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Hey y'all-


We just got our photos back from our trips and here are a couple from Salt Lake City. As you can see, there was lots of snow when we were there!

Of course, I also took a few of my little girl, so here is my current favorite shot:

Remember: SIX days until Match Day!! I swear I am more excited about this than Dustin...

Home renovations, trashy TV and the countdown continues...

Since we're hoping to leave Augusta and sell our house, we've been doing all those renovations that we'd planned over the past few years. We've repainted the bathroom and kitchen cabinets, and replaced the dirty off-white carpet with hardwood flooring. Now the house looks so good, we're kicking ourselves for not having done this when we first moved in!!

I think things have changed back home by now, but I remember only having five TV channels to choose from when I wanted to watch TV. Here in the US, I don't even know how many we have access to. Some I never, ever look at: CNN, the "outdoor" channels (which are solely geared toward hunters and fishermen), and all the sporting channels. I do watch the Food Network, much to Dustin's dismay. (The hotlink will take you to Paula Deen's TV show. She's a wonderful lady from Savannah- just down the road from Augusta- who cooks all sorts of wonderful Southern food. The recipes usually start like this: "Now y'all, take 2 cups of melted butter and add 4 cups of mayo. To this, add 12 cups of sugar, then 2 blocks of cream cheese..."). Every now and then, though, I'll get caught up in the TRASHIEST TV you can imagine. A few months ago, I couldn't stop watching a reality dating show, where the prize was winning a relationship with Bret Michaels. For those who don't remember, he was the lead singer of an 80s hair band called Poison. It was absolutely appalling and captivating at the same time: why on earth are those women fighting to get with him, and oh my god, did you see what she just did??? The network that plays this show, VH1, specialises in bringing back all those people that you think, "I wonder what happened to...?" Their current line-up includes a show about Salt & Pepa, another reality dating show with Flava Flav (from Public Enemy), a reality show about Scott Baio, and a reality celebrity rehab show!! Like I said: captivating and appalling, all at the same time!!

After admitting to watching trashy TV, I'll try to redeem myself by recommending the latest book I've read: People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. It was truly the best book I've read for a while.

I hope everyone is still sending us all their best thoughts and wishes for Match Day on the 20th.

10 days until we find out where we'll be living!!

New Year, new hair!

Hey y'all,

It's an awful photo of me, but here is proof that I am getting my hair back! This photo was taken at my work Christmas party, so my hair's actually a little longer than this now. It's still curly, which takes some getting used to, but I'm definitely not complaining.

It seems as though I do nothing but complain lately, so I'm not going to bore anyone with the bad stuff that's been going on since I last posted. On the positive side, we were able to do a bit of travelling over the last few months, due to Dustin's residency interviews. We went all over the country:

Portland, Oregon: reminded me so much of Adelaide, which made me feel right at home. It's the same size city, very similar skyline (built right on a river) and the same humanitarian, left-wing mentality. I actually read a post the other day: some guy whining that if you're not a liberal, then you get questioned. Good grief! Is it not enough that the rest of the country considers calling someone a "liberal" an insult??

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: I was really looking forward to going to Philly for the first time, because I was really excited about seeing my all-time favourite painting (Nude Descending a Staircase, by Marcel Duchamp, see below). While I was thrilled to see this painting at last, I was not so thrilled by Philly. It was actually kinda scary. One of the hospitals that Dustin interviewed at is right in the heart of the ghetto, and the staff must park close to the entrance if they start or finish their shift out of daylight hours. Not something I want to worry about for the next three years...


Charlottesville, Virginia: a very pretty little college town, but much too small.


Charlotte, North Carolina: one of the best emergency medicine programs in the country. Dustin is VERY excited about this place. Charlotte itself is growing very quickly, and is becoming the banking centre of the US.




New York City, New York: Dustin interviewed with four different hospitals in New York. While none of these hospitals are nationally renowned, he knows that I would LOVE to live in NYC. Obviously, they know the cost of living is a huge turn-off for most applicants, so they pay more and the Manhattan hospital has heavily subsidised accommodation, right on 57th Street!!


Salt Lake City, Utah: When we arrived in Salt Lake, there was snow everywhere. It was so beautiful!! We went cross-country skiing and hiked through the snow on our free days there. While we both really liked the amazing scenery, I don't think this city is going to be high on our list. There aren't really many job opportunities for me here.


Nashville, Tennesee: The favourite pick for the rest of Dustin's family, because it's the closest to them! Nashville is actually a pretty cool city (it's not just country music), and this hospital is tied with Charlotte for the best ER program in the country.


Lousville, Kentucky: I can't say anything about Louisville (the Kentucky Derby is held here every year) because my boss wouldn't give me a day off to go with Dustin. But I said I wouldn't complain, right?...


We'll find out on March 20th where Dustin will be offered a position. The students don't actually get to choose, once they submit their ranked list of programs. Wherever they're offered a position, that's where they have to go. Unless they aren't offered a position, and then it's known as "scrambling". Hopefully, we won't have to worry about that happening.


So, when it's the 20th, think of us and send us all your best thoughts and wishes...


V. x

4 Things You May or May Not Know About Me

My dear friend, Joanne, sends me these chain-letter emails, knowing that I'll never respond to her! But, this time, I am (albeit with edits)!

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Amelie: oh my goodness, I love this movie!
2. The Road Home: I cried my eyes out watching this movie in the theatre for the first time. Very embarrassing for the people with me.
3. The City of Lost Children: quite weird movie, but amazing visuals.
4. The Dish: the scene with the American national anthem cracks me up every single time.

