Below are some T-giving pics for your viewing pleasure. Notice how I took the majority of them on actual Thanksgiving, the only day the entire weekend that I wasn't slobbing around the house in my hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants stuffing my face with food. Speaking of food, I'm off to pick up some brain food for my 12 upcoming finals. It's only Wednesday but I've already taken 4 exams this week. My next one is on Friday and it's saying something that tonight feels like a vacation since I don't have an exam tomorrow but rather the day after tomorrow. *sigh* Hopefully baby carrots will be on sale and not Diet Coke and cookies! Enjoy the pics :)

xoxox

My Mom and Dad. It's very fitting that the carnivores in our family wanted to take a non-equal opportunity snapshot in front of the turkey...and only the turkey. Where's the roast beast?

The Palit fam: me, Mom, my uncle Subir, Dad, and Tanya

Kiss (or in this case, hug) the cook!

Josh pampering His Heighness Raja

There's nothing like a sister to invade your personal space

My favorite senior citizen loves being rocked like a baby.

I'm not very competitive about sports or academics (except with myself) but I am a cutthroat, unforgiving, trash-talking Scrabble player. My Dad, an eloquent man with an impressive vocabularly, has only ever beaten me once but still comes back for a whomping whenever we get a chance to play. Josh did make me a little nervous by adding an "S" onto the end of my "freezer" and capitalizing on my "Z" halfway through the game. Naturally, I dominated at the end. Note "fovea" and "pique"...both my words. I'll spell it out for you, Dad and Josh...I'm the C-H-A-M-P. That's a 14 point minimum.

My sister bought me this adorable shirt featuring Hermey the elf from the famous claymation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I think it was intended as a Christmas present but she was simply too excited and gave it to me over T-giving. I wore it to school yesterday and it was a smash hit. Hopefully, I'm "gonna" be a dentist someday instead of just "wanna" but I guess we'll just have to see after this round of finals. Oy.

Post on the run

I have 9 finals and numerous quizzes, practicals, and lab projects between now and Dec. 15. I barely have to time to change out of my wet (Christmas-y!) socks right now but just thought I'd drop in to say that I probably won't be dropping in for a little while from this point forward. Drop me a line of encouragement and if you're in the area, I'll take a venti almond non-fat latte for brain fuel anytime. No really, anytime...intravenously would probably work best with my schedule at this point.

Cheers!

xoxox

Giving thanks for 5 days off

Just a quick note to say a few things:

1.) I know my sister and I are infamous for perpetually congratulating each other (and ourselves) on our comedic genius, but in all honesty, my sister is hilarious--see excerpt from her blog below:

I am going home to GR on Wednesday for "Thanksgiving". We SHOULD be thanking the indigenous people of North America for sacrificing their entire way of life for some stinky Pilgrims. Living in the land of Plymouth rock has made me irreparably bitter concerning this holiday. Except for the tofu stuffing...keep it comin'...

Criticizing colonization and referencing veggie stuffing in 4 sentences? Brilliant.

2.) Goblet of Fire was awwwwwwweeeeessssssoooooommmmmmeeeee. 'Nough said.

3.) This week marks the 4 year anniversary of my vegetarianism. I believe that I can be good to the Earth, respect animal rights, and live a sustainable lifestyle through vegetarianism. For more information, visit Go Veg .

4.) I'm really, really looking forward to spending this Thanksgiving with my family at home. Here's hoping this year will be the first ever that I get through my super lame "what I'm thankful for" speech without choking up.

Happy Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful holiday.

xoxox

An Attempt at Profundity

I've been thinking about my friend Shadi a lot lately because her 23rd birthday is today and also because she has this personal tagline that simply says: growth...change...love...always. I don't mean to wax philosophical in my weblog but I guess that small collection of words has been on my mind lately. I've given a lot of thought recently to how much I've changed in the past 3 months, year, and 5 years--I'm finally beginning to feel as though I'm coming into myself as a young professional, a friend, a partner, and a sister/daughter. I'm trying to remember that I can neither please everyone nor can I spend my time lamenting my inability to please everyone. I can only do what I believe is right, treat every being in my world with respect and kindness, and know at the end of the day that I tried as hard as possible to be the person I want to be. I understand now that growth isn't a one-time or short-term goal, it's life. Change is the catalyst for growth and love gives us strength. Maybe it's the Thanksgiving season talking, but I'm trying to remember a little every day how fortunate I am to have so many people who love and support me, even when I am often unable to reciprocate in the ways that I'd like to. I am thankful. Thankful for growth, change, and love. Always.

Happy Birthday, Shadi!

xoxox

Shadi and I on graduation day 2004

I'm not sure if I've made it clear enough just how excited I am for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to open tomorrow. I actually forgot about it for a few hours today because we got the class together for open skate night at Yost Ice Arena but had the pleasure of getting excited all over again once I got home and remembered. I briefly considered skipping my dental anatomy lab from 2-5 tomorrow just to see the movie earlier but realized that I probably shouldn't because a.) we have a big canine waxing project tomorrow, b.) a Harry Potter matinee might not be the best place to avoid screaming, scaredy-cat kids, and c.) I AM 23 years old and in professional school. Shyaaaa, come on.

But...mostly a.) and b.). I can't wait!

xoxox

Fight that evil Voldemort, Harry...use the power of your teenage angst if you must!

Oh Hogwarts, how I wish you were real!

Two grid iron victories and a solved mystery

Well, it's been forever and a day since I had the chance to post last and I've got the numbered list and pics to show for it:

1.) We're in the eye of the storm school-wise right now. I only have three tests, a case study final paper, and a lab project due this week but I looked ahead at my finals schedule last week and felt a little sick. 9 finals starting the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. I just might have to be flipping through some flash cards while I help make that pumpkin pie!

