Month of updates

It's been over a month since my last post (my apologies but you can blame school...). So I thought I'd fill you in on the last month of goings-on which really does not consist much more than flipping pages of textbooks, writing notes, and lame 2 page papers with barely enough room to put your name and title in, but here goes.
We spent Thanksgiving weekend with my family and decided to venture out on a limb and try turducken (chicken in a duck in a turkey, you got that?). Not quite sure what possessed my mother to use this little idea, but she won't be repeating it again anytime soon. It doesn't really go with any of the fixings, especially gravy, and it had its own non-traditional stuffing. Personally I'm not a stuffing fan so I wasn't too ruffled, but for those who are it was a little disappointing. My beef was the lack of homemade buns but my mum did try (gotta love expired yeast) so I have to give her credit. Plus she cooks this amazing dinner for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas so she should have diplomatic immunity from food criticism.
I did three weeks in labour and delivery and post partum at the Grey Nun's Hospital, which was extremely eye opening. I feel like I have to retract some of my earlier sentiments about home births. I'm not opposed to them at all, but after being there and seeing the multiplicity of things that can and do happen, hospitals are a much safer option for some births. Of course they have their downfalls too. As far as I'm concerned, as long as mum and baby are both healthy at the end of the day, then everything else is just drops in the bucket.
Other than that school was killer in October. I'd wake up an hour early to do homework and pretty much not leave the morgan-homework-nook after school until I went to bed. Not my favourite few weeks let me tell you. Gordon was super supportive and did a lot of the cooking and housework. I love you.
Halloween was a little anti-climatic since I had class Monday night... and we were handing in our midterm so no escape was possible. We live in the basement so we don't get kids anyway but I thought (since we were then snowless) we could maybe camp on the lawn with our pumpkins and hand out candy. Anthropology had different plans. We did have a great Halloween date with two of our friends where we ate fabulous food ( I love making halloween food!!), watched Halloween classics and carved pumpkins. Twas spooktacular.

Spider cookies I made for "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"

Spider-Cat-Jack Skellington-Witch pumpkin gang

November began snowless (say what?!) and I picked up some shifts at the hospital (I work in neurosurgery) for the first time in a month and a half. I really did miss working, especially the people I work with, and am super grateful that I have a job where I'm appreciated by patients and staff. It's also nice to know that I'll have somewhere to work when I graduate. Nothing like that burden off your shoulders.
Another exciting tidbit is that Gordon parents have planned on taking us to Israel in May for 2 weeks as a graduation present. We're still a little shell shocked (or at least I am) but we're really looking forward to it and of course very grateful. The 23 hour trip makes my stomach turn a little but I'll reacquaint myself with my old friend gravol and it should be fine. I'm really looking forward to blogging about it!
Speaking of graduation, I'll be finished my degree in less than 6 months! I write my Canadian Registered Nurse Exam and convocate in less than 8 months. Did 4 years of my life seriously go by in ten minutes? I couldn't be more thrilled. The hard part will be not being with the 19 girls who have made these past 3 and a half years fabulous for me. They are like my sisters out here, I've laughed, cried and screamed with them. I adore each and every one for their quirks and smiles and spirits. I know they will go on to be brilliant nurses and do tremendous things.

And last but not least, Mother Nature remembered us in her snow delivery. Yesterday was the first day of fluffy white...ok it was wet white snow. And for this reason my favourite radio station switched to their exclusive Christmas music program. You might think I'm Scrooge but I don't like Christmas music until about a month before Christmas. It just makes it less special for me. Plus they only have a limited amount of tracks so you end up hearing some of the songs OVER and OVER again for 6 weeks. What a great way to ruin Christmas music for me. Gordon's been turning it on (mostly to annoy me I think or soften me up...) but I'm sticking to my guns of Christmas starting a month before. 12 days left of self-restraint.

p.s. I just finished reading Jane Eyre and it was a very moving read. For someone who can't read Jane Austen without wanting to poke myself in the eye, Bronte was incredibly refreshing. She had a way of describing the simplest things in the most interesting and thought provoking way. A definite recommend for someone who finds classics as much of a snore-eye-roll fest as I do.