We celebrated Mike's first Australian birthday back in May. While I do love to throw a party, I was mostly excited to have a reason to visit Kenmore Cakes again! The girls decided Daddy would like a truck birthday cake. I agreed and went one better and ordered a cake replica of the truck Mike had when he was young and carefree and going on a dump run was actually fun. I think the cake turned out great, even if it is a low rider version of 'ol blue.
I ended up making four separate trips to Kenmore Cakes in my attempt to provide Paul, Australia's best cake baker, with enough detail of the truck. The initial cake order probably read something like this "Truck - wife doesn't seem to know more than that. When pressed said it was blue but can't tell me what shade. Doesn't know license plate number, year, make or model, but thinks it might have had four wheels." Paul needed more than I could give. He wanted a picture of the truck from the front, a picture from the side, from the rear, and from space. Turns out I have 52,713 pictures on my computer (really) and none of them are of Mike's truck. Ultimately I got some pictures off the internet but since I couldn't remember the model or year they were just my best guesses. I didn't want to give anything away so tried as nonchalantly as I could to ferret out the information from Mike, "isn't it weird how there are no trucks in Australia? Certainly none like yours?" My question was met with a blank stare and "what are you talking about?" What could I say - what was I talking about? But just so you know, Ford does not export F series trucks to Australia. So Paul had never seen first hand what he was asked to recreate. I didn't understand this until later, but didn't he do a brilliant job?! (Australians say "brilliant!" quite frequently, for anything remotely nearing good, be it a knot, a muffin or an idea. But in this case the cake was definitely brilliant.)
I ended up making four separate trips to Kenmore Cakes in my attempt to provide Paul, Australia's best cake baker, with enough detail of the truck. The initial cake order probably read something like this "Truck - wife doesn't seem to know more than that. When pressed said it was blue but can't tell me what shade. Doesn't know license plate number, year, make or model, but thinks it might have had four wheels." Paul needed more than I could give. He wanted a picture of the truck from the front, a picture from the side, from the rear, and from space. Turns out I have 52,713 pictures on my computer (really) and none of them are of Mike's truck. Ultimately I got some pictures off the internet but since I couldn't remember the model or year they were just my best guesses. I didn't want to give anything away so tried as nonchalantly as I could to ferret out the information from Mike, "isn't it weird how there are no trucks in Australia? Certainly none like yours?" My question was met with a blank stare and "what are you talking about?" What could I say - what was I talking about? But just so you know, Ford does not export F series trucks to Australia. So Paul had never seen first hand what he was asked to recreate. I didn't understand this until later, but didn't he do a brilliant job?! (Australians say "brilliant!" quite frequently, for anything remotely nearing good, be it a knot, a muffin or an idea. But in this case the cake was definitely brilliant.)
The timing of the birthday was exactly right. Mike had just returned from Karratha, the heart of Australia's mining operations, before leaving the next day for two weeks in Korea and Japan. Yes, still lots of travel for the expat. Yes, trailing spouse still a bit jealous. But Mike said Karratha made Moses Lake look like a thriving metropolis. No worries though, I quickly redirected my jealousy towards his trip to Viet Nam. Karratha ("God's Country" in the Aboriginal language) is in the Pilabara region of Western Australia and is the seat of government for the Shire of Roebourne (there are Shires here!) The Pilabara is basically a huge empty desert. But it is responsible for Australia's resources boom and has had much to do with the healthy state of the Australian economy.
Unfortunately, Mike was not able to time his trip for August when the town holds it's biggest event of the year - the much anticipated annual FeNaCING Festival. Yes, that's right - Fe for iron, NaCI for salt and NG for natural gas - the three main export commodities. It's not just the biggest event in the shire, it's the biggest event in the entire region. It is of such local importance that in 1987 it became a public holiday. I was told that The Festival is like an agricultural show…..but without the agriculture. The other claim to fame Karratha boasts is Australia's largest Christmas Lights Competition. It's clear to me the tricky part is only deciding when to visit, August or December.
Speaking of December, it's been so long since I posted that winter arrived and the unthinkable happened. It got cold. Fall went by in a rapid blur of sun dappled afternoons and freckles on Nola's face and then, all of a sudden, winter was here. The days are still sunny, and it was 74 today, but the mornings and nights are down right chilly! We unpacked our coats and are actually wearing them. Nola and Rosie appear not to be as acclimated as I am and are still running around barefoot and half naked - but then again they are much younger than me. And they don't have my shirt wardrobe. It may be cold but the weather reports still list the UV rating as "very high", or "extreme". The only time the UV rating is "moderate" must be in the middle of the night. All the weather forecasts here include a UV Alert. It's similar to the terrorist alerts in the US I think. Your uncomfortable, maybe even frightened, but you still go out about your business. When I first heard a weather report I was driving the girls to school. "Temperatures reaching a high of 35 Celsius today with the UV rating extreme." Did he say extreme? What does that mean exactly? Should I keep the girls inside? Should I find the nearest underground parking garage and stay there until the sun goes down? After 6 months of living in UV rating "extreme" I can tell you it means this - even after religiously following the Australian Cancer Council advice to "Slip! Slop! Slap!" I have developed sun spots. Fair skin does not fare well here - I need to put my game face on and it needs to look like an ad for zinc oxide.
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. (UV rating extreme after all) The Australian Cancer Council organizes a widely successful annual fundraising event called "Australia's Biggest Morning Tea". It is said to be Australia's "best-loved" fundraising event. Their goal this year is to to raise a whopping $11,500,000. I am proud to report I have raised $1,121.00 towards this goal!
I am not a fund raiser, but I am someone who, when they first moved here, volunteered to do a lot of crazy stuff they had no business doing. Like organizing a pizza party for 300 students. Remember that? Since I so infamously bombed Term 1's Pizza Day I was given the chance to redeem myself by combining Term 2's Pizza Day with an Australia's Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event. Redemption…. or punishment?
It's all behind me now at least. And yes, it went just fine. One lovely mum even gave me a bouquet of flowers for my efforts (try counting over a thousand dollars of unfamiliar currency on your kitchen table - with coins with kangaroos on them for God's sake - and then discovering the school has a coin counting machine….)
I at least can say I'm busy. My fear of having too much time on my hands is no longer what I am scared of. It's hungry kids with enormous shoes, cold pizza, and teapots that fill my dreams now. Here is a picture of Rosie's school chums lining up for pizza wearing their dainty school shoes.
I realize it's summer in Seattle, so you guys may be experiencing a few scattered sun breaks. Please don't forget to Slip! (on a long sleeved shirt) Slop! (on the sunscreen) and Slap! (on a hat)! The mascot of this campaign is a seagull, Sid Seagull to be exact, so it seems more than appropriate for my Seattle friends.
Happy Summer! to you all from our winter in July.
