Back Home for Christmas

So exams are over (yay!) but we won't know the results of our week of Hell until February most likely (thanks VTO!). My flight back home on the 19th which changed at Heathrow was cancelled which was not a big surprise at all. Ended up flying back on the 23rd with Kyle and two other vet buddies direct from Glasgow to Toronto. The flight was not entertaining at all, no distractions like personal TVs but the 8 hours went by quickly - alternating between sleep and DS helps.

And now I know how it feels to lose your luggage. There was actually SO much luggage that people were not picking up that the carousel was overflowing and some bags were being squished coming down the conveyor belt ramp. I definitely heard some cracks and pops of the hard plastic cased luggages. Eeek!

So yes, waited for a good hour and my luggage never showed up. The feeling definitely falls under - horrible and sinking. I walk up to the Thomas Cook service counter where the two staff members are just plain rude and patronising. I told them I lost my luggage and they said, "are you SURE you didn't miss it? It's not there?" And one of them walked with me back to the carousel and then started helping another woman and left me back where I started!!! So I walked around and found some stray luggage but to no avail. Walked back to the counter and there was a line starting to form of pissed off passengers from the same flight as me who had also lost their luggage. This time, the two staff there started filling out forms for people but with the worst attitude ever. I give them an F in customer service for sure. They wouldn't help me because I didn't have a connecting flight...which was stupid because if they lost it now they are not going to find it within the 3 hours some people had to catch their next flight. So I stood there, at the front of the line and the guy was helping everyone around me BUT me!! It was ridiculous. If they actually filled out a lost luggage form before when I said that it wasn't there then it wouldn't have been such a circus. Never had such condescending patronizing customer service in my life! It wasn't until a Thomas Cook representative came and started telling them they have to help everybody that I got served. Booo!!!!

On the bright side, I did get my luggage the next day which hinted to me that it along with a dozen other luggages were left behind in a box somewhere. Thank goodness because all my presents AND my CFC notes were in there!!

In other news, I'm currently volunteering at the Milliken-Bridlewood Vet Clinic at Finch and Kennedy if anybody wants to drop by and visit me. Because of London's incapability to handle snow, I can only get one week of volunteering done instead of two.

Ah well, till next time, shop till you drop everyone! And happy new year!

I am the worst blogger ever.

So my last entry was 4 months ago now? Wow, I am really bad at keeping people updated with my life! I do try, honestly...but it's mostly through one minute procrastination breaks on facebook.

Anyways, the term is almost over...worst term ever so far in Vet school. Nothing is sticking, as my classmate said, "imagine slapping a piece of meat on the wall, sometimes it will stick and most of the time it will slide right off."

Be back to complain more after exams are done!

-Barb :D

BBT

So didn't go asian shopping in the end with Alan, we were both busy. I went golfing with my parents instead and he had to stay home all day to wait for Bell internet service engineers. Golfing was fun, except for the first 3 holes where it just went absolutely horrible. It's weird how I can't play well with my parents; I think it's because I want to show them that I can play well and then I psych myself out. After that though, I got a whole bunch of bogeys which I'm pretty proud of since that was only my second time golfing the entire year (and probably my last). I am bringing my glove and golf shoes back to Edinburgh with me though in case we do go golfing. Kyle brought his back already and we're both lefties so maybe I can borrow them off him?

I'm back to finishing my horse EMS today. It was interesting..not. Got to shovel manure from 10-3 pm. Not the funnest but at least it keeps me busy and physically active. I am starting to feel sore about my hip though and I don't think it's my muscles. It only hurts on the left side with I pick the left foot up when I walk. It may be my hip joint - I always felt that my femurs weren't entirely articulated with my acetabulum so maybe that's it? Either way, I guess I should take it easier...I am giving them free labour.

Tonight I went to bubbletea with Stella, a good friend from high school. We still meet up every time I'm home and it was really nice catching up. I am really proud of where she is right now and I know she's going to do great things in her life. It's nice to meet old friends and see where they are now from what they planned on doing when we graduated. Hopefully I'll meet some more friends before heading back.

