in which I update re: life

It's been over a month! A lot has happened in the last month....

Mom and Dad Claus came to visit. It was nice to show them our little end of the country again... we spent a lot of time chatting about life in general over delicious home-cooked meals. It's neat to hear how things are going for them in Terrace... they have relocated their bakery to this northwestern BC small town and so far things are going really well. That combined with plans for an orchard and a small-scale fruit farm mean that they have taken on a lot of new projects- it's pretty great.

Brian wrote his PhD comprehensive exam. He is now a PhD student, no longer just a PhD candidate. It's a big step in the graduate studies process and now means that he can devote most of him time to research, rather than reading  and studying for hours on end to prepare for such a big exam. I'm proud of him. He's got some exciting projects coming up in the next couple months, including a robotic sailboat competition down in Maryland and an ice island floating down the coast of Labrador that they might get to do some investigations with. He's happy and challenged so that makes me happy.

I also got to see Ashley- she was down here in St. John's for 2 short days prior to a conference up-island. We went on a really wet and windy walk to Cape Spear, went for coffee, played Scrabble, and just caught up on life in general. It was great. Some things never change.

I started doing triage at work. This means that I am stationed at 'the window' and when people walk into the ER, they sit in front of me and tell me what is/ what they perceive is wrong with them. I check their vital signs, maybe check their throat or listen to their chest or look at their cut/ item sticking out their hand (really, this happens a lot! nails, sewing needles, etc), check their "I-think-its-broke" ankle... Then I assign them a triage code. This is a number from 1-5 that determines how long they can wait in the waiting room/ how sick they are. (A 1 means they are pretty much dead. These people usually come in by ambulance). A 5 can wait for 12 hours without any deterioration to their overall health.
It's a very interesting and challenging role. I'm sure there will be many stories to tell...

Brian and I contemplated moving.... looked at a couple places... and decided we are going to stay here for the summer at least. We wouldn't mind a bit of a bigger place that is newer than circa-1903, and not quite as drafty/cold/ hard to heat in the winter. But there isn't much right now and this is a great place for the summer with its porch and big windows and downtown location.

That's life in a nutshell right now. 5 weeks from today I will be back in Grimsby getting ready to celebrate Lisa and Zach's wedding! Really looking forward to it. I love going home. It's always so good to visit everyone and catch up. My dear husband might not be able to come with me due to ice islands and such sort of researchy things, which I am a bit sad about... also, its sad to not have your dear husband with you at other people's weddings... but that's ok. I'll be alright. Mum and I can hang out lots, right Mum ? :)