Good Food, Good Meat, Good Lord Let's Eat

The title of this post was my daddy's trademark "blessing" before family meals when he was asked to pray. Short and sweet!
Since I've had this month and basically last month off I've had a good amount of time to cook. I sort of found, sort of created a crockpot stew recipe that I've already made twice since February and I can happily report that it tasted just as good the 2nd time around. Don't tell my mother-in-law but my husband said it was just as good as hers. That means a lot coming from him. Without further ado, here 'tis:

BEST STEW EVER

1 small package stew meat
1/3 cup flour
1 small can V8
1 can English peas
1 can corn
2 potatoes
1 small onion
Tony's, salt, pepper

Put crock pot on low. Grab a pan and put it over med-high heat on the stove. Dump a little flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and toss the stew meat in it to coat. Melt a little butter or fat of your choice in the pan. My mother would say to use Smart Balance or whatever because it's GOOD for you. Not good within reason for a fat, but actually the butter is GOOD for you. I prefer Brummel & Brown's butter-like product but that's because it says it has yogurt in it and yogurt is GOOD for you. Anyway, then saute your meat until it's all brown and mostly done, or all the way done, whichever you prefer. While the meat is browning chop your onions. I chop them real big because Kris doesn't like them and that way I can easily fish them out of his bowl. Throw them on the bottom of the crockpot. Then chop your potatoes and throw them on top. Now dump the corn and English peas on top, juice and all. Sprinkle all those veggies with a little bit of Tony's. Then throw the cooked meat on top, then the V8 on top of that. Leave it on low for 6 hours. It's so, so good. If you don't keep V8 in stock pretty sure you could use a can of tomato sauce and a little water. It's not an exact science.

This makes a dense, hearty stew. If you like yours more soup-y I suggest you put some broth or something in it but I can't guarantee it'll taste as good.

Oops He Did it Again

The husband, K, is a notoriously amazing gift-giver. He has already given me an early Christmas present before my last few long interview trips. And what was it you ask? Well just a Chi travel set complete with straightening shampoo, conditioner, styling creme and silky stuff along with a mini CHI hair straightener and mini hair dryer. It came in this nifty little bag that has a ton of compartments and rolls up all nice and compact. It even has a little hook to hang from towel racks. I got so much use out of that little sucker over the last few weeks and know that I'll use the heck out of it during residency. I'll be able to get some sleep on call not worrying about what my hair looks like the next day. Ha. Honestly I see myself throwing it in my bag to have on call and being very, very lucky if I get to use it.

Anywho, all of this to say that by the melieu of small packages that have been arriving on our doorstep I can already tell that he has WAY outdone me once again this year. We always set a budget and I'm pretty sure he exceeds it by 2-3x every single time. And I stick to it! Now who gets the crappy end of that deal might I ask?

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas Eve! Let's not forget the real reason for the season - to outdo your significant other in gift giving therefore making them feel incredibly guilty for not blowing the budget on your happiness.

As for the rest of life, things have been going great the last week since I'll be getting a few weeks of rest before my next set of interviews. I've finished 9. 9! and have 3 more. There's pretty much nothing they can throw at me now to make me nervous during these interviews. Sometimes I get angry when they don't ask really random or behavioral questions. Where's the challenge? I've got my life story condensed to a 1 minute shpiel from birth to present day.

Here are the highlights so far from interview season:
1. Showing up to the wrong hospital 10 minutes before my interview (but you already heard about this in an earlier post)

2. All the interviewees crowding into a shuttle to go to an interview and having the driver ask us "So where y'all work at?" There was a collective "SERIOUSLY!!!???" Only 1 girl knew the actual address we were going to. The rest of us had heard "We'll shuttle you to the interview" and mentally checked out.

3. Getting a flat tire and then sideswiped (notice a theme? People love to hit me. I must be super attractive in a magnet sort of way.)on the way to an interview at a place I probably won't even bother ranking.

4. Getting ready for an interview and on the verge of running late when the electricity goes out WHILE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF BLOWDRYING MY HAIR.

5. Getting caught in a snowstorm crazy blizzard, having panic attacks in the car while watching huge trucks swerve and wreck all around me and trying to remember to breathe. Making it to the interview to find that only ONE other applicant toughed it out. And her ass was from Washington. She had what she called "snow gear" whatever that is. Then seeing all my hardcore girl surgery buddies at the same snowy institution that had closed for the day! PS - only the FEMALE applicants toughed it out for these interviews. Not a man in sight. How typical.

