothes.  Oh the washing machine wont turn on!  Then my computer wont turn on, bring that in, it's fucked so no laptop.  Now air conditioner unit in living room has shit the bed, so sitting here sweating in Darwin wetseason.  FML and welcome back! 

Wet season

Otherwise known as chunkaaa season.  It's hot, so hot.  You might associate immense heat with losing weight but for the second (and I could argue 3rd year in a row since I was here for half wet season 2011), I am gaining weight because it's too hot to move.  It's 94 and humid every single day with tropical sun beating down.  I still get hungry so I still eat, but my lunch time walks have been replaced with sitting and avoiding the outdoors.  I go to the gym, but what I do in the gym is 90% of my exercise for the whole day, I dont move otherwise.  Same routine everyday:  go to work, complain about how cold the AC is.  Lunch, instead of walking, I go home and eat at my house since it is not acceptable to go back to work smelling and soaked in sweat.  After work I go to the gym and then usually Jason and I will walk around Bayview (like 2 miles).  Then I will eat and sit on couch and complain about how hot it is til I go to bed.  In the morning, I complain about having a headache and my nose being permanently crusty from being in constant air conditioning.  The cycle is vicious!  Luckily, I have something to complain about at all times :-P

Anyway, in heat like this you need to drink a lot of water, which is something I am not particularly good at.  Considering I am a chunkaaa, I thought I would start drinking the spicy lemonade shit I drank on the master cleanse without the maple syrup (so basically lemon water and cayenne pepper).  The lemon is supposed to be cleansing while the cayenne jump starts your metabolism.  While I still down this shit all day long, I know it's a bunch of BS.  I will tell you why:  1.  When I did Master Cleanse back in Jan 07, they said on day 2 you would start experiencing hot poop, which meant your body was ridding itself of toxins which apparently burned on their exit (must be super toxic). Or it could be the cayenne pepper that I guzzled all day because I am in no way currently cleansing (last night's dinner was wine and velveeta for thanksgiving) but I am pooping hot!  UGH so naive!  ALSO, they sell this spicy sizzle syrup here in bottles marketed as "cleansing lemonade" which I paid $3 for a couple weeks ago.  It was the same shit!  $3 for a small ass bottle that tasted like ass. SCAM.  But why I am I still drinking this damn drink?  I will never learn.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, I am peacing out of the shit hole for 6 WHOLE WEEKS, leaving on Dec 5th.  I am going to Singapore and then HOME.  Just 12 days away!  Ok, I know this post sucks but I am tired as shit and half sleeping.  No proof reading so apologize in advance for the rants.  Tomorrow is celebrating thanksgiving and since we cant get an actual turkey I am making a giant whole fish.  Idk wtf I am doing.  lololol

Skinny rules!

So I am on pinterest all the time, but I never pin anything because I just keep my links in my own google doc.  I have to first check out the recipe before I know if I will like it - the pic is just there to entice (btw I cant believe how many blogs and amateur cooking sites there are now!).

Anyway, I came across this gem tonight.  20 rules to be skinny?!  Sounds like a lot.  I can already rule out a number of these "rules"- rule out as in it's not even worth trying.  Obvs #2 unless they invent diet wine sometime soon, this is not happening.  No carbs after lunch def a no go.  And who wants to go to bed hungry?  The apples and berries is def not happening either, Bob.  Those are like rare delicacies in Aus!  A small container of blueberries is $8!  Yes, I am not lying, the little one! Prolly the only these rules I have mastered are 8 and 20.  Oh and prolly 15.  What would Bob think of Roll it up:  Spring Roll Fang Zi?  I think it would be banned after lunch time.  Not cool.