Four TV Shows that I watch:
Ok, so I think this is a terrible question, so I'm going to change it to:
Four books I would read over and over:
1. Animal Farm, George Orwell: greatest book of all time.
2. Perfume, Patrick Suskind: beautifully written, creates beautiful images with words.
3. The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling: obvious choice!
4. Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck: one of my favourite writers. And it has a dog. Of course I love this book!

Four places I have been:
1. Havana, Cuba: walking along the Malecon (sea front) at sunset, hearing the salsa music playing in the homes across the street...
2. Bangkok, Thailand: haggling over designer knock-offs in the street markets.
3. Venice, Italy: wandering around the streets and alleyways, getting completely lost but loving it.
4. New York City, USA: one of the best trips I've had, because I was with a great friend, Carol.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Southern biscuits: so unhealthy, but so good...
2. Australian lollies: I miss these so bad: licorice bullets, Minties, Pascall chocolate eclairs, Allens snakes, pineapples, etc, etc, etc.
3. Thai curries: this dinky little town does amazingly have a Thai restaurant. Trouble is, it's a 30 minute drive from our house.
4. Chinese noodles: if they're cooked right, they're amazing.

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. NOT AT WORK!
2. NOT IN AUGUSTA!
3. Diving in the Caribbean somewhere
4. On Dustin's family farm, sitting on the porch with a cool drink, watching Bonnie run around the fields chasing butterflies

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Getting my hair back after chemo (it's already starting to grow!)
2. Going around the country with Dustin for his residency interviews
3. Our third anniversary
4. Christmas!

Left-over news

Just a little update on how things are going here in Augusta:

Dustin: he's studying very hard for his "Step 2" exam, which is coming up on Friday. It's an all-day exam, and is the second in a series of three exams he'll have to take to become a licensed doctor. I've never had to take an exam that was longer than 4 hours and my exams were always on specific subjects. These exams are ridiculously long, and the questions cover every single thing they've ever been taught. Yet another reason why I am not the one who's becoming a doctor!

Bonnie: my little girl is 2.5 years old now and has really slowed down over the past few months. She used to badger me constantly to play with her, and wasn't shy about nipping me when I wouldn't get off the couch (she'd just nip my clothes, not my skin; she knew what she was doing). Now, I get about 30 minutes of excitement when I get home, then she flops back into a comfy position and dozes off. When we adopted her, I read that Golden Retrievers take longer than other breeds to leave the childhood puppy stage: most puppies calm down after a year, but Goldens take 2 years. She definitely lived up to that part of her breeding.

V: my big news is that my hair is growing again! After I lost my hair, I did not look at myself in the mirror without my scarf or wig on. That's almost 6 months of purposely avoiding my reflection. But last weekend, I was brave and looked in the mirror. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I didn't look so bad after all. My head is now a light shade of brown, rather than stark white. But the best news is that I am getting my eyebrows back. No more drawing them on like a scary old lady! And I don't look quite so much like a bowling ball!

Harry Potter fever!

This month has been wonderful for us Harry Potter fans...

First, I saw the movie when it opened in regular theatres, then a week later, saw it in IMAX 3-D, which was absolutely fantastic! Definitely worth travelling 2.5 hours to the movie theatre! Then, of course, the final book came out last weekend. I didn't want to buy an American version of the book (I'm holding out for an Australian one to match the rest of the set), so I've been conscientiously editing what I hear on the news about the final book. Amazingly, though, I found out that someone at work had bought one, but then gone on holidays this week. So, I borrowed their copy and read it in 3 days.

After reading that really exciting book, I'm now a little lost. The book I've started reading, about threatened languages around the world, really doesn't have the same thrill!

Food Network and our new toy!

Of the dozens and dozens of TV channels we have access to, my favourites are E! (mindless celebrity gossip) and the Food Network (obviously cooking!). When I first came to the U.S., I wasn't allowed to work. I quickly got into the routine of watching Food Network in the morning, going to the supermarket in the afternoon, then spending two-three hours making elaborate meals for Dustin and me. That all ended once I started working! We now live on frozen dinners and pasta-and-sauce boxed meals.

I do miss cooking, though. One of my favourite TV chefs is a Georgia lady named Paula Deen. She has the most wonderful personality and of course, has the beautiful Southern drawl. Everything she cooks is hideously unhealthy, full of mayonnaise and butter and cream, but she's wonderful to watch. When my dad came to the U.S. for our wedding, we actually went to Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah. We didn't see her, unfortunately. Another favourite TV chef is Nigella Lawson, an English lady whose recipes are very similar to Jamie Oliver. Just throw it all in a bowl, mix it and cook!

Dustin may find that I start cooking a little more often again, after our weekend shopping trip. We bought a beautiful KitchenAid mixer! We've both eyed them enviously in the shops, but at an average price of USD$400, we weren't in any hurry to get one. But, on the weekend, we found them on sale for $140! So, we lined up at the cash register to buy ours. When we got to the check-out, we were asked if we would like to open a store account to get 15% off our purchase. You better believe we did! Our sales girl was new, so she had to get her manager to help her with our sign-up. We waited maybe a minute, but the manager said he'd give us 20% off for our patience.... So, we got a $400 mixer for $100! I love shopping trips like that!! So, we brought it home, set it up and promptly made 2 loaves of bread. Yummy!