6. Seeing said Washington applicant at my next interview and watching her anguished face as she actively passed a kidney stone during the pre-interview Powerpoint, ran down to the ER to get checked out, and then back up to complete her interview. She is TOUGH. These are the women I'm up against. What the hell?

7. Listening to nearly all the Sweet Potato Queen's books and making it my life's goal to have as much fun as Jill Connor Browne. I laughed out loud all by myself a few times in the car. Passed those hours so well. I also recommend any of Greg Iles' books on tape/CD.

8. Following my mapquest directions to a hotel only to end up 20 miles away at someone's house in a nice subdivision by the same name as the street the hotel was on. Hmmm. Yeah, I might be your doctor one day. Be afraid. And Merry Christmas. I'm thanking the sweet baby Jesus that I've survived this year so far.

Runner's Log

45 minutes; 3.87 miles; 380 calories burned

It wasn't very pretty out today - hello clouds :( but at least it wasn't raining. I knew I was giving Penelope a bath today so instead of steering her around every mud puddle and gutter filled with stagnant rainwater I just went ahead and let her jump in every single one of them. How liberating! She was so tired for her bath that she didn't protest at all. Just sat there with her head resting on the side of the tub and let me bathe her. Guess how many towels it takes to dry a 9 month old cocker spaniel?

5! She completely soaked through 5 towels. Methinks it's time for a haircut.

Today Kris and I plan on getting the house all gussied up for Christmas. I'm hosting a Christmas shower for my dearest friend Julz in less than a month so decorating should be a lot of fun this year. As for the rest of the day - I really need to start preparing for ACLS (advanced cardiac life support). This is also known as "running a code" or what to do when someone's dying. We're being trained and tested this Tuesday and Wednesday and I haven't even begun studying. Yikes. Psych really has made me lazy.

The IRS Hates Us

Kris and I had been planning to receive our tax refund sometime this week. That's what the website said. That's what the 1st IRS official we talked to 3 weeks ago said. Now, they've decided to "review" our refund since we filed for the first time homebuyers' credit. But no fear, they're mailing out the rest of our refund - this Friday. And we need to allow 3 weeks for it to get here. What the heck? BROKE. Grrr....

Runner's Log

5.03 miles; 57'30"; 492 calories burned

Kris did the first mile of this one with me. Penelope was only able to hang for the first 1/4 mile. Then she was pooped! Her leash training is coming along well though :)

Study Break of the Day

Kris got an e-mail from the Teach Mississippi Institute stating that his completion certificate is in the mail! Wahoo! He's off at the movies while I'm stuck here studying, but when he gets finished we're going to have a celebratory dinner at the place of his choice. That'll be today's study break and I swear I'll look forward to it for the next 3 hours. After that I'll look forward to running and going to bed. I'm hoping the rain is finished so I can fit in a little run after dinner. Maybe it'll keep me from gorging myself. Probably not though.

P.S. - I can't complain too much about studying today since I didn't get started until 2:15. That's what happens when it's raining and you want to stay in bed all day. I plan on studying until 1:00 tonight to make up for the difference and the hours away at dinner and running. Sometimes I REALLY wish I were a morning person. In one month I'll probably KILL to be a morning person! And so that's how I decided upon my gift to myself for completing the STEP. Behold:



It's a coffeemaker WITH a timer. That way when I roll out of bed at 4:30am I'll have a fresh cup of coffee waiting on me. Goodbye $12 Wal-Mart coffeemaker. I'll miss you!

Yet Another Reason We Love Kris

*He hung a bug zapper in the backyard 2 days ago - now we don't get eaten alive by mosquitoes every time we go outside*

**Mega reason - he surprised me with a 1 hour massage appointment as a gift for finishing up 2nd year**

Counting my blessings

Party Recipes

I had a few requests for the recipes from the puppy party. They're both super simple:

Spiked Sweet Tea Punch

4 tea bags
2 cups boiling water
7 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tube frozen lemonade
1 tube frozen orange juice
2 cups whiskey**

Boil 4 tea bags in two cups water. Let steep for 10 minutes. While that's brewing, boil 7 cups water and add 1 frozen tube of lemonade concentrate, 1 frozen tube of orange juice concentrate, 2 cups of sugar, and 2 cups of whiskey. **I didn't have whiskey, so I used 1.5 cups of lemon rum and .5 cup of firefly sweet tea vodka. Add in the 2 cups of tea now. Place it all in a gallon freezer bag and let freeze overnight. Will be slushy. The recipe recommended adding Sprite when serving, but I liked it without. Also, not sure exactly why it's necessary to boil 2 separate sets of water, but I didn't want to screw it up, so that's what I did.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 blocks cream cheese
1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 can chicken
1/2 cup ranch dressing (or bleu cheese if that's preferred)

Essentially you just throw it all in a crock pot. Takes about 1.5 hrs on high or 3 hrs on low. Serve with celery and tortilla chips/crackers.


