Finally moving!

Just want to let everyone know that our application was accepted on the house that we applied for. We move in on December 17th, so just in time for Christmas. Luckily, we don't have a lot of stuff, so we should be able to move in, unpack and still have time left over to put up a few decorations for the holidays. I haven't even seen the house. They have viewings at the weirdest times here. The viewing time for this house was 12-12:15 p.m. on a Wednesday and I couldn't leave work. Luckily, I trust Steve's opinion and I'm sure I'll like it! It's just a relief to have something lined up and not have to worry about it! Here's the link to the house, if you want to have a look...ignore the dreadful curtains!

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=402999632&f=0&p=10&t=ren&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=11765197&s=qld&snf=rbs&tm=1195788853

A bit of an update...

There really hasn't been much happening with us, so there really isn't much to update, but here's what I can share...

We're still looking for a house to rent. Steve looked at a place yesterday for us and put in an application. We should know by today if we get it. As usual, I'm not getting my hopes up. The person who was supposed to be buying the house we're in now fell through and now 2 couples are looking into buying it together. One of the couples is planning to move in here, but not until the middle of next year, so there is a chance that they may offer for us to continue renting for another 6 months or so. That would be cool, but of course, we can't plan on that and will continue looking in the meantime.

This weekend is Steve's company Christmas party. It's a costume party. Everyone dresses in something "Christmasy". It's a secret at the moment about what we're going as, but I'm really looking forward to it! It's like combining Halloween (which I missed this year!) and Christmas. My work Christmas party is next weekend. It's all feeling very weird to me. Christmas shopping, wrapping, card writing and parties when it's sunny and warm. I'm not sure that Christmas will even feel like Christmas, but we're definitely going to do our best to make it special!

So, that covers the highlights (I told you there wasn't much going on with us!). Stay tuned for costume party pics!

An "AHHHHHHHH" Update

Seeing as my entire MSN list was deleted (I thought it was only some), I have decided to just start a new messenger with my new email (caridickinson@hotmail.com), so add me to your list! Thanks again!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Oh Man. I'm a little stressed out at the moment. I decided it was time to clean out my hotmail inbox. I had almost 700 emails to delete because, well, I never delete anything. Anyway, I decided to just delete them all, since I had all of my contacts' emails saved. Fresh start. It felt good to declutter. Zero messages in my inbox.

BUT THEN, as I was organizing my contacts (making sure everyone's details were correct...I worked on this for about an hour), I somehow managed to delete ALL of my contacts as well!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AND, as if that isn't crap enough, if you were on my MSN list, you were automatically deleted when your contact details got deleted!

So, I now have no one's email address and a very short list of people on my MSN. Don't ask how I managed to do this.

Anyway, literally as I was writing this and thinking that this must have happened for a reason (positive thinking people live longer, you know...), it hit me! I've been wanting to get an email address with my married name, this is the perfect time to do it! So, if you're reading this, PLEASE email me (even to just literally say one word), so I can add you to my contacts. My new email address is caridickinson@hotmail.com. Also, if you were on my MSN list, can you re-add me, using my old email... carihenley@hotmail.com.

Thanks SO much! Hopefully, I'll hear from you all soon...

Scuba Dooba Doo

Good morning/afternoon/evening ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I’d like to first thank you for reading thedickinson’s blog, we know there is an abundance of crap out there on the world wide web and we would like you to know we appreciate the time you take out of your busy lives to read our crap. During this post I will be typing at an approximate 25 words per minute, at an altitude of about 7 feet. (our “house” is on stilts) Please insure you are not slouching and that your feet are flat on the floor. Enjoy your time on our blog and please come back soon.

