Week 8: The Greatest Week Ever by Karl

Just to let you know, Brittney gave me special permission to write another blog entry. Aren't you guys so excited? I know I sure am excited.

I can't believe how exciting things have gotten here in Australia. Now that I have gotten my permission to work and Brittney has finished her thesis, things are finally rolling. I got cleared to work about 5 days ago, and Brittney finished her final draft of her thesis last night. The immigration department called me on my mobile phone on Friday night and gave this long apology as to why it took so long for me to start working in their country. I told them, "No worries, mate." The woman giggled and said that that wasn't all of the good news. Again, I got excited, and she told me that not only could I work the allotted 20 hours a week, but they would double that (that comes to 40 hours a week). They also said that they would have whatever company I work for pay me whatever the regular wage is for my particular job and pay it at the American exchange rate. I was thrilled, because for those of you that don't know, the exchange is like 77 cents to the dollar. On top of that, the minimum wage here is $12/hour Australian. A pretty good deal all in all for me. One of the guys on the football team has a job for me at $15.38/hour and all I have to do is put grocery carts away. Isn't this exciting? I know that I'm quite tickled. My week climaxed on Sunday when we had 35 players at practice. It was amazing! I almost didn't know what to do with myself, and then I tried to react as if I was David Elson (Western Kentucky's Head Football Coach). I put my whistle in my mouth and told them to form a straight line, because we were running sprints for everyday that one person missed. So we ran the whole time, and when we were done, they thanked me for it. I love these people here.

Haha. So for the truth. I still haven't gotten my permission to work, Brittney hasn't even started on her thesis (not that she should have), and no, David Elson would never do that to his players...He's much more appreciative than I am. This week was pretty much the same. I guess it's starting to become home to us. We didn't do anything to exciting, and we're starting to get into regular routines. I sit there and draw up football plays all day long, and Brittney reads and does research all day long. We are the most fun-loving couple ever. Does this mean that we've officially become our parents? Oh well! It happens I guess. Faster for some than others. So here's the list of what we've done this past week:

Not too much happened on Thursday. The football team had a typical 10 man practice and we almost got something accomplished. It was actually one of the better days. We are in pads now, and that seems to attract more of them. But other than that, Thursday was wasted.

Friday was actually a pretty fun day. We celebrated our 6 month anniversary (a day early) for the first and last time (no, we don't celebrate every month). We started our journey by going into the Immigration office. Aren't we brave? I had a ski mask on and Brittney had pantyhose over her head. Brittney lit the wick and I threw the bottle threw the door. I didn't realize it, but the bomb went off right next to the gas line and the whole place went up in smoke. Fortunately, only the employees were incinerated; the people in line were saved by angels according to one newspaper. So, yeah, Brittney decided that she wanted to get screwed around by the government and turned in her application to work. Fat chance.

From there we went to the Queen Victoria Market. Quite a lovely day to shop around in the open air market. We bought some neat souvenirs and a jacket for Brittney that she'll probably never wear. But hey, how many times do you celebrate your six month wedding anniversary (don't answer if you've been married more than once).

Anyhow, after all the excitement that Queen Victoria had lined up for us, we made our way to Melbourne's Little Italy on Lygon Street. We ate until our hearts stopped beating, and then we bought some gelato for the road. Mine was gone before we got to the road, but Brittney made hers last as she always does.

And finally, we went and saw a romantic comedy called "Robots." Actually a very funny movie, but not as romantic as I was hoping. Luckily for us, we got there a half an hour early for the 6:30 show. We didn't want to get there and miss the previews. I really think that this place has absotively no sense of time. Nothing came on the freakin' screen until 6:45. I just don't get it. Maybe I'm anal.

Then we came home with all of the drunks on the Tram. What a thrilling day.

Saturday, we watched a local Australian Rules Football game. Pretty cool, but there were no seats and it was hot as balls out there. But no matter how hot and sunny it gets, Brittney will never get rid of the tan-line she got the first weekend we were here. Bless her heart, the poor thang. After the game we got stood up by a friend, who I don't think realizes it yet. NO WORRIES, MATE!

Sunday, more of the same. Brittney studied while I coached 9 guys. And we watched a movie from our laptop. But the laptop was connected to the TV; so we really watched on the TV. Pretty kinky. "Zoolander", an American classic with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. Does it get any better than that!?

"Monday, Monday" (another classic in song form). Well, let's see...What the hell (excuse me) HECK did we do on Monday. Oh, roight roight, Brittney studied and then went to class. And I went to a football meeting with all the heads of the different teams in our league. Talk about exciting. I don't remember what happened, but I came home with all of my money and I'm coaching the Australian National Team. It's not that big of a deal...They only have 40 guys on the team, and I'm just the offensive line coach (I think). We also got our trip to Brisbane underway for June 29th. That'll be exciting. I'm coaching the State All-Star team there against some teams from the U.S. I'm the Defensive Coordinator for that one. We only have 3 coaches; they had to put me somewhere. And that's all she wrote for Monday.

Tuesday (yesterday), I had 18 guys out at practice. We almost had enough for a second string. Maybe next time. But I'm not getting excited. They always back track. NO WORRIES, MATE! The first game is May 15th and we haven't put in our offensive plays yet, and I don't think they remember the defensive plays. It's quite the vicious cycle. Brittney on the other hand was very productive. After working for a week or so on this class leading exercise, she was told by the professor that she put her heart and soul into it. I think what he was trying to say was that she only had to talk for 15 minutes, but she went for 2 hours. I love my little talker. The thing that confused me about the whole heart and soul comment was that I was at practice when she was doing the presentation. How could she have put her heart and soul into it, if her heart and soul was...I'm a loser.

And we're back to the most uneventful day of the week, today. I finished my 104 page playbook, and Brittney decided not to burn dinner. I guess I was wrong, it was quite an event. I finished a project and Brittney made a glorious meal that could have very well been crap. Honestly though, she saved the day with dinner. We made homemade chicken pot pie. When making this, you have to use frozen pie crusts. Well, we bought a pie crust that we were going to put on top of the pot pie, and it turned out that it was a sugar based crust. Brittney saved the day by tasting the crust before using it. How crappy would that have been. My little pumpkin head is the best wife ever!

Well, that's our week in a nutshell. Well, not really a nutshell, more like a blog page. Sorry I couldn't have come up with a better story about the week. Maybe next time. Or maybe I'll give you guys a poem about Australia.

Thanks for reading,

Karlos



Oh, and Brittney's still not pregnant. I guess the mail man is sterile.