Sorry it has been a really long time since I have updated.
Work is going well. It has kind of become a shock that this time next year it will be over. I have enjoyed my PhD project. I am a little sad to see it ending. Not really a lot to say about work as it is basically all writing and trying to piece my final experiments together.
I did some demonstrating this semester for cellular pathology which went ok. The coffee shop on campus got to know my order really well on Wednesdays. All I had to do (and still have to do) is just walk in and the ask if I want my usual. I like that a lot. 😁 I am also now a 'fill in when needed' anatomy teacher for the physician assistant course.
Outside of work, life has been pretty good. I have made some new friends, two are doing PhDs in politics or something of that area. One is from here and she and I usually try to meet for coffee a couple of times a month. The other is from Canada and lives across the hall. We often stand in the hallway or her kitchen (She bakes gluten free food :) ) and talk a few times a week. In March, we went to a charity event at the local tea shop for rare diseases. I had a masala chi hot chocolate. Probably, my new favourite hot chocolate now! It was a lot of fun and it was nice getting to know these two girls outside of a work environment.
Also in March, I went to the Anatomy Live event in Belfast! I am a nerd. :) I will skip the details for you all, but it is basically a dinner and dissection event. I was in Heaven. I got told I had perfect dissection skills by the surgeon leading the event. I left feeling quite pleased. It was amazing. One of the best nights ever. If you want, you can see that they got their start on Dragon's Den (UK Version of Shark Tank) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otYqv4BJBHA
For the past few months I have been going out with this guy that I have now known for 3 years. Crazy to think I have been here for 3 years! He is really nice and sweet. He understands my crazy work schedule and makes sure that I put it first. When an experiment goes wrong or I just have a bad day he is there to pick up the pieces and make me laugh. He makes those days better. We have cooked each other dinner (shocking on my end- he lived and I didn't burn it) and we have gone on several walks. Meme would have been shocked that I started cooking, especially for someone else. I hope she is getting a good laugh at this. We have gone to the arcade a few times where I tend to beat him in air hockey. :) He is teaching me chess, which near the end of my first game I started to get the hang of it. It was a little more confusing than checkers. All in all we have fun and we make each other laugh.
This is the suspected Bansky panting in PortStewart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portstewart We tend to go there a lot. It is a nice little town.
This is Portballintrae. I think this was one of my favourite beach walks. Not sure why. I just really liked the view of that huge house and the beach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portballintrae
Maybe it is the walks or knowing my work is going well but I am finally catching up on some sleep. Odd thing to be saying in my final year of my PhD. I have always made it my goal throughout my studies to never pull an all nighter and so far I have not. I have survived on 2 hours of sleep but never less. As I finish up my final year I am starting to get back to the 6-7 hours a sleep a night that I use to have.
All in all, I would say things are going pretty well. Not much else to really report. Fingers crossed the next few months of writing and experiments go well as well as the job search.
Bye for now.