The above pic was taken a while ago by Jeff Goslan, of Cari standing on a Bribie Island Beach while the sun was going down. I love the pic and thought I'd post it.
So last Saturday (Nov 10th) Cari, Me, Rej, Clo, Adam and Brianna (we’re all Canadians!) headed down to Byron Bay to go Scuba Diving at the Julian Rocks. The conditions were crap but the dive was awesome (we’ll I thought it was awesome, but I could dive in a bowl of urine and have a good time, I was born to swim) The 2 km (10 minute) boat ride out to the rocks were like a roller coaster ride, huge swells, wind, rain and fog. We all got bounced around, but it was fun. When we got to the rocks, we quickly got our gear on and got in the water. Once under the water we entered another world. The first thing I saw as I reached the bottom was 2 blue spotted sting rays….. http://www.julianrocks.net/sharks/DasyatisKuhlii.htm
They continued on there marry way, so I re-adjusted my rented gear (I really need to get my own gear, I’ve always had my own kit and having to rent sucks shark balls) and looked up to see if Cari was on her way down. To my surprise she was right beside me. She had no problems equalizing and a quick “ok” sign confirmed that she was doing just fine. They say couples that dive together stay together!. (I just made that up) So on we went. We actually had a guide, So all of us like a flock of sheep followed our long haired Aussie guide around a pre determined route that would keep us out of the currents and large swells kicked up by the bad weather.
Some of the more notable things we saw…
Yellow Sea Star…
http://www.julianrocks.net/echinoderms/LinckiaGuildingi.htm
Needle spined urchin….
http://www.julianrocks.net/echinoderms/Diadema.htm
Puffer Fish….
http://www.julianrocks.net/fish/fancyfish/ArothronNigropunctatus.htm
Wobbgonges…(these guys are a type of shark)
http://www.julianrocks.net/sharks/Orectolobus.htm
Trumpet Fish….
http://www.julianrocks.net/fish/fancyfish/AulostomusChinensis.htm

And lots of other fish.

The ladies after the dive, we went to a pub to get some much needed grub.
The ladies plus Rej and Adam watching something on the t.v.
Some random chick at the bar, but if you look above her there's a salt water fish tank...they had these all around the bar. So Cari has the dive bug, I now have a diving buddy. We're both looking forward to doing a lot of diving while were here in Australia.

Scuba Steve

I know, I know. I have to post. I will, I promise. I've just been too busy doing Christmas stuff...wrapping presents, writing cards, preparing parcels. And, that's just been so much fun! But I will post...soon. So stay tuned...

Saturday...

We had such a nice day yesterday! We rented a car around 9:30 and ran a few errands. I picked up my Padi temporary certificate, which means I am an official Padi graduate...Yippee! After a morning of errand running, we scooted home, packed a bag and grabbed Jes and heading off on a sight seeing adventure. We didn't really know where we were going...well, we knew we wanted to end up at the dog beach, but it isn't an off lease beach until after 4:00, so we had a few hours to kill until then. We just drove, stopped for a cold treat and drinks at a little store in the middle of no where and enjoyed the sights, stopping for pictures along the way. We visited the Glass House Mountains look off, but didn't stay too long, as it has been very hot! Temps are getting up to about 31ish and humidity is inching up.

The look off was very pretty.

We stopped to take this one on the side of the road.
We drove by pinapple patches and what I think was a papaya tree field. See the little pinapple growing in there?
There it is!
Papaya, anyone? Australians call papaya "Paw Paw".


Of course we had a great time at the beach! Jesse loved it, as always. He was permanently glued to Steve's side for some reason, which was fine with me. Steve entertained him while I read and relaxed.

Australian pines.

There were a lot of dogs running around the beach, but this old guy was quite content to just sit and take it all in. Just like an old man sitting on his front porch!
The waves were insane! Very big and very rough. Steve tried swimming and got banged around pretty good. Since Jesse wanted to stay right with Steve, he would try to swim out with him, but it was way too rough for him and he got dunked hard a few times. We opted for the "kiddie pool" as Steve called it...the bit of water going from the ocean to the river.
Here's Jesse actually swimming and not risking near drowning death.
He loves that ball. I bought him one awhile back and we lost it, so I bought 2 more, just to make sure he always has a back up. He'll run for hours as long as he's chasing that ball! He also swallows a lot of salt water trying to swim with that ball in his mouth. On the way home, Jesse barfed sea water all over the back seat of the rental car! Lovely.