After the party Kris and I were a little bored and I sure didn't want to study, so we went to the movies. We saw The Soloist. I wasn't very impressed, but I think that's partly because the atmosphere was ruined for me. I had Tuberculosis Sally sitting directly to my left and Snoring Sam sitting right behind me. No lie, this guy started snoring 5 minutes into the movie and continued throughout the ENTIRE thing. His wife nudged him 2x and within minutes he was snoring again - very loudly. He was a heavy set gentleman, so I'm sure he has sleep apnea and she didn't want to interrupt the sleep he was able to get. Everyone in the theater was talking about it when we left. I *almost* asked him if he enjoyed his nap, but I decided not to. Surprising, I know...

Tuberculosis Sally just loved coughing throughout the entire movie, but that didn't stop her from eating her popcorn or talking the whole time. She didn't have much of an interest in covering her mouth, which resulted in me burrowing my head in Kris's shoulder and inhaling deeply to avoid all the organisms she was spewing about. I wish I could say med school has done this to me, but those who know me well know I've always had a germ issue. My best friend J likes to remind me of the time our school bus was behind a vehicle that was spewing a lot of black smoke and I held my breath the whole time. Didn't want to "pollute my lungs." What can I say? I'm a little obsessive.

And here's some pictures for your enjoyment:

Reasons I Love Kris

Upon finding a mouse stuck to one of those sticky traps in his store last week he took it outside and let it go.

Backstory: The sticky traps were in place before Kris took over the store. We both think they're inhumane. The poor little mouse's nose was bleeding from where he'd gotten it stuck and ripped himself away. He was tiny and making little whiny, squeaky noises :(

Deja Vu

Well I got to see the garage door man again today. Awesome. The one thing I can say about this guy is that he always shows up 30 minutes earlier than he's scheduled, calls 15 minutes ahead of time to give you a warning, and doesn't leave until he gets the job done. He's not terribly expensive either. It's nice to find a non-scary non-price gouging service man. So if your garage door ever breaks, just let me know and I'll get you his number.

Still no luck on the Woodrow front. We're planning on maybe/probably getting a puppy/dog Friday when Kris gets back from his little trip. He's leaving town today to go see a UFC fight in Nashville with his bestie. I don't think he's that interested in the fight, but is interested in a fun trip. I can't blame him. He won't be back until Thursday. What will I do with 3 days in the house all to myself? Hopefully I'll get some work done!!!

I felt the major pangs of guilt for not studying every hour of every day yesterday when sitting behind one of my classmates. During the lecture she pulled out her First Aid (the STEP book) to take notes in it. Not only did it have nifty little tabs all up and down the sides but as she flipped through it I saw highlighting in several different colors and tons of her own notes in the margins - on nearly every page. That book is about 500-600 pages long. how many pages have I glanced at? Not sure, probably around 30. Yikes. There's now less than 60 days before the test. It's time to get on the ball. The only problem is we have another week and a half of class left and I really don't want to just completely bomb this last round of tests in order to study for STEP. Not to mention I can't really afford to bomb these tests. Whatever though. I guess I just need to get organized and I'm hoping to make some progress on that front over the next week. It's looking a little doubtful though since before midnight tomorrow night I must accomplish all of the following:

* finish 4 transcriptions
* attend the PIG roast (this is a charity event for Blair E. Batson at Old Venice :))
* play in a tennis match (and hopefully win)

Thursday night I also have a transcription due and another tennis match. Maybe it will rain and one of them will get moved/cancelled.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot - either on Thursday or Friday I have to complete my first witnessed (by my preceptor) history and physical. It's a little nerve wracking since we've done lots of pieces of a physical exam but hardly a whole thing. I am really comfortable looking in ears now and can almost always find the ear drum - except when there's so much wax it just completely blocks everything. That happens about 1/2 the time. It's pretty gross.

