Yeah...We Didn't Get Out of the City This Morning

Well, we both made it back to Sydney safe and sound yesterday morning. Phil in from India and me in 2 hours later, from the states. And I woke up at my usual 4:00 am this morning to confirm my changing of a bazillion time zones. My week of weird sleeping hours has once again begun. I would've been up, nice and early ready to leave for church, but as stated above...we didn't get out of the city this morning. Literally.

Today was the day for the annual Sydney Running Festival. 25,300 runners descended on the city for their choice of races- the marathon, the 1/2 marathon, 9km Bridge run, or 4 km Family Fun Run. 25,300 runners...seriously. Take a look.

Obviously the roads around our apartment were closed as well as the Harbour Bridge so we were city-bound for the morning. I'm happy to report that in the spirit of the day Phil and I did run...across the street to avoid the bus coming around the corner on our way to McDonald's for Egg McMuffins for breakfast. You can check out http://www.runthebridge.com.au/ for info on the day, see how much was raised for charity, and even see our apartment building next to the Opera House in the first picture on the web page.

On a different note...you know you're back in Australia when you pay this much for a can of hairspray.

Yes. That's right. The price was $7.95. I was forced to buy this last night at the drugstore (or chemist as they call them here) because I had taken my last can back with me to the states and forgot to buy some and bring them back with me. I literally felt pain to hand over almost $8 stinkin' dollars for a lousy can of hairspray. And it's not even a big can. You could almost call it travel size! So this afternoon (after the roads opened up and we could drive out of the city) we went to the mall to buy some groceries and get something to eat. I went to Big W (their version of Walmart) thinking I could buy my usual can of Suave at a much more reasonable price. Right.

First of all...no Suave on the shelf. I ended up with Schwarzkopf Hair Styling Hairspray. Yeah...what? In my mind I pictured the general from the Persian Gulf War dabbling in hair care products. But...the sticker of Heidi Klum on the can recommending this brand convinced me. I mean, really...if it's good enough for Heidi, it's good enough for me. And well it should be, at $6.96 a can. Pain, literal pain to pay that much...