Home Sweet Home

Well hello there,
Nothing beats the feeling of being home. Comfortable and familiar.
Well sort of, you know that feeling you get when you return home after a long holiday? Everything looks new or different. The bathroom looked whiter, house smelt mustier, my room was messier...those damn holiday pixies!

I was relieved to find one certain familiar sight. All my fish lived!
I was worried because the large feeding blocks always seem so . . . inedible. The tank is fairly green but I still have my swarm of fishy friends.

Now rewind 5 hours back for a good story.

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It is the morning that we are leaving from our holiday house at Woodgate. Mum's stressed about packing and cleaning the entire house and us kids have dispersed and hidden around the house to avoid chores.  Robert was downstairs and came wandering up the stairs claiming, 

"I think there's a snake near the trailer". 

Mum looked mildly alarmed and asked what colour. 

"Green. . . I think".

We dismissed the idea and brushed it to the side because of his in-decisiveness. 

Dad went downstairs to pack the car and trailer with our bags when we heard a squeal.

"SNAKE!!"

We all came thundering down to see. Mum and I courageously observed through the windows from inside. Michael the dangerous creature expert was sent out to identify what type of snake it was. 

"It's just a harmless green tree snake"

(looked precisely like this)

Dad went forth armed with a broom to try and shoo it off the trailer tarp. He prodded it back and forth unsuccessfully until it finally budged and begun to slither in a beautiful whip like motion. 

"It's so cute!", I said while Mum freaked out. 

"Phew, It's going toward the side gate", my Dad said. 

The side gate... to the backyard. Tia opportunely whimpered. 

"OH GOD. OUT OF MY WAY!!!" I bellow as I run toward the laundry door.

I dash to the door and Tia is standing at the gate. I draw her attention with my ruckus and fling the door open, wildly gesturing for her to come inside. So utterly confused by my sudden generosity she stands with one paw raised in the air. I bolt out into the backyard and scoop Tia up the same time as the snake appears under the gate 2m from me. I zip back inside too quickly for Tia to realise what the foreign rustling sound was.

"That was lucky Tia, if I hadn't run then I wouldn't have made it", I puff while cradling my precious pooch in my arms. 

NOTHING comes between my dog and me. 

No matter how cute it is. 

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My life is too drama filled. Oh the adventure. When my parents dropped the house key to the real estate agent (our neighbours) they said they'd killed a big brown snake just the other day. My story could have been scarily different had we encountered a brown snake.

On the trip home I began planning the adventures and tasks that I'll complete these holidays. Here's what I thought up:

Holiday To Do List

• Submit a surfboard design in the Red Bull Design Sally's Board Competition
• Order a replacement tablet pen (bargain!)
• Update wardrobe (donate old clothing and buy new!)
• Go on regular runs (daily?)
• Restyle and clean my room (Dots! and fake candles )
• Design and decorate notebooks for Semester One of 2012 University studies
• Create new diet and lifestyle to trial
• Paint a painting 
• Start to learn to drive and get hours in my logbook
• Grow a plant (vegetable or herb)
• Write a Christmas letter for my English friends
• Bind and print my favourite blog stories into a coffee table book

It is still under construction and I'm open to suggestions and additions. Challenge me?

Melanie xx