Actually (don't hate me) it's 38 degrees today and going up to 43 tomorrow and I'm currently sitting in the living room with no air conditioning on feeling quite pleasant. I spent the day in the lovely air conditioned hospital and saw some private patients in Grace's air conditioned room. Then I came home and decided to sit out in the pool with a book, which was rather enjoyable. After dinner, Jeremy and I will go for a swim at the indoor aqua centre (which does seem a bit silly when there's a perfectly good beach a few kms away, but I suppose it's harder to keep track of swimming laps in the ocean). 43 should be pretty intense tomorrow...might need to switch on the a/c at that point!
Christmas events are happening all around us. Adelaide certainly has a lot of spirit! Last Sunday, we went to 'Carols by Candlelight', a huge event in Elder Park. Apparently, over 30 000 people attended this event (it was pretty crowded). We were at the far side of the park, not that close to the stage, but we were with friends and had a huge picnic, which was excellent. There were also fireworks, but we left early so that we would be ready to meet with Hayley, Lance, Caleb and Aliana (and later Ross and Kath) on Skype for Advent celebrations.
I can't believe Christmas is only a week away. Everything kind of gets caught up in a blur when you're working and there's no snow and no family around. I don't know if I've already mentioned this, but this is the first year since we've moved to Australia that we will both be at our own place for Christmas. The first year, Jeremy went off to Canada with Damian...the second year, we were in New Zealand together...the third year, Jeremy was in Brisbane and I was on a cruise with my family...the fourth year/last year, we were in Tasmania. So this year we will both be in Adelaide, although I'm not sure I consider it having Christmas 'together' when Jeremy is working a 14 hour shift on Christmas Eve and and 13 hour shift on Christmas! I will be working Christmas Eve, off Christmas Day, and I'll probably pop into work on Boxing Day (which Jeremy has off) because Lisa and I will be taking off from the 27-30. Whew!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Work is super busy at the moment - tomorrow I have patients at 9, 9:30, 10, 10:30, 11, then at 11:30 I drive to a nursing home to do a swallowing assessment from 12-12:45 and then I need to get the car to the mechanic by 1 to be serviced. I thought Friday was going to be a leisurely day of 2-3 people and it's excellent that there are more, but because I already made the car appointment it means cramming them all into a short span of time! It also means I miss Friday morning allied health cake party :(
That's okay because the next couple of weekends are filled with work-related fun stuff. Saturday, I've been invited to a girl's night out with the OTs and physios from work. The following weekend, there's the allied health Christmas party at someone's house on Friday and then Saturday we are invited to Grace's to have dinner with her family. It was her last day at work today - she is taking the whole summer off, a first, because I've taken over all of the hospital patients. During previous years, she wouldn't take on private clients on the summer holidays (6 weeks) but was still obligated to see patients at the hospital and the aged care facilities. Now she can relax and prepare for the year ahead. She seems ready to take it on, and we've already made plans for regular coffee catch ups and I might be her 'chemo buddy' for some of the treatments. It will be an interesting year which I hope goes as smoothly as possible.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Two posts in one day - but not for a happy reason
I've been turning to this blog more in the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure why. Maybe I just made an effort and now it's become a bit of a habit. A lot of the things I post about are light-hearted, silly, fun...this year has been a really wonderful one for me, particularly since being lucky enough to meet and work with Grace. I talk about it all the time, and I think it's pretty evident that this is my dream job and, I am the luckiest person ever to have stumbled upon it in the random way that I did. I'm never sure what to call Grace - is she my boss, colleague, associate, co-worker, person who pays me?? But I do know that she has been my mentor, someone who encourages me, someone who has never ever made me feel stupid, who is available whenever I have a question and answers happily and in detail, someone I can laugh with and at the same time gain a huge amount of knowledge from. She spent the last few years supporting her family, as her husband had kidney disease and was on dialysis. She has a 23 year old daughter as well as 12 year old twin girls. It was about this time last year that her husband had a kidney transplant and things were getting on track again.
This evening I noticed that I had a couple of missed calls from her on my phone, but no message. We text and call each other all the time, so not all that unusual. I texted her saying that I was going to be at hockey for the next hour or so, and did she want me to call her afterwards or wait until tomorrow. She told me to call her after hockey. I did, and she just didn't sound like herself on the phone. I asked her if everything was alright, and she said "No, actually...I found out today that I have breast cancer". Well - if my parents, in-laws, and other relatives didn't read this I would insert an expletive right about here. It just really sucks. What else can I say?
While I've been living in Australia, a family member and friend have both had battles with cancer. I was removed from what they were going through, but still thought of them often. I hated that they had to go through it, and I hate that Grace has to have it happen to her.
I wish I knew what to do/not do, say/not say in these circumstances.
This evening I noticed that I had a couple of missed calls from her on my phone, but no message. We text and call each other all the time, so not all that unusual. I texted her saying that I was going to be at hockey for the next hour or so, and did she want me to call her afterwards or wait until tomorrow. She told me to call her after hockey. I did, and she just didn't sound like herself on the phone. I asked her if everything was alright, and she said "No, actually...I found out today that I have breast cancer". Well - if my parents, in-laws, and other relatives didn't read this I would insert an expletive right about here. It just really sucks. What else can I say?
While I've been living in Australia, a family member and friend have both had battles with cancer. I was removed from what they were going through, but still thought of them often. I hated that they had to go through it, and I hate that Grace has to have it happen to her.
I wish I knew what to do/not do, say/not say in these circumstances.
I'm a bad person, because the article I'm posting below gives me a twinge of glee. I know that public property should not be vandalized and the speed cameras are meant to extort drivers of millions of hard earned dollars slow people down thus decreasing the amount of car accidents...but really? Every article I see about the damned things is about how much revenue they are expected generate. Last week, there was a story about how one single speed camera was raking in approximately $425 000/MONTH. How can you say there isn't something wrong with that? I have definitely changed my driving habits - if I catch myself accidentally going 64 in a 60 zone, I immediately slow down and feel grateful that I didn't get caught by a cop or speed camera...how ridiculous!
POLICE are seeking public help to catch those responsible for a spree vandal attacks on numerous speed cameras across Adelaide.
The cameras are being vandalised by high velocity missiles fired at their glass lens, police said.
The are concerned the projectiles could hit other car windscreens and injure people or cause crashes.
Cameras in the western suburbs were targeted overnight after attacks were made in the past few weeks on cameras in the eastern and southern suburbs.
Police refused to release details of the number of cameras damaged or their location but said they are being repaired and made operational as soon as possible.
TELL US: Do you know where the speed cameras are being vandalised? Have you seen one? Let us know where in the comments
It is known, however, that the new freeway cameras in the Adelaide Hills have also been attacked twice since Friday.
These hi-tech cameras - located near the Crafers and Mt Osmond interchanges - were switched on nine days ago and are expected to generate more than $1.6 million in fines by the end of this financial year.
Police are examining CCTV footage in a bid to catch the vandals and have appealed for anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers on 1300 333 000.
POLICE are seeking public help to catch those responsible for a spree vandal attacks on numerous speed cameras across Adelaide.
The cameras are being vandalised by high velocity missiles fired at their glass lens, police said.
The are concerned the projectiles could hit other car windscreens and injure people or cause crashes.
Cameras in the western suburbs were targeted overnight after attacks were made in the past few weeks on cameras in the eastern and southern suburbs.
Police refused to release details of the number of cameras damaged or their location but said they are being repaired and made operational as soon as possible.
TELL US: Do you know where the speed cameras are being vandalised? Have you seen one? Let us know where in the comments
It is known, however, that the new freeway cameras in the Adelaide Hills have also been attacked twice since Friday.
These hi-tech cameras - located near the Crafers and Mt Osmond interchanges - were switched on nine days ago and are expected to generate more than $1.6 million in fines by the end of this financial year.
Police are examining CCTV footage in a bid to catch the vandals and have appealed for anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers on 1300 333 000.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Just add snow
There's something quite intriguing about going on a Christmas tree hunt in the Adelaide Hills on a 30 degree day. Jeremy and I had copped out and gone for the $13 K-Mart option, but when Claire invited me to the hills for Sunday lunch and Christmas tree shopping, it seemed like a grand idea.
Claire had very definite ideas about her tree: it needed to be cut down in front of her, between five and six feet tall, and bushy - not a scrawny little skinny one. I'm not sure her housemates were as passionate, but they were good sports and went along with the idea.
In order to find something of the sort, we needed to go to the "Real Christmas Tree Farm" in Forreston. The friendly folk there pointed us in the direction of the trees and a young lad led the way on a 4 wheeler. The lady who owned the place appeared to be sneakily pouring whiskey into her and her friend's Coke Zero cans - we accidentally caught them in the act and she seemed a little sheepish.
Eventually, they found a tree that fit Claire's exacting standards. Here is the end result, set up in their living room:
Not too shabby, eh? I think (sorry if I'm forgetting a distant childhood memory, but I know for a fact that my parents never had a real tree) that this is the first time in my life that I've been to a Christmas tree farm. In Ottawa with Jeremy, we would get a real tree, but we just picked them up at the local grocery store. It was pretty cool to actually take part in the whole process, but it would definitely seem more authentic to me if snow and sleighs were also involved!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
One question that Jeremy and I hear a lot is "Why?" Specifically, "Why did you move to Australia?" and then "Why did Jeremy apply to study in Australia?" It's a long story, but it can be summed up pretty quickly in a few sentences. I think most people who read this are aware of why we came over here, maybe not all the details, but have a general understanding.
I've been thinking about this topic for awhile, and something triggered it even more yesterday evening when we had a few people over for a BBQ. This wasn't on purpose, but there ended up being quite a few Canadians there. The subject of applying to medical school in Canada came up, and a few of them said that they didn't even bother. One guy, whose father is a surgeon, said he mentioned to his GP that he was planning on applying to medicine and the GP laughed in his face and told him it was a waste of time and money to even apply. So this morning, I decided to do a bit more reading up on it. I googled "Canadians studying medicine overseas" and a few interesting articles/blogs/letters to the editor came up:
http://deptmed.queensu.ca/blog/?p=266
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/too-many-canadians-studying-medicine-overseas-1.993980
http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/LandingPage.aspx?id=851443&p=1
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/09/20/want-medical-degree-will-travel/
As I was reading, I thought about one of the times I was visiting Canada, when someone said to their child (grown up child) in front of me: "Well, you better study hard or else you'll be stuck going to Australia to do post-graduate studies." Okay, for one thing, this was just plain rude, as my husband was studying in Australia at the time and I was in Canada securing loans for the master's in speech pathology that I had just been accepted into (and was very excited about!) It seemed like they were implying that we hadn't studied/worked hard enough and so we had no choice but to go to Australia...and let me tell you, Jeremy in particular had worked his ass off to get into Canadian med programs before applying to Australia. Secondly, I guess that comment also demonstrated an ignorance or unawareness of the Canadian medical school system, applications, statistics, etc. If you click on the links above, you'll see an underlying theme which indicates that the system in Canada is fundamentally flawed and that for every one person who is admitted into a Canadian medical school, there are three EQUALLY QUALIFIED people who are rejected. The difference may be something as fractional as half a percentage point.