Summer

So again, I am horrible at updating. Why?! I'm just too damn lazy...so I apologize.

Since my last post, I have officially finished my first year at vet school! WOOOOOO!!! It's been a grueling year but I have to say that everything has worked out so far. Kyle and I are still in our new flat, living quite happily. I just finished all my EMS forms and have sent them in.

I came back to Toronto beginning of July and had a little freak attack because my initial horse EMS placement had fallen through! So I started calling a whole bunch of places and was fortunate to find a place that would take volunteers in Stouffville. I still have another 4 days to finish (although he had already signed my forms) because I'm not a jerk like that.
And just last week I went up to Wikwemikong with Kyle (picked him up at the airport) to visit his family. It was a fun week and there was a welcome home party for him. His family hired a Johnny Cash tribute band to play at the cabin and they were amazing! I definitely abused my body those couple of days. Let's see...
1) Alcohol - not that much though but we did play flip cup and beer pong.
2) Went swimming and cut the bottom of my foot - ouch!
3) Kyle's grandma dropping a super hot sausage from the grill right on to my foot = burn on toe.
4) Tripped on the dock and cut up my toe pretty badly - bled profusely for a couple of minutes
5) Got my leg cut up by a lawn chair - this was an interesting story. We were on a boat going to Killarney for fish and chips and we had to sit on those fold up lawn chairs. And those cheap ass lawn chairs can not hold up Kyle's weight..especially over bumpy waters. So it broke and slashed me a good one on my leg. That's what I get for wanting to sit next to my boyfriend eh?

So all in all, great fun up north. Got eaten alive several times, especially during twilight golf.

For now, I'm at home, chilling with the family. About to head to the airport to say bye to Kyle for 2 weeks. He's already heading back to Edinburgh to work on his Masters and I'm still around for another 2 weeks.

There's a plan for Mongolian grill soon so pretty excited about that! And also going asian shopping with Alan on Monday!

In the homestretch!! (For year 1)

Alright, so since the last time I posted which was in a big hurry, I have now come back from Belfast and also finished writing my Animal Health, Welfare and Food Safety exams. Wow, that was a mouthful to say wasn't it? It was an entire week with 3 days of handling examinations... where you have to handle the animals but also answer questions that basically could come from anywhere. And then one day to study for the 80% written exam!! Ahh!! I think I did "ok" but really I have no idea. The marking scheme was a little funky with 2 essay questions that were 20% each, short answer questions that were 10 marks each and MC questions. Everyone was thrown by 10 mark short answer. I mean, some of them didn't even have 10 marks worth of information in the notes so what did they want us to write?!?! Whaaat?! Ahhh!!

Ok *breathe*.

Anyways, that's over and hopefully I passed the written and the practicals. If I fail any of them I'll have to come back to Edinburgh early in August to resit which will definitely suck since I want to stay at home and eat with friends! And with family too of course....:).

For now the plans for the summer is to come home around mid July since I still have husbandry work to do with dairy cattle, pigs and then I'll hopefully find a place that will take me for horses in Toronto or the Toronto area (anyone have a stable I can work in? :D ) Then fun times with everyone back home hopefully!

In other news, Kyle and I are getting the keys to our new place tomorrow which is really exciting! Our first place...wow...I can't believe it. I think it's been a little overdue since we've been dating for so long...and haven't gotten sick of each other. I'll try to post some pictures of the place soon once we get the place sorted out and picture-worthy! I'm hoping to go Ikea shopping soon too which is exciting. It's always such an adventure in Ikea. A big BIG adventure where you end up buying everything but the thing you went in there to buy. I mean, of COURSE I need that salt and pepper shaker, that lamp, those new pans, and that bookcase. And crap! Forgot to get a shoe rack..which was my intention in the first place! So the plan is to make a list right? A list of things that we NEED and then a side-list of things that we WANT. Eek! Excited :).

