city to surf 2007

What could possibly attract 29,000 runners and walkers to cover 12 k (7.5mi) out on a rainy, blustery, morning at 7:30 am? I was there and I still don't know. There were no T-shirts, no race packs, no fans, no bands, 3 big hills, too many people, not enough bathrooms or garbage bins. There were no freebies at the end, no bananas or bagels, no powerade.

Despite the rain, the wind, and too few amenities, and too many people...it was a really good time.

It's the largest competitive run in Western australia, and may well be the largest run per capita in the world (we'll have to compare it to the Great North Run), and what Kris wrote up above is all true -- and this morning is a different story. Our quiet afternoon post-race was quieter than most. A pan of shepherd's pie, a half a glass of wine, 2 episodes of Firefly, and then crashing into bed by 4pm for a 16 hour sleep. Well, we'll see what it's like next year.

nathan

Decision--new job!

It's been a decisive month. First a car. Now, a job.

Yes, after much deliberation, Nathan has decided to stop working emergency clinic, and join me in the 9-5 world.

It's been a difficult decision. Nathan wasn't going to start working emergency here, but Murdoch has a lot of great learning experiences, fantastic specialists, doing work noone else does, and an incredibly persuasive hospital CEO, Phil Payne. In March of this year, Nathan told the CEO he didn't think emergency hours were right for him. Phil was persuasive, and promised they'd be adding more vets to free up the schedule. Despite Nathan's reservations, he signed up at the Murdoch and has been working heavy hours, mostly weekends.

When we came back from our trip to the States, Nathan discovered he'd been assigned every weekend from August 1 to October 1. They promised they'd rearrange the schedule so he'd get some time off, if he would offer some suggestions about which weekdays he wanted to work. In trying to make those suggestions, he discovered he really didn't want to give up any weekdays either.

The truth is, despite all the excitement, cool medicine, and prestige that comes with ER, we are ready for the good ol' 9 to 5 rut. Sleeping in the same bed, dinner out, weekends off.

They've asked Nathan to stay on as a casual employee (that's what they call temps...but it describes people who get to wear pajamas/scrubs to work) until he finds a permanent job or a better locum position. So, Nathan's last official day as a Murdoch employee is September 13...when we are in Fiji on vacation. Nathan will have the option of picking up some extra shifts after that day (to pay for our travelling) but will mostly be able to look for something great...and enjoy a long visit with his mom, and our friend Jaymi.

Two big decisions in 2 weeks. It's a Mannix record.

Woo Hoo--Let it Rain!

For those of you that we have been trying to entice to visit us, we've probably neglected to tell you something. "Winter in Perth is Rainy". July averages around 19 years of rain per month (I meant days). Last year was the driest July on record, this year is making up for it. On the sunny days, its gorgeous...75 degrees, sunny, the world is alive with shockingly bright flowers, and everyone is smiling.


Everyone is smiling because they know any minute, the weather will change. Out of sunny skies, a cool drizzle will start to fall. Within 5 minutes, the wind has picked up and the rain is blowing horizontally. Umbrella's collapse in the 20-25 mi per hour gusts. A sudden deluge overwhelms gutters until its just pouring off buildings.

So why do I say let it rain? Nathan and I have finally bought a second car. For most of the summer and fall, I rode the bus to work in the morning or evening, with Nathan picking me up on his way to or from his overnight. Then the rain started. I rode the bus a few times, but its a 15 minute walk to the first bus station. Its a 10 minute wait between bus transfers. Its a 15 minute walk to my side of campus. Let's just say after 5 minutes of horizontal rain standing in a bus shelter, none of my suits looked too sharp on arrival. And let's face it, its hard enough to go to work somedays, without the additional demotivation of gray clouds, hurricane winds, and pissing down rain. So for the really wet time, Nathan has been acting as my chaffeur or has volunteered to be carless at home rather than get up after 5 hours of sleep to drive me to work. We promised ourselves when we sold the house, we'd buy another car.

TA-DA! (Debbie we need the cape!).
















Within 10 days of being home, Nathan and I decided on what car we were going to buy, visited 3 dealerships, and purchased one that met our needs. And we both think its a sporty little number! So, all you would be visitors we are ready for you...we'll take the top down and cruise the beach. Orhead into the bush with our camping gear for a little bushtrack camping. Or if that's not your style, or if its raining at least you won't have to take the bus to the pub.

Kristin

Home again?