So yes...I find it hard to condense my answer when asked these questions, and also a bit difficult to portray the Canadian post-grad system for doctors/allied health in a positive light. Canada needs to wake up. Not to mention, Jeremy and I are extremely privileged that we had the chance to pursue this here in Australia. Now, I can't imagine it any other way.
I've been thinking about this topic for awhile, and something triggered it even more yesterday evening when we had a few people over for a BBQ. This wasn't on purpose, but there ended up being quite a few Canadians there. The subject of applying to medical school in Canada came up, and a few of them said that they didn't even bother. One guy, whose father is a surgeon, said he mentioned to his GP that he was planning on applying to medicine and the GP laughed in his face and told him it was a waste of time and money to even apply. So this morning, I decided to do a bit more reading up on it. I googled "Canadians studying medicine overseas" and a few interesting articles/blogs/letters to the editor came up:
http://deptmed.queensu.ca/blog/?p=266
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/too-many-canadians-studying-medicine-overseas-1.993980
http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/LandingPage.aspx?id=851443&p=1
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/09/20/want-medical-degree-will-travel/
As I was reading, I thought about one of the times I was visiting Canada, when someone said to their child (grown up child) in front of me: "Well, you better study hard or else you'll be stuck going to Australia to do post-graduate studies." Okay, for one thing, this was just plain rude, as my husband was studying in Australia at the time and I was in Canada securing loans for the master's in speech pathology that I had just been accepted into (and was very excited about!) It seemed like they were implying that we hadn't studied/worked hard enough and so we had no choice but to go to Australia...and let me tell you, Jeremy in particular had worked his ass off to get into Canadian med programs before applying to Australia. Secondly, I guess that comment also demonstrated an ignorance or unawareness of the Canadian medical school system, applications, statistics, etc. If you click on the links above, you'll see an underlying theme which indicates that the system in Canada is fundamentally flawed and that for every one person who is admitted into a Canadian medical school, there are three EQUALLY QUALIFIED people who are rejected. The difference may be something as fractional as half a percentage point.
So yes...I find it hard to condense my answer when asked these questions, and also a bit difficult to portray the Canadian post-grad system for doctors/allied health in a positive light. Canada needs to wake up. Not to mention, Jeremy and I are extremely privileged that we had the chance to pursue this here in Australia. Now, I can't imagine it any other way.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Weddings!
Last night I volunteered at the Leveda Christmas disco. There was a photo booth there as well, which was fun. I think I might be on the lookout for a new volunteer cause/organization though - I've given this one a year and I'm not sure it's a great match.
This evening we are having a BBQ at our place. It was supposed to be a steak night out at a restaurant, but being this time of year, everything is BOOKED. So I've spent the morning cleaning and tidying in preparation for this impromptu BBQ. You know what's pretty great? We can invite people to come over at 6-7ish and still have lots of light left for socializing! I really love these long days. I can hear Jeremy doing more cleaning in the background, so I better get back to it. At least it's given me an excuse to do all the things around the house that I've been putting off!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
2013 - The year of growing up
New words/terms in my vocabulary this year:
- Life insurance
- Enduring power of guardianship
- Income protection
- GO OUT AT 11 PM, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?
- Professional indemnity insurance
Words/terms that have not come up
- Mortgage
- Baby
- Retirement
But seriously...am I like...responsible now???
Just some food for thought.
On a much much much more exciting note, Jeremy and I bit the bullet and booked our flights home for May/June 2014!!!!!!! We are arriving very late (11:25 pm) on the 18th of May and leaving the 5th of June. We are ready for an awesome wedding and some good catch ups - there are so many people I won't have seen for 3+ years by that time. It's craziness. Again, too little time, but Jeremy only gets three weeks and since I'm in the private practice business now, no work = no pay. EEEEEK!
Also good news, Jeremy found out that anaesthetics (rural) doesn't actually mean he has to go somewhere rural to do his anaesthetics rotation, but it DOES mean he's been accepted into the special rural GP program. So next year he has three rotations in Adelaide (so nine months) and then one rotation outside of Adelaide, in Port Lincoln. Three months away just sounds infinitely better than six months!
What else...oh yeah, lots of random events happening. Tonight I attended book club. We had read "The White Tiger" which won the Booker prize in 2008. I quite enjoyed it and we had a good discussion. I'm excited about the next book, which is a travel story about an Australian living in France and the cultural clashes that occur! We've also decided that our book club should check out some of the Fringe events coming up in Feb-March. It's a lovely group of ladies and I'm really enjoying it. Tomorrow after work, I'm going to a Christmas BBQ at one of the aged care residences that I work at and immediately afterward meeting friends in Glenelg to see Christmas carols by the beach. Friday I'm volunteering at Leveda's Christmas dance. Jeremy is working 12-9 Wed- Fri, and then has a 14 hour shift Sunday so he'll be pretty knackered, but he IS getting through surgery. I'm so proud of him!
That's enough for now. Hope everybody is enjoying December as much as I am!
- Life insurance
- Enduring power of guardianship
- Income protection
- GO OUT AT 11 PM, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?
- Professional indemnity insurance
Words/terms that have not come up
- Mortgage
- Baby
- Retirement
But seriously...am I like...responsible now???
Just some food for thought.
On a much much much more exciting note, Jeremy and I bit the bullet and booked our flights home for May/June 2014!!!!!!! We are arriving very late (11:25 pm) on the 18th of May and leaving the 5th of June. We are ready for an awesome wedding and some good catch ups - there are so many people I won't have seen for 3+ years by that time. It's craziness. Again, too little time, but Jeremy only gets three weeks and since I'm in the private practice business now, no work = no pay. EEEEEK!
Also good news, Jeremy found out that anaesthetics (rural) doesn't actually mean he has to go somewhere rural to do his anaesthetics rotation, but it DOES mean he's been accepted into the special rural GP program. So next year he has three rotations in Adelaide (so nine months) and then one rotation outside of Adelaide, in Port Lincoln. Three months away just sounds infinitely better than six months!
What else...oh yeah, lots of random events happening. Tonight I attended book club. We had read "The White Tiger" which won the Booker prize in 2008. I quite enjoyed it and we had a good discussion. I'm excited about the next book, which is a travel story about an Australian living in France and the cultural clashes that occur! We've also decided that our book club should check out some of the Fringe events coming up in Feb-March. It's a lovely group of ladies and I'm really enjoying it. Tomorrow after work, I'm going to a Christmas BBQ at one of the aged care residences that I work at and immediately afterward meeting friends in Glenelg to see Christmas carols by the beach. Friday I'm volunteering at Leveda's Christmas dance. Jeremy is working 12-9 Wed- Fri, and then has a 14 hour shift Sunday so he'll be pretty knackered, but he IS getting through surgery. I'm so proud of him!
That's enough for now. Hope everybody is enjoying December as much as I am!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Continuing a Brisbane Tradition
This picture illustrates a now long-standing Christmas tradition that I have with my awesome friends Jen and Jess. I think the first one was possibly four years ago (?) when Jen invited us over to make Christmas cards, eat baked goodies, and drink iced tea. Every year after that, we've managed to get together to continue this tradition - even this year! (We had to do it early though, in October) The first year, my cards were pretty disastrous, but I think I've gotten the knack of it now. Jen's mum usually comes in and says "Clever girls!" Last year, we had a couple of additional faces at our little card making party: Kath (my mother-in-law), Louise, and baby Tomas! That was a lot of fun, even if I did manage to somehow explode glitter glue all over myself/my surroundings. This year, as you can see from the cards pictured above, I stayed away from the cursed glitter glue! It was back down to the three of this this year, as Kath is not in the country and Louise and Tomas have relocated to the Sunshine Coast. It will be interesting to see how long we can keep this up!
I just had to include this picture which is unrelated to card making, but makes me think that I should maybe move back to Canada as soon as I possibly can??? Hahahaha. This is last Christmas, and my parents apparently set a place at the table for Max aka replacement child. I'm so happy that Max found an extremely loving home (from people who had never owned animals before!! Their eyes have been opened!) I wonder what was actually going on in this picture. It seems like some sort of dialogue is perhaps occurring, and my dad does not look too happy. Was Max misbehaving? Hmmmm...
Alright, well it wouldn't be a typical post if I didn't include some jobs news. Just a quick one - yesterday I had my first session with a two year old boy, and today I had a 30 minute conversation with a 103 year old lady. 103!!!!! I have never met a 103 year old before...so yeah, having a conversation with someone of that age is something you don't do every day!
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Well, this is a tough gig to keep up, since I don't really have much to say. You might have noticed, I'm not *that* interesting :P Hehehe. But how about this:
Dear Leana,
We would like to congratulate you on being the successful candidate for the role of Casual Speech Pathologist, Vacancy number 521164 within SA Health.
So I had an interview last Thursday with the Aged Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative unit within the Northern Health Network. They called Grace within 20 minutes of my interview wrapping up, so I took that as a good sign, and she told me everything she said to them, so I figured it had probably gone pretty well. The only reason I applied for this position is because it's casual, so I have the possibility of working it around my current job WHICH IS AMAZING AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF LEAVING, EVER! Just kidding...well...ack, not really. Anyhow, it's nice to know that in the span of 8 months I have become a competitive candidate for hospital type jobs! After my rejections at the beginning of the year, it's a bit of an ego boost. So, we'll see what happens - everything is going super duper wonderfully fantastic with Grace right now, but if I can pick up an extra shift here or there with this casual thing, that won't hurt.
Since I seem to be on a bit a of a "yay, look at me" tangent, I will share that I received two really lovely compliments today. D is one of my clients who I have a home visit with every week. We always have a great time and I look forward to our sessions. His mum is there every session, and today she said "You really love your job, you have fun doing it, and it's contagious" and D said "Leana, it's an honour to have you as my speech therapist".
On that note - well, I can't believe it's Friday tomorrow already! Hope everyone enjoys their weekend and that we might fit some Skype sessions in :)
Dear Leana,
We would like to congratulate you on being the successful candidate for the role of Casual Speech Pathologist, Vacancy number 521164 within SA Health.
So I had an interview last Thursday with the Aged Care, Rehabilitation and Palliative unit within the Northern Health Network. They called Grace within 20 minutes of my interview wrapping up, so I took that as a good sign, and she told me everything she said to them, so I figured it had probably gone pretty well. The only reason I applied for this position is because it's casual, so I have the possibility of working it around my current job WHICH IS AMAZING AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF LEAVING, EVER! Just kidding...well...ack, not really. Anyhow, it's nice to know that in the span of 8 months I have become a competitive candidate for hospital type jobs! After my rejections at the beginning of the year, it's a bit of an ego boost. So, we'll see what happens - everything is going super duper wonderfully fantastic with Grace right now, but if I can pick up an extra shift here or there with this casual thing, that won't hurt.
