Well, since no one submitted any sort of suggestion for another on of my "list" blogs, I will subject anyone who reads this to the details of my big exam yesterday. Oh wait, I can't. I signed a confidentiality agreement. Apparently the use the same cases over and over again, so we are not allowed to tell anyone what they were. Suffice it to say I think I did well, but I won't know for sure until Jan 11. That is when I can call for the results, not a day sooner. Apparently it takes 8 weeks to mark a multiple choice test and figure out how I did on my patient interviews. Sigh.
However, I had a lovely 10 1/2 hour sleep in the hotel last night (aaahhh), and on the ride home today, it officially clicked in that I am DONE. I mentally checked it off my list while driving home, and was thinking of what I have to do next. Then I thought, "Oh wait! I don't have to do ANYTHING next- I'm DONE!" It was a lovely moment.
So, me being me, I came home and started to draw up plans for my basement reno. I plan to go to the store on Monday and buy stuff to frame walls and make a bathroom. I have enough tiles left over from the house construction for the whole bathroom, so for that room I just have to buy lights and fixtures. I can hardly wait to get at it. I think once it's done, I will move the TV back into the basement and have the upstairs living room as I originally wanted it. A place to sit and read, talk etc, but no big huge TV in the middle of it. Hubby may overrule me, we shall have to see.
I am also planning on decorating for Christmas next week. It is tradition to do it the day after my birthday, but this year I have to work that day, so I will fit it in when I can. Maybe when I get home from buying sink and toilet. Or at 11 pm... I am a single mom all next week, so I can do it when I like. Speaking of 11 pm, that's what it is now, and I'm tired. Time for bed.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Friday the 13th
How ironic is that. Of all the days in the whole entire year, all 365 of them, how many are actually Friday the 13th. Even the least superstitious among us know that it is believed to be a day of bad luck. Now, I don't believe in luck, good or bad, yet I find it highly amusing that the most stressful part of this little journey that I am now on would fall on that particular day.
Tomorrow, Friday the 13th, I am leaving at 5:30 am, and driving to the big city of TO to write an exam. From 12:15 - 6 pm I will be doing a variety of things, from presenting and defending my learning portfolio, to doing multiple choice tests, to (GULP) simulated patient interviews. That is the part where I walk into a room and meet with a "patient" (a paid actor who is pretending to be a patient) and have the kind of interaction with them that I would have with any patient at work. Sounds easy enough. It's even open book. But the thing that is nagging at me is the fact that I will be being timed. And watched. There will be a third person in the room. A person with a clipboard and pencil. And I know that every time they write something down, I will be wondering what it was. Was it a good point? A bad point? Did I miss something crucial? Would my advice just have killed a real person? OK, so maybe I'm taking it a bit far, but it is stressful. I take comfort in the fact that in the real world, at work the other day, myself and the other pharmacist on duty caught a doctor's mistake that would have killed an 8 year old girl had it gone unchecked. The girl and her parents will never know about it, as the mistake was corrected before they came for their prescription, but we done good.
I did this kind of thing in university. It was easier then. First of all, it hadn't been 13 years since I'd written any kind of test. Secondly, my knowledge was all fresh. Thirdly, the material I was tested on had just been covered in a course. I knew what to study, I knew where to focus my efforts. I have been studying all week knowing darn well that I will never be able to cover everything a pharmacist needs to know. They can throw anything they want at me. It may be a drug that I have never seen in my life. It may be an AIDS patient. Anyone who knows anything about medicine knows that their meds are the most complicated ones out there. And we so rarely see them. But they could throw that at me.
I will be so glad when this is over. It is step three in an 8 week process that I am almost done. The internship is over- got the official call from the college that it's done and all my assignments have been approved. Haven't heard back about the jurisprudence exam yet. Would have been nice to know that it was a pass going in to this exam, but this just means I'll have two things to wait for and bite my nails over for a few weeks. The Lord is going to teach me patience one way or another, I fear.
