Life with Julie and Colin Jones

Before Christmas...

2012-01-08T08:20:00.003-07:00

We always try not to schedule too much for December and it always ends up feeling as crazy as ever.

This year was no exception and we were happy to have Colin with us for all of it.

We started by taking the kids to an evening Christmas concert at VictoriaHall in Geneva. This was a great experiment to see if Kelsey (only 3) and Alek would be able to sit through an hour of hearing an orchestra play songs from the Nutcracker- by Tchykovsky. Thanks to the rococo over the top glittering hall and the fact that we could see the harp and timpani from the first balcony, the kids were very entertained and we had a great evening. Even Alek said it was the best night ever.

Next was a trip to the Christmas markets-

The first one we visited was close to home at the castle of Chillon where we saw a medieval fair. We saw foot powered pottery wheels and wood lathes. We ate lentil soup in the 1000 year old dinning hall, helped make rope and coins and watched sword fighting techniques. It was a cold day but we still had fun.

Next we planned a quick weekend trip up to Germany to see our friends in Freiburg - a 3 hour car journey.

The city was so fun and it felt like we were stepping into fairytale book. The houses looked like gingerbread creations and the center of town has a wonderful old clock tower with a tunnel for the tram (city bus) underneath. The whole town is decorated with red stars hanging from the buildings and the markets were full of people.

Almost everyone walks or rides bikes and it was fun to see people cart their Christmas trees home over their shoulders or sitting on the baby carriage - with baby inside.

One of our highlights there was celebrating Brooklyn's 12th birthday! I had baked the cake beforehand and brought it up in the car with us. But I forgot candles and luckily our friends helped us find that oh so important accessory to the cake.

We all had a fabulous time and the kids loved going to Ute and Dirk's house.

With all the events before Christmas we tried to keep Christmas day nice and quiet. And because it was on Sunday we had a low key day playing with presents and eating a farm hen for dinner.

the Matterhorn

2011-11-27T13:13:00.003-07:00

When we let the kids vote on what to do on an unscheduled saturday, they often want to go the the mountains. We thought it was about time we go and see the tallest peak in Switzerland- the Matterhorn.The best view is from the little ridge called Gornergrat.

The tricky part is getting there. First you have to park your car in Tasch and take a train to Zermatt (15min). Then you change train stations and go on another train (30min) up to Gornergrat at 3089 meters or 10,000 ft. From there the views are spectacular and you can see more that 20 peaks that are taller than 4000 meters or 13,000 feet.

The kids loved seeing and playing in the snow. It brought back many fond memories of Calgary and sledding.

We did see one crazy mountain biker take his bike up on the train and then ride his bike down (almost 5000 ft) on the semi groomed trails to Zermatt.

Reina's 9th Birthday

2011-11-07T14:17:00.005-07:00

LDS Church in Nice, France

Here's Reina feeding the sheep just around the corner from us. Her school class goes on long country walks at least once a week. One day she came back with an onion she picked up from the field they had walked through (a literal field trip). She was so pleased when I used it in our dinner that night.

Reina just turned 9 years old. The night before she was a little worried that I hadn't gotten her anything. But she assured me that was OK and that it could be late.

So all night I spent making a huge birthday banner and wrapping her presents and printing a photo cube of pictures of her. She was very surprised in the morning.

She had a family party and the best part was she had no school that day (teacher day) and Colin was in town.

So all day she was treated like the queen that she is. Crepes for breakfast, fun afternoon of no school work and pulled pork on a bun for dinner with a family invited over from the ward (kids to play with). We had a great time.

This is a very typical drinking fountain in Italy. The kids loved these - plug up the bottom and the water squirts out the top hole to make a nice arc.

Our neighbors insisted we eat raclette (french for "scrape"). A traditional melted cheese dish on top of boiled potatoes along with pickles. They loaned us their raclette pan and we enjoyed this meal so much that we borrowed it again. The most fun is scraping out the melted cheese from the little dishes.

