Christmas Break Ahead

In precisely 5 days, I will be freed from the stress presented by final examinations. Then, Christmas break begins.

It's only too often that I speak about what I want to do with my future. If you ask me what I plan to be doing in 5 years, I'd say "I'll be in a naturopathic school." In 10? I'll be a graduated naturopathic doctor working hard to fulfill my goals.

But what of the near future? Say...Christmas break? Don't worry, I've got that all planned out as well. I don't focus only on the distant future. The unfortunate thing is that I don't tend to keep to the plans of the near future quite as well. I wonder why. Regardless, I've got a ton of things to do this upcoming break and less time to do it in. As I progress through medical school, not only is my summer vacation disintegrating, so is my Christmas. This year, I've got a solid 3 weeks or so. Here's what I've got planned in no particular order of importance:

• Read! With 3 weeks before I start clinical rotations, I'll need to catch up on whatever information I possibly can! I'll probably sit and read Macleod's Clinical Examination...maybe 30 minutes a day? If possible, I'd quite like to include some more relaxing titles. I have yet to complete my read of the Left Behind series so I'd like to get a little further!
• Create DVDs! You're probably wondering 'why' and 'what for?'. I have still to complete the editing for the incredibly fun karaoke night the M.S.A. had planned during freshers week for an M.S.A. events DVD! I also have to look through and edit the 100+ videos I took while in Shanghai for DVD placement. A slideshow with my hundreds of photos as well. All of that, for my family (and friends too if they care to watch).
• Shanghai scrapbook! I have a ton of little tidbits that I picked up here and there during my trip to Shanghai and brought it all home with me. I figure it would be nice to put together a little scrapbook of it all rather than throw it all out.
• ND schools scrapbook! Or something like it. I've chosen my favourite 4 N.D. schools that I plan to apply to in just less than 3 years' time. But first, I want to find out as much information as I possibly can for each!
• Get caught up on TV series! There are a few series that I've been neglecting over the past few weeks so I'll be catching up on those. In addition to that, I started watching The Big Bang Theory and so I'll continue watching until I'm all caught up.
• Watch anime! Psh. As if I could not include anime in my vacation plans! It's always there, it's just a matter of having the time for it.
• Learn to bake cheesecake! I'll actually be making the first attempt with my Mom this weekend. Or...she may just make the attempt on her own since I have to study. I'll probably help though! But I'll learn to make it myself, for sure!

It's a fairly long list filled with a number of time consuming activities. How much of it will I be able to complete in 3 weeks? Only time will tell. We'll see how it goes. As long as I don't waste my days away playing The Sims 3.