Passed micro yesterday. Not that big of a deal. I'm just glad it is over because it allowed me to focus solely on HD.......oh wait.......no thanks. It really isn't that the subject is that hard. The problem is that there is just so much stuff. You know those motion ball bounce back and forth things that people have on their desks? That is what studying is like. I learn one new thing and lose an old thing. Ahhhhh. It does come back quickly once I look at a picture or something, but I have a hard time just simply recalling. Thank goodness these are multiple choice tests. 2 days and I will be in the great PNW with the Matt. So excited.

I didn't really study that much today. I volunteered this morning. I can tell she stalls sometimes, and I worry that she isn't getting anything out of it. I worry too much. It isn't as if I am graded on this. I then had to go to school to do our musculoskeletal exam. It went fine. I actually performed the knee tests. Fun times. Got done early but forgot to turn in my grade sheet for the exam. Whoops. Just going to do it tomorrow. I am dead tired though. Didn't fall asleep until 230 or so. Don't know why. Stress? Anxiety? Who knows.

#4 item not to buy store brand: kitchen size garbage bags. Having had to wear these around my leg for 6 weeks while in a cast, I know from experience. Even with 2 bags and plenty of duct tape, I still got tons of water in those bags. And then you run the risk of infection with the scars etc. My suggestion - if you have to wrap your cast in a bag several times a week for over a month, get your mom to buy nice bags for you. If you don't have to do this, buy your own gosh darn nice bags.

As is usual with me, I forget things. Here I am, trying to do a daily thing, and I forget to do it on the third day. So I am doing it at the beginning as to not forget.

#3 item you shouldn't buy store-brand: I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS ONE!!!!! It really should be #1, but I can't go messing up the list now --> dryer sheets!!!!! Parts of that rash I got over 3 years ago are still bugging me. Pay the extra $2 and get the real deal (for me, that is Bounce). I did learn, however, that what I had was probably a type IV delayed hypersensitivity reaction. Neato.

Matt's gift finally arrived! It is a Seahawks light thing. I figured, heck, I'm making him move to Omaha, I might as well buy him something to remind him of his team. I can't wait to see it once I get up there.

I had some other good things to say, but I forgot. Oops.

I am just about as addicted to craigslist as you can be. no, i'm not talking personals here but more the housing and furniture. It makes me smile and laugh when I see how much some people are trying to charge for some things. Yes, go ahead and charge that much if you can, but if buyers would just read the postings, they would see how much cheaper they could get things. I see a lot of this: "Bought new for $600 8 years ago. Moderate use. Asking $500." Really?? In 8 years, not only has that table gone out of style but it has definitely depreciated more than $100. I also like the switch from "old" to "vintage." Call it vintage (or antique) and you can charge $300 more. It's amazing. A lot of times, I want to email these people and tell them how ridiculous they are. But I don't. Heck, if you can trick someone into buying it for that much, more power to ya.

The drive to Kearney was good. Tammi and I did a lot of talking. It had been almost 3 years since I had talked to her, so it was good to catch up. I am very grateful that I don't go to school in Lincoln...or Kearney. This was the first time I had seen Kearney in the light. Just about as boring as it is in the dark. The girls played well but lost in the end. It was good to see them all again. Made me miss it a little bit more. Well...I don't miss the losing. They did have nice travel suits that I was super jealous of. The car got good freeway gas mileage, so it makes me think less that my car is broken.

The anesthesiology thing on Friday was really good. I listened to some student presentations, of which I understood about 5% and then talked to one of the docs. She made me want to go into it more. Problem is, 4th year is your only time to really get exposure to it. And with more and more Creighton students going into it, it is hard to get that elective rotation early in the 4th year. Yes, I know I am thinking 2.5 years ahead, but whatever. Other than that, I have just been studying all weekend. Whelp, see ya later.

I don't really have that much to add today. Getting closer to freedom, that is for sure. We again didn't have much real class today. Very nice. We did get to do our fun male GU exam today though. The doctor guiding us with our patient told us a lot of people weren't getting in there enough. All I can say is: glad I am not a guy/glad I don't have to get that done to me. Yes, I have my own girl issues, but I don't have to turn and cough. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Except for one over-aggressive girl in the group, the girls seemed to be able to do the entire exam a little bit better. Take that as you will. The breast exam was a breast exam. We ran out of time on the rectal (it was a silicon model), so we didn't have a lot of time. That fake prostrate was hard to feel. Again: glad I'm not a guy.