Kelsey's 3rd birthday

2011-09-27T13:27:00.007-06:00

Brooklyn is starting to understand simple questions from our

neighbors- they are so nice.

We had a birthday party for Kelsey in front of the houses and the neighbor kids had fun playing pin the tail on the sheep (it seemed like new game to them- no one really knew how to do it) and then we had a pinata and cake and presents. We were sad not to have Colin, but the older

kids knew it was Kelsey's birthday and insisted on having a party on the day.

The next week Colin came and our two neighbors were anxious to take him cycling.

They were waiting for him all week and were excited to show him around the countryside. After 23 miles they headed back and were happy that Colin could keep up. After all one of them goes on 4 hour bike rides every other day and the other one is a triathlete.

So they plann

ed another ride for Friday. That time they went 40 miles and I was happy to see Colin a little worn out. It's nice that he has someone to exercise with here.

Chateau de Chillon and Interlaken area

2011-09-11T12:38:00.007-06:00

Because the kids don't have school Wednesday afternoons wetry to go and do something fun if the weather is nice.

We were waiting for Colin to come so we could visit the

famous medieval castle of Chillon on the other side of the lake from where we are.

The kids loved running around

stairways from the 13th century and seeing real prisons where "witches" were held before being burned at the stake in the 15th century. The scariest part was the crypt under the chapel. I was even a little spooked. Their favorite part was the bathroom. Kelsey seemed a bit surprised at how far everything dropped.

Then on Saturday after all the chores and homework were done we decided to drive to the mountains. It was a late start but after two hours we were in the Swiss Alps and the village of Lauterbrunnen where we parked the car and headed to the tram.

Looking up the houses are on the sides of the mountains and cows roam around the hillsides.

Of course all the mountain villages are connected with rail

roads and gondolas and we got to take both to get to the small village of Murren. We had a picnic and ate on the park benches looking out over the mountains.

When you get thirsty its not

hard to find a public fountain with fresh mountain drinking water.

Our bonus for the day was watching the horn blowers (Swiss alphorn) practice their song out in the meadow.

School in Eysins

2011-09-04T13:22:00.006-06:00

The idea is to have the kids learn French in a place where they are used to teaching languages quickly to a lot of foreigners. The bonus is they also get

to learn some German too.

So far we've been here two and a half weeks. The kids have been in school for two weeks and are settling in. They are picking up a few basic words and phrases but not too much. It's still pretty slow. Alek and Kelsey are learning the fastest though.

Brooklyn has had to jump into junior high school. She has a busy schedule and lots of different teachers. Not only does she have a gym class every week but swimming every Thursday afternoon. I'm so glad she can swim because she said everyone in her class is a good swimmer.

But the kids are really enjoying it here and still have a positive attitude. One of their favorite activities after school is to go grocery shopping in France (about 5 min away by car).

There is so much chocolate and delicious yogu

rt and chewy yummy bread. It's a feast every day.
We also had fun going to France by boat when Colin finally arrived. Every little village if full of flowers and looks like it belongs on a post card.

Another fun activity is the outdoor pools by the lake. They are unlike anything I've ever been to. One is lined with stainless steel to soak up the solar heat, another is a splash pool with fountains and the third is a deep pool for swimming lanes and they are all next to the lake- you can swim in that too.

We have some wonderful Swiss neighbors who are very welcoming and kind. The people are really nice and fun to get to know. There are so many rules in Switzerland: no noise after 8pm, mow lawn between 8am-7pm Mon-Sat (sunday yard work is against the law), virtually all stores are closed on Sunday, if you leave bikes in front of your house you can get a ticket.

But the nice thing here is everyone still trusts everyone else. Even if you buy something on the internet, you don't have to pay for it right then you can just get the bill in the mail. And if you say you will do something or be somewhere- then you will be because that is how everyone is.
We still can't believe we're here, but so far it has been lots of fun and we have made many new friends.
Of course we would love to have any visitors that can make it over.
We'll keep this post updated as we go.