Since I seem to be on a bit a of a "yay, look at me" tangent, I will share that I received two really lovely compliments today. D is one of my clients who I have a home visit with every week. We always have a great time and I look forward to our sessions. His mum is there every session, and today she said "You really love your job, you have fun doing it, and it's contagious" and D said "Leana, it's an honour to have you as my speech therapist".
On that note - well, I can't believe it's Friday tomorrow already! Hope everyone enjoys their weekend and that we might fit some Skype sessions in :)
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Awwww...
http://dysphagiacafe.com/2013/11/25/slp-inspiration-oh-to-be-able-to-talk-and-eat/
I'm posting this link because I just read it and it made my heart happy! It also goes along with my last post about my love for my job.
Speaking of posting, look at me - I'm amazing! Hahaha. I don't expect it to last too much longer, but I seem to be in a bit of a posting groove :)
The last two days have been HOT HOT HOT! 35 degrees yesterday and 37 degrees today - I almost wouldn't have even noticed except that I drove to work in my car yesterday which seems to have lost the air conditioning function. Ugh. Today I chose the other car for my drive in and it was much more pleasant! Of course, once I get to work it's nice and cool (unlike Ed Qld, where you'd be sweating in your non-climate controlled office on 39 degree days, trying not to pass out). The house right now is a little warm, but not uncomfortable.
This time last year we had the out-laws visiting! I can't believe a year has already gone by. The beginning was a little slow for me, but since getting this job time has been flying! Through the year we've always had something coming up to look forward to as well - many visits, wine tours, visiting friends in Brisbane, my big birthday bash on the sunny coast, Nicky and Rob's wedding, and smaller things like little get togethers with friends, 'family' dinners, etc etc etc. I've gone off on a tangent though! Kath and Ross had a wonderful visit (I think/hope??) and I was just thinking about how I managed to finagle 1.5 days off work to accompany them to Stradbroke with Jeremy, Wendy, Jim, Chantal and Eloise.
Despite my many proclamations of love for Adelaide/South Australia, I still think I'd have to say that Stradbroke Island is my favourite PLACE in Australia. I mean, just look at these pictures:
What more could a water baby/ocean lover want?? One place we haven't managed to see yet is Kangaroo Island, and that's definitely on the list. It will be interesting to see how it compares to the beautiful Straddie! Apparently when Jeremy is doing his GP training, he has the option of preferencing Kangaroo Island, which would be pretty cool. Wikipedia tells me it has several things to keep a tourist busy, including:
I'm posting this link because I just read it and it made my heart happy! It also goes along with my last post about my love for my job.
Speaking of posting, look at me - I'm amazing! Hahaha. I don't expect it to last too much longer, but I seem to be in a bit of a posting groove :)
The last two days have been HOT HOT HOT! 35 degrees yesterday and 37 degrees today - I almost wouldn't have even noticed except that I drove to work in my car yesterday which seems to have lost the air conditioning function. Ugh. Today I chose the other car for my drive in and it was much more pleasant! Of course, once I get to work it's nice and cool (unlike Ed Qld, where you'd be sweating in your non-climate controlled office on 39 degree days, trying not to pass out). The house right now is a little warm, but not uncomfortable.
This time last year we had the out-laws visiting! I can't believe a year has already gone by. The beginning was a little slow for me, but since getting this job time has been flying! Through the year we've always had something coming up to look forward to as well - many visits, wine tours, visiting friends in Brisbane, my big birthday bash on the sunny coast, Nicky and Rob's wedding, and smaller things like little get togethers with friends, 'family' dinners, etc etc etc. I've gone off on a tangent though! Kath and Ross had a wonderful visit (I think/hope??) and I was just thinking about how I managed to finagle 1.5 days off work to accompany them to Stradbroke with Jeremy, Wendy, Jim, Chantal and Eloise.
Despite my many proclamations of love for Adelaide/South Australia, I still think I'd have to say that Stradbroke Island is my favourite PLACE in Australia. I mean, just look at these pictures:
What more could a water baby/ocean lover want?? One place we haven't managed to see yet is Kangaroo Island, and that's definitely on the list. It will be interesting to see how it compares to the beautiful Straddie! Apparently when Jeremy is doing his GP training, he has the option of preferencing Kangaroo Island, which would be pretty cool. Wikipedia tells me it has several things to keep a tourist busy, including:
- Seal Bay with ranger guided walks among basking Australian sea lions.
- Flinders Chase National Park which includes Remarkable Rocks, Admiral's Arch, lighthouses at Cape Borda and Cape du Couedic, and multiple walking trails and camping areas.
- Cape Willoughby
- Kelly Hill Caves
- Little Sahara, huge sand dunes on the south coast.
- the lookout Mount Thisby (officially designated Prospect Hill in 2002 to honour Matthew Flinders' original naming) with a 360 degree view around the island.
- Murray Lagoon with its abundant aquatic bird life.
- Parndana Wildlife Park
- Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre (formerly Kangaroo Island Marine Centre) at Kingscote.
- Raptor Domain (In-flight bird of prey presentation and reptile show)
- The Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary koala walk and Nocturnal tour offer visitors a chance to see the local wildlife.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
BEST
This year has been such an amazing time for learning, for having no idea what the hell I'm doing, for researching, for reading, for absorbing, for asking questions, for seeking answers...
This is what I was missing in my Education Queensland job.
The constant changes in the hospital setting, the new in patients being referred every day, the fascinating out patients, the challenges of working in the aged care residences. Even the kids are different than the ones from last year - last year I worked with students referred through the school, this year I work with kids whose parents are so motivated to help them with their speech/language that they are willing to pay money!
I only started this job in April, and it's like my mind has been opened up to so many new things. I've seen people with all sorts of illnesses/conditions...the ones you would expect, such as strokes, traumatic brain injury, tumours...degenerative disesases like Parkinson's, progressive supra nuclear palsy, multiple sclerosis...issues caused by radiation therapy...bell's palsy...trigeminal neuralgia...and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I've been privileged to meet people fighting to regain their strength, mobility, swallowing capacity, speech, language...
I have the best job in the world.
This is what I was missing in my Education Queensland job.
The constant changes in the hospital setting, the new in patients being referred every day, the fascinating out patients, the challenges of working in the aged care residences. Even the kids are different than the ones from last year - last year I worked with students referred through the school, this year I work with kids whose parents are so motivated to help them with their speech/language that they are willing to pay money!
I only started this job in April, and it's like my mind has been opened up to so many new things. I've seen people with all sorts of illnesses/conditions...the ones you would expect, such as strokes, traumatic brain injury, tumours...degenerative disesases like Parkinson's, progressive supra nuclear palsy, multiple sclerosis...issues caused by radiation therapy...bell's palsy...trigeminal neuralgia...and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I've been privileged to meet people fighting to regain their strength, mobility, swallowing capacity, speech, language...
I have the best job in the world.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Just thought I'd share a couple of Adelaide related things...
This is a song Ben Folds wrote about Adelaide...aptly titled "Adelaide". He lived here for a few years with an ex-wife. Last year when Jeremy heard the news that he had a job in Adelaide, I played this on repeat while screaming/being very excited...hahaha.
http://www.salife7.com.au/adelaide/food-and-wine/shops/fork-on-the-road---food-van-gatherings
This link is about Fork on the Road, the food truck festival that I talk about ALL THE TIME. The video is filmed at a park down Port Rd, and we were definitely there that day!
I can't believe another weekend is over...next weekend we're going to the wedding of one of the interns at the QEH. Third Australian wedding!
This is a song Ben Folds wrote about Adelaide...aptly titled "Adelaide". He lived here for a few years with an ex-wife. Last year when Jeremy heard the news that he had a job in Adelaide, I played this on repeat while screaming/being very excited...hahaha.
http://www.salife7.com.au/adelaide/food-and-wine/shops/fork-on-the-road---food-van-gatherings
This link is about Fork on the Road, the food truck festival that I talk about ALL THE TIME. The video is filmed at a park down Port Rd, and we were definitely there that day!
I can't believe another weekend is over...next weekend we're going to the wedding of one of the interns at the QEH. Third Australian wedding!
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Awesome times
It feels good to be completely content with life (urgh, okay, minus giving the banks back all that student loan money!)
This weekend is a perfect example. Last night was the Griffith Rehabilitation Hospital Christmas party, and I had a fabulous time! You know things are going to be amusing when just as you're arriving you get a text from your boss which reads "Where are you?? I'm on my 4th drink!!" It was fun and spirited and nice to socialize outside of the work setting. The theme was "Christmas through the Ages" so Jeremy and I went for a 50s vibe and then accessorized with various Christmas items - a flashing LED red sparkly fedora for Jeremy, reindeer glasses complete with light up nose, flashing Christmas light earrings for me and a sparkly bow in my hair. Others pretty much ignored the "through the ages" aspect and just went full on Christmas - there were wise men, elves, santas, wreaths...and two of the nurses went as full on punks, including mohawks/crazy spiked colourful hair, denim jackets (with "God Save the Griff" on the back), ripped tights, safety pins, and hilarious attitudes and behaviour to go along with it. Jeremy had never met any of my co-workers (except Grace) but was wonderful and sociable. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and lots of them said really nice things to me and I kind of feel like part of the gang now!
This afternoon we're having a picnic on the beach and tonight one of Jeremy's co-workers is having a loungewear themed party...I'm not really sure why, but anyway, I appreciate quirky ideas. Last weekend our friend Jane had a friend visit from Brisbane. Poor Jeremy was stuck working a 14 hour shift on Saturday, but Jane invited me over to play dance games on the Wii and I liked her friend Candy instantly. The world is just full of interesting people and it makes me happy to meet some of the good ones!
Christmas plans are currently being sorted out, and at this point it looks like there will be TWO Christmas dinners - one with our friend MJ and her family, and the other with Andy, a Canadian intern who is VERY EXCITED to be making a full on Christmas dinner with turkey and all the fixins! Lisa will be spending Christmas and New Year's in Adelaide, and she and I will be taking off to Coober Pedy for a few days...we've even booked the underground hotel already! It's a long drive, but I felt that Jeremy and I didn't spend enough time there and Lisa finds the concept of an underground opal mining town fascinating, so why not??
Hmmmmmmmmmm...what else. Jeremy is a few weeks into his last rotation as an intern! It's orthopedic surgery and the hours are pretty long, but he's soldiering on through! He received his rotations for next year and is not thrilled with a few things. Looks like we'll be apart for 6 months, which is rather disappointing...also, he doesn't have an obs/gyne rotation which is a requirement for his GP program. We'll see what happens, I think he might have to figure a few things out.
So this has been a bit long and rambly without even any pictures! I better run, beach picnic awaits!
