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well, if you’re reading this, i have already started my somewhat lengthy and rather convoluted (although promising to be highly entertaining) flight home for the holidays.

Dec 12th
800am – say goodbye to Brandon (*sniff*)
1005am – leave Nevis
1040am – arrive in St. Maarten

154pm – leave St. Maarten
541pm – arrive in Newark

7pm – meet up with the gorgeously brilliant, Kayla for dinner and drinks in New York. yes, it’s my Very First Time to The Big Apple and i’m excited. even if it is only for 12 hours.

Dec 13th
625am – leave Newark
810am – arrive in Toronto

9am – get picked up by the fantabulously talented photographer and all-around wonderful woman, JennW (and superhero husband) for breakfast and mall-ing in Toronto. i am SO RIDICULOUSLY excited to see a mall again that i can’t even begin to worry about not remembering how to throw elbows with the Christmas crowds.

4pm – quick hug-whee-yay! rendezvous at the gate with Kev who just happens to be en route through YYZ the same day/time as me.

415pm – leave Toronto
629pm – arrive in Regina

7pm – off to Moose Jaw with mom and Maddy!

i may get a chance for short updates here and there, otherwise… see you on the flipside!

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photo: St. Maarten airport

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

so, i have to check in at the Nevis Vance W. Amory airport around 8am on Friday and land at Regina International around 630pm on Saturday.

yes, that’s 34.5 hours.

while there are two stops along the way that promise to be highly entertaining, here is a list of the mind-numbing media i am bringing to keep my weary brain occupied and prevent me from going postal on fellow holiday travelers:

movies:
Happy Go Lucky
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Kung Fu Panda
The Duchess

podcasts:
Medical London Book of the Week (HUGE thanks to Tim!)
CBC Radio: White Coat, Black Art
American Academy of Neurology®
New England Journal of Medicine Audio Interview RSS feed

i’m also bringing a bunch of House, MD episodes to catch me up on this season. anything i’m missing? you’ll notice Grey’s Anatomy didn’t make the cut. i heard they brought Denny back and can’t bring myself to watch because everything sounds just plain weirdo-cuckoo now.

i’m not sure i entirely agree with Robert Louis Stevenson regarding this trip, but will be doing my best to make the most of the journey. seeing Jenn and Kayla will definitely go a long way to curing the security line blues.

i have a sneaking suspicion i’m starting to side more with Paul Theroux who said: “Travel is only glamorous in retrospect.”

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photo: FedEx airplane the very first day i arrived in Nevis, August 2007.

“Funny how the new things are the old things.”
~ Rudyard Kipling

i love snail mail. i have horrible handwriting, but i love to read notes from other people in their own unique script. i would rather have a post office box than an Outlook inbox any day. huge thanks to Christina for her gorgeous and original Christmas card!

i’m not sure why i love mail so much, but i have a sneaking suspicion it’s because i’ve elected to go paperless with all of the biggie companies and get my bills online.

so, it’s Tuesday. and we have two exams left. i talked to my mom yesterday on speakerphone while she whirled around the kitchen in an all-day baking frenzy. it smelled delicious even through the Vonage line. and even though she was making things i never eat, like date-filled Queen Elizabeth cake. ew. our conversation went something like this:

“so your suitcase is out?”
“yeah, i’m pretty much packed with one foot out the door,” i sighed.
“well, why don’t you hurry up and get here already!”

my sentiments exactly.

but first. today.

this morning i am off to recover what’s left of my damage deposit from the wee house across from the airport. then i’m swinging by the gift shop at Nisbet Plantation Inn to find something Nevis-ish for Kayla and Jenn for their wonderful hospitality this weekend. then it’s back home to study pathology the rest of the day.

yes, that last statement is a bit of a cop-out… there’s no way i’ll be able to study pathology all day. you can use your imagination and sprinkle in a healthy dose of napping, poolside-sitting, snacking, re-re-packing, internet-Christmas-shopping, and email answering. it just sounds more productive if i at least claim “good intentions”.

if only it really was the thought that counted.

sunny. high of -17° C (2 F). low of -25° C (-13 F).

i can hardly wait to freeze my butt off already.

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photo: Maho beach in St. Maarten last month

actually, today’s post title should be:

“I should study something. I should really really study something.”

