It's nostalgia day here... missing my little brother today. I've been hanging around somebody who is Greg's clone, so I kinda miss the little bugger.

We had a Commodore 64 when we were kids. Though we have now moved on to Tony Hawk, Skate Rock was one of the coolest games that we had. Spent hours playing that stupid game.

The other great one was TNK-III. The only problem with that one was that it would only load once out of every 35 tries... so once we got it to work, we would not let anyone shut the thing off!

I heard "One Night in Bangkok" this morning. Murray Head. Gotta love it! Wish my record player still worked.

Well the guys got back safe and sound and slightly jet-lagged. Adam brought me a sticker with the New Zealand flag on it, and Roy explained the deal with the Southern Cross... which was cool. Sweet as! :)

I have been looking for this watch for eight years. My single-handed watch. I saw one in a surf shop in Virginia Beach when Lisa and I were there for her graduation trip in 1994. I have regretted not buying it ever since, because I had never seen another one like it. But oh, the beauty of the internet. I could not be more excited. I'm just hoping that they are still in business.

Hehe... Paul & Deanna just brought me this t-shirt of the crocodile hunter that they got at the Australia Zoo. Woohoo as!

Forget Figi. I found my new vacation destination. For a mere two million dollars, I can take an Orbital Vacation. Seven days and six nights circling the planet topped off with a splashdown landing in the South Pacific. What more could you ask for?


(Okay, so it's the Friday Nine since I missed last week.)

1. What do you have your browser start page set to? the messageboard I babysit
2. What are your favorite news sites? cnn.com
3. Favorite search engine? I used to be a faithful metacrawler, but now I'm a googler... although I like alltheweb.com for my more in-depth searches.
4. When did you first get online? 1993... thanks to my hook-ups in the Dordt College computer science department.
5. What cologne or perfume do you wear? I tend to not wear any... but I do have Animalè that I like.
6. What cologne or perfume do you like best on the opposite sex? Eternity for Men! But there is something comforting about Hai Karatè (which my dad wore for years) and Adidas cologne (which my brother wears).
7. What one smell can you not stomach? those really obnoxious floral aromatherapy candles with names like Rain Forest or Northern Meadow or Mountain Rose
8. What smell do you like that others might consider weird? I used to love the smell of a newly opened cassette tape. It was the tape jacket that was most fragrant. John Huiett liked it too, so I'm not the only one.
9. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Packing. Cleaning. Moving. (see item below) Picking up the guys on Sunday... yay! I kinda missed them, believe it or not. I wonder if they will bring me anything...

My car got broken into the night before last. More of an inconvenience than anything else. Insurance is sure nice to have. I can't exactly figure out what their deal was, because they didn't touch the stereo (this time) or the cds. They seemed to have rummaged through the glove compartment and pulled down the back seat to look in the trunk... which I am sure was very disappointing, as there was nothing of any sort of value in either spot.

So what did they get? A cellphone with a dead battery and no service that hasn't been used in over a year. And what did I get? A broken window, a rain-flooded car, and a $100 deductible. Sucky!

This has given me a whole new motivation for packing and getting the heck out of dodge. One time is bad luck... welcome to the city. Two times is poor security... and really bad luck. I'm out.

Maybe I am the one who is geographically impared here. All I want to know is this: To what continent does New Zealand belong?

Seems like a fairly simple question, right? The United States is in North America. Spain is in Europe. Kazakhstan is in Asia. New Zealand seems to be floating out there unclaimed.

I have asked several people from New Zealand and Australia. You would think they would be the ones to know, since I know that I live in North America. Alas, these poor souls are as confused as I.

I just about had a knock-down-drag-out fight with Phil the other day, because he insisted that the continent was Australasia. I proceeded to name the seven continents which did not include Australasia. He argued that Australia is a country not a continent. To which I responded that Australia is the only country that is its own continent. From there we went on to bash each other's schooling and dropped it.

I've been obsessing about this for a while now... and it is not just because the band should be on their way over to Auckland in about seven hours.

This is where I work...

If you want to increase hits to your website, just put something about marrytheresa.com on there. I would say that 80% of the people who come here due to search engines have been looking for that site.


T-Shirty.com has lots of cute t-shirts. Too bad they are in the UK, and they have yet to respond whether they do overseas orders. They aren't quite Prophetik... but still cool nonetheless.

Tonight I got back to my house at about 10:00. I was tired and ready to collapse. I came inside the door to find a note on my phone...

Danielle:
Just wanted to say thank you for everything you do and have done for me and the band. We are very lucky to be able to have you working with us and as a friend. You rock face. C-ya the 28th.
Michael

Warm fuzzies. Working super hard for something feels worth it when you know you and your efforts are appreciated.

Lesson for today:
Share your happy thoughts. If you appreciate someone, tell them... don't just think it. If you like someone's haircut/t-shirt/handwriting/etc., tell them... you just might give someone a much needed lift.

Ready or not, here they come. Six night and seven days in the beautiful outback of Australia. (Okay, not exactly the outback, but Australia nonetheless.) Then on to five days and four nights in exotic New Zealand. Before turning over their passports, I am making my demands for decent souveniers. (Like a husband?) :)

Nobody has a camera with them. Guys... sheesh. So I am making Michael go back to my house so that he can take my little one along. I just want photos of Paul playing cricket. That should be interesting.

