sorry for being absent! but ive been busy obsessing over the Olympics, and notably these few athletes:

oussama mellouli

stephanie rice

michael phelps and ryan lochte

and my favourite one of them all

USAIN BOLT, fastest man alive

this new kid on the block (okay pun intended) was such a pleasure to watch (and scream for). i love athletes with showmanship- boy am i going to miss his little dancey moves on the track and his phenomenal, record-breaking races. absolutely mind-blowing. yes in case you didn’t know i was obsessed, my facebook status says it all. plus i joined his fanpage on fb. teehee

picture credits: notinat.com.es, uk telegraph, the age, SMH

i saw 5 psych patients today. all of them had some form of schizophrenia, mostly the paranoid kind. all were nice and lovely. one taught me all i needed to know about clozapine. another left me with an original quotable quote: “people who write poetry only do so because they can’t write books.”

oh and i snowboarded over the weekend! it was lovely. the snow at falls creek was so white and pristine that i ate some. and snowboarding was EXTREMELY exhilarating and fun. we did the intermediate slopes and one of them was so steep i felt queasy just looking down. i spent the first day falling on my bum 378451 times while trying to master the sport. now my tail bone feels like it has been shattered into a million pieces and my knees are soooo sore i can’t squat. and ski-lift landings are my absolute nightmare! still. you know what they say- no pain, no gain. worth my every ache! now i can strike off ‘do some extreme sport(s)’ under my things-to-do-because-i-want-to list.

“Every year twenty-something women come to New York City in search of the two ‘L’s: labels and love. Twenty years ago, i was one of them. Having gotten the knack for labels early… i concentrated on love.”

- Carrie Bradshaw

so yes. finally i caught SATC with my bunch of gal pals, after all that pent-up excitement about that walk-in wardrobe that Big built for Carrie, the fabulous fashion, and of course the mandatory dose of kickass girl power. i was warned not to get my hopes up too high, but i LOVE the movie! apart from the amazing couture gowns that SJP rocked, i was enamored with her too-high-for-walking-in manolos, glossy brown tresses and THAT studded belt (which i think she wore about four times?) it makes me want to be a fashionista too! well apart from the droolworthy fashion snippets i think the movie was really sweet and most importantly i was reminded of the selflessness and multitudes of girlfriend-ship, and for which i am thankful that i have in my bunch of girlfriends

since it’s approaching wintertime and i haven’t been able to go out for runs now nearly as much as i used to (or rather haven’t been able to exercise AT ALL), i’m slowly becoming a couch potato sooo…. i hatched a little experiment: i’m going to use the wii fit program (courtesy of housemate) in the comforts of my own living room (with toasty heater!) and see how much weight i can lose in a month! of course i’ll continue with my normal diet and all and make a very concerted effort to stop over-snacking. i’ve tried the yoga and it’s a pretty good back stretching session, which i like, and the only thing i don’t like is having to run on the spot for 5 minutes. otherwise it’s pretty excellent and fun, i love how the wii fit trainers tell me off (gently) if i’ve had a snack too many, and encourage me even when my posture is severely skewed to the left. so yes in one month’s time i shall be reporting back on the wii fit’s results! stay tuned!

in other news, gynae clinics have been very enjoyable. i get my very own room to see patients in (on my own!), and my registrar is such a sweetheart. what’s not to love?

they make bhangra look super cool. i wanted to learn salsa but now ive changed my mind to bhangra! haha okay fickle i am.

boy has it been a crazy week! i am so knackered- but thankful, of course- i managed to get most tasks on my logbook signed off, yay! although the best part of my week is/was catching Iron Man just a couple of hours ago i have to say that i’m hardly a marvel/DC comic fan but i LOVE these superhero movies! Iron Man was fantastic, Robert Downey Jr put up an absolutely stellar performance, *swoons* and i loved how it kept me on tenterhooks and also made me laugh out (too loud) at too many times (Jon Favreau obviously has a sense of humour) and the computer generated effects- too amazing(out of this world, really)! i could go on and on but i don’t want to spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it yet.