The move to Switzerland

2011-08-27T01:23:00.008-06:00

How was the flight?

Had I known the flight on Air Canada was really a three stop flight (web price showed just one) and was over an hour late, I would have paid a lot of extra money to go on a different flight. But even with our 10 carry-on items and stroller that we had to load on and off the planes six times we somehow managed. Usually I had five bags, Brooklyn had four, Alek had one and Reina had Kelsey in the stroller. The kids were generally well behaved and were thankfully able to sleep for a few hours before landing.

We landed in Geneva and made it through customs and baggage claim exhausted and tired. It took several minutes to figure out how to additionally carry our 5 large suitcases as well our our 10 carry-on items - that we were now experts at transporting. Thanks to a luggage cart and extra effort from the kids we made it to the rental car. At this point I have to insert that in the commotion of figuring out the baggage I forgot to pick up the oversized baby car seat (which I’m kind of glad I did since there was no way we could have loaded that on top our our already overloaded tottering cart). So I had to leave the kids alone with all the luggage for 5 minutes while I ran back and got the car seat.

The rental car.

We had tried to rent a mini van but the counter help said he had another nice big car for us and we’d have no problem fitting in our luggage. Our hearts sank as we

saw our five passenger mid-size SUV. I quickly surveyed the other rental cars in the garage to see if there were any mini vans. None. So once again we spent several minutes dealing with the luggage. We loaded and unloaded the car in different configurations. We smashed and crammed and finally ended up pulling all the children out (except Kelsey) and loading the car full of the luggage and then loading the children in on top of or in between the cracks of the luggage.

Finally we were off to our new house. Miraculously we made it out of the airport and past the Swiss boarder guard, with a smile and a wave as he looked at my children crammed in the back window of the car, and onto the freeway to Eysins.

The addendum to this story is that my friend who knew we had a lot of luggage had waited for us at the airport for a long very time but we barely missed her because we were so slow!

The house

Everyone was in a good mood now as we rolled along lush green hills and quaint farms. We had no problems finding our house and were happy that the

management company, a seventy-five year old man, was there to check us in. After an hour wallkthrough we were finally home. The suitcases became chairs and we had one table that belonged to the house. The kids loved running around a new house but I was anxious to get to the store. We went to town and parked underground at the grocery store/mall (at this point I was very glad to have a small car and not the mini van I had hoped for). Close parking spaces had a new meaning.

That night my wonderful friend brought over air mattresses, pillows and blankets and towels and we were able to finally settle into our new home.

addendum to the long weekend

2011-05-23T17:58:00.001-06:00

The Bear.

We knew we only had one day to pull off a two family and one out of town aunt outing that would be fun and memorable. We love it when Sabynthe visits Calgary for a week and we wanted to get out to the mountains with her. Our destination was Johnston's Canyon: the most popular trail in Banff.

Allen, Laura and their kids as well as our family and Sabynthe left early Monday morning (9:30) for the hike. We arrived by 11am and all ten children were read to run up the trail. After a short 1/2 mile along a winding trail, with exposed tree roots and moss encrusted logs, we reached the lower waterfall.

A cascade of water falling 50ft or more can be viewed from a distance on a bridge or up close via a rock tunnel with water dripping from the ceiling. Ascending the stairs at the end of the tunnel leads to a rock shelf that is directly in front of the waterfall. The mist covered the children's hair.

After appreciating this water wonder we continued on the trail towards the upper falls. It was another mile but everyone was having fun and wanted to keep going. This portion of the trail was much steeper and tiring. Reina and I decided we would turn back early to eat our lunch (we were both fighting colds).

Normally the return trip goes faster because most of it is downhill. We were making pretty good time and feeling like we were almost to the trailhead when all of a sudden a lady in front of us said, "Stop! Don't go! There's a bear up ahead." Startled, we stopped in our tracks, not sure what to do or if we should turn back. As we waited with several other people we head the same woman yell back to us that is was safe to proceed now because the bear had gone.

