Asian Edition

otto has converted...

fun little hat i got in vietnam last weekend, this is what happens when dirk is away for a month. my poor dog, at least he is a good sport about it :) i put up with his snoring and he puts up with my antics!

meet an asian boxer

he might be bored with this....

or i might have interrupted his afternoon sunbathe...

but he fits in so well, maybe more people will like him now?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

july 30, 2009- happy birthday dad!

i am thinking about you and hope you had a great time in galveston! don't work too hard and your present will be coming soon... anything you want from vietnam? knock-offs of any sorts??

personal side note (don't read if you don't want to hear an opinion)... i am appalled at some men. the cheating and unfaithfulness is astounding here in singapore among white men. i hope i don't offend anyone with this post but please, if you live in singapore, are married, and you know me... don't come to the clinic i work at and get tested for every std possible AND please don't bring the significant other in with you (this not being your wife).... so many expats wives away for the summer...

and you know the saying when the cats away.......................................the mice get busy!

good thing i don't know many people in singapore :) it gets more interesting everyday... i am quickly learning what type of mother i WILL NOT be... so God help me!

i was eating lunch today and could not help but smile about the methods/utensils used to eat by four people... one lady was eating an indian dish of rice and curry with only her hands, another was using chop sticks, and another was using a spoon and a fork (but cutting the meat with her spoon not a knife), and me with my sandwich... got to love all the culture!

july 2009- one happy dog...

otto recieved a package in the mail. he says thanks grandma... otto loves this frog and even better he thinks every package that comes in the mail is for him (this is because my mom sends him so many goodies) who wouldn't love this face? the woman upstairs from us... that is who! i don't know if she is muslim or what but she won't let us in the elevator with her and asks us everytime to get out of the lift if she needs to use it... typical singapore style.

love the chinese on the tv in the back ground... so use to it by now!

dog park fun! this border collie and otto got along great and even shared otto's ball really well. i have never had a boxer that likes to play fetch as much as otto.

new friend at the dog park... he is one popular dog there, espeically when he brings toys and his papa who is the only one that plays with all the dogs... otto trained him well :)

love the dog clothes... otto has only been attacked at this dog park a couple of times... apparently people in singapore don't believe in neutering their male dogs so they are very aggressive.

otto will be going to the pet hotel this weekend while i take holiday in vietnam with farah & patrick. we will be doing some shopping and eating while there... stay tuned for pics. can't wait to get off the island this weekend :) no word on dirk... a few disgruntled emails from offshore but that is it... pray he comes home soon and in a good mood?

wherever you are...

it is your friends who make your world (William James)

july 23rd- happy birthday laura!

we celebrated laura's birthday early and had dinner thursday night at p.s. cafe in dempsey hill. we are really going to miss laura and her family as they move to australia next week... can't believe it is already here. the great thing about asia is nothing is too far (except the states) so the kirkham's will only be a 5 hour plane ride away (sounds long but after doing 24 hours... anything under 12 is fine with me).

farah, lou ann's mom, lou ann, laura, and me

p.s. cafe was great... can't wait to go back!

red, white, and BLUE!

july 4th- independence day

RED is for sunbathing

this is how otto spent his july 4th morning (and practially every morning)... sun bathing on the patio WHITE for the new spence house walls... they just moved to singapore :)

the spence's had a good ol fashion bbq at their house complete with brisket, patotoe salad, and stingray?

some of the ladies at the bbq


chatting over mass quantities of food

otto made a new friend- tyler spence

BLUE is for the mood i am in since dirk has left...

so dirk left two weeks ago for perth, australia to go offshore. he won't be back until mid to late august (in engineer terms this means add two weeks on to that date, so I don't expect him until september)... this makes me a little blue. but i have been very busy at work learning the ropes and all the new terms. the first week of work i got terribly ill and have been sick for two straight weeks... not much fun. especially since there is no one here to take care of me.

i might get to travel to perth to see him if he comes back onshore. i will also be traveling a bunch to keep my mind off not having my husband around. i am planning a trip to ho chi minh, vietnam with some friends next weekend. then maybe china soon to see a sorority sister.

on another note... please keep the garrett family in your thoughts if you know them (they are the ones we went to phuket with) misty's mom had open heart surgery in the states and while traveling back to be with them frankie had a cardiac event which landed him in the icu along with misty's mom. life is too short to not be with the ones you love...

work what?

july 8th- nurse dunlap



so this is a rather monumental day. dirk and i both have been working towards this goal since 2004. it all started by just getting into nursing school, which in itself is a rather daunting process. i retook and took all required courses and still waited 6 months to get into a school even with a 3.9 gpa. then even with that done, i still didn't get into a school in houston and instead moved to the middle of nowhere... east texas but more like west louisiana (university of texas at tyler). that is a whole other story (had my first experience at a state run hospital... made bentaub look like the ritz carleton)



so getting into school was one thing, then transfering schools after one semester per request of one brilliant man (i think dirk was just tired of driving to the middle of nowhere) AND much thought on getting out of a dry county... no really i had to get outta tyler for my sanity. texas woman's university in the houston medical center was a much better fit for me and nursing school (plus it was much closer to civilization and dirk). so once settled into the u.s.'s largest medical center (coming from tyler, where they video conferenced professors to two other cities because they didn't have enough educators)... 4am wake up calls, psych rotations at harris county pyschiatric centers, and the gunshot floor at bentaub were a daily experience for me to handle and dirk to support (everyone knows how lovely i am in the mornings... poor dirk).



dirk finially thought he was home free when i graduated in may 2008 from school. i even had a job in the intermediate intensive care unit at memorial hermann memorial city hospital. we even celebrated becoming "dinks" (double income no kids) in aruba 2 days following graduation. but had to for go the job, the "dink" status, and all the effort when asked to move to singapore for dirk's career.



so this day is long over due... working as a nurse in singapore was my first goal to cross off. i am a proud memeber of the international medical clinic staff and actually getting paid (for the longest time my picture was just up on their website). i was very overwhelmed my first day but can't wait to be more and more confident each day. the clinics care for the whole age spectrum of patients so i should get some good hands on experience from newborns to the elderly. here they dispense the medication in office so no middle man needed but the nurses and doctors must know their drugs extremely well. i will keep you updated on my progress and the funny language barriers i come into contact with. today... blood group= blood type, shot= jab, and pop off= take off your shoes. measuring everyone in meters and kilograms is a little different too.

one other unusual thing they do here and not in the states... rabies vaccines to everyone especially children and they don't even have rabies in their country... but in the surrounding countries you never know when you will run into a crazy monkey...

this is some of the staff at IMC...

very diverse but we have two american doctors and 3 american nurses now

camden medical center



this is where most of the international doctors are located



IMC at camden- waiting area

IMC jelita- waiting area

so i guess check back with me... i will only work 3 1/2 days a week so i should be able to update. other goals for upcoming months... getting a drivers license (actually getting fairly good at navigating singapore from the wrong side of the road) and start volunteering at a hospice hospital on my days off. plus... mine as well start the process for my nurse practitioner degree... seeing how long it too me to be a practicing nurse... couldn't hurt.