Happy Christmas Everyone! :)

Tonight was the big night... well, semi big. We had our X-mas party for work and almost everyone showed up. We all had a great time letting our hair down - sharing friendship, a few drinks, some great BBQ (steak, chicken, sausage, and fish... Oh my!), and quite a few laughs.

So here we go... a chance for you to meet the folks I'm working with.

From top to bottom (picture-wise, not pecking order :)

Pic 1) Vanessa (in the green sleeves) brings a lot of sensitivity to her job as a nurse here while also teaching the puppy training classes two nights a week; and Salina (in the pink bandanna) has honed her nursing skills to the point where she knows what I'll be asking for in surgery before I do.

Pic 2) From L to R: Bronwyn is our office manager (and dang good at it); Kelly is an excellent scrub nurse who is leaving soon to join her boyfriend down in Townsville as he begins his professional rugby career with the Cowboys; Kat is a receptionist who moved here from the UK 5 years ago and has been a huge help for me figuring out how things run here; and Jade is an enthusiastic nurse in training who just graduated high school and has a great future ahead of her.

Pic 3) This is Dr. Pete doing his best Klink impression with a potato chip and his wife Linda. They're the ones I visit up at their place in the rain forest.

Pic 4) Kat's boyfriend John; Jodine is another incredible nurse we are losing so she may join her soon-to-be hubby down south as he starts his new job training airline pilots; Kerri is a receptionist/nurse who knows enough to be a veterinarian herself; and Dr. Kate is one of the happiest, most gentle and thoughtful veterinarians I have ever met... she's leaving to join her boyfriend in Brisbane and will surely be missed.

Pic 5) Dr. Rod is mid-sip. He's the guy who owns the pratice and built it up over 17 years to become the place most folks in north Queensland prefer to take their pets; And that's Dr. Doug next to him - he'd almost qualify as an enigma because he's so quiet, but he's one of the most intelligent people I've met over here... he knows something about everything without being a bragard about it.

Pic 6) Most of the gang at the Christmas party... sans me. I'm the guy pointing the lens :)

Cheers and Merry Christmas to everyone! :)