Steve and I went out for supper in Redcliffe last night...http://www.redcliffe.qld.gov.au/tourism/outandabout.html...It's a cute little town, not far from Brisbane. Dinner was yummy! We shared a bucket of shrimp to start....soooo good! All and all, a great day!

Pandemic Girls Night...take 2

Friday night, Pandemic hosted another girls night for the ladies of Pandemic and any Pandemite partners. We started at Pandemic where we enjoyed champange, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks for the pregnant ladies and catered munchies. We then headed to a bar called the Fringe for very expensive cocktails! Drinks were between $16 and $20 each! I had one gin and tonic and then decided to save my money. Probably a good thing, as it helped to minimize my hangover the next day. Note how I said "minimize" but not eliminate. Here's a few pictures of the evening...

Another house guest

We had a little mystery here in the Dickinson house. I kept finding dirt all around my plant in the living room. I would sweep it up and 2 days later there would be more all over the floor. Steve and I thought that Jesse was eating the dirt out of the pot and poor Snugs even got scolded for it. So, the other day, Steve and I are watching Heros (my new favorite show!) when I see the mess and I say to Steve, "You know Jesse hasn't even been in the house, so it can't be him doing that!". Soooo, Steve starts investigating the plant a bit closer. We're both on edge, as you may recall that giant spider we found in the living room awhile back...

After a very close examination of the plant, we see this thing. What the heck is that, you may ask?? No idea, but it was HUGE and the exact same color as the plant he was clinging to, so not so easy to see. I have no idea how he found his way onto this plant, in our living room, but he's definitely been living the good life. A whole plant to himself to munch and enjoy! You can see how big he was in comparison to my hand!

Then, as we're watching him, he poops! A HUGE poop! That's when we realized that all the "dirt" that I've been sweeping up, was in fact his poop! And, can I just say that based on how much sweeping I've been doing, he poops A LOT! You can see him pooping in the picture!

The mystery poop.

And, the poor plant. Once I started looking closer at the plant, I realized that he's enjoyed quite the buffet! Steve put him outside and hopefully my plant will have a little peace. I'm thinking he must have been on the plant when we got it, and he has just been growing over the last couple of months? No idea but we have definitely been host to some interesting house guests since we moved here!

Happy Halloween!

I was determined not to miss out on yet another holiday (having missed Easter, Canada Day, and Thanksgiving), so I went shopping for some Halloween decorations. I checked all the obvious stores, Big W (basically Walmart), Target and a few of the less obvious stores, only to find....nothing. Not a single thing. No decorations, costumes, not even a regular pumpkin. I have never seen a pumpkin like we're used to in Canada. They do sell small greenish orange ones for cooking (because canned pumpkin doesn't exist here either!), but that's all I've ever seen. So, what does a girl do when all hopes of Halloween traditions seem to be out the window? Bake, of course! I decided to bring a little bit of Halloween to Brisbane. Although, I do think some people celebrate, as Steve heard on the radio this morning that Halloween is getting more popular each year. But, by the looks of what I saw...well, didn't see... in the shops, they have a long way to go! Anyway, I made and decorated 5 dozen cupcakes for Steve's work and my work. It was fun and satisfied my "must do something relating to a holiday" urge. The sugar I consumed while decorating all those cupcakes definitely satisfied any craving for Halloween candies or lollies, as they call them here. They're supposed to be eyeballs. Jesse really liked them and patiently sat with me the whole time I baked and decorated them. I think he missed being dressed up this year...I KNOW Steve did! ;) Happy Halloween to everyone back home! Hope you have an extra spooky one!

