Another one bites the dust

Well, another weekend gone without much to show for it. I've been a total Debbie Downer lately but it'll be nice to finally move on out of January this week. School-wise I'm bracing myself for 3 exams and two practicals this week so I'll probably be MIA until Friday. In the words (lyrics?) of Doree the angel fish: "...just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'..." I've got a lot of neuro still to go over tonight but I will keep my self-imposed midnight bedtime by all means necessary. I need to stop starting the week off with a sleep defecit.

Enjoy the short blurbs below; they're all I could muster of quasi-interesting points from this weekend full of brain and nerves.

Have I mentioned that Josh, Josh's roommate Kevin and I have subscribed to Netflix? We figured that instead of wasting away the few fleeting opportunities we have to watch a movie by driving to Blockbuster, spending an hour and a half trying to remember which movies we wanted to see, and dropping $4.95, we might as well keep a list online with Netflix and have them mailed directly to us (unlimited!) for only $15.99 a month! (seriously, check it out if you don't know much about it...Tanya, this would be great for you and your roommates!). At any rate, totally by accident we stumbled across the 1958 film version of one of my favorite books of all time Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russel as the title character. We watched the movie Saturday night and it was hilarious and adorable. One of my favorite Mame quotes: "Life's a banquet, Patrick...and most poor fools are starving to death!" Three cheers for a great film adaptation and a great study break!

It's extremely unhealthy to wash and blow dry your hair every day and even worse considering I'm showering twice a day (once in the morning, once after the gym). I've always been particularly inept at keeping my hair dry in the shower if I just put it up in a ponytail or something; therefore I always use a shower cap which is, in my opinion, the logical thing to do. I got a shiny, new purple shower cap this weekend because my other one was getting yucky. Josh says that my immediate family members and I are the only people in the world he's ever known to use shower caps. The following exchange ensued in Meijer this weekend:

Me (searching near the contact solution): Josh, where do you think I'd find a shower cap?
Josh: Um, the 1950's?

My roomate Shveta and my old roommates AJ and Sheila have also agreed in the past that wearing a shower cap is a completely abnormal and ridiculous thing to do. This pre-shower picture from this evening is for them.

Have a wonderful week.

xoxox

Lost and Found

Apparently the most important thing I lost last week was my mind. It seems that I left my iPod on the basketball court after my workout Wednesday after stopping by to watch some of the boys play for 5 minutes. Some honest soul found it and turned it in to the Lost & Found desk, armband and all. My faith in humanity has been restored! AND...since I don't have my own personal thief, there's a chance that I might still find my misplaced watch! Hooray!

Thanks so much to all of you for your outpourings of love and concern. You know Apple has made a great product when 6-10 people can deeply empathize with the loss of your iPod and send you heartfelt messages to share in your grief. The mixed look of relief and joy on my buddy Madeline's face when I told that I had gotten my iPod back confirmed it--we are an Apple nation for better or worse.

Finally, here's the cutest article ever on a new program the dental school at the University of Kentucky Louisville just implemented with a *special* patient pool. I've heard of this before and know that as a dentist I'll be volunteering a lot of my time to work with such interesting patients. Rar! :)

This week my beautiful watch and my pink mini iPod were stolen out of my locked locker at the gym. It didn't even occur to me that my watch could have been stolen after I couldn't find it Sunday night but after I realized that my beloved iPod wasn't in my locker today when I went to gym (despite being hidden behind clothes in my locked locker) it dawned on me. I'm bummed beyond belief because:

1.) Mine was one of the first mini iPods that was a different, cuter pink than used in later versions
2.) Apple doesn't make mini iPods anymore
3.) The only other watch I've lost in my life was also at the gym earlier this year
4.) I feel awful knowing that someone was rifling through my personal stuff

* tear

xoxox

Quote of the evening:

Josh (leaving the gym): Ooooh, you know what I go for? A pizza. That sounds so good.
Me: Ew, right now?
Josh: Yeah. I feel like I'm just working out to break even.

Ho hum

It's been an uneventful weekend and I have a pretty uneventful week to look forward to. The only non-studying highlight of my weekend was a class whirlyball outing that Trevor and I planned for yesterday afternoon. For those of you unfamiliar, whirlyball is a combination of basketball and lacrosse played in bumper cars. Whirly Ball of Ann Arbor describes it as a cross between basketball and Jai-Alai; I'm feeling much too lazy and provincial to look up the latter so lacrosse should suffice. At any rate, one can rent out the entire room for an hour at a time and two teams of five players each try to score points by firing the ball at a hole cut in a basketball backboard. It turned out to be great fun and I'll post a few action shots in the days to come...and by "action" I mean pics of my classmates in a 6-bumper car pileup in a corner with no idea how to manuever their bulky vehicles out of the mess. Good times, I say.