Tomorrow, Friday the 13th, I am leaving at 5:30 am, and driving to the big city of TO to write an exam. From 12:15 - 6 pm I will be doing a variety of things, from presenting and defending my learning portfolio, to doing multiple choice tests, to (GULP) simulated patient interviews. That is the part where I walk into a room and meet with a "patient" (a paid actor who is pretending to be a patient) and have the kind of interaction with them that I would have with any patient at work. Sounds easy enough. It's even open book. But the thing that is nagging at me is the fact that I will be being timed. And watched. There will be a third person in the room. A person with a clipboard and pencil. And I know that every time they write something down, I will be wondering what it was. Was it a good point? A bad point? Did I miss something crucial? Would my advice just have killed a real person? OK, so maybe I'm taking it a bit far, but it is stressful. I take comfort in the fact that in the real world, at work the other day, myself and the other pharmacist on duty caught a doctor's mistake that would have killed an 8 year old girl had it gone unchecked. The girl and her parents will never know about it, as the mistake was corrected before they came for their prescription, but we done good.
I did this kind of thing in university. It was easier then. First of all, it hadn't been 13 years since I'd written any kind of test. Secondly, my knowledge was all fresh. Thirdly, the material I was tested on had just been covered in a course. I knew what to study, I knew where to focus my efforts. I have been studying all week knowing darn well that I will never be able to cover everything a pharmacist needs to know. They can throw anything they want at me. It may be a drug that I have never seen in my life. It may be an AIDS patient. Anyone who knows anything about medicine knows that their meds are the most complicated ones out there. And we so rarely see them. But they could throw that at me.
I will be so glad when this is over. It is step three in an 8 week process that I am almost done. The internship is over- got the official call from the college that it's done and all my assignments have been approved. Haven't heard back about the jurisprudence exam yet. Would have been nice to know that it was a pass going in to this exam, but this just means I'll have two things to wait for and bite my nails over for a few weeks. The Lord is going to teach me patience one way or another, I fear.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It ain't over till it's over...
Well, today was it. The last shift of my internship. Lovely day- busy enough to go fast. Free pizza and pop in the lunch room. And now I'm DONE. As I imagined, it went way quicker than I ever thought possible. The children got fed, laundry got done, my house is still standing, and we are all still sane (or as sane as we were before all this started). I am actually going to buy my own groceries on Monday. E will be glad, I think he's tired of the grocery shopping. I have a week off now to study, and then it's the part time work I've been waiting for. 15-20 hours a week will be perfect. I can work it in two days each week and be here for my family the other 5 days. Speaking of which...
While I was working today, W was playing his first game of the year in nets. Helped his team to a 6-4 victory, and is now one of the two undefeated teams in the whole league of Atom B hockey. He was very excited about it- even called me at work.
J is under the weather today. Woke up with a fever and a cough. Seems to be feeling a tad better tonight, but is still fighting something. Glad he has Monday off school- will give him a few days to rest up.
K had her H1N1 vaccine today- our doctor got a stash of them, and considering her weird immunity, or lack thereof to Canadian bugs, I thought it best to give her the shot. Don't think I'll get the boys done, though. So far so good.
Off to have a date with my hubby to celebrate- bought a little bottle of Chianti and some lovely cheese on the way home. Mmmmm, brie.
While I was working today, W was playing his first game of the year in nets. Helped his team to a 6-4 victory, and is now one of the two undefeated teams in the whole league of Atom B hockey. He was very excited about it- even called me at work.
J is under the weather today. Woke up with a fever and a cough. Seems to be feeling a tad better tonight, but is still fighting something. Glad he has Monday off school- will give him a few days to rest up.
K had her H1N1 vaccine today- our doctor got a stash of them, and considering her weird immunity, or lack thereof to Canadian bugs, I thought it best to give her the shot. Don't think I'll get the boys done, though. So far so good.
Off to have a date with my hubby to celebrate- bought a little bottle of Chianti and some lovely cheese on the way home. Mmmmm, brie.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Looking back
I know what you`re thinking. Two posts in one day. Someone has abducted B`s blog and taken it over. She barely blogs twice in a month, let alone in a night. But I decided to go back to the beginning and read through my blog. Not sure if I`ve ever done that before, not right from the beginning.
It was lovely. I remembered how loved I am. I realized that I can be quite witty at times. I was glad, after last night`s post, to see that I didn`t do TOO much complaining. I need to do more posts of lists of things. They are funny.
So please comment with your suggestions of lists. Questions the kids ask in a 5 minute period have been done. Things I need to record so I don`t have to repeat them all the time have been done. Things I will NOT miss about the trailer has been done (and as a follow-up, no, I don`t miss any of those things, or any other things about it for that matter).
