I only just realised that I never posted this blog. I am really slack at this. I now have another month to write about and I haven't even posted this one! So a bit late but here it is...
So mid-April arrived and with it came the BSAVA Congress. Now I need to hark back to June last year when I was in Townsville living and working with Emma and having a great time. It was at a time when I thought that I'd be finally doing the UK thing the following year but hadn't made any definite plans. Then I met Emma who herself is from England and we got along really well and made a pact that I would indeed come to England in 2007 and we would meet up at BSAVA congress in April of that year. And so it came about and I fulfilled my promise and Emma and I were once again tearing the town apart together.
It wasn't just Emma I got to catch up with though. Friends from uni were there as well and I got to catch up with more people that I hadn't seen in several years and also see some changes that have gone on. The big one being that Nat Thorne is huge with a baby inside her! It was a VERY social weekend. Emma and Lou and I were all in the same hotel. It was great. Each night we'd be in Em and my room having a wine before hitting the town.
But Em and I got there the Wednesday night and Lou didn't get there until the Thursday so let me backtrack a bit.
Em and I got to the hotel late on the Wednesday night with our bottle of wine and exhausted from work that day and we met up with Emma's friend Meaghan who actually went to Murdoch uni and graduated with Justin (Jack) Daniel. and Also knew Lindy Daniel (Tilley) - small vet world as we know. So she was with us Wednesday night and in the midst of me regaling her with a story on Jack's prowess with Galah surgery (you know what I'm talking about Jack!) there was a banging on the wall of our room from next door. We didn't realise that it had got to 1am and we were still chatting.
Despite that Em and I were able to pull ourselves out of bed for first lectures (overkeen - I think it was the only day it happened) and managed a whole day of lectures. We caught up with heaps of uni mates and also met up with Lou with whom we spent most of the congress. That evening, Chris Thorne and Em and Lou and myself were having welcome drinks and eventually got joined by Bridgey and Russ and Kate Edwards and Amy who works with Kate at Vetlink. I had a ticket to the sea life centre for a reception for international delegates (since I was the only one who booked from Oz) and I gave my ticket to Em and we all spoke with Aussie accents and pretended we forgot our tickets and got in. We thought we were very clever at the time but I think we were really just drunk and the party was winding down and the bouncer couldn't be bothered arguing with me.
So we had a drink there and Shmikes joined us as well with his girlfriend who as I got it is Kuwaiti-Indonesian but spent most of her life in France and now lives in England (because of Shmikes I think!).
So we went for Italian for dinner and finished the night exhausted but that didn't stop me from wanting to go to the salsa club opposite. Em luckily talked me out of it since I was nearly asleep on my feet.
The next morning Em and I tried to get up but realise we didn't really want to see any of the first lectures anyway so it was sensible to miss them so that we would be in better form to learn in the later ones. When we got up however I did say I needed new clothes and I wanted to go shopping for a bit. It didn't take much for us to convince each other that we really needed to take the day off for some serious shopping in the Bull Ring (shopping centre, not a farm animal show ring as you might expect. I personally wanted to go there to buy a prize-winning bull but had to make do with shopping for clothes instead). So we took a day to do that and quite frankly my wardrobe needed it.
For all those that know me in any way, shape or form, I can imagine you are thinking that you have typed in the wrong web address because this does not sound like normal Sal Nixon behaviour. Sal spending a WHOLE day shopping for clothes and not only this but enjoying it!!! Unlikely but true and will probably never happen again. It was a combination of the fact that I really needed clothes, have some money, feeling happy about myself in general and the fact that clothes are tasteful at the moment so there was plenty of selection of good stuff. ie. It wasn't depressing and frustrating like I usually find it.
So after a day and A LOT of pounds later, I had several new tops to where out, a couple of pairs of shoes, new lingerie (including 4 pairs of bras - got fitted here and there are so many that fit PERFECTLY so I couldn't resist), new jeans, some body shop stuff and a new skirt and top combination. Emma had bought similar amounts of stuff and we had bags on bags to carry home and I didn't even feel guilty because I actually did need it all.
I can honestly say that for the next several days I was wearing all new stuff. We met the other vetties at a bar called Pitcher and Piano and Paul Sydenham from uni was there for a bit and noone knew he was there originally - just ran into him. Small vet world when everyone seems to migrate to Birmingham. We went out that night to an Indian place at the Mailbox and had a really nice meal and got to catch up with more people (Michelle Dempster and Nat Thorne and Nat brought some friends as well). It was a great night again.
On the Saturday we did get to some lectures but had to finish early on account of Emma and I needed girl time together by the bar. ie. we had to have our free pints and discuss boys. I don't think the discussion went far beyond the male related topic.
Then we headed back to our room and Lou joined us for wine and we got ready to go out. We joined the others at All Bar One but the service was so slow that we all sobered up. We were quite sober by the time we got to Walkabout Bar but then there was a live band so spirits rose and the next thing I know Lou and Emma and myself were at the bar doing shots. So we walked in to Walkabout sober and staggered out not so sober. So it was 1am and the next stop was a place called Arcadian to meet up with my mate Simon (who I met in Raro) and his friend Adam. Simon actually was at a really great bar where we danced but yet you could still talk and the service was good. We had heaps of fun and it wasn't long before Emma got excited and we discovered the cute finance guys from the congress were there. Woohoo!
So the Congress ended on the Sunday with Em and I feeling slightly exhausted. Our brains probably didn't get as much input as we'd hoped but we had an absolutely wonderful time. It was so wonderful to catch up with old friends and have a good time.