I must admit that this January is flying by which is a good thing considering January is my least favorite month of the year. At least it's been sunny and relatively warm for a few days now (even though I have trouble enjoying those types of days because of my incessant worry about whether or not the kooky weather patterns are a result of global warming.) Another good thing is that Pride & Prejudice just hit the cheap movies this weekend so hopefully I'll be able to coerce Josh into taking me sometime this week. Maybe I'll trade him the Super Bowl for Jane Austen :)

Have a wonderful week.

xoxox

Mountain Dew no harm?

Just a quick note to any of my weblog readers who, for reasons unbeknownst to me, drink Mountain Dew:

"While all soft drinks can cause tooth decay, dentists consider Mountain Dew to be the worst because it contains higher-than-usual amounts of sugar and caffeine. A 20-ounce bottle contains 19 teaspoons of sugar and 93 milligrams of caffeine, which is nearly equivalent to an adult dose of NoDoz." (from the Chicago Sun-Times, lifted from my Clinical Foundations lecture)

Yikes! 19 teaspoons of sugar? I don't want to see you in my chair in 6 years so don't do the Dew!

xoxox

A Weekend in Pictures

Well, it's technically the middle of the week but I thought I'd post a few pictures that break my past weekend down fo ya'll. The last picture should probably be one of my notes for Clinical Foundations considering I've got a lot of studying to do before my exam on Friday, the third of three exams we have this shortened week. Thank goodness the weekend is just around the corner.

Cheers!

xoxox

Here's my fabulous new alarm clock from LL Bean. The large bar on the left of the clock face has a gentle light that begins to flash 5 minutes before the alarm is set to go off, waking you up slowly and "naturally." If you hit the 10-minute snooze button, the light will start flashing again after 5 minutes and the alarm will sound after 10. Isn't that neat?

Since the beginning of fall 2004, I've watched the beautiful new Biomedical Research Building being built on a main corner between my apartment and the dental school. Lately, as the building approaches its completion, Josh and I have become obsessed with the bizarre, Pringle-shaped structure in front. It does not seem to be connected to the Research Building behind it yet it is majestically illuminated at night and has a weird door on the side. For the longest time, we thought it might be some sort of spaceship landing pad or the only place in the world where pure, unadulterated stem cell research was going on. I just don't know what to think anymore. Trevor thought it would be a hilarious prank to paint the entire structure like a Pringles can. Even though that would be comical, I just want to solve the mystery. Or do I?

The Pringle up close and personal

Our friend Rick's wife, Melissa, was finally able to move out to Michigan this past weekend after all the hulabaloo of Rick starting dental school and getting settled in had passed. We had a small welcome party for her on Sunday and since I coincidentally had a cookie cutter in the shape of Michigan's lower peninsula that had never been used (I'm not kidding), I thought it would be the perfect occasion to bake some mitten-shaped cookies. I eventually frosted them maize and blue (well, as close as I could get them with the primary food colors) and Melissa got a big kick out of them. The only tough part was frosting around Traverse City and Niles, MI!

Josh debuted his home brew at Melissa's welcome party and even made and applied these special labels just for her. The legal alcohol content in beer in Utah is something like 3% so Josh's beer must have had quite a zing to it for her. The small lettering under the mitten state reads: Alcohol Content: Let's Just Say It's Not What You're Used to in Utah

I finally got my (ridiculously overpriced) surgical loupes this weekend that I ordered before winter break. As the trend in dentistry the last dozen or so years has been to remove less and less of the natural tooth structure, my already-failing eye sight just wasn't making the cut. The magnification is 2.5x which counts for a lot when you're drilling a 1.5 x 2 mm hole in a tooth upside down and in a mouth with water spraying everywhere while looking at it through a mirror. I'll be practicing drilling and filling with my loupes on for the first time in the lab tomorrow afternoon. (note: perhaps more terrifying than my evil, magnified gaze in this photo is the inexcusably unruly state of my eyebrows. Yikes.)

I stole this from Janine's blog for a little inspiration. Enjoy!

