One day at a time

Lately I've been trying to avoid being negative, because it's good for my mental health to keep looking up.  But I can't hold it in any longer, so I'll just say it.  The Australian medical registration system is driving me nuts!  Really, as I said, we started this process in January.  Now it's mid-September and not only do I keep having to send papers and fill out forms, but we still do not really know when we're leaving.  Bless Diane at Global Medical Staffing for her patience and diligence, but on my end it's really frustrating.  Each time I feel like we're almost there, something else pops up.  Tricia has been good to point out that we in the U.S. are pretty picky about who comes here to practice medicine, thus it's okay to expect the same scrutiny from Australia.  I guess.  I mean, I've lost track so I might leave something out, but at this point I've had two phone interviews with various medical staff, a video interview/exam, and I've been registered with the AMC, ACRRM, AHPRA, and now Capricorn Coast Hospital.  Oh, and I think Medicare (Australian).  And I've taken an hours-long course on medication safety.  All of that is fine, if there would just keep being a little light at the end of the tunnel!

So, here's how we cope.
We're homeschooling the kids, which, although an insane task, has proven to have it's benefits.  I mean, I never understood why someone would choose homeschooling when we have a perfectly good public school system with excellent trained educators to do just that.  But, we're using the certified Texas Tech ISD curriculum, and it's working for us, for now.  It has allowed us to enjoy each day, forgetting the timeline of Australia and just being in the moment.  Maggie has a quote on her window that says "...today is a gift, that's why they call it the present".  That's how we cope.

 

So we take each day as it comes.  Some days we work more on school, even weekends.  Some days we work late into the evening.  And some days, we go fishing.  This is Will yesterday at Lake Graham.

 

Grace has created a habitat for the animals recovered from our pool.  Right now we're up to two lizards and two frogs.

 

Maggie reads her Social Studies using a microphone and speaker, and practices clarinet three times a day.  Needless to say, life is interesting.  And wonderful.

So if you ask us when we're leaving, we'll probably say "mid-October", which means we really have no idea.  But if you ask what we've done this week, you'll know we're loving our life right now.

May you enjoy each day too!

 

? days 'til departure

-Peter