Saturday came around.....

Saturday was a big day. I can't even remember what I did in the morning; played with puppies, helped dad a bit maybe. And then drove to Orange.

I got me some new sneakers that hopefully will last the duration in Mongolia. I got some new weight lifting gloves because mine shrunk when mum told me it was okay to put leather in the washing machine and then dry them in the sun. And then I went to Philli's.

one corner of Nyrang - so pretty!

Philli's house is so beautiful. She was still working when I arrived but we chatted and then packed and got on the road to Yass. It's a 2.25hour drive to Yass from Nyrang and we did it in the dark, in the rain, at 6pm. It was totally worth it. We surprised Ben and Anna and then got to spend the night playing with friends and watching the Addams Family Values.

I subconsiously categorise people. I'm sure most people do. I met a guy on Saturday night that I placed in my 'marriage material' category. Which is always weird, especially when you hardly know them. But weird in a nice way. It's so nice meeting new people that you just click with. Or not even click with; just feel so comfortable around.

After warming Ben and Anna's house in Yass (which is great and they even have a 'study' room dedicated to writing essays and learning portfolios and uploading squillions of photos), Philli and I drove north to Orange, albeit without my one coat I was going to take to Mongolia and Philli's tupperware container. NEVERFEAR, that's what the post is for. Even though it lost my jewellery that I was going to take to Mongolia.

Philli and I were feeling pretty stinky. She'd had a big night and I hadn't slept, so we were both due for a nap and a shower. NO REST FOR THE WICKED. We showered and felt a bazillion times better and headed into town to meet the one and only Kate Bills and go to the food and wine festival.

We drank a few glasses of local wine. I ate a venison pie. Yum. Yum. Yum. I got a few different phone calls and Philli and Kate rested on the lawn while I found out that Darmo's engaged. It was approaching sundown and an ambulance officer approached us and woke Philli and Kate thinking they'd passed out on the lawn from intoxication. Pretty funny. We packed up and left to have a proper nap.

Post-nap we headed to the pub for dinner, had a lovely time and drove home for an early night - we were all pooped from our respective big nights. Sleep was sooooooooo good.

Monday - our day of rest. Amazing. We took our time, headed into town to the park and had a little picnic (see previous blog for photos). Tiny little melting moments and cupcakes that were bloody fantastic.

THEN it was the drive to Wirrinya to see Ashleigh Webb. 2 hours later and one dead emu, I arrived. Ashleigh lives in the bumfuck of no where. But it's awesome. She's got dogs and birds and a puppy and a lot of mice. So many mice that within the space of 10minutes, hundreds of filty maggots had flooded the floor of the kitchen, obviously born in a dead mouse - that were trying to move on to greener pastures. They didn't; they got drowned. Dirty little things. Mouse plagues are so gross. They just get everywhere and no matter what you do, they're always STILL there. Like at breakfast, I spotted this fatty mouse trying to sneak around Ashleigh. I donned a teatowel and caught the squirmy thing in the towel. I definitely hadn't thought about it as once I'd caught it, I had a live bloody squirmy mouse in my hands.

We tried drowning it to no avail (it just swam and squeaked). The solution was simple. We both put boots on our feet and hands. I slowly poured the water out and as soon as the mouse hit the lawn we were to bong it on the head. And I did. But it was still moving (nerves I'd say; I banged pretty hard). So I banged again. And it still was moving. So Ashleigh jumped on it and it popped and we freaked out and ran away. But then the dog was going to eat it so I had to pick it up and bin it. GROSS.

I hate mouse plagues.

Ash and I drank wine and ate chips and talked and talked and then took lots of photos with my camera.

She's most proud of this one. I am not. But it's kind of funny. I am so lucky. I have so many friends from all over the place. I never imagined it because at school I was liked I guess, but I was different (have a cry...) and I never had any super close friends. It was probably my fault for prioritising everything else over maintaining friendships - but it takes a while to learn these things, right!
So I guess I slowly learnt, and now I have so many beautiful groups of friends from boarding school, hockey, college, uni, Maitland, Brisbane, work and all the cool peeps you meet overseas. Driving home after an epic extended weekend of visiting friends I was just a bit overwhelmed by how much I love them all and how much they mean to me - and how lucky I am to have friends that I actually like, as opposed to having to like them.

I still haven't cried though, which is weird. I know in my head I'm ready to go, but I usually cry occasionally before I leave to go somewhere. Perhaps it's the vitamin B I so vigilantly take now (mmmmmmm anti stress tablets), perhaps I've just grown up a bit. Perhaps I'm just saving it ALL for the airport on Sunday.

Are you a big chip eater or a small chip eater? I much prefer little chips because they last longer. I'm eating my final packet of Smith's chicken chips right now (I hardly ever eat them but I miss them when I don't have them).