Got home from Gladstone at 3:30 today: Zaubi rushed off immediately to get a haircut, but even though he arrived before closing time, the barber was closed and dark. Bummer!

So he came home and attempted to cut his own hair with electric razor. I was called out to finish the job. As we all know, Kirilisa has no beauty shop skillz. Ergo, Zaubi now looks like a cross between a monkey, a Nazi, and a medieval Roman Catholic monk and I am missing part of my knuckle. Snipped it off with scissors. Ow.

I’m rather irritated, in fact: last time this kind of fiasco occurred I told Zaubi I wouldn’t stand for it again! After all, I’m the person that has to look at his head!

Found a video series on how to cut men’s hair: doesn’t work on my linux box tho. Bah.

But, Gladstone was great. C. has lovely parents: so friendly and hospitable. Grandparents were also there, and 6 dogs (ours, C.’s, and their parents’) and Fitz and Kettricken were both pretty badly behaved. Fitz formed some kind of vendetta with an old granny dog — she held her own though, and took a bite out of his face!

C. showed us all around Gladstone and the weather was lovely. Spent Christmas Even afternoon lazing around in a creek/watering hole, Christmas Day at church and then hanging out with C.’s family, eating far too much delicious food. Yesterday we got out C.’s dad’s little boat and took it to the beach and ate more food, then went swimming at a reservoir, then later BBQed at the marina, then later went to a park and climbed the spiderweb (this massive rope jungle gym thing) and roasted marshmallows in the pitch dark, since everyone had forgotten to bring a torch. It was altogether a peaceful and relaxing time and I was really touched by the generosity and hospitality of C.’s family.

We stopped on the way up near Bundaberg and went to watch a loggerhead turtle lay eggs. Which I guess was fascinating; that is, the turtle herself was very cool (huge!), but marching around in the dark with 50 strangers and spending 40 minutes staring at a lighted turtle rear was not thrilling to me.

I know I am being a wet blanket and unappreciative to boot, but I would rather see a creature by mistake than go out of my way to see one on a tour. Sitting in overcrowded, aeroguard-smothered visitor centre listening to shrieking kids for an hour and while being lectured kind of killed my enthusiasm. Then again I’ve never had the tolerance for educational lectures or worse yet, group discussions! Thankfully there were none of those.

Well, off to Taiwan tomorrow morning. Thankfully it is only about an 8 hour plane trip, and direct. I dislike flying commerically so much that I always get bad anxiety stomachaches about the whole thing from some 12 hours beforehand. Claustrophobia thing really. And to think when I was a teenager I liked flying…! Have become such a worrywart over the years.

So we’re taking off tomorrow, heading north to Gladstone, QLD with L. & C. and our German friend S. Going to stay with C.’s parents for Christmas, (which will be slightly insane, since we’re bringing our dogs, and L. & C. are brining their two, and C.’s parents also have two…!), then on Saturday, rush back to Brisbane, since we’re leaving for Taiwan early Sunday morning.

I was excited about this Taiwan tour (Symphonic band tour) before, but right now I’m just… bushed. I’m sure I’ll be psyched once we get there, and the 4 days in Gladstone should be really nice, relaxing, HOT days (swimming! hooray!). And the tour should be good, I can’t think of another time I will be able to take a tour, and I thought it would be really nice to do, since Zaubi is in the band too. Something we could do together, and as a group. Playing music in another country. I used to go on tours almost every year back at NEC when I was a teenager, and I really enjoyed it. So hopefully this one will be good as well. And, I’m kind of fond of Taiwan at this point. Though we will mostly not be in Taipei. Still, the one day we are in Taipei I plan to look diligently for the AWESOME GO KART PLACE. Really neat, underground go kart track where you could go as fast as you wanted in the karts — and that was fast!

Other things of note: today I went for a picnic lunch with Kifa since it was my last day for two weeks (last lunch of the year!!), and while I was sitting down, one of the Aussie mean ants crawled down the back of my pants. And bit me on the rear. Twice. Really.

What is it that Kifa has been saying to me lately? "Your butt is going to war." Or something to that effect. And it feels like it, man, it feels like it! Sunburn, oatmeal, ants… Hopefully my butt cheek won’t follow suit of my feet and swell up to twice its original size because I don’t think I could handle that.

Tomorrow night while en route to Gladstone, we’re going to stop and see the sea turtles lay eggs. I’m very excited.

Wow, this entry was slightly incoherent. It actually took me about 3 minutes to remember the word ‘diligent’. I hate how one’s brain rots with age.

Kifa suggested that I put sodden oatmeal on the curse.

So I mixed up a bowlful, but it smelled so good, I ate half of it.

Eventually I pulled myself away and smeared the rest of it over my shoulder blade.

…there is oatmeal everywhere.

It seems that I have completely sunburned my rear end.

You see, today when I took my lovely 1.5 hours of R&R, I smeared sun cream all over myself before going out. Except, that is, my lily-coloured rear, because, you see, I was wearing underwear. Yes. When kicking back around the house, I often wear just underwear. Anyway.

So a little later, before hopping into the pool, I took said underwear off (my backyard is mostly private) and simply didn’t bother putting them on again! Didn’t think of it. Ergo, my tush is a charming Barbie pink.

This makes sitting difficult. Sitting on my tail and programming at work all day tomorrow is not going to be fun.

Got home a bit ago with the sworn resolution that I’m going to take the next week or so off from eating. Went out tonight to Waggamama’s to wish a good friend goodbye — he’s heading to America for an indefinite period of time. The food was excellent (went to Freestyle after… dessert!) but it was rather sad to wish him goodbye. I still can’t really believe he’s going. To Ohio, of all places. To a town of 3000 people and probably a lot more cows than that. He’s never gonna make it through a year… city boy…

Came home a bit pensive due to a conversation I was having with L.’s husband, which maybe I shall blog about later. What do I see but two packages sitting out in the dark at the front door. Both from mrtee . Dragged ‘em in an opened them and almost cried laughing because mrtee has seen fit, for some incomprehensible reason, to send me six (6), yes, SIX switchblade combs. Of the variety that I think greasers used back in the 1950s. One, ok, but SIX??

Opened other package and laughed harder: I now own two ‘I’m beached, bro!’ mugs (well technically Zaubi owns one – package was addressed to both) and a T-shirt. Moreover, the address label was covered with gooey pastel hearts which is totally unlike mrtee  except when he is mocking somebody. I laughed harder still.

Ah, mrtee . How I miss you!