That's Na Li, dude...

Welll, one interview down, 7 to go! I had my Cub/U of M interview on Wednesday, and it lasted from 7:30 to 4, and let me tell you, day-long interviews are freakin' exhausting. Add on top of that a dinner and meet & greet the night before, plus a 7 1/2 hour drive from Omaha to Minneapolis, and by the end of those two days I was totally spent...On the bright side, i loved the residency and everyone involved with it, and I felt pretty good about how my interviews (I had 3 separate) went, as well as my presentation and case. It was an intense experience, but ended up very well! Now on to the rest, each of which will be much shorter in duration and less stressful, I'm sure.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post is that St Patrick's Day is right about the time I have to post my match rankings for residencies...and a few weeks after that, I'll know whether I matched or not, and if I do, where I'll be for the next year of my life! Hopefully Minneapolis - and Eau Claire and Iowa City wouldn't be bad either - but wherever it is, I'm sure I'll make the best of it, and hopefully really enjoy it. I know the Cub residency would be extremely busy, but would really prepare me well for whatever avenue in pharmacy I want to pursue. And from what I can tell so far, the others all would do the same. So, I feel like if I match with any of the places I'm interviewing with, I'll definitely get a lot out of the next year!

Is it St. Patrick's Day yet?

And why would I be wondering this, you might ask? Well, for two reasons (ok, 3): last year, I missed St. Paddy's Day because I was having my meniscus and ACL surgically repaired at Creighton Hospital and was pretty drugged up on opiates that night; March 17th is about the time I'll be finishing my last rotation in Omaha (and, as such, moving out of Nebraska); and it will be a great time for me to reminisce about my recently completed trip to Ireland!

















Anyway, today has been a day of good news. I finally heard back from the University of Iowa's Community Pharmacy Residency program, and have only to let him know what day I'd like to interview, and which of their sites I'd like to interview at, and he'll set it up. I feel about 100% better knowing that I have at least two interviews now, and the fact that Iowa has 7 different positions available (as compared to Cub/U of M's one position), making my chances of getting a residency that much more likely. Happy days!

So, to celebrate receiving that phone call, I decided that instead of treating myself with a few drinks and maybe feeling crappy tomorrow, that instead I'd head to the gym for a good hour's workout. Great idea! I sort of did a full body lifting session with a little cardio thrown in to get my heart rate up, and I felt fantastic afterward. Only two more days left in this week, too, with a fun weekend to look forward to - hanging out with Amy in Omaha for the first time in quite awhile.

Speaking of her, she started classes on Tuesday, and I couldn't be more proud of her for taking the plunge and going back to school. She's decided on a challenging career path - PA, or at least something related in health care - and the class load she has, including Biochem, Advanced Bio, and Inorganic Chem, will be tough, but hey, with me at her disposal, how can she do wrong? But seriously, I am sure she'll do well and am very excited for her.

I saw the commercial with Sarah McLachlan tonight for AACPA (?), in which you donate $18/month to help save one rescued stray animal. The pictures and music are almost too much, and it made me want to go to an animal shelter this weekend just to play with the dogs they have. I can't wait until I move so that I will have the opportunity to live in a place that allows dogs! That, along with getting a new car, is a major goal of mine this summer.

Going back to my Ireland thought - I think that I'm going to intersperse my thoughts on the trip in here, and luckily my mom and I wrote emails to family on a near-daily rate, so I'll have that to refer to should pictures not be enough to job my memory. But I think I'll be ok - I can still recall almost everything Dane and I did in Europe 1 1/2 yrs ago. It will be fun to rewrite our adventure, and this time I won't have Mom staring over my shoulder as I type! (just kidding, Mom...)

I was looking at average workweeks the world over, and how great would it be to work in a country such as the Netherlands or Denmark? Their workers average 400 hours/year less than their American counterparts. Now, a lot of this is probably due to the relatively high amount of paid leave, which varies from 4 to 6 weeks throughout Western Europe. Sign me up! Progress be damned! Is it any wonder that the Dutch and Danes both rank in the top 5 of the international "happy citizen index." Americans, sadly, fall far behind their European counterparts in this ranking. I'm not surprised...though I luckily can consider myself to be above average in that department.