2.) The D1 IM Flag Football face-off was this past Friday when the two D1 teams played each other in the regular season. There was enough trash-talking last week to make T.O. proud and I think we were the only IM football team ever to have a crowd almost as large as a team itself complete with a foam finger (courtesy of some puffy paint and the handiwork of yours truly!). It was a great game and I'm not just saying that because my team got the W. Josh had a beautiful interception that people were talking about Monday and everyone seemed to have fun. One of our professors even showed up! We just figured out that we might meet again first round of the playoffs after Thanksgiving so this time the gloves are off. See pics below!

3.) Who's the trivia friend I can always go to in the clutch? Who did I call when I didn't know what the title Esq. stood for and who knew the answer when Josh, AJ, Sheila and myself got into a dumb fight over how long it takes to fly to the moon in a space shuttle? Emily. And she has once again saved me from countless agonizing hours of not knowing the answer to a ridiculous enigma. In her almighty wisdom, Emily figured out the snow pile conundrum with which Josh and I have recently become obsessed (see post from 10/23/05). Apparently, there is an ice rink nearby said public pool parking lot and the snow I've been seeing throughout the year, sunshine or rain, is the "snow" the Zamboni cleans off of the rink daily. Ha! What's more, Josh even made that seemingly cockamamy suggestion the first time we saw the snow pile and I dismissed it as being absurd. Needless to say, he was quite vindicated and Emily re-affirmed herself as my go-to-girl in these types of situations. Thanks, Em! :)

4.) Goooo Blue! Michigan's victory over Indiana last Saturday leaves us poised to clench the Big Ten title again on Saturday in a thrilling end-of-season game if we win against OSU (and Penn State loses). I love Michigan football! (see pics below!)

5.) My fabulous friend and much-missed roommate of yore Sheila turned 23 last Wednesday, November 9. I hope to see her very, very soon!
Happy Belated Birthday, Sheila!
Just cause you can't ululate don't mean you gotta hate! Ululululululu!

5.) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a mere 3 days away from premiere and I'm essentially counting down the hours. I. Can't. Wait. I'm still thinking of going in costume. Would it be distasteful to go as Dumbledore? (pssst: if you wanna go opening night with me and Josh around 11:00 after the rugrats go to bed, let me know. Squeeeeaaaal!)

On that note, I should probably run and make dinner then studystudystudy. After Gilmore Girls, that is. Lorelai and Rory are finally patching things up!

Adieu!

xoxox

We....are...the...Champions, my friend!

The Carious Lesions B Team. They might have lost but at least they've got really great personalities.

Josh, Holly, and Brandon. Don't be scared of the other team, Brandon. They got nuthin' on us!

The intimidating women of Carious Lesions A team

Hyden and Trevor "Danger" Hartwell who, yes, did shave a mohawk just for the football game complete with a lightning bolt along the side of his head.

Our "secret offensive strategy" of the game was coming out of a huddle before a major possesion all wearing fake mustaches. We figured it'd either intimidate the other team or make them laugh so hard they'd screw up. Unfortunately, the mustaches had the inverse affect and I almost couldn't run at the hut because I thought I'd pee my pants from laughing so hard. Quote of the game by Marty: "Whoa, whoa...Josh's got a mustache. I got the guy with the mustache. Wait...they all have mustaches!"

The tailgate organized by social chairs Trevor and myself was a hit! My carmel popcorn balls were pretty good (although cavity-causing...I got hassled for that) and I had to miss a lot of the game because tailgaters were having so much fun and wanted to hang around :)

Josh and I snuck in to the dental/med/law student section because we only stayed for the second quarter and knew our real seats on the other side of the stadium would be gone by then. Those lucky bastards are in the fifth row at the end zone! I could hear the plays being shouted out!

Pre-TD. Which one? I dunno...I lost count!

Two of U of M's biggest fans!

Enamel is 90% calcium hydroxyapatite

So I have a very large module exam on Monday morning at 8am that covers 38 hour-long lectures' worth of biochemistry and a handful of histology lectures for which I've been studying all day. Tomorrow is basically a whole lot more of the same but for now, I'm listening to some Ravi Shankar, lighting some candles, and officially switching my brain off for the night. I thought I'd write down a few noteworthy quotes from this week in lieu of an interesting post that doesn't involve more of my whining about school:

Quotes of the week (exchanges of the week would probably be more appropriate...and it should be quotations anyway, not quotes, but those just don't roll off the tongue, ya know?)

Trevor: So I think I'm going to have to miss a lot of the head and neck dissection in gross anatomy for my sister's wedding in June.
Josh: Oh. Well, maybe you can try to get ahead before you leave.
*pause*
Trevor: What, and take it on the plane?

Sara: I hate oranges. They smell and taste disgusting.
Trevor: How can you be from Florida and hate oranges?
Me: Oranges are, like, one of the quintessential Florida things. Do you hate peninsulas too because I hate to break it to you but...
Trevor: Yeah, it's really hard to cook at Sara's house, too. You always burn your hands because she doesn't believe in panhandles.

Me: Yeah, I'm just studying. I have a 40-lecture exam on Monday.
Tanya: God. I hate your program for you.

Me: Oh no, Mom, you sound awful.
Mom: I'm very sick.
Me: Oh, it must have been one of the trick-or-treaters who gave it to you. You know how kids are always carrying around things.
Mom: No, I think I have the bird flu.
Me: Oh, really? Well, it was nice knowing you then. Hey, before you kick the bucket can you make some Indian food and freeze it for me?

Have a wonderful night.

xoxox