Flat Out Like a Lizard Drinking

It's hard to convey how excited we are about this adventure while we're in the midst of mad preparation. Preparation that involves mundane tasks and long lists, making me wish I had prepared a Gantt chart back in September. We've been working on making the house move-in ready for the lovely couple that will be living in it, and I want them to be happy they decided to live here (rather than appalled at the discovery of some forgotten corner). Yesterday's jobs included a thorough clean up of the laundry area and tidying of the basement, both tasks that had been avoided for a good long time. It made me wonder if Australians speak of dust 'roos rather than dust bunnies. Because I'm pretty certain I found a dust 'roo in the making

And then there is the packing to be done. The rational part of my brain knows that this is not an expedition into unknown territories, requiring the careful preparation and packing of every single article we may need for the next 6 months. The irrational side is not convinced we can fit everything we need into 8 suitcases (plus a few carry-on bags).

In a moment of distraction (and when my main task of the day is herding those dust 'roos out the door, believe me, I can be distracted), I came across an online australian slang dictionary. And it was instantly amusing. Australian culture is famous for abbreviations and colorful turns of phrase. This is where I found another phrase for busy: flat out like a lizard drinking. It made our frenzied activity sound a lot more interesting. We're not just working on preparations, we're flat out like a lizard drinking.

When I lie awake at night and fret over everything yet to be done, I also pinch myself that in a few days, we will climb onto multiple airplanes and fly away to Australia for 6 months of work, schooling, and fun. How did we get so lucky?