We interrupt this brief hiatus…

… for an important announcement!

Bjornar and I have become Canadian Permanent Residents!

On Hiatus

Of course now that I say that, I’m sure that in 2 weeks I will suddenly be motivated to blog again.

At this point in time, I need to buckle down and focus on finishing my thesis proposal and prepare to defend it. This is a lot of work to be doing while working full time. I’m also in the process of figuring out my career goals and how to get there… and working on being happy in the present until the future comes along.

I’ll be back soon!

Decisions, decisions

One being, how to use this blog? How do I mix my personal life and interests with my academic passions and professional pursuits? If you are following this, expect to see more from me in the coming weeks. My thesis proposal due date is July 11 (posting this to the world and keeping myself accountable! ) and I will be throwing out my thoughts on some of the research that I am coming across. I’m looking forward to re-igniting the fire under my butt and getting passionate about this again. It’s been a rough year thus far.

3 months?

Wow, has it really been 3 months since I last posted? Unsurprising! I’ve been really busy with work, life and school! I’m in the process of writing my MA thesis proposal and I’ve recently finished my last assignment for the last course of my MA degree. I’ve got a lot to say right now, but no time to say it. We are leaving for Waterloo to attend B’s convocation ceremony, since it is early in the morning we are staying overnight there. Check back later

Spring has sprung!

The first day of spring generally has me thinking more positively about life. The days are longer, temperatures are increasing, my birthday is on the horizon (actually just passed), and the Winter academic term is winding to a close. This spring, I’m just feeling tired and conflicted.

I’m working my bum off with school and work (glad I was not offered a TAship this semester, I’m drowning as it is), the past few weeks have been especially rough after, among other things, a sinus infection, death in my family and increased work load. Looking forward to having Good Friday off next week!

And on another note, I’m increasingly distressed by the current political climate in my home country. What are you people doing!? Is a “controversial” health care bill really enough reason to hurl expletives at politicians? The n-word? Baby killer? F-word? And then to follow up your words with bricks through windows and threats of violence (not to mention the posting of home addresses of politicians to your angry and unpredictable followers)? I’ve blogged about this once before (when I saw a video of a belligerent woman calling an Israeli man a Nazi for discussing his support of the health care system in Israel) but really, this needs to stop. How can you have an intelligent debate with someone who wants to attack you, verbally or physically? How can we move forward as a people if we cannot communicate with each other? So to whomever will listen, stop condoning this behaviour! If you realize you are behaving in this way, please, take a step back and reconsider the efficacy of your words in effecting real change! By threatening and whining, are you really moving the debate forward or are you simply a roadblock? America has always been a country that is greater than the sum of its individual parts, stop this divisive crap. It is not, and should not be, an ‘us vs. them’ situation, only ‘us’.

I’ll leave you, dear reader, with a quote that I really like from Jamie Oliver. Many years ago, I watched his TV series about improving public school lunches and one thing he said has really stuck with me. “I want us to have a f—ing better, cooler, cleverer, healthier nation.” And that won’t happen if we don’t work together.

It’s been a while

Just a quick little update after dinner (paneer masala over brown rice, yum! recipe available upon request). A general theme in this blog is that I am “super busy”, this is actually true! Since coming back from the holiday break, I met a wonderful group of Hondurans who I may get to visit and work with this spring or summer. Fingers crossed! My supervisor and I have applied for a grant which, if we are accepted, would cover our costs to do a really interesting (and important) research project. I don’t want to say too much, might jinx it. I’m also taking a class again this semester, Power, Politics and Policy in Applied Health Sciences. So far, so good. I’m learning about power dynamics, networks, governance and forms of capital which will hopefully be helpful to my thesis.

I’ve also been busy with work and enjoying spending time with my boyfriend, our cats and friends (and reading copious amounts of books, reports and journal articles).

Auld Lang Syne

This Christmas B & I were supposed to go to Norway to spend time with his family. However, due to the really nasty storm in Philly on the 19th, we ended up postponing the trip until the summer (dates TBD, haven’t even asked for the time off yet).  I’ve had a largely techno-free holiday, although not highly productive. Will have to remedy that when I get back.

2009 was an exciting, challenging and at times overwhelming year, but I have grown tremendously because of it. Not that its been an easy go of things. That being said, I’m happy to put it behind me and move on. I’m not in the habit of setting New Years Resolutions (I tend to think that setting them ensures their failure) but I do have some goals and changes I want to make in this year. You see, I was stuck in my parents’ basement for a number of hours sorting through memorabilia of my past and I was put back in touch with parts of myself that I really missed. I’m also amazed at how organized I was back in high school! I still spend time organizing and setting up personal filing systems and schedule planners, but I’m not as good at sustaining them as I used to be. Work-wise, I’m fine and still maintain them, but personal life (and school life!), need to spend some more time on that. Goal #1

Oh my!

I shouldn’t find this as funny as I do!

http://www.sketchysantas.org/

I have a great sketchy Santa story of my own, as told to me by my Mom. You see, I’m adopted and when I was very small the agency I was adopted through would host events for the kids they had placed (were we alumni? success stories? I’m not sure what to call us). One Christmas they had a party, and Santa came! Only Santa came in smelling like he had bathed in some sort of hard alcohol (come to think of it, I hope he hadn’t driven to the party). Well, this didn’t deter the tiny terror that was I. I thought Santa was awesome! Alcohol bath or not. So in one of our family photo albums there is a lovely picture of me giving Drunk Santa a kiss on the cheek. Next time I am home I shall have to find it and scan it…

Oh boy

This has been quite a semester. I’ve been really, really busy with work, school and trying to have a social life. I’m looking forward to starting my vacation next Saturday. Perhaps I will finally have enough time to work on the lit review and thesis proposal.

I swear!

I swear I haven’t forgotten about this blog. My daily life is impeding my ability to blog I’ve probably said before, but I’m quite busy. I did want to briefly share something vaguely intellectual.

B and I made it up to Ottawa for the first time a week and  a half ago (sightseeing, not so good, it was rainy and Parliament was closed to the public, but we did see this: 350 protest in Ottawa). I was going up for this: 1st Annual Global Health Research Learning Forum. I’ve been to conferences before (and I’ll be in Toronto for CBIE next week for work) but this was actually the first conference that I’ve been to specifically for my educational pursuits. Aside from learning about new assessment tools and ongoing research projects, it was so refreshing and so inspiring to be around people who were passionate about similar issues! Once I get through the backlog of work/class assignments, I can’t wait to get started on my protocol, research and thesis! God, I’m such a keener…