We're the Kids in America... Woah
The roadtrip was great fun. Since then we've been taking it easy in NW Iowa. The sweet corn season is just starting, and let me tell you, you haven't had sweet corn until you've had it fresh-picked that morning from an Iowa cornfield. It's like candy.

But now my friends from Des Moines have come up to see us, so we must go drink some more coffee.


With the Woolly Mammoth in Indianapolis

Through the Looking Glass
This past weekend after launching a new CD on Thursday night, we took off for a little anniversary getaway. We headed up the coast on Friday and spent three nights at Glass on Glasshouse. I found that place when looking for accommodation over Easter break and thought it would make a good romantic destination. It really was perfect.

The place is ultra-modern and two full walls are glass. (Do not worry, there are blinds.) Polished wood floors, leather lounge, huge spa bath, king-size bed, media system, and views to blow your mind.

There was a covered porch with a dining table and electric grill. Below is the view coming down the path towards the "pod".


Just inside is the living room. We watched both "Bridget Jones" movies and then the Lord of the Rings trilogy -- director's cuts. Eeeep! The couch had a fold out bed, which we pulled out a couple of the nights when it was getting hard to sit and keep watching.


There was a small desk where Hanslset up for a while. He was doing music, and I was on the couch backing up all my photos. Aren't we the geeky couple? But I don't know how he got any work done with a view like that. (And yes, Manda, those are my Spongebob slippers in the bag.)


Next to the television was the ethanol fireplace which was double-sided and could also be seen through a glass panel from the spa.


The giant spa bath filled from the ceiling. It seemed like a really cool and romantic idea, but to prevent it from splashing all over the whole room, it couldn't be on much more than a dribble until it was half-full.


Also modern and cool was the bathroom sink with water coming out of the mirror. It looked so zen, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, it was a bit gross while brushing teeth. I don't particularly enjoy watching my spittle traveling across the porcelain square into the moat at the front and floating around to the drain in back.


Comfortable bed and more great views. Several kangaroos would tend to hang out outside the windows on this side. The last night we slept with the blinds open and woke up to the glorious sunshine.


I drew a quick, not-exactly-do-scale floorplan one afternoon while we were there. You can click through to flickr to see the notes explaining what each area is.


I took along my anniversary flower that I got on Wednesday, because I wanted to enjoy it while it was still in its prime. I had it setting on the edge of the spa so that I could see it from the sofa. One morning we had the blinds down while we watched movies, but the sunlight came through one crack and made the flower glow. I didn't even notice the reflection until after I looked back at the photos.


Other highlights from the trip:
♥ Italian pasta lunch on Saturday at the fabulous discovery Cappriccio's in Maleny. (We even tried to go back to try the pizza on Monday before we left the area, but unfortunately they were closed. We'll be back!)

♥ Going for a Sunday bushwalk on the Glass House Mountain Lookout Track.

♥ Spending several hours strolling through Maleny on Monday before we came back home. My souvenir was a silk pillowcase from Maleny Additions. (Three days later my skin and hair are instant perfection... well, maybe not yet.)

Roadtrip!
In an effort to raise my comfort level behind the wheel, we decided to take a little roadtrip today to a few more miles (kilometers) under my belt. We headed West and ended up in Laidley. I'm too tired to write about our adventures at the moment, but after today, I have a renewed love for Australian scenery.

Here in My Car I Feel Safest of All
It's New Car Day! Hooray! We have the day off, and I thought we would sleep in and then go later in the afternoon. But no, I think I was awake by 7:30 and raring to go. It's so exciting. Our CAR is parked underneath me as I type. We went and got groceries in OUR CAR. I went through three roundabouts in OUR CAR. I'm ready to take a roadtrip in OUR CAR!

We're a little split on the name. I wanted it to be sort of "Man from Snowy River" themed, since it is a Colt. The thing is that I can't remember any of the horses' names from the movie. Bess was the one who died at the beginning, right? And then I'm not sure any of the other ones had names. Just "the Brumbies", I think.

But we've got it narrowed down to either Clancy or JESSICA!. Not Jessica. You have to say it like you've just spent the night looking for her in the rain. JESSICA! Maybe the car can have two names. Clancy for when it's behaving well, and JESSICA! when it's giving me grief.

In Other News...
* It's fricking FREEZING.

* Hans's tante and oom from Holland are in town this weekend. I can pick up only the slightest bit of their Dutch, but they are such a hoot. We're arranging a visit with them in 2010 when we go for Sail Amsterdam.

* As a thank-you for watching my in-laws' pets last week, I was given some Soul Food Kitchen Cajun Spices. So last night we made red beans and rice. With the Cajun blends that I've found here, I usually put in two Tablespoons to get it to my heat level. So I did the same with my new stuff. OMG. We nearly died. I thought my lips were going to swell shut. I think Hans was hallucinating. I'm scared to try it again. It definitely is NOT the Australian version of spicy; it's legit.

Linky Links
♥ Dutch Word of the Day -- I'm newly recommitted to learning the Dutch that I abandoned quite a while ago.

♥ CraftGossip -- lots of crafty ideas, and from there I found Jon's Thread Escapades, a blog about tatting. I started learning to tat from my Grandma years and years ago. That's another thing I feel like I should consider taking up again.

♥ Vinyl Record Headbands -- here's a craft for Alyda!

♥ Cake Wrecks -- I can't remember where I found this one, but it shows when cake decorating goes wrong, all wrong.

♥ Basic Instructions -- Another one I've had open for a few days, so I can't remember where it came from. But it's a pretty funny webcomic. (Even though I hate them for not having their top banner return to the home page. Who doesn't do that?)