And as a disclaimer, stupid suggestions will be ignored. There, now you know it`s really me blogging twice in one day.
It was lovely. I remembered how loved I am. I realized that I can be quite witty at times. I was glad, after last night`s post, to see that I didn`t do TOO much complaining. I need to do more posts of lists of things. They are funny.
So please comment with your suggestions of lists. Questions the kids ask in a 5 minute period have been done. Things I need to record so I don`t have to repeat them all the time have been done. Things I will NOT miss about the trailer has been done (and as a follow-up, no, I don`t miss any of those things, or any other things about it for that matter).
And as a disclaimer, stupid suggestions will be ignored. There, now you know it`s really me blogging twice in one day.
H1N1 Pandemic
Thought that might get your attention. I`m actually not going to say anything about H1N1 today, except that I got my vaccine today and can still walk forwards and turn left. Phew.
Tomorrow I work the third last shift of my internshipness-thingy. It`s been a really fast 8 weeks, and I`ve quite surprised myself with how much I have stayed on top of things, what with crazy kid schedules, crazy hubby work schedule, and throwing an after party for rock-star diva sister. I know full well that the reason I have stayed on top of things so well is only because of awesome hubby, super-mom and uberfriend. Hubby has been doing laundry, running kids to and from things, cooking meals, and even doing K`s hair (and quite a good job of it!). Super-mom was here for a week and cooked and cleaned and chauffered kids around while I worked extra hours. Uberfriend was instrumental in the after-party preparations. She was indeed the brains behind the operation.
Spent my day off cleaning- the kitchen. It took me all morning to get that one room organized. Included such tasks as sorting through the pile of papers, fliers, school work and lost and possibly not paid invoices (e-mails have been sent to the respective employers asking if E was paid for those shifts), cleaning out the fish tank that has not actually housed any fish for weeks. Bummer how you have to remember to feed them every day. The snails aren`t nearly so demanding. Good thing the boys have been in charge of feeding the other pets. But the kitchen looks goooood tonight. Except for the dirty walls and gross cupboard doors and baseboards. Good thing my b-day present is a full house cleaning. W, I apologize for all the work you have ahead of you.
And now I have three shifts left. All internship assignments are oh-so-close to being completed to the college`s satisfaction, and on Friday the 13th I will do a mental gymnastics sort of exam to prove my worth as an actual pharmacist. After up to 8 weeks of humming and hawing, the gurus at the college will tell me if it`s all been worth it and I will have a license to fill, or if I have entirely wasted my fall. I am hoping for the former. Haven`t heard back about the jurisprudence exam yet, but I`m feeling good about it.
And I don`t even have the bubonic plague... I mean, H1N1 yet.
Tomorrow I work the third last shift of my internshipness-thingy. It`s been a really fast 8 weeks, and I`ve quite surprised myself with how much I have stayed on top of things, what with crazy kid schedules, crazy hubby work schedule, and throwing an after party for rock-star diva sister. I know full well that the reason I have stayed on top of things so well is only because of awesome hubby, super-mom and uberfriend. Hubby has been doing laundry, running kids to and from things, cooking meals, and even doing K`s hair (and quite a good job of it!). Super-mom was here for a week and cooked and cleaned and chauffered kids around while I worked extra hours. Uberfriend was instrumental in the after-party preparations. She was indeed the brains behind the operation.
Spent my day off cleaning- the kitchen. It took me all morning to get that one room organized. Included such tasks as sorting through the pile of papers, fliers, school work and lost and possibly not paid invoices (e-mails have been sent to the respective employers asking if E was paid for those shifts), cleaning out the fish tank that has not actually housed any fish for weeks. Bummer how you have to remember to feed them every day. The snails aren`t nearly so demanding. Good thing the boys have been in charge of feeding the other pets. But the kitchen looks goooood tonight. Except for the dirty walls and gross cupboard doors and baseboards. Good thing my b-day present is a full house cleaning. W, I apologize for all the work you have ahead of you.
And now I have three shifts left. All internship assignments are oh-so-close to being completed to the college`s satisfaction, and on Friday the 13th I will do a mental gymnastics sort of exam to prove my worth as an actual pharmacist. After up to 8 weeks of humming and hawing, the gurus at the college will tell me if it`s all been worth it and I will have a license to fill, or if I have entirely wasted my fall. I am hoping for the former. Haven`t heard back about the jurisprudence exam yet, but I`m feeling good about it.
