Hola!!

hey y'all.....summer is here!! It's a mild 30 degrees outside and is increasing until a predicted 37....I wonder if my skin will scorch if I go outside!! I have taken to hiding out inside during the hottest parts of the day....hehehe

Anyhoo...it has been tooooo long since I updated you all. And so much has happened, and I have a zillion pictures to put up.

Let's start with April, about where I left off. Chris left in late April, but first we had Easter!! I decided that I had gone too long without hot cross buns (imagine not having them over here!!), so I made some. After getting a recipe from mum and dad of course! They were great, and I had fun making them, and even Chris joined in by making "artistic" crosses....I say artistic, because they were not attractive!! hehehe.

Just before Chris left some of the guys returned from a month deployment in Korea. With Soju....lots of it. So we had to have a few nights of catching up on Korea...and remembering the deliciousness of soju...or in my case, how much my stomach burns the day after! Aaaah the memories!! hehehe.

Chris and I spent some time loving it up before he abandoned me for months. So we went on a couple of little trips, buying him the things he needed to take with him, etc. We also went out for dinner, which was an experience! We decided to go the "The Fish N Pig" which sits on Lake Tobosofkee, in Macon. We ended up going early so we could go to the movies afterwards. And we were in for a treat. Since we were early we were the youngest people there -by far! Also, we seemed to be the only non locals. So we weren't greeted by name, and we didn't come over and give the old guy behind us a kiss like everyone else seemed to! hehehe. Chris ordered the all you can eat catfish and I got some grilled fish, groper I think (not a catfish fan).

That was the end of the excitement there, until we left....there were nesting geese outside on the banks of the lake and they were in protective mode. I never knew that geese hissed!! It was hilarious, they even stick their tongues out, and I have never thought about geese having tongues...so now I know! ha.

We decided to have an early birthday party for Chris before he left, and this gave me another opportunity to make some new recipes. He wanted a carrot cake, and I had the recipe from Heslops in Kaikoura, so there you go! It was lovely. I also made some mini raspberry swirl cheesecakes, and having never made cheesecakes before I was surprised at how easy they are! Of course, we had to have lamb! And I think it was quite possibly the best lamb I have tasted. I know Chris likes to reminisce about it whenever he calls me! hehehe. And he is aiming to repeat it when he returns.

Now when it came to Chris actually leaving there was a bit of drama. Not from him, but the plane. I dropped him off on a Sunday afternoon, and he called 2 hours later and asked to be picked up. So I dropped him off on Monday morning, and they made it to Indianapolis, and had to stay there for the night. Then there were only 2 more unscheduled stops before they made it to the desired destination....UDSWA (undisclosed destination in South West Asia)....this is me using good "OpSec", or operation security....see?? I am a great military spouse!! hehehe

Since Chris left I had a couple of weeks of absolute boredom and frustration, which was quickly resolved by the arrival of Mum and Dad!! And that's when the excitement began!! What a fast few weeks....

First of all we had to tour the local area, in the suburban. Now, for most Americans a suburban is nothing new, but for kiwis it's like a bus....or an enormous tank. Anyway it's a fun experience. Dad even had a drive or two while he was here. Mum didn't brave it (cough....chicken)....

So back to exploring...we did a lot of local things....checking out the base, going to the supermarkets, going to the GA Music Hall of Fame, and having a tour of the Hay House in Macon. I have to stop and tell you about that tour, not because of the house, which was a fantastic old mansion, but the guide. Who was quite fantastic herself. We estimated that she was between 45 and 85. She had enough makeup on to be a teenager who didn't know better. And she had the super strong Southern drawl, that extends words with extra syllables....he-air (here), thea-a (there). And she watched Dad like a hawk. She was explained about the walls that were painted to look like marble and while she was talking mum and I had quickly turned around and touched them, but when dad tried she was looking and told everyone that there was no touching. Hehhehehe. From then on she was constantly watching him, which was great, and Mum and I were touching all sorts of stuff. She didn't like us much (just an educated guess), as we kept asking difficult questions and were not really listening to her, and kept walking off. Ooops.

What was hilarious about the whole no touching, was that they have weddings and parties in the house. In fact, there had a been a sweet 16 in there the night before and there were little "16" stickers everywhere and we guessed that they had been allowed to touch!!

The big project while mum and dad were here was making a veggie garden. We went to Lowes (like a giant Mitre 10), and got supplies. We were going to rent something to dig into the super hard Georgian clay in our backyard, but had a better idea. We asked one of the builders to drive over in his digger and give it a go. He did, and it took less than 5 minutes, and whole lot less sweat and bother! He made it look easy. We then went on a search to find dirt...sorry, topsoil. We found a guy that delivered and he dropped it off the next morning. So Dad spent a good hour or two banging and building the frame while we watched. It's all in now, with tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, and lettuce. We also had enough dirt left over for a herb garden outside our bedroom window and another garden at Sarah and Glen's house across the road!! Anyone need some dirt?? I have lots!!

Let's see, many more adventures. We went to the plane museum next to base, and had a look at the JStars display. Mum and I sat in the chairs and pretended to be Chris (see pics...hehehe). We also went out the the local orchard and picked our own strawberries. Then we made jam the next morning...so nice...mmmmm fresh jam! If only I had had some when I made hot cross buns!! hehehe.

Through all of this visit there were some lovely bottles of wine to drink, and lots of Louis Vuitton races to watch. And in Mum's case, many books to read. Dad managed to watch a few NBA games.

