Bring it on

OK, I think I've finished whining now.

Clearly privacy is at a premium everywhere - many comments mentioned toddlers and toilets. Been there, done that. I understand. I do. And at least I have an unburnt house.

So, moving right along...

I'm back at work this week, after a very busy weekend featuring a rare Perth appearance of my London Aunts. Such darlings. They were so kind and hospitable to us when we were in London in 2007, so I was more than happy to be their (loosely bound, achieved by email, license to boss/draw together long-lost folks) social director for a 5 day visit. We went to a wildlife park where a wombat was scratched, along with a koala. We picnicked riverside, we looked up train timetables. We told tales, we ate scones and homemade jam, prawns, sticky date pudding, ice-cream cake and a large roast lamb dinner (we are very full).

I also managed to squeeze in a 20-hour retreat to a hotel for some time alone with my squeeze, although it was a close run thing. While wandering in the wildlife park I had a call from the booking agency telling me that the hotel was full and would not be able to honour our online booking. They were going into to bat for us, but they were unable to make them build a hotel room overnight, so did we have any other options? Clearly not. 6 hours later she rang me back to confirm that a room under repair now WAS available (phew).

We went, we gymed, we swam, we schmoozed, we ate room service for Valentine's dinner, we slept soundly. Mission accomplished. It was just lovely. We are very, very lucky people.

So I am working in clinics now, where there are antenatal sessions, and gynaecology sessions, some with midwives and some with doctors. Its a busy place, with lots of staff to-ing and fro-ing, and fighting over rooms, but it is generally a comfy place and the staff are all nice, so once I learn the routine I should be right. I worked in the outpatient clinics 4 years ago so I have some idea, I just have to adapt it to all these new clinics. Clinics also means no night shift or Sundays for a while. Yippee!

Today and tomorrow I have study days. I'm doing a 2 day Advanced Fetal Assessment course which will allow me to sign off on all the CTG traces I encounter in LBS. Its a useful skill to have, and as I hope to spend a long period on LBS this year I'm keen to achieve this competency. There's an exam involved, but I should be OK.

Steff went to work again today, no dramas that I heard about, so I hope she settles in better this week.

I do feel refreshed after a 2 week break and going away, even with a stressful last week or so.

I have also been enjoying So You Think You Can Dance on TV, and try not to miss it, or tape it religiously, or catch it up on the website. Another show I enjoyed was Cranford on ABC, which I taped the first week (cos it clashed with SYTYCD) - but I now discover to my delight that it is on ABC I-View - the online digital channel, which luckily our ISP subscribes to, so we can catch past episodes within the next week, in their entirety, without using up our download quota. Yay!

Its all go in my house, I tell ya!

And the very best bit of news is that as I type this, Lesley will be in the air, en-route to us here in Perth. I will feel most un-abandoned by her return, in contrast to when she left for the USA at a similar time to another best friend going to live in Scotland, and following the sudden death of another close friend. I am so looking forward to having her home. Just what I need...less abandon.

Lesley and I have a few projects planned, including making a quilt for a teenage boy that Frogdancer knows, who has lost his home and possessions in the fires. Frogdancer very kindly and generously passed on a quilt to his Mum that she made last year, that I got to see last September. She has posted about her visit to them here. Its a great post, I was moved to tears.

I'm also looking forward to the return of my prodigal son, who has been gallivanting in Melbourne, arriving on the morning of the fires. He goes back to uni on Monday, hopefully for his last year.

Well, I'm off to make dinner now.

Thanks for dropping by, I'd love you to leave a note and say hi!