Must get back to class now, but thought I'd rant for a second. I'm sorry my posts are always so sporadic, but for those who know me well you know that's just how my brain works. I don't know any other way!

It's Over Already?!?!?

How in the heck is Spring Break over already? I was just starting to hit my stride. It was nice to have time to tend to my house and garden. Today was another super productive day in that arena. After a glamorous Sunday morning breakfast at Waffle House with K I made my 3rd or 4th Wal-Mart trip of the week. I got more paint for the living room. This is the 4th color I've bought. I FINALLY got it right though. I managed to come home, put in a new dryer vent, do some laundry, paint the living room, do some more laundry, then plant a bunch of plants. I love it. I had a feeling there was a problem with my dryer when I had to let my clothes dry for 5 hours before they were dry. I was worried a new vent wouldn't fix it, but it did. Hooray! I consider all the housework I did this week Step study. If I hadn't gone ahead and gotten it done I wouldn't have been able to think about studying. As for ACTUAL Step study - I got 1 hour in. Nice. Half of that was doing 20 questions. Just enough to make me realize I don't remember crap but everything looks familiar. I'm kind of glad I didn't study a lot this week because now I'm not dreading it at all. It's so funny how you can get used to things. At the beginning of last year I had no clue how to study and definitely didn't have the ability to study for an entire day or an entire night. I'd never done it before. Now it's the norm. Anyway, on to more interesting things...

Kris and I went to a new place the other night - the 930 Blues Cafe. It's near State and Congress St., so it's not for the faint of heart. I had my pepper spray and 2 men with me. The music was amazing though and I really liked the atmosphere. I like going to bars/clubs where you can sit down - you know - RELAX. Some people got up and danced a little, so that was entertaining too. The table in front of us was reserved for the Sweet Potato Queens, but they never showed. This is not the really interesting part though. Kris and I had been out and about the whole day doing other things and Woodrow had been a good boy all day. We just assumed he'd be good the rest of the night.

WRONG.

He DESTROYED Kris's captain's chair AKA the recliner. It already had the tiniest little rip in the seat. That was all Woodrow needed. He completely ripped the fabric the rest of the way off the seat. Then he ripped up all the stuffing that was on the inside. It is a mess. So the next day I went off in search of a crate. Ha ha. I ended up going with Julia's method of a gate instead. Crates are freakin' expensive. We have gated him in the kitchen both times that we've left the house today and it's worked really well! We put his bed, food, water, and a toy in there and so far he's been great. We came home tonight to find him hanging out on his pillow. Nothing was torn up. It was wonderful.

Tomorrow we find out our tentative rotation schedule for next year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Slacker

Well, I'm back home after an exhilarating weekend. I actually got home at about 2:00 this afternoon, but I've been attempting to study since then. So far all I've managed to do is finish up some online quizzes and go through all the old path tests. I still need to run back through some of my path notes because apparently I don't know too much about urinalysis or body fluids. The test I'm dreading the most this block is by far pharm. It's never been my strong suit, but I'm dreadfully aware of the lack of effort I've put forth this block. Now - for the interesting stuff...

Kris and I made it to Oxford Thursday night and split up - him with his guy friends, me with my girl friend. That sounds funny. Anyway, I picked up my friend Julz from Volta and then we swung by the drive-through coffee place and went back to her house. I had my computer in front of me, but didn't get too much studying done.

Friday afternoon we went to a relatively new place in Oxford called Honeybee's (Bakery or Cafe? I can't remember) for lunch. We both had the pork tenderloin sandwich with caramelized onions, spiced apples, brown sugar rum sauce, spinach, and cheese. It was A-MAZ-ING. I managed to resist all their pretty little cupcakes, pecan tarts, and brownies. Then we went to Belk to pick up a wedding gift. Julz found some jeans. I found a precious black brocade skirt straight out of the 1950s but it was a size too big. Darn... Not sure if I would have worn it that much anyway. We then went to the coffee shop for a while. I actually got a little studying done. Julz read through a case or two. Then we noticed Buffalo Peak was having a sidewalk sale. I really needed a new fleece. It's not that mine is falling apart. I'm pretty sure they're indestructible. I've just had the same black fleece since 2006 or so and now that I have a white dog that sheds a lot it doesn't really work out well. So I got a green Mountain Hardware jacket that's fleecy on the inside and water-resistant (and I'm pretty sure dog fur resistant) on the outside. Exciting!

