Hello Again

I can't believe that I haven't posted since October.  Things have been busy- great- but busy.  School is going really well and I'm loving pathology.  Pharm- not so much.  I think that most of the last year & half, I've studied how to study.  I've stopped going to most lectures. Not being an auditory learner, it's easier to read the material and then listen to lectures on double speed to catch any unwritten tidbits.  I think that most of our class has a similar approach- I peeked into the lecture hall yesterday and there sat only 35-40 students out of 150. 

I did discover that we lost a classmate (as in dropped out- not deceased) over the last year.  It seems to me that that point of no return has passed though. 150K debt tells me that I can't change my mind until I finish and practice for a few years.  Not that I want to- it's just scary to have the option fade away. 

Anyway-  I have a SP exam in 2 hours so here is a procrastination photo of furniture/decor rearrangement. And the cat. Until next time....

Bathroom Update

I rearrange plants a lot. They're lighter than furniture and picky about their location. Sometimes the plant disagrees with the light, humidity or hungry cat where I originally placed it. This is why all of the spider plants are elevated out of kitty-reach. Toulouse loves the pretty yummy leaves.   Likewise, the dwarf palm planter that had been in the bathroom did NOT like the diffuse light there. So, a few weeks ago, out she came to the much more pleasant direct sun of the south windows.  She is much happier on the desk:

So to maintain the mini spa ambiance in the bathroom, I substituted what had been originally planned: lucky bamboo.  Several months ago, I had gone with the dwarf palm because I couldn't find any reasonably priced bamboo plants but a few weeks ago, I stumbled across these stalks for 99 cents/each at a small gardening shop and went crazy! (well.. $18 crazy....) I'm thrilled with the result. It seems much cleaner to me.

I also finished an ongoing de-uglify the medicine cabinet project.  Frustratingly, I didn't think to take any 'before' photos: it was a typical rusty beige blight in the room.  I used wood-flavored contact paper (it'll peel off pretty easily) and bright pink duct tape.  It took awhile to figure out how to apply the contact paper so that it didn't bubble and crease. I ended up cutting it in strips and applying it to mimic the wood floors in the rest of the unit. It gives me a thrill to open up the cabinet to see bright pink: my little secret.

 

Celebration

So... to celebrate that I scored precisely 5 out of 58 on the practice anatomy practical tonight.. (EEK!)
I've compiled two top 5 lists.

Things that I misplace daily (which is really annoying)

1.  The lens cloth for my glasses.  My glasses are chronically smudged and I've an unhealthy dependence on wiping them, an act I perform several times an hour.  You can call my microfiber lens cloth my security blanket. I refuse to use anything else (besides kimwipes swiped from the lab in desperation) because a) glasses scratch really easily and b) they're insanely expensive.  Last night, I emerged from my apartment after 11:00 for the 24 drug store because I direly needed a new cloth. They're like those single socks in the dryer; they up and disappear. This morning, the cloth was gone. Seriously. I set it on my counter and it walked away while I was sleeping.

2. My Ipod nano. It disappears from the gym bag pocket that's its home on a weekly basis only to return (after tearing apartment apart in search) to that same pocket. It's like the traveling garden gnome; at times I half expect postcards of 1.98x10^14 fathoms per fortnight (my nano's moniker because I really am that dorky) posed on the Great Wall.

3. Any important mail. I have the horrible horrible habit of sticking it in the book that I'm currently reading. When I go to retrieve it, I have to try to remember which volume du jour it had been. Books spore you know. You think that you have only a few hundred but then.. you blink... a week passes.. and suddenly you're tearing through thousands looking for the stupid electric bill.

4. My Ipad stylus. Despite the fact that it has an established home, like fathoms- it has pathological wanderlust. I put it in the same pocket of my bag after every class but when I return to put it to work, it's gone! I swear the Bermuda Triangle is legitimate, effective and exists in my bag.

5. My cell phone.  I actually don't have a problem with its disappearance days on end. I don't use my phone very often and my family has learned that email is a much more reliable way to get a hold of me. It usually will turn up randomly like when I'm putting groceries away or running a load of laundry.

List II : things my cat eats that she shouldn't

1. My houseplants. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. HAS. BEEN. DESTROYED.

2. My remaining windowsill herb.  Apparently, cats love basil.

3. My Ipad charger.  ARGGHH!

4.  Used Qtips. She unlatched the bathroom door, opened the cupboard and dug out the Qtips. She was on a mission!

5.  My favorite pre-school splurge:

Sigh.... I really liked those shoes.

First Week Halfway Point

I'm halfway through the first week.  It's been a rockin' start.  Classes start at 8:00 am and run until 4-5pm (except Tuesday, when we leave at 6:00).  BCMS is easing us in.  The only uber-demanding course is the biochem, which, thus far, has been all review for me.  Hee.   The small-groups meet first for 3 hours and work on the assigned problem sets covering the previous day's material. Then we all gather for the new 2 hour lecture.

