DVDs: currently I am watching Blackadder series 2. Episode one has the leech doctor's famous line : “I’d rather be a quack than a ducky.” It was good to see Flashduck, also a Blackadder fan, at training this week. You might like to check out her blog every now and then for news of Peter Hogan's progress in hospital.
Despite the best laid plans of mice and geese, I didn't get to the track yesterday. I hope the runners survived the storm! We must not laugh, the same weather pattern is forecast for a few more days, and Thursday's 1500m could be run in stifling heat, a tropical downpour, or strong winds! See you there!
Nepotism
Nathan as a child.
Emma sent me a new year’s email:
Happy New Year! It is a few days into the New Year........this resolution of sending an email has taken longer than expected. However, I've just come back from my second run of the last 6 weeks (because of an injury), full of spark and ready to go! Still haven't worked out a mailing list but hopefully it is more complete than my last emails.
Canada has had one of the biggest snowfalls in decades. Vancouver has not had this much snow since early last century. This may seem a little precious, to move to Canada and complain about the snow...but everyone else here is. Vancouver is not prepared like the other cities and after many falls of snow, only the main roads were ploughed leaving people and cars stranded for weeks.
Flights all around the country were cancelled and the news was full of people camping out for days at the airports. There have been huge (2-3m) tall piles of snow on each side of the road, conditions were really treacherous....and when it started to thaw.....another cold snap came in and it was black-ice everywhere. Everyone is worrying about how Vancouver will manage if this happens next winter with the Olympics.......with good reason.
The Christmas season started with the school Christmas concert. A really enjoyable affair, well run, simple and musical. Toby and Lucas are still singing their songs! YPS parents take note...there is hope! The was a round of pot-luck dinners and lunches with work and running (it is a big thing here!.......and not as simple as "bring a plate" I have discovered!). Christmas lights are popular here, and it was a treat to walk around our snowy neighbourhood all lit up!
We spent Christmas on a skiing holiday.....our first (except for a write-off weekend once in Oz).....so the lads could have a white Christmas. The drive up to Kamloops, along the Fraser Valley and then up through the Rockies was scenic (when we could see through the snow) but scary. There were toppled-over semi-trailers along the highway and cars which had also missed the road, strong winds and snow and ice on the road. The drive was supposed to take 4 hours....we took nine! But got there safely. Winter tyres are a great investment. Great powder snow....and an added bonus for us beginners, it was so cold, it was very slow! Our first day out skiing was minus 25 degrees, on the last day it was a balmy minus 12! We all had lessons. Jasper "accidently" went down a black run on his last day. Rob and I enjoyed some time together with the boys in ski-school and had a lovely Christmas Day snowshoeing through WinterWonderland scenery. Jasper and I had a cross-country adventure together....12km! We had a few falls, and Jasper was exhausted at the end but the conclusion was it was great fun....and the 4 bars of chocolate didn't hurt!
Marg, Grant and Oliver visited Vancouver on their way to the snow. So glad to see some great friends! I am still homesick for Australia and my Canberra life. It is so lovely to be able to start at the middle of a friendship where conversations are comfortable because you are known......well, I have a much greater appreciation than before.....and I have always consciously appreciated and been thankful for my friends.
I remember Charlie and I were discussing how sometimes great friendships or connections can happen at "inconvenient" times, but this can somehow make them more special. Well this is what I think will happen here! I started swimming again recently (due to aforementioned injury) and my coach and I clicked! A few weeks before she moved with her family to Colorado to do her masters.
Rob is well. We were a little surprised when we arrived and found that Kindy is only 1/2 a day, it ended his plans to start working later in the school year, but I think he is taking advantage of this special year he can spend with the boys. Not sure how it will go when we are both working......as childcare is hard to get, and we don't have our usual safety nets of family and friends yet.
This year, as I think we have decided this is a short-term operation (not sure of the time-frame, but we won't be doing any more exams in order to stay here), there are a few things we would like to do. The first thing I need to attend to is to finish my diploma and the masters in Infant Mental Health.........I'm getting my workspace sorted today, and to get as much of the good bits of this clinical experience as I can. There are a lot of differences between the Australian and Canadian system and I want to feel that I have really "done it". To go on some cool holidays.......perhaps San Francisco in March, a couple of running holidays, and Rob and I are considering a Quebec or Maritimes holiday when Mum and Dad come over in Summer and hopefully Rob can set off on his cycling adventures too. And a road trip down the West Coast of USA. North America is HUGE, diverse, abundant and there are opportunities and chances for experiences everywhere! Enjoy this great house we are living in and really.....here is this word again......appreciate. If only we could ship it back to Yarralumla!
After several days of rain, the snow is finally going. I can't believe I set out on my run in shorts! (3 degrees and raining!) thinking it was a mild day.......and still thinking this when I came back! Everything is a comfortable shade of grey again.... the ponds and ditches still look like grey slushies, but there are only a few solitary white icebergs along the road.
