Monster Months

Ugh, I think the madness is about to begin. I have 4 plane tickets on my desk right now and a few e-tickets in my mailbox.

Oct 13-29 Washington, DC

Oct 30-Nov 10 multiple local overnight trips for OTD stuff not to mention Research Higher Degree (presenting) and an abstract due for the Global Health Conference in 07 (have not even started)

Nov 19-21 Sydney for OTD workshop

Nov 23-27 Hanoi, Vietnam for Health Policy and Reform Workshop

Nov 28-Dec 15 Phnom Penh, Cambodia for dissertation research

Rest of Dec will involve sleep then January is the beginning an intensive 3 months of field work in Cambodia.

Maybe we can do lunch next May?

Panda photos

Pictures are from the National Zoo


Well my little Tai is a hefty 69 pounds now! Ah how fast they grow up. I heard that the new Asia Trail will be opening Oct 16 and will house some sloth bears (including the new baby), otters, slamanders, clouded leopards, and of course the pandas. It sounds really nice and will be substantially bigger than the exhibit now. When I go back to DC in October I am going to check it out! So excited!

Pictures from Inskip Point

A few weeks ago we went up the Sunshine Coast to Inskip and camped on the beach. The water up here in Queensland is the color of sapphires and emeralds, not that dingy brown of the Atlantic. You can see your toes in 5 ft of water, just like a pool! We had an EXCELLENT time and we really look forward to doing it again, and again, and again. This weekend we are buying our friend's station wagon. I am so SIKED...now we can go camping all the time!


"Look out Todd, it's a SHARK...oh, never mind, it is just my dogs!"
















Dog's fast asleep on first night...they were WHIPPED!














Strange man who kept following me around















Beach out front of our tent!














View from the campsite
















On our way home

Jaguar

I have decided that my present to myself, after I finish my PhD, will be a Jaguar XK coupe. I have always wanted one and Todd said that if I make the "big money" I can buy what I want. Well duh...of course I will! Many people my age start saving for their kids college but I say "fuck that!"...I haven't even paid off my own! Plus a Jaguar sounds so much more sexy than college:)

Ugh, the fight of the fertile

I am soooooo over birth control! Over it, done, finished, I am calling it quits. I can't get my fucking NuvaRing over here, which is the only thing that did not give me any side effects, and I tried Implanon (little plastic rod under the skin of your arm). It has been in Oz for a number of years and just introduced to the US this past July. FUCKING BLOWS...stay away! Not that this is a blog about my libido, but has anybody seen it? I can not find it anywhere? This seems to be a common side effect: "a small decrease in sex drive has been reported by a small percentage of women in our study..." Uh hello, no one said it would take a holiday!!!

However, that is nothing compared to the 11 pounds I put on in 2 months! E-L-E-V-E-N!!! This is where things get wacky. I am actually exercising 2X a day in prep for my triathalon. My diet is stellar and I STILL put on the weight. VERY VERY frustrating. I called up the doc and she said "A small percentage of women do gain weight rapidly for no apparent reason"! Reason? Jesus when they said weight gain was possible, I was thinking the normal 1-3 lbs a year (which most women gain regardless of being on BC). But 11 in 2 months? As an aside, why does everybody always use the word "small?" So I have made an appt to have the sucker removed even though it has only been 2 months. The nurse wanted me to wait and I was like HELLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOO, do you want to see if I gain another 11?

So on that note I told Todd that I was giving up on sex...just not worth it. I take my chances with 11 pounds or take my chances with a screaming baby and stretch marks...hmmm abstinence doesn't seem all that bad anymore.