Hopefully updating sooner rather than later!

Update finally!!!

So since the last post, a lot has happened. We finished our exams for our body systems and the marks should be posted any time this week!! I'm really nervous and the suspense is killing me!
The last two and a half weeks, I have been doing lambing EMS in Ballymena which is a little north of Belfast.

Anyways, tour is about to start! Update later!!

It's Friday?!

Yea, all the days are kindof fusing into the same day..over and over and over again. Can't believe it's already the end of the week!!

I finished the digestive system and now I'm studying reproduction (i.e. testicles, ovaries, etc.) and there are soooooo many lectures! And I'm moving at the speed of a tortoise right now because of KaiKai lectures. As I'm reading her lectures, I can imagine her talking...and it's really frustrating me! I mean, her notes contradict each other and her lectures are completely useless because you have no idea what she's talking about. She would say, "i'll have to hurry up with this lecture" but it would take her about 2 minutes to say that one phrase. And she has no computer savvy so the lectures always start late because she has no idea how to start the damn ppt presentation!

Anyways, there's my little rant.

And in other news, I am now in love with otters. They are the cutest things in the world and I have a feeling they will be making their way on the endangered species list (if they aren't already on there) because of the lack of bodies of water for them now.

Ok now I'm REALLY going to go back to studying...after pizza.

Yes..after pizza, I will go back to studying!

Revamped!

So this is what happens when you don't want to study...you redesign your whole blog! But for me, it was more like changing templates since I never got the hang of HTML or "computer language".
Almost halfway through digestion now and then 2 more body systems to go! ZOMGZ!!!

I've been in hiding for the past couple of days and haven't really seen anyone except for my flat mates. How sad is that? The only time I went outside today was to deliver the post and to go grocery shopping. I realized I was eating junk so I actually went to go buy fresh fruit and vegetables! Isn't that crazy?
I've also discovered this new youtube channel called 4oD where you can choose from SOOO many cooking/documentary-type shows. So yes...haven't been working as hard as I could be but I seriously cannnot work straight through with no distractions.

It's also St. Patrick's day today. First one in Europe and I'm in my f-ing room studying!! I'm a little glad though because the streets have been rowdy since after lunch (when I woke up oops!) and I don't really want to leave the flat tomorrow because I'm worried the streets are going to smell like puke! :S
My irish roommate was already drunk by 8-ish when he came home to make dinner. Yea...almost totally smashed. wtf? Back in Hamilton, we went out for drinks, etc. but at least we were semi-sober before dinner time!

I guess it's little things like that that remind me that I'm in Europe..totally different culture and style. Speaking of style, girls here need to learn to wear pants. A long shirt and leggings don't exactly count as a full outfit. And from other observations, girls here are much more willing to give up warmth and comfort for looking good..more than back home. Dead of January and they're out in 4 inch heels and a minidress. Crazy!! And no jacket?! tsk tsk...

And now my mind is jumping to this image of this old lady I passed by on my way back from Tesco. She looked like she was enjoying her day and then I looked down at her feet and I went a little wide-eyed! Her feet looked like they were literally STUFFED into her shoes. I mean, skin was pooching over top of the shoes!!! I had never seen anything like that before ever!

Ok, back to learning about the entero-hepatic recirculation of bile acids.

Barb out.

Nocturnal

So...it's 5:30 am Tuesday morning and I'm debating whether to go to bed. I just tried sitting down on a plastic chair in the kitchen and almost fell over. Talk about uncoordination eh? Maybe something's wrong with my cerebellum! Or I'm just utterly exhausted from...wait..what did I do today again? Oh yea, study!!! And watch documentaries on youtube. I get it I'm a nerd ok?!
I finally moved on to cardiovascular system for studying and I finished about half way through these lectures so I'm hoping I'll get through the other half tomorrow and maybe if I have time start on Digestive (which I can hopefully breeze through).