yes i am hopelessly in love with Iron Man now, never have i thought that a robot could look this cool (and hot) – i know it doesn’t make sense but whatever! MUST.GO.SEE!!!

p.s. gwyneth paltrow’s hair looked bad on her- straw coloured hair and pale ethereal complexions do not go together.

don’t you love musicians who improvise? david cook takes my breath away

i managed to explore the pretty beaches of collaroy during conference free time with a friend, ling (who shaved for a cure!!) and it was magnificent! we initially strolled along the rocky stretch before deciding (very spontaneously) to roll our jeans up and wade into the deeper waters. and then it rained very briefly but heavily, drenching us completely. not the most pleasant but it made our little adventure a tad more exciting, and apart from that the weather was absolutely fabulous. went canoeing the day after in a lovely lake in narrebeen, but unfortunately i have no pictures of that

p.s. my mediocre photog skills does absolutely no justice to the prettiness of the place. melbourne is now frightfully cold at a low of 6degrees and i long for the warm sunshine in sydney!

on tuesday night at 2138h i delivered my first bub, a gorgeous little baby girl! i wasn’t really expecting to do the delivery, but my resident made me do it, and i was trembling slightly as i prepared to catch the baby’s head as Mrs D screamed and pushed with all her might at every contraction. at first the baby’s head emerged, then we eased her shoulder out and then the rest of her body tumbled out as we caught her, it was so quick! she was a wee one, lovely and beautiful as she opened her eyes and took her first breath. i cut her cord (sooo proud!) and delivered the placenta as well- on my own! (under supervision of the resident of course) it was an exhilarating experience.

the difference between watching a birth and doing one yourself is massive- bringing a baby into the world with your own two hands is just amazing, amazing, amazing! nothing like seeing the proud parents smile like they’d just won the lottery, cuddling their gorgeous bub and cooing over her, like she was their precious little princess. maybe that was how it was like when i was born too (or so i like to think)

+baby picture from anne geddes

this week was completely awful. ugh. i hope i never have to relive it again, and as much as i was annoyed and frustrated i really didn’t like being angry at others. anger always makes me feel like a bad person, so i am putting it all behind me.

anyway, on to happier things- i actually had a GREAT weekend! i met gwenda in the city for some lunching and we went into one of the cafes along flinder’s lane because it was pouring (and i finally fulfilled my craving for poached eggs!!) and it was really nice to be able to spend quality time with a friend i’ve known since my teenage years i love having friends visit melbourne, it always seems kind of surreal when they’re over cos everyone is pretty much overseas and all over the place nowadays and it’s so hard to meet up sometimes. anyway i’m glad gwenda really likes melbourne, i love melbourne and am very proud of it! although i make a very bad tour guide, just because i don’t go to the city much (i live in the burbs) and generally because i can’t read maps for nuts. :s

p.s. i would post pictures of my delicious lunch with gwenda but i brought a camera with a flat battery (classic, i know) so yeah. ’nuff said. although, we did take one picture using gwenda’s cam. on that note, i can’t believe she takes such lovely pictures without having to use a dSLR! some people are just photog geniuses

anyway here are some piccas from lou’s 21st party (which was actually suz’s 21st- complicated, i know) – this was last week

and yesterday night we had deb’s housewarming, where the theme was ‘chequered’ and i had NO chequered clothing. so i had to borrow from robin, who very kindly lent me his RL shirt which i actually kind of dig…. in a cowgirlish kind of way

i especially LOVE this picture that i took with Cat! it makes me happy

and here is mer, and big jem, who unfortunately has his leg in a plaster cast. nevertheless he was very nice and sporting to let me snap a picture!

okay, end of post. my computer is getting progressively less temperamental, i hope its a good sign. although a very clever senior of mine diagnosed my computer breakdown due to a spoilt fan (after i told him exactly what happened, with all the relevant signs and symptoms), which i think was probably spot-on!