In fact, I was talking about this fact earlier tonight - moving to Europe for awhile, say a year or so, to work and immerse yourself in another culture. Sounds fun to me - it's just the logistics of doing something like this in a field like pharmacy, where I'm under the impression that it'd be pretty difficult. Well, who knows what the future will hold, but it sure sounds like something I'd enjoy.

First Day of Rotation #6...Time Flies

Wow - hard to believe I've been at these rotations since last June! I've had some good rotations, and I've had some that were not-so-good, but I think this one - Pediatrics - will fall into the former category. First off, no arriving at 7 am, like my previous hospital rotation. Second, "rounds" are conducted sit-down style, in a conference room in the NICU, where we talk about the little guys and gals that populate our unit. After about 2 hours or so, it's either time for a little teaching time or lunch. In the afternoon, on MWF, I have Pediatrics Clinic, where I'll be rounding with that team, more in an observational mode. There are a few small projects and cases to perform, but pretty much, this should be easy. However, I know very little about Peds, so it will be a great learning tool for me. The downside is how sad it is to walk around these kids - congenital deformities, babies of drug-abusing mothers, and the like. So damn cute, though...

So, already have a phone, or preliminary, interview set up with Cub Foods' Community Practice Residency in St. Louis Park, MN. Talk about putting a big smile on your face! I went and checked out their pharmacy and spoke with the current resident, Marissa, and came away thinking I'd really enjoy a year there. So we'll see what happens. But it's good news so far!

I was dinking around CNN, and came across the story of Katie Piper, an English model who had sulfuric acid thrown into her face by a friend of her ex-boyfriend. It nearly killed her, as it ate away at her throat, and she was put into an induced coma for 10 days. It's now 2 years later, and her face is completely disfigured...looking at before and after pictures is startling and extremely sad. They used an innovative new style of grafting on her to replace all the skin on her face, and used tissue from her buttocks and back. I watched a video of an interview of her, and it was amazing to see her resolve and strength. She talked about her absolute depression in the months following the attack, but has decided to dedicate her life to reaching out to other burn victims, and she's started a foundation to do so. I wish her all the best, and hope the two perpetrators enjoy their years and years of jail time.

In other news, Charles Woodson was named NFL Defensive MVP. I find it kind of funny, even though he had a great season, after the utter sieve of a defense the Pack had against the Cardinals on Sunday. Wasn't really his fault, but it's still ironic. I'm happy for him since he's one of my favorite defensive players, and he's been a great team leader and was instrumental in a lot of success the Pack enjoyed this season, until this past game.

I haven't been to the gym in soooome time, and I think I'm going to head out and work off a little steam over at 24 Hour Fitness in a little while. I received new weightlifting gloves for Xmas and am ready to try them out! Watch out - I WILL finally bench press 300 lbs after years of coming close, then for some reason having a lifting hiatus. In other related news, another goal of mine is to run a half marathon (with Amy) this year, and I suppose it wouldn't hurt to start by running a few miles on the treadmill today, as well.

iPhone is charged, and it's time for me and Pandora to hit the gym. Ciao!

Back hOm-aha

Five weeks - FIVE weeks - I still can't believe my amazing adventure of vacation is over. Some people don't take 5 weeks of vacation in 5 years. I took it consecutively. First off, I feel bad for them - for them, work is life, whether that's completely necessitated by having to work to simply eat or have shelter or not. But for me - jobless, and with five weeks of break from pharmacy school rotations - why not?

Of course - the problem is, slightly, that I really checked out from the world of pharmacy for that time period. Problem is, I should have finished my pharmacy residency applications weeks ago. And I still haven't. No stress = I'm not getting them done. However, tonight the gears have finally clicked, and like I seem to do, I'm getting it done and will have them done on time.

So, after trying to get back to Omaha for a week - I'm finally here. And already missing Minneapolis, of course. I feel as if I'm pretty much checked out of Omaha mentally already, really. Of course, I don't know where I'll be come May - it completely depends on where I get a residency. My hope is to get a residency in Mpls and find a place there during my rotation in Waconia in March-April, but we'll see where the chips may fall.