When you work overnight, conversations with your co-workers cover alot of ground. After talking about growing up in Alaska, living in London and MN, then moving down to Perth, one of the nurses asked, "so, where do you consider home?"

Now, I'm sure that she did not intend that to be a philosophical question, but just something polite to keep the conversation going. Something along the lines of, "and how's the family?" To be fair, i didn't wax philosophical until a couple of hours later (3am is a good time for retrospection), but then I gave the question some serious thought.

See, I had just come from a trip back "home." That trip included California and Minnesota, both of which could arguably claim the title, but in this case "home" was just a handy and concise way of explaining that it wasn't a vacation, but rather a visit. You vacation in Fiji or the Christmas Islands, but you visit back home, and you rarely get a great tan visiting.

It was a really good visit, though. At the California "home," we got to visit grandparents, in-laws, sister, cousins, neice, and father (in no particular order), catch up on the gossip, eat at IHOP, and clean up some of the generations of accumulated treasures behind grandpa's house. At the Minnesota "home," I got to keep grandma company after her surgery, hang out with mom, stay with some friends in rochester, catch up with church folks, and hear the rochester concert band in the park. I even drove past the "home" that we recently, and with much rejoicing, unloaded in this soft market (only to see a boat parked in the driveway -- I knew he could have paid more!).

Then there are the homes that I didn't make it to on this trip. I didn't get up to the ranch in Mendocino county, I didn't make it to Alaska, I didn't get to visit with friends in Washington, a "home" where i've never lived, but claim it as something familiar and loved. It seems that I would claim every place west of the Mississippi as home, and some parts of London as well. But when I was on the plane out of San Francisco, at the start of the long flight to Sydney and then to Perth, my neighbor in the row asked where I was headed. "Going home," I replied without thinking, "Perth."

I guess that home is many places, many people, and a wealth of experiences shared with folks that you love. So come and visit us...wherever we happen to be.

Make yourselves at home.

Sold! At Last!

Yes. The House is SOLD! papers signed, money in the bank, no more bills to pay.

It was a hard 15 months, between the nail biting wait for prospective buyers to view the house, the difficult decisions to lower the price, the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair as we negotiated (and renegotiated)3 seperate offers and finally the last flurry of activity with the new buyer who changed his mind almost weekly. Our realtor Curt Britson is a SAINT!

As I am in Minnesota visiting family, I stopped by the house to say goodbye. If felt strange, there was nothing to move out, nothing personal left there (except a coffee mug in the microwave that Curt found 3 months after we left--ugh....science project). Curt opted not to leave that moldy cup of coffee for the new buyers. After several difficult negotiations, I was on the fence about our little housewarming present.

Part of the change was the new buyer had asked if he could have a contractor start work a day or two early.When I walked through the place, there was a big gaping hole in the wall between the kitchen and living room, new tiles laid out for the floors, and new carpet on the way.

I went to the backyard to dig up St Joseph, who was supposed to help sell the house, but instead sensed our Lutheran guilt over the iconographic saint and refused to help. I was ready to dig St Joseph up, and repent. The flowers in the backyard had grown up over his burial spot, and I didn't have the heart to ruin the flowerbed. (I didn't have a shovel either).

Leaving the house felt strange. Part of me was still looking at this as an escape hatch (if everything went wrong in Australia, we wouldn't be homeless) but part of me felt that worry over selling and the on-going bills meant we weren't really free to fully enjoy Australia.

Despite our intentions of being footloose and fancy free, Nathan and I put down roots here. We were nourished by our friends , rewarding work, a welcoming church community, music and theater. But, the longer we stayed the more we realized that these roots would only grow deeper, making it more challenging to transplant ourselves later.

So, with joy and a little nostalgia, we are ready say goodbye to 5559 Fairway Dr. NW, Rochester MN. Thanks for all the memories! Kristin

Visit to Minnesota.

Wow! What a whirlwind. I left for MN July 4. Nathan wasn't able to get leave from work, so I was travelling on my own, straight from one of the most hectic days at work I have had to date. With my pulse racing and adrenaline rushing, Nathan and I raced across town to get me to the plane on time. After a hurried goodbye, I checked my luggage, and I rushed into catch my plane. Which was delayed by an hour. Still in suit, I started thinking about my comfortable shorts and flip flops sitting somewhere and checked baggage longingly.