Cautiously our group of 8-9 people started forward trying to make lots of noise and trying to stay close together. It didn't work. Up ahead someone yelled, "Bear!" We all stopped. I told Reina to hide behind a tree and just then a bear turned the corner on the path 20 feet ahead of us. It looked at us for a moment and then charged us.

We all started running and screaming and then I remembered that Reina was still standing by the tree and had not seen the bear. I yelled for her to start running! As we ran past the people coming up from the trail behind us they were yelling at us not to run away. We were just happy to put some other people between us and the bear.

Moments later someone yelled that it was safe and the bear had crossed the river next to the trail. Once again we huddled together and made lots of noise as we walked to the trail head. All the adults were holding hands with their kids; young and old. I was more than a bit relieved to make it back to our car and rest from the hike.

The next people to make it back to base camp were John Ross and Paul. When I asked them if they saw the bear they both looked at me and laughed. I had to spend 20 minutes trying to convince them we had really seen a bear on the trail.

Victoria Day Weekend (aka the long weekend in May)

2011-05-22T14:46:00.008-06:00

Kootenay National Park, BC

Not wanting to waste a weekend where the weather was nice and Colin was just coming off a graveyard shift. We were able to leave early Friday morning and explore some more places only a few hours drive from Calgary. This weekend we decided to visit Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia.

The drive through the mountains was beautiful and full of wildlife. Besides seeing many deer we even got to see a bear right on the side of the road.

Another roadside stop was Numa Falls. The kids loved climbing around the rocks and eating lunch next to the river.

We love packing as much in as possible so the kids got their first introduction to golf on the putting green, racquetball in the fitness area at the resort and swimming in two different pools at the hot springs: a hot pool and the cooler pool. The hot mineral water was wonderful to soak in and we enjoyed being outdoors with the kids.

what to do in the winter..

2011-02-09T16:30:00.003-07:00

It seems we've tried almost every winter sport there is. I've had so many people tell me to "embrace" the winter and then it doesn't seem so long or dreary. If you can find fun things to do, well then, it should be fun.

So we've tried ice skating - every Canadian mom feels this is a required sport- kind of like learning how to ride a bike.

We've tried sledding - we now own two very fast sleds.

We've tried cross-country (or Nordic) skiing - Brooklyn and Reina seemed to catch on pretty fast.

But our favorite so far is Alpine (or down hill) skiing.

Last year Brooklyn and Reina learned and after a few lessons felt they has mastered the sport.

So this year while the older kids are at school I run up to the local learning hill with Alek and Kelsey and we ride the magic carpets. We've gone twice and it is more fun than I could have imagined. Both kids love it despite not being able to really stop or turn. But with a little more time I'm

confident we'll all say winter isn't so bad here.

Canada Olympic Park

Feb 9, 2011

Alek 5 1/2

Kelsey 2 1/2

Living in the deep freeze

2011-01-31T09:11:00.003-07:00

It gets colder here than I thought possible for children. But amazingly it's not so bad when you get used to it. We consider ourselves ready to live at the Antarctic research stations. One of the most interesting parts is how "squeaky" the snow sounds when it's this cold.

Enjoy-

Having Dad in Calgary

2010-10-11T21:19:00.006-06:00

Dad never guessed that our little weekend trip down to Utah over Labor Day weekend would result in him coming back with us to Calgary.

Jaren pushed and I pulled him out the door and off we went at 5:00am for a 14 hour drive up the I-15.

He did very well and seemed to enjoy the road trip. And once we got into Calgary he found a bed and collapsed.

We kept busy doing kid things and school things and shopping things, but mostly he just wanted to sit in a chair or sleep or make special eating requests.

The highlight came on the weekend when we went to Banff. Our first stop was Lake Louise. I never get tired of visiting this lake.

Then we saw Lake Moraine. It was quite chilly that day.

