Early February brought excitement and exultation when Adam was sent an invitation to interview at the University of Calgary…and disappointment when the University of Alberta rejected his application pre-interview. The last few weeks have been a storm of emotion (mostly stress) as our family as struggled with being carless and preparing for Adam to get to Calgary for his interview this coming Saturday. He had no suit that fit, no dress shoes, and no transportation. So he bought a nice grey suit at a good price (much less than we expected), graphite-colored shirt, dress shoes, and a pink tie (and he looks fantastic). He reserved a rental car. He’s going to have to stay in a hotel Friday night because his interview is first thing Saturday morning. Lucy and I will be staying behind so the weekend is as complication and stress-free as possible for him. He tried to get a copy of Doing Right from the school library but it was on hold until May! So he got something similar…but it was a medical ethics book written from a US perspective. So I convinced him to shell out the $70 bucks for a copy of Doing Right and have it rushed. It’s reading week and Adam will spend his time off from class preparing for his interview (and attempting to potty train Lucy, oh joy). It may or may not arrive before the interviews (fingers crossed).

The pressure is high. All our proverbial eggs are in a University of Calgary basket. Only 33% percent of prospective students interviewed will be accepted. If Adam isn’t in that 33% that means no med school for us, at least not this year. It’s not at all uncommon for students not to make it the first time they apply. But being a somewhat “non-traditional” applicant, and being a bit older than many of his fellow applicants the longer it takes the harder it will be on our family. In other words…we’re really stressed.

We know we have to move this summer one way or the other, because there are no more classes Adam can take in Medicine Hat and he needs to transfer to a BA program. It’s so frustrating to look for affordable housing and have to eliminate choices because of family discrimination. Technically Canadians are supposed to be protected from landlords refusing to rent to families with children (except in buildings for the 65+ crowd). But the discrimination policies aren’t always laid out clearly and are not universally enforced.

Basically it sucks.

You know what else sucks?

Having to wait until MAY to find out if Adam is accepted or not.

Everyone knows medical school is hard and stressful. But very few people warn you how stressful the application process can be. Prospective students: consider yourself warned.

I like to keep these giveaway posts short and sweet when possible. So let’s jump straight to the nitty-gritty shall we?
What you can win: $25 Gift Certificate to Tiny Prints
How to win it: Visit Tiny Prints. Come back to this post and leave a comment telling my your favorite card. And leave me your e-mail address of course!
{For ONE extra entry you may blog about the giveaway and leave a comment on this post with a link to your post about the giveaway.}
Ends Friday.
Easy Peasy!
Good luck!
You can read my review of Tiny Prints to learn more about their products.
 

Where the heck have I been?

Well, besides on the couch sneezing and feeling sorry for myself?

Nowhere.

Why?

Well, besides being sick for a few days?

I no longer have a car.

Correction: I no longer have a running car.

Correction: I no longer have a car that runs in anything other than reverse.

Yes, sad day, our beloved station wagon, Angmar, has finally reached the end of his road. The transmission is dead, kaput, out of service, useless, annihilated, and so on. He took us across the United States, to Canada from Utah, to Utah from Canada {and back}, across Southern Alberta many, many, many times, and to Edmonton once as well. But, sadly, it’s not in our best interest to pay $3500 to rebuild his transmission {which is far more than he’s worth}. Now we’re desperately trying to work out what to do. I need a car to take Lucy to the day home. Adam is required to have a car for work. And frankly, it would be nice to go to the grocery store that isn’t outrageously over-priced instead of walking in sub-freezing weather to the little corner store that demands my first-born for a gallon of milk.

Needless to say, we’re pretty stressed.

My boss has been far more understanding that most. So I am grateful for that. But I’m going to miss our little wagon-that-could. But now he’s the little wagon-that-can’t and so we find ourselves forced to say goodbye.

Goodbye Angmar.

Rest in peace.

PS: Look for the Tiny Prints giveaway later today!

PPS: Here is a gratuitous picture of my offspring with her Uncle and Daddy the day they went sledding:

I told you before that I was less than perfect with my Proactiv routine during the first 30 days. But I want to share my before and after pics anyhow:

BEFORE {this is my trouble zone, the rest of my face does pretty well}:

AFTER:

Both pictures are sans make-up. As you can see there was some improvement after 30 Days, despite my own failure to adhere to the routine perfectly. I’ve got two pretty ugly zits in my after, but that’s better than the whole crop of zits in the before. What I’ve noticed so far is that yes, Proactiv is quite drying. But I use a nice, oil-free moisturizer immediately after the repairing lotion and feel my skin is doing well {especially considering the Alberta winter I’m dealing with}. The monthly break-outs before my period seem to be winning out over the Proactiv, which is unfortunate because that is when my skin is at it’s worst. But…this last month seemed to go a little better than the cycle before and I’m hoping it will continue to be less and less a problem the longer I use the Proactiv.

It will soon be time to take my final picture, at which time I will give you my final verdict of the Proactiv system.