Give Thanks...somebody made green bean casserole!

Last Wednesday, Nathan and I hosted an orphans' thanksgiving for the North American vet students at Murdoch. All of the Americans and Canadians who had no place to go were invited to our house for a thanksgiving eve celebration. Nathan and I would provide the turkey, each student would bring one of the side dishes. I sent around an email, and quickly had 30 hungry, stressed vet students signing up to bring their traditional side dish. It only seemed fitting we'd host these North Americans in our house on Pilgrim way.

As a party it sounded pretty easy...I'd clean the house, Nathan (who had Wednesday off) would throw the birds in the oven, and a thanksgiving feast would magically appear.

Well, first you have to find a turkey. For a while, Nathan and I were cruising the supermarkets and butchers to try and find a decent size turkey. (Particularly unusual for our vegetarian Nathan). But all we could find were 5-6 lb birds--the turkey equivalent of a cornish game hen.

As the week before the event approached, we began worrying that we would be serving cold cuts or those pressed turkey breast slices that you get in Swanson meals and school lunches. Luckily, Aussie carry on the English tradition of planning for their holidays a long time in advance and the Christmas turkeys started arriving the Sunday before thanksgiving. We snatched up 2 15 lb turkeys.

Since we didn't ship any of our household items (just stowaways with a couple of bags), Nathan faced the daunting of trying to find meat platters, a turkey baster, and a gravy boat. Let's just say there isn't as much on offer in the kmart, target, walmart range of shopping here, and Nathan had to head to the gourmet cooking shop on the day of our party to find the items we needed. Just what he wanted to do on his day off--buy a gravy boat!

When he returned, he faced the dilemma of cooking 2 turkeys. We have a European size oven (read tiny), and an Aussie size BBQ (read enormous) so we cooked a turkey in each place. Nathan monitored them carefully since we had no idea how they would and he turned out two gorgeous Martha Stewart-worthy turkeys that had our guests oohing and aahing. We used Tim Carnahan's suggestion of cooking them breast-side down for part of the time, and everyone had compliments about how our turkey wasn't dry like their mother-in-laws! My job was to turn out the gravy, and I can't testify to the quality but we definitely had quantity...I made almost 2 liters.

Guests started arriving, bringing dips, deviled eggs, olives and cheeses, home-made corn fritters, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, roast veg, broccoli salad, green salad, rolls, chocolate mouse, lemon cheese cake, and lots of pumpkin pie. It looked beautiful--but I was heartbroken--no green bean casserole. It's my favorite--green beans, mushroom soup, and Durkees fried onions. I had lobbied several of the American students knew to bring it, but no one could find the Durkees fried onions. Just when we had gotten ready to give thanks for our food, there was a knock at the door. Christina Webb (one of the 3rd year students with whom I've been working on a few projects at the Vet School) showed up with a small precious dish of green bean casserole. She knew it was my favorite, so she made the Durkee's fried onions.....from SCRATCH! For friends like these--you have to give thanks.

It was a great way to spend our first thanksgiving away from home in long time. As thanksgiving isn't a holiday in Australia, it would have been difficult to head into work knowing our friends and family were celebrating far away without us. Several of the students said the same thing. Somehow sharing turkey leftovers with my coworkers for lunch on Thursday made it seem like home.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Okay. I know I missed the boat, but after I posted our update (and list of excuses) I realized that it was Guy Fawkes Day (the guy who tried to blow up parliament for because of religious oppression in England). and I just want to say the movie V for Vendetta rocks.

In Australia, remember, remember, the 6thof November.
The other thing I want to say is that they don't celebrate Guy Fawkes Day here, because its so close to the MELBOURNE CUP. Its a horse race that is sort of like the Kentucky Derby. Except for this year it was on a Tuesday. And everybody watches it. I mean everybody! In Victoria (where Melbourne is) its an official holiday--banks close.

We shut down our emergency hospital (okay some people had to stay and save the animals but like 1/4 of the usual staff) so that the hospital staff could watch the race. Just like in My Fair Lady the tradition is formal attire, with big hats. We had a few people dress up, but mostly people made hats out of X-RAY film, those big cones that dogs wear, and gauze. We bet on our horses, cheered the race on the big screen TV in the equine hospital, and then toasted the winners of the betting--yet another obscure fun tradition.

Time Flies! So does Gretchen

Wow. Okay, its been a month since our last blog, but its been a jam-packed month.

