Happy Holidays

Happy holidays, friends! I know I hardly post in this space anymore. No particular reason, really. It's just progressively fallen by the wayside. I'm 6 months out from finishing residency now, in a bit of a calm before the storm a.k.a. Royal College exam. It's a time to tie up research loose ends, figure out what I'll be doing come July, and make the most of the time I have left with the city and people that've grown close to my heart.

Call Karma...Or Not

I'm on home call this week, so you might say I'm tempting fate by typing this post out. That is, if you believe in call karma -- and I for one don't.

Pager-carrying people like to talk about call karma, tongue-in-cheek for the most part. It's the notion that some unlucky people seem to have consistently hectic call shifts while others sail through hassle-free.

NYC, A Glimpse

I spent last week in NYC, catching a glimpse into what life could be if I were so lucky as to be offered my dream fellowship at a cancer centre on the Upper East Side. I loved every minute of the week and as much as I would give anything to come back for a year, I knew that it was a long shot, so just tried to savour the experience.

Montreal & Kingston

Today's research/study ambitions were derailed by an accidental nap, so I'm going to make the most of the remaining afternoon by catching up on posting about my Montreal and Kingston visit, which was...3 weeks ago now. Better late than never.

No Groceries, No Worries: Rice Pilaf

Happy February! This time last week I was heading home from a great week in Montreal and Kingston -- hope to post about that soon. It was straight to our CaRMS residents' social on Sunday night, then into interviews on Monday. Edmonton in the wintertime is a bit of a tough sell, but fingers crossed we showcased our program well.

Sweet Potato and Kale Peanut Soup

This was my first week back from vacation and I spent like 100 hours at work and all my free time studying, so suffice it to say I have nothing interesting to share. I did start the month with some goals though, so hopefully I'll find some focus in the weeks to come and get some things checked off.

Tofino & Ucluelet

Happy new year! This week my parents and I spent a couple days on the west coast of the Island. I know a lot of people get out that way often, but I hadn't been since kindergarten, so took it all in through new eyes.

2017: A Look Back

Happy holidays! I'm cozied up in front of the wood stove at my parents' place with a glass of sparkling wine and couldn't be happier to be winding down the year with a week back home in Victoria.

Life This Week: Holiday Parties, Seoul Fried Chicken, & Samosa Day

This week is my last of a 3-month rotation on head & neck, skin, and thyroid cancers. I'm actually really enjoying head & neck; it's complex, but logical, and you get to do nasopharyngoscopy (scoping through the nose to see down to the vocal cords). Nasopharyngsocopy and I have gone through a bit of an arc. I've gone from being relieved when a patient didn't need it to now looking forward to it, which to me was a good reminder to not mix up things I'm uncomfortable with with things I don't like (peds onc I think gets largely misclassified). Anyhow, here are some things I've appreciated lately, apparently mostly food:

Recipe: Gingersnaps

One of our sweet dietitians brought molasses sugar cookies into clinic the other week, which everyone adored. Molasses cookies, ginger cookies, gingersnaps, or whatever you'd like to call them, are one of my favourite cookies. They've got an old-fashioned grandma's house kind of comfort to them and cosy spices that seem to belong in the pumpkin pie and egg nog season.