I also had the M4 musculoskeletal practice tonight. We did joint movement etc. I was pretty ready when we got to the knee just because I've had it done so many times to me. By the way mom, you owe me a slurpee. I relaxed very very well :D In reality though, that whole checking the meniscus is harder than you think. It is hard to keep the hip from rotating rather than the knee. I guess it just comes with practice. Renee was practicing on my full intact knee (not like any of us M1's would even know how to tell if anything were wrong). I then tried to go workout and was suppppperrrrr pissed when I left my shoes at home. Grrrrrr

So all Omaha and Millard public and private schools were canceled today. You want to know why? Cold. Freeze your butt off cold. Starting my car this morning: -30. Oh my goodness. No, we still had school. My car did start, which was good, but when I went to go in reverse (after warming it up for a bit), my clutch disappeared. I thought I had imagined it, but no, my clutch got stuck. I got it back out with a little gentle love, but still, that was no fun. This is why I need a garage.

#2: no-stick-spray, at least the kroger brand. There is nothing worse than getting so excited to make cornmuffins that will be all cute and pop out just fine and then having only half of them come out. Blow.

10 days

A - happy birfday to manda-weeze!!!!
B - you da ho
C - happy half bday to dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To start us off, I would like to point out that freedom is on the 10 day weather.com calender. It may not be freedom for you, but Feb 28th is going to be a sweet sweet day.

Classes today were easy. Only one real class. Then fake class. Then 3 interviewing/physical classes. I can HENT you if you want me to now. Just ask. We also went over the breast exam because tomorrow we go over to the clinical assessment center to practice breast, male GU, and rectal. We are using standardized patients for breast and male GU, but they have models for us to use for the rectal thank goodness. Plus, who is going to agree to 126 rectal exams?

So I am going to start this up and see how long it lasts. I really wanted something that I put in every post. Yes, I am thinking about my blog too much apparently. Anyway, I am doing a "commentary series" on things you shouldn't buy store brand. Feel free to add or correct me if you think I am wrong. Here we go.
This is only first because I experience it today. #1 on the "Things you shouldn't buy store-brand" list: stretch tight wrap stuff. Not only does not tear from the box without a huge effort and possibly some scissors, but it sticks to everything BUT what you want it to stick to. It sticks really really well to itself as well. I should have just used foil. My vote: just spend the extra $1.50 and go name-brand.

It's done!!!!

MCB is done forever!!!!! So excited. Final today went....fine. I passed, and as all of us have drilled into our minds here, P=MD. And it really does people. From what I have garnered, 1st and 2nd year grades don't really matter that much. Especially when you come from a H/P/F system. Only 11 or 12 people get honors in a class, and frankly, I am fine with the P. No, if someone handed me an honors on a plate, I wouldn't turn it down. But really, I like sleeping, I like working out, I don't like studying. And that is that.

Haven't really done much today. Laundry. Oil change. All that fun stuff I didn't have time to do the past week. OOOOOOO guess what I did gain from all my weekend studying! Yes, the left hand pen twirl. I have been able to do the right hand since Prep, but the left hand has been soooo elusive. 12 hours at a table will do that I guess. Anything else new in my life? Nope. Tomorrow we do our HEENT practical. That should be fun. The ear is weird. The nose is weird. The mouth is weird.

Whoop

2 days in a row. Look at me all update-y and all.

We had our last MDQ today. Oh my goodness. I went into that thing not really knowing how I was going to do. I knew they could make it really hard or they could make it easier. They went right in between. When I was taking it, I found that I either knew the answer right away or I had never heard of what they were talking about. Meh. I did just fine. Passed both micro and HD. Can't stop studying though. MCB final on Monday. Believe it or not, I am way ahead of schedule for that. I have gone through every lecture once now and am starting to review/memorize stuff more!!!!! Weeeeee!!!! Needless to say...I am tired. Hellloooooo Diet Mt. Dew. Well, tomorrow, not right now.

I did lunges today. I always forget how bad of a life choice that is. Matt has a 4 day weekend. I am super jealous. In terms of other things going on in my life........um....nothing. I do nothing...for now. Also, I decided what I am going to do this summer: teach myself the oboe so that I can play Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission. That is all I have planned.

