2011...Really??

2011...can't believe that the New Year is here already and yet I keep wondering why I think it is 2012.  We've all had those days where we are off by a day or two or think it's a different week but come on...a whole frikkin' year?  What's up with that?  Or do I really want to know?  Probably not so I'll keep pounding into my head that it is 2011.  Maybe if I had gone out on New Year's Eve and woke up suffering with a dismal headache from the festivities it would have been emblazoned in my brain cells (those that were left) that yes, it was indeed 2011.  However, I stayed home as I didn't want to suffer through the chilling temps we were experiencing from the mere fact of living in the upper midwest during winter time.  Somehow wind chill temps that are in the -30F just aren't appealing to brave going outside. 

I've a friend in Australia who, being in the Southern Hemisphere, is in the middle of summer there and loves to rub it in that it is warm, sunny and a gorgeous day in Melbourne most days.  Of course it's warm, sunny and gorgeous if you were sitting where I am.  Most anywhere except "Minnesnowta" is warmer.  Even this time of the year I start slacking on converting temps into Celsius to share with her about our weather for the day as anything below 32F starts sounding even that much colder in Celsius.

But...we are going to find out just how warm, sunny and gorgeous Melbourne, Australia is when I step onto Aussie soil on February 19th.  I am traveling 'Down Under' for 30 days and am starting to get very excited about the trip.  I have wanted to see Australia since I was a lowly freshman in high school...which was only a couple of years ago...right?!  Not!!

One of my best friends from high school, Betty, and I would joke in shop class about how we were going to Oz and fence out all the kangaroos.  I know...pretty dumb but I really truly did want to go to Oz and that was long before The Man from Snowy River and Crocodile Dundee hit the silver screen.  You can do the math on how long ago those movies came out!!  More years than I prefer to count!

My yearnings would be further reinforced by my Uncle Casey who traveled to Sydney multiple times to judge some prestigious Arabian horse shows there and I loved to pick his brain about the country...and then along came the movies and their sequels to further reinforce wanting to go there.

Now here I am...47 days and counting til I board an airplane and embark on my first international trip...the thought makes it seem just a little bit warmer outside!  Dreams do come true...so never stop dreaming!