Weekly Update: Happy Belated Easter

• Current Scholastic Pursuits
• Things are crazy right now. You might have guessed by the delayed weekly update... with school and moving and residency paperwork and going home for Easter, it's been really hard to keep up.
• I'm leaving for Winnipeg today to go house hunting, so this is going to be a pretty quick update. Sorry folks! I promise that once this exam is over and my life is planned a little better, I'll do a better post. :)

• Recipe I've Been Drooling Over
• I've been eating canned soup and grilled cheese ever since I finished off my leftovers from Easter, so there's not much to report here.

• Favourite Thing on Etsy this Week
• These earrings are really nice - I like the simple things.

• What I'm Reading Right Now
• Nothing but practice questions, old exams, and kijiji rental ads

• TED Talk I Watched This Week
• I didn't get a chance to watch any this week, sorry

• Song of the Week
• Scarlet turned me onto Ben Howard and this video - it's amazing!!!

OLD PINE from Astray Films on Vimeo.

• Thing I'm Most Grateful for This Week
• Penguin, for keeping me from spontaneous combustion secondary to stress

• Thing I'm Most Looking Forward to This Week
• Finding a place to live in Winnipeg!

• Bunny Photo of the Week
• Believe it or not, Jazz was actually afraid of the Easter nests until Hoyle proved they were "edible".

Never say never...

never before have I not kept my word to update but, alas dear friends, I'm going to postpone one more day. thanks for being so patient.

Easter: All Hail the Bunny!

Happy Easter, everyone! Just got back to the tropical tundra after spending the weekend up north visiting Penguin and my family. Thanks to holiday traffic, way too much homework, and the time of night, I'm going to update the blog tomorrow. But here's a quick pic of the bunnies enjoying their day of adulation.

Nothing Beats Brie.

Our class has organized a dessert crawl for the 2nd and 1st years this coming Monday to answer any questions they have about electives, clerkship, and CaRMS. In true procrastination style, I've wasted a good chunk of today putting together a playlist with bands representing every city across Canada that the CaRMS tour visits. The only city I struggled with was Thunder Bay - Makeshift Astronaut is a from there (I especially like their song Midnight and the Open Road), unfortunately, they're not on Grooveshark or iTunes. But, if I could have - I would have included them in this nifty playlist... hope you enjoy it!

PS: I am aware that The Rural Alberta Advantage is actually based out of Toronto (wtf is up with that?!) but let's all just pretend that since their lead singer was born in Fort McMurray, it's ok to say that they're from Alberta.

Just a spoonful of sugar and a good sharpie marker... put your manners where I can see them!

Oh crap! I really wanted to post this as part of my weekly update but then forgot... It's a great piece by David Lebovitz (infamous food blogger extraordinaire) about proper etiquette for serviette use. Specifically, cloth serviettes (which are the only kind that I, the paper-abhorring-granola-crunching-tree-hugging-eco-freak, offer at my table). I actually learned something from this post, too! Did you know, for instance, that if you crumple up your napkin and leave it on the table at the end of the meal that it signifies you don't intend to return to that establishment again? Whereas if you fold it up neatly, it means that you intend to come back again and again because you loved it so much... Oh the subtlety of graceful domesticity! How I heart thee.

Weekly Update: April Snow Brings... Thunder.

• Current Scholastic Pursuits
• Time seems to be slipping by faster than I'd like it to. Our study "break" is already half over and I don't feel anywhere near ready for this exam. The knowledge that I can never actually prepare for it is only a little comforting.
• This past week, I've been chatting with my colleagues and many of us are expressing that the anxiety is the worst part. It's unrelenting. If you don't study, you feel anxious because you're not working. If you do study, you feel anxious because you realize how little you know and how much you have to learn. There's no winning. The only way I can cope is to go to the gym or take the Impala out for a ride. Unfortunately, I got sick over the weekend and had to stay home from yoga tonight. Here's hoping it'll be a quick bug and I'll be back at it soon.
• In other news, we survived ACLS this weekend. ACLS stands for Advanced Cardiac Life Support and it's the course that all residents must take before starting to work in the hospital. The course teaches you what to do when a Code Blue is called- ie. when someone stops breathing or their heart stops. It covered everything from how to secure an advanced airway (intubate/stick a tube into their trachea) to when and how to deliver electricity to the heart to get it beating again. The course was really well run and I learned a ton. I also learned that July 1st is going to mark the beginning of some very sleepless, anxiety-ridden nights. But, I think that with a little practice, it will all be ok.
• On the bright side, I distinctly remember a few days last week when it was sunny, warm, and I was feeling healthy. I remember feeling really, really happy (as opposed to sick, exhausted, and stressed out). So, it's good to know that I'll bounce back to that state. A little TLC, some home cooked food this weekend over Easter, and I should be shipshape in no time.