We went on a day trip to the Calloway Gardens, over near Columbus, GA. It took us a while to find our way there on the back roads, but we went through some lovely wee towns on the way. We had lunch on top of the mountain, looking over a lovely lush green area. This is where we had real Southern food for the first time. Mum tried the roast turkey with cornbread gravy, and dad had a BBQ pork sandwich, while I had the chicken fried chicken with collared greens. The best part was seeing Mum and Dad drinking "unsweet tea" out of mason jars....!! hehehe. The gardens were lovely, we walked the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower trail, and wandered through the butterfly enclosure. We even went to the lake and had a paddle before driving home.

The next day was my birthday, and we had decided to head off to Savannah. We arrived by lunchtime and managed to find a place with good coffee (a must!), and some sandwiches. After that we took a tram tour of the city, with a very dry commentary from an unemotional woman. She knew her stuff though. All the history, from the statue of the tea towel waving woman, to who lived in what building, when, etc etc. Fascinating. I took a million pictures, so I will try and edit when I put them up...otherwise you will be here all day!!

After the tour we went and checked into our hotel and wandered down to the riverwalk. We did a little shopping, had a beer, and then decided to try and find somewhere to eat. Easier said than done. During this time we managed to see a whole lot more of the city!! hehehe. But in the end we found a place with a fabulous rooftop eating area, and we had a great dinner of fresh seafood!

The next day we headed South a little more and took a scenic drive. We stopped off at King George Fort, the most Southern outpost of the Brits, and couldn't found Brunswick. So we had lunch on Jekyll Island, former hunting area for the rich. Our lunch was ok, but the entertainment was priceless! There was a squirrel standing upside down on a tree trying to wake up a cat. He apparently was a local and liked to steal sugar. Then there was raccoon who wandered out and had a drink from the swimming pool. But the best was the lady behind us and her drink order...it was very important that it was in a tall glass, and had a squeeze of lemon. There was a lot of emphasis on these two vital components! hehehe

We decided to head back home that day and the next one we floated around, taking it easy. We had a few friends over and rested up in preparation for the Georgia Renaissance Festival!! It was surprising how many people dress up to go! They had built a whole village out in the woods near Atlanta, and everyone working there had a role to play. There was a royal court with the King, Queen, a the rest. The mayor, a whole lot of wenches, and the entertainers. Everyone spoke (in their American accents) ye olde English...hehehe. So we had turkey legs, and fried pickles. We watched a comedy show, and a joust...and it was all very entertaining, and super hot!

I can't resist making a comment on the women who went there dressed up....I realise that they love the theme and the reason to wear a corset, but I'm sure they all own mirrors, and they were often not alone...so why, oh why, did they not notice their boob disasters?? They were terrible! There were nipples, and squished misshapen ones....and a few pairs of enormous ones sitting very high! That in itself was entertainment enough!!

I know this is running long, but I only had a few more events to tell you about....hehehe. I took mum and dad to a pool party. It was on Memorial Day weekend, which is a large weekend here, it signals the start of summer. Luckily it was a hot day, so I had my second swim of the year (not so for those from the Southern Hemisphere). We had burgers and hotdogs, and war and politics were discussed. And a bit of travel. Thankfully the beer and wine were flowing!

The day before Mum and Dad left, we went the back way up to "America's No.1 small town", Madison. We arrived at about lunchtime (a theme it seems), and took the walking tour around the historical district. This is the town that is famous for not being burning by General Sherman's army. It's a lovely little place, with some great houses dating from 1810. We had a fantastic lunch in the central square, before heading into Atlanta. In Atlanta we had to check out Ikea, which was awesome as always! hehehe.

We found out hotel out by the airport, and it was so close to the airport that we felt as if the planes were landing on us! We had dinner at the tavern next to our hotel....and we were the only white people in there. We had the ultimate American cuisine....I had chicken wings, Dad had ribs and wings, and Mum had a burger! All accompanied by two pitchers of beer! hehehe. We had to finish off mum and dad's experience the right way!!

They left early the next morning and I drove home to hang out with Charlie. It has been a lot quieter since they left. I have found myself talking to Charlie more (poor wee guy). Luckily a few things have remained, I have watched the Louis Vuitton finals..wooohhhoooo NZ! I have been making coffees at 10am, and giving Charlie his fluffy! hehehe.

A couple of big things though.....I had my biometrics appointment for my greencard. Not knowing what exactly this entailed I was very nervous. I drove up the night before, because my appointment was at 8am, and stayed with my friend Shannan. We went out for some fantastic sushi (something lacking in Warner Robins). I found the place quite easily (another thing I was worried about), and driving there was no hassle as it was too early for traffic (something everyone should know is that driving in Atlanta makes me sweat uncontrollably!!!!). There was already a line at 7:30am, and there were lots of Asians, Latinos, and a couple of Italians and Indians. The Koreans were up to their usual tricks, arriving and walking to the front of the line. Showing up early when their appointment time was 9:45am, and when they were told they couldn't come in -standing next to the door looking annoyed. Great stuff!
I knew we couldn't take phones in, so I left mine in the car, but they also informed us that we couldn't take bags in. They kept checking our ID and appointment letter, and our hands!! I was fingerprinted and had a photo taken, and was out of there by 8:30am...easy peasy!

And last, but not least....I got a job!!! I am now a cleaner...I clean a dentist's office once a week. At the moment I am cleaning with my boss, but soon it will be my building alone, for about 7 hours a week. Not bad, and it will give me some spending money! I have included a picture of the outside of the building...it's brand new and really lovely. And so clean I have to work really hard to improve on it!! hehehe.

OK, super long....enjoy the pics....Anna xxxxxxxxx