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It’s been a while since I’ve done a life update. I guess because we’ve settled into a bit of a routine now.

WORK: Mine is going well. It’s been a bit challenging trying to learn everything when I’m only there a couple days a week, and with everyone sharing the work, but it’s coming together. Scott’s is… going. :/

HOUSE: We moved! We upgraded to a two bedroom apartment a bit more central to work and family. The apartment is small, but nice, and I love the neighbourhood.

EXERCISE: I joined a new gym near our new house and it’s GREAT. They have an epic gym area, swimming pool, and lots of classes, so I’ve been able to add yoga and swimming back into my exercise plan (in addition to weights). Scott started biking to work (10km each way!), and still plays basketball and the occasional extra game of soccer or more basketball.

CRAFTS: My latest project is creating cross stitch patterns that I am trying to sell on Etsy. It’s hard though!! I have to make the patterns, test stitch it, photograph it, list it, and then advertise it. I’ve got two patterns in my shop but I still have SO much more work to do.

I also taught Scott how to crochet, so we’ve been making granny squares to eventually turn into a blanket. The biggest challenge is getting our tension to match each other.

FRIENDS: I’ve still been going to trivia most weeks with my internet friends. They are great. I also get together with a sub-group of them to Stitch n Bitch every month, which is fun. We usually eat lunch, and then crochet/cross stitch.

We used to go to a different trivia night with some of Scott’s friends but the pub changed the night so that is off until we find a good replacement.

We had Jemma and Damien over for a games night the other weekend. We played Wasabi and Carcassonne. I think we are getting close to teaching them Agricola!!!

VISITORS: Cassia and Pablo came to visit Melbourne with two of their Spanish friends. We went to Chin Chin for dinner the first night (1.5 hour wait!!! but really tasty), and then did a mega tourist day the next day at Brighton Beach, Fitzroy, and the CBD. I hope Silvi tags me in her pictures because I didn’t take any. :/

Natasha has arrived in Australia as well. She’s in Sydney at the moment, but we expect to see her in the next couple weeks. I can’t wait! We’ve got the guest bedroom all set up ready to go. :D

SUMMER: One really hot day we drove out to Sorrento back beach to play in the tidepools. It was lovely but Scott severely sunburned his feet which was SO GROSS. It wasn’t that hot of a summer, but it is lingering a bit. It’s still been above 30°C most days, but thankfully it gets cool overnight, so it’s been okay.

SKELETON: My FOMO about not sliding this season hasn’t actually been that bad because 1. I still get timesheets from Whistler to analyze, 2. the World Cup races are on at very convenient times here so I’ve been able to watch most of them live. 3. Instagram stories make me feel like I’m right there, and 4. My old coach Rob has been keeping a daily vlog. So yeah, that’s cool. The final race of the season is next weekend, in Korea on the future Olympic track! Should be interesting.

OK I can’t think of anything else at the moment, so… hasta luego.

 

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Alright, where did I leave off last?

After I was finally certified by AHPRA I was allowed to apply for my Radiation Use Licence, which took another couple weeks, and then FINALLY FINALLY I could start applying for jobs. Luckily there were quite a few job postings over the last couple weeks. I got rejected straight away from a few, but then got an interview for a part-time job, which I ended up getting… and accepting! WOOHOO! So now I am 40% employed.

Two days a week is a little low, but at least I’ve got my foot in the door now. I start at the end of January.

The hospital is a bit far from here (50ish minute drive), but our lease ends mid-February so I think we might move. If we pick a different inner suburb that is just a bit closer to the highway my commute will go down to 30 minutes, and we would still be quite close to the city.

What else have I been up to?

I made all five of our nieces and nephews some pretty epic Christmas presents, which I will post after Christmas. I’ve started a crossstitch sea otter in a sweater to match my crossstitch koala in a funny shirt. My 2016 1 Second Every Day video is nearly finished. Still going to the gym. Still hanging out with my trivia friends. Still watching too much TV.

I spent 4 hours on a very hot day making Scott a 4-layered chocolate, hazelnut, and ricotta birthday cake, and then found out after about 2 bites that I am allergic to (raw) hazelnuts. Not like deathly allergic but it definitely made my mouth go really crazy even after a very tiny amount. :(

Rae and Thomas came to visit last weekend. We did a mega tourist day up in the hills. We went on Puffing Billy steam train, which was way more fun that I thought it would be! You get to sit on the windowsills and stick your legs out of the train like you’re in India or something! It was surprisingly exhilarating.