Dad had lots of fun on the drive, but once again when we got home he found a bed and collapsed.

ONE short week away from home was about all he could take. He felt very homesick and wanted the comforts of his own bed and bathroom.

We had lots of fun while he was here and would welcome him back gladly.

Summer vacation 2010

2010-07-19T21:53:00.013-06:00

We had just moved into our new house and the unpacking was coming to a dead end. All the nooks and crannies were filling up and there was no more room for all our stuff. So I determined we'd have to leave the rest for later. School went until the end of June and we were all ready for a family vacation.

This time we were heading WEST unlike so many other times when the destination was

South (Utah). Colin had vacation time and we were headed for British Columbia.

Our first stop was at the picturesque lake of Shuswap. We stayed at a cabin on the lake owned by some of Colin's friends parents. They were there and we had a great time. Then after two days we drove to the Vancouver area and caught the car ferry from Tsawwasen to Nanaimo. We had a great time the next day in Parksville looking for sea creatures at low tide and flying kites on the beach. Reina was the best at collecting sand dollars.

Then next day we drove across the island to the West side to a town called Tofino which is on the border of a temperate rain forest.

It was absolutely stunning. We

were all amazed at the beauty of the ocean and forests.

The Pacific Rim National Forest feels like it's a thousand years old. We were able to explore winding boardwalk trails, take a boat to watch whales and soak in steaming hot springs.

It was so much fun and a very relaxing place to be in so much nature.

Here is a very bad picture of the grey whales we saw- I'll never make it as a national geographic photographer. But you can see the whale "blow" and see a bit of the tale of another whale.

After four days we left to see another beautiful spot on the island. The Buchart Gardens. It was well worth the day detour and the kids loved the orderliness of the beautiful flower beds.

After seeing so much greenery it was time to get back to my desert roots. We took the ferry back and crossed the US border near Seattle (a very busy crossing!! 1 hour and 40 minute wait). Then we took two days to drive to Utah where we stayed with my Dad for a week. We had a great time seeing our Utah families but were ready to head for home at the end of the week.

A small miracle..

2010-03-18T16:09:00.001-06:00

Alek's preschool.

Was it a coincidence or by divine design that I dropped Alek off late at his preschool today? I had been trying for weeks to get a specific present for a lady I’m assigned to visit in our ward. She just had a baby and I needed to get to the baby store way up North and back before Alek’s preschool started. I knew I would be cutting it close for time but decided it was worth being a little late so I could get the gift I thought would be perfect for her.

As expected, I was running about 7 minutes late as I approached the school. But what I didn’t expect was seeing a little 3-4 year old boy running down the sidewalk and in front of my car. I quickly stepped on the brakes and scanned the area looking for an adult or anyone... no one was there.

Before he passed my car and could cross the big road I quickly jumped out of my car and grabbed his arm asking him where he was going. In a crying voice he told me he was looking for his mommy and couldn’t find her. I told him to wait on the grass next to the sidewalk while I parked my car. I was blocking the right hand turn lane. After I parked, I got Alek out of the car an asked him if this little boy was in his class. He nodded his head yes. Only partially believing him, because he’s 4, I decided there was no other option and we walked to the preschool and brought him with us. When we arrived the teacher looked at our stray boy a little quizzically but ushered him in the room. She was probably wondering how come I had brought him in.... again. When I told her where I had found him she was greatly relieved and astonished that he could have slipped out so easily (probably during the confusion when the other mom’s were dropping off their kids).

As I reflected on this situation I marveled that I crossed paths with this boy at the exact right time and place. And that only I could have known where to bring him. There were a few other drivers that could have helped this boy instead of me but there is no way they could have figured out from that boy where his school was. The preschool is quite hidden and if you don’t have a child there you wouldn’t know it existed.

I’m sure that God is watching over his children and we are all instruments if we allow ourselves to be. Miracles have not ceased and we can witness them if we do what is right and endeavor to keep the commandments.

