Got my electric bill the other day, and I think I can safely say that March's resolution (to be more eco-friendly) was a success. My bill for Februrary was $44; my bill for March was $27! And since March has been barely warmer than February (thanks, Canadian weather) I think a lot of that can be chalked up to my efforts. Yay :)

Onto the month of April. My current idea -  to volunteer my time to a good cause (TBD) - isn't exactly feasible right now. I have four clin path quizzes, two lab practicals and finals all between now and the end of the month. At the end of the semester I have to pack and move home. Nevermind that I'm getting married in six weeks and have to line up everything for my summer experience at a lab animal place. I don't exactly have time to spare at the moment, so that's off my plate until at least the summer (most likely June).

Anyway, I was thinking about all of the crap I have to do in the next few weeks and I thought: what if my April resolution was to be more organized? It isn't exactly in the most selfless resolution, but I think there are a few things I can do to make it apply to others and not just myself. For example:

• Clean my house regularly to keep dust/dog hair/etc down and keep things neat; I think my landlord would appreciate me taking extra good care of his property.
• Keep vendors and family up to date on wedding information (providing schedules, etc) to minimize chaos. (This may be wishful thinking...)
• Prepare for ahead of time for my clin path labs so I can contribute to my group more.

That's about as far as I can stretch it, but I think it will be a good thing to practice this month, especially with so many important things going on. Next month's resolution will be stronger, I promise! :) Until then, off I go to make a calender!

Sorry to have disappeared for a little while, but Danny was in town for my Easter break! I picked him up from the airport Wednesday afternoon and dropped him back off today. It was so nice both to see him and to have a few days break from school (including no pending midterms to loom over me)! We watched NCAA basketball tournament games, went to a class potluck on Saturday night and visited the national park up the road twice - once to walk on the beach and once to walk the trails that I normally run on in nicer weather. (Spring is slowly approaching for PEI - it actually rained today, with temps just below 40F - but it's still cold and there is still plenty of snow on the ground. I want it to warm up and be sunny and green, although I'm pretty sure such nice weather would suck away any motivation I might find for studying for finals.)

Speaking of finals, we only have three more weeks of class until finals start. In those three weeks we have two lab practical exams for surgery and anesthesia as well as three clinical pathology quizzes. Then two weeks of finals, packing and heading home! (Oh yeah, and then two more weeks until I get married - ack!)

Also, don't want to forget...today is the first day of April and that means a new monthly resolution. To recap, my March resolution was to be more eco-friendly. I Googled tips for being eco-friendly and found some great ideas. (Some of the suggestions I found didn't really apply. For example, PEI already composts province-wide. I already had plenty of laundry detergent and cleaning supplies so I didn't spend the money to make my own more eco-friendly blend. I'm already signed up for paperless billing back home.)

I had some successes: I didn't heat up my car in the mornings; I kept my heat two degrees lower than previously and just used an extra blanket on my bed; I didn't jack up the heat before bed or after waking up in the morning; I kept the lights off as long as possible in the evenings and just used natural light; I drove the speed limit; I even remembered to bring my extra plastic grocery bags to the store twice so as not to use more grocery bags. I had some difficulty limiting the amount of hot water I used for my showers, I ended up driving into town more frequently for various events, and I forgot my extra plastic baggies a couple of times. I'm waiting to get my electric bill for the month to gauge how I did more quantitatively but overall I'm pleased with my efforts.

As for April's goal, I'm stumped. I'll have to get back to you on that as soon as I think up something satisfactory!

In the words of James Brown, I feel good.

Our toxicology midterm was supposed to be on Friday. We had another snow day on Friday so the exam was pushed back to today (Monday). Normally students are overjoyed about a delayed exam that gives them an entire weekend of extra studying time. For me (and most of my classmates) this was not the case. I think I've mentioned that I'm a crammer, meaning I learn it and then forget almost everything right after I've regurgitated it for an exam. But I decided that instead of studying all weekend, I was going to do some fun stuff and then cram again Sunday night.

Saturday I went to a falconry display with a couple of friends through the PEI Field Naturalists Society. It was a guy who kept four falcons and used them in his pest control business. Basically farmers call him up, he brings out a bird, flies it around to establish a "predator presence" in the area and the pesky birds (like seagulls) get the hell out of dodge. Very knowledgable fellow with a beautiful bird! He did a question and answer session and then showed us few practice flights. Friends and I went for fish and chips afterwards for lunch which was delicious!

Sunday, I went out to brunch with a few friends, did my laundry, read some more (Under the Dome, by Stephen King) and watched NCAA basketball. I'm second place in my class's bracket, but there's quite a distance between me and first place. Fortunately we have different teams in the championship so I expect things to shake out soon.

