The Ghetto

Ahhhh work, how I loathe yet depend on you. Things just got complicated! So I was recently hired to work for a nearby dentist for 3 days a week for three months to cover vacations etc... I was happy to have a job close to home but I quickly realized that this place is terrible. All the girls that work there are wonderful but the office is dirty dirty and I don't like the boss. Lets just say they don't sterilize everything that they should be sterilizing including some very critical items. The neighborhood is pretty ghetto and every third patient has a blood disease. I swear I'm not exaggerating. I immediately voiced what I know is right and I was quickly disregarded because its not how "the boss wants it". So I've been in agony the last week working there with a huge ethical cloud hanging over my head.

Today I temped at an office that was so wonderful I literally couldn't stop smiling all day. Thank goodness for masks! It was hands down the best office I have ever worked at. The best dentists I've ever worked for. And the nicest staff I've ever met. At lunch time I found out that they were actually looking for someone and I didn't even care what they were offering for pay because I wanted to work there so badly. I explained my dilemma about how I was already committed to another office for three months but that I wasn't happy there. They called the temping agency after work and are in the process of sorting everything out. I'm going to my "other" work tomorrow but hopefully its the last day I'm there. This new job is currently only 3 (long) days a week, but it looks like a 4th day will be opening up in the very near future. Then I'll just have to temp one day a week. The new job is also a short bike ride away and......the pay is AMAZING! I thought I was making a lot with the temping agency and this job STARTS at $2 more an hour. I NEED for this to work out. I don't want a crappy short term job to screw over a permanent position at a lovely office.

Colin's birthday was a lot of fun. I got him a blue guitar! It has a fiberglass back and a blue wooden top. He's been antsy for a musical outlet so it was a pretty great present! When its not being used we have to hide it behind our couch in case somebody breaks in. We keep our laptop under the bed. And I have to be home (and constantly checking) if I have laundry drying outside so nobody runs off with our remaining towels! I cannot wait to move in 5 months haha. I don't know if I mentioned this but somebody tried to break in about a week ago. They damaged the patio door that leads into our bedroom. Thankfully they were unsuccessful opening it. Maybe they figured out that once they got through that door they still had one more to open. Suckers!

Well I am off to bed soon, I hope you are all enjoying your lives and employment. Or are able to find some joy in what you are doing.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6: 24-27)

-E

Eye herpes

So much has been happening lately, its been really busy. On Wednesday I temped at an office downtown and had some water/saliva splash in my eye from a patient with a giant cold sore on his lip. I was so worried that I ended up with a huge headache and puked the evening away. The worst part was not having Canada Dry Gingerale. They had Premium crackers though and they were deeeeelicious. Colin just got over a cold and then passed it along to our roomates, so its been a sick little household. Then I worked at an office on Friday and on my way there I tried to jump on a bus that was prepaid only. I didn’t know that so I didn’t buy a friggen prepaid ticket. I pleaded with the bus driver, I begged the bus driver, I was going to be late if I wasn’t on THIS bus and I didn’t know any other way to get there. He told me to get off and try the bus behind him. This delightful human being closed the doors in my face and left me stranded. I did end up making it there (a little late) but it cost me a $16 bus pass and a few tears. If I had known what a pleasant person the dentist was going to be that day I would have saved myself the trouble and just stayed home.

We got a package on the weekend which was so awesome! Pete, Jenna, Søren and Karl sent us lots of cool gifts. They gave Colin a super nice and expensive stethoscope, some Tim Hortons roll up the win cups (unrolled!), sunglasses, home made cookies that still tasted great, tea towels, tank tops, pictures of the boys, a work of art created by Søren, and some garden seeds. The Australian Government opened our package first and quarantined some of the seeds. They will be destroyed in 30 days….poor seeds. Never had a chance. They also sent us 6 boxes of Original Crest Toothpaste because they don’t sell it here and its my favorite toothpaste.