*sigh*

i have my suitcases out and Brandon is looking at me sort of weird. what? it takes me a week to pack so i can make sure i don’t forget anything. i’m actually not sure i will even be able to fill 2 suitcases on the way home because i’m not bringing any clothes or toiletries with me. just books.

mom mentioned in an email that she shoveled snow off the pond and we might be able to skate on it this year. ice skating and snowshoeing and negative double-digit Celsius degrees. Brandon really doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into. ; )

7 sleeps, Maddy!

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photo: Maddy sleeping on my electric blanket in Prince George circa 2006

[my previous shelf exams: Anatomy, Biochemistry, Behavioral Sciences, Physiology, Microbiology and Neurosciences]

How I Study for Shelf Exams

Brandon has been cycling through these flashcards for pretty much two days straight. today we write our one and only shelf exam of the MED 4 semester: Pharmacology. since Pathology has enough material to span two semesters, we don’t write that shelf exam until the middle of MED 5-ish.

yes, that’s right. we only have ONE shelf exam this semester. it’s like we’re already on holiday (and in this household, we sorta are). i keep thinking back to the end of MED 2 when we wrote three shelf exams AND four cumulative finals. thankfully, MUA has replaced the cumulative final with the cumulative shelf exam in pretty much every class.

according to the NBME, here is a list of things we can expect to see tomorrow:

Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics
Antimicrobial Drugs
Carcinogens, Environmental Insults, Antineoplastic/Immunosuppressant Drugs
Organ Systems (including mechanism of action, therapy, adverse effect)
Hematopoietic & lymphoreticular
Central & peripheral nervous
Anesthetics
Hypnotics
Psychopharmacologic agents
Anticonvulsants
Stimulants, amphetamines
Antiparkinsonian drugs
Botulinum toxin
Neuromuscular junction blocking agents
Antiglaucoma drugs
Drugs used to decrease intracranial pressure
Antimigraine agents
Drugs affecting autonomic nervous system
Skin & related connective tissue
Musculoskeletal
Respiratory
Cardiovascular
Gastrointestinal
Renal/urinary
Reproductive
Endocrine

i’ve reviewed Kaplan and First Aid and my notecards and the BRS flashcards and USMLEWorld and and and… and i’m ready to have it done and over with already.

oh, and i’ll send a Christmas prize from Canada for anyone that comes up with the answer to the flashcard in the picture. there are a couple of “right” answers, so bonus points will go to the person that can name the drug on the back of this particular card. and Brandon, you don’t get to play. : P

this photo is my current desktop background. coming soon, Maddy.

but not quite soon enough. *sniff*

oh, and remember my aunt that was elected to Parliament just a few short weeks ago? here is her first address to the House of Commons yesterday.

“One’s home is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening – the best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life – and can never find again. After you leave home, you may find yourself feeling homesick, even if you have a new home that has nicer wallpaper and a more efficient dishwasher than the home in which you grew up.”
~ Lemony Snicket

10 sleeps till the end of MED 4.
11 sleeps till my WinAir flight leaves Nevis.
12 sleeps till home.

we had a Pharm quiz today for a few bonus points toward our final exam grade. tomorrow i perform my Physical Diagnosis final which consists of an hour-long head-to-toe practical exam on my most willing and helpful partner, Brandon. Thursday is the Pharm NBME shelf exam. next Wednesday is the Pathology (mostly cumulative) final exam and Thursday is the written (very cumulative) Physical Diagnosis exam.

the best thing about the next 10 days is that they should be full enough to fly by.

the worst thing is that it’s still 10 days and my brain is ready to be home right now.

here’s what the rest of the month looks like…

Dec 12th – drinks & dinner with Kayla in New York
Dec 13th – breakfast and Christmas shopping (in a real MALL) with JennW in Toronto
Dec 13th – home to Maddy in Moose Jaw
Dec 16th – fly to Denver
Dec 17th – drive to Brandon’s hometown in Nebraska
Dec 18th – drive to Omaha
Dec 20th – drive back to Brandon’s hometown
Dec 23rd – fly back home to Regina/Moose Jaw
Dec 27th – pick up Brandon at the airport in Regina
Dec 30th – go to Saskatoon to see my dad and extended family
Dec 31st – New Year’s Eve in Saskatoon at the Bessborough
Jan 1st – back to mom’s in Moose Jaw to watch the Gator Bowl
Jan 3rd – fly to Toronto
Jan 4th – fly to Antigua
Jan 5th – fly to Nevis

whew.

i can’t wait!

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photo: Christmas 2006 in Prince George, BC