22 August 2011

Melissa's Letters to Mum


Dear Mum,

The package you sent has finally arrived after a whole month. Everything inside was safe and sound - nothing broken or leaking.
Thank you!

Last weekend ended up being quite nice.  Dale and Linda, a couple from work, invited us over for dinner.  Michael, having been bragging about his delectable spring roll recipe, decided this was the perfect opportunity for us to make them. He picked us up that afternoon, and we went to his house where we learned the secret recipe and techniques behind the tasty golden treats.  After sampling a few with the rest of the family to ensure they were ‘edible’, we went with him and his wife to Dale and Linda’s.  After devouring our appetizers, they presented us with some homemade Moroccan food – which was quite a new taste for Chad and I!  Lemon meatballs, and some spicy braised beef with sweet potatoes.  Not complete, of course, without bread, cold carrots, some salty beets, couscous and rice.  It was all quite fantastic.

After getting a tour of their insanely nice house overlooking the faraway city and ocean sunset, we had some amazing desserts (including my first Aussie-go at Lemon bars, made entirely without measuring utensils!) we watched a movie in their ridiculous, equally insanely nice “theatre-room”.  Well, I fought to stay awake for the first 10-15 minutes, but I was woke up to the credits rolling and everyone commenting about it, so I’m assuming everyone else watched it.

Sunday we made it down to the beach, while the sun was out and it was quite lovely. People were coming out of the woodwork, and we even got some tips from an old gentleman who approached us, and began talking about seashell hunting, and how we should look for the ones with rough backs because they have pearly insides. “You need to turn them all over” he said, and even chased us down the beach ten minutes later to show us an example that he had found.  I found a purple starfish, and was quite happy with just that.

We walked along the beach in the surf, enjoying the sand between our toes, and the occasional icy splash of the ocean rinsing it all away until we reached the jetty, then walked up to the store and back home.  I really can’t wait till summer!


Also – yes. I am still sick.  I woke up Wednesday unable to breathe through my nose, and with so much pressure in my head that it was unbearable to even sit up.  Needless to say I didn’t go to work.  It took hours for me to finally get out of bed, and once I did, I quickly found myself on the floor, unable to make it all the way back to my warm sheets. I was quite disappointed with myself for missing out on a day of Level 2 work, and made my best efforts to return on Thursday and today.  I still feel like snot, but at least it’s the weekend now.

I did get some medicine, but the thing is that here in Australia, in order to buy most medicines, you must go to the “chemist” and speak with someone about your symptoms, who then gives you a couple options (or none, sometimes) to choose from. This wouldn’t be such a terrible thing except for the fact that I like to read through ALL the bottles and ‘diagnose’ myself that way, if you will.  And they do NOT have my fantastic Robitussin and Liquid Tylenol cold and sinus here.  So, this way, you end up buying $60 worth of medicines before something starts to work (or maybe by this time it’s your body fending it off itself?)

I can’t taste, and I can’t smell.  My Lymph nodes in my neck and armpits are swollen, and the pressure in my head is so great that I can’t bend over to tie my shoes. I think I will just take it easy this weekend and hope that things get better. If nothing else, I only have $40 to spend in meds before I should start feeling better, right?

Love and Miss you,

Melissa

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