Enthusiastic: about my new sandwich bread for lunch. Knowing that my fixins are nestled between two slices of freshly baked rosemary olive oil bread makes 12-1 the best hour of my day.
Restless: about not much. I've been keeping good so far on my plan to exercise more :)
Un-athletic: a few people from my class want to start an intramural volleyball team. My last experience with volleyball for "fun" was having the ball accidentally spiked in my face by my high school friend Kele who went on to be an All-American volleyball player at Georgia Tech and play pro in Spain. Ouch.
Happy: for a three day weekend
Determined: to stick to my New Year's goals (see post from 1/3/06)
Sad: that I have to omit the majority of dairy from my diet to keep my stomach on an even keel. Ice cream only occasionally? What kind of life is that?
Nervous (I): about this term which was referred to by an upperclassman I was assisting as "the worst kick in the teeth you'll ever get"
Nervous (II): about giving an oral presentation to a grant review committee about my proposed research project for the summer
Preoccupied: with countless things
Upset: that the Royal Shakespeare Company won't be in Ann Arbor until this fall, not February as I'd previously thought
Disconnected: from the news. Being a student again is a far cry from being an employee with enough time to read all of cnn.com, slate.com, and msn.com (including celebrity gossip!) every day
Worried: that Roe v. Wade will be overturned
Excited: about the NBA post-season. The Pistons are lookin' goooood this year!
Inspired: by Bill and Melinda Gates. After reading about their foundation (in which they are incredibly involved) and how much they believe in public health, I'm ready to get out and change the world!
Loved: by my family, an amazing boyfriend, and wonderful friends both new and old
Lucky: to attend a university I'm in love with
Silly: for wanting a tuxedo t-shirt beyond belief

xoxox

Correction: in the previous post I wished Christin a happy 23rd birthday. Yikes! I didn't realize just how old we've gotten! The ol' girl did indeed turn 24 today and I sincerely hope that her 24th year is fabulous. The correction has been made--sorry Chris!

Talk about a reality check!

xoxox

But never, ever on a Sunday, a Sunday, a Sunday...

...'cause that's my day of rest...

Well...sort of. This weekend has been one of those weekends that didn't quite feel like a weekend. It's probably because I'm still coming out of my super extended weekend of winter break but it just seems like Sunday night came too quickly. Here are a few tidbits floating around in my head. Do with them what you will:

1.) The bird flu is, for lack of a better phrase, scaring the crap out of me. Those of us in the health professional or public health fields have been lectured ad nauseum about the terrifying global implications of this bird flu variant (think virtually unstoppable pandemic) and with all the new reports lately I'm starting to get the willies. Perhaps I should swipe a few inhalation masks from the lab just to be safe...

2.) This transition might be in poor taste but I saw my first cadaver on Friday. We had an anatomy lab at the medical school to see the spinal cord and other parts of the nervous systems. I was a little weirded out at first because you literally walk into a room of "specimens" laying on tables covered in white sheets, much like what I'd imagine a morgue to look like. There were shelves labeled "heads" or "arms" that sure enough had real, plasticized human body parts on them. But despite all of this, it was amazing to see the real thing and the fascination with the science quickly trumps the ickiness factor. Thank goodness because we'll be doing our own cadaver dissections from the diaphragm up in the spring term. I have a newfound respect for people who donate their bodies to science--it truly is an unparalleled learning tool.

3.) Now that we're on the subject of anatomy, a bunch of my classmates and I want to road trip up to Toronto to check out the Body Worlds exhibit. I've heard it's incredible and Toronto is such a great city that a tiny trip to the great up north would be a blast. If you'd be interested in joining, drop me a line!

4.) I ordered this awesome new alarm clock from L.L. Bean that uses a gently illuminating light to wake you instead of a jarring bell or buzzer. It's amazing how much our bodies respond to light and dark cycles in terms of circadian rhythm; they've actually (successfully!) tried to use light patches to treat symptoms of jet lag. I'm hoping it's a more pleasant alternative to my current alarm clocks that practically give me a heart attack every morning.

5.) I'm not sure I'll ever outgrow patterned socks. I just got two new pairs of Valentine's Day socks with all kinds of hearts on them. I'm just glad I can take pleasure in the small stuff sometimes :)

6.) Josh and I got awesome half-price tickets to the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's tribute to John Coltrane on January 22nd at Hill Auditorium. I'm a big fan of Coltrane and I'm really looking forward to our relaxing night of jazz.

