One week

In exactly seven days from now I will be at Los Angeles International Airport wait for an Air Zealand 747 to Auckland.  There is a bit of a convoluted route to visit my honey.  Starting 2:45pm in Edmonton, Mom & I fly to Denver, LA, Auckland and finally arrive in Brisbane Saturday morning.  I can't believe how much stuff I have to get done before then, and how little motivation I have to get it done.

At least it’s not raining here.

This is the lovely sight that greeted me this morning.  There has been snow for two days running now. By Saturday it is supposed to be nice again- sunny and 20 degrees. This just proves the old adage, "If you don't like the weather in Alberta, wait five minutes"

(The house in the background of the picture is the one that I am house-sitting).

I think this cold is better than the flooding problem that Barb is having.  (Check out her latest post).

That's about all the exciting news for today.  I'm going to bed early so it will be a little easier dragging my butt out of the bed tomorrow morning.

Noah just called, he’s gonna pick me up in 10 minutes….

rain, Rain, RAIN!!! Currently it's raining buckets here. 32mm yesterday, 47 today, and expected 53 mm tomorrow. I am continually surprised at how ineffectual umbrellas are in this weather. And I have a waterfall in my kitchen, coming in from the ceiling because of the downpour. With a small lake on the kitchen floor. Makes me glad I rent, I'd hate to be responsible for fixing it. But waiting for my landlord to arrive means I am missing Clinical Coaching, and we were going to be on the ward, too....poop.
Being wet when I don't plan on it makes me kinda crabby. I waited 1/2 hour for the bus from St.Lucia to home. My shoes are now spongy puddles, and the rest of me required a full change to dry clothes. The bridge at UQ lakes is almost underwater, and will probably not be passable on foot tomorrow.
This week we are discussing kidneys, acid-base balance and urine production. I have never peed so much on the power of suggestion!
And in other news, Rob mailed me a tin of TIM HORTON'S COFFEE and two flavoured CoffeeMates!!!! Have I mentioned how much I love that man? Also included was two running room shirts (make the bike ride to school a lot less soggy from the inside out.)

Victoria Day

The May long weekend is traditionally when people start their gardens in Canada.  Unfortunately, this year that isn't working so well.  It snowed today:

I spend my day indoors though.  Barb's parents are finishing their basement, so Peter Martin and I were there putting up the drywall. We were able to finishall the boarding except for the the finicky little bit around the windows sills.  Peter will be going back later to finish those bits plus all the taping and mudding.

(Just FYI, Peter now has a company website at http://www.lightrocktaping.com/)

Afterwards Vicki and the boys came over
for supper.  I had to leave a bit early to get back to the house to give Fido his injection.

I did laundry and now it's beddy by time.

Ahhhhhhh….

I guess it is about time for a new update.  Barbra Doiron left for Europe for two weeks and I'm house sitting for her.  I also have to give her cat Fido insulin injections twice a day.  So far I have been enjoying having my own place again.

I didn't do much today, but that will be changing.  Tomorrow Peter & I will be drywalling Barb's parent's place.  Over the next two weeks I have to go through the boxes in the basement and decide what things I will be taking to Australia with me when I go in June.  I also have to pack for that trip as well.

Still haven't heard anything from Australian Immigration.  Barb did go to an immigration seminar in Brisbane to find out more information.  She did at least find out that they use the age you apply rather than your current age when they assign points.  Being between 35-39 gives you 5 point and being 40 is zero.

That's right, I'm 40 years old now.  When in the heck did that happen?  High school was only a few years back.  My birthday was on Mother's Day this year.  I went up to Deadwood for the weekend.  I picked up some flowers for Mom in Peace River on the way up.  I also got my Mother-in-law some flowers too.  Rick came by Saturday night after work for supper.  On Sunday, Mom, Cathy & I went to the pancake breakfast at Notiekiwin Hall.  The next few hours of my birthday were spent driving back to Edmonton.   That evening Barbra, Tash, Tom & I went and saw "X-Men Origins: Wolverine".

I enjoyed "Wolverine", but it just didn't compare to "Star Trek" which we saw on Thursday night.   They were able to nail the characters and their interplay, which is what I liked best about the original Star Trek TV shows & books.  The special effects were cool except for the whole bouncy camera thingy.  What wrong with a good SteadiCam?  It was kinda fun that Barb & I saw both movie at about the same time in two very different locations.

Countdowns

Yup, there's only 18 more days until our midyear exam...and 19 more days until Rob arrives.
The general ethos among the first year meds ranges from all out panic to paralysis. Students are starting to literally LIVE in our study rooms. They should really install showers. No, seriously. Those rooms start to smell pretty rank after too many bodies spend too much time in them with substances sometimes identified as "food".
For the most part, I am not selling out to the panic, although I have moments when the sheer volume of random factoids that I must regurgitate is a little overwhelming. I comfort myself by discussing said random factoids with others- they can't remember pathways and other minutae any better than I can. We are all sunk together. Or not. Another thing I remind myself of is that in 20 years, when I'm well into my career and treating patients, NOBODY will ask me what all the intermediates of the TCA cycle are. And if they do, I WILL LOOK IT UP, the way any sane working person does.
But, in the meantime, the head stuffing continues. I am dealing with it well, on average- exercising, getting enough sleep, and eating properly. And pulling out my eyebrows and eyelashes. Oh, wait, that's maladaptive. Unfortunately the hair around my eyes always takes the first hit when I am stressed. At the moment, I have eyelashes only on the lateral edges of both eyes. And a growing hairless patch on my right eyebrow. It even has a name: trichillomania. It could be worse.
Brady and I have gone to see Star Trek and Wolverine, and it's nice to escape into a good story every once in a while. In classes, we have been learning to read ECG's, and ABG's, learn about spirometry and how to deal with high blood pressure (apropos, don't you think?). All interesting stuff. Well, I should go and figure out what FEV1 looks like in an asthmatic.....