Monday was Labour* Day here in Australia, and Joel and I both had the day off. Yay!

I also woke up in the clutches of a PMS monster, where everything made me irrationally moody and sad. Not yay.

I ate breakfast and stalked Instagram and felt mopey, and Joel made adventure plans. 90% of me wanted to stay home and sleep for the rest of the day. I kept my eye out for even the slightest signs of resistance from Joel, convincing him with my mind that staying home was the best idea–even though I knew getting out of the house was the only thing that would prevent me from crawling inside myself. I know this because last month when I woke up dying from the hormone sads, yelling at my clothes for not fitting, Joel strongly suggested we go to the Australian museum. And I saw a dinosaurs and a prehistoric wombat creature that made my life complete, and I ended up thanking him profusely for getting me out of the house.

So, before I knew it, I was putting on my sneakers and slathering myself in a shield of sunscreen. So much sunscreen. I used to never care about sunscreen. But the UV rays don’t play on this side of the world, and I have enough pasty Scotch-Irish-Mid West American in me to get a pink schnoz and arms on my 10 minute walk from the office to the bus stop.

Joel suggested we walk into the city and take the ferry back. On a day when the weather isn’t terribly hot and you’re not me (i.e. so out of shape), you can walk from our apartment to downtown Sydney in about half an hour. So, with temperatures climbing and the clouds waning, off we went.

Adventure time — in Gallery Style!

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I would have taken more photos, but immediately after we got off the ferry, we had to climb the steepest hill ever known to man. I know I’m out of shape, but I had walked for about 3 hours that day without too much complaint. So I didn’t think anything of that incline. But that 45* sidewalk incline gave me heart palpitations. I was so red and sweaty and out of breath. The senior citizens who were floating up the hill with the greatest of ease were looking at me like I was going to die, and by the time we reached the top of the road, I too, had legitimate concerns that I was going to die. But, I made it. I stared heat stroke death in the face as we made the 25 minute/mostly uphill trudge home. Complaining pretty steadily that I was going to die the entire time. Naturally.

By the time we made it home, I was a hot mess. Literally. I was out of breath, and dripping sweat and sunscreen and blisters and America. I took a cool shower for what felt like an eternity. After, we ate paddle pops (my new favorite ice cream),

And I took an Adventure nap.

And when I woke up, Joel made an Adventure Omelet.

Such a solid day. Even if I did almost die a couple of times. But I learned how to walk to the city–in case I ever get locked out of the apartment without my keys again (that’s a story for another time)–I saw some great buildings, beautiful gardens, eels, a phenomenal photo exhibit, ate delicious lunch, had a good nap, ate an excellent dinner, and only had one PMSy mood moment. And once again, I thanked Joel profusely for getting me out of the house.

Success all around. I wonder what next month’s PMS Distraction Adventure will be. *fingers crossed for hammocks on the beach day*

*I get to spell a whole slew of words with an extra ‘u’ now. Be jealous.