Placement 1 of 3 wrapped up without a hitch. I had a near panic-attack at the end from suddenly thinking I was going to run into some uncomfortable feedback during my evaluation... possibly even run into issues with passing. I'm not sure why I thought this; likely because it was happening all around me to my classmates. In fact, the final evaluation was fairly painless and actually even pleasant at points. My preceptor's written evaluation was extremely positive and included the sentiment that she is looking forward to working more with me. Go figure!
The day we went off call, my midwifery bestie drove down from Ottawa for a 24 hour hang-out sesh. We got together with some of the other Toronto-and-vicinity midwifery students from Laurentian, expecting a celebration. In fact, it turned into a bit of a bitch-fest where we all ranted and commiserated over wine and cupcakes... it was a bit heavy, but I suppose we all needed it. The two of us made up for it the next day by wandering a farmer's market, having a long and delicious brunch at my new favourite cafe, breathing in the cool air along the harbourfront and checking out the market there, and having an overall luxurious day off-call doing whatever we pleased.
Somehow I convinced myself to do a better job of studying for the final exam than I did for the midterm. The exam went off without much of a hitch, save for the usual frustrating MEP exam questions about things that have not at all been a learning focus. No marks back yet, but I expect to have done well enough.
We set off a couple of days later for our second "annual" Algonquin Park canoe trip. It was different this year. Rob planned the route again, and it was much more grueling than last year's. We paddled further and portaged more. Perhaps I was also still just burnt out, or perhaps the absence of the two friends who couldn't make it this year was just really palpable, or perhaps it was the lack of sunshine... I'm not sure, but the energy didn't feel nearly as high out there. I didn't start to pick up until day four of the five day trip. It was as astonishingly beautiful as ever and amazingly peaceful. We hardly saw any other people on days two through four. It was just really, intensely physically difficult. Maybe I just wasn't quite ready for it so soon after the placement ended. My midwif' bud and I did a lot of hysterical laughing about "our idea of a vacation". What is it with us, anyway, that everything always has to be so freaking intense?!
I have all these ideas about things I'd like to do this month and ways I want to get organized before the fall. Right now I'm not sure it's going to happen. I have an armload of novels I want to read (what a luxury!), and we still have our trip to Winnipeg coming up. I'm reading Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver - an oldie, but one I had never managed to get around to. Also on the list: Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald, How to be Good - Nick Hornby, The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini, among others. Think I can get through them all and still get our lives organized a bit before September 7?
