Temporary hiatus

(she announces belatedly) I was off work yesterday to study & off early Friday to have my ears tested & irrigated. That latter was quite the experience! I have my final exam tonight. Naturally, I don't feel ready. Ah, well. It will go how it will go. I spent a goodly number of hours studying for it, but I've learned not to try guessing how I'm going to do because it seems I just never know. A week from today, I have the dreaded blood pressure re-test. As it turns out from my encounter with buckets and buckets of hydrogen peroxide, water, and colace flush, I did have (and yes, this is gross) enormous, hardened wax plugs occluding both ear canals. In the before- and after-flush hearing tests, the right ear improved dramatically; the left has genuine high-frequency hearing loss. The doctor gave me a referral to an audiologist for that, should I choose to pursue it. Meanwhile, I also think I'll get myself a better stethoscope. I won't be getting the amplified one just yet (after much discussion with the doctor, nurses, and my parents), but a better scope might give me an extra edge. So - there you have it. I've done just about all I can do to prepare - and I'll continue to practice on blood pressure volunteers here and probably around the neighborhood at home. I'm out in the orchard all day, counting apple blossoms. It's a lovely, lovely change from hauling soil, and a far cry nicer than working with rotten apples and mold. It's a stunningly beautiful day, and the birds are singing up a storm. The flowers are so pretty - delicate and sweet - so it's actually quite a treat to be out there. The only bad thing is that I can't really sneak in a little studying here and there when I'm in the field. Ah, well. I guess that's it for now! I need to get out in the orchard to take some apple blossom photos - I am an idiot and I missed both the peaches and the apricots. I make myself so mad - this is my last spring here, so I've missed my chance for those photos. Sigh. I missed the plums and pears, too. Just for the record, my favorite apple blossoms are from the Mutsu - they're huge and sexy and silky, and the buds are softly striped like candy pillows. I really do need to get out there tomorrow with the camera. (p.s. hilarity - this just never gets old - I'm sitting very, very still because there is a blue jay on the line outside my window making the red tailed hawk call. I've never had quite such a close view of this behavior - and boy does it make me laugh.) Ta!