Ok I've decided to go to bed...because I realized that I no longer can think in logical sentences. Like the last sentence of the last paragraph was the longest run on sentence ever!!!!!!

And my brain is doing that thing where it's shutting off and I start drooling lol.

G'night!

lambs!!! and crochet.

Hey!

So what happened since my last update? A lot I think...

We finished the Body Systems module almost and I'll be writing an exam for that in about a week and a half!! I'm only on the third body system right now (neuroanatomy) and I still have 4 left to do!! AHhh!!!!!!!

I haven't gone on any trips since my last post, been waaay too busy with school but I did have some interesting practicals.
We are actually taking lectures for our last body system (reproductive system) with the 2nd year class which is cool but the only lecture theatres that fits all of us are about a 10 minute walk away...which is a lot, especially compared to summerhall which is right across the street from where I'm living at the moment. We are taking so many more lectures as well compared to our other body systems...which I think is because we're taking it with the 2nd years. Some of the classes are little over kill though, they don't need 25 lectures to learn about the reproductive system. If it was just the GEP class, they probably would have cut it down to 10. The good thing though is that we're doing a lot more practicals which would have been squished into one big practical for us.
Just yesterday we got to dissect a sheep uterus to understand the foetal structures and to try to age the foetus inside:

It was pretty interesting to say the least. From the pic above, you have to imagine that the two lumpy things on the top are the uterine horns and the giant blob in the middle is the uterus. Everything else basically has been excised.
From there, we got to dissect into the uterine tissue:


And that's a lamb foetus. We believe that most of these ewes did not survive through pregnancy so the ewes were not killed just for the sake of this practical.
This one lamb shown above was a male...with some pretty huge testicles. We aged him to be about the fifth stage of pregnancy.
I'm not going to show any more pics because we got a little scalpel happy and were super curious about everything in the body. If you want to check out more pics, I will most likely post them on my facebook.

More about lambs though...we have a practical today for lambing and got to go to Easter Bush where the flock of sheep are kept. Most of the ewes had already lambed and they were SO ADORABLE. Here are just some of the examples:
When the lambs are first born, they are very wary about going to far away from their mother. After some time adjusting to their new environment, they start leaping around everywhere.


These lambs were kept in a pen by themselves because unfortunately they are orphans! The ewe may have died or their mother were ignoring them. Either way, they were extremely friendly and alert and also had a good suckling reflex. This reflex is important because if they don't develop it within the first hours of life, it is likely that they won't be able to suckle milk...and would therefore die. However, if the farmer is alert enough and notices this, he can stomach tube the lamb and feed it that way. A bottle wouldn't even work since the lamb doesn't know how to suckle.


***

In other news, Kyle and I have found a new place to move into in May! Although my contract doesn't end till June 4th, I wanted a buffer period where I could move my stuff over and get comfortable. Also because I have an exam on the 4th of June and didn't want the stress of moving as well. We found this amazing place that is just the right size for us and is fully carpeted...except for the washroom and kitchen of course. It is up 3 flights of stairs and is right above a Starbucks! It's also on a very common street where there is a 24 hour convenience store (ScotMid...very rare in Edinburgh from my observation) and right down the street from stores like this Chinese store (I can buy my instant noodles!) and a grocery store. Will post some pics when we start moving in!

***

Heidi mentioned my crochet hats and I have to say...people are starting to ask me to make things for them! I made my flatmate a pair of handwarmers and I also bought myself some red and white yarn to make a touque before the Mens Hockey Gold medal match (go Canada!!). We won so now I have to wear them to all of my exams!
I also made a blackberry sock...which was eezy peezy after making hats and handwarmers. I have to say though..gloves are more of a challenge...I didn't buy a tapestry needle (basically a giant sewing needle) so I can't do anything with fingers yet.

Here are my best creations so far:
My Waldo/Canada hat with giant pom pom. It makes my head less round. I had just recently finished another toque and decided it was time to make one with a GIANT pom pom!