7.) Today marks the birthdays of both Elvis and my good friend Christin. I hope 24 is another fabulous year of life for her!

Happy Birthday, Christin!



xoxox

Welp, today was the first day of the winter semester and it was exactly what I expected: a bunch of intimidating syllabi and some assorted scare tactics regarding the material at hand by our professors. I was extremely uncomfortable for the majority of the day having worn real clothes for 8 hours for the first time in 2 weeks. That's not to mention the grueling workout I put myself through this afternoon in the name of a New Year's resolution, grueling not because of the intensity of the workout but rather the abysmal status of my cardiovascular health. Ugh.

At any rate, I thought I'd post a few goals for 2006 that I have for myself (I've always favored goals over resolutions--it seems much less stringent and judgemental for some reason). This list is neither exhaustive nor creative, just something to do to pass the time I guess:

...in no particular order...

1.) finally become a card-carrying member of the ACLU

2.) floss every night; the idea of serious hypocrisy has been gnawing at my conscience lately.

3.) drink a lot more water (I'm opting for a related, more realistic goal than "drink less pop/coffee")

4.) end the year with a sizeable amount of money in my savings account (umm...amount ambiguity is intentional)

5.) finally read Midnight's Children (like I was supposed to for Literature of the British Empire in college) and Love in the Time of Cholera

4.) learn to cook at least one Indian dish, even if it's incredibly simple. I'm beginning to see the flaws in my plan to have Mom just freeze large quantities of my favorites shortly before kicking the bucket.

5.) don't sweat the small stuff. This phrase, although inexcusably cheesy, should become my personal anthem. I think I'll live a longer, happier, and more fulfilling life if I try to always keep a perspective of the forest and only occasionally the trees. And as a wise middle-schooler once said: "don't sweat petty things and don't pet sweaty things." 'Nuff said.

xoxox

Happy New Year friends! It's good to be back in the Deuce after what felt like a long and restful winter break. I didn't do anything extraordinarily fabulous (unless you consider re-learning how to knit, visiting Josh's grandma, and watching Lord of the Rings fabulous), but I feel well-rested and recharged. I've posted a few pictures below that should serve as an abbreviated highlight reel of my break. Tomorrow I'll try to post my goals for 2006--hopefully starting the year off with a day of procrastination doesn't bode poorly for my resolutions!

xoxox

Oddly, this picture is almost identical to the one I took of my parents on Thanksgiving Day but I thought they looked so sharp in this one that I had to post it. Man, I bet the daughters of this handsome couple--the younger one in particular--are quite the lookers ;)

Raja being forced into the Christmas spirit

My Dad wanted a glamour shot of his daughters in front of the tree to replace our old pictures on his desk at work. I jumped at the opportunity considering he still keeps my pre-tweezers seventh grade school photo framed for all to see.

A few high school friends and I hit "The B.O.B." (a.k.a. the Big Ol' Building--brilliant, I know) in downtown Grand Rapids a few nights before Christmas. Little did we know that it was going to be the unofficial 5 year reunion of East Kentwood's graduating class of 2000. I think we counted something like 38 EK alumni there that night. Among those 38 were Josh, myself, and our friend Thomas who is stationed with the Navy in Japan.

Adrienne and Christin

I always love the second round of present-opening with Josh after our families open presents in the morning. This year from Josh I got a pair of hideous-yet-fantastically-comfortable Crocs clogs among other things.

Dad not only got a new scarf and gloves, he actually got to sit in his always-occupied Lazy Boy for once on Christmas morning. A good present indeed!

Josh's family came over to our house for dinner and games on Christmas Day. Inevitably, the night ended with karaoke and even Josh's sister Ms. Jamie herself sang along to "Go Tell It On the Mountain."

No one else in my family seemed concerned or baffled about why this framed Monet painting was FedExed to my parents' home two days before Christmas with neither purchasor information nor return address included. My Mom and Dad were convinced that it was simply a marketing ploy by overstock.com to mail random citizens merchandise from their website. I beg to differ however seeing as how the exact same painting, unframed, used to hang in the living room on the opposite wall. At this point in time, no friend or family member that would have knowledge of said painting has claimed the generous, albeit anonymous, holiday gift.

We stayed at Christin and Bob's house in E. Lansing for New Year's Eve. Here's the always classy Bob serving champagne shortly before the ball dropped.