krisalis

• went up to Dallas and spent the weekend there with Mark and Rosie
• had dinner at a Tex-Mex place in town and then a few drinks at an Irish bar with a bunch of Mark’s friends
• walked the Rosiepup in the unrelenting superhot melting Dallas heat. It may only be a few hundred miles from Austin, but I swear it is much hotter. More concrete perhaps? Fewer trees? Because it’s flatter?
• watched bits of ‘Pay It Forward’
• napped
• went to Keith and Kirsten’s baby shower, where the main topics of conversation for the evening seemed to be (a) thinking up funny/bizarre/inappropriate names for the baby; there were times when it seemed more like a pre-baby hazing than a pre-baby welcome party (b) football; specifically The Cowboys (c) Crate & Barrel; specifically their bed linen (d) the wonders of Central Market; specifially their cakes
  (e) Keith’s very large super gadgety flat screen LCD television with TiVo (f) breakfast; specifically where to find good eggs and pancakes in the general Dallas area
• walked around Breckenridge Park in the unrelenting superhot melting Dallas heat
• had coffee and read the NY Times. Well, Mark read the paper and I looked at the pictures in the colour supplements
• had a most excellent brunch at Kathleen’s Art Cafe. Yum.
• took Rosie to meet Schroder and Izzy
• returned to Austin. Rosie did smelly farts the whole way home. Normally, I would have blamed Mark for the stench, but since it was just me and The Pose in the car, it had to be her. Rosie’s farts were so smelly that I actually pulled off the road near Waco because I was convinced that she needed to poop. I walked her up and down the side of a field, feeding the mosquito population pints of my delicious blood while she sniffed and wagged and sniffed and peed and sniffed and totally did not poop. We got back into the car after about 15 min, and headed back onto I-35. As soon as we hit the highway, she let rip another stinker. I swear she thought it was hilARious.
• Had grilled salmon with hatch chilli sauce, lovingly prepared by my mother once I finally reached Austin.

Next time we go to a baby shower, baby is totally getting one of these.

I seem to get more out of exercising when I have a specific event to train for. My triathlon season is pretty much over for the year – there are a couple more events that I was interested in doing – Dilloman and Splash for example, but have ultimately decided against for a combination of reasons.

So, what’s next?

I’m thinking it’s going to be running.

I’m not particularly enamoured with running, but if I’m ever going to get better, then I need to just get out there and do it.

Here’s the current plan: - IBM 10k in October - Ride for The Roses (ok, this isn’t a run, it’s a ride, but I’m going to do it, so there) in October - 3M half marathon in January 2006

Other plans are still swimming around my head – there are little voices discussing possible half ironman adventures at some point in the future. We shall see. I was temporarily toying with taking on the Distance Challenge, but then I regained my sanity.

For now, I’m going to try concentrate on getting me some core strength and hopefully the ability to run for longer distances at slightly faster paces.

These questions about Australia were (supposedly) posted by potential visitors on an Australian Tourism Website. Answers are (supposedly) the actual responses by the website officials.

Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I have never seen it rain on TV, how do the plants grow? (UK). A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around watching them die.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (USA) A: Depends how much you’ve been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Perth to Sydney – can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden) A: Sure, it’s only three thousand miles. Take lots of water.

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia? (USA) A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does not… oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is north in Australia? ( USA) A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we’ll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Australia? ( UK) A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys’ Choir schedule? (USA) A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is…oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Kings Cross, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Can I wear high heels in Australia? ( UK) A: You are a British politician, right?

Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney and is milk available all year round? (Germany) A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Please send a list of all doctors in Australia who can dispense rattlesnake serum. (USA) A: Rattlesnakes live in A-meri-ca, which is where YOU come from. All Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make good pets.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Australia, but I forget its name. It’s a kind of a bear and lives in trees. (USA) A: It’s called a Gum Drop Bear. They are so called because they drop out of Gum trees and eat the brains of anyone walking underneath them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: Do you have perfume in Australia? ( France) A: No, WE don’t stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? ( USA) A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? ( France) A: Only at Christmas.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA) A: Yes, but you’ll have to learn it first.

It’s gone from costing us $16 to costing $24 to fill up the Prius at Costco over the past 8 months, and from about $28 to $37 to fill up the Highlander.

And, yes, I know us Texans have it easy when it comes to the price of petrol.

So, you remember the tale of woe from last week, about the puppy we found in a ditch?

