To the Beach

Since we're heading off to the beach tomorrow, I may not have an opportunity to post to the blog until October 2nd. So if it's a little quiet around here, just imagine us sitting on our balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean............

Hmmmm, I can't wait!

See you next month :)

'Kera' the blind jaguar 

On the wheelchair swing 

Catherine and the Snake 

Christopher and the Snake 

Zoo Visit

We've just returned home from a visit to the newly opened Darling Downs Zoo. I will post some photos tomorrow, because there were some interesting exhibits. Although the zoo is small they have a great variety of animals and it's very friendly. Both the kids got to have a snake draped around their necks!

Favourites included: the jaguar, lions, Macaque monkeys and llamas.

Benefits of this zoo: no crowds, small, friendly, good variety of animals.

Possible improvements: better wheelchair access to some exhibits.

Book Group

Our book group, the 'Avid Readers' has its second-last meeting for this year on Friday. We've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's novel, The Poisonwood Bible. This is a book with plenty of material for discussion, so it should be a great night. If you've read it, why not leave a comment?

Catherine's Cooking Continued

As you can see, Catherine has had another cooking adventure with Granny - this time they made Granny's famous cheesecake. It was very much appreciated by the rest of the family.

Edited Life

One interesting thing I've noticed about having a blog, is that I tend to edit my life to make it presentable. Knowing that other people are going to be reading this has a curious effect on what I will and won't say. It's not that I'm making things up so much as that I don't write about many negative topics.

If you're wondering what juicy secrets you're missing out on, think again. What I'm referring to is all those little parts of ourselves that aren't quite so nice. I think that an anonymous blog would be quite different.

Aren't they gorgeous? 

Sexual History

For one subject this week we are talking about sexuality. In preparation I've just read an article about how to take a patient's sexual history. It had never crossed my mind that this would be part of our nursing training, but of course it should be.

Thinking about this led me to consider what should be uppermost in my mind whenever I meet a new patient. Clearly each person is an individual with unique characteristics. Equally, they are going to confound my expectations and pre-conceived ideas. So what is it that every single patient has in common? I suspect it's something along these lines: every person will want to be accepted for who they are.

In addition to learning about sexual history taking, I read about people who are born as neither male nor female (physically). Here is a stark reminder that I don't know a single thing about what people are really like behind the exterior they present to the world. Clearly this calls for an attitude of deep compassion towards all the patients I will meet as a nurse. I don't know what life is like from anyone else's point of view, and therefore I have no right to judge anyone. Now, where have I heard that before?

Mower Adventure

As you can see, Christopher has been having a wonderful time at Oma and Opa's today. Here he is getting a wheelchair ride on the mower with Opa.

Something I Love...Hate...Ate

Something I love... finishing an assignment!

Something I hate... waiting for the results!

Something I ate... fish and chips. This was greatly enjoyed by our current Japanese homestay student, Misato. She even took photos of her meal tonight.

Some Snapshots

Clockwise from top: Tamara and Garry "waterskiing"; Liesbeth on her wedding day, with Tamara as bridesmaid; Garry with Christopher and Catherine; Tamara holding the newly-born Catherine; Tamara and Christopher sledding in Utah.

Nurse in the Making? 

Multicultural Night

Tonight, for Garry's birthday, we had a very multicultural meal: a delicious Swiss cheese fondue, shared with my Dutch parents and a Japanese homestay student. For dessert we had a Black Forest Cake (German, of course) made mainly by Catherine. All complimented by a delightful Zantvoort wine. Hmmmmm, lekker. Garry even managed to score a four-pack of Irish Guinness and an Egyptian birthday gift for the bookshelves. Quite a range of cultures were represented, in fact! If only the Jackson family could have been here too....

Caring for Carers

I had an amazing time today, at the first ever "Caring for Carers Day". About 30 of us gathered from 9am-2.30pm to be treated to haircuts, manicures, make-up, foot massages and bowen therapy, lunch, string quartet, gift packs and raffle prizes. It was such a delight and I felt wonderfully spoilt. Garry was especially pleased that we were each sent home with a bottle of champagne :)

First Subject Completed

As of last Friday, I have officially completed and passed my first subject for this semester: Medication Concepts and Calculations. OK, so it was only a half unit, but it's kind of nice to have one over and done with. Have I learned anything? Well, from my pharmacology textbook I learned that a woman in labour should never be given oxytocin if her baby is experiencing foetal distress. Interesting, considering the circumstances of Christopher's birth....

Cat Hilton

Garry spent much of today creating a cat flap for Hermione (yes, she was named after we'd read Harry Potter). She is now the very proud user of the Cat Flap Hilton: a rather up-market cat door designed and created by my husband. It's very cute to see how quickly a cat can learn to use a new entry/exit when she is being motivated by food.

My Sister's Keeper

I am currently reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. The cover asks, "If you use one of your children to save the life of another, are you being a good mother ...or a very bad one?" The story is written from multiple points of view, challenging the reader to think about the issues more deeply. Already tears have surfaced once or twice. If you come across this book, I really recommend it.

Water Troubles

While America is experiencing the devastating results of too much water, we are now on level 4 water restrictions. Hand held hosing is not permitted; watering new turf is not permitted; cleaning cars is not permitted (except to clean windows using a bucket); house washing is not permitted; private pools and spas may not be topped up. We are only allowed to water gardens using watering cans or buckets, and even that is now restricted to 3 days per week before 9am or after 5pm.

It's predicted that we'll be on level 5 restrictions by Christmas, meaning that the water supply will be less than 20%. In other parts of Australia, people are only allowed to wash clothes once per week and their water supply is down to 10%.

Meanwhile Spring has arrived with much warmer weather already evident. We are really looking forward to heading to the beach on September 24th for a weeks' holiday.

Broadband's Back

I didn't post at the end of August because we're on a limited broadband plan and keep running out at the end of each month. That really slows our internet connection down, and makes it too slow to work with the blog site. So sorry for the long break but I'm back for now.