Frantic catch up

I hadn't written for awhile as there was nothing to write really. Life plodded on in the usual way and I don't have Carol's flair for relaying everyday wittisism's (mainly because I have such a poor memory that I cannot recall them!). This last week or two, however, life has been pretty hectic and I have not had the time to write!!

Last week (or I was it really the week before, is Sunday morning the end of a week or the start of it?!) it was just work really. I guess most of you will not really have much understanding of what I do, well........ I'll write about that another time maybe. Suffice to say I was very busy with the routine stuff until Wednesday evening when I had a meeting in Hamilton about the change in the structure of GP services in this country. We are in the midst of change at the moment (it's like home from home really, when was the NHS NOT in the midst of change?!). Everyone is totally confused and some people from the Ministry (quaint eh!!) came to explain it all to the practice nurses. That went on until 9pm so it was a late night home from work. On the Thursday and Friday I was in Rotorua for some education training. We undertake clinical assessments and had an update on that process. We also do a lot of the Vaccinator Training Courses around the country and each year IMAC (the Immunusation Advisory Centre, my employers) launch a new education package, so we got updated on that. We also had a regional planning meeting and allocated training. I volunteered to present the immunisation schedule as I still have the UK one stuck in my head. It is such a basic bit of knowledge and I am struggling to inwardly digest it and I am always surreptitiously checking it when relaying this information on, or testing someone on it!!!!!! I figured that if I present the lecture enough times I might remember it! The biggest difference (for my health visiting friends out there) is that they space the vaccines differently and kids routinely get Hepatitis B here. I originally found this out in our first year here when I checked the schedule following the death of Alice's classmate Casey from meningitis. I was quite relived to find that Alice and Harriette were protected from the strain that Casey had (Meningococcal C). Apparently they do not vaccinate against that here and at the moment are about to introduce a new Menningococcal B vaccine for the unique strain that they do have a problem with. Men C is very rare and not a vaccination priority. Unfortunately that did not help Casey's parents when they realised that she died of a vaccine preventable disease! And we do daily battle with people who refuse to have their kids vaccinated, and worse, indoctrinate others against the vaccine process. Enough, I'll get off my IMAC soapbox now!!!! Now where was I, oh yes, my excuses for not writing lately. Those 2 days (of absolutely foul weather I might add) took us to the weekend. Oh, one postscript on that. The training was in one of the many hotels in Rotorua which is a major tourist centre, mainly because the earths crust is so thin and they have have such major geothermal activity. (Lake Rotorua, like Lake Taupo was formed from a collapsed volcano). Our room looked over the geyserland and we watched it them erupting and steam bellowing up to the sky all day. Quite different to your view from your average training room in the UK!!

Our friend Robyn had her gall stones removed on the previous Monday (gosh I hope she doesn't mind me broadcasting that to the whole world - don't think she will!!, do you Robyn?!) and I was feeing guilty that I had not spoken to her since her return from hospital. We took the girls into Matamata on Friday evening to a small fair that they had and popped in to the Scott's on the way home. The operation had gone well (which I knew) and she looked very well, if obviously a bit sore still. We only meant to stay for 20 minutes but got chatting and left quite late. Eric got engrossed in their contract for a farm they have just bought (more about this big excitement in the future when it is more public knowledge here, not that I think anyone in this neck of the woods accesses this site, apart from R and R) as he was about to do contract and property exams the following week. We spent most of the rest of the weekend at home, Eric stuck in his books as he has been for months now, and me trying to keep the girls out of his hair. I took them into the pools in Matamata to try and get them to increase the amount of lengths they can swim. I know, we have a pool, but it is not 25m long and not exactly good for this type of thing. Anyway, it is warmer than our pool and, as I said, we are having terrible weather here. I can also leave the girls in the pool while I do shopping etc. after I've swum a bit.

The exams!!!! Poor Eric!!!! He did Contract on Monday and is convinced he failed. It was a rewrite of one of the exams he failed in July and he was so dissappointed with the questions. Very nebulous, conceptual stuff for which he could not utilise all the information he had inwardly digested over the previous months. He came through the door afterwards with a face like thunder and declared angrily 'Well that was a waste of time!"!!!'!!!!!. The following day was better but not brilliant. Tort and Property I think. One was OK and the other he was not so confident about. these exams are a real bind. All subjects that he has studied and passed in the UK, AND there is no choice in the questions. Have you ever written a paper where you have to do 2 questions out of 2? I certainly haven't, and as you are probably aware, I have written a few exams in my time!!!