Roll on Spring! The clip below kinda gives a good idea of what Winter feels like to our family at the moment,,,,, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PpxqmCp4tc
Cheers. Emma
Despite the best laid plans of mice and geese, I didn't get to the track yesterday. I hope the runners survived the storm! We must not laugh, the same weather pattern is forecast for a few more days, and Thursday's 1500m could be run in stifling heat, a tropical downpour, or strong winds! See you there!
Nepotism
Nathan as a child.
Emma sent me a new year’s email:
Happy New Year! It is a few days into the New Year........this resolution of sending an email has taken longer than expected. However, I've just come back from my second run of the last 6 weeks (because of an injury), full of spark and ready to go! Still haven't worked out a mailing list but hopefully it is more complete than my last emails.
Canada has had one of the biggest snowfalls in decades. Vancouver has not had this much snow since early last century. This may seem a little precious, to move to Canada and complain about the snow...but everyone else here is. Vancouver is not prepared like the other cities and after many falls of snow, only the main roads were ploughed leaving people and cars stranded for weeks.
Flights all around the country were cancelled and the news was full of people camping out for days at the airports. There have been huge (2-3m) tall piles of snow on each side of the road, conditions were really treacherous....and when it started to thaw.....another cold snap came in and it was black-ice everywhere. Everyone is worrying about how Vancouver will manage if this happens next winter with the Olympics.......with good reason.
The Christmas season started with the school Christmas concert. A really enjoyable affair, well run, simple and musical. Toby and Lucas are still singing their songs! YPS parents take note...there is hope! The was a round of pot-luck dinners and lunches with work and running (it is a big thing here!.......and not as simple as "bring a plate" I have discovered!). Christmas lights are popular here, and it was a treat to walk around our snowy neighbourhood all lit up!
We spent Christmas on a skiing holiday.....our first (except for a write-off weekend once in Oz).....so the lads could have a white Christmas. The drive up to Kamloops, along the Fraser Valley and then up through the Rockies was scenic (when we could see through the snow) but scary. There were toppled-over semi-trailers along the highway and cars which had also missed the road, strong winds and snow and ice on the road. The drive was supposed to take 4 hours....we took nine! But got there safely. Winter tyres are a great investment. Great powder snow....and an added bonus for us beginners, it was so cold, it was very slow! Our first day out skiing was minus 25 degrees, on the last day it was a balmy minus 12! We all had lessons. Jasper "accidently" went down a black run on his last day. Rob and I enjoyed some time together with the boys in ski-school and had a lovely Christmas Day snowshoeing through WinterWonderland scenery. Jasper and I had a cross-country adventure together....12km! We had a few falls, and Jasper was exhausted at the end but the conclusion was it was great fun....and the 4 bars of chocolate didn't hurt!
Marg, Grant and Oliver visited Vancouver on their way to the snow. So glad to see some great friends! I am still homesick for Australia and my Canberra life. It is so lovely to be able to start at the middle of a friendship where conversations are comfortable because you are known......well, I have a much greater appreciation than before.....and I have always consciously appreciated and been thankful for my friends.
I remember Charlie and I were discussing how sometimes great friendships or connections can happen at "inconvenient" times, but this can somehow make them more special. Well this is what I think will happen here! I started swimming again recently (due to aforementioned injury) and my coach and I clicked! A few weeks before she moved with her family to Colorado to do her masters.
Rob is well. We were a little surprised when we arrived and found that Kindy is only 1/2 a day, it ended his plans to start working later in the school year, but I think he is taking advantage of this special year he can spend with the boys. Not sure how it will go when we are both working......as childcare is hard to get, and we don't have our usual safety nets of family and friends yet.
This year, as I think we have decided this is a short-term operation (not sure of the time-frame, but we won't be doing any more exams in order to stay here), there are a few things we would like to do. The first thing I need to attend to is to finish my diploma and the masters in Infant Mental Health.........I'm getting my workspace sorted today, and to get as much of the good bits of this clinical experience as I can. There are a lot of differences between the Australian and Canadian system and I want to feel that I have really "done it". To go on some cool holidays.......perhaps San Francisco in March, a couple of running holidays, and Rob and I are considering a Quebec or Maritimes holiday when Mum and Dad come over in Summer and hopefully Rob can set off on his cycling adventures too. And a road trip down the West Coast of USA. North America is HUGE, diverse, abundant and there are opportunities and chances for experiences everywhere! Enjoy this great house we are living in and really.....here is this word again......appreciate. If only we could ship it back to Yarralumla!
After several days of rain, the snow is finally going. I can't believe I set out on my run in shorts! (3 degrees and raining!) thinking it was a mild day.......and still thinking this when I came back! Everything is a comfortable shade of grey again.... the ponds and ditches still look like grey slushies, but there are only a few solitary white icebergs along the road.
Roll on Spring! The clip below kinda gives a good idea of what Winter feels like to our family at the moment,,,,, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PpxqmCp4tc
Cheers. Emma
