Reunited At Last - A

First off, for those of you in suspense, yes Racheal made it out here, and has been here for 8 days or so now, but it wasn't without incident. Her intended arrival on Wednesday (my 2nd-last exam) got pushed to very early Friday (my last exam) thanks to some weather delays in Calgary. While a bit of a drag, we'd already made it 4 months, so another day or two wasn't that daunting. The upside is she got to go to her grad party on Grouse Mountain with her nursing classmates who she hadn't seen in a while, and I got to write Torts and study for Crim with a little less distraction here. She got here to snow on the ground and -15C temperatures, or so, but after a snow storm on Sunday we've been having occasional rain and above-freezing temperatures for the week, so our Christmas here has had scattered piles of white, dwindling remnants of once-proud hills in their own right.

Secondly, it's been a mite busy around here since the end of exams. It seems my standards of neatness and presentability are somewhat below par, so we've spent the last week unpacking her bags, sorting, neatening, tidying, and decorating. Pictures to come later for those of you interested, and we seem to be recovering from all the activity with the help of various TV shows, among them Dollhouse and Band of Brothers. I believe there's a puzzle awaiting assembly in our futures, and some hockey games to watch, including a certain Canucks-Flames matchup. Not to name names, but a certain Christmas guest and classmate of mine has the misfortune of cheering for Calgary, and there will be much talking of the trash variety on facebook chat or MSN as the game goes on.

Thirdly, we learned something about Halifax recently. It turns out, only a few years ago Nova Scotia legalised Sunday shopping. Well, not only that, but local custom is for stores to be closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day as well, with Boxing Day shopping happening on the 27th! The roads have been very quiet for a couple days now, and what with Halifax being home to 3 universities, the city's pretty dead over the winter break. Boxing Day shopping may not be too rage-tastic - and we won't be trying to find parking!

Finally, Christmas on our own went pretty well. Christmas Eve we Skyped in to my family's big shindig back West, then called Racheal's family Christmas Day just after putting the turkey in the oven. The turkey, stuffing, fruit salad, and mashed potatoes went well. Actually cutting the bird was more problematic, and the gravy was kind of improvised. We did have my Flames-loving classmate over to help reduce leftovers, and all in all the meal was quite good. Next on the list is enjoying some down time, maybe some Boxing Day shopping, some more TV shows and hockey, then tackling my holiday to-do list before returning to school. It's been a welcome change of pace but sadly I'll be back to the grind sooner than later.

Oh well, that's the way it goes. More later,
A.

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish - R

I can hardly believe that this day has finally come . . . the day I say goodbye to BC as my home and trek off to Halifax after my husband. Although we will no longer be apart as of tomorrow . . . the title "From Sea to Sea" remains very appropriate as almost all of our family and friends call the West Coast home. I don't know how I will be able to adjust to East Coast life, but I am looking forward to being with Aaron, meeting new friends and starting my job - oh yeah . . . how did I fail to mention the fact that I am no longer a student?! It is still somewhat surreal and it kind of just feels like Christmas break . . . but there will be no homework to do and a pay cheque when I return to the hospital!

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic, but for the most part lots of fun getting together with friends and family one last time . . . here are some of the photo highlights:

"Wired Monks" with Sandra, Jennifer and Arlette.

Bright Nights at Stanley Park with Gareth and Kit.

Finald day as a nursing student at Burnaby Hospital.

Spending time with the Penrose's up in Prince George (Elena with Richard's cat Sugar Ray).

Hanging out with D'Alice, Erin and Austin at the BLRC Mickey Draw.

The rest of the ladies at the Mickey Draw.

Spending some quality time skiing at Whistler before heading to the mountainless-East Coast.

Some of the rugby ladies hanging out at the cabin in Whistler.

Apres-ski at the GLC in Whistler.

So yeah, it has been a busy few weeks . . . and now I better finish packing before we leave for the airport!

Stay tuned for the next post . . . "Reunited at Last".

Cheers,

Racheal

One Last Deep Breath - A

Tonight's my last evening of slacking off - the calm between storms. The last few days I've been condensing and re-condensing notes, followed by summarising. Tomorrow begins full-out practise exam writing. I'll be cramming and writing more tests, practise or real, for the next 2 weeks or so. Luckily Racheal's not around for me to neglect too much, although I'm very much looking forward to her arrival. I'll be striving to find a balance of studying/not studying, but for now (like so many of my classmates) it'll be pedal to the floor for the duration. I've almost got my menu planned out (no, it's not 100% pizza - only 85%) and mostly supplied for. I'm running a load of dishes (with plans to do laundry if the stars align), and will try do one last cleaning job before she gets here, but my already minimal life is about to evaporate. So why am I blogging, writing to you fantastic people?

Mainly to wish you all the appropriate seasonal greetings and assure you that despite a lack of contact, I haven't forgotten about you. It's come to my attention it's December already, and people who frequent shopping areas are doing so with gift-giving intent, hearing seasonal music and seeing seasonal decorations. I've yet to witness or experience this in a Halifax setting, as I don't get out much, but with temperatures consistently in the high-single-digits (that's Celsius, Americanos) and occasional rain, it doesn't really feel like Christmas is any kind of imminent - it stunned me to hear we're already in the Advent season. Christmas for me has been all about renewing and celebrating relationships with friends and family - for obvious reasons that won't be so easy to do this year. While I'm very thankful for my Halifax friends, I'm increasingly aware that friends and family are increasingly far-flung. Thankfully, there's this thing called the Internet (it's a series of tubes by which you're able to read this) and it allows for text chat or even video calls. I'm always monitoring facebook, and have a Skype account, so if you want to get a hold of me, just send me a message by email, facebook, or Skype, and we can connect. I'll try even be proactive about it after exams, but don't be afraid to try reach me before then (just be prepared to possibly wait for a response, and one that may not be as long as I'd like to make it). Do keep in mind the 4-hour cross-continental time zone difference though..

Well that's it for me tonight. One last sleep before the mad plunge. Once more unto the breach, dear friends. See you on the other side!
A.