Well, the past week has been a sort of whirlwind! Let's get down to it...
Last Thursday, your intrepid Midwest adventurer took off from Omaha for Minneapolis, since I had an interview planned for Friday morning at 8 am in Wabasha, MN, for an ambulatory pharmacy residency with the University of Minnesota (Gophers!). The drive wasn't bad minus the freezing rain I encountered in northern Iowa - an area of the country I absolutely loathe driving through (you'd understand if you've ever heard of the time I hit a deer around midnight on my way up to Minnesota from Omaha...but I digress). And let me tell you, freezing rain is only really freezing rain if it sticks to your windshield enough where your wipers alone don't do the trick. You have to continually spray washer fluid as well, plus blast hot air on your windshield, to minimize the amount of ice buildup.
After arriving at Amy's for the night and having a relaxing drink at McCoy's in St Louis Park, I was all set for a good night's sleep prior to my early wake-up call (5:30) the next morning. Unfortunately, I slept like crap that night, and woke up in the morning pretty exhausted. It didn't get much better as I began my drive, since snow had been falling most of the night, and the roads were not in great shape! I spotted multiple accidents along the way, and was slowed down enough to where I had to call the Wabasha Clinic to let them know that I was going to be a half hour late! Not a great entrance...especially when you arrive to find a conference room full of physicians and pharmacists awaiting your arrival, certainly cutting into their schedules. Luckily, the interview went terrific, and after a great lunch at Stacy's in Wabasha with Kurt, the director, and Amy, their current resident, I found myself thinking that it wouldn't be so bad for a year - closer to home, not too far from the Cities, low cost of living...
That night, after trekking back up to the Cities, Amy, Erin, my mom, and I went to watch Michael's basketball team, the Waconia HS freshmen boys, take on Litchfield. Though Michael put his heart into coaching, and lost his voice in the process, the Wildcats came up a little short in the end. It was fun to watch, though, and got me motivated to do some coaching down the road, too. My dad was an excellent coach in basketball, football, and baseball while I was growing up, and I'd love to follow in his footsteps when it comes to that!
Saturday found Amy attending a review session for her Biochem class (what a dedicated trooper!), shopping at Southdale for a blender (protein shakes!) and new running shoes (surprisingly - Nike, but they felt the most comfortable) and later on, all of us attending the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. I'd recommend the place - the dinner was well prepared, and the show we saw, Nunset Boulevard, was pretty well done. It was great to spend time with my mom and step-dad as well.
Sunday we found ourselves at a Super Bowl party, disecting both the game and the commercials. Luckily, the Saints dream season came true, and what appears to be the most beloved team in the NFL not named the Packers gave their rabid fan base a chance to celebrate, Mardi Gras style. I was happy for them, though I wished the game had been like the last couple of years' - down to the wire!
Sunday night, the snow started falling again, with storm estimates of 7 to 12 inches of snow by Tuesday. Not good news, since on Monday I had plans to drive to Eau Claire for another residency interview, and then hightail it back to Omaha that afternoon and night. It was not to be. First off, even though I gave myself an extra hour to get there, I still ended up being late (again!) for an interview, though the staff was completely understanding. I liked the program there as well, and though it has some in-patient focused learning, I still think I would prepare myself well for a career in ambulatory and academic pharmacy. After arriving back in Minneapolis to gather my things for the drive back home, I looked at the Iowa DOT website, and noticed that my route was deemed "hazardous" and that no towing of stranded vehicles was allowed due to the storm. That sealed the deal, and I stayed the night at Amy's once again (not that I minded...). We ended up watching District 9 that night, the Peter Jackson sci-fi flick, and I can't say it lived up to what the critics were saying. But still, not too shabby.
Tuesday I got on the road after 10, and didn't arrive home until after 6 pm (it's usually less than a 6 hour drive). Schools were closed throughout northern Iowa, and I could see why - blowing snow over the interstate made travel pretty tough. The underpasses were all very slippery, and at times blowing snow made seeing the road nearly impossible. But, slowly but surely, I made it home safely, albeit exhausted.
During that time, I received info from SuperValu that they wanted me to interview in Philadelphia in a few weeks - so, last night, I booked my flight and hotel for that trip Feb 24/25. Not that I'm excited about paying for the travel, but I loved the program after my interview at Cub Foods in Minnesota, and it could only help my match chances to interview out east.
After that whirlwind of a weekend - it would make sense to take it easy for a bit. But no! I'm off to Madison tomorrow to visit Dane for the weekend, catch a Badger hockey game Saturday (Badgers!), and hopefully play some tennis. Amy had planned on coming down from Minnesota originally, but has a chemistry exam on Monday, so decided it would behoove her to stay home and study up all weekend. Smart move...those classes are tough from what I recall!
The reason I planned on going to Mad-town in the first place was because Monday/Tuesday next week I have interviews with the Univ of Iowa (Hawkeyes!) community pharm residency program. My first interview is Mon morning in Dubuque, less than 2 hours from Madison. The others are in Cedar Rapids, Mt Vernon, Davenport, and Iowa City. Monday night I'll be staying in Davenport, which I've never been to before, in a hotel room being paid for by the U of I! Finally a residency taking care of its candidates!
To be honest, I really would just like to stay home this weekend and rest up, since I'm pretty exhausted, feeling kind of sick, and start a new, difficult rotation in cardiology next week. But, I'd rather have interviews than not, so this is what I've got to do, easy or not. It's all part of doing what I have to do to get where I want to be, which is having a job in pharmacy that I enjoy, is challenging yet rewarding, and allows me to use my knowledge in the best way possible. And I want to honestly say that I did everything in my power to get to that point, which is why I titled this blog "Dream --> Reality" in the first place.
I love you
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