We also went to the Piggery for lunch, and Old Kingdom for peking duck dinner, PLUS Gelato Messina for dessert so it was also an epic food day.

Oh yeah and we got a new car! I don’t know if you’ve heard of this model, but it’s a Toyota Corolla. ;) Pretty neat to have a fancy new car. We expect to keep it forever 5ever.

OK I have to get ready to head to Boronia to start off the Christmas festivities (my first Jorna Christmas ever! I’m kinda scared tbh). Happy holidays!

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HULLO AGAIN.

As you probably already heard, I passed my exam. What a relief. I still think about it sometimes and revel in the amazing feeling that I don’t have to become a taxi driver.

But funny (?) story, I got another email last week from my new case officer that said “as your application deadline is rapidly approaching and you still haven’t told us if you passed your exam, do you want to withdraw your application?”. WAT!!?! I did not think that I would have to tell THEM that I passed THEIR exam. But apparently I did, and then my registration was finalized a couple hours later. Ah bureaucracy, so fun.

And then speaking of silly bureaucracy… I got a letter from the Australian Electoral Commission saying that I was not registered as voter at this address. Umm duh. So then I had to send THEM back a form telling them that I’m not a citizen! WHY ARE THESE THINGS MY PROBLEM??

I wonder what else I haven’t notified people about.

Anyway so I’m finally able to apply for jobs. I applied for all three that are posted right now. I have absolutely no clue how much competition there will be. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long for me to get a job.

It was real hot today. 35ºC. And the forecast for tomorrow… 16. Melbourne, you crazy.

Some pictures:

We had some friends over to watch hockey a few weeks ago. I made Nanaimo squares for the first time ever! They turned out DELICIOUS! Although Scott and I agree that the middle layer should be the thickest, not the bottom layer, so I would probably adjust the ratios when I make them again.

I used this recipe, but had to use smashed up cookies instead of graham cracker crumbs because they don’t exist here.

L-R: Kathy (aunt), April (niece), Brett (bro), Beau (nephew), Vicky (mum)!

April had her 3rd birthday party at a park. It was watermelon themed. There was a bbq, and footy kicking, and presents galore! I think she had a good day.

We also went to Blairgowrie for a night, way down near the tip of the Mornington Peninsula, on the other side of Port Philip Bay. We stayed with Shaun and Karen and baby Archie, and the boys went golfing one afternoon. We got to try fresh abalone that their friend caught that afternoon. I didn’t take any pictures the whole time though, whoops.

That’s all I can think of right now.

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So it’s been a week since I wrote my exam.

I’m not sure I passed, and I’m not just saying that in a fake humble way.

I definitely knew a lot of the questions for sure. But then there were a whole bunch that I either had no idea at all, or I could only narrow down to 50/50… and then I got home and looked up as many as I could remember and almost all of them I guessed wrong. Soooo… not good. I feel like I probably got 74%, and I need 75%+ (they decide after they look at the results) to pass.

I won’t get the results for another 1-2 weeks. Please cross all your fingers for me. I’m really not sure what we will do if I failed.

In the meantime, I have been surprisingly busy! I had a great week at the gym, with a new PR benchpress x5, and random strangers complimented me EVERY DAY. Weird! I have also been running errands, doing all the dumb tasks I had put off while studying, cooking, and crossstitching. That’s pretty great. And also brainstorming for a new Etsy business idea I have.

Tomorrow we are having people over to watch hockey, and then Sunday I fly to Adelaide to visit Cassia for a few days.

All for now, I need to go to bed because we are getting up early to try and get some free Icebreaker clothes at the newly renovated mall early tomorrow morning.

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I’m super stressed. My AHPRA certification exam is next Friday.

I’m not that worried about the stuff I’ve done in real life, or been tested on already… but I’m TERRIFIED about the stuff that I don’t even know I have to know. Like one of the questions on the practice exam was about a CT table that I never even knew existed. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

The reference list is not super helpful either as it includes about a dozen entire textbooks, and a couple dozen papers that I can’t get. Hgkjghgjjj. Edited to add: I was wrong, it has THIRTY THREE textbooks on the list. O_O

On a completely different note, I liked this quiz about boardgames. Scott and I both rated really high on Conflict and Strategy, which you (cough) might not be surprised about. Yes I do like blocking people for no personal benefit. SO WHAT. Hahaha. Let me know what your results are if you do it!

Alright, back to work.