Throwin' some parental Kleinballs

The parents have arrived in Sydney! Spent the weekend with them, and on Thursday we head off to Adelaide and the Flinders Ranges. It'll be my first time in the actual Outback, so should be good... although beastly hot.

Speaking of beastly hot, it was 42°C (108°F) in Sydney on Saturday. Then we got a thunderstorm. Then we got some hail.* An hour later, the temperature had dropped by 15°C (27°F).

*I've only seen hail twice in Australia. Each time, my parents were here. Strange.

My dad has somehow developed an unhealthy obsession with lamingtons. So when we went into the city on Saturday, he immediately initiated a frantic search, stopping in every bakery we passed until he got his paws on one.

Two years, four days and four months after I arrived in this country, I finally got myself a New South Wales driver's license last week. Until my California one expires, which unfortunately happens in just a few weeks, I find myself in an ideal situation. For everyday sort of use, the NSW license will make things easier. But on the off chance that I get pulled over by a cop, I can pull out the CA license and plead ignorant.

Bit of a sports deluge the last few weeks. We got the Australian Open in full swing, Australia's playing Pakistan and the West Indies in a series of cricket matches, and I'm doing my best to stay up to date on the football playoffs. Good time of the year to be a sports fan here.

Australia Day is tomorrow. While we won't be going up to Macmasters Beach like two years ago, we'll be doing much of what we did last year at the Ascot: plenty of food, drinks, cricket (playing), cricket (watching on TV), tennis (watching on TV) and music (annual Triple J Hottest 100 countdown).

Couple of big posts planned for the next few weeks. We got a lil' something to do with Portuguese chicken and a lil' something to do with Kentucky Fried Chicken. Although chicken's involved in both, the posts promise to be very different in content.

Back to normalcy?

It's been an interesting and strange few weeks. My Mo (finally, mercifully) filled in. The parents came into town. The parents left town. I rejoined the parents in Melbourne. We did the Great Ocean Road from Monday to Wednesday. We came back to Sydney.* We went to see Australia.** We did a wine tasting trip on Saturday. And then on Sunday, the parents left.

*After taking the first three days of the week off, I worked, ironically, on Thursday and Friday. The opposite of all you people in the US.

**Australia in Australia! Har har har!

Two notable photos from the Great Ocean Road:

"We'll get him when he comes back in!"
"He's not coming back."

My Mo and the 12 Apostles.

Having the parents here went pretty much as I expected; a range of emotions throughout their visit. It was great, it was frustrating, it was embarrassing (mostly when my dad tried to pull off a ridiculous Aussie accent), it was a welcome escape from my routine, it was exhausting. And although I admittedly felt some relief to see them off on Sunday, I immediately felt guilt. Could we have done more? Should I have let some of the more trivial things get me frustrated? This is how a visit from my parents usually goes.

Anyway, I'm back! Maybe. Movember's over, so no more daily emails to distract me. And as the parents are gone, there will be no more long days with them. Instead, I can put my head down and work, continue to search for a new job and, theoretically, post more frequently on this thing. That is, although, until I host a belated Thanksgiving meal this Sunday, then my office Christmas party the following Thursday, and then that Saturday, Justin arrives for two weeks! So, ummmm, I'm not back? Let's just put more emphasis on that "maybe" qualifier and hope for the best.