Finally boarded the plane, where I was finally able to relax (sort of). After a couple of drinks and a couple of movies, I fell asleep to awake in New Zealand, where I had a 12 hour layover. I took advantage of the day to walk, and walk, and walk around Auckland (still in my suit and dress shoes), arriving back at the plane for our 5 pm take off, I thought about my luggage again. If only I'd had the sense to change out of my SWEATER, I was dying. A girl from MN in the seat next to me, kept my mind off of my overheating by chatting with me about her Australia trip.

I arrived in San Franscisco, caught an airporter to Alan and Masami's house, and finally changed clothes. 38 hours in the same suit...time to find a dry cleaners. After a little nap, and dinner, the boys demonstrated their prowess with the Sony Wi, I was sore from tennis, golf, bowling, and finally 2 bouts of boxing (of which I emerged victorious in the second bout).

Alan's family and I had the same flight to Minneapolis, so Gregory and I played cards all the way from SFO to MSP. War and crazy eights makes the time fly...After arriving we split up, my best friend from high school Connie (Jansen) Kells picked me up for a whirlwind 18 hours together...talking the whole time. We packed an entire year of talking into one day, and we were both exhausted.

The next day Connie drove me to meet up with my parents, who took me the rest of the way to my brother Brian's cabin. We had a great family reunion from Saturday until Tuesday, Julie & Scott brought their camper, Taylor, Emily, and Layla stayed, Brian, Jen, and his kids, Mom and Dad, Alan and his family. 20 of us tubing, waterskiiing (okay some of us only attempt waterskiing), kneeboarding, wakeboarding, jetskiing, fishing, swimming, bonfires, pingpong, cribbage, biking, and LOTS and LOTS of talking. If was so great to be together, I think we've started a new tradition...Sorry Brian, you are hosting!

After the activity of Brian's cabin, we spent a few days recovering. It was really nice to have a couple of quiet days with Mom and Dad. Dad had been in the hospital for 10 days because of a very serious infection. The fever and side effects left him several pounds lighter, and not well rested, so we enjoyed a few more relaxing days together.

On Sunday, I headed to visit Nathan's mom and Grandma (Emily is having surgery on Monday, July 22 say a prayer for her speedy recovery)...It was really nice to visit, even for a little while. She was able to bring me up to date on all the events of each of her grandkids spread across the country.

Sunday night, I drove down for a whirlwind tour of Rochester. I didn't give people very much notice, but was still able to visit with Jaymi, my friends from the Diversity Council, a visit to Curt Britson (who is wrapping up on the house) and Dave & Cheryl Smith. I didn't get a chance to visit church, Larry & Rebekka, Kirk, or so many other great friends we made while we were in Rochester. I saved Rochester too late, and just didn't have enough time.

I fly tomorrow to California, where Nathan and I will get to spend a week together before he flys to MN. It just wasn't enough time. No matter how much time I spent with mom and dad, my siblings it wasn't enough time to catch up on all I had missed. There was so much to say to my good friends like Connie and Jaymi that we were up all night. There were so many people I didn't really get to talk to, or see that I wanted to know more Not enough time.

Why do I get the feeling that I am going to feel like that after every visit?

See you soon!

Every time I sit down to write an entry, I am first startled by how long it has been since I've written, then apologise for not writing, as though the internet is an elderly aunt with whom I promised regular correspondence but she, knowing better, just shook her head, but I insisted that, no, this time I would write regularly, and she just smiled an irritating smile and said, we'll see, and now it turns out that she was right and knew me better than I thought and I've got to come up with a great excuse for not writing but I'm not going to try to have an excuse, just that I didn't write, but that I've been really busy...dang, that was an excuse, and we can't have that, now can we? So, what's been keeping us so busy that we couldn't add another 20 minutes of computer time to our day? Fruit.

We've decided to try new fruits. There are more things in the market that I don't recognize than I would have ever thought possible. Ever heard of a custard apple? It's about the size and shape of a nerf football, but with seeds. How about Fuyu? We had to ask how to eat it -- like an apple, they said, knowing that we would be miles away before we tried it. It looks like a tomato and tastes like crystallized pineapple, also called a Japanese Persimmon. Now we're waiting for the loquat tree to get ripe (I have NO idea what they're like, but there's a tree in the yard).

See?! We've been busy!

That's it, you ask, you've been busy with (scornful pause)...fruit?

Well, that's not all! We've also, um, been packing a lot of other stuff in, like work (did we mention that Kris has been promoted?), hockey (Kris plays at least twice weekly, me once), and running (with a club called the hash house harriers...you'll hear more on this later, no doubt), but I thought what would catch your interest was...fruit.

And now...more fun signs from Australia!