Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Surprise, surprise, I've been terrible about my blog for several months now. I'm headed home tomorrow for a whirlwind trip, including good old Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont, all within 8 days. Yay!! Summer and sunshine here I come! Boy have I missed you! I promise I will be on here when I get back the week of July 28th. Much has been happening, and there is much to tell ;-)

I can't, I can't, I can't stand losin'...

Can't stand losin' you!

We said goodbye last night at Hyde Park to one of the all-time great bands, The Police. As I'm sure a lot of you know, they reunited for one last tour, and we saw them finish off last night with a bang in front of 35,000 fans! It was an amazing show, the energy was incredible!!! And I have to say, in spite of the salt and pepper beard, Sting still looks finger-licking good, and he knows it (he wore a muscle shirt--tasteful, but still a muscle shirt). Guess yoga really does pay off ;-) And wow, his voice sent shivers down my spine. You haven't heard Sting until you've heard him live.

We were also treated to performances by The Bangles, Starsailor, and KT Tunstall. I think Starsailor has a new fan in W, who had never heard of them before. The lead singer has a great voice, and was obviously enjoying himself up on stage. We sang our lungs out for most of the afternoon and evening and the weather was definitely cooperating with a fair bit of sunshine amazingly enough! But as W put it, The Police just blew everybody else out of the water.

Next up, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper !!! on Wednesday in Hyde Park again. Let's hope the forecast of heavy showers changes by then...generally the forecasts here can only be trusted on the same day, and sometimes not even then, so there's good reason to hope ;-)

Running on Empty

I'm feeling a little sensitive this week. Although I am getting 8 hours of sleep a night, for the past 3 days I've been waking up seemingly from a deep sleep. I'm groggy, disoriented, in the middle of crazy disturbing dreams, and generally very unhappy. Not how you really want to repeatedly start your days.

I've been poked and prodded at for poor posture (belly dancing teacher, physio, fellow OTs), which is fine when it's one at a time. I've had a very sore coccyx bone, from what I don't know. You'd think I must have had a nasty bump to cause such pain, but I can't remember anything. And because I sit with my pelvis in a posterior tilt, the "slump," I'm in pain most of the time unless it's a really soft cushy chair. Now don't be smirking out there, most people sit like that. I'm going to start using a wedge cushion to force me into an anterior tilt so I can sit pain free until the problem is gone. Let's see, I also don't stand straight, don't use my core stability muscles to hold myself up against gravity, have one leg slightly shorter than the other (which tilts and rotates my pelvis)....the list goes on and on. It's been a week of people pushing me into different positions, and told to do it that way from now on, and it's just too much to work on at once!

I've got a big meeting with the Head OT tomorrow, which has little butterflies in my stomach, but there were big butterflies and outright knots already in there from other things going on, but it was just that little bit extra to upset the scales.

Right...I think I'm going to call the "Waaaa"mbulance on myself, as Cogger used to say. Sorry about that.

Housemate Nicole's hen do is coming up this weekend, Saturday night. Unfortunately, the forecast is for heavy rain all weekend, but then again they never get the forecast right here, so hopefully she'll have a clear warm night. Her mom and little brother arrive tomorrow morning, so she is in full tour guide mode already, having spent the week packing things up. When they leave in about a week, she'll only have two weeks left before moving back to the States permanently. Still doesn't seem quite real yet, even though her room is half empty.

Wooohoooo!

"I'm in the money, I'm in the money, I've got a lot of what it takes to get along!" That's partly in deference to my own musical theatre obsession where for a lot of things in life I find myself singing show tunes in my head...but it also reminds me that Aunt Sue and Emma are in NYC this week, attending as many Broadway musicals as possible. Ah, a trip after my own heart. I dragged my family to four musical and dramatic productions during our first trip to London. As I recall it was actually something like 4 shows in 3 days. Anywho, congrats on graduation Em, hope you are loving the Big Apple!

Back to the whole hullabaloo--I have won the housemate lose weight contest! Which means the kitty goes to me, albeit I don't really expect to ever see the money that one particular housemate owes, ahem!, as she has not paid into it at all and represents the largest portion of money that should have been in there. Seriously though, I am proud of myself that the only time I gained weight was whilst on holiday in SA, and I have so far lost 8 pounds overall. I'm not actually finishing now that our bet is over, I have my own goal weight set to reach and maintain, and I'm happy that along the way I'm re-educating myself about healthy foods, healthy portion sizes, and learning to recognize my bad habits.

Go Allison, it's your birthday!!!!

Meerkat Manor!

Kung Fu Panda

Well-measured words

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7434740.stm

Amazingly, given the rapid decline of America's influence in the international playing field, a lot of eyes around the world are following this election closely. Some sobering and thoughtful reflections, although the author stops short of making a prediction...