This weekend is a perfect example. Last night was the Griffith Rehabilitation Hospital Christmas party, and I had a fabulous time! You know things are going to be amusing when just as you're arriving you get a text from your boss which reads "Where are you?? I'm on my 4th drink!!" It was fun and spirited and nice to socialize outside of the work setting. The theme was "Christmas through the Ages" so Jeremy and I went for a 50s vibe and then accessorized with various Christmas items - a flashing LED red sparkly fedora for Jeremy, reindeer glasses complete with light up nose, flashing Christmas light earrings for me and a sparkly bow in my hair. Others pretty much ignored the "through the ages" aspect and just went full on Christmas - there were wise men, elves, santas, wreaths...and two of the nurses went as full on punks, including mohawks/crazy spiked colourful hair, denim jackets (with "God Save the Griff" on the back), ripped tights, safety pins, and hilarious attitudes and behaviour to go along with it. Jeremy had never met any of my co-workers (except Grace) but was wonderful and sociable. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and lots of them said really nice things to me and I kind of feel like part of the gang now!
This afternoon we're having a picnic on the beach and tonight one of Jeremy's co-workers is having a loungewear themed party...I'm not really sure why, but anyway, I appreciate quirky ideas. Last weekend our friend Jane had a friend visit from Brisbane. Poor Jeremy was stuck working a 14 hour shift on Saturday, but Jane invited me over to play dance games on the Wii and I liked her friend Candy instantly. The world is just full of interesting people and it makes me happy to meet some of the good ones!
Christmas plans are currently being sorted out, and at this point it looks like there will be TWO Christmas dinners - one with our friend MJ and her family, and the other with Andy, a Canadian intern who is VERY EXCITED to be making a full on Christmas dinner with turkey and all the fixins! Lisa will be spending Christmas and New Year's in Adelaide, and she and I will be taking off to Coober Pedy for a few days...we've even booked the underground hotel already! It's a long drive, but I felt that Jeremy and I didn't spend enough time there and Lisa finds the concept of an underground opal mining town fascinating, so why not??
Hmmmmmmmmmm...what else. Jeremy is a few weeks into his last rotation as an intern! It's orthopedic surgery and the hours are pretty long, but he's soldiering on through! He received his rotations for next year and is not thrilled with a few things. Looks like we'll be apart for 6 months, which is rather disappointing...also, he doesn't have an obs/gyne rotation which is a requirement for his GP program. We'll see what happens, I think he might have to figure a few things out.
So this has been a bit long and rambly without even any pictures! I better run, beach picnic awaits!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Number 9
http://m.afr.com/p/national/adelaide_makes_lonely_planet_top_zblkFJOd0mOLxx5JgWTyFP
The link posted above contains an article about how the Lonely Planet has ranked Adelaide as the number 9 city IN THE WORLD to visit in 2014.
Jeremy and I both adore Adelaide. It's not for everyone, but coming from Ottawa (which is a similar size) I think we both appreciate a 'smaller' big city. I thought I would reflect on what I have come to love about Adelaide in the last 10 months...
- It's known as the city of festivals. Festivals are fantastic. A couple of weeks ago, there was a weekend long CHEESEFEST. Honestly. Really? Yes. In March, the Adelaide Fringe Festival occurs and the city is transformed. Fringe and Cheesefest are only two of the amazing festivals this city has to offer.
- 20 minute bike ride to the beach. As in, the ocean. Jeremy and I cycled there last weekend on a 29 degree day, had a swim, and then had a drink at a restaurant with a patio overlooking the ocean. It was like a tropical vacation...A 20 MINUTE BIKE RIDE FROM OUR HOUSE. Oh and also, it's flat, which makes the bike riding much more enjoyable in my opinion.
- Related to last post - we BIKED on a 29 degree day. In Brisbane, this would be horrendous (I'm sorry Brisbane, I do love you - particularly your amazing people - but I just can't deal with your humidity) but in Adelaide...it was PLEASANT. Dry, desert heat. It's bloody amazing.
- Food truck festival. I think that covers that.
- Surrounded by wine regions that are among the best in the world. Most notably the Barossa and Clare Valley...but my favourite is McLaren Vale, and we can't forget the Adelaide Hills.
- The markets are wonderful. The one on Sunday even has cheese curds. Real ones.
- Daylight savings!!!!!!! In the summer, it stays light until after 9 pm. I missed this. It makes me happy.
- It's known as the '20 minute city' because getting from point a to point b generally takes 20 minutes or less.
- Harris Scarfe, my new favourite department store. Really nice, good quality stuff and it's usually on sale!
- The DFO (direct factory outlet) aka Harbourtown aka outlet shopping centre is ON MY WAY TO WORK. Oooh, speaking of which, usually DFOs are beside airports, this one included. The Adelaide airport is basically in the middle of the city. So convenient!!
- It also helps that I absolutely love my job, which contributes to my overall positive feelings for this city. But even when I was jobless and sad, I could still see the awesome.
So...yay for an underrated city which Australians often make fun of making it on to such a list - however, some Adelaidians are smart enough to know that being underrated is not the worst thing and they want to keep the amazingness secret. I feel I must apologize to those people, since I have let the cat out of the bag to the 6 people that read this!
The link posted above contains an article about how the Lonely Planet has ranked Adelaide as the number 9 city IN THE WORLD to visit in 2014.
Jeremy and I both adore Adelaide. It's not for everyone, but coming from Ottawa (which is a similar size) I think we both appreciate a 'smaller' big city. I thought I would reflect on what I have come to love about Adelaide in the last 10 months...
- It's known as the city of festivals. Festivals are fantastic. A couple of weeks ago, there was a weekend long CHEESEFEST. Honestly. Really? Yes. In March, the Adelaide Fringe Festival occurs and the city is transformed. Fringe and Cheesefest are only two of the amazing festivals this city has to offer.
- 20 minute bike ride to the beach. As in, the ocean. Jeremy and I cycled there last weekend on a 29 degree day, had a swim, and then had a drink at a restaurant with a patio overlooking the ocean. It was like a tropical vacation...A 20 MINUTE BIKE RIDE FROM OUR HOUSE. Oh and also, it's flat, which makes the bike riding much more enjoyable in my opinion.
- Related to last post - we BIKED on a 29 degree day. In Brisbane, this would be horrendous (I'm sorry Brisbane, I do love you - particularly your amazing people - but I just can't deal with your humidity) but in Adelaide...it was PLEASANT. Dry, desert heat. It's bloody amazing.
- Food truck festival. I think that covers that.
- Surrounded by wine regions that are among the best in the world. Most notably the Barossa and Clare Valley...but my favourite is McLaren Vale, and we can't forget the Adelaide Hills.
- The markets are wonderful. The one on Sunday even has cheese curds. Real ones.
- Daylight savings!!!!!!! In the summer, it stays light until after 9 pm. I missed this. It makes me happy.
- It's known as the '20 minute city' because getting from point a to point b generally takes 20 minutes or less.
- Harris Scarfe, my new favourite department store. Really nice, good quality stuff and it's usually on sale!
- The DFO (direct factory outlet) aka Harbourtown aka outlet shopping centre is ON MY WAY TO WORK. Oooh, speaking of which, usually DFOs are beside airports, this one included. The Adelaide airport is basically in the middle of the city. So convenient!!
- It also helps that I absolutely love my job, which contributes to my overall positive feelings for this city. But even when I was jobless and sad, I could still see the awesome.
So...yay for an underrated city which Australians often make fun of making it on to such a list - however, some Adelaidians are smart enough to know that being underrated is not the worst thing and they want to keep the amazingness secret. I feel I must apologize to those people, since I have let the cat out of the bag to the 6 people that read this!
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Est-ce que tu as peur des mechants esprits?
I totally suck at updating this thing lately. No excuses, really...must try to be better at it.
Hm, well exciting news for me is that Jeremy and I are planning to visit Canada in May for D'Arcy's wedding! By that time it will have been almost 3 years since I've been home, which has gone by very quickly but is a fairly significant amount of time. I'm really hoping to stay in the Ottawa area and just have people come to ME...we'll see what happens.
Halloween was more exciting than I imagined it would be. I received a surprise Halloween package in the mail from the lovely Erin, which totally made my day/week! We put up the decorations in the house, and I wore a Halloween bandanna to work. I hunted for Halloween cookie cutters but was unsuccessful and had to settle for making witches fingers, as pictured below. I made several dozen and distributed them amongst the nurses, OTs, physios, admin staff, and kitchen staff. Some people couldn't bring themselves to try them because they looked too gory, but I had one or two and thought they were pretty tasty.
I was a little sad because the RMO society a Jeremy's work was throwing a Halloween party but I had already committed to volunteering on the same evening. Volunteering involved driving some of Leveda's clients (an organization who supports people with disabilities) to their monthly disco/dance. As it was Halloween themed, I decided to put together a costume and enjoy myself even though I wished fiercely that I could be going to the hospital party. Lo and behold, the volunteer coordinator got in touch with me the afternoon of the dance and said that the people I was going to be taking were actually attending a birthday party instead!!!! I was extremely happy. Later that night, I walked over to the hospital in my sushi costume (no picture because neither Jeremy nor I thought to take one, and though there were many taken on the night by various people I have yet to see one). The RMO lounge at the hospital had been spookily decorated and there were lots of people in the Halloween spirit, which made me happy. AND - believe it or not, I WON the first prize for best costume!! I enjoyed the appreciation, as I made the costume myself, which included a few hours of cutting, stuffing and hand-stitching a fish...so yay for me, $50 gift card for a fancy French restaurant in the city :)
Lots more to post about - I'll try to be better!!
Hm, well exciting news for me is that Jeremy and I are planning to visit Canada in May for D'Arcy's wedding! By that time it will have been almost 3 years since I've been home, which has gone by very quickly but is a fairly significant amount of time. I'm really hoping to stay in the Ottawa area and just have people come to ME...we'll see what happens.
Halloween was more exciting than I imagined it would be. I received a surprise Halloween package in the mail from the lovely Erin, which totally made my day/week! We put up the decorations in the house, and I wore a Halloween bandanna to work. I hunted for Halloween cookie cutters but was unsuccessful and had to settle for making witches fingers, as pictured below. I made several dozen and distributed them amongst the nurses, OTs, physios, admin staff, and kitchen staff. Some people couldn't bring themselves to try them because they looked too gory, but I had one or two and thought they were pretty tasty.