Yep

2 weeks and all this misery will be over!! Okay, it isn't misery. It is just hard. We have a quiz tomorrow (more like a mini Immuno test) and our MCB final on Monday. Ahhhh!!!! This balancing classes stuff is tough. I can't wait until after spring break when we really only have neuro.

Happy valentines day to all. Matt sent me beautiful flowers that are making my room smell great. Thanks love. But......my mom topped him. Don't get me wrong, I love the flowers, but my mom sent be peanut butter cap'n crunch and a big bag of peanut butter m&ms. It really doesn't get much better than that.

Look, I have a link!!!
Click on that link (hopefully it worked). So the whole theme of this is "If you don't have the money to buy all organic, just at least buy these things organic." I read on because I am interested. I then find a list of just about everything I eat except for chicken. Meat, apples, grapes, lettuce. Really?? That isn't a helpful list for me. I am totally over that article.

In other news on the food front, I have been eating a lot of cereal lately. I just find that we don't have a lot of stuff around the house to just mix up a good lunch (ie-sandwich). I mean, we have bread and lunch meat, but that's about it. Also, I would like to point out that I, once again, am the sole House kid holding up the internet with my blog. So there!

Painful shopping

I haven't updated because I haven't done anything at all. On Friday, we had our EBM final. Don't worry, I passed EBM. No summer boot camp for me. We had class that afternoon, which was pretty lame just in general. The fire alarm went off about 1 minute into one of the classes, and we were all ready to ditch for the day when it turned off. Dang it!! I went to the store, got gas, did nothing. Watched some What Not to Wear. Pretty much the usual Friday for me. Saturday was even more lazy. Worked out, went to church, ate Chipotle. All was good. Today, however, I had to shop for the house. Let me tell you, I understand now how you can get frostbite super fast. It was a nice 5 degrees out...with the wind it was -15. Oh my goodness!!!! Seriously, a minute (in total, I was inside and then out and then in) of exposure to that and I couldn't feel my hands, my fingers were red and swollen. Ouch. Other than that, I did very little today. Worked out. Studied. I am actually all caught up and getting ahead. Since I miss class to volunteer, I am listening to last years lectures for the ones I am going to miss. Look at me being all productive. Really not much else to say here. Hope that was worth your 1.5 minutes.

1 month!!

Til my birthday of course!!!!

I am super lazy tonight. We have our EBM final tomorrow. I studied for that, but it is open note. So I didn't do tons of memorizing. Just math practice. We have that...and 2 classes in the afternoon. Lame that they are so late. After this though, it is nose to the grindstone. The updates will most likely be very sparse.

MCB small group today - I actually talked. Always a rarity for me. But it is part of our grade, so I figured I had to. I did finally get my Robbins, which, for those of you who don't know, is kind of like the med school Bible. Yay me!!

I played basketball today...I now remember why I wasn't supposed to run too much during practice. My knee and foot are pretty mad. Lets just wait and see how I feel tomorrow. I really have nothing going on in my life. This week went pretty fast. That is all

February

First: Happy Birthday on last Saturday to mom!!!! Whoop whoop. All of 31 now. :D Second: um....nothing in particular. It is snowy and cold here. Night class got canceled though, which is good. Gives me time to catch up. No quiz this week either, which is weird.

Yesterday I got back to school at 920 or so, went to class until 5, came home cooked and cleaned until 630, then finally got to sit down. Long day. Today I missed morning classes because of mentoring, which is totally fine by me. It went well today; she is opening up a little bit more I feel like. Good times. I had an easy afternoon: interviewing (I didn't have to go) and histo lab (I didn't pay attention). Now I am here. Yay!

As for the weekend, it was glorious. Well....not the weather. Other than that it was fun. We had okay Mexican food at a white-trash Mexican place (bad idea) and rented The Kingdom. We wanted The Invasion, but that was all gone. Sad. Movie wasn't bad though. I thought it was going to be a lot more political. Thank goodness it wasn't. Saturday day we did.....nothing. We went to see Matt's parents. Thats about it. Oh, we went to Costco too and got cheese. I know, we are exciting. Saturday night though, Matt took me to an early Valentine's Day dinner at Anthony's. Thanks love. It was good. After that we just hung out. Sunday involved church and watching the Super Bowl at Paolo's. After that, we ate and went to gregorian chanting at St. Marks in Seattle. Very cool and calming. Then home on the red eye. Sad. Time to buckle down though seeing as how finals start this week and go until March. Whoop whoop!