Oooh, they make me so mad sometimes.

Sometimes you've really got to have some chuzpah (or however you spell it) to be an Occupational Therapist, because it feels like everyone else is trying to tear you down. Or I guess tear you down isn't the right way to put it, but they just sort of dismiss you, like their service is valuable but yours isn't. My supervisor has had a history of struggling with the physio outpatient service...not that they are overtly separatist or rude or mean or anything, but there have been issues in terms of who gets new referrals. Consultants and their teams of doctors have a bad habit of using an OT referral form, but writing "hand physio" as the reason for the referral, so even though it is an OT referral some of them have been "stolen" so to speak by the physio team in the past.

I recently had a lady call in to say she wasn't going to keep her next appointment, and in fact would not be coming for any more sessions with me because her physio had told her she doesn't need to see me anymore. Although there is some crossover, the OT hand therapy service would not exist if we were nothing more than a duplication of physio services! Regardless of my own opinion on the obvious differences between our services, in the NHS, anything that can be cut, will be cut. I have also recently taken on a patient only a year or two older than me who has already had physio for awhile, been discharged from physio, and was only given a referral to see me by the doctor because she wasn't happy with the end result, and he didn't know what else to try. It was kind of like, well, we've done everything we possibly can for you, and out of sheer frustration finally said, well, there is an OT, I suppose I could refer you to her.

The icing on the cake was a phone call this morning from a lovely patient...she saw the specialist hand surgeon yesterday. He discharged her and told her she's got about as much back in her arm as she is going get. So she asked about her OT sessions and he told her not to bother! She was a bit thrown off and rang me today to ask about it. Since we see people for as long as they are making progress, and when I saw her two days she had improved, I told her she was welcome to continue coming, which she has decided to do. But honestly!!! Your self esteem could take a dive if you weren't the type of personality to get fired up by this kind of thing instead. Why on earth do you make referrals to a service that you don't think is of benefit to your patients? And what business is it of yours to decide when a patient should finish therapy?! Once a referral is made to me, that patient is mine as much as yours, and what I do with them is in conjuction with what you are doing, true, but also separate. Agggghh!!!!!!!!

Incredible!

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/05/30/brazilian-tribe.html

What would they think of New York City?

I hadn't realized there were any tribes still in existence completely unaware of the rest of the world, let alone 100 of them.

Ok, maybe just one

I lied, I'm posting a photo. Pikkewyn!! (That's penguins in Afrikaans.) I can't wait for you guys to see some of my wildlife pics that I took with my SLR! And I still have a couple of rolls to develop yet.

Back in the UK

We landed yesterday morning around 7am, following a 12-hour flight where I did not sleep at all. So essentially I pulled an all-nighter. Neither did Wickus, and believe me, the two of us trying to navigate the tube back home was a comedy of errors, as neither of us could think straight. I think we finally got into bed at 11am and were knocked out for 5 hours. W bounced back, but I was a complete zombie all day. And only better by about half today, as I made many various small and big mistakes at work. However, I did manage to get through belly dancing class after work, and felt energized for about an hour afterward. I have re-gained 4 pounds as I did not regulate much at all for those 2 weeks, although I think I should be able to lose them again rather easily. And as is generally my luck, there has been beautiful hot sunny weather here in the UK whilst I was gone, and I have returned to gray skies, rain, and cooler temps. The weather cooperated in South Africa for about 2/3 of our trip though, so I suppose I can't really complain. I'm rather depressed at the moment, and would happily turn around and go straight back if someone would just pay for my ticket and give me lots more annual leave ;-)

I am busy putting tons of photos on facebook tonight, and will pick and choose some to put on here as well. But not tonight.

One more day

Does no one stock bloody 35mm film anymore?!!! Granted I hardly ever use it myself, but still! I should be able to find it when I need it! My lovely SLR camera has come out of the closet with its lovely long distance lens, that I unfortunately didn't realize I needed and therefore didn't buy until after my family's first safari in December/January 2002/2003. I'm so excited to use it, and I can't find the right film anywhere, grrrrrr. Boots only has 200 speed, Tesco only has 400, and I have yet to find any place else that even carries it. I would love to get 60 or 80 speed, but would settle for 100. My last options are the airport, and then South Africa itself.

Yes, it is finally here. Tomorrow night we take off for Cape Town. Finally, finally. Although first I have to get through a day packed solid with patients...I have patients right up until 4:30pm, which means I have to drag my suitcase to the hospital with me, so I can get straight on the tube as soon as I finish my last notes (which realistically is probably 5-ish). I've had 10-thousand To-Do lists floating around (slight, but only slight exaggeration), and at the moment am listening to Michael Buble for stress relief.