I was a little sad because the RMO society a Jeremy's work was throwing a Halloween party but I had already committed to volunteering on the same evening. Volunteering involved driving some of Leveda's clients (an organization who supports people with disabilities) to their monthly disco/dance. As it was Halloween themed, I decided to put together a costume and enjoy myself even though I wished fiercely that I could be going to the hospital party. Lo and behold, the volunteer coordinator got in touch with me the afternoon of the dance and said that the people I was going to be taking were actually attending a birthday party instead!!!! I was extremely happy. Later that night, I walked over to the hospital in my sushi costume (no picture because neither Jeremy nor I thought to take one, and though there were many taken on the night by various people I have yet to see one). The RMO lounge at the hospital had been spookily decorated and there were lots of people in the Halloween spirit, which made me happy. AND - believe it or not, I WON the first prize for best costume!! I enjoyed the appreciation, as I made the costume myself, which included a few hours of cutting, stuffing and hand-stitching a fish...so yay for me, $50 gift card for a fancy French restaurant in the city :)
Lots more to post about - I'll try to be better!!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
My first post as a 30 year old!
Please note, I have been trying to post this for ages but the blog site has been giving me trouble. Grrr!
What can I say, so far being 30 has been incredibly fun! We flew to Brisbane the evening of my birthday and spent the weekend at the 'Breakfree Grand Pacific' resort in Caloundra. I was pleasantly surprised by our apartment, which we were sharing with four friends. It was a huge apartment with a spiral staircase up to our private roof top area, which contained a hot tub, BBQ and lovely ocean views. The apartment itself had several balconies looking out to the ocean, and we were on the very top floor. Other good friends had rented another 3 bedroom apartment in one of the smaller towers. My amazing friends Jen and Jess had gone decoration shopping and picked up all sorts of exciting stuff, and Lisa and Kim arrived with some awesome helium balloons to add to the overall décor! It was really just a great time with friends, spent laughing, chatting, relaxing by/in the pool, being amazed by Billy's cleverness, and soaking in the gorgeous weather.
After a fabulous weekend celebrating yours truly, I headed off to Hervey Bay with Lisa and Kim for a couple of days. Life is difficult when you live on a resort in Hervey Bay. Look out the living room window, you have a great view of the marina. Walk a few steps out the back door, you're at the pool. With the weather in the 30s for pretty much the entire week I was in Qld, I tried to make a point of getting in the water as much as humanly possible. I also had the chance to catch up with Sean, Louise, and Tomas and see their place in Sippy Downs or 'The Big Sip' as the hip people call it. I had to make sure to get enough Tomas cuddles to last me awhile, since I'm not sure when I'll next have a chance to see them.
Now comes the super hectic part, starting with my first Australian hen's night - and the only one I've been to other than my own!! I had missed the beginning and caught up with the girls at a private karaoke function...they had been celebrating for several hours already and were definitely having a good time. Nicky's amazing sister Emily planned the whole thing, and refused any offers of money to help pay for drinks, shirts (labelling us the 'bride's minions), or anything else, insisting that she had saved up to give Nicky a memorable night out. Nicky's mum, grandmother, and aunt were present for the festivities and lasted until midnight! I spoke with her mother at the wedding, who revealed that work the next day was one of the worst days of her life. Her grandmother and aunt were luckier - they were visiting from England and had no commitments the next day. After a loud and boisterous karaoke session, we walked for about one minute to a pub in the middle of the Queen Street Mall. Nicky's husband-to-be and the best man met up with us, which I thought was lovely. He's in the army and they are often apart for long stretches, and he just wanted to spend as much time with her as he could....awwwwwwwww. I love this couple :)
As for the wedding, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The weather cooperated, the venue was beautiful, there was a photo booth with props, there were board games that you could take to play at your table during the reception, and I had a bunch of speechies at my table. All ingredients for an excellent time. And of course, I was truly happy for Nicky and Rob because they are both awesome, fun, smart, cool people and it's so great to attend the wedding of two people who really are perfect for each other.
What can I say, so far being 30 has been incredibly fun! We flew to Brisbane the evening of my birthday and spent the weekend at the 'Breakfree Grand Pacific' resort in Caloundra. I was pleasantly surprised by our apartment, which we were sharing with four friends. It was a huge apartment with a spiral staircase up to our private roof top area, which contained a hot tub, BBQ and lovely ocean views. The apartment itself had several balconies looking out to the ocean, and we were on the very top floor. Other good friends had rented another 3 bedroom apartment in one of the smaller towers. My amazing friends Jen and Jess had gone decoration shopping and picked up all sorts of exciting stuff, and Lisa and Kim arrived with some awesome helium balloons to add to the overall décor! It was really just a great time with friends, spent laughing, chatting, relaxing by/in the pool, being amazed by Billy's cleverness, and soaking in the gorgeous weather.
After a fabulous weekend celebrating yours truly, I headed off to Hervey Bay with Lisa and Kim for a couple of days. Life is difficult when you live on a resort in Hervey Bay. Look out the living room window, you have a great view of the marina. Walk a few steps out the back door, you're at the pool. With the weather in the 30s for pretty much the entire week I was in Qld, I tried to make a point of getting in the water as much as humanly possible. I also had the chance to catch up with Sean, Louise, and Tomas and see their place in Sippy Downs or 'The Big Sip' as the hip people call it. I had to make sure to get enough Tomas cuddles to last me awhile, since I'm not sure when I'll next have a chance to see them.
Now comes the super hectic part, starting with my first Australian hen's night - and the only one I've been to other than my own!! I had missed the beginning and caught up with the girls at a private karaoke function...they had been celebrating for several hours already and were definitely having a good time. Nicky's amazing sister Emily planned the whole thing, and refused any offers of money to help pay for drinks, shirts (labelling us the 'bride's minions), or anything else, insisting that she had saved up to give Nicky a memorable night out. Nicky's mum, grandmother, and aunt were present for the festivities and lasted until midnight! I spoke with her mother at the wedding, who revealed that work the next day was one of the worst days of her life. Her grandmother and aunt were luckier - they were visiting from England and had no commitments the next day. After a loud and boisterous karaoke session, we walked for about one minute to a pub in the middle of the Queen Street Mall. Nicky's husband-to-be and the best man met up with us, which I thought was lovely. He's in the army and they are often apart for long stretches, and he just wanted to spend as much time with her as he could....awwwwwwwww. I love this couple :)
As for the wedding, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The weather cooperated, the venue was beautiful, there was a photo booth with props, there were board games that you could take to play at your table during the reception, and I had a bunch of speechies at my table. All ingredients for an excellent time. And of course, I was truly happy for Nicky and Rob because they are both awesome, fun, smart, cool people and it's so great to attend the wedding of two people who really are perfect for each other.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Life lately
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Finding joy in the little things. I stopped for a coffee and was delighted with this fish design.
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One afternoon after finishing up at a nursing home, I decided to stop and read. Drove for a couple of minutes and ended up here. Lovely!
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Sean, Louise and Tomas had an action packed few days in Adelaide. Among the many things we got up to - Sausage BBQ, touring McLaren Vale, the Wheatsheaf, touring the Adelaide Hills, browsing the Adelaide Central Markets, oyster bar, Glenelg, Grange, Dumpling King. It was amazing to me that a one year old happily embarked on these adventures. Tomas is a joy to be around - such a smiley/giggly boy and so easygoing. In the first of the two pictures, he's amusing himself (and the rest of us) by licking a lemon while we ate oysters (I tried them for the first time EVER...I even had TWO...and I didn't die). You can see in the background that we were overlooking the ocean and at one point there was a dolphin briefly frolicking right in the harbour. On our trip to the beach, he gravitated towards the water and absolutely loved splashing around and playing in the sand. The weather was incredibly cooperative for their whole stay and we had a fantastic time :)
Thursday, September 19, 2013
"Just a GP?"
This is a question that Jeremy has had to answer a few times, and he gets a little frustrated. I came across this blog post, and it seems to outline all the reasons why this question could be irritating and a little insulting!
From http://nomadicgp.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/are-you-going-to-be-a-specialist-or-just-a-gp/
“Are you going to be a specialist? Or just a GP?”
As a medical student and junior doctor in my hospital training years, I was often asked this question by friends, senior doctors and well meaning patients. It really grated on me, that one little word: “just”.
I always thought I’d become a GP. As a teenager, I was inspired to study medicine by my own GP who had always looked after my family with such care and compassion. As I went through my training I dabbled with the idea of other specialties; I was fascinating by the life stories of my geriatric patients, I loved the cute-factor of paediatrics, I was hooked on the emotional highs and lows of obstetrics, I enjoyed the team atmosphere of the emergency department. But I think, deep down, that I always knew I liked ALL of medicine too much and that above all I wanted to make a meaningful difference to my patients’ lives. For me, GP was the obvious choice.
Nowadays, when I tell people that I’m a GP, they ask instead “So are you going to specialise in anything?” They don’t seem to understand that I HAVE already specialised. I’ve specialised in General Practice (and GP obstetrics) by doing an additional 4 years of training on top of my medical degree and internship. I am officially registered with the Australian Medical Board as a “Specialist General Practitioner”. This has been a conscious decision; I haven’t just become a GP by default.
So to be asked these sorts of questions always seems so unfair. It implies that ”GP” and “specialist” are two diametrically opposed alternatives, and that GP is the lessor of the two. If you’re smart, ambitious, passionate and successful you become a specialist. If you can’t get into anything else or if you want the easy option you become a GP. It’s seen as a back-up option, not as a worthwhile career in itself.
The specialist vs “just a GP” dichotomy also perpetuates the idea that GPs are not “experts” in their own right; that GPs are the amateur doctors that do the easy bits of all the other specialties and then refer on when it gets too complicated.
I’d like to dispel that myth. GPs ARE experts. We are the expert in each and every one of our patients.
We are also the experts in:
So where do all these negative attitudes come from? Unfortunately some hospital doctors perpetuate these views. They refer to General Practice dismissively as “coughs, colds and sore holes” or (particularly for female GPs) “tears and smears”. I have heard some specialists loudly criticise GPs for not knowing everything that they know about their chosen field, apparently unable to appreciate the enormous breadth of knowledge they have in other areas.
Once I even heard my university professor talk to our class about a high achieving doctor that he had gone through med school with, saying “She had so much potential, she could have been a professor of medicine. It was such a waste that she chose a career in General Practice”.
Even though the overwhelming majority of health care happens in the primary health care sector, the lion’s share of university and junior doctor teaching is done in hospitals by specialists, so it’s hardly surprising that many of our hospital counterparts have such inaccurate views of General Practice.
Admittedly, not all GPs are great teachers, and a GP rotation spent sitting in a corner of a consulting room is not likely to leave a good impression on the student. The subtleties and intricacies of a GP consult are not well appreciated by watching (or snoozing) in the background. Perhaps, as teachers, we could be doing better.
Here’s the thing. Any doctor who thinks that General Practice is easy has clearly never tried it themselves.
The reality is that General Practice is an enormously rewarding, challenging and varied career and that no two days are ever the same. We have no idea what is going to walk through our door next and it could be anything from an infant with a fever, a pregnant lady with pre-eclampsia, an elderly patient with new onset AF, a young man suffering with crippling anxiety, a parent grieving the death of a child to a full-blown heart attack. And all of these medical conditions come with added layers of complexity from the patient’s personality factors, social circumstances, family situation, expectations, medical co-morbidities, values and beliefs.