Sept 28--Jaymi flies to MN,
Sept 30-- last blog post.
Sept 30-Oct 1 Nathan works last weekend at Murdoch (really this time he means it!)
Sept 30-Oct 1 Kristin and Gretchen attempt to take a ferry to Rottnest Island, but are attacked en-route by a crazy Magpie which leaves Gretchen bleeding, shaken, and not really in the mood to cycle past the magpie on the way home.
Oct 2-5 Nathan starts new contract position 45 minutes from home. Kristin continues to work like crazy. Nathan and Gretchen explore around Perth--like Wave Rock, and the Wildflowers of Western Australia.
Oct 5-7 Drive to Cervantes for the weekend. See some amazing coast, are attacked by swarms of Australian black flies, and then are awestruck by the Pinnacles desert. p.s. For those of you who do not realize black flies here don't bite, but do enjoy climbing in your ears, up your nose, into your eyes, onto your tongue etc. Everyone thinks Australians are so friendly, mostly they are just waving away the flies.
Oct 8-12 More work, Gretchen the house elf, weeds the garden, cleans the house for the upcoming home inspection, and cooks more lemon curd and pavlova (yummy!).
Oct 12--Finally trip to Rottnest Island! We head out to the beach to check out the snorkel trails (underwater guided tours of the local reef). Camera dies (again, this time permanently!). The morning isn't very warm. Nathan and Kristin snorkel for 20 minutes, battling hypothermia. Gretchen wisely waits for warmer waters. In the afternoon, we travel to another beach where the snorkelling conditions don't require a parka and Nathan and Gretchen snorkel through some coral beds.
Oct 13--Gretchen and Kristin hit the bikes along the coastal path, a bike path that runs past the best beaches in Perth. Nathan drives ahead, and jogs back to meet us on the bike path. After a breezy beach barbecue we head home from our last weekend together.
Oct 14-17, Gretchen, Nathan and Kristin play our last games of rook, sample the local fine dining, and help Gretchen find her passport.
Oct 17 Gretchen heads back for a marathon flight to Minnesota, the house suddenly seems very empty.

Oct 18-21 Life slowly returns to normal. We do laundry, pay bills, do the grocery shopping, and finish the week with a frenzied cleaning of the house to prepare for our house/garden inspection.

Oct 22-27--Kristin's new admin starts! Hurray! Unfortunately, there's still lots of backlog of work, so another week of crazy work. Nathan is working Saturdays at his locum job, but uses some of his time on call to buy a fishing pole. Sunday we golf--first game of the year.

Oct 31--Halloween--We participate in a costume run for our running club (Fremantle Hash House Harriers). Nathan's spends all day developing a "spider-pig" costume for Kristin, that he doesn't get a costume for himself. Completely selfless!

November 3-4 Nathan and I have a full weekend with nothing planned. No guests, no work, no appointments. Saturday we drive our little 4X4 to a secluded stretch of beach and fish/read for the entire afternoon. Sunday, we more golf to prepare for a tournament next week. They have a lot of sand here...we got lots of practice at getting out of the traps.

November 5--Finally remember to put an update on, and feel horribly defensive about not posting for ages, so provide day by day excuses for why we have been too busy to post, email, write, call, or anything. Do you think its too much?

Jaymi in Perth

My good friend Jaymi came to visit--meeting us in Fiji to the completion of her MBA. Having guests is great...it makes us feel like locals (because we know more about the city than SOMEBODY!), it gives us a great excuse to explore things we have taken time to do, and we get to spend some time with people who make everything fun (including upacking up my office, and quiet nights in for cards). Jaymi's an independent traveller so while I was working she was scouting. Gretchen's visiting too, (while celebrating her 60th) but she's scouting different things.

So we now have 10 new things we've learned:

10--Jaymi knows everybody who spends anytime at the pool bar (and has their emails).


9-- Karaoke bars in Australia play the same songs as in the US.



8--The parking garage closes at 1 pm (so if you are planning to stay at the club until 4 am, park on the street--or you have to ride the bus back the next day).



7--Cirque du Soleil really are as good as they say.



6--Kris doesn't get to navigate, she talks too much and gets car sick reading maps.



5--Bring extra camera batteries, they always run out when you want them (e.g. the snorkelling in Fiji, the dolphins in the river, the nature park, the beach).



4--The tree top walk is less scary than climbing the Gloucester tree, and the view is better.




3--Gretchen's conquered her fear of birds and reestablished it within a week (after a dreadful magpie attack).













2--No matter how many times Nathan has been sailing, make him take the dramamine. He'll enjoy the whale watching much more.








1--Koalas=cute.




0--Everything is more fun when you share it with friends.














Thanks for coming to visit Jaymi...we loved having you. See you in Italy!

BULA! from Fiji!

Fiji is gorgeous. Beautiful flowers, azure waters, palm trees waving in the breeze, everything you pictured in the guide book. Somehow they neglected to include you sun-burned, sweat rolling down your back, contemplating the air conditioning in your hotel room. Somehow, when I picture tropical paradise, I left out the tropical.



My friend Jaymi offered to meet me half way for a celebratory vacation. (Celebrating her MBA completion, and our moving). Since her timeshare has lots of room, Nathan's mom agreed to meet us here to celebrate her 60th birthday as well. The 4 of us have been traipsing around Fiji in a rental car with no shocks (maybe at one time, but the rough roads finished them off a long time ago).

We visited a village where the women's primary income are the few tourists that stop by to buy pottery. We bought a lot (not a lot of it was attactive, but most souveniers aren't!). The tourist trade is really important income for everyone here, but it is hard to enjoy it because of the disparity between the customer and producer sometimes.

Nathan and I went to our running club, and got to meet quite a few locals. They really understood the tourist industry as part of the economy, and nobody seemed eager for it to change. Of course they were talking to a tourist so maybe they are too polite. We will need to post more about the HASH club when we can post pictures.

Anyway, need to head out of the air conditioning soon. We are planning a snorkelling trip tonight, and a sail to some of the uninhabited islands on Friday. Then back to reality. It has to happen sooner or later.

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.