Then we did our nails, went to Newk's and had dinner with Kris and 2 of his friends, went to the concert, then Chicken-on-a-Stick, then home. The concert was great. I saw an M1 there and we were both like - "What are we doing here?!?! We have tests next week!!!" It made me feel a little better about playing hooky. Kris managed to get 2 records at the concert. Our collection (mostly his) is really growing!

Saturday I rode to Kosciusko with Julz for a wedding shower. I got a little studying done in the car on the way there. The shower was fun and the food was soooo yummy. I'm probably going straight to hell for eating chicken on a stick at 1:00 in the morning and then oreo cheesecake at 2:00pm on the same day. That's just not right. I had some oatmeal in between, so they cancel each other out, right? If that wasn't enough we went to the pre-bachelorette party dinner at 5:30 and had pizza. Yikes. It was fun though. Then it was back to Oxford (with a feeble attempt to study on the way). I got a little more studying done that night and then rode back to Jackson with Kris this morning.

The poor cat missed us so much she made herself sick - literally. I got to clean up 2 piles of something that came out of her. I'm not sure what it was. Now I must quit typing and attempt to cram some more info in before 9:00 tomorrow morning. Here's our schedule for the week if you're interested:

Monday - 9:00am - Pathology Test #5 (of 6 total) 18hrs of lecture covered

Tuesday - 9:00am - Biostats Test #1 (of 2) 11 lectures; 1:00pm - Preventive Medicine Test #1 20 hours of lecture/readings

Wednesday - 9:00am - Pharmacology Test #5 20 hrs of lecture

Thursday - 9:00am - Psychiatry Test #1 4 hrs lecture/1000000hrs of ridiculous quizzes

Friday - 9:00am - ICM Test #5 12 hrs of lecture

3 MORE WEEKS OF CLASS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chopped Salad!

I *actually* cooked today. Wahoo!!! After I pried myself off the treadmill and made it home I threw some frozen chicken breasts in the oven with a little butter, S&P, and Mrs. Dash's spicy blend. Then I started chopping.

I chopped lettuce and avocado. Then I chopped the chicken. Then I threw it all together with some black beans and Mexicali corn. Then I got REALLY fancy and put a little avocado in my food processor along with some light ranch, lime juice, and Mrs. Dash's spicy blend. I ended up with a delicious chopped chicken salad. I was very proud of myself because I have never really thought I made a good salad at home. Now I know you just have to chop everything up really small and let the flavors meld. Yum yum. I was going to take a picture, but I'm lazy and I couldn't stop eating long enough.

While all this was going on Kris and I took turns playing a game he brought home from work. He's a manager at a local gaming store. The game is called "Lips" I think. Basically it's karaoke for the Wii and they give you points based on your performance. So so so fun and hilarious. I think I nearly burst his eardrums with my rendition of Beyonce's "Irreplaceable." That poor boy. I didn't get very many points on that one, but I really blew them away with "Love Song" - better known as the "I'm not gonna write you a love song" song.

After eating and shenanigans Kris was back to work for a midnight promotion for some new game that's coming out and I was off to renal pathology land. Yes, I still wasn't finished looking at it for the first time until today. Yes we covered it 3 weeks ago. Yes I'm still not sure if I know ANY of it. Oh well. I wasn't a total slacker today. I did go to all of my classes except 1 and then I came home and watched it on my computer. Don't you love technology?

Change of Plans

Today was supposed to be filled with a trip home and attending a good friend's wedding shower. Even though I felt guilty for not studying all day I was really looking forward to it! Then my poor friend called to tell me she had been struck with Mycoplasma pneumoniae (she actually said "walking pneumonia", but what good is all this expensive education if I don't use a little of it?). The girl was kind enough to cancel it and not risk giving it to us all. That's the thoughtful and responsible thing to do. She's only having 1 more shower before her wedding on March 14 and since she's one of my good buddies I REALLY want to be there for her shower. The problem? It's the Saturday before test week. The solution? I'm ALREADY being a big slacker and going to Oxford that Friday for a Modest Mouse concert. On the way back to Jack-town I can just swing by my hometown and go to the shower. It's so unlike me doing all these FUN things the weekend before test week. Not that I'm never a slacker, but usually the weekend before test week I'm wound so tight that if Kris even looks at me the wrong way I can go into a rage and then tears within 2 minutes. This, my friends, should be interesting...