Many of us have also chosen to pursue further training in sub-specialised areas, eg obstetrics, anaesthetics, surgery, emergency medicine, aboriginal health, dermatology, paediatrics, sexual health, addiction medicine, medical education and many more. I may be in the clinic one day, and the next be performing an emergency caesarean section, or resuscitating a newborn. Really, the depth and breadth of work that we can pursue as GPs is unrivaled – and we are incredibly lucky in this respect.
So not only do we have to be able to initially manage every single symptom and medical condition imaginable, we have to be able to do it without a full suite of investigation tools, without easy access to allied health and other specialists and all within an allocated time slot of 10-15 minutes. What’s more we are not managing that patient just for that episode of illness (or until we can turf them to another team), rather we are caring for their overall health and well being in the short, medium and longer term.
Don’t get me wrong. I have a huge appreciation for my specialist (? partialist) colleagues. In particular I am grateful for the depth of knowledge and skills that they have in their niche area that I could never hope to achieve. I know that they, too, want the best outcomes for our patients and that the system works best when we all work together.
However, I’d really like for people to stop asking “are you going to be a specialist, or just a GP?” and instead to enquire “What type of doctor are you going to be?”. It’s up to all of us to change the conversation and give General Practice the respect and prestige it deserves, so that medical career choices can be seen to be more like this:
There is reason for optimism. The General Practice Student Network has over 60% of medical students as members and is doing great work to be a shining light of General Practice amidst the loud voices of hospital medicine. Also, applications to Australian General Practice Training are becoming more and more competitive. This year there were over 2000 applicants for only 1200 training places and eventually this will help to change the perception of GP as an easy back-up option if Plan A doesn’t work out.
The growing online presence of passionate GPs on social media can only help to spread the word about what we believe is the best job in the world. Check out blog posts from notjustagp.com, kidocs.org and greengp.wordpress.com on what they love about General Practice. For those of us who supervise medical students, we have the perfect opportunity to share our passion with the next generation by getting them involved in not just watching, but doing. I encourage you to let them sit in the big chair, and seat yourself in the corner so you can learn something from them, too.
To my patients: I know you may never understand the intricacies of medical training, but I want you to know that out of all the career paths on offer, I chose to be your GP; to be the person that you turn to in your time of need, to see you as a whole person and not just a diseased organ, and to be the one who helps guide you to health and wellness. I hope you know that I feel truly privileged to be your doctor.
In answer to the original question, no I’m not “just” a GP. I’m a broadly-skilled, sub-specialised, expert GP, providing a damn fine health service to my patients and my community. And I absolutely love it.
From http://nomadicgp.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/are-you-going-to-be-a-specialist-or-just-a-gp/
“Are you going to be a specialist? Or just a GP?”
As a medical student and junior doctor in my hospital training years, I was often asked this question by friends, senior doctors and well meaning patients. It really grated on me, that one little word: “just”.
I always thought I’d become a GP. As a teenager, I was inspired to study medicine by my own GP who had always looked after my family with such care and compassion. As I went through my training I dabbled with the idea of other specialties; I was fascinating by the life stories of my geriatric patients, I loved the cute-factor of paediatrics, I was hooked on the emotional highs and lows of obstetrics, I enjoyed the team atmosphere of the emergency department. But I think, deep down, that I always knew I liked ALL of medicine too much and that above all I wanted to make a meaningful difference to my patients’ lives. For me, GP was the obvious choice.
Nowadays, when I tell people that I’m a GP, they ask instead “So are you going to specialise in anything?” They don’t seem to understand that I HAVE already specialised. I’ve specialised in General Practice (and GP obstetrics) by doing an additional 4 years of training on top of my medical degree and internship. I am officially registered with the Australian Medical Board as a “Specialist General Practitioner”. This has been a conscious decision; I haven’t just become a GP by default.
So to be asked these sorts of questions always seems so unfair. It implies that ”GP” and “specialist” are two diametrically opposed alternatives, and that GP is the lessor of the two. If you’re smart, ambitious, passionate and successful you become a specialist. If you can’t get into anything else or if you want the easy option you become a GP. It’s seen as a back-up option, not as a worthwhile career in itself.
The specialist vs “just a GP” dichotomy also perpetuates the idea that GPs are not “experts” in their own right; that GPs are the amateur doctors that do the easy bits of all the other specialties and then refer on when it gets too complicated.
I’d like to dispel that myth. GPs ARE experts. We are the expert in each and every one of our patients.
We are also the experts in:
- Preventative medicine
- Undifferentiated illness
- Chronic disease management
- Complex multi-comorbidity
- Judicious use of finite medical resources
- Coordination of the health care team
So where do all these negative attitudes come from? Unfortunately some hospital doctors perpetuate these views. They refer to General Practice dismissively as “coughs, colds and sore holes” or (particularly for female GPs) “tears and smears”. I have heard some specialists loudly criticise GPs for not knowing everything that they know about their chosen field, apparently unable to appreciate the enormous breadth of knowledge they have in other areas.
Once I even heard my university professor talk to our class about a high achieving doctor that he had gone through med school with, saying “She had so much potential, she could have been a professor of medicine. It was such a waste that she chose a career in General Practice”.
Even though the overwhelming majority of health care happens in the primary health care sector, the lion’s share of university and junior doctor teaching is done in hospitals by specialists, so it’s hardly surprising that many of our hospital counterparts have such inaccurate views of General Practice.
Admittedly, not all GPs are great teachers, and a GP rotation spent sitting in a corner of a consulting room is not likely to leave a good impression on the student. The subtleties and intricacies of a GP consult are not well appreciated by watching (or snoozing) in the background. Perhaps, as teachers, we could be doing better.
Here’s the thing. Any doctor who thinks that General Practice is easy has clearly never tried it themselves.
The reality is that General Practice is an enormously rewarding, challenging and varied career and that no two days are ever the same. We have no idea what is going to walk through our door next and it could be anything from an infant with a fever, a pregnant lady with pre-eclampsia, an elderly patient with new onset AF, a young man suffering with crippling anxiety, a parent grieving the death of a child to a full-blown heart attack. And all of these medical conditions come with added layers of complexity from the patient’s personality factors, social circumstances, family situation, expectations, medical co-morbidities, values and beliefs.
Many of us have also chosen to pursue further training in sub-specialised areas, eg obstetrics, anaesthetics, surgery, emergency medicine, aboriginal health, dermatology, paediatrics, sexual health, addiction medicine, medical education and many more. I may be in the clinic one day, and the next be performing an emergency caesarean section, or resuscitating a newborn. Really, the depth and breadth of work that we can pursue as GPs is unrivaled – and we are incredibly lucky in this respect.
So not only do we have to be able to initially manage every single symptom and medical condition imaginable, we have to be able to do it without a full suite of investigation tools, without easy access to allied health and other specialists and all within an allocated time slot of 10-15 minutes. What’s more we are not managing that patient just for that episode of illness (or until we can turf them to another team), rather we are caring for their overall health and well being in the short, medium and longer term.
Don’t get me wrong. I have a huge appreciation for my specialist (? partialist) colleagues. In particular I am grateful for the depth of knowledge and skills that they have in their niche area that I could never hope to achieve. I know that they, too, want the best outcomes for our patients and that the system works best when we all work together.
However, I’d really like for people to stop asking “are you going to be a specialist, or just a GP?” and instead to enquire “What type of doctor are you going to be?”. It’s up to all of us to change the conversation and give General Practice the respect and prestige it deserves, so that medical career choices can be seen to be more like this:
There is reason for optimism. The General Practice Student Network has over 60% of medical students as members and is doing great work to be a shining light of General Practice amidst the loud voices of hospital medicine. Also, applications to Australian General Practice Training are becoming more and more competitive. This year there were over 2000 applicants for only 1200 training places and eventually this will help to change the perception of GP as an easy back-up option if Plan A doesn’t work out.
The growing online presence of passionate GPs on social media can only help to spread the word about what we believe is the best job in the world. Check out blog posts from notjustagp.com, kidocs.org and greengp.wordpress.com on what they love about General Practice. For those of us who supervise medical students, we have the perfect opportunity to share our passion with the next generation by getting them involved in not just watching, but doing. I encourage you to let them sit in the big chair, and seat yourself in the corner so you can learn something from them, too.
To my patients: I know you may never understand the intricacies of medical training, but I want you to know that out of all the career paths on offer, I chose to be your GP; to be the person that you turn to in your time of need, to see you as a whole person and not just a diseased organ, and to be the one who helps guide you to health and wellness. I hope you know that I feel truly privileged to be your doctor.
In answer to the original question, no I’m not “just” a GP. I’m a broadly-skilled, sub-specialised, expert GP, providing a damn fine health service to my patients and my community. And I absolutely love it.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Perfect weekend days and perfect work days
With the arrival of spring has come a spate of warm, sunny, beautiful weather. Two weekends in a row it has been gorgeous and we have taken advantage of this, which makes me quite happy! The perfect weekend day: sleep in, quick breakfast, bike ride to the beach, iced coffee from the server who remembers us from last weekend, drink iced coffee on the beach, bike ride home, lunch with friends, chilled out afternoon/evening reading while Jeremy plays video games. Remember how I said we were old now? Yeah. A very different 'perfect weekend' description than five years ago!
I have also perfected my work day. The ideal work day consists of seeing approximately six patients. I often have fairly long gaps of time between appointments, and I have discovered that there is a Goodlife gym (of which I am a member) less than five minutes away from my work. On Mondays, I typically have a two hour gap, which is an excellent time to get a workout in, then use the STEAM ROOM, and finally have a shower and get all cleaned up for work. I could also use this time to read on the beach, since my work is also about five minutes away from the beautiful ocean front.
Yeah. Life is good.
Some of Jeremy's pics from Melbourne/Great Ocean Rd (in no particular order):
I have also perfected my work day. The ideal work day consists of seeing approximately six patients. I often have fairly long gaps of time between appointments, and I have discovered that there is a Goodlife gym (of which I am a member) less than five minutes away from my work. On Mondays, I typically have a two hour gap, which is an excellent time to get a workout in, then use the STEAM ROOM, and finally have a shower and get all cleaned up for work. I could also use this time to read on the beach, since my work is also about five minutes away from the beautiful ocean front.
Yeah. Life is good.
Some of Jeremy's pics from Melbourne/Great Ocean Rd (in no particular order):
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| Windy, hailing, raining, and freezing at the Twelve Apostles |
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| Cool underground cave/garden thing in Mt Gambier. |
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| Found a moose with Adrian and Louise |
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| Our view of the Twelve Apostles. Jeremy is rather concerned that his fancy phone is going to blow out of my hand and be flung into the ocean. |
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| Canadians with the moose |
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| Sombreros, fishbowl margaritas, and friends! |
Friday, September 6, 2013
The Great Ocean Road...kind of
I was beginning to be mighty cranky at blogspot because I've been trying to post these pics for awhile now, and finally it has magically worked! This is Blue Lake in Mt Gambier.