Bull Ray

*****Warning: This post is not suitable for those family members who suffer from any form of anxiety. Warning...do not read on if you already lose sleep worrying about me!!*****

Today, I finally got to finish my dive course. We had a VERY early start. We had to be at the dive shop by 6 a.m. So, although sleepy, I was eager to get in the water and get my PADI certificate. I ended up being with a new dive instructor because the group was so big, we had to separate into 2 groups and take 2 boats out to Cook Island, where we were diving. Tanya, my instructor for today, was actually from Newfoundland. Anyway, there was really not too much to see, the visability wasn't the best and the sea creatures seemed to be in hiding. Well hidden actually...which brings me to me story...

One of the skill requirements that we had to do in order to pass the course was "hovering", which means that we had to be able to sit crossed-legged in the water, without moving. Basically it shows that you are capable of neutral bouyancy (you aren't floating and you aren't sinking). When my turn came, Tanya tried to find an area on the bottom of the ocean, where we could work on the task. I began concentrating on not letting too much air into my BCD (bouyancy control device...the thing that you wear that fills with air), and crossed my legs. As I was trying to find a neutral place, I began sinking to the bottom. Just as I was about to add some more air to my BCD, Tanya grabbed me by the arm and pulled me towards her and motioned to me to swim. So, I did. No big deal. I continued with my dive, wondering why we didn't finish the skill. Once we come to the surface, everyone said, "Cari! Did you see that RAY?!" I reply, "What ray?".

Turns out there was a bull ray directly under me while I was doing my hover. He was hidden in the sand, until I almost stepped on him, at which point, he raised his tail at me. Tanya said that she has never seen a ray so big. She said it was about the size of a kitchen table and that it's spikes were about a foot long. It also had a very thick tail. Tanya said when she saw the spikes, she was like, and I quote..."Holy Shit!" and that's when she grabbed me and pulled me away. The diving assistant said she literally gasped when she saw that it was directly under me and not so happy to have me directly above it. I took this from an article I found on the internet...

"Stingrays are considered by most experts to be docile creatures, only attacking in self-defense. Most stingray-related injuries to humans occur to the ankles and lower legs, when someone accidentally steps on a ray buried in the sand and the frightened fish flips up its dangerous tail."

Some of you may recall that it was a bull ray that killed Steve Irwin...http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://data2.blog.de/media/520/804520_ca2d469fb9_m.jpg&imgrefurl=http://healthiswealth.blog.co.uk/2006/09/08/pay_your_personal_tribute_to_steve_irwin~1107800%3Fcomment_ID%3D1670344&h=240&w=180&sz=16&hl=en&start=10&tbnid=nsY7_PTKnBvM6M:&tbnh=110&tbnw=83&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbull%2Bray%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG, although that was very rare and a total freak incident.

Tanya said that the bull rays rule the ocean, as far as rays go. I didn't even get to see the thing, which totally sucks, but I have learned that on any future dives, I will stay well off the bottom! I really believe that everything happens to teach us something we need to know...guess that was what I learned today! If only I had actually seen the ray, it might have made this story even more exciting to tell! I think it is actually a cooler story for the people who watched it raise it's tail to tell, but Tanya said and again, I quote, "This is the kind of thing you write home about!". So that's just what I did.

The above pic is of a bull ray, taken from the internet.

MS 10km Walk

Friday evening, 4 Pandamites (Pandamites are Pandemic Employees) embarked on an epic adventure. One that took courage, skill and immense bravery. Lead by our fearless leader, Mr Jeff Goslan, we en-barked on a journey that none will soon forget. Two things drove us....raising money for MS and the BBQ at the end of the walk....
Jeff's older brother is in the later stages of MS and Jeff wanted to raise some money and awareness for the cause. So Myself, Trish, Morgan and Jeff did the Brisbane MS Walk that was held Thursday evening. The 10km walk went all along the Brisbane river, up and over the Story Bridge and through a couple parks. We raised (I say we, but mostly Jeff) almost $900 dollars from donations given to us by co workers...
Here's a few pics of the evening...