2010-02-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

Top of the mountain in Utah at 'Brighton' ski resort.

Lake Chaparral in the Winter

2010-01-16T20:09:00.003-07:00

Ice Skating at the lake in our community. There are many paths to take or you can just stay on the perimeter. Alek skated for a little then just wanted to be pulled on the toboggan.

This is the ice rink next to the lake if you want a more tame experience. Both are connected by a rubber path so you can go from one to the other. Kelsey and Mom just walked in shoes but by the end of the day I was thinking I might just break down and buy myself a pair of skates too.

The end of 2009

2009-12-26T21:59:00.010-07:00

Lake Louise- Banff Canada November 2009

The festivities are over and I'm just sitting here alone on Boxing Day night. Colin has had to work 7 days strait every evening (tomorrow is his 7th) and it hasn't been the most normal Christmas week.

We've been busy in the mornings while Colin is at home, then the evenings are relaxed and uneventful.

But we did get a lot done like getting Brooklyn and Reina to ski school for three consecutive days, having all the Joneses in town over for Christmas Eve lunch, wrapping Christmas presents and introducing the kids to the classic movie Ben-Hur - which they seemed to like.

But mostly I think this year represents a lot of traveling for me. We had the big move from Toronto over the summer. Since we've been here we drove to Utah twice (once for Canadian Thanksgiving in Oct

ober and

once for American Thanksgiving in November). And now no more traveling for a little while so we can save up for a down payment on a house.

Colin really likes his job and the people he works with. We feel like they've treated him very well and he's happy about his final outcome with all his training. I get pieces of his life when he shares stories from time to time like:

*I had to put a catheter in someone's salivary gland today to inject with contrast and get a CT to look for a big mass

*Someone came in with abdominal pain and we had to inform her it was because she was pregnant

*If you want to find the lymph node that is the likely next cancer culprit on a suspiciou

s breast mass patient you have to inject the breast right by the mass and watch where the radioactive particles accumulate

*I read a shoulder MR today that was really tough and everyone was glad to see it go off the list.

*Sometimes when I get home I don't want to talk, I just want to listen, because at work I'm talking and thinking as fast as I can for eight hours strait.

So I'll leave you with some picture of the road trips which typify my sentiments.

(1) Banff National Park

(2) Somewhere in Southern Alberta

(3) Probably Montana

The Canadian Rockies

2009-08-18T11:44:00.012-06:00

x

We've been living in Calgary for about 3 weeks now and Colin could hardly wait to get to the mountains. So here are some pictures of what we can drive to in about 1.5 hrs.

Here the kids are at the top of Sulfur Mountain overlooking th

e town of Banff. We took an

8 minute gondola ride up to about 7000ft and then climbed the extra bit to the cosmic ray station. Of course while we w

ere up there it did snow a little bit- and that's par for the course in August.

The other picture shows

Two Jack lake and that is where we brought food for a pick nick. There is a wandering trail around the lake that the kids had lots of fun on and a camp ground on the other side that looked perfect for another time.

What house we're living in in Calgary!

2009-06-18T12:44:00.004-06:00

Book your Calgary vacations now. Here is where you can stay with us on a quiet street in the very South part of Calgary.

157 Chaparral Ravine View SE

Calgary, AB T2X 0A4

We'll be there August 1st 2009.

Pictures from Toronto

2009-03-14T20:32:00.005-06:00

We will only be here 3.5 more months. I can't believe how time gets faster the older you get.

Last Saturday we had a babysitter and Colin and I went to dinner in the "Kensington Market" district at El Torito. We hadn't made reservations but they had space at the bar- which was fine for us.

The food was so good and we happened to be sitting by the kitchen and the chef kept checking the tables- so I commented on the Andalusian Chick Pea and Spinach soup. What I really wanted to know was how it was made and he graciously told

me. No short cuts. It takes time to make good food.

Even though we miss our family and the mountains, I've had so much fun here experiencing other cultures and different views. I'm glad we came.