Well I really must get up. I can hear Daddy and Michelle (Hudson - will explain later) I think is up, so I ought to get up and sort some breakfast out. I don't want to post this yet so have ticked the 'draft' box. If this is posted I will attempt to finish it later. if it isn't then you are not reading it so it doesn't matter!! I have also written this offline for the first time so am hoping I don't loose it all!!!!

Hello Again,

Well I didn't - loose it that is. We have just been into Matamata to New Zealand's famous 'Warehouse' ("the Warehouse, the Warehouse where everyone gets a bargin"), sort of Woolies but cheaper and on a bigger scale. I needed to get Harriette some boxer shorts. She has spent the last few weeks at Intermediate living in her school PE shorts. ie wearing them under her gymslip. I severly disapprove but it is an absolute essential in their eyes as the boys (prepare yourself for a shock) look up their skirts!!!!! Did you ever here anything so outrageous?!?!?! Anyway the girls have taken to wearing PE shorts or boxers to protect their modesty. I severely disapprove but remember how important such things were to me at that age. Hence the trip in to buy boxers. We all stopped off at the dairy (ie a small corner shop) on the way home for ice creams. Gary was famous for his enormous $1 ice creams and we were devestated when he announced he had sold the place. Jack, a Korean of very little English, has taken over, and while he has attempted to maintain standards it is not quite the same. Still they are still pretty good sized ice creams.

Now I mentioned Michelle and that Mom and Daddy are here. M and D arrived on Friday 20th having had a 3 day stopover in Singapore. They had never been there and I think enjoyed it. I took a days leave to pick them up and gave Alice the day off school. I had originally said that as Harriette could not go (it would not be appropriate to take her out of school) then Alice could not, but then thought why should Alice suffer because Harriette is at a different school? And I could do with the company on the 2 hour drive up!!! Anyway, she came. And Michelle is a friend of Eric's from school and although they haven't actually seen each other since then were aware of each others progress through Stan. Michelle is a sucessful accountant in London and decided to take some time out to travel. She left in September and has been in the Americas and stopped at Hawaii and Fuji on the way here. She arrived on Saturday (yesterday) and found her way down here by the evening. We would have picked her up but did not know when she was coming in. Yesterday afternoon we went to the rodeo!!!! The weather was not brilliant but at least the rain held off. It started at 11am but by the time we had got all these jet lagged people up and got ourselves organised it was 3pm before we got there. It was good fun and I would imagine if you took a picnic and had some sunshine it would be a fabulous day. Those guys are mad, no doubt about it! And no-one had their camera so no piccies I'm afraid. We had so much choice for what to do yesterday. As well as the rodeo, the Super 12 started (now of course you knew that didn't you. Didn't you?!) and the Chiefs our local team was playing our North Island rivals from Wellington, the Hurricanes, at our local stadium in Hamilton. I would have been keen to go but Kihikihi where the rodeo was was in the completely opposite direction to Hamilton and couldn't be fagged with all the travelling after 4 hours in the car yesterday. The girls were upset but I was able to appease them with an offer to get the TV out so they could watch it. We (ie the Chiefs) started off badly but ended up winning 20 - 7. Not that Eric and I watched it. Michelle arrived just as it started and just as I served pizzzas. We ate and then adjourned to the kitchen so Eric and Michelle could do 20 years of catching up. I went to bed and left them rabbiting until the early hours. Oh, the Super 12. I guess it's the Southern hemisphere equivilent to the 6 nations. S. Africa, Australia and NZ put up 12 teams. I must confess that I did not get to grips with it last year but plan to this year. I felt very 'out of it' not knowing what was going on. The other thing that was on was a firework display and concert in Hamilton as part of the Hamilton Gardens summer festival. I hope to get to the jazz concert on Friday. I am in Auckland Thursday and Friday this week so it depends when I can get back.

So there you are. I think that brings you up to date. I am off now to phone my aunt in Australia. It's mid afternoon Sunday and I actually have nothing that needs doing. Bliss! Love to you all.

Michelle