I can see it now. She's going to be opening presents and I'll offer to help rip the paper off faster. I'm always surprised the rest of the world is normal for that weekend. How can people be smiling? Don't they know I'm about to have 6 tests? Why is everyone moving so slowly? What's with the small talk? I've got 8000 things to learn in the next 3 days. AHHHHH!!!!!!!!! This is one of the things I really don't like about myself - I'm very self-centered. It's not in an "I'm better than you" way but more of an "Oh my gosh, I don't have time to sit around playing like all these normal people" sort of way. At least I'm aware of it right?

Another thing I do when I'm feeling stressed is finish people's sentences. I feel like I already know what they're going to say and I'm too impatient to just let them get it out already. I try to keep a lid on it most of the time, but feel free to put me in my place if I ever act like this around you.

Today was spent like a usual weekend day, a little lazy at the beginning, some studying in the middle, a big break, then more studying. I'm such a night person. I'm not dreading the nights in the hospital next year nearly as much as the early mornings of the surgery rotation. It's going to be hard to put makeup on in the car on the way there when it's still dark outside in the morning. That being said, I'm turning in my preferences for the order of my 3rd year rotations tomorrow. I'm less concerned with the ACTUAL schedule and more concerned with who I'll be sharing it with. I think I can get along with most people in our class though, especially since we'll be too preoccupied running around to get on each other's nerves too much. For those of you who want to know, here's the rotations I'll go through next year (in no particular order):

Surgery - 12 weeks
Family Medicine - 6 weeks
Psychiatry - 6 weeks
Internal Medicine and Neurology - 12 weeks
Ob/Gyn - 6 weeks
Pediatrics - 6 weeks

The family medicine rotation is split up. We spend 2 weeks at Baptist in Jackson and 4 weeks in a rural setting. My hometown qualifies as a rural setting and I already know most of the docs there so I'll most likely end up there. That's great too because it's only about 1 hour away from Jackson. I'm not planning on spending 4 weeks away from my husband, house, cat or dog. Do you know what kind of mess I'd come home to? Seriously...

Ahh Saturday

This Saturday was uncharacteristic for me because I got up before noon. I woke up at 10:00, made some coffee, watched a little tv to help me wake up (ha ha)and then attempted to study. I don't know what the deal has been lately but every single time I have good intentions and try to study the real world intervenes. Kris's car died yesterday. I tried to jump it off, but apparently when the motor is completely dead that doesn't really matter.

Today I was just sitting down to study when I hear the doorbell ring. I'm not so good with unexpected visitors. I wish I was. The problem is I'm just not comfortable being around people when I have no makeup on. I wish I was, but it's just a fact of life. On this day I had on no makeup, a giant zit, slept-in hair, and pajamas (with no bra of course) on. Fortunately it was just Kris's dad and brother there to work on his car and they weren't requiring me to entertain them. After they let me know they were there I immediately scrambled to put on makeup and you know, real clothes. After 2 hours of work and 1 trip to O'Reilly's, they declared the car DOA. Kris rode back with them to Kosciusko to grab my dad's old car.

So after a late lunch I set to work on finishing up a lecture and re-taking one of the dreaded psychiatry quizzes. After 3 takes (with a 3 take limit) I finally made a 100 on it. Now I just have to retake 2 more. Goodbye much needed hours of my life.

While printing out some of our "independent study" documents for pharm I realized I was running out of ink. By the way, I like how teachers call something "independent study" when they really just want to give you more stuff to learn and test you on but not be responsible for teaching it to you. I've never had my ink cartridge refilled, but heard it could be done. I poked around online and figured out Walgreen's was having a $5 ink cartridge refill sale that ended today! Of course I took them up on that.

My best friend Julz happened to be in town this weekend so I decided to hijack her and take her along for the ride. I wanted to visit with her but knew I didn't have any time to do anything FUN. I'm stuck in the nerd hole but can't seem to get anything accomplished this weekend. Anyway, we made it to Walgreen's, got the ink, I saved $12 and got super excited.

Now I'm back home wondering how I'm going to cover 42 lectures worth of information in the next few days. Wish me luck!

Valentine's Day and Why Kris is a Superior Gift-Giver

Remember how I didn't have Kris's gift 3 days before Valentine's? Well, things got busy and I couldn't think of what to get him. So the morning of I woke up and made him a "gift certificate" for a round of putt putt golf. I put it in an official-looking envelope. How was it official-looking? Because I wrote those exact words on the outside in big red Sharpie. Ha. He also had a sweet card, Reese's hearts, and flavored Tootsie rolls in a cute bag. So at least it looked nice. Anyway, he was happy with it.

