Out of Limbo...

It's been a crazy year, our fourth year of medical school. A different crazy from third year. Third year is a sleepless blur. Fourth year has been sleepless for different reasons entirely, mostly due to the fact that we've been sleeping in beds other than our own since August. It's been a whirlwind really. September was Terrace, October was Vancouver, November and December were here in PG (but with a strange dude of a roommate and a classmate (we love her) living with us). January was Vernon, February was residency interviews and visiting relatives, March was Nelson and April, finally, back home again, still housing a classmate. So, we've either not been home or have been home and not had our house to ourselves for eight months. It's time...

This week, we are in the last week of our last rotation of our last year of medical school. Can you believe it? I can't. In two and a half weeks we will write a licensing exam and three days after that on May 10th we become Dr. Malley and Dr. Harvey. I wonder if I'll ever feel like a doctor because I certainly don't right now. What does being a doctor "feel" like, I wonder? I surprise myself sometimes at the things that I know and that come rolling off my tongue when questioned by an attending. However, I am more present to the amount of knowledge I know that I don't know yet. It will come. As my Dad would say, "millions have gone before you and they're all just fine".

So, we are certainly looking forward to the end of school and some time off before we start residency. I will be doing my whole residency here in PG and Layne will do the first three of his five years up here. We'll then have to move to Vancouver so that he can finish off his last two years down there. At first we were disappointed to find out that we were matched to PG but realistically, there is no way with our debt load that we would have been able to financially make it down there. We really miss our friends and family and it would have been nice, for that reason, to be in Vancouver. However, the bright side of the coin is a cheaper cost of living, being familiar with the hospital and the docs, not having to "learn the ropes" and the hallways and the doctor's offices all over again and a great house. None of these things would have been the case if we had been matched to Vancouver. By the time we move to Vancouver for the completion of Layne's residency, I will have been practicing for a year already. This will be a great place for me to get my feet wet as a new physician, practicing alongside those who have known me and taught me for six years. What a nice way to start out as a newbie.

Wedding plans are coming along for the big day on August 23rd. With only 20 people and a simple theme things are rolling along smoothly. We will be having our ceremony at a waterfall on Layne's sister's property just outside of Nelson. We have rented a beautiful outdoor property with a funky house/lodge in Nelson for the weekend. It will be fun and relaxing. We'll post and send lots of pictures!

We have been able to spend some great time with Lochlan. He'll be three in just over two months. Crazy! He's getting big and funny and chatters non-stop. Layne is a doting Daddy.

Yes, some of our own will be coming along in the next year or two...well, that's the plan anyway. We'll see what fate has in store. As one of the Gynecologists at the hospital has told both Layne and I, my eggs are "getting old" so we'd better get on it!

During our time off between school and residency, we will be doing some renos to the house. No major knocking down of walls or anything but we will be replacing flooring and painting and changing all of the doors to spruce it up a little. We are excited to give it a little face lift.

We will have a house full for the weekend of our grad ceremony, May 10th, here in PG. Layne's parents (Kim & Rhonda) and sister (Tara) and her two little ones (Zack & Ayden), my parents (Kathy & Laurence) and brother (Reid) and Lochlan will all be here for the festivities. It will be the first time that our families will be together and we are delighted and excited! Mom and Tara, Zack & Ayden will stay on for a few days after. We are looking forward to extra time with them.

Having Lochlan and working on the house will fill our time off before heading into residency. We start at the end of June. I am excited and dreading it at the same time. Layne is the smart one choosing Psych - one call shift per week, only until 11pm. I, on the other hand, have chosen to torture myself for another two years, the first year being the worst. First year residency in Family is like third year over again but with more responsibility and less sleep. So, if you don't hear from me or I'm grumpy when you do, that will be why!

I have to say that, with the amazing life and love that I have, I have been feeling kind of out of sorts lately. I am LOVING my last elective this month which is Palliative Care - working with the terminally ill and dying. I really didn't expect to like it so much. However, the pace is much slower and the hours are minimal compared to the rat race that I am used to. Is it pathological to feel discombobulated when you have time off? Normally I am loving my down time but I feel like the past three weeks of down time has almost sent me off the edge. I think I have to relearn how to relax! That is definitely something med school takes away, or maybe something it adds - if you are not sleep deprived, running around, hungry and have a list of 75 things to do then you are not doing your job. From that to quiet mornings, while I thought I would love it, has been kind of stressful. I know, those of you running around with insane lives are thinking, I wish I had some quiet mornings. Yes, I was of the same mind. Oh well, it won't be long before I'm back to the insanity of intense medical training so I can feel "normal" again (whatever that means).

I think that's all for now. I will try and post some pictures as well and hope you enjoy them.

Love to you all xox