There are more pictures (obviously needed to get the 12 Apostles, etc) but they're on Jeremy's phone and I can't access them. C'est dommage!
So, Sunday was absolutely filled with driving! We stopped for Glick's bagels before heading out of Melbourne. Listening to the GPS got us a little lost just outside of Melbourne, which was quite inconvenient since we had a bazillion hours of driving ahead, but we made the best of it. I had been warned that the Great Ocean Rd is very twisty-turny, and that is not a joke! I never get car sick, motion sick, any sort of stomach sick really, but the constant curves actually did make me feel fairly nauseated. We didn't really stop in any of the lovely little towns on the way, because the weather wasn't great and we really did need to get back to Adelaide so that I could make it to work on Monday. This was a shame, and I feel that I need to return to really do it justice. Anyone thinking of driving the Great Ocean Rd, take heed - I think you need *at least* 3 days to do it properly. We made it to the 12 Apostles - it was raining, freezing (like literally - it was about 0C) and HAILING...and the wind was whipping hail into our faces, which was awesome...definitely had a memorable experience! Once we had done that, we still had to face several hours more of driving, but without the scenery and (thankfully) the twisty windy roads. We made it to Adelaide at about 11 pm - I think we are both done with driving 'holidays' for awhile now!!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Short but sweet in Melbourne
Once we actually made it to Melbourne, we had the chance to catch up with my speechie friend Jody. She's a Brisbane girl (Gold Coast hinterlands, actually) but decided to make a change and move to the big city of Melbourne. Now she has an amazing job, and a great boyfriend, and seems to be living the dream! After sitting through gazillions of intern conversations, it was so awesome to have a speechie talk! Jody's work is fairly similar to mine - she goes around to several aged care residences and does swallowing assessments, some communication therapy, and in-services for staff. She has also recently been accredited to a couple of private hospitals. We arrived at Jody and Matt's place and sat down for a quick drink while deciding between a few dinner options. Mexican won out, and so we went to Taco Bill's for yummy food, fishbowl drinks, and free sombreros. Trying to get a taxi back to the house was a bit of a chore, compounded by gale force COLD winds, which made Jeremy feel like he was back in Canada. We finally managed to secure a taxi and then proceeded to stay up way too late talking and talking and talking and talking.
The next day, we headed into the Melbourne CBD for some wandering around aimlessly. I was obsessed with finding this Japanese store where everything is $2.80 and once we did that, I was happy to do anything! We ended up taking a walk to the Victoria Markets, where I found a Team Canada hockey jersey for $30. Our time in the CBD was much too short, but we had to get back to the car before the meter ran out because receiving a parking ticket would have been rather unfortunate. We decided to head to our hotel to rest up before meeting with some more friends for dinner. We were staying in St Kilda, in what turned out to be a very Jewish area of the city. Apparently Melbourne has the third largest Jewish population in the world, after Israel and NYC. This was lucky for us, because it meant REAL BAGELS!!! We very excitedly took our bagels with brisket and pickles to our hotel and devoured them. Jeremy was (surprise surprise) quite looking forward to his nap, and I wanted to go for a swim in the indoor pool and do some reading. Disappointment: the pool was closed or renovations - annoying when that is one of the main reasons you book a hotel! Grrrrr. Oh well.
We got ourselves prettied up and met our friend Louise at the 'Transport Bar'. It was hopping on a Saturday night. We stayed for a drink and decided to head to Little Collins St for dinner. We had a delicious Italian dinner - but I can't remember the name of the restaurant! Oops. Another friend, Adrian, found us here and we continued on to attempt a 'bar hop' of classy Melbourne venues. Sadly, we realized that we really are getting much too old for this! The places were nice, and had beautiful elaborate decorations and lots of character...but it was sooooo loud! Our attempt ended before midnight and we were quite excited about just getting back to the hotel and going to sleep! Ack. The next day would be filled with never ending driving...
The next day, we headed into the Melbourne CBD for some wandering around aimlessly. I was obsessed with finding this Japanese store where everything is $2.80 and once we did that, I was happy to do anything! We ended up taking a walk to the Victoria Markets, where I found a Team Canada hockey jersey for $30. Our time in the CBD was much too short, but we had to get back to the car before the meter ran out because receiving a parking ticket would have been rather unfortunate. We decided to head to our hotel to rest up before meeting with some more friends for dinner. We were staying in St Kilda, in what turned out to be a very Jewish area of the city. Apparently Melbourne has the third largest Jewish population in the world, after Israel and NYC. This was lucky for us, because it meant REAL BAGELS!!! We very excitedly took our bagels with brisket and pickles to our hotel and devoured them. Jeremy was (surprise surprise) quite looking forward to his nap, and I wanted to go for a swim in the indoor pool and do some reading. Disappointment: the pool was closed or renovations - annoying when that is one of the main reasons you book a hotel! Grrrrr. Oh well.
We got ourselves prettied up and met our friend Louise at the 'Transport Bar'. It was hopping on a Saturday night. We stayed for a drink and decided to head to Little Collins St for dinner. We had a delicious Italian dinner - but I can't remember the name of the restaurant! Oops. Another friend, Adrian, found us here and we continued on to attempt a 'bar hop' of classy Melbourne venues. Sadly, we realized that we really are getting much too old for this! The places were nice, and had beautiful elaborate decorations and lots of character...but it was sooooo loud! Our attempt ended before midnight and we were quite excited about just getting back to the hotel and going to sleep! Ack. The next day would be filled with never ending driving...
Thursday, August 29, 2013
A ridiculous endeavour
Jeremy recently had two weeks holidays, which he intended to spend pretty much relaxing and playing video games. We discussed going on a little trip to take advantage of this time off and decided to head to Melbourne, a mere hour and fifteen minute flight from Adelaide. I was looking up flights, which are quite inexpensive, when Jeremy uttered the words "You know, I'd really like to drive." He explained his reasoning, and I had no disagreement - everything seemed quite reasonable to me. I only had to take one day off work. We would leave Thursday afternoon, spend the night in Mount Gambier and then continue on to Melbourne the next day. We would stay with my friend Jody Friday night and then meet up with some other Melbourne friends on Saturday. Sunday we would spend driving home. I don't know why we thought this sounded like a decent idea...let me tell you what it turned into: 8 MILLION HOURS OF DRIVING and approximately 15 waking hours spent in Melbourne. WHY??? We arrived in Mt Gambier at around 8:30 pm. We had a delicious Thai dinner, so I really can't complain about that. At 8:30 the next morning, we were served a complimentary hot breakfast in our room, so that wasn't too shabby either. We thought we should probably go out and actually see some of Mt Gambier, so we made our way to Blue Lake.
Mount Gambier is the second most populous city in South Australia with an urban population of 24,905.
Located on the slopes of the mountain of the same name in the south east of the state approximately 450 kilometres south-east of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border, it is the most important settlement in the Limestone Coast region and the seat of government for both the City of Mount Gambier and the District Council of Grant. The peak of the inactive volcano, the first place in South Australia named by European explorers, was sighted in 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant from the survey brig, HMS Lady Nelson, and named for Lord James Gambier, Admiral of the Fleet. The peak is marked by Centenary Tower, built in 1904 to commemorate the first sighting, and at 192 metres above sea level the landmark is the city's highest point. The city is known for its geographical features, particularly its limestone and volcanic features, most notably its Blue Lake, parks and gardens, caves and sinkholes.
We had considered doing a walk around Blue Lake, but in the interest of time, we decided to drive instead, and stop at any interesting points. We ended up walking up to the Centenary Tower (mentioned above) which ended up being a longer (and much steeper) walk than we had anticipated. My calves were sore for the next few days from our downward descent. It was incredibly windy and a bit alarming to be up at the city's highest point, but it was also pretty awesome. From there, we headed back into the main area of the city, did a quick loop of the CBD, and then went on our way to Melbourne.
I have a few pictures and have been trying to post them, but or some reason it won't let me. I'll continue this story another time.
I'm trying to think whether there has been anything interesting going on recently. Jeremy started his fourth (and second last) rotation of the year yesterday in palliative health. He's pretty happy to be back at the QEH, since it's a quick 10 minute walk from our house. It sounded like he thought the team was pretty friendly, which is obviously positive! I've had my first slow work week in awhile but it looks like things are set to pick up next week. I'm still hoping for some new referrals for tomorrow to increase my time sheet for this week. Next week I have my first book club meeting. I signed up at this cute little lounge/cafe/bookshop near my work. They put me into a group, which will meet on the first Wed of each month. I'm about 2/3 done the book and should have plenty of time to finish it over the weekend. I'm looking forward to meeting the people in my group and to getting the next book. I also started a new volunteering position with the same organization as before. On the first Friday of every month, I'll be driving two people to the monthly 'disco' and then spending the evening volunteering at the disco. I might run into the lady I was doing volunteering with before, and I will say hi, but also steer a bit clear as I don't really want to be licked, pinched or bitten.
Mount Gambier is the second most populous city in South Australia with an urban population of 24,905.
Located on the slopes of the mountain of the same name in the south east of the state approximately 450 kilometres south-east of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border, it is the most important settlement in the Limestone Coast region and the seat of government for both the City of Mount Gambier and the District Council of Grant. The peak of the inactive volcano, the first place in South Australia named by European explorers, was sighted in 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant from the survey brig, HMS Lady Nelson, and named for Lord James Gambier, Admiral of the Fleet. The peak is marked by Centenary Tower, built in 1904 to commemorate the first sighting, and at 192 metres above sea level the landmark is the city's highest point. The city is known for its geographical features, particularly its limestone and volcanic features, most notably its Blue Lake, parks and gardens, caves and sinkholes.
We had considered doing a walk around Blue Lake, but in the interest of time, we decided to drive instead, and stop at any interesting points. We ended up walking up to the Centenary Tower (mentioned above) which ended up being a longer (and much steeper) walk than we had anticipated. My calves were sore for the next few days from our downward descent. It was incredibly windy and a bit alarming to be up at the city's highest point, but it was also pretty awesome. From there, we headed back into the main area of the city, did a quick loop of the CBD, and then went on our way to Melbourne.
I have a few pictures and have been trying to post them, but or some reason it won't let me. I'll continue this story another time.