I've always been an independent learner. Usually when I 'study' with other students, it's more distracting than constructive.  I've always performed well on exams after solitary study- not so much when I've had study-partners.  That said, the small-group format here has really impressed me. We've had 2 sessions thus far and I really feel like I understood the material so much better afterwards.

I'm officially a medical student! Sometimes that thought just trips across my mind and I can't help but grin. I'm really happy.

Some of my classmates are awesome and some haven't made such a good impression. I'm trying to not be judgmental.

All of the opportunities are overwhelming. We've already been introduced to so many, I can't keep them straight. I'm giving myself until the end of the month to acclimate to the academics and then I need to start planning the next four years. Research? International Study? Honors program? Interest groups?

Over the last few months, I had explored different study/organization options and settled, hesitantly, on an ipad. It's totally worth the insane amount of money!  I'm not the most tech savvy individual (I'd always been a paper and pen note-taker) but my transition has essentially been seamless.  Every day, Dr. __p____, my BC professor alone posts over 60 pages of slides/notes/objectives. Multiply that by all the classes of an MS1 and you'll get aching shoulders. With, i-annotate (an application) I can organize, write notes with a stylus, type etc over any file format (that I'm aware of). Sliding a tiny 1.5lb sliver of brilliance into my bag totally beats lugging around 50+lbs of books/binders. I wish I had had one as an undergrad; my back would be healthier.

Oh and the cat killed another herb, the chives. Only a few seeds had sprouted but I babied the group for weeks, hoping that they'd proliferate. She pulled them all out by their roots and left them scattered across the hardwood floor. That's 2/6 of my herb window garden gone. Bah.

Settling In..

Well, I'm getting used to my new apartment. My neighbors are musicians. Yep. Alt Rock. Sigh. Toulouse is not amused.




I love it nonetheless. Here are the aforepromised photos.





There's been a delay on the house closing. Lawyers. Hopefully, we'll finally finalize it this week. In the meantime, I've been popping up there to check on it and take advantage of the laundry. Yesterday afternoon, I was vacuuming and heard "knock, knock, knock" on the door.

I opened it up and, lo and behold, there was the mayor of my small town holding a small ceramic bowl.

I invited Mr. B in and we chatted for a few minutes. Apparently, his son bought the house and the mayor was unaware of the delay in closing. He was wandering around the property last week, found my collection of wheat pennies in the garage and took them home. When he found out about the delay, he wanted to return the money. He was embarrassed. We walked through the house together and he mentioned some things that 'John-John' wanted to change and asked about the family. I had never really known him, his kids were older than me, but he was my brother's little league coach and shared booster club responsibilities with my mom and several aunts and uncles.

After he left, I burst out in laughter. I was robbed by my mayor! It struck me as incredibly ironic.

Work has been remarkably smooth. The nightmare patient that I had mentioned last time was only with us for a few days and since then, our census has been mostly comprised of easy ortho patients.

No more news on the medschool application front. I'm still 'under review' at all of the other schools. The waiting is impossible. BAH.

Changes (and cleaning)

I know that I've been subtle about my frustrations with the folks at work. (tongue in cheek) A UA on the third shift has given her notice and I volunteered to step in. My manager is very thankful that I'm helping out and I'm really thankful that I get to work permanently with a stronger team.

I'm going to miss the greater opportunity to talk with patients during 2nd shift. I've found, though, the last few months I've been scrambling so much to do both the secretary's and aide's work I didn't have time to spend with patients anyway. I'll be glad to wear just one hat on this new shift.


On the cleaning note, I was out of town this weekend. I spent Saturday and Sunday up at my family's cabin. Coming home, I found my cat sitting on the window sill behind the kitchen sink watching the squirrels on the deck. Like she did all last winter...



As I turned to make a cup of tea, a mouse, A MOUSE!, ran across the stove and down into one of the burners. UGH! What's the point in having a pain-in-the-ass-she's-lucky-she's-so-cute cat if she doesn't mind roommates of the rodent extraction? I HATE rodents. Always have. I barely tolerate chipmunks and squirrels outside and the thought of them in my house makes my skin crawl. Their sharp pointy teeth that never stop growing are creepy. Besides, all of my work in Yellowstone has made me uber-aware of awful diseases (hantavirus, LCM etc) spread by little pointy toothed vermin.

I immediately pulled the stove out from the wall and, using a bottle of bleach, began scrubbing every surface I could reach. In my entire kitchen. For 3 hours. Then I went down to the 24hour drug store and bought a couple of traps. So far, I've only caught one and let it go across the street in the woods. My uncle mocks me for not killing them. He says that they'll just come back. But I can't rationalize killing something just because I hate them. Otherwise, all old drivers who go half the speed limit and don't use their turn signals...