And these are my "canada" handwarmers. I don't know how to make a Maple Leaf yet so I made a little bow instead. I attempted one and it looked like a leaf that was trampled on several times and didn't really look like a leaf at all anymore.

After doing all this crocheting, I feel like it really helped me with my dexterity and also with my concentration. I need steady hands to make these and I think that it will help me in the future with my suturing. I think a couple of my friends want to learn as well which is great! Also, it makes you feel good that you accomplished something, no matter how minute it is, but it is enough to get you through the day. It also is a new way to make gifts for friends!

And finally, now I feel like I'm not going to be one of those moms in the future that can't be a homebody and make things for their kids and can't cook etc. Speaking of cooking, that's going to be my next big thing...to learn to cook awesome things!

Anyways, I should get back to learning about the prosencephalon, mesencephalon and rhombencephalon.

Cheers and have a good night.

Barb out.

Neuroanatomy done! Cardiorespiratory done! wait...what?!

Wow, so two more body sytems down already!! On to digestive system now! We haven't had any practicals yet for cardio so can't say it's 100% completed, but we've finished all the lectures on it.
Some things I have realized since my last post:
1) Dr. Caroline Hahn didn't invent it (as she mentioned repeatedly)
2) Finally figured out the newt analogy...it's supposed to be a "primitive" animal
3) Horse respiratory lecture lady is a really bitch. Hates lecturing and students, makes for a very great hour of learning doesn't it? She started off the class with, "ok shutup" lol.
4) My internet connection is WAAAY faster when plugged into the landline. A movie downloaded in 15 minutes? Say whaaaat!
Corollary of 4) Why are there no good movies coming out?!
5) I am now a master of crocheting hats. Seriously, I am addicted to crocheting....and making hats. Made like 5 hats already! Maybe I should start a hat making business, screw vet school. I tried making mittens and failed miserably...probably need more patience to make those. The problem is, I know have 5 yarn balls of different colours, not enough to make another unicolour hat though. Thoughts?
6) I said I was going to label a brain picture and post it...I lied.
7) Dr. Neil Hudson is the bomb. Makes a 50 minute lecture about inspecting a horse interesting.
8) When I said this scan looked like a panda and no one believed me...here is the proof:

Till next time.

Don't blame Dr. Hahn, she didn't design it.

Still learning neuroanatomy this week, although we had a couple of breeding and genetics lectures stuck in there for obscurity sake. I actually love Dr. Hahn's class because although she has an obsession with how amazing Dr. de Lahunta is (which I'm sure he's a neurology genius), she actually makes her classes interesting! Our structure of lectures is to always start off with a case study or a video clip first, asks us what is wrong with the patient, and then wants to hear the answer to the neurology behind it by the end of the lecture. I have learnt so much and have resparked my fascination with the brain. Although now I am forced to memorize all the locations of the cranial nerves inside of the brain as well as different pathways each tract runs through. Did I also mention that I have to know the areas of a bunch of nuclei as well?

Ah well, there was definitely some fun stuff this week though in terms of learning neuroanatomy. We got to dissect a sheep brain (in pairs) and fortunately Jenn and I were able to get 2 brains! *zombie time!* We cut one sagittally and the other one transversally so we could see all the different structures.

I'll be posting some of the better pictures I took soon on this blog in case any vet students or interested subjects want to learn about the structures of the brain. I'm going to attempt to label them first (on MS Paint! pray for me...) and then post them. If I end up posting them unlabelled please assume I failed at it or that I got too impatient.

In other non-brainy news though, Kyle and I are going on a day trip to St. Andrew's on Saturday. It's going to be amazing I'm sure..especially to see the expensive golf course (hopefully they'll let us inside of the clubhouse at least) where the British Open was played. Wonder if the grass is still green? Then maybe check out the castle and church while we're there. From the looks of some of the pictures of the church ruins, it looks like it's going to be breathtaking when we see it in person!

