White meat or dark meat ?

I won a turkey, I won a turkey, I won a turkey hey, hey, hey, hey! Well, not even just one turkey - I won three turkeys, and not just me but my dad and brother had something to do with it too. And before anyone asks, not great, big, live gobbling turkeys either : great big frozen turkeys. And so, seeing as it is heading into November and i still miss my US family on special occasions, I am going to attempt a Thanksgiving dinner.

Yes, you read that right - I, an Australian, am going to attempt the very American tradition of a Thanksgiving dinner. I remember the dinner from the year i lived in NJ. I had only been in the country just over a week and my host family had a big celebration with a whole nucnh of extended family. For a young Aussie girl barely used to being on the other side of the planet the whole occasion was quite overwhelming. We had that many people over we had to cook one of the turkeys in our neighbours oven ( i believe they were off visiting their family in another state at the time ) and the kids had to sit at their own table in the unfinished sitting room. We had the turkey and cranberry sauce, of course; brussel sprouts ( umm...eww ), mashed potatoes, green beans and this awesome whipped sweet potato with marshamllows. At the time i thought that was near about the craziest concotion i had ever heard of but O.M.G Sweet vegetabl-ey goodness. Ooh, ooh.... and pumpkin pie!

So there you have it- come Thanksgiving ( which wont actually occur here in Australia, so i can have it any day i like really ), i'm going to have me a big, fat roasted turkey with super sweet marshmallow sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. Oh, and cranberry sauce. And oh, its going to be good.

P.S I had planned on doing a Halloween post tomorrow and i was going to include a picture of the one, and only, pumpkin i have ever carved. However, my stupid HP Mini laptop has shat its pants and died so whilst it is being repaired ( and my other computer is in storage ) i dont have any access to those once in a lifetime Halloween pics. Poo to that! Damn them for being, like, the only photos i havent uploaded to Facebook!

Unsustainable Economics

Disdainful, but dependent. That’s how I would describe the teenagers who seemed cool to many in junior high and high school. Parents, most teachers, and other authority figures were objects of their disdain because they were hopelessly uncool - not as aware of how the world was changing as they themselves were. Most of those teenagers grow up, however, because their parents tolerate their rebellion only up to a point and then cut them loose to fend for themselves. Thus they learn what Margaret Thatcher said: “The facts of life are conservative.”

Others don’t. They never seem to learn the facts of life, probably because they continue to blame something outside themselves for their personal failures. Other people are to blame, or the system is to blame for all the world’s problems as well as their own. They were ostentatious non-conformists who portrayed themselves as “counterculture.” They wanted to bring down the establishment culture, but didn’t have anything plausible to replace it with. Those young people had a vague idea of what they were against, but little idea of what they were for - and they still don’t as “adults.”

A few “cool” teachers indulged the fashionably-alienated teenagers in the old days because they didn’t fit in either. Now, however, they comprise whole faculties. As they do in any time or place in history, these “rebels” believed they knew the ways of the world while their “establishment” parents and teachers did not. But they were dependent for their physical sustenance on the very system they disdained. They needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and someone to pay their tuition at the colleges and universities they eventually went to, rebelled against, and ultimately took over. That’s how I understand people like Bill Ayers, his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, and the other pampered radicals from the sixties and seventies who steer the Democrat Party today.

The free-enterprise system they rebelled against is what produced in abundance the material necessities they consumed but didn’t appreciate. Capitalism, and the democratic republic in which it operates and thrives, have long been objects of their disdain. Now, with the impending election of Barack Obama and the bolstering of Nancy Pelosi’s and Harry Reid’s majorities in the Congress, those cool, disdainful, and still dependent people are about to secure their lock on the establishment. They’re not young anymore, but they haven’t grown up enough yet either to understand what they’re doing. As they expand New Deal and Great Society entitlement programs to an unsustainable level, the system they hate will no longer will be able to provide material necessities. The national debt is over $10 trillion and the dollar is no longer the world’s currency of choice. The hand that feeds them has been bitten and gnawed upon so long and so much it’s getting weak. The goose that laid the golden egg is going into molt. Those overgrown teenagers are about to discover that there’s a limit.