And I don`t even have the bubonic plague... I mean, H1N1 yet.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Not that I'm complaining
I had a really good day. Busy enough at work that it went quickly. Short-staffed but not nutso. A really funny phone call from our resident hypochonidriac that made me laugh all afternoon. Apparently the H1N1 vaccine can paralyze you so that you can only walk backwards. (ppfffftt!) Hard to maintain a professional decorum in the face of that one. Maybe that's what happened to Zoolander. Got the H1N1 vaccine and now can no longer turn left.
But even with all the comic relief of the day, I find myself frustrated with people in general. I wish they would all get over themselves. Seems even some of the nicest ones are wrapped up in their own little worlds. Whatever happened to thinking of other people first? Whatever happened to the common courtesies of please and thank-you? Whatever happened to appreciation for a job well done? These things have not happened to me today, and I am not feeling particularly jilted by anyone, but it's just something I've noticed lately. Maybe I've noticed it as I see the surprise on someone's face when I express appreciation, or am nice to a stranger. But there's not enough of it anymore. I'm sure I'm as guilty of it as the next person when I'm honest with myself.
And what's with the love for complaining? I try very hard not to complain about things, and get frustrated when others do it. If you only knew how good you had it, people. If the thing that they are complaining about is the worst thing that happened to them that day, they are pretty darned lucky! I almost said that to a complete stranger once as he was ripping up a grocery store manager for not having the right kind of coffee cream for sale. I was too chicken. That's my problem- I'm all talk... most days.
Some days I am brave. Some days I call people on it. And when I do they don't quite know what to say to me. But it makes them think, and I like to do that. When we stop and think, quite often (I speak for myself here) we realize it's better just to shut up than to shoot our mouth off. Or if we are going to say anything, instead of complaining to someone, to say "I appreciate you. Thank you."
My birthday is two weeks from today. Everyone is asking me what my plans are. I don't have any. I don't say this to make anyone feel bad for me- I just don't have any. My hubby is going to be away for the week, so I am going to have a nice quiet evening at home. I may have a date with a glass of wine and a chick flick. And some Brie. People almost seem sad for me when I tell them this- I don't understand why. I am happy to be here another year, and I am even more happy to spend the day with my kids (wish my hubby could be home, but someone's gotta bring home the bacon!) and not have to go to work on that particular day. It will be a lovely day for turning 37. Just call me Dennis.
But even with all the comic relief of the day, I find myself frustrated with people in general. I wish they would all get over themselves. Seems even some of the nicest ones are wrapped up in their own little worlds. Whatever happened to thinking of other people first? Whatever happened to the common courtesies of please and thank-you? Whatever happened to appreciation for a job well done? These things have not happened to me today, and I am not feeling particularly jilted by anyone, but it's just something I've noticed lately. Maybe I've noticed it as I see the surprise on someone's face when I express appreciation, or am nice to a stranger. But there's not enough of it anymore. I'm sure I'm as guilty of it as the next person when I'm honest with myself.
And what's with the love for complaining? I try very hard not to complain about things, and get frustrated when others do it. If you only knew how good you had it, people. If the thing that they are complaining about is the worst thing that happened to them that day, they are pretty darned lucky! I almost said that to a complete stranger once as he was ripping up a grocery store manager for not having the right kind of coffee cream for sale. I was too chicken. That's my problem- I'm all talk... most days.
Some days I am brave. Some days I call people on it. And when I do they don't quite know what to say to me. But it makes them think, and I like to do that. When we stop and think, quite often (I speak for myself here) we realize it's better just to shut up than to shoot our mouth off. Or if we are going to say anything, instead of complaining to someone, to say "I appreciate you. Thank you."
My birthday is two weeks from today. Everyone is asking me what my plans are. I don't have any. I don't say this to make anyone feel bad for me- I just don't have any. My hubby is going to be away for the week, so I am going to have a nice quiet evening at home. I may have a date with a glass of wine and a chick flick. And some Brie. People almost seem sad for me when I tell them this- I don't understand why. I am happy to be here another year, and I am even more happy to spend the day with my kids (wish my hubby could be home, but someone's gotta bring home the bacon!) and not have to go to work on that particular day. It will be a lovely day for turning 37. Just call me Dennis.
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