An Invitation to Tea

I got a call Wednesday evening from Liz (a woman I met at church) asking if I was free for evening tea on Thursday.  Apparently even native Australian's call meal times "tea".  So last night after walking and feeding the dogs I set out for her house.  The directions seemed simple enough, but since I didn't have her phone number to call her if I got lost I was a bit nervous.  I made all the turns and was on her street when I realized, they apparently don't think much of properly labeling their house numbers around here.  It was dark and I couldn't find a single house number anywhere!  I knew she was #7, but without knowing any other numbers that wasn't doing me any good.  I finally managed to find #10 so I was able to figure out which one was 7 (not before turning into the driveway I thought was for house 7 only to realize it wasn't).  I don't think I'd met her husband at church (at least not that I remember) and she didn't introduce him to me, so I'm still not honestly sure.  Regardless, we had a lovely meal.  He is a teacher in the Math & Science department at a local public school and she helps various teachers at another public school as a teacher's aide, so we talked a lot about education.  They have 3 children, one of which is currently working in Massachusetts for the American branch of an Australian company who designs air conditioning systems for high-rise buildings.  Luckily for him he makes Australian wages and gets Australian vacation time!!

When I arrived back home, I realized to my dismay that I'd forgotten to lock the garbage can in the bathroom before I left.  They had warned me that this was something I'd need to do before leaving, but I think I've only done it once because I usually lock the dogs outside and it didn't cross my mind.  Thankfully, I'd just emptied the garbage that morning, so there wasn't much in there and nothing really messy.  Lots of plastic wrappers ripped to shreds and scattered throughout the living room and the hall, but at least there was no mess on the carpet.  Hopefully I can learn from that mistake and remember in the future.  Oh, and did I mention that one of their goldfish died?  Thankfully when I emailed them about it they weren't upset.

 They told me that fish die all the time and the vet had told them that they would die when they're ready.  Yep, they have taken their goldfish to the vet.  To each his own I suppose.  Thankfully, the remaining ones look pretty healthy, so I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed.  Well, I'm off to the library and to get some groceries - have a great weekend!