We have a date!

A graduation date, that is. December 9th @ 11 am is when I will officially be a Speech Pathologist (well, I need to pass all the classes & clinic first, but let's just pretend that's definitely going to happen). This date is very good news, since my parents are arriving December 7th @ 7:30 pm and it would be quite sad if they were to miss my graduation. Sad for me at least - they're probably not very excited about sitting through hours of boring speeches and people they don't know walking across a stage. The time is also perfect for a family lunch followed by evening shenanigans with fellow grads!!

Because of Ekka, this week has been really weird. I had my 12 hour day out in Ipswich on Mon, skipped class Tues to go to a Community Education project meeting with our mentor, had Wednesday off, Thursday off, and then one class tomorrow. Relaxing week! I should have been doing useful things...like working on one of the million projects...but...yeah, I didn't. I'm not sure how I'm getting through this course but I seem to be managing!! Tomorrow night is the Speech Pathology ball, but I'm not going. I'm sure it will be fun, but I just don 't see the point of paying $110 ($220 if J was to come) to sit around with people I attend class with all week. Not to mention, it's Speech Path so everyone will be going all out with the dresses, shoes, make-up & fancy hair...$$$$$$$$$$$$$!! I was thinking of going to the after party, but seeing as how I have to work Sat morning at the Gold Coast it just doesn't seem like the most logical option. Often, I am illogical but in this case I might have to make a smart decision. Instead, I will do dinner and a movie at home with my friend Nicole, who is also not going. There will be a lot of dinners/celebrations/etc at the end of the year and I'm quite happy to go to those, so I don't feel like I'm really missing out on anything.

And really...Gold Coast anniversary weekend - that's more than enough extravagance for me!

Third Ekka day, done and dusted. Had brunch with Jeremy, Lisa, Kim and Jody at the Pancake Manor and then a lazy afternoon at Lisa's watching trashy shows.

On Sunday, J and I went on an awesome bike ride to Fortitude Valley. He showed me this bikeway, which is the best ever, and we can basically bike to South Bank (the super touristy area) in 15 minutes - it's quicker than taking the bus!! Fortitude Valley is further, and then we could continue on to New Farm if we felt like it. Good place for a picnic; we'll have to do that one of these days!

Settling in for a quiet rest of the week, GC shift, then a fun hang out at the beach. Winter is almost over!!

Education Queensland, who knew?

So throughout my degree I've been adamant that I want to work with adults, not kids, but i'm slowly changing my mind. I wasn't looking forward to this prac - it's over an hour away on public transit (would have been almost two hours, but Translink switched a bus route in June and made my life a zillion times easier) and with kids, but I must admit that I'm actually enjoying it! This is my fourth week and I'm getting into a routine, more used to the kids, more easily able to come up with activities, etc. I have a group of four grade 5s that is a bit behaviourally challenging, but other than that all the other kids are absolute angels and really cute. I've been doing a lot of articulation work, pronouns, language and literacy. It's actually really fun, and the kids are so happy when they're being praised and getting things right and they try so hard! I was telling my CE that I'd be happy to work for Ed QLD and that it's kind of funny because I always thought I only wanted to work with adults, and she said "You're great with the kids!" Haha. I do keep hearing that, so I suppose it must be true :) That doesn't mean I definitely want to work with kids - I'd still jump at the chance to work in a hospital, but I guess now I know that there are quite a few avenues I could take and still be happy, which is very comforting! I'm so lucky to have found this career...I think I will love it for a very long time.

What else? Well, Jeremy and I have been working every weekend since I've been home. Getting paid $23/hr to sit and read is pretty fantastic. Next weekend we're working at the Gold Coast stadium - the Metricon. We thought since it's our anniversary soon, we'd pick up an extra shift down at the GC and use that money to stay overnight at the beach. This week is also the week of the Ekka Holiday, that random Wednesday holiday that happens every August. no complaints from me - Wed is my longest day at "uni" and I'm happy to miss it!!! My research group is doing pretty well but we have NO IDEA how to run that stats program to analyze our data and do a whole bunch of repeated measures ANOVAs. We took a whole class on it, but it honestly makes no sense...it's like we have to magically know what random gibberish to type into various boxes to make it spit out data. We are seriously clueless. Our advisor said "No problem, it'll be quick". Yeah right. I realize she probably hasn't actually used this program before, just gets the department's statistician or her students to do it...she has no clue how confusing this thing is!! Have to figure it out soon though...

One last thing, some youtube links which talk about Williams Syndrome, a fascinating genetic disorder. I'm really interested in my children with special needs class...lots to learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qAxdWSgqrc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQUlJ9g0KK4&NR=1

Dear Lions Club...