I'm trying to think whether there has been anything interesting going on recently. Jeremy started his fourth (and second last) rotation of the year yesterday in palliative health. He's pretty happy to be back at the QEH, since it's a quick 10 minute walk from our house. It sounded like he thought the team was pretty friendly, which is obviously positive! I've had my first slow work week in awhile but it looks like things are set to pick up next week. I'm still hoping for some new referrals for tomorrow to increase my time sheet for this week. Next week I have my first book club meeting. I signed up at this cute little lounge/cafe/bookshop near my work. They put me into a group, which will meet on the first Wed of each month. I'm about 2/3 done the book and should have plenty of time to finish it over the weekend. I'm looking forward to meeting the people in my group and to getting the next book. I also started a new volunteering position with the same organization as before. On the first Friday of every month, I'll be driving two people to the monthly 'disco' and then spending the evening volunteering at the disco. I might run into the lady I was doing volunteering with before, and I will say hi, but also steer a bit clear as I don't really want to be licked, pinched or bitten.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Well, it's been a slow work day so I have no excuse not to write in my blog. This is the best lifestyle. Today I got up around 8:30, had a leisurely breakfast, checked up on the normal internet stuff and read a book for a little while. I hopped in the car to go to a nursing home which is 10-15 minutes drive from my house, saw two of the residents, and then headed to the gym. Now I'm at home, finishing a bowl of homemade spicy lentil soup leftover from yesterday's dinner. That being said, obviously having a slow day means less money and not all days are like today. Usually I head to the hospital to arrive at around 9:30-10ish and see 5 or 6 in-patients/out-patients and then I might need to do a nursing home visit as well. I prefer to be fairly busy, but when a more relaxing day happens once in awhile, I am trying to savour it. I'm truly not sure if I ever want to leave private practice. My next step is to get in touch with a couple of the early childhood learning centres in my neighbourhood and see if they would be interested in speech/language assessments and therapy. Then I could set aside one day a week for that, and do the hospital and nursing homes on the other days. We'll see what happens.
I'm reading the last couple of books that I need to judge for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year competition. I've been judging the 'upper primary' category and have really enjoyed it. Once I've finished all the books, I need to narrow the field down to my top three picks and provide reasoning in regards to my choices. Great to see that there are so many quality books out there for kids!
I'm reading the last couple of books that I need to judge for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year competition. I've been judging the 'upper primary' category and have really enjoyed it. Once I've finished all the books, I need to narrow the field down to my top three picks and provide reasoning in regards to my choices. Great to see that there are so many quality books out there for kids!
Monday, August 5, 2013
August already
After a hectic couple of months, things seem to have quieted down a bit. We've spent the last couple of weekends in Adelaide. Jeremy had his birthday a couple of weeks ago and he did the only thing he ever wants to do - BBQ at the house, friends, drinks, food, Otto Pig. This weekend we stuck around the house as well, although we did venture out to see the movie 'The Heat", which was pretty amusing. Currently, the Adelaide "Festival of Food" is happening and will actually last until January 2014. Restaurants in Adelaide that are participating have their chefs create special menus and then you pay a set price to have dinner there. We will be trying that out next week, at the Sebel Playford Restaurant. So really, we're kind of just taking it easy at the moment.
Later this week, Jeremy has his interview with the 'Adelaide to Outback' GP training provider. I don't want to jinx it, but I truly think he would have to do something drastically ridiculous at the interview (like...show up naked...and on drugs!) to not get into the training program. His scores on the exam were in the highest possible 'band' and the people who are going to be interviewing were personally congratulating him on his results when he was at a dinner/education session last week. So...that's what's happening there. He has about a week left of his geri-rehab rotation and then will have two weeks off. We're going on a little trip (driving to Melbourne and staying with friends) for a couple of nights, but otherwise it will be all about relaxing...well, I'll still be working, but I have the best job ever, so that's alright ;)
Later this week, Jeremy has his interview with the 'Adelaide to Outback' GP training provider. I don't want to jinx it, but I truly think he would have to do something drastically ridiculous at the interview (like...show up naked...and on drugs!) to not get into the training program. His scores on the exam were in the highest possible 'band' and the people who are going to be interviewing were personally congratulating him on his results when he was at a dinner/education session last week. So...that's what's happening there. He has about a week left of his geri-rehab rotation and then will have two weeks off. We're going on a little trip (driving to Melbourne and staying with friends) for a couple of nights, but otherwise it will be all about relaxing...well, I'll still be working, but I have the best job ever, so that's alright ;)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Clare Valley
Where does the time go?? I can't believe it's already the end of July - more than halfway through 2013. We've really been having a great time.
Last weekend, Jess and her boyfriend came for a short 'n sweet visit. We picked them up Saturday morning at the airport and headed straight to the Clare Valley. The weather was rather uncooperative - rainy, windy, and chilly (3 degrees is VERY cold to a couple of Queenslanders!) but we made the best of it.
We started off with a wine tasting and absolutely delicious tapas lunch at Mr. Mick's. Every single dish was tasty, and we were all quite satisfied. Then it was time for decision making - we had planned on renting bikes and riding down the riesling trail, but didn't want to get soaked. The rain seemed to be holding off, but looking online at the weather radar there were ominous white swirls in the area. After some hemming and hawing, we decided to just go ahead and do it! By this time, it was about 2 pm and we wanted to get back before dark, so we ended up biking to three wineries, and they were all pretty awesome. There was a little sprinkling of rain, but in the end it was good that we decided to do it the first day, because Sunday was YUCK! We drove around on Sunday in the icky rainy weather - went to a couple more wineries and then to Burra, a small town about 40 minutes from Clare. It was here that we found the yummiest Italian restaurant and also a genuine cidery. All in all, a fun trip that wasn't spoiled by the weather because we didn't LET it spoil our good times!
Here we are, all bundled up - even inside, I could not take my "beanie" off because I knew my hair would be doing something WILD!
Last weekend, Jess and her boyfriend came for a short 'n sweet visit. We picked them up Saturday morning at the airport and headed straight to the Clare Valley. The weather was rather uncooperative - rainy, windy, and chilly (3 degrees is VERY cold to a couple of Queenslanders!) but we made the best of it.
We started off with a wine tasting and absolutely delicious tapas lunch at Mr. Mick's. Every single dish was tasty, and we were all quite satisfied. Then it was time for decision making - we had planned on renting bikes and riding down the riesling trail, but didn't want to get soaked. The rain seemed to be holding off, but looking online at the weather radar there were ominous white swirls in the area. After some hemming and hawing, we decided to just go ahead and do it! By this time, it was about 2 pm and we wanted to get back before dark, so we ended up biking to three wineries, and they were all pretty awesome. There was a little sprinkling of rain, but in the end it was good that we decided to do it the first day, because Sunday was YUCK! We drove around on Sunday in the icky rainy weather - went to a couple more wineries and then to Burra, a small town about 40 minutes from Clare. It was here that we found the yummiest Italian restaurant and also a genuine cidery. All in all, a fun trip that wasn't spoiled by the weather because we didn't LET it spoil our good times!
Sunday, July 7, 2013
A week with Billy T and his fam!
Well it has been a whirlwind adventure of a week, that's for sure! Due to my amazing and flexible job, I was able to work only three days and take two days off to spend with one of my favourite families ever - Jules, Bruce and Billy! They arrived the 29th of June and we proceeded to pack as much fun into the next week as a two year old and four adults of various ages (and maturity levels!!) could handle.
Sunday - Christmas in (almost) July. Several friends came over and we indulged in a succulent dinner, mead, eggnog, Christmas songs and even a gift exchange. Billy's parents really loved me when I presented him with a 'torch' (flashlight) which had several buttons that made different noises. I think they loved me even more when it proceeded to randomly go off (twice) in the middle of the night in their bedroom...
Pictured below from left to right; Alex, Jeremy, Anna, Jane, Bruce, MJ, Claire
Monday - Canada Day dinner in North Adelaide with the South Australia Canadian Society.
Let's skip over Tuesday and go straight to Wednesday - ZOO DAY! Like any loving 'aunt', I just had to rent Billy one of the little truck thingys that you push kids around in. He loved it soooooo much - I think it was actually his favourite part of the zoo. Hehe. The animals were pretty good too. I liked the flamingos, giraffes and monkeys the best...oh, and the lemurs and meerkats!!
Annnnd - skip to the weekend. we did head into the Adelaide Hills during the day on Friday, but unfortunately it was very cold and rainy. We stopped for about 2.5 secs at Mt Lofty, and then had lunch in Hahndorf. On Saturday, Jeremy joined us for an adventure to Victor Harbor, with a stop in McLaren Vale on the way. We had lunch at our favourite cafe/winery, Oxenberry (manwiches x 3, quiche for Bruce) and Jeremy and Bruce had a gin tasting at the Salopian Inn. Jules and Bruce treated us all to a night in a cozy chalet in Victor Harbor, which is my new favourite place in South Australia. It was so beautiful and charming! We walked across the causeway (in the rain) to Granite Island, and then took the horse drawn tram back. Billy T waved at the passers by and gave them thumbs up from the top of the tram.
Boys tasting gin at the Salopian Inn - this was serious stuff!
Billy and I on one of our many adventures - I was not too enamoured with this bike thing, kept bashing my leg on one of the crossbars!
But I DID love this awesome jumping pillow, which was pretty much right behind the chalet we stayed in!
Not the best conditions for a walk out to Granite Island - luckily, the rain cleared!
Fooling around on our walk around Granite Island.
Billy T and Mummy.
Nice blue sky, Jeremy and his little pal.
A rainbow appeared!
Our awesome tram ride - waves and thumbs up for all!
It was so good to see some of my favourite Brisbanites! I used to spend a lot of time at their house in Brisbane, and it was an adjustment to not be able to do that anymore when we moved here. We had a great week and I'm excited to see them when we're back in Brisbane in October!!
Sunday - Christmas in (almost) July. Several friends came over and we indulged in a succulent dinner, mead, eggnog, Christmas songs and even a gift exchange. Billy's parents really loved me when I presented him with a 'torch' (flashlight) which had several buttons that made different noises. I think they loved me even more when it proceeded to randomly go off (twice) in the middle of the night in their bedroom...
Pictured below from left to right; Alex, Jeremy, Anna, Jane, Bruce, MJ, Claire
Monday - Canada Day dinner in North Adelaide with the South Australia Canadian Society.
Annnnd - skip to the weekend. we did head into the Adelaide Hills during the day on Friday, but unfortunately it was very cold and rainy. We stopped for about 2.5 secs at Mt Lofty, and then had lunch in Hahndorf. On Saturday, Jeremy joined us for an adventure to Victor Harbor, with a stop in McLaren Vale on the way. We had lunch at our favourite cafe/winery, Oxenberry (manwiches x 3, quiche for Bruce) and Jeremy and Bruce had a gin tasting at the Salopian Inn. Jules and Bruce treated us all to a night in a cozy chalet in Victor Harbor, which is my new favourite place in South Australia. It was so beautiful and charming! We walked across the causeway (in the rain) to Granite Island, and then took the horse drawn tram back. Billy T waved at the passers by and gave them thumbs up from the top of the tram.
It was so good to see some of my favourite Brisbanites! I used to spend a lot of time at their house in Brisbane, and it was an adjustment to not be able to do that anymore when we moved here. We had a great week and I'm excited to see them when we're back in Brisbane in October!!
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