Today we took our toxicology exam (which I felt really good about) and I picked up Ella's new renal food (low protein) at the vet's office. Apparently it isn't the most palatable diet, and Ella is a picky eater so this should be interesting. There's a full "palatability guarantee" so I can return the food or try their canned version. Fingers crossed that she'll even eat it in the first place...

Now I will finish my book, make egg salad for dinner (which I've been craving so much lately!) and maybe even watch some Bones. I need to get the house cleaned up and ready because Danny comes to visit starting Wednesday. So excited!

Wednesday was the first official day of spring. Spring and autumn are my two favorite seasons, mostly because they're they "in between" times - neither the extreme heat and humidity of summer nor the bitter cold bleakness of winter. It's kind of funny that I come up to the lovely Prince Edward Island for school in the off-season (although the last two months or so before winter hits are just gorgeous) and then go home to Washington, DC where the humidity makes the heat even worse. Spring and autumn usually bring rain, which is my favorite weather of all, and you can get little peaks of summer or winter every now and then which are nice.

Spring in PEI has thus far consisted of two snow days. Yes, you read that right: two snow days over the first three days of spring. I've written before about how Canada has significantly dampened my excitement over snow (although really, it's beautiful outside when its quiet and peaceful and the wind isn't blowing everything into a giant white-out), and this doesn't help. What's worse is that we were scheduled to take our toxicology midterm this morning and then midterms would be over! But no. Now I will spend the weekend feeling guilty about not studying for tox because I stayed up late and learned it well last night. Grumble.

I have plenty of cleaning I can do around the house, wedding planning to work on and a giant as-yet-untouched Steven King novel lent to me by a friend that needs reading. I guess it won't be so bad.

Holy hell, what a weekend.

Friday was the vet school's annual "Suture Review" which is a variety show/fundraiser put on by second year students. The majority of the submissions are short videos but there were a couple of skits and a gowning/gloving relay. (The team of surgeons won that one, go figure!) After party at the bar inside the same building and home around 1:30am.

Saturday I slept in until 11am, attempted (and failed) a recipe I found on Pinterest, watched Maryland lose a heartbreaker to UNC in the ACC men's basketball tournament and then went to an awesome St. Patrick's Day party. Got home around 5am. Woke up at 10am and couldn't fall back asleep but was too tired to get out of bed. Finally around 12:30pm I forced myself to take a shower and eat something which only helped my energy levels marginally. Not enough impetus to attend another party this afternoon so I'm doing my best to not fall asleep on the couch!

We have our last anesthesia lab tomorrow: anesthetizing the teaching beagles. Since it's a live animal lab and anesthesia is always something you need to be on your toes for, I'm doing pre-lab preparation - reading through notes, etc - this afternoon. I think I need more caffiene...

Today is a gorgeous spring day by PEI standards - sunny, about 40F and the snow is steadily melting. It's amazing what seeing the grass after months of white can do for one's outlook on things (nevermind the fact that it's supposed to snow tomorrow night...ugh). Anyway, this kind of weather always brings about the "spring cleaning" mindset and I think I need to get started on that. The house always goes to hell when midterms and finals roll around. It's a bit counterintuitive since a clean, uncluttered atmosphere helps me de-stress and focus but I just can't be bothered to clean religiously when there are hundred of pages to cram into my head. It will be nice to have something other than spoons to eat with, no more dog fur tumbleweeds and the fresh scent of Lysol and Febreeze instead of stale winter air.

I've decided to take the day off of school tomorrow, prolonging my weekend and hopefully increasing the number of things I accomplish on my immediate to-do list (inlcuding but not limited to cleaning the house, sending out my wedding invitations, studying for toxicology, numerous social events, etc). Don't worry, though - Fridays we only have two classes, and tomorrow our second class has been canceled. I'm not going to drive into town for just one class. I'm going to sleep in and it will be glorious.

The past two days (and tomorrow, if the forecast can be believed), PEI has gotten its first taste of spring! I was just reflecting the other day that my sense of temperature has changed since I came up here- freezing is no longer cold compared to the below-zero temperatures that I've dealt with this winter. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow but get up to 50F. I may have to leave my jacket at home!

School is going pretty well. I received grades back on four midterms exams and I'm pretty pleased with how I did :) There are still two more midterms to be taken (theriogeniology and toxicology), though, so I'm not quite out of the clear yet.

The only thing not going well is my lower eyelid, which is painful, swollen and red. I went to a local walk-in clinic yesterday evening because the university's health center's doctor was on vacation for the week. Doctor figures its an infected gland in my eyelid, advised me to use a hot compress a few times a day to open the pore. If that fails, I have a prescription for antibiotic eye gunk that I can try. The only thing that's frustrating is how painful it is. I've tried taking Advil but it's not effective. I hope it resolves soon :(

My March resolution to be more eco-friendly is going OK. I keep forgetting to bring my extra plastic bags to the grocery store with me and I've made a few extra trips into town, using more gas that I should. But I've been doing well with keeping the heat low and only turning on the lights when there isn't much daylight left, so that's good. On the upside, I'm continuing to be successful at eating less meat. If I can just find a way to remind myself to bring the plastic bags with me to the store next week I would feel even more accomplished!

