Winter Day

The perfect Kiki soy coffee made by Cara

I have so far learned how to use Cara and Toff's cappuccino machine (although Cara uses it best, at least I can tolerate my coffee if left to my own devices), fixed Cara's car radio that was broken for several months, and have begun a massive backyard weed destruction one woman show for their garden. I have successfully completed two trips to the beach, one accompanied by Meg and Lila, and the other by Cara.

 

Cara even let me drive yesterday! It got a little scary towards the end (and I may have been banned from driving for the foreseeable future) but at least I have been her comical entertainment. Tonight I get to go to my first birthing class with Cara and Toff, which should be interesting, even if the kid tried and was successful in creeping me out this morning. I have all day to recuperate from Sigourney Weaver like images.
Finding a job isn't going to be as challenging as I anticipated before I left, the hard part now is deciding when I should start. I think if you give me another week I'll be bored enough from dish washing and weed hacking to start my life outside the bungalow.

Kisses!
-Kiki.

You Don't Even Know What The Half Is...

For some odd reason, I can't seem to get Folk Soul Revival out of my head, and wouldn't you know the Aussie's don't listen to bluegrass. Sigh. So in meshing my two worlds together, here is a little diddy for your day.

Current Status

I apologize that I am not an extreme blogger like someone else I know, so I will try and fill you in with as much detail as I can remember...

After 23 months I left my job and began moving my belongings to 4 different houses. The last week at work was filled with many tearful goodbyes and so much pot lucking and chicken wing-ing that I'm sure I will never find that many amazing women who love to eat in one place again. My last day at work I actually showed up an hour late, whoops, and as I was getting on the elevator couldn't imagine a time when I wouldn't be riding up to the 10th floor. I can't believe how much I've already learned and how much more there is to learn, thank you ladies for letting me be my "slightly off" self.  As for my belongings, I hope I will one day find all of you again.

I spent 5 amazing days in the hills of Floyd, Virginia enjoying bluegrass, rock, burlesque, and dragons. Some amazing performances by Trampled by Turtles, Uncle Mountain, Big Daddy Love, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, just to name a few. The group I've gone camping with for my fourth straight FloydFest season are becoming more and more like family. And as we packed up our tents and dreamed of warm showers, it was always with a hug and a "see you same time next year."

FloydFest Dragon complete with rainbow booty

 I spent several days in Charlottesville and Bumpass rocking out with some great family and friends. Water skiing, boating, floating, and the occasional adult beverage until August 7th arrived and Dulles Airport awaited.

-"Did you leave a job behind in the States?"
-"...Well, I was unemployed and homeless when I left."

Cara and I at Brighton, first hour in Australia

So I made it, finally. After 30+ hours of traveling, 3 separate airports, at least 5 time zones, and 0 meltdowns, I arrived in Adelaide, Australia to be met by an extremely preggo Cara West. There were no real bumps in my traveling, I had no downtime in any of the airports and arrived intact with all my luggage, the only real downside was no time for duty free, sigh. Cara, Belly, and I went to lunch at Brighton Pier in a small cafe covered in Marilyn Monroe paraphernalia (and a light bulb went off as to why Cara enjoyed this particular cafe so much) right next to the ocean. She drove the long way home, down a winding road that followed the coast and cliffs and past their soon to be bakery location. By this point I had probably only slept a total of 5 hours since leaving the lake house in Virginia but I was ready to explore. Leaving Cara under blankets on the couch, I set off to find the ocean... only to take a wrong turn and end up wandering around their neighborhood for an hour. For those of you who have never been to Cara and Toffs house, it is literally two blocks from the ocean. I managed to maneuver across 2 continents and an ocean and I get lost in less than a mile radius from their house. I even stopped 5 different people, "Oh what type of accent is that, oh no wonder you're lost back here, yeah I don't even know where that street is." Maybe it's the Australian way, welcome to our country but good luck finding your way out!

I did find the Aldinga Senior Center with BINGO for all ages Wednesday and Fridays!

We ate dinner with Stephy, Toff's sister, and her boyfriend Mike, and Lila and Meg, golden retrievers, came to play too! So with a puppy in my lap and a slightly cold nose it's time to start looking for employment.

Love you all,

I just keep runnin' runnin' and

Runnin' runnin'.

My last few weeks in the VA have been hectic. I've literally driven to every corner of our little state, from the mountains to the beach and back again apparently trying to give my car the love it deserves before I leave.

So far I've narrowed down my belongings into several disorganized piles: the furniture my gracious friend Rachel is allowing me to store at her huge apartment as a guest room/crash pad, the things that will fit my car and therefore fit in my Mama's lovely and spacious basement ;), and the things that I want in my suitcase. Granted my suitcase pile is almost full, maybe I don't need four of the A Song of Ice and Fire books. Meh, but I definitely would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys "epic fantasy novels." Or you can plug into HBO to put faces to the book, but as always I go for the book first.