But everything is coming together--I packed my suitcase previously, or at least most of it, and just need to go through tonight and hopefully pull a few things out. Mom and Dad's retirement thing is settled. Oh, yes and Weight Watchers is going fabulously well, 6 pounds lost so far, three weeks in. Which means that thus far, I'm winning the little jackpot we've got going in our house (the one who loses the most by Nicole's Hen Night in June wins the money we've all contributed whenever we gain weight). However, I figure if I'm lucky and keep a close enough eye, the best I can hope for after two weeks on holiday is to stay the same. More likely I'll gain a pound or two, but I will do my best. Knock on wood, I'm the only one who hasn't gained yet, but consistently lost. Oh yes, and W and I have booked our tickets for a US trip in September. He'll be joining me at an Aveyard wedding in Denver, as well as spend some time in NYC, and meet a number of my friends, including hopefully the Burks and Heilalas. Sorry guys, I know you were really looking forward to spending some time with him in Vermont in July, and he did intend to come, but the situation is beyond his control with work permits and what not as he changes to permanent status with Deutsche Bank.

Possibly more later, but if not, I won't be online again until May 14 or 15. Apparently the internet is ridiculously expensive in SA. Weather forecast is absolutely beautiful at the moment, I'm crossing my fingers it stays that way! Much love to all, Allison :-)

"To Make You Feel My Love"

When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I would offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
There's no doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling down the avenue
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on the rollin' sea
Down the highway of regret
The winds of change are blowing wild and free
But you ain't seen nothing like me yet

There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the earth for you
Make you happy, make your dreams come true
To make you feel my love

Alternative Exercise

I went to my first belly-dancing class tonight. What a blast! Unfortunately, I can't seem to get my arms and hips to be doing two different things in a graceful, coordinated way. Ok, to toot my own horn, I did pretty well for a complete beginner, but I can only seem to do the arms or the hips right, not both right at the same time. But I figure after a 7-week course of classes, things are bound to fall into place. Well, 5 weeks anyway...I'll miss the first two while I'm in Cape Town (tonight was a free intro class). Now, I just need to find one of those small triangular scarves with bright coppery discs all along the edges....

Next Wednesday is coming up way too fast. I'm now making 2-3 To-Do Lists every day as I try to keep up with everything I need to take care of before I leave. Agggh.

I should be an events planner, I really should.

Whew! The planning is finished! And I'm not just referring to Cape Town here...but since I've started off there, we went back and forth this weekend, and finally settled on an itinerary we were both satisfied with. I think Wickus may be even more excited than me at this point because when he goes home, he normally stays in Cape Town, but we will be going out to the Eastern Cape, as far as Knysna! We'll be staying two nights in Tsitsikamma National Park at a romantic tree-top log cabin, two nights at a game reserve (with two game drives per day, as well as horseback riding and a cheetah experience at their breeding centre), two nights in Hermanus with W's family (a relax at the beach weekend) and the rest in Cape Town itself. I managed to talk W into hiking up Table Mountain rather than taking the cable car (hee hee), we have a day set aside for working our way through the wine farms, and we'll be going to Boulders beach to see and walk among the penguins!!! And that's maybe half of our plans. Hard to believe it's only 9 days now until we leave...

I have also finished planning (with Tressa's valuable input of course) our retirement surprise for our parents. They know some of what is happening, but I've still got several tricks up my sleeve. I'm really quite chuffed (er, patting myself on the back) with the end result, and I hope it's an amazing experience for them.

Right, it's already past bed time, and I've still got a new Scrubs episode to watch, now that the writer's strike is over and Season 7 episodes have started arriving via iTunes again, so "Th-th-th-that's all for now folks!"

Sud Afrika

So it is now only a week and a half until we leave for Cape Town! We are currently planning out our days (although of course we don't expect it to go according to plan all or necessarily even most of the time). Our current bone of contention is whether to go to Addo Elephant Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. It was his idea initially, I found an unbelievable deal for 3 nights that is luxury accommodation, all meals and drinks plus two game drives a day, all included-- it's only available to SA residents, but I think W could get away with that ;-) But anywho, he is now balking, and I think I've figured out that the real reason is that it's a 6-hour drive. To me, totally doable. Not so much to him!

Claire and Nick's Wedding

...Was at a beautiful old converted house and barn in Coopersale Essex. The bride looked beautiful, the groom was estatic (awww) and they are now in Mauritius for 2 weeks, the lucky devils! We had a fantastic time at the reception.

Sweaty from dancing all night long, but very happy. It was a great reception-- Claire and Nick had a guy who sang Rat Pack songs for the first hour, and then it switched over to a DJ.