And now...off to dinner and probably play God of War with Kyle for a couple of hours. I'm hooked! It's my first PS3 game where I wasn't just punching and kicking someone (SF4) although there is a lot of violence involved. I'm definitely still a newbie when it comes to video games as I do not have the thumb dexterity that Kyle acquired over his 23 years of gaming.

Neuroanatomy most important subject!

Every prof says their subject is the most important, and neuroanatomy is no different. Dr. Caroline Hahn is our "main" professor I would say but agreeing with Jenn (my amazing and also smartest girl in our class - friend) that we're a bit wary on a prof that praises a dude who wrote a textbook..to the point of calling him God. I'm no religious person by any means but yea, a little out there for me. Other than that though, she seems like she will be an amazing professor. She sat in on our other neuro classes so she'll know exactly what we already know and go from there. And she is also a giant...6' something I'm sure of it!

I finally uploaded my pictures from the poultry farm on to my facebook if anyone is interested and I realized that I had no pictures of chickens! Not even dead ones which were common due to the cold. Did you know that organic chickens kill each other (i.e. cannabilism) more often than other chickens because their beaks are not clipped? Not sure if I already mentioned that in my last post so I'll try not to repeat. Once they taste blood...they go crazy! It reminds me of a group of piranhas that first nibble at its feast and then go into a frenzy devouring it to the bone! If you're wondering what I'm talking about, youtube a video of pet piranhas eating live mouse prey, it's a little morbid but there is absolutely nothing left of the mouse...even the bones are gone!
Here's some pictures from the farm - it was so beautiful there although I don't think the farmers appreciated it as much as I did since it meant more work for him with the animals.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It was a great Christmas break I have to tell you. I got to spend time with my family as well as my friends. Watched some movies, sat on the couch...I even knitted! That's right, I'm domestic like that. Unfortunately it was short-lived and the downside was that I was only able to see some friends once if at all! Next time, I definitely need to plan a little bit better.
Now that I'm back in Edinburgh, I did a week of poultry EMS just outside of Penicuik and it wasn't really poultry at all for most of the day. Since it was so cold (coldest it has been in over 50 years in Scotland) the chickens aren't really roaming outside of their barns. We're mainly standing by a conveyer belt for 2 to 3 hours sorting eggs from "clean" to "dirty" to "can't even be sold". The clean ones don't get washed at all and are considered "organic" and the "dirty" are the ones that have obvious poop or blood on them and they get washed and resold as "not organic" since we washed them. I don't think I can ever really eat organic eggs...now that I've been there, touching them, and seeing the amount of poop, it's hard to imagine not washing that shell before you crack it open to eat it. During the other 4/5 hours of the day are spent helping with the cattle, sheep or drinking tea. I drank so much tea! It was quite delicious and much needed especially since we're wearing wellies with NO insulation and no matter how many pairs of socks you put on, your feet will always become numb.
On our last day, we actually got to do some vet-ish stuff. One of their ewes was dying (and most likely going to eventually) because it was a shy eater and wouldn't eat = weak = can't eat because too weak. We injected it with calcium and glucose intradermally but to no avail. Alas, goodbye sheep! You will be off to a better place!

In other news, I finally did laundry! (yay!!) and now have clothes to wear...how exciting is that?! Just kidding! Today is Kyle's first ice hockey game with the University of Edinburgh's ice hockey team (The Eagles), so I'll be going to cheer him on later tonight.
And classes start again tomorrow = lots of lectures this week with one practical on calves. Kyle and I are trying to start swimming in the mornings (early mornings ahh!) to get some physical exercise in. I haven't been able to go swimming since i came here because they only have 2 swim times for the day and it's either super early in the morning, or right around dinner time when everybody's going to be there. And swimming is one of the best cardio exercises for me since I have weak joints which makes running difficult.

Alright, it's almost 1 in the afternoon, I guess it's time for me to get out of my pjs. Talk to you all soon.