Tying up my loose ends before I leave is proving time consuming. I put in to cancel my cell phone coverage on August 4th, had my finger prints taken and will hopefully be able to send out for my background check at the end of the week, six more shifts at the hospital where they are really milking my last days, five days of music greatness, that leaves 9 days of sorting/moving/hanging out with people I love. Part of me can't believe I let Cara's belly talk me into this but part of me can't wait to get on that plane, and truth be told that part is becoming the majority.

Bear hugs galore,
Kiki.

Why can't dead presidents speak to me?

The eternal question. The never ending mumbojumbo. Sometimes I wish I could look at my one dollar bill and it would tell me exactly what I needed to know.

After spending several hours of my life today with four different companies trying to get someone to tell me what happens to my retirement savings when I become unemployed and what is my best option, a genius of a man named Joe finally told me "it can stay right where it is." Never was there a sweeter sentence. I tried to take economics in high school but clearly did not grasp any insight into the world of stocks, bonds, buysell, roths, money market... it's like a secret language, piglatin to my ainbray. I understand that the world of medicine is the same way for most people, but that's why I delicately dumb it down. "Why is my blood pressure high" turns into - because your pipes are clogged. "What is CDIFF" turns into - diarrhea, don't touch. Now those answers are not medically acceptable definitions but my patients feel better when they can put their healthcare in terms they understand. With the seven different people I talked to today, none of them could put my investment strategy into terms I could actually grasp. Granted, it's not their job to tell me how to manage my own money, but couldn't someone give a little hint? After hours of turmoil it turns out that my savings stay where they are and I can determine what/where they will go when I get another job. A sigh of relief for all my hard earned ones.

 In other news, I had my monthly book club meeting. A group of women from work, or (RAKA! -Rachel Angela Kirsten Audrey) decided that we would all read the same book once a month. This past book did not disappoint. Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Gilman follows Susie and her friend Claire through communist China. It deals with mental breakdown and severe illness but when you need a laugh, it was readily supplied. Up next, The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker and although Audrey announced it today at RAKA! I'm already on chapter 3.

It's official, I'll be leaving USA for AUS on August 7th and returning March 4th. My list of things to do before I leave for AUS is growing smaller and smaller. Now that I've booked my ticket and have my Visa, do I really need anything else?

XXOO
Kiki.

M+K = greatness

This past weekend was spent lounging in the sun, serenading a certain preggo belly, eating delicious food, and oh yeah! a little thing I like to call Fitz Fiesta! On a glorious Saturday Mimi and Kevin got hitched and I got to watch. Cara asked me "How did she get this adorable?!" and all I could think of was how happy I was that I got to be there. From the bowl-cut airwalk wearing kid to a beautiful woman in white, she'll always claim an alphabet ornament on our Christmas tree :) Although I am not currently fully recovered from the all night dancefest that occurred at said wedding, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I have been researching my little heiny off and here is my updated short order life plan: AUS from August to March, hopefully with a nursing gig for 6 months of that time. You may be asking yourselves at this moment "say whattt?!" I know, but one look at the growing belly of my sister and I was hooked until Christmas, who would want to miss a first Christmas? And then it's not too much longer until our birthday, and I haven't spent a February 11th with Cara in a while. So, there it is folks. Down in writing. The hardest part is saying I'll see people later, some I know I won't be seeing, others it's considered too long of a later. But when will be a good time to go? When will I be this unattached and mobile, because I am mobile and soon her little family won't be rolling as fast as I can.


Love to all,
Kiki

Change

does it make you deranged? No. But the worrying will.

I've been thinking about change a lot recently, and with good cause. The word is out, Cara and Toff are going to have a babybeaner. In Australia. In September. Her life is moving/growing/changing wonderfully and like all scared parents they have gracefully asked me to come and stay with them.

To sum up my life at this point I can tell you two things: 1.) I am quitting my job on July 27th and 2.) I am going to Australia.

I know, crazy right? I can go there for 3 months, have enough funds to pay all of my bills back home, and then once back in the states search for a new job and move all over again. Or I can go and stay for a year and try and find a job to cover all my bills back home and then when I'm back try and search for a new job and move all over again. The beginning is solidified, the end result is the same, it's the middle part that's got my head in a merry-go-round. There are a lot of pros and cons floating around in my head right now, lots of lists and columns I've jotted down, lots of people telling me how upset they are that I'm leaving, lots of bills and money that I don't have. In my true form I worry about all of it, constantly. And I worry about it constantly not just in my head, but to my friends as well. So when Audrey asked me, "Well, what is it that you want to do, forget everyone else and think about you," I remained silent. I have no answer, no response at all, because the truth is I have no flippin' clue. The challenges I'll face when I return to Virginia are not the issue, it's how long I leave those challenges unattended that is. So, either I'll be stateside by November or I'll see you guys next August.

One thing is for certain, that baby better be ready for a whole lotta love.