Today was the first day at my new 3 day a week job and I biked there which was fantastic. Its perfect, downhill there and uphill on the way home. When Colin was biking home from school he popped his 3rd back tire in 4 weeks! I think we're going to have to take his bike back to where we bought it and ask "What the heck?" Colin thinks he might need to buy a better pump to get it up to a higher pressure and also a better tire.

On Saturday we went to Bondi beach again (its so beautiful) and then we walked to Coogee beach. I had been told it was a half hour walk. It wasn't. We had a fun day though! When we arrived everyone celebrated with $0.50 McDonalds ice cream. Later that night we went to a concert and saw this AMAZING young guy. His name is Kim Churchill and he's only 18 but he sounds a little like Xavier Rudd and that kid from August Rush. He's pretty cool live, he sings, plays guitar, harmonica, bass drum and a tambourine/high hat setup, AT THE SAME TIME! I couldn't believe it watching him.

Colin's birthday is Sunday so please send money, but make sure you address it to me so I can delegate it properly. muahahaha. Just kidding. About the second part. Wish you were here!
E

Physio

I love it. The course is intense, it’s expansive yet focused, geared towards creating practicing physiotherapists. The theory’s spewed out at the beginning of the week but from about half way through Wednesday to Friday it’s all practical = hands on in smaller tutorial groups practicing all sorts of things with each other. My favorite or should I say most memorable ‘move’ so far was a trigger point done on the piriformis muscle. This muscle needs to be release at times in some patients and you do this by pushing the gluteus maximus (your big butt muscle) aside a little and leaning into your piriformis muscle with your elbow right in the muscle belly. We all had to have this done to us to give us an understanding of what someone will feel when we do it to them. I was sweating about 5 seconds in, the person had only felt around with their hand pushing with their fingers to find the trigger point, which they found, where they’ll will press into with their elbow. Once they got their elbow on and leaned into it my pursed lips, clenched hand and sweaty brow told the story. I don’t know about you but I’m glad I’ll be on the giving end of this in the future. I’ll probably be smiling when I do it too. Only cause I’m not having it done to me, not out of joy for making you squeal.

Life at home is slowly becoming more comfortable. Evelyn bought some “paper towel” the other day which turned out to be toilet paper which was not only, not paper towel but was scented like a grandma’s bathroom which makes me feel just that much cleaner when I’m done. There have been some nights now that I’ve pulled up the blanket usually just over my chest, I’ll stick out my legs but it’s a start. Sleeping in a sheet isn’t half as cozy as a full on duvet. I think my butt’s building up a callus of some sort, as it’s not as sore from the bike riding. I can get on my bike in the morning with only a slight wince. I’ve learned how to use the washing machine so our cloths are clean. I’m also really good at hanging them all up on our deck; we have no dryer. Lastly, Evelyn picked up a nice copper base pan, which we do a lot of cooking in, so we’ve been eating some awesome meals. I like to think, our home is a beautiful place to be.

C.

Perservere

Here's a picture of the little elephant that was born in Sydney's Taronga Zoo a few days ago. They thought the calf was dead because his mom had been in labor for too many days but then SUPRISE! He's alive! He's still pretty weak and they call him "Mr.Shuffles" because he walks like a little old man. I can't wait to go and meet him! We haven't been to the zoo here yet but its on the metaphorical 'to do' list.

I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. Actually, kind of in the middle of the bed because I'm a mattress hog. It was 7:30 and no phone call. I lay in bed praying that my phone won't ring. It was sunny out, I had had a great sleep the night before, and it was Friday. Colin only has 1 class on Friday, its the BEST! Its now 10:06 and nobody has phoned me yet. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy earning money, I just didn't want to earn any today! I've been working with a great dentist the last couple of days, and have three more days with her next week BUT yesterday I accidently busted her high tech chair and we had to cancel the last patient and I got to go home at 4:30. I was excited to leave early but under different circumstances would have been ideal. Hopefully it was fixed this morning. Dental chairs can be touchy and SOMEHOW I managed to do something to make water spray everywhere. The dentist was really nice and said that they have had to get the technician in a few times now. I'm going to have to bake apology cookies this weekend!

