Gettin' it done!

So, I am sitting in my bed, taking the day off of my clinical rotation.  why?  Well, for no other reason than "we get one sick day"  and it is sunny, and I want to do my tempo ride on the beautiful grand prix circuit, which has uninterrupted baby-butt smooth pavement.  and, as long as i have a productive day (i.e., grocery shopping, training, cleaning, and packing), then, i will call it a good day to skip.

it has been a while since I have blogged.  Not because there is nothing to say, but, because days are quite filled!  My Clinical takes up most of my time, but, so does training, wrapping up final school things for the last semester, and talking to the boy I like.  

Last week, at this time, I was sitting in my supervisor's office, awaiting for someone awaiting the final forms for my proposal.  I am done!  WAHOOO!  On friday, with the submission of (18 fricken copies) my proposal for the Malawi project to the internal review board (ethics) at McGill, marked the end of spring semester. And, I am officially done with all homework for the year!  Only that clinical left, and it is going great so far!

What an amazing relief.  

This week, on tuesday, I got my grades back.  you may remember from posts like this one or this one or this one that school has included a lot of humbling experiences this semester.  I have cried, i have gotten scared, i have felt happy, i have felt challenged.  However, when I got my grades back, all of that was worth while.  This girl got 2 A's, and 3 A-'s, for a total GPA of 3.83.  Take THAT stupid F.  this girl *can* be smrt.  ;)

so very very happy about that.  

but, now that school is pretty much done, and after this week, I have a very sporadic clinical schedule, I am not going to lie.  In the evenings, when I don't have papers to write, or assignments to do, or exams to study for... I will have fricken NO idea what to do with my time. (oh right.  train. ha!  but... you know... other than that...). The other day, when I had nothing to do, what did I do?  I started packing.  "packing what?" you may ask.

packing my room.

for, in a mere 3.5 weeks, I will be leaving Montreal for 8 months.  After that, I have only 4 months left in the city, from Jan-April 2012.  And, so, that leaves me with a challenging packing situation.  I have to figure out what i want to leave in montreal (um... winter, warm clothes?), what i want to bring to africa, what I want for Edmonton over the summer, and what I need between now and then for training, and my trip to Hawaii.   so, it is a bit complicated.  

but, preparing to leave montreal seems a little strange.  I have had a love-hate relationship with this city.  The first 4 months, i certainly hated it.  But, then I settled in some...

I made good friends, but most of them subsequently, left.  I have had both bad and good, living situations.  I miss the community I established in Vancouver, but, have found a good church and a small community of triathletes.  I hate being poor, but, I love school. I'm an anglophone, but, I got to coach rowing.  I didn't like sorting my way around the city, but, now I feel like I know my way around and some of the things i like.  I do things like this, with my friends. 

clearly, having pink toes prepares me for the triathlon season.  Especially, when they match one of my bathing suits!

And, dinner with friends, is always fun.  Especially when it involves completely "core friendly" food. (Well, except for that one carrot muffin I ate)

but, there is one thing for sure.  I have never put the effort into this city, as i have in the past, to make it "feel like home."  It has never felt like home.  i have really appreciated living in this city.  But, i do miss the mountains and the ocean air and the good roads and wide open spaces that BC brings.  I miss the long outdoor activities season. And, I definitely think that I probably would've appreciated being here more, if i put a bit more effort into being "involved" in the city.  But, I knew from the beginning of my time here, that I was not here to "make friends" or "engage in all my hobbies" or "build strong community."  I was here for school.  I was here to become a nurse.  And, with that, many other things would follow~  I would make friends, and build community, and engage my hobbies.  but, those were less than they could have been, if i intended to be here a long time. 

preparing to leave Montreal seems a little strange.  I have a LARGE year of changes ahead of me in the next year to year and a half.  I have Malawi and graduation and moving west and finding a job  and settling somewhere for a while (to name a few).  So, I am excited. and nervous.  Because Change has growing pains involved, most of the time.  

but, those changes make you a better person.  they expand your knowledge and experience of what is possible.  

and, that, my friends, is one of the things i love.