Is is spring anywhere?

Hmm, I haven't put any pictures up from Budapest, or from Paris for that matter, which was after Budapest. I've just updated Facebook with Tenerife pics, so I'll put some of those on here this week for those of you who avoid Facebook like the plague ;-)

Tenerife: We absolutely loved it. We had brilliant weather for the most part, in the 70s the whole time, which in the direct sun was actually quite hot so it was nice when the clouds rolled over to cool down a bit. There were some threatening-looking clouds that hung over the interior of the island the whole time and the Teide volcano, but it stayed dry and sunny along the beaches. The only time we didn't have sun was when we drove up to the tiny village of Masca, nestled on top of Los Gigantes cliffs. Talk about your terrifying drive! This road was only big enough for one car, but was meant for traffic in both directions, and it was built with the tightest hairpin turns humanly possible, one after another after another after another...for approximately half an hour. W and I both agreed it was the most dangerous drive either of us had ever been on, and would have been even if the road wasn't wet. Thank goodness I didn't run into any of the big tour buses while I was driving! Unfortunately, Masca, which has only been open to tourists for a few years now, did not have any shops selling t-shirts with the slogan, "I survived the drive to Masca." Anywho, everyone was so friendly and bent over backwards for us the whole time...we had a lovely waitress at a tapas restaurant tell us where the Canarian "rave" was going to be, a big party essentially that pops up several times a year on different parts of the island for lots of dancing and good music. With every meal when you paid the bill, you got a free shot. We really liked one restaurant in particular and when we came back a second night they welcomed us like family. And the biggest one of all: we booked a catamaran cruise to see whales and dolphins on our last day, but got ridiculously lost on our way to the port and arrived in time to see our catamaran sailing away. Our faces just dropped, so the guy took pity on us and offered to take us in the Zodiac to catch up with the catamaran. What a ride!!! Wickus had no idea what a Zodiac was, and was a little anxious about equipment getting wet (such as the video camera), but ended up loving the brief, extremely bumpy high speed trip to catch up. As we climbed on board, everyone had turned to watch and wanted to know how much extra it had cost us to have the Zodiac included. W announced in a rather loud voice much to my chagrin, "Nothing, you just have to be late!" We had a brilliant hotel at Playa la Arena, a black volcanic beach, which I loved but W thought looked dirty. It's funny the sand there was softer, so to speak, than the sand on the black volcanic beaches in Hawaii. I don't know if Teide is older and so the sand has been ground down more or what, but there was a definite difference. Incidentally, my souvenir from Tenerife is a classy pair of round volcanic stone earrings, outlined in silver (on sale for half price, Mom). Neither one of us wanted to leave, it truly was a little 5-day slice of heaven, and a break I desperately needed from the UK weather.

But I'm back now...and counting down the days (30) to Cape Town. I am gaining confidence as a hand therapist, and am seeing all my clients now on my own, although I have yet to find a cure for my sister.

Buda...Pest

Budapest was lovely, although freezing cold on Saturday, around -5 or -6 that night. We had an amazing hot and cold breakfast buffet at our hotel every morning, and certainly were not lacking for food at other times. We ate in several old cafes, one being the famous Gerbeaud Confectionary (coffee and cakehouse) that has been around for more than 100 years. It was beautiful with chandeliers and all. We went on a tour of the state opera house, where they were busily finishing the set for Carmen, which was to open that night. It was stunningly gorgeous! The Royal Opera House in London has nothing on Budapest! But then again, it is known as one of the most, if not The most, beautiful opera house in Europe. We explored a labyrinth underneath the castle complex by wandering around in the dark with an oil lamp...it was quite spooky in places, and lots of fun. We had an unbelievably delicious dinner Saturday night, where we also tasted the Takaji wines that are made in Hungary, and were serenaded with traditional music by a violinist and pianist. And finally, we spent a lot of time in the thermal baths attached to our hotel. Mmmm, talk about your relaxation therapy. Well, except for the plunge pool. There was a 36 and a 38 degree pool, a plunge pool, and a steam room, and then a big indoor heated swimming pool in another room. We also opted for a "medical massage" one of the days...a lot of people come to Budapest for the healing powers of the thermal baths, and therefore other services have grown around it, like doctors and rehab and dentistry and cosmetic surgery, etc.

So this is my last week on the acute stroke unit :-( And unfortunately, I have caught another bad head cold, so I am really struggling to get through it, rather than enjoying it. I don't understand, this is the second winter in a row where I get sick and then better only in time to get sick again. Or sometimes even catch one cold right after another. I guess I'm not used to the strains of germs they have over here, or something!, and am looking forward to the health benefits of moving back to the States end of October/November.