LIVEALITTLE

Touted as a "must-see" in many a tourists guides, I was disappointed by the Blue Mountains. It was a smaller version of Shenandoah Valley and the Grand Canyon. It was a nice escape from the city for a bit of fresh air and leg stretching and German tutoring though. Just go with lowered expectations.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594399786028/

So I am a detox dropout... Out of 10 days I was only able to endure 4. I tell ya, it totally drained me and worse yet, it made my mood swing. Imagine a moody and tired Karen! What is the world to become?! My diet was limited to no meats aside from fish (tuna, salmon) and chicken, brown rice, leafy veggies, carrots, chick peas ... and NO candy, salt nor peanut butter. Everything tasted SO bland. I set the detox aside when Natalie organized a gettogether after class and Andreas, Florian and I decided to head to the Blue Mountains for the weekend. The hard part was not just that everything tasted like cardboard (and that I had alot of gas in my bowels -- ask the entire Pharmacology class when my bowels hollared in protest!) but that I was missing out on unique experiences. I knew I wouldn't be able to have fun if I restricted myself in anyway... Apparently Bob had fun with my boobs too. Yikes! Can anyone tell me the truth of what happened Thursday night? So instead I've decided to eat as healthily as I can outside of special occassions as part of my healthy campaign and also in an effort to be more money-minded.
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594253539406/

So what if I'm not their parents? I'm still uber proud of both Sharon and Ricky nonetheless. Today was a day of major momentus occasions. Sharon gave her debut performance in the Law Revue at UNSW and Ricky washed toilets (both!) for the first time. Amazing people spawn amazing times. Who needs children? Let's hope Brian emailed the man of his dreams...
Heeeeere's Ricky! He's sheepish about anyone finding out his toilet washing secrets.

I survived! I did a 46 hour famine (I'm a sucker for extra credit). The starvation part was actually quite easy. My stomach growled at hour 13, but then quickly learned whining was of no use and kept silent for the duration of the starvation. My biggest issue was the frustration experienced when new food was presented. My "try everything once" attitude had to be quelched and suffocated. It was quite a painful, torturous feeling. I've come to realize I snack WAY too often (I ALMOST ate a piece of bread at hour 4!) and routinely schedule my life around food (I actually asked my roommate what she wanted for dinner when I, myself, was not going to be eating anything). Even at the 46th hour, I wasn't paining to eat. I gave in to eating only because I wanted to start my 10 day detox sooner so I could look forward to Florian's lasagna dinner next Wednesday evening!

(NB: I must confess I did have two beers at hour 24. I do feel guilty about it... but it did bring to light a peculiarity. Despite having NOTHING in my stomach, I did not get buzzed from the drinks AT ALL. Interestingly enough, I DID feel buzzed and flushed after I finished my post-famine dinner! Who can explain that to me?!)

40 hour famine info: http://www.worldvision.com.au/40hourfamine/
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594244076058/

Holy hail! I thought being in Sydney would just be fun and good weather! Around 4:30pm, Natalie came by to pick up books and review the in-dwelling catheter procedure. I think we were at the "wiping" bit when pitter patter noise erupted around us. I thought it was from the livingroom as the guys were watching Snatch. Then Natalie noticed pellets popping off the window sill. When we walked to the backyard it was littered with ice pellets! I saved one in our freezer just in case I ever felt winter-sick. It makes me comfy to think we experienced a "real" winter.
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594237946431/
BTW, the new Miami Vice movie is a thumbs down. What happened to you, Michael Mann? No white clothes nor Miami Vice theme. You could have called this movie any other name.

Blah... hail storms are common in Sydney... they just usually start in September... http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/winter-suddenly-wallops-sydney/2006/08/15/1155407798255.html

For someone who is not planning to have children in the future, I'm doing heaps of children-related stuff this semester. The Foundations of Children Nursing class is going to have us spend a week at a day care and work on a child safety project. We were recommended to visit the KidSafeHouse in Westmead to get some ideas of current efforts in the child safety arena. Bob had free reign of my camera so I hope he took enough pictures to satiate anyone's curiosity. Let's hope none of this stuff gets me clucky!
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594239283043/

I'd always thought running was a boring sport... kind of like listening to techno music... Then there are also things like runner's trots to be concerned about. Hoping for the best, 14km seemed like a distance to challenge my lack of workout regimin (which consisted of running 8km 2 straight days the last week before the race). With a name like City2Surf, the 14km seemed more like a family fun run anyway (I hoped).
Not sure if it was due to my will, my preparation (unlikely) or my running company, Andreas - our newest flatmate who has run marathons in the past (highly likely) but the 14km went by relatively painlessly and quick. 1.5 hr is the longest I've EVER run and I still had the energy to walk 1 hour to Coogee beach to take the bus back!
I'm deffo motivated to continue running. It's quite invigorating to accomplish something that just seems so incredible. I'm planning to sign up for the half marathon in September, then the full marathon at some point before I leave Sydney. My NY friends probably never thought I'd say that! Hopefully Andreas will sign up as well so I can have a pacer!
I can't forget to mention Florian -- he who didn't have running shoes and walked the 14km instead -- for taking pictures and carrying our post race gear! Congrats to you for finishing as well. You're running next time, right?!

City2Surf details: http://city2surf.sunherald.com.au/
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594235077730/

Our first flat night was dedicated to Masoud's 26th birthday. It was one of the most fun nights I've had in Sydney. There was laughter all around and everyone seemed comfortable with each other. Even nicer were the three bottles of generous free red wine from the Thai restaurant. We all did the fixed price Thai buffet and spent 3 hours dining. It was more a French experience actually! Hopefully this will be the first of many fun 121 Cleveland possie evenings!
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/livealittle/sets/72157594235020437/

Boy do I feel important! I've been here only 7 months and already I am being counted! I feel like I'm already an Australian! V even had issues understanding me today coz I was mumbling! I wonder what statistic I will fall under...
"Census details"