As they go about their Robin Hood redistribution policies over the next two to four years - as they “spread the wealth around” like Obama told Joe the plumber - it’s not going to be “good for everyone.” How much do Democrats think they can crank up taxes on “the rich” who are already paying most of the taxes? And how is Obama going to cut taxes on 95% of Americans when over 30% of them aren’t paying any taxes at all? What will he do with them? Just give them our money? They can call it whatever they want, but the rest of us “Joe the Plumbers” out here know what it really is. It’s Marxism: “From each, according to his ability. To each, according to his need,” with Obama, Pelosi and Reid deciding who is able and who is needy. That’s “Change” all right, but not “Change You Can Believe In.” I sure don’t believe in it.

Those of us who work our butts off aren’t going to keep doing it if government is going to take the fruit of our labor and “spread it around” to those who sit on theirs. That’s the hard reality. A radical leftist Obama Administration with a radical leftist Congress to back it up promise everything. As columnist Mark Steyn puts it: “The spirit of the age is: Ask not what your country can do for you, demand it.” He’s a Canadian who came to the United States and admires us as a last outpost against encroaching European-style socialism. Now he laments what he sees coming if Democrats sweep the election next week: "[For] a vigilant republic of limited government and self-reliant citizens, [an Obama Administration] would be a Declaration of Dependence.”

Pictures from the retreat

Pictures-

#1- Nikki, the girl we went to surprise

#2 All of us and Nikki before we headed home

#3 Adrienne, Aimee, Kelsie, and Kelly, the girls who sat behind me on the van ride there

#4 The view from Nikki's dorm

#5 Emily

#6 Kelsie with a bucket on her head. Don't you wish you could look that good in a bucket?

#7Aimee and Adrienne, they stole my camera and took tons of pictures of just them

#8 Kelsie not being happy about her picture being taken

The Retreat

Just in case any of you were waiting in suspense for me to reveal where we went for the retreat her I go. We went to Maryville TN, to Maryville College(Go Scots!) to surprise Nikki, our music minister's daughter, for her last home game. It was so much fun. There were so things of course when you stick six teenage girls who are all very different and are running on low sleep and high sugar intake, you're going to run into conflicts, but it was still a lot of fun. Here's how it went.
4:00- when we were supposed to leave, but didn't cause one girl was late
4:30- when we finally left
5:15- picked up Mrs. Janet(Nikki's mom)
7:00- stopped to eat, note* never eat food at a DQ, the ice cream's okay but the food, just don't eat it
10:00- got to the college and surprised Nikki
close to 11:00- left the dorm, followed Nikki and a friend and got lost on the way to the house we stayed at
11:30 got to the house we stayed at to the relief of the family
12:00- made our t-shirts for the game
3:00- went to bed, well got ready for bed but talked till 5:30
9:00- when most of us woke up
11:00 am- left for the mall to go eat lunch with Nikki and her friend
1:00pm- left the mall to go watch Nikki warm up
2:00- the game, Maryville won and is undefeated
4:00- went to a shopping center to kill time while Mrs Janet and Nikki went to a cook out(I hung out in McDonald's with Adrienne and Emily the whole time)
6:00- said our goodbyes to Nikki and load up into the van to head for home(that took thirty minutes)
10:00- got to the church and headed home

All in all it was a fun weekend. It was really nice to see Nikki again and can't wait to see her during thanks giving break.