Then came time for my gift - he freakin' got me a hot pink iPod nano! Are you kidding me? We set a limit of $20. I think he broke that unless he's a major thief or something. I'm not usually a super-girly hot pink kind of girl, but I think it's pretty sweet since it was a Valentine's gift. Anyway, I'm VERY excited about it. While it was er, fun, "sharing" his iPod, it wasn't really convenient. He would take it to work and then I'd wait for him to come home before I went to run with it and sometimes it would be too dark by then and I wouldn't end up running at all. So hopefully I'll be more on track with my running from now on.

After our gift exchange I got ready and we went for a late lunch - or breakfast for us at Cock of the Walk. It was a bit overcast when we left the house but it cleared up once we got there. I indulged and had fried chicken. Yum. After we ate we went out and fed most of our left over french fries to the ducks and seagulls. Some of the seagulls even caught the fries in mid-air. It became a game where they'd fly down by our heads, hover for as long as they could hoping for a fry, and then fly off. The ducks didn't like this very much since they're pretty much water and ground-bound.

Then we decided to go play putt putt golf since we both enjoy it, the sun was out, and the weather was fairly mild. Some of the holes were a little slick, but we made it. We both got a hole-in-one at one point or another. Kris beat me by 3 strokes though. Then we went and checked out movie times. Taken was playing at 10:00 so we decided to head home and relax a little before heading out to see it. We headed home, drank some champagne out of some of the crystal glasses we got for our wedding and Kris played video games while I started setting up my new iPod. Then we headed out to see the movie. It was so good, but so scary. My heart rate was way way up at some points. For those who don't know - it's all about a girl who goes to Paris with a friend for a sort of senior trip deal. They get kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. The girl's biological father is some sort of a retired awesome ninja guy and works to find her. That's all I'm saying. No spoilers here. I'd recommend it and I'm not usually an action movie girl.

Overall we both had a fabulous day. I'm glad since usually days that are built up like Valentine's or birthdays don't tend to go so well. I think it is just because they are so highly anticipated that nothing ever lives up to what's expected. This year we just kind of played it by ear and went with things that we knew would be fun - no stress involved. Sometimes you've just got to go with the flow and do what feels right. That's one of the things I'm figuring out this year. If it doesn't feel right - don't do it. If you wake up at 6:00am with plans to study but feel like crap - go back to sleep. If you had plans to cook an immaculate dinner but now feel like cheap takeout - go for the takeout. Don't beat yourself up over silly details. Okay, I'm off my Oprah soapbox now. Have a fabulous week everybody!

Back in the Swing of Things

We went back to school to day. And what better way to say "Welcome Back!" then with 3 hours Gynecology lectures? I skipped out on the 8am - hey, I'm sick, remember? I was quite impressed with myself that I made it to the 9:00 on time. I even managed to pack my lunch and get it in the fridge at school before class started.

I'm pretty sure I had "strep throat" this past week. The reason I think that is because I definitely had pharyngitis - a swollen, inflamed pharynx and it was incredibly difficult and painful to swallow. In doctor speak this is dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and odynophagia (painful swallowing). Sore throats are pretty common, but the painful swallowing is more of a hallmark of strep throat. It's caused by Streptococcus pyogenes and treated with penicillin or a z-pack. In hindsight I should have been treated, but hey - it was the weekend and I didn't have any obligation to study. Spending time in bed wasn't too difficult. Now the pharyngitis is gone, but I have acquired sinusitis - my sinuses are inflamed and producing tons of mucous. Yum... I'm pretty sure this combination is also referred to as "the crud." I have actually heard doctors refer to it as that - they were ER doctors though, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions there.

Kris is working at a different store this week. His higher-ups have decided he is "management material" and are giving him a one week trial run at the Game Stop in Flowood. I really hope he gets it since that means a salary and benefits, plus more control over his work schedule. He found out he can't actually start teaching until August (just a requirement of the teaching classes he's been taking), so he's glad to have the opportunity to do this until then. He still has 30 observation hours to complete in the classroom and then he can start looking for a job. Hopefully he'll find one near us - Northwest Rankin, Madison Central, any of those would be great. We'll see though.

Anyway, I now have 143 days till the dreaded STEP. I am off to study land.