A Little Sad...

A funny thing happened today -- We got our tax refund back from New Zealand, paid our ACC levy, and transferred the rest of the remaining funds to our U.S. account ... and closed our ANZ account. It was a pretty easy business transaction, all done over the phone (a.k.a. Skype), over in a few minutes. After Patrick finished, we both looked at eachother and realized how sad it made us. This means it's really over. And how quickly we've slipped seamlessly back into our life...In our own house, with our own dog, the ability to talk to our parents on the phone and text our friends whenever we want, parties, dinner with friends, and work with old friends. You could almost imagine it never really happened. Except that we both felt so sad tonight, to know that for now, we're staying home. And while being away for a year made home and every day life so much sweeter, we are missing all of our wonderful friends in New Zealand, today especially.

Our adopted Kiwi family (and a great boss!) -- The Stewards.

The gang in the ED -- the other docs, the nurses, the housestaff, the techs, the orderlies. (Seriously, Chris, you can't take a normal picture.)

Fantastic nurses. (In case you're wondering, this is from a going-away party they threw for me, the theme was "Kiwi Party," so you had to dress as Kiwi as possible. Some people, like Kath on the right took this to mean you can dress normally because you're Kiwi. Bev, on the left, painted the Maori moko tattoo on her chin. I'm dressed as a sheep farmer but you can't see my outfit here.)

More doctors, nurses, and their spouses, all gathered for a great night of campfire, singing, food and maybe a beer or two.

More of the gang from the hospital. British spinal surgeon, Danish ID doc, and Kiwi nurses...just another day at the WDHB. (Kevin and Gwen, 2nd and 3rd from the right, threw the party for me. He plays a fantastic verision of "Rocky Mountain High" on the guitar, which he learned just for this occasion -- complete with Kiwi accent.)

If you have nurses that make you laugh this hard, you've got a good job!

A shot of the WDHB ED at sunset. We're so happy to be home, but we miss you all so much!


"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves..." ---Anatole France

(PS -- Don't worry, I'm going to console myself with a morning skiing at Keystone tomorrow...I think we'll be OK!)