Quotes from the retreat-
"Stay in the right lane! But turn left up here!"
Kelsie as she gave Mrs Manda directions
Our little Devo skipper.
What I was called Saturday morning when I was late to the Bible study that we did because I had to go to the bathroom.
"Chahooahooa-mooa"
what Kelsie called her stuffed dog
"HOO-TERS!!!"
Mrs Manda after we saw a sign for Hooters and no we did not go there.
"Kelsie sit down the UPS guy is staring....hard"
Kelly, It's to long of a story to explain

International Relations

I've been having relations, with Andy of WildARSChase. NO, not those kinds of relations - international relations. See young Andy decided the best way to make up for a recent cultural faux pas was to do a co-blog ( my first co-blog - excited much!?! ) , in regards to cultural cliches, if you will. So, the following are two sets of lists, one by WildARS, one by my good self. In an attempt to create a better understanding of Americans and Australians, we've compiled lists of common stereotypes that may or may not be true about both countries. We hope it's your favourite (or favorite!) list of all time.First up, the list compiled by WildARS.

( Note: Comments by Andy are in italics, comments by AmyXXOO are in bold. )


AUSTRALIANS:

1. All sound like Steve Irwin - Crikey, this one is a load of crap mate! Which is to say no, we don't all sound like Steve Irwin. God rest his soul, but the man was a walking cliche, at least when it comes to Australian language. To be honest, i think he just spoke like that to play up to you Americans - you eat that stuff up.
That we do. We love pigeonholing people. Just ask Native Americans. We think all of them live in tepees and drink, forgetting that whole part when our ancestors slaughtered their ancestors.... It is sad Irwin died, though. What a good dude.

.2. Are frequently eaten alive by Great White sharks - Leave the sharks alone! Seriously, I think the Great Whites get a bad rap - as far as experts tell it, the frequency of their attacks is, well, pretty infrequent. The best way to NOT get attacked - stay out of their ocean!
Tell that to Rob Schneider. See, I think sharks are the best, even if I am terrified of them. Shark Week on Discovery Channel is a good time, but it constantly shows people getting eaten off the Australian shores. You should write Discovery a stern letter.

3. Know what a dingo is. - Wait, this one is true. We all know what a dingo is, but having seen one in the flesh is a whole other matter. I mean, unless you live in either Northern Queensland or anywhere in the Northern Territory. I thought i saw a dingo once, but it was just a skinny German Shepherd...
Is the Northern section the place to stay away from? Sounds like Hicksville.
It's the place to stay away from if you want to avoid: crocodiles, sharks, dingoes and people missing numerous teeth.

4. Think rugby is better than football - Are we talking American football ( which we call Gridiron ) or soccer ?
Uh, the only good kind, American football. Americans pretend we like soccer, but we're not good at it. We just think we should be good at it. I will say that rugby is the manliest of sports.
Correction - rugby league is the manliest of sports. Rugby and rugby league are two different sports. Ah, so much for you Americans to learn....

5. Have an inordinate amount of actors working in Hollywood, who all immediately drop their accents - We don't have an inordinate amount, it's just that all the actors we send over there are good enough to be working. Yay for us! That whole dropping their accents thing is annoying though - be proud of where you're from, people. Like Hugh Jackman - sure, he'll change his accent for a movie but when he's offscreen, it's Australian twang all the way!
I always forget Nicole Kidman is Australian. You can have Russell Crowe back, however.

AMERICANS:

1. Are fat and lazy - This is proven by the fact that you have " drive thru " everything: drive thru voting, drive thru pharmacies, drive thru banks. Seriously, you are too lazy to line up for anything if it means you'll have to stand up!
Wait, you don't have drive thru banks? You're missing out. Our banks have drive-thru ATMs with Braille on it. You know, in case a blind person is driving and needs cash fast. We will, however, stand in line for hours to see a celebrity. Even a minor one, like John Goodman or Cuba Gooding Jr.

2. Think we are the best at everything - You own Michael Phelps so you can lay claim to being the best at anything he's in, I'll give you that. But you guys think you're entirely awesome at any sport you try your hand at. Plus, when you get beaten and it's been proven that you are, in fact, not the best - well, you are sore, sore losers.
We are terrible losers. When the USA men's basketball team didn't win the gold in the 2004 Olympics, everyone freaked out like, "How is that possible." Some of us in the South are still upset about losing our Civil War.

