Welcome 2011

It was a quiet New Year's weekend at the Shafir's residence in Oz.  On the 30th, I started not feeling too well as I had a bit of a sore throat.  Chloe's ear was draining more than usual (she had tubes put in back in April so some drainage is common), but she wasn't complaining of pain and she didn't have a fever.  That evening when Uri got back from work we went to our new friends' home for dinner.  The Simpson's live here in Franklin just across the pond from us.  We walked over to their house (the girls rode their bicylces), and by the time we got there I was sweating.  At this time of day, the sun was low and it was incredibly hot.  Another family joined the party too.  It was a great time.  There were a lot of kids from ages 5 to 17, and with the WII game and nerf guns, all had fun.

During the party, I began to feel worse.  It didn't help that they have a cat, and I am allergic.  We left after 9 and walked home in the dark pushing two pink bicylces and pleading with Chloe to keep up.  It was a pretty short walk, but not for a tired 5 year old, who by this time was complaining about pain in her ear.  The following morning Chloe and I both had fevers and felt crummy.  She was complaining quite a bit about her ear so I decided to take her into the walk-in clinic in Belconnen.  We've heard that you spend at least 3 hours waiting to be seen in these clinics so I wasn't looking forward to it.  I packed up plenty of snacks, Chloe's DS, a couple of games and my book (The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Moreton).  Walking in to the clinic I got a bit nervous as there were quite a few people there.  We signed in and were told that there were four doctors on so the wait shouldn't be too long.  As we sat there I only saw two doctors come out of their rooms to get patients (the other two must have been on lunch break).  I was surprised that after waiting only 1 hour, Chloe's name was called.  After a very quick exam, the doctor agreed to prescribe her an antibiotic.  Off to the Chemist (Pharmacist) we went - which is conveniently located in the same building.  All in all the experience was pleasant (as pleasant as visiting the doctor can be).

We spent the next 4 days at home watching movies, doing puzzles (thanks to Uncle Gaffer, Aunt Gammar and Grammie Sue for the three new puzzles!), playing with the DS and WII and reading stories.  I was excited to discover that in my backyard is a peach tree bearing delicious fruit.  We've been enjoying these sweet peaches these last few days.  We rang in the new year with popsicles and sparklers in the backyard.  It wasn't until today that either of us have felt well enough to go outside for some exercise.  About mid-day I went for a 30 minute run, which felt great.  Its been about a week since I've ran.  The girls and Uri joined me for a bicycle ride around the ponds.  We are so fortunate to live on the bike trail.  In our front yard is 2.5 kilometers of trails...perfect for running and riding with the girls.  The weather these past four days has been varied.  One day it was 36 degrees Celsius (about 96F) and then yesterday it was 24 degrees C (about 75F).  Today was cool and cloudy (perfect for my mid-day run).

It was a slow start to 2011, but we did close out 2010 with some awesome Aussie adventures.  I am looking forward to what 2011 has in store for us.  This month, a visit to Sydney!