Lately, I've been thinking about my future after I graduate. My interest in laboratory animal medicine (LAM) began when I started working at the lab animal care facility at my undergraduate university and pretty much everything I've come to understand and/or experience about the field has solidified that interest. I've also become curious about public health, although my interest in that is less developed and less informed versus LAM.

Anyway, I've begun to do preliminary research about becoming board certified in LAM, since that's likely the best for job prospects (and earning potential - let's be honest.) There is so much that I didn't know or didn't fully understand and I'm so glad that I'm taking the time to learn a bit more about it now instead of in the middle of fourth year. While it still feels like there is so much time before I have to even think about applying for a residency, I remember that I'm nearing the end of second year - holy cow does time fly! At the end of this year we should be picking some elective classes for next year and then half way through next year I'll be finalizing my rotations schedule - eek!

That's the tricky part about it, though: I'm the only person in my class with a direct interest in LAM out of a class of 63 people. It will be a bit harder to find electives that are applicable for me - I think I should probably focus on exotics (since that would include small mammals that are often used in research) and probably aquaculture, since fish are becoming more popular models. I'm less concerned about rotations, since I'm aware of quite a few programs that offer fourth year rotations with a lab animal focus. But even the rotations schedule are heavily geared toward small animal practice or large animal practice (although the skills I will hopefully acquire will still be valuable and important!)

To cap it all off, it's important to me to find a residency program that is a reasonable distance from my husband-to-be. We've been long distance since I came to school (and will be until I graduate) and we would both really like to be able to be a "normal" couple again. Ideally I would be accepted into one of the programs in Maryland where we'd really like to live (being from there with family and friends there); if that didn't work out, I'd want to be as close as possible which includes Pennsylvania and North Carolina, among others. Which would still be long distance but a heck of a lot better than 1200 miles and different countries.

It's exciting, intimidating, nerve-wracking stuff to be thinking about!

Not wanting to study for a veterinary student is a lot like writer's block for an author: it's frustrating, you can't get through it on willpower alone and it directly affects your livelihood.

I'm feeling out of sorts again today and can't quite put my finger on it, but having my pathology note packets staring me down from across the table is not helping. We have a lab exam tomorrow and a lecture exam on Wednesday. I'm slowly realizing that pathology is probably my least favorite subject. I really want to like it because it's interesting and it ties everything together but....eh. There's so much material and our different professors have different ways to give us the information and aaaggh.

I do have one happy thing to share, though: Danny will be visiting in a few weeks for our Easter break. Something to look forward too!

Today was the last of three midterm exams this week and finally I have some room to breathe. We have two midterms next week but they're the lab and lecture portion of the same class so it won't be quite as bad as having to study for completely different subjects back to back like we did this week. Then one exam the week after that and one the week after that and midterms will be done.

Although I've been swamped with studying, I got the chance to do a captive bolt wet lab on Wednesday evening. It's a pretty popular lab and I've signed up (and never been picked) every time it's offered so when I got chosen the night before a big exam I definitely had to stop and think. My week started off poorly with surgery lab and I felt pretty dejected about school and life in general; I needed to do something to re-establish the connection between being a veterinary student and becoming a veterinarian. So I went to the lab and learned how to use a captive bolt gun and got to captive bolt a couple of cow heads (that were no longer attached to living cows). It was an awesome lab and I'm really glad I went. I did have to stay up later studying that night but I think I did well on my exam the next day so it all balances out in the end.

Now that it's the weekend I just feel exhausted. I know I'm not going to study today but there is a bunch of other stuff I could and/or should be doing- namely cleaning the house and getting my wedding invitations together. But I think I may just take the rest of the day off and be a worthless blob.

Last but not least, it's a new month which means it's time to start my next mini-resolution. I think February's resolution to eat less meat went quite well, actually, depsite a bit of laziness over our semester break and it kind of ties into March's resolution, which is to be more environmentally friendly. I consider myself to be relatively eco-friendly already but I know there are things I can improve on. Some of the things I will do include:

• Leave the lights off as long as possible and just use the natural daylight
• Not crank up the heat when I get home and/or before I go to bed
• Re-use my plastic shopping bags at the grocery store each week
• Limit the length and hot water use of my showers
• Donate a bunch of clothes I don't wear anymore
• Make some "natural" cleaning products to use
• Clean out car and check tire pressure to optimize gas mileage

These were all suggestions I found just by Googling tips on being more eco-friendly. We shall see how the month progresses!