Life Goes On

Hello!

It has been far too long since i've updated this guy.  So, since I left off from last time:

Two weekends ago, I gave a small speech about Child Life at an anesthetics' conference. This conference included pediatric anesthesiologists from all over the world (only slightly intimidating, right?) There were about 100 professionals and myself. Needless to say, I do not think I could have been over-prepared for it. Unfortunately, I was under-prepared and my speech did not go nearly as well as it should have. I was fine until I held the mic in my hand and looked at the very intense group of people staring at me. It was over in less than 10 minutes, but it was the longest 10 minutes of my life. All i wanted to do was go hide in the garden; luckily for me, my speech was the last before lunch so I went to do just that. 

On a more positive note, the weather is only improving and so i've been spending most of my weekends and afternoons outside. The beach beckons my name, but when i can't get there, at least i have a nice front yard to go chill in. I've been spending a large amount of time rock climbing these past couple weeks. Specifically - bouldering. This is the type of climbing with no ropes an harnesses, but is still generally safe with a crash pad and spotters. I conquered a few routes and it felt so good! It is a tremendous natural high to get to the top of  boulder and look down and think "how on earth did i do that!?" On Saturday, I went to climb in Paarl (http://www.places.co.za/html/paarlmount.html) it was a glorious day, i conquered several new routes and because the rock is made out of granite, i tore up my fingers like crazy!! It was all worth it until i made 1 wrong move and came straight down onto a pointy rock with my pinky toe. (ouch) It's possibly broken, but I mean, really, who needs a pinky toe? To say the least, i did not do any more climbing yesterday and will not be for the rest of the week. Also, no running or excessive amounts as walking, as these activities seem to make my foot swell up :) yeay!

(No worries, mom and dad, this is about as bad of an injury as I could get because i'm being as careful as possible)

Moving on - Work is going well. I have been working on some projects for Child Life as it is becoming an arm of another umbrella. So far, Child Life has been only under the Pain Management Team, meaning that Child Life only works with acute pain children. Currently, there is a plan for a Creative Therapies Team to form. This team would include aromatherapy, music therapy, art therapy, Child Life,  and psycho-social family therapy. The team would take referrals from anyone in the hospital and decide which therapy(ies) would be most beneficial for the child. I am entirely excited for this opportunity for Child Life as it will spread the word and hopefully bring in more credibility. 

As work gets crazier, so does the house. My house is now completely full. There are 10 people living in much too small of a space. Although we all have our own rooms, the common spaces (kitchen and living room) are not nearly big enough for 10 people. We mostly get along, but bound to butt heads sometimes living so closely. The house stays full for the next month and then 3 people will leave beginning of December. I found a close couple friends here and I do not look forward to leaving them when I do head home. Although there are many more days now that i miss home than at the beginning of my trip. 

With thanksgiving and Christmas coming quickly, I can feel home calling me. I do look forward to seeing all of you in just 2 months. But until then, I am going to thoroughly enjoy the rest of my time here and soak up as much sun as i can before going to freeze at home.

the rock in Paarl that kind of looks like "the bean" at Millennium Park

Sunset driving home :)