She also told me that the temping agency charges an insane price for placing someone in a permanent position. They figure out what I'll make working for my employer in 1 year and then charge 8% of that amount as their fee.
A) Nobody is going to want to hire me,
and B) IF I do get hired, they aren't going to want to pay me as much.
Its a loose loose situation. The full time job I thought I had turned out to be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday until July. At first I was pretty disappointed but I've decided I'm going to be grateful for it. Its close to home and now I'm in charge of Mondays and Fridays. Its such a large staff too that maybe people will decide they don't want to work as many Mondays/Fridays/Saturdays and I'll get them. We'll see.

I've been a little on and off sad lately. I guess I thought I was moving to the beach haha. I forgot about the practical stuff that takes time. This morning I read Isaiah 41 and its so great.
41:8-10 "But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." You can read the entire chapter here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2041&version=NIV

Colin and I have been watching "So you think you can dance Australia" and I must confess that I am very into it. If you've never seen any version of the show, the competing dancers are put into partners each week and get a certain style of dance to perform plus a choreographer that teaches them a routine. The bottom couple get kicked off each week. I have a favorite couple: Robbie and Ivy. They are UNREAL. Here's what they did on Wednesday:

http://dance.ten.com.au/video.htm

Select "Performances/Recaps" on the right hand side.
Then select "Top 14"
Then select "Wednesday Performance"
And scroll down to the 6th one - Robbie and Ivy.

The song is Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap which is a fabulous tune.

Watch it and be amazed, its incredible. Sorry, I had trouble posting the links, you'll have to copy and paste. You can do this mom and dad!

I'm going to go hang some laundry while you all watch it.
-E

Brown Suits

Ok, so today I cried. I cried silently, tears streamed down my face and dropped into my lap while I read an e-mail from my mom. My two younger brothers are off shopping for brown suits. Luke doesn’t know it yet but I was just informed that he is not shopping for a ring bearers suit but rather a groomsman’s suit, my lap’s getting wet again. I’m beyond happy, Luke’s going to be so excited and I’m so proud of Neil for doing this. I think Luke will remember this for the rest of his life!

“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” Matthew 18:5

I don’t want this to be a sermon but rather some thoughts that I’ve been mulling over since a sermon I heard by the CEO of Compassion, Dr. Wesley K. Stafford. He’s a good man.

Jesus is passionate about children. So passionate about children. When he talks about children or includes children His might and wisdom explodes my world. I have a new understanding of what he says in Matthew 19. He’s been talking with his disciples about divorce, probably surrounded by a large crowd of people, which included mothers who only want the best for their children, and children who only want to run around and play. The adults however are talking about some important business, which has been going on for a while. If you look back a chapter you see that while they were travelling to Capernaum the disciples were arguing about something very important to them and from Mark 9 I get the sense that Jesus just let them do so, he didn’t get involved but man it was probably annoying for Him. “Who will be the greatest” and they each probably had a good premise for themselves.

When asked about what they were arguing about no one spoke. Then with strong, rough, coarse hands he plunks a little child in front of them all. Then he picks the child up, high off the ground and holds, with arms of love. He says “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:37) Matthew includes a little more and I like what he includes because Jesus isn’t necessarily the person portrayed in the paintings. He was a man a real manly man.

He grew up a carpenter with out power tools. He would have been huge! His face was probably dark and dirty, with a wild head of hair. His voice deep and powerful used to speaking to large crowds. This man looks at his loved disciples and holds nothing back telling them to humble themselves like a child and to not cause one to sin. “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:5) This is pretty clear to me. Jesus absolutely loves children.

Now it’s the next day or so and everyone’s around talking about something a child would not want to talk about and the disciples are right into the conversation, probably getting annoyed by the children who are playing around making noise. It comes to the point where they can’t put up with it any more and they straight up tell the people who brought the kids to get out of there! Jesus is now angry “indignant!” from what I’ve heard and read he only really gets angry twice in the bible. Once at the temple and there he drives people out with a whip. He’s a manly man. The other time is here when the disciples rebuke the children from seeing Him.