• Recipe I've Been Drooling Over
• This little Lavender Cake is presented in a Lemon parcel and is just as sweet as punch. I'd love to give this recipe a go. Check it out here.

• Favourite Thing on Etsy this Week
• I fell head over heels in love with this cast iron bathtub couch. Sheer brilliance. When I am a rich woman, I will buy one of these.

• What I'm Reading Right Now
• Still T-Notes. No news there, sorry folks.

• TED Talk I Watched This Week
• It's not a TED Talk but it is a wonderful and touching piece. This week, I offer you Field Notes by James Maskalyk - a Toronoto ER doc who is currently working for MSF in a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya
• Here's a quote to get you hooked- 
• "though i could do it more, i find that in medicine, like in life, its usually best to let yourself go, to hope deeply, even if it means the pain of it being dashed.  to release, as much as you can, the tiny elastics those pains have placed around your heart because if you don’t, you can forget what its there for, and with that, what we’re here for, this short time on a rock spinning wild and green around one of a trillion trillion stars."

• Song of the Week
• Pure Gold: 9 Piece Luggage Set by Radio Radio
• The ending is a bit weird - just watch the video part.

• Thing I'm Most Grateful for This Week
• I'm most grateful this week for the freedom to do what I do- to be given the opportunity and courage to dare, to adventure, to love deeply... it's such a privilege to have the time, energy, and well being to dig into life and slowly crumble away the boundaries that individual perception has put between me and understanding- experiencing without reservation, the oneness of the universe.

• Thing I'm Most Looking Forward to This Week
• Going home for Easter - and listening to someone else's music in the car! Not to mention, seeing Penguin and my family.

• Bunny Photo of the Week
• Here's the Jazz bunny - shocked that she's not allowed to destroy the mat that's in the bathroom.

Shocking on 3: 1. I'm clear 2. You're clear 3. We're all clear. Zap!

Sorry about the lack of blog update today. I was taking my ACLS course this weekend and now I'm going to bed early cuz I'm zonked. I promise to update tomorrow. Hope you had a good weekend!

Great Stories from our Friends the Naturalists...

I've got 2 great articles to share with you... one was in the NYTimes, entitled "Dying for Discovery". It chronicles the sacrifices that many naturalists have shouldered in the name of exploration. One of the early examples in the article is of a birder and botanist pair who died when their plane crashed into a mountainside because of cloud cover. The author writes, "They lingered there overnight, trapped in the wreckage, and died in the morning. “It was beautiful forest,” a survivor, Parker’s [the birder] fiancée, later told a reporter, “and they were very happy. Lots of birds.”

I think that is the best eulogy I have ever read. Ever.

The other article is certainly more light-hearted. It's about the introduction of Douglas Adams (author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and Struan Sutherland (poisonous animal expert). The quoted conversation by Adams is comic genius and does not disappoint.

I hope you enjoy them. :)

Weekly Update: 1 Month and 1 Day until the End of Med School!

• Current Scholastic Pursuits
• Exactly one month from now I will be having a restless, sleepless, anxious day. It will be the day before I write my LMCC (licensing exam) and I will be prepared but also scarred sh*tless. If it goes anything like my last OSCE, though, I will be a rock star. I've been told over and over again that I shouldn't sweat the LMCC, but I'm sweating anyways. We all do. That's just the way it is.
• The nice thing about studying like a fiend is that my schedule has become a whole lot more flexible. My little cerebrum can only focus for so long, so after a few hours of studying, I take myself to the gym and work it. I'm getting into wicked shape. Yesterday, after yoga, and inspired by the lovely sunshine, I took the Impala out for her first run of the season. We did 50km in 2hrs 10 min. I was flying - and, thanks to my many hours at the gym in weeks previous, it was no big deal. My shoulders are a little sore today but that's it! I can't wait to get out for another spin now... endorphin addiction at its finest.

• Recipe I've Been Drooling Over
• I made this french toast with lavender and grapefruit compote yesterday. I overdid it on the lavender, so I tried again this morning and it's much better. Absolutely delicious.

• Favourite Thing on Etsy this Week
• My dress obsession continues. I love the AfterShowerShop. Everything is so awesome. I'd love to get this one for summer, too.

• What I'm Reading Right Now
• Nothing but Toronto Notes is gettin' read these days, sorry.