Kelsey 3months old

2009-01-24T16:40:00.002-07:00

This is her true happy face.

Snow Removal

2009-01-24T09:55:00.005-07:00

This city is buried in snow. And temperatures have not reached above freezing for months- so it never melts. But there are some very creative solutions to remove snow from the narrow streets that suffer.

The "Snow Spitter" is a giant snow blower. The auger grinds up the snow banks and then spits it into the back of dump truck.

Then the job is finished off by large and small tractors that clear the roads and sidewalks.

It's a nice public service but you pay a premium for it (50% tax bracket). But the kids sure enjoyed watching.

Reina Quotes

2009-01-24T09:50:00.002-07:00

"I want to cut the beans!"

"Yes, I like the salad, except for the leaves."

"Mom, I want to see the spiting truck"

(see snow removal for picture)

Winter break Skate Camp

2009-01-02T18:43:00.006-07:00

You want to be good to your kids. You want them to have fun. Then why did my kids think I was torturing them when I enrolled them in ice skating camp over the Christmas holidays? I thought that this would be a great way to learn to skate without going to weekly lessons.

Needless to say after 3-4 hours of skating (for three days) Brooklyn and Reina had nothing good to say about the experience. I told them now that they live in Canada they have to learn how to skate. Everyone does it.

However, I did learn one lesson, "Less is more." especially at Christmas time.

Viability of Influenza Vaccine Among Physicians

2008-12-28T17:15:00.007-07:00

Objective: Influenza is a common but miserable illness with rare but serious cases of encephalitis, associated community acquired pneumonia and high risk of absenteeism from work. Could this malady be avoided by getting the influenza vaccine?

Methods: Survey of 12 physicians (10 of them them radiologists at UHN in Toronto) from all parts of the world on whether it was worth it to get a "flu" vaccine. Countries represented included: South Korea, Germany, Australia, former USSR, Saudi Arabia, India, Ireland, Greece, Canada and USA.

Results: A total of six physicians received the vaccine and two reported having side effects of fever and chills. Six physicians declined the vaccine citing concerns of side effects including symptoms of infection, terrifying ascending paralysis (Guillain-Barre syndrome) and one physician reporting, "I never get sick".

Discussion: We can state that the influenza vaccine may be effective against contracting the influenza virus. None of the vaccinated physicians have become infected (so far) and five of the six non vaccinated physicians have not become infected. However, at least two of the six vaccinated physicians were symptomatic and regretted getting vaccinated. The one physician who was infected would only consider receiving the vaccine for next year.

Conclusion: Never say, "I never get sick." and you can meet people from all over the world in Toronto.

2008-12-28T16:43:00.006-07:00

Case of the Day - December 8, 2008

History: A family of 4 children, all under 10 years old, present on different days with high grade fever (lasting 5 days), vomiting and extreme malaise and myalgia (muscle pain). Seven days after the first child's symptoms the father presented with the same high fever, severe vomiting (including small amount of hematemesis) and unable to go to work for three days.

Figure 1.

Finding: Both patients in figure 1. could not retain food for 5 days. Ultimately the orange jello was vomited.

Diagnosis: Influenza A or B

Discussion: Although vomiting is more common in children while infected with the influenza virus, this shows the youthfulness of the dad. None of the family received the influenza vaccine (which was widely advertised in community health system). Miraculously the mother dodged this bullet but had the unfortunate responsibility to care for all invalids. According to the patients, especially the dad, this illness should be avoided as it was the most miserable encountered in some 15 years.

Sunday Dinner

2008-12-01T20:36:00.003-07:00

Even though we miss our Sunday family dinners in Utah, we have found good friends here in Toronto to continue the tradition. If fact they cooked a delicious Swiss meal for us. Ute and Dirk are from Germany and are training in Toronto like Colin.