See the bare feet, that's Morgan....he did the 10km walk in bare feet....crazy aussies
Trish waving the Pandemic colors...
Jeff, Morgan and Trish....
Moi (that's "me" in French)
We got these glow in the dark bracelets...
It's a flower solar panel....I love this, I can't wait to own a house someday so I can run the whole thing from wind and sun....
What MS walk wouldn't be comlete without some Storm Troopers...
Going over Story Bridge
A guided tour that goes up to the top of Story Bridge...hoping to do that soon..
Brisbane City from the Bridge.

Steve

Still house hunting...

We looked at this place yesterday...http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=402958600&f=0&p=10&t=ren&ty=&fmt=&header=&c=75409532&s=qld&snf=rbs&tm=1193263160 We really liked. So did the other 10 people that looked at it, so I'm not getting my hopes up. It's huge! It's a 3 level townhouse and would be absolutely perfect for company, as there are 3 bathrooms and lots of room! Hint...hint! It's not far from where we live now and the street it's on is a quiet little one way street. They consider pets on application. I've been told that townhouses are much warmer than old Queenslanders in the winter, which would be very nice! The real estate agent said that we'd know if we have it in 24 to 48 hours, so by the end of the week for sure. I'd love to be moved into a new place before Christmas! Speaking of homes, we've been having a lot of open houses for the house we're in now, since it's gone up for sale. There was one on Saturday, there's one today and one this Saturday. What a pain in the butt! We have to leave the house clean all the time, as the open houses kind of pop up on us and poor Jesse gets locked up whenever we have one. It wouldn't be so bad, except that they are always at the worst times...right in the middle of the day on a Saturday, or right when you're getting home from work during the week. Hopefully it sells fast and we don't have weeks of open houses!

Back to my roots...

...no more blond Cari. I'm actually pretty happy with it and it only cost $12! Much better than the quotes I was given for $90! I think I have become obsessed with getting deals since I moved here!

Long weekend

We had a really good weekend. Steve and I both took Friday off and enjoyed every minute of having a long weekend. We didn't do anything too crazy (which made it even nicer!). We spent Friday shopping for new clothes for Steve. He was in desperate need of some clothes that fit! He got some snazzy new duds and he wears them well, I must say!;)

On Saturday, Steve went to the driving range with Jeff and Vic and I got my hair cut. The chick who cut it is traveling through Australia and is originally from Ireland. She was interesting to talk to. I would really like to travel to Ireland someday. She did a really good job of my cut too! I also got Steve to dye my hair tonight. Although I like the blond highlights, they are just too much upkeep and money! So, I went el-cheapo and opted for a home color kit. It turned out okay. I'll post a pic later.

Saturday night, we went out for dinner and then drinks with friends.

Then on Sunday, we went to Redcliff beach with Rej and Clo. Steve and I had never been to that part of Redcliff...we had a great time chillin' and chattin' on the beach. Rej and Clo picked us up, which was a nice treat, since we usually have to rent a car to go anywhere. Thanks guys!

It was a little tough going back to work after a long, relaxing weekend, but the week seems to be going by fast. I'm finishing my diving course this weekend, which I'm looking forward to.

Check out a few of the pics from the weekend...

The beach was a landing zone for skydivers, so we got to see them coming in. It brought back memories!

Rej and Clo and Clo and me...

The guys and me (obviously).


A few photos that were taken at the bar (Hotel Bravo). For some reason, bars are called hotels here. It's strange.

The girl in the picture with me is Robyn. She went to McKenzie College with Steve. She lives here in Brisbane now. That's Vic and Robyn in the other shot.

Happy vs. Angry.

I have a few more things to post about, but I'm too sleepy. Tomorrow. Another day, another post...