3. Like to force democracy on unsuspecting nations - You mean like Vietnam ? Or Iraq ? You mean like that ?
Pick a country. I am surprised we aren't forcing something on you of some nature. We do like to force democracy a lot, even when a country doesn't ask for it. As if democracy is the only way to exist. You know what they had in the Bible? Kings. You know what God actually wanted? Nobody in charge but God. But democracy, evidentally, has become the chosen form of government, "in God we trust"-- unless it's in a classroom, and then God's gotta take a backseat. We've got no problem killing people in other countries so they can get their share of democracy, but we definitely will not force kids to listen to silent prayer. Let's not get crazy here.
Woah, i think we hit a nerve there Andy. Democracy, God, the education system - that's a whole other blog post right there.
I feel better now. And slightly un-American. Crap.

4. Think we are trendsetters in music and fashion - The Beatles? British. The Rolling Stones? British. Vivienne Westwood, one of the greatest innovators in modern fashion? British. Versace, Armani, Dolce and Gabbana? Italian. Nope, no Americans on that list at all. I mean, I'm not saying you guys have NOTHING - just, the world does not revolve around you.
It's sad, isn't it? We're so far behind, and yet are so ethnocentric in thinking we are tops in that stuff, even when it was all done in Europe first. We do have the Jonas Brothers, though. And jean jackets.
The Jonas brothers? Uh huh....
We have Britney Spears, too.
I have three letters for you Andy - O.M.G.....

5. Believe we should own the only nuclear weapons - You do, don't you ? Its kind of like a dad chastising his son for having Playboys under his bed: he's going to say " son, those are bad! ", then he's going to confiscate them, but then he's still going to watch porn on his computer.
Excellent point. Instead, dads and sons should watch porn together on the computer. It keeps families together. Also, we should all get rid of nuclear weapons. I don't see the point in having them if no one is allowed to use them. Either let's get this nuclear holocaust ripping and roaring now, or let's get rid of the toys.

So, there you be ladies and gents, the first half of the greatest, most awesom-est, most incredibly ace list of all time. For the second half of the list, do yourself a favour and shoot on over to Andy's page - the second half of the list, the stereotypes i compiled, should be posted in the next day or two.

Seriously, get on over there! If you like funny, intelligent, vibrant writing, Andy is your man!

Wow! Finally some tough, relevant questions

If you haven't seen it already, you simply have to check it this interview of Joe Biden on WFTV Channel 9! (in Florida somewhere, I think)

Better late than never with some tough questions for Democrats.

" 'From each according to his abilities. To each according to his needs,'" quoted newswoman Barbara West from Karl Marx. "How is Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?" she asked Biden.

"Are you joking? Is this a joke?" Biden asks.

"No," she says.

It's about time someone put it to these guys! I love Barbara West. Is it too little - too late? We'll see.

Burfday weekend rundown

So that, right there , is my beautiful sister Erin. Doesnt she look cute? The angle of the eyeborws looks slightly wicked, but thats how she is really. So, just in case any of you have been living under a rock, or reading my posts without actually understanding them, this past Friday was Erin's 18th birthday. I am slightly sad to say that the weekend was a bit of a bust for me, but very happy to say she partied hard and loved it all ( after all, her birthday is about HER, not me ). Let me explain:
I'd taken the day off work on Friday so that we could hang out - i thought it might be nice to share the whole day with her, plus the idea of a day off for any reason was appealing. So while she was having a facial and a massage i hit the gym, and then we met back at home so we could go out for lunch. Not just any lunch mind you, but " $10 Tradie Lunch ", the best invention in the world. Basically one of the local pub bistro's offer a choice of meal, plus a drink, for only $10. I had the best chicken carbonara EVER - seriously - and enjoyed the company of my mother, my sister and her best friend.