• TED Talk I Watched This Week
• Last week, my friends car pooled with me to the North to visit our respective significant others. They got together on the weekend and went to see some slam poetry while Penguin and I were out watching Rango. Their discussion on the way home made this TED talk catch my interest. I absolutely love the poem Sarah Kay starts with: B. There's 2 links here: one for just the poem and the other for the whole talk.

• Song of the Week
• I couldn't decide which song to post today, so here's both!

• If Ever There's a Reason by Derby

• To Build a Home by the Cinematic Orchestra

• Thing I'm Most Grateful for This Week
• This past Wednesday was our graduation ceremony for our regional campus. Having completed all the evaluated aspects of med school (except the licensing exam but that's administered by the MCC, not by Mac), we partied it up with our preceptors at a very suave location in the tropical tundra. Penguin drove for 6 hours on Wed afternoon to spend the evening with me and then drove 6 hours home the next morning to go back to work. If that isn't love, I don't know what is. I've never loved that man more in my life. Thank you, Penguin! xo

• Thing I'm Most Looking Forward to This Week
• This upcoming weekend I'm doing my ACLS course and since I'll be in the nearest big town, I'm going to meet up with a dear friend on Sat night to celebrate her birthday. I'm really looking forward to seeing her!

• Bunny Photo of the Week
• Jazz continues to molt but I think it's finally in its last stages. We've survived the bunny blizzard! Hurrah! 
• Here's one of my favourite pictures of Hoyle...

Weekly Update: April Fool's!

• Current Scholastic Pursuits
• This past week, we started our concept integration and review period aka as mad-studying time for the licensing exam (an exam that we have been told repeatedly by upper years that you CAN'T study for...). Anyway, the first week went well. I've mapped out my study schedule and I feel pretty good about things so far. Just gotta keep on track!
• Yesterday was also highly productive. I did my taxes with Penguin, I studied, we went for a 6km run along the river, and we had Indian food for dinner then went to see Rango as a reward. Rango was great, I really liked it.
• In other news, I won an award for my "academic performance" during Internal Medicine in clerkship. This came as quite a shock: first, because I know I failed that end-of-rotation exam; second, because Internal was definitely not my shining moment in clerkship; and third, because everyone knows I love Gen Surg and that's what I matched to. But, the award comes with a $500 cash prize, so I wasn't about to say no. The sketchy part was how they introduced us to the award: they sent an email out on April 1st, in the morning, and told us they needed our SIN number to get finance to cut us the cheques. I honestly thought that it was a very crafty april fool's joke and fired them back an email that said I wasn't that gullible. But, apparently, things were legit!
• Finally, to follow up on my last post and my vacation dilemmas - we've decided to save the Basecamp hike for a later time (these's words have never passed my lips before, so it's taking me some time to get used to the idea). Instead, we'll be doing Algonquin with friends, I'll hopefully be able to go visit Melon (at long last!), and generally take my time with the packing and moving process.

• Recipe I've Been Drooling Over
• After Indian food last night, I have become obsessed with figuring out how to make pappadums. I found this recipe online. It looks hopeful. I will let you know how it goes!

• Favourite Thing on Etsy this Week
• Check out this super cute children's book I found on Etsy... it's about a King who is loves with the number five but then discovers that he has six fingers!! Here's the quote from the item's page:
• "The story deals with an obsessive compulsive, polydactyly (hexadactyly) King and unfolds in a whimsical rhyme accompanied by mid-century illustrations. It ends on a very positive note with an important lesson about maintaining balance in your life."

• What I'm Reading Right Now
• I'm reading Toronto Notes. :S

• TED Talk I Watched This Week
• Here's one of the TED talks from the music video I posted last week. It's about a neuroanatomist who has a stroke at a young age. It's very moving and I hope you're able to find time to watch it.

• Song of the Week
• Airport Life by Dead Child Star.

• Thing I'm Most Grateful for This Week
• Penguin!! On Thursday night, he surprised me with a special dinner (pork loin purchased from our ethical butcher), rice, and grilled apples, as well as wine and cupcakes decorated as frogs. And as if that wasn't enough, he also had a little present and card for me to celebrate my getting into residency. I am the luckiest, and happiest, girl in the world. Thank you Penguin. xo

• Thing I'm Most Looking Forward to This Week
• Getting our last OSCE over with!! The next day, we get to party at our campus-specific grad party. Yay!

• Bunny Photo of the Week
• Bunny loaf (Jazz) disapproves of the concept that it will take 3 days of driving to get to Winnipeg. To demonstrate her disapproval, she has gone into the most berserk molt of all time. God, save us.