Along Came a Spider

The long anticipated day has arrived. I have had my first close encounter with a potentially lethal instance of Australian wildlife. A spider. A spider on the ceiling of our bedroom. A very large and furry spider. In all fairness, the spider was not behaving in a menacing fashion and didn’t seem to notice as I beat a hasty retreat, stumbling and squealing. Naturally, being in Australia, I assumed that the spider was stunningly toxic and the first thing to do was google “Large Furry Australian Spider” in order to determine just how deadly it was and how efficiently it would kill me (minutes, hours, days?). Sadly, those criteria didn’t narrow the field of possibilities sufficiently to be instructive, and I spent the next 20 minutes alternating between further online research and peeking back into the bedroom from a safe distance to confirm that the spider was not on the move. Ultimately, I satisfied myself that I was most likely dealing with the ominously titled “Huntsman Spider” (http://www.amonline.net.au/factSheets/huntsman_spiders.htm), which is, mercifully, non-lethal, but decidedly large and furry.

Not entirely confident in my identification skills – it’s hard to be accurate when you cannot bear to get within 20 feet of the specimen – I elected to consult a local, our landlady, Madeleine. She was kind enough to come up and have a look, agreed that it was a Huntsman Spider, and set about capturing the creature in a cardboard box and releasing it into the wild. I observed these machinations from a safe distance and dignified myself by squirming, hopping from one foot to the other, and gasping at regular intervals.

All’s well that ends well, but for those of you keeping score at home, that’s Nature -1, Nicole -0.

Your Coffee Is Mocking Me

I recognize that it’s been a while since my last post.  I’m slowly coming to grips with the realization that not everything I do is blogworthy.  Shocking, I know.

Now that Michael and I are back in Sydney, and I no longer have a move to execute or a wedding to plan, it’s time to find a job.  I met with a legal recruiter on Monday who assures me that I’ll be able to find a position without much trouble, so that is encouraging; of course, I don’t have a job yet, so we’ll see how much trouble it actually is.

The real newsworthy gem of the day was the flat white I ordered in a cafe before the meeting. 

I don’t know how you do that with coffee and milk, but color me impressed.