First Rotation: check.

I finished my Anesthesia rotation on Friday. I'm still in shock that my first rotation is over. It still feels like if I pinch myself too hard I'll be back in year one sitting in a lecture hall in Camden. How am I in my 'final' year at RVC?

Anyway, Anesthesia was pretty amazing. Really difficult, but really rewarding. Everyone in that department is great, super helpful, and tries to make every moment into a learning opportunity. My first week was great, but I realized how much of the knowledge I was missing within the first couple of days. But if anyone asks me again about the systemic effects of medetomidine, I will be able to answer it fully instead of just muttering "sedation, analgesia, bradycardia?".

I'm second on call tonight, so I suppose I'm not 100% done with the rotation. We'll see if it's a crazy night.

This week, I'm off to Bristol to do my Abattoir rotation. Since we don't have one here, the RVC sends us to University of Bristol to complete our one week requirement. Short days, near the ocean...I don't think I'll complain too much!

I'm also a week out from going back up to Lancashire for a week, and then jetting back here to pack up to leave on March 9 for Boston. I'm not really giving myself any time to sleep for the next couple of weeks...

Anesthesia is pretty awesome.

I'm exhausted and having so much fun.

Rotations are hard, but really rewarding. I really love being in an animal hospital again and actually interacting with animals on a daily basis.

Now, back to reading up about anesthetic agents.

3 Days til R-Day

Rotations start on Monday. I've been doing the frantic "Do I have everything?" dance for the past two days now. This morning I got out all of my business casual clothing to make sure I had enough. Really, I could use a couple of 3/4 sleeve sweaters. And maybe a pair of comfy shoes. And a thermometer.

Also, I've been worrying over what I'll have time to cook at night. Now that the house has a new freezer (courtesy of my endless searching and emailing on gumtree), I can freeze more stuff to take in as lunches instead of eating peanut butter and an apple for lunch. Trust me. It's a lovely snack, but as lunch? Not so much.

And my kitty. I adopted a kitten (practically an adult) over the Christmas holiday and I've named him Rory. He's adorable, slightly destructive (slowly getting him out of that habit), and he's been completely spoiled since I've been home 24/7 for the past two weeks.

Hell, I'VE been completely spoiled. Getting up on Monday is going to SUCK. And simultaneously be awesome.

Research research research.

I had my wonderful holiday in Tenerife with my friend A last week (got back last Sunday). It was paradise, it was lovely, and we had a really great time hanging out and relaxing in the sunshine (and getting sun-burnt in the process).

But now I'm back to the reality that yes, rotations start next week and yes, I need to get a good portion of the prep work on my research project done this week. And I also need to start getting up earlier than 10am and going to bed earlier than 2am.

For now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this time off as much as possible. Because after this, there's not a whole lot of time before real life has to start.