2008-11-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

Toronto Life at 52 Douglas Avenue

We've only been (pronounced 'bean') here for just over 4 months and already I'm starting to view life a little differently. It no longer seems like I'm allowed to stay in my own little bubble doing the same things I want to do every day. It no longer feels like I can just coast along.

Instead, I've been integrated into a multiethnic society that thrives on community living and conforming standards. What I mean is that people around here seem to expect you to be part of the 'whole'. You really should follow all the parking rules if you want to be a good citizen. You really should contribute to the 'Multiple Sclerosis' fund at school- it's the right thing to do. You really should know the Jewish holidays (at least in my neighborhood) and be considerate of their celebration time.

In the public sector are many reminder of how to behave publicly. The subway door windows have signs that urge you to be considerate and not block the doors, another train will come soon. On the highways signs are posted to remind you not to tailgate or drive over the speed limit. One day I had an etiquette lesson from the garbage collector on the proper way to dispose of your waste. For the compost-able material (the green bin) I should store it in the freezer until garbage day. That way it won't stink in the bin outside.

The children don't seem to be affected by much of this with the exception of always asking what bin to throw their trash in: green, grey or blue. They are taught polite manners at school (but not much differently than when we were in Texas). And they are learning to play/exercise in public areas as our yard is not much bigger than a postage stamp.

With the birth of Kelsey (our fourth) each day is carefully orchestrated to get everyone on time to school. The fact that the kids come home at lunch time only compounds the chaos. Poor Alek and Kelsey have to be dragged back and forth to Brooklyn and Reina's school four times every day.

But overall I'm really enjoying my time here. Colin seems to be learning quite a bit of new things. He's happy to be working with very intelligent mentors. I've made some very nice friends at church and in the neighborhood. I feel like I'm fitting in with the other immigrants: another American, a German, an English mum and even a Czechoslovakian.

I can't imagine ever living in another place quite like this.

Spots

2007-12-13T17:22:00.001-07:00

History: 5 year old with rash on torso. Small raised bumps with no center or red vesicles.

Patient is currently on day 6 of a 10 day course of amoxicillin.

Has your child ever broken out in spots that itch all over? Well Reina (my 5 year old) had a case of these that just showed up yesterday.

They were small raised bumps that didn't have any center or red vesicles.

Of course my first thought was chicken pox but she had gotten immunized at 12 months and she really didn't seem too sick.

According to Dr. Sears (on the internet) he said you don't need to page the doctor for a case of the spots - just bring them in the next day. So then I paged Colin.

The next day her back looked like this! (She took 25mg Benedryl for itching and sleeping at night.)

Diagnosis: Morbilliform Drug reaction to Amoxicilin. Probably a type IV hypersensitivity (not "allergic" reaction)

In my words: her immune system was slowly reacting with the antibiotic and finally raised red flag and said STOP.

How to install a toilet over tile

2007-12-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

We tried to remodel our bathroom for around $500. Basically you almost need to triple your original estimate to get a true idea of the final cost.

In this picture you see Colin has installed the previous flange from the old toilet. He screwed it firmly into the hardy-board and subfloor. The tile was cut and set around the toilet flange not under it. Colin then slid the mounting bolts in and we cut a straw in half (from Wendy's) to put on top of the screws so

they would be easier to locate when we put the toilet on.

Next, install the new wax seal to the underside of the toilet.

Then Colin set the toilet over the mounting straws.

Make sure to push down hard on the toilet to get the wax to settle in. Wiggle it just a little bit but not too much to set it.

Then install the hardware on the mounting bolts. Make sure to finger tighten and then only turn 1/2 turn with a wrench. Any more and you risk cracking the toilet.

We found that our tile was not completely flat and so we used a rubber gasket (in the paint section at Home Depot) to check where there was extra space under the toilet. Using a putty knife to push in the gasket around the areas where there was space and then an exacto knife to cut it off we prevented 99.5% of the rocking.

This is the supply hose that worked best for all the bending back there.

Total time for toilet installation: 1.5 hours