Tomorrow's the Day

Tomorrow I go to Victoria. Mmmm. I'm happy.
Ever since I said goodbye to the ocean and island living in December, I've been looking forward to the spring Staff Retreat. In a few days there'll be pictures.

Odds and Ends

Here are the Odds and Ends:

• I'm feeling enormously better from the pneumonia, all is well. We discovered the likely cause: a large radius of mold caused by a slow leak in our basement, leaking directly into my room! Really nasty, but we've got it cleaned up and I've moved back down.
• The Edmonton road-trip worked out, I got to see my grand-folks, and go to the concert. The John Butler Trio are amazing - so freaking talented, I can't even explain. And The Skylight Room is a bit of a hole. And driving home all night and going to straight to work, is not the best plan!
• My midwifery degree seems to be falling apart at the seams, as the saying goes, "anything that can go wrong - will." I'm trying to figure out the pieces, and trust Jesus that He led me into this in the first place, and He won't leave me hanging. At least not forever.
• My Kuya TonTon just called me, all the way from the Phils, just to talk! I was so blessed! He and my Ate Nona, were my Manila-parents, they run the guesthouse I ended up living in for a bit. It was so special to hear from him, and seriously bizarre to get an unexpected call, late on a cold and snowy night!
• And then there's that... last week it was Spring, the snow was gone. This week it's Winter all over again, brushing off the car, letting it warm up, icy roads, 2ft of snow! Absolutely unacceptable!!
• I'm looking forward to 2 things: next week is our staff retreat... in Victoria!! Can't wait for a beautiful place, and some semblance of heat. And in a couple weeks I'm moving into a great basement suite with one other friend, and it will be great to reclaim certain freedoms!
  
• And now I have a prayer request, for a little 2-year-old girl who's facing a deadly cancer. Please pray for Charlize, as her last chance is receiving a stem cell transplant tomorrow. Her immune system is very very low, pray for a true miracle!!
  

"Friends"

I just discovered a function on Facebook that is utterly fascinating. And I quote:

You can select up to 30 friends that you prefer not to see in your News Feed. You will only get stories about these people if nothing else is available.

Ah yes, Facebook has once again really captured the spirit of true friendship! It's a good way to take care of those pesky "friends" and make your life easier. Who wants to read News Feeds about these people anyway? Well, maybe, if there's nothing else to snoop on, then I'll want to catch up on the gossip of the lowly.

There's Not Enough Oxygen

There's not enough oxygen in the world this week. I've had the mysterious misfortune of developing a sudden case of pneumonia. Not that I know anyone with pneumonia, or that I've been sick, I went to bed healthy and fine and woke up, not so healthy and fine.
So I went to the Doc yesterday, and after waiting an hour, it's my turn, and it is then they tell me I don't have health insurance. What?? I'm Canadian, I'm Albertan, I'm working, therefore I have health insurance. In the end we had to pay, call Alberta Health, get a refund, blah blah blah. But how could I not have health insurance? And it's the kind of thing you only ever find out in the hour of need.
Anyway, in all of that ranting I realize that some 90% of the world's population don't have health insurance and never will, so...
Now I'm on meds, and hoping they work, I've been waiting for this coming weekend for a long time, as some friends and I are set to for a 1-day road trip to Edmonton for a concert - John Butler Trio. And also the chance to see my grandparents after 2 years!! And buy a pair of jeans that fit me. All very good things. And as it is now, things are looking pretty iffy for me. Arghh.
So apparently this is a whine and rant blog, I apologize, you can stop reading if you want. My brain's probably slightly cooked and rattled after 2 days of high fever and so much coughing! The stairs, getting out of bed, sitting in a chair, all of these have been enough to put me out of breath these days. Apparently there's not enough oxygen in the world this week.

Oh Yeah... Homework

The last few months, my mind has been anywhere but midwifery. There were a few too many other things on my plate, and I needed a break. Yesterday that all stopped!
I realized that I have about 2 months to complete all my requirements so that I can write my NARM board exam this summer. And that means that I will be replacing my social life with homework until the end of June, and then replacing that with pure studying! The fun stops here. And an entirely different "fun" picks up again. So if I'm not working you can be sure I'm studying.