Next on the agenda ? Tattoo time! Now we all know that i have four tattoos ( you knew that, right ? ) but i think i started a trend in my family. Since i got my first one, my father and brother have both been inked, and now it was Erins turn. She had to wait, legally, until she turned 18 to get tattooed but, in a stroke of genius, she decided to ask my parents if she get a tattoo as a birthday present - that way she wouldnt have to pay for it. And they agreed - well done little Erin! So my father and I went with her, less for moral support and more so we could witness the looks of mild pain and agitation on her face as the job was being done. Does that make us nasty ? No, just family. The tattooist Paul is a sweet guy though so he was always enquiring whether she was doing okay, did she want to stop for a break, stretch her legs, things like that, so he didnt make to easy for us to get inside her head. Incidentally, in a brief taste of D-list fame, Paul holds the world record for the longest tattooing session ever ( 42 hours people ).... take that " Miami Ink" !

So after lunch, the tattoo session and the traditional gathering for birthday cake ( caramel mud cake... uh, yum.... ), the immediate family went out for dinner. Witness below the astonishing beauty that was us ( ahem... yea, right ):








So thats her and, uh, me posing for a happy snap before the dinner arrived. For the record, my garlic chicken and prawns was lovely, thank you for asking. The place we went for dinner is a balcony resturant above my favourite pub, so it has a great atmosphere and made it really easy to move on after dinner. My heavily pregnant sister-in-law, neice and my flu-ey father went home after we'd eaten, and myself, my mum, brother and little Erin headed downstairs. Friday nights are always a little bit of a bust - i'm glad she wasnt completely geared up for a huge night, because Fridays tend to be a little quiet and the problem with eating out before hitting the pub is that there is usally a period between the end of the meal and the point in the night where other people start turning up. That period is the one that gets you - you get bored waiting for some action to arrive, and if your a birthday girl who woke up really early and has been running around all day you start to get a little tired too. So we had a few quiet drinks and decided to head home around 10pm. Kind of an early time to be calling it an evening, but my brother had to work in the morning, my mum is NOT a party animal,and the birthday girl was happy to have been able to get a few drinks in with her nearest and dearets. Aww, bless.

Which leads me to Saturday:

Nevermind the fact that I look completely washed out in that photo ( if you could get closer I had really sweet gold eyeshadow and black liner... it was cute! ) but, for me, the night was a bit of a washout. I was really looking forward to it - my best friend P ( thats her in the dots ) was going to be home, it was going to be my sisters first big night out and my first big night out for 6 months. And for a while, it was great: P and I had a great dinner together and then joined my sister and some friends at the pub. We started having some drinks and got to dancing - god, how i missed pub dancing! - and it was all going great. And then code name Mary showed up. I cant believe i let her ruin my night. One minute i'm dancing a way, not a care in the world and the next there she is, shotting me the death stare.

Once i knew she was there, she was EVERYWHERE. Turns out she was one of Erins friends cousins, so after having a short toilet break, P and I returned to the dancefloor to find Mary dancing with our group. That was it - i could not be there and have her either giving me the evil eye or, alternatively, completely ignoring me and making me feel uncomfortable in my own group. Once P decided she was going to go, I couldnt stay on my own, even though my sister was there living it up. I gave her amy apologies and told her if Mary was going to be hanging around, i couldnt.My sister, in her 18 year old wisdom, loudly announced she'd throw a drink in Mary's face, her tell her to piss off, because its not fair that i should be made to feel that way. Knowing that if she did try any of that, the situation would only be worse, I made my exit.

I'm really cut at myself for letting her ruin my night. I'd been excited about celebrating with my sister for weeks and, on the actual night, i skulked home before midnight. All because some girl with apparent issues has some cold of emotional hold over me. My sister showed me all her photos in the morning, and excitedly told me about how the rest of the night went, and she had such a great time. It only made me feel worse for having missed out. So apparently i'm going to have to suck it up, and learn to ignore Mary - its just hard because i'm very non-confrontational, and i always feel that if i'm in " her " way too long, she's going to go off her nut again. My only other option is to pack up and move to some place she doesnt live. Poo to that, and poo to her!

And so endeth the burfday weekend adventures. Overall, i know my sister had a great weekend and thats all matters. Plus, my hair looked h-o-t on Friday and i had sexy shoes last night - beat that Mary!