Well, a couple of days after that puppy passed away, my sister Billie and her friend Mel found another abandoned pup. They found this little guy in the carpark at a Home Depot up in Pflugerville. I’m starting to think my friends have some sort of sixth sense when it comes to animals in distress.

Anyway – they took puppy home with them, got him checked out by a vet and once they had verified he was in good health, they called Kem to see if she wanted to meet with the new pup, with a view to adopting him.

Of course, Kem fell under puppy’s spell, and it would seem that the puppy chapter is finally going to end on a happy note.

Puppy has been named Buster, which I think suits him perfectly. Look at those goofy ears! Isn’t he adorable?

• went to Uno for pizza and a glass of chianti with Mark and Rosie. I like that we can sit out on the terrace with the dog at Uno. I wish there were more places in Austin we could take Rosie.
• got up early and walked the dogs before clambering into the car and heading out through some ominous looking weather to Dripping Springs.
• rode 52 miles from Dripping Springs to Johnson City and back. It was a fun ride, but my hamstrings and quads were not happy with me at all by the end. It was hot and hilly. But we did it. Yay!
• ate a much deservered and thoroughly delicious hamburger at Nutty Brown cafe after the ride
• went for a swim in the lake with Rosie to get rid of some of the worst of the grossness before getting in the shower
• showered, changed and promptly fell into bed for a nap
• woke up starving and went out for dinner to El Sole Y El Luna on South Congress, where I demolished some grilled catfish enchiladas and a couple of Sols
• had torancino ice cream from Amy’ for dessert – it was a cinnamony flavour with almonds in it. Not my usual choice, but pretty darn tasty.
• tumbled into bed, feeling fat and happy
• walked the Roseapose before church
• bought baby shower gifts at Babies ‘R’ Us. That store is huuuuuuge. Who knew such small people could need so much stuff? And when did my group of friends suddenly move from the ‘getting married’ stage to the ‘producing sproglets’ phase?
• had panini and latte for lunch at Uno
• napped some more
• went to a neighborhood party and played with an assortment of kids and puppies and ate lots of finger food and chocolate chip cookies. By the end of the party, I was an exhausted, smudgy mess. But it was fun.
• fell asleep in front of the tele

Image276.jpg Originally uploaded by krisalis.
saturday morning ride. creek and trees out in dripping springs, taken as we wait for mark to change his flat tire.

• The gaggle of over-50s good-old-boys on my flight out of Austin, shouting inane jokes across the crowded plane at each other, drinking beer and bloody marys, and trying unsucessfully to flirt with the air hostess. I’m happy you’re all off to play golf together and you’re having a good time, but seriously, it’s 7 o’clock in the freakin’ morning, and nothing you say or do will actually turn you back into the beer guzzling frat boys of your much missed scallywag youth, not even guzzling more beer.

• The lack of half-way decent coffee at Austin-Bergstrom. C’mon Starbucks, Seattle’s Best – one of you get your game together and get a cart going at the airport. There’s a huge gap in the market, and I’m begging you to fill it.

• The man seated directly in front of me on the plane, who has chronic wiggleitus. He just cannot seems to sit still. He has unpacked and repacked his carry-on luggage twice and keeps shifting restlessly in his chair, bouncing my bad coffee and laptop precariously on the flimsy fold down tray that is attached to his seatback. Even the bloody marys didn’t help him chill out.

• The Coldplay album (X&Y) in my CD drive, which is refusing to play, which wouldn’t be so bad, but and the good-old-boys are really loud, and I would very much like to shut them out with some tunes.

Things that are making me smile, at least on the inside, because let’s face it, I’m pretty grumpy this morning:

• The car in front of me on the way to the airport with the ‘Animal Friendly’ personalised license plates that read ‘Puper’. Heh. Super Puper.

• The stalls in the airport loo were made by a company called ‘Hiney Hiders’. Hee!

• The three Bloc Party songs that I fortuitously downloaded from their website yesterday, and have been listening to on repeat on my noise cancelling headphones, shutting out most of the over-50′s fratboy babble. Bloc Party are my saviours.

What do you get for the Dad who has everything?

Well, if you’re me, you collaborate with your in-house designer (aka husband-man) and get him to help whip up some graphics for custom cycling jerseys.

[Back view of jersey is here for those interested.]

We momentarily debated getting red shorts to match, but then we remembered why cyclists wear black shorts.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

On attaque!