I don’t think Jesus was just sitting in the dirt talking with the disciples and said as a matter of fact “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” I think Jesus was standing, walked forward, moved the people in the way out of the way and said with a loud, quivering, on the verge of losing it voice “LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME, AND DO NOT HINDER THEM, FOR THE KINGDOM (do you not understand?) THE KINGDOM OF GOD BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE” (Mark 10:14) then he took the children in his arms. He looked each one in the eyes showing them individually their importance and value. Jesus shows us the value of children.

Man I miss my family they’re awesome. I miss children.

C.

News?

Today was my third day of temping and I was offered a temporary job! Its not official but its close to "home" and it would only be for three months. I've been there two days already and they have two girls going on some long holidays/honeymoons coming up. The owner is going to call the temping agency and they can sort everything out. Hopefully I have some full time work soon, I think I'll sleep better knowing that I won't get a call between 7:30am-10am the following morning telling me where to go in this gigantic city. I'm not great at winging things. Especially directions! I will never ever ask a woman for directions again. Or people on the bus. Always ask the bus driver. Just some tips for you from my hard lessons learned.

We're having a difficult time with our internet cap. Colin figured out today that we can use 190MB a day or else we'll be charged a crazy fee for going over! A girl in his class got a $300 bill for exceeding her limit. I don't know the quantity she went over but it sounds like it wasn't by more than 1 GB. YIKES!

Its been raining A LOT here the last couple of days. The humidity is killing me. I hereby swear to never complain about the weather in Canada ever again. God bless our big, beautiful and temperate country. And if you ever hear me say "I miss Australia" you have permission to slap me.

This is sort of rambly. I mostly just wanted to post a trivia picture for you all. Also, I'm waiting for Colin to finish his readings so we can do something FUN!

This is called "Find the Canadian"




And we're proud of our pasty skin color. I hope we return home as pale as we came.
We miss you all. Especially YOU!

-E

Coffee

Is not the same as the coffee you get at home. Here, coffee exists solely to be enjoyed. This mentality puts pressure on those creating from beans, water, steam, pressure, and milk to put together a masterpiece for each recipient. The coffee here is so good. They don’t serve drip coffee. Every drink is made with an espresso machine so ordering a coffee doesn’t get you a coffee. You can order a long black, which is the closest thing to a coffee that you can find; it’s basically a double shot Americano. A long white is 1/3 espresso the rest is filled up with steamed milk better known as a “latte”. The best drink of all though is the Cappuccino. This drink is very common out here made like so: 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, and 1/3 foam, toped with sweet chocolate powder. Since the coffee out here is amazing the price of it makes you lose some pounds in the morning. The other thing is that the sizes are… lets say miniscule. At home I considered a tall coffee at Starbucks fairly small, here that size would be either a large or extra large depending on the café. I have yet to find a place that makes a coffee even close to the size of a venti. I consider a small or ‘regular’ a good two gulp.

Due to the size, and the taste my lovely wife was getting into the habit of drinking at least 1 sometimes 3 of these lovely drinks a day. I’m sure it didn’t help that for the first three weeks we were here, we were on the train and at shopping centers all day long. It didn’t take long for me to give in and trek an espresso machine home from across the city. Now we enjoy “coffee” at home. We are both learning different techniques and mastering our new machine, it’s wonderful. The best part about it is that Evelyn makes me a nice cappuccino post my after school bike ride home shower. I just sit back relax and enjoy. Mmmmm

Just a quick aside:

When the weather is unbearable to walk around in, or even sit in and you don’t really have a home, which we now have, the mall became a refuge. We would go to the mall just to get out of the heat. This became a problem though for on one occurrence almost two we ate two meals, literal meals, lunch and dinner, a late dinner, at the same mall. Yes, you’ve been at the mall way too long when you’ve indulged in two meals! (this doesn’t include people who work at the mall or during Christmas.)

C.