I did it!

So, due to a crazy mix-up, I'm having to fully move out of my place during the two weeks I'm home for the holidays and then either move back in or move into another one of their apartments. And I only found this out on Monday, so it has been my huge burden of the week ("shoot, I wouldn't have bought that huge box of cereal a few days ago if I'd known I'd have to either throw it away or stuff it in a bag!") There are a lot of things that I know I will ultimately end up throwing away before I move back to Bermuda, but that I still need while I'm here, and I am pretty opposed to the idea of throwing something away only to buy the exact same thing two weeks later, so it's been tough squeezing everything - the apartment place is storing stuff for me (and I asked "is it OK if stuff is in random plastic bags and stuff instead of packed away neatly in suitcases?") and I've managed to get everything I'm leaving behind into one ginormous-busting-at-the-seams suitcase, a backpack, and three shopping bags. I did it! With a little over half an hour to spare, wooo!

And I think this was a pretty good test for how my packing will go when I head back for good: as long as I don't go on a major shopping spree between now and then, totally doable, if I consider the stuff I will throw away and also the fact that my suitcase I'm taking home for Christmas will likely come back mostly empty once I leave all the Christmas presents and winter clothes at home!

I'm on my way, folks. See most of you soon!

To make up for not posting in awhile, here are some cute, fuzzy animals

OK, well I was on the phone with my parents earlier, and my dad called me out for not blogging in forever, and I have been thinking about this and how I never did the rest of my parents’ visit here including the zoo visit with fun pictures, so here I am, even though I’m back on my MBA study schedule and I should be writing a homework assignment if I'm writing anything!

Also, I don’t have too many stories to report from the last few weeks, so it’s pretty fitting that my return post is about stuff from about a month ago.

So, once we were back from New Zealand, we did two day trips before my parents had to go back home: one to Hunter Valley wine country, and one to Blue Mountains, which had the stop at the zoo. I have pretty pictures from Blue Mountains, but this will focus on the zoo because animals are fun and cute. Except for crocodiles, so I won’t be posting that picture. He was more scary than cute. And maybe you’ll get the Blue Mountains photos next month if I finally get around to another blog post!

Also: I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve had photos of me here instead of just scenery, and all I have to say about that is: I’ve been complaining that it’s been raining too much for me to get my reverse-summer-tan, but looking back at me a month ago, I think I'm noticeably darker now, wooo!

Koala:

He was the most active koala we saw, sitting eating eucalyptus. The rest were just very sleepy:

And check out this dude! I love him:

And this one's like "Hey. 'Sup? Got an ice cream cone for me?"

And here's me feeding a little one. I'm not sure why the left half of the photo (the half that's actually cute and munching away at an ice cream cone) is a bit blurry, but it's the best one I had. I blame my mom's picture taking skills ;)

And me and a koala. My dad said the koala looks like he's sitting up straight in surprise going "Did she touch my bum?" but I swear he was sitting in that same pose before I got there. And I didn't touch his bum. I actually patted his head but then the zoo-worker standing there said "keep away from his head - he might bite." So I hesitantly touched his back and then got scared and didn't touch him anymore. And behind this frozen smile I'm thinking "Please take the photo quick so I can back away from the crazy bear who might bite me."

And that's it for now.

I'm heading home for Christmas this weekend, with a little stopover in New York! I can't believe it's come so soon. It's gotten really hot here the last week or so, so I think I'll enjoy the little winter break.

And lastly: this week I made the discovery that the band Journey never journeyed to Australia. They haven't heard of them. They don't know "Don't Stop Believin'!" Or if they do, it's only because of Glee. Way to go, Glee, for expanding their horizons, but it's sad that it was necessary! Journey's legendary!

And back to homework...