And for those who do not know, here are the differences between Brits, Aussies, Americans, and Canadians.

Song of the Day:
Down Under - Men at Work

And sometimes, I speak too soon......

Did I say I could breathe properly? Ugh. Today has been hell. Just think of how fun it would have been tomorrow for us to all show up at the airport only to find that the guitar player does not have any international tickets. Only one more day, and they are gone.... only one more day.

On a better note, Michael is leaving all of his Playstation games with me to master during the two weeks while they are away. I am never leaving my house. :)

Ilya at Express Visa Service is my all-time hero. He just called and said he is overnighting the visas today. I think I can breathe properly again.


I have such a beautiful and thoughtful friend. She sent me a carved Maori necklace much like the one to the right. It is so beautiful. I forget exactly what she said the meaning of it is, but I just love both the gift and the giver! (I was going to send your Christmas gift along with the guys, but it sounds like every spare suitcase nook and cranny is being stuffed with merch -- so I will post it to you.) :)

Friday Five
1. What was your first job? I worked in my dad's office during the summers. My first one outside of that was when I was sixteen. I was a sandwich artist at Subway.
2. How old were you when you had your first kiss? Ugh. The first one that I actually count was when I was 18. The ones before that had technicalities.
3. What was your first car? What happened to it? The first car I drove when I turned 16 was my mom's little white Sunbird convertible. That made me popular when we went cruising. The first one I owned was my little blue Cavalier named Eddie.
4. What was your first concert? Gosh, was it dc Talk and Michael W Smith?
5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? It's Manda's last weekend in Indianapolis, so I am going up to help pack the last odds and ends. We also have to color and trim her hair. Dinner at Mama Carolla's is imperative. I want to see Brotherhood of the Wolf so badly, but I doubt I will be able to convince her that she wants to see it. This could very well be my last Indiana hoorah. :(

As usual, I have the post-stress migraine going on right now. But the good news is that I think things are looking good on the visa situation, and the guys will get to their shows in Aust./New Zealand without problems.

Last night I fell in love. Beth was dogsitting for these two adorable poodle puppies. They weren't all shaved like those yucky show dogs though... they were just tiny and cute and furry. They looked just like a little stuffed animal by GUND. She has been watching them for almost a month now, and as repayment, the owners said they would pay for her to get one. Yay... we're going to have a puppy!



Okay, so I missed a few Friday Fives in there... so I'll play catch-up with the Wednesday Thirteen.

1. You've just won a complete collection of movies starring one actor - what actor would you pick? I think I would go with Sean Connery. Though if I said Tommy Lee Jones, I would then own almost every movie ever made.
2. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? Monsters, Inc.
3. What was the last video or DVD that you bought? The Frighteners
4. What movie could you watch over and over again and not get sick of? The Saint
5. What was your biggest accomplishment in 2001? following my dream of eight years
6. What was your biggest disappointment? losing my Grandmother in December... getting laid off really stunk too.
7. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? No, I like to spare myself the guilt later on in the year when I would have realized that I had broken it.
8. Where do you wish you were celebrating? Eh, doesn't really matter to me.
9. What do you plan to do for New Year's Eve? Well, I had planned on being up in Michigan with the gang celebrating Matt & Amy's nuptuals, but due to weather conditions, it was just me, Manda, & Maddie on the couch watching movies.
10. What is the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? Does Vegemite count?
11. Name one (material) thing you can't live without. my computer
12. Name something you've always wanted to do but didn't have time for. My tour scrapbook from the ARC days.
13. What outrageous thing do you wish you had the nerve to do? scuba diving

The Army is updating the dresscode for the first time in 10 years. Fire-engine red, purple, blue, black, and white nailpolish are still out though. Guess I would have to make some adjustments.



Speaking of which, Angela got me some great OPI nailpolish for my birthday that I should really try out soon.

American Ocean and Deeply in Love

In an effort to preserve what learning capability I have left, I have enrolled in an online course on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at Barnes & Noble University. It may end up being a total dud, but at least it will motivate me to actually read the books. Erm... not that being in enrolled in a class inspired me to actually read the texts when I actually was in college. Okay, this may flop. Wait, I am older and wiser now and value education.

Friday Fives will have to come later.

Song for the Day:
Bite the Hand - Beanbag

At one time in Wisconsin, all yellow butter substitutes were banned in the state, which people then smuggled in from Illinois.

In Spearfish, South Dakota, if three or more Indians are walking down the street together, they can be considered a war party and fired upon.

You may not swear in front of women and children in the state of Michigan.

"Big Government. Small Brains. Dumb Laws." DumbLaws.com

Okay, I take that back. Normal updates will not commence until I perform a small miracle or until after January 15th... whichever comes first. Anybody have connections with the Australian or New Zealand consulates, please email me. *pulls hair out*

S - A - F - E - T - Y Dance

Aww, yeah.

Back. Huge amounts of driving in the last few days. All worth it. Happy 2002.