Thank you so much for the new fridge. It is the best fridge I've ever owned. It is only the second fridge I've ever owned...Hm, okay, it's the best fridge I've ever lived in a house with in my WHOLE LIFE, even if I didn't own those past fridges. The spray painted red fridge has been demoted to outdoor fridge status, which is where it belongs! Frost free fridges make me so happy. I remember in 4th year university I moved into an apartment in the market and my roommate and I were befuddled at the strange happenings in our freezer. It was getting really icy and freezing all of our stuff by turning the food into big blocks of ice, and then embedding them in a giant ice chunk. Sure that something was amiss, we called our landlord. Instead of fixing the problem, he made the revelation that we had to defrost our freezer. WHAT??? I had never heard of such a thing in my life!! Break out the double blowdryer extravaganza! But yes, now I am all too familiar. I am making a solemn vow that I will never live in another place where the freezer has to be defrosted. C'mon now, it's 2011.

So much love..

For Havaianas. I've already dedicated a whole post to them, and now they get another because I just found this article about them (and remember, thong = flip-flop!!):

Created in Brazil in 1962, Havaianas are without a doubt the original thong. And as the amazing brand has left its footprint on the world, this classic fashion icon has been adopted as an Aussie favourite - you only have to think back to Australia Day and the world record that we set using summer’s ultimate accessory, the Havaianas floatie.

Having been called “the best rubber sandal in the world”, Havaianas are contemporary and stylish and are best described by their 1970s advertising campaign that clearly stated why they’re so amazing – “They don’t lose their shape, don’t smell and the straps don’t get loose.” Designer Marc Newsom who designed the Qantas First Class Lounge in Sydney puts it in his top four designs that “cannot be improved.” So not only are you getting some clean smelling thongs, you’re getting pieces of art!

My word, shall we have some tea and niceties?

Today I ventured to Mt Tamborine for a delightful afternoon of "tea and niceties". It was for my friend and classmate Nicole's 30th birthday. She can be pictured above - she is wearing the long necklace. All of the other girls are from my class as well, except for Jess who is my favourite friend and in med with Jeremy. Alyssa, the girl in the flowered dress, is in my research group with Nicole and we've become quite the tight knit circle of friends over the last year and a half. Nicole and Alyssa both recently got engaged, so hopefully I will finally have my chance to attend an Aussie wedding (or two!) As you can see, there is an assortment of "niceties" to sample, including round cucumber sandwiches and heart shaped egg salad sandwiches. Ooh lala! Tres fancy. Note that I am not normall this tall, but was wearing very high shoes.

Speaking of shoes, a dilemma has arisen. Speech pathologists are known for their obsession with fashion and expensive clothes (yeah, I don't really fit in here). Recently, our lecturers have started talking about graduation. We even had part of a lecture dedicated to things we need to know for graduation. Part of this lecture (and there were even slides) was pertaining to shoes. Apparently the lecturers get quite bored at the grad ceremonies (I mean...who doesn't? It really is pretty damn boring) and to keep themselves entertained, they critique shoes. So we have been advised that the most important component of our outfit is the shoes, since everything else will be covered up and told to buy expensive, pretty shoes in order to keep our lecturers entertained. Jeez...the stresses of this world!

Poor blog. I'm sorry I abandoned you. I just read my last entry and can now officially say I'm 83% speechie - just two classes, four group projects, one giant exam and a couple of smaller ones, one clinic and a research project until I'm finished!

I was laying (lying? that's one I'm never too sure of) low for awhile so that I could surprise my mum with my arrival in Canada and I think it worked, judging by her shrieky reaction! That trip was a breath of fresh air. I'm not sure I could have coped without it. It was so amazing to see my wonderful family and amazing friends after such a long time. Ro and I had a fantastic time in LA as well, complete with random celebrity encounter. So cool!

Jeremy seems to be much lessed stressed. I guess his mental health rotation is benefitting his own personal mental health. Hah. I'm hilarious! He's probably a lot happier to be doing something he's interested in, and the later hours can't hurt either. He started the year with all the more difficult rotations (gen med - super hard and mean drs, rural - enjoyed it but away from home for 2 months in the middle of nowhere, surgery - super early and didn't eally care about it) and now gets to end on the two best ones - GP and mental health. So...yay.

This weekend I am doing something that for some reason, I see as quintessentially Aussie (it might be more British???) I'm going for high tea for a friend's 30th birthday. We are having "tea and niceties" at Mt Tambourine. It should be lovely and very...dignified?