The best news to come out of the past five weeks stems from the fact that I was able to spend most of that time with Amy. I have never, ever felt like this about anyone, and you can throw any cliche you want at it - and I won't - but I am excited about our future, I will say that. :)

Why the title, you ask? Well, I've more or less been aiming at, or dreaming, of reaching the point of in my life that I'm currently at. It's come with a ton of hard work, a lot of support from friends and mostly family, some very good happenstance and luck, and some decisions full of foresight on my part. I really couldn't ask for anything more at this point - well, of course, there is much more I look forward to accomplishing in my life - but at this very moment, I could not be much happier. As I look forward, of course questions remain for the near future - Will I have a residency come July 1st? If so, where will it be? Will I enjoy it? And if the residency idea doesn't fly and I'm "forced" into finding a community pharmacy job, where will that be?

In altogether honesty, I'm pretty confident about myself being happy, no matter how these questions are eventually answered. I've learned to make the most out of just about any situation I've been thrown into during my life, and I don't intend to change when it comes to that.

In the meantime - I need to finish writing and proofreading my letters so that I can send them in on time, and *hopefully* catch the eye of a few residency directors enough to be invited for interviews. If you've seen Inglourious Basterds, you'll know what I mean when I say "Arrivederci" and good night.

I just finished reading my last post - May 10, 2009. Seven whole months ago. And it's amazing to look back on what's occurred over that time and how my life has changed. First off, about 2 days after that post, Sam dumped me. Yup, more or less out of the blue. I wouldn't say everything was going grand at the time, but I had no idea that bombshell would be dropped out of the air on me. The night I finish my last finals, is the night I get dumped. Tough to deal with at the time, but I have to say how incredibly happy I am that it did...

Because, had Sam not taken that action, I never would have met Amy. And I can't really begin to say how much better I get along with Amy compared to Sam. Not. Even. Close. Do I feel like I've met the woman of my dreams? Absolutely, yes. So there's that.

In fact, as I type this I'm sitting in Amy's apartment in Minneapolis, stranded in Minnesota due to poor road conditions throughout Iowa. This is the 2nd straight day I decided against traveling home to Omaha. Luckily, it just gives me more time with Amy :)

So, recap since May - I had my first 5 rotations, Erin got married and moved in with Mike, I met Amy and subsequently spent many weekends driving to Mpls, or having her drive to Omaha, traveled to Ireland, Las Vegas, and Mexico, and ended up staying an extra 3 days in Mexico and 2 days in Minneapolis due to flight issues/bad weather. I also decided on applying for residencies, and am 2/5 done with finishing them. This weekend or early next week I need to finish my other 3 apps, and send them out. Then, hopefully get a few interview requests, travel to and do those, and then see how the match system plays out. My first choice is Mpls, but I also am applying to the U of Iowa, Luther Midelfort-Eau Claire, and the Asheville NC VA Med center. NC would be nice for a year, eh? Especially considering Amy has repeatedly told me she would move with me if I don't get a residency in MN. :)

Things I'm concerned about - nervous about getting interviews, and how they will go, and possibly having to give a presentation at these interviews; my 7th rotation, which is with Dr Hilleman, a man I am not too sure I will get along with well; figuring out living situations between now and July 1st, should I get a residency; what I'll do if I don't get a residency (where to apply to jobs? are there any left in MN or WI?). So that's what's on my mind. Oh, and passing boards in July.

These stresses, though important, really just highlight where my career has taken me, and that's a good thing. I don't have to worry about food, clothes, shelter, love, friendship, etc. and I'm infinitely lucky in that regard. I'm not sure how I feel about religion ,but if there is a God, I thank Him. But I more or less feel like I was born into a good situation and took advantage of opportunities, and have had some good luck along the way. Really.

What I should be doing at the moment is writing my letters of intent for the last 3 residency apps. But I continue to procrastinate, horribly. This may match my all-time levels of procrastination excellence. I'll get it done, though. I always seem to do so. Plus I just perform better under pressure in these types of situations.

One thing that motivated me to start writing, and to actually stick to it, is how self-aware writing allows you to be. I found myself wanting to write things down continuously in Mexico, but never seemed to have anything to write on. In fact, I've never felt as aware of my surroundings as I did there. It sort of made me want to do some travel writing. That, and I had been reading travel books and travel lit, which likely both helped the cause.

OK, time for lunch at D'Brian's in Edina with Ames. In the afternoon, I intend to wash a few clothes, write letters of intent, and call Rochelle at Cub Foods and Erin to let her know I'm still here for another day!