Which would you like first?

Bad news: I spent 14 hours in the Dental School today and then came home to never-ending cardiovascular module studying. I'm exhausted.
Good news: We have two IMS exams this week, the second of which is Friday morning. That means that I don't have to study aaaaaallll weekend long for a Monday morning exam!

Bad news: It's finals time again. I haven't done an official count yet but I think we have 10 finals, 1 quiz, and 3 practicals to go in the 3 weeks before we're off for 9 days of vacation.
Good news: 9 days of vacation!

Bad news: The Michigan Daily published an article today debunking the popular "myth" that a block "M" flag is one of only two flags on the moon, the other being the American flag. Rumor has it that all of the Apollo 11 astronauts were U of M alumni. I don't think saying I was devastated would be an overstatement; I've been boasting this fact for 6 years now and my buddy Holly (also a U of M alum) said that she'd even told some "prominent" people about this apparently false claim (I'm not sure what that means but it doesn't sound good for her reputation!)
Good news: I'm simply choosing to ignore that article. Go Blue!

Bad news: I really, really want to run the Ann Arbor-Dexter 5K this June with people from my class but this blasted (and quite painful, actually) knee issue of mine just won't quit. I can't even run on it gingerly these days and I certainly wouldn't be ready by June.
Good news: Shveta, Sara and I are doing a hip-hop dance with women of the medical school for some show that the med students put on every semester. They encourage dancers from all graduate programs to join and we had our first practice this past Monday night. Sara's med student roommate is choreographing it and it's pretty cute; Shveta and I practiced in our living room Monday night after learning the first few 8-counts. (the show's in May, I'll keep the ol' blog posted!)

Bad news: I've been having a ridiculously difficult time sleeping this week and I think it's just my school anxiety. I woke up 5 times last night (between 1:40 am and 6:40 am) and actually started getting dressed in a panic 2 of those times. I'm dragging today.
Good news: We don't have lecture until 11 tomorrow (11!) and even though I'm waking up at 7:45 to study, I can't wait to sleep in. And make muffins :)

Goodnight!

xoxox

Quote of the evening

Dinner with my parents is always rich with "Quote of the Evening" opportunities. Tonight was no exception:

Mom (singing):...well it's hard out here for a pimp...
Me: Mom!
Mom: What? It's from that movie Hustle and Flow.
Me: I know. It won the Oscar.
Mom: I like that song. It has an upbeat sound to it.

Nerd Prom

Whew. Thank goodness it's only Saturday because I haven't done a lick of work yet and it's 3:30 in the afternoon. I'm basically out of commission today after we danced the night away at last night's "Dental Prom." I, of course, wore extremely uncomfortable but beautiful shoes and plan on only wearing my unsightly Crocs for the next two days. I was a little unsure of how the night would turn out seeing as how the DJ was spinning "We'll Always Be Together" from the Grease soundtrack as I walked in at 8:45. All in all it was a good time and I'm glad I went. I've posted some pictures below for your viewing pleasure.

Also, yesterday was Social Chair-designated "Nerdy T-shirt Day" at school. It was brought to my attention that our class was probably ripe with nerdy t-shirt ownership and a morale boost couldn't hurt either since we had a difficult practical yesterday as well. I took my camera to school with me to catch some photos of said t-shirts but didn't end up taking any. Therefore, noteworthy nerdy t-shirt descriptions follow:

- (front) University of Illinois Biology Club; (back) Biology (n.) = sex, drugs, and evolution

- (front) St. Olaf Chemistry Society; (back) I'm a catalyst; let's go!

- Word to the Mothership (w/alien and planet cartoons)

- Classical Languages: the deader the better!

- (front) Got Floss? (back) UC Davis Pre-Dental Club

And those are just the tip of the iceberg! I don't even own a nerdy t-shirt which is quite surprising considering I've been involved in every nerdy organization possible since elementary school. However, equally unnerving was the shock of my fellow classmates when they discovered that my "Mathematics Pentathalon" t-shirt was purchased from the thrift store and that I was a fraud. "Sonya, how can you of all people not have a nerdy t-shirt?!" The nerve of these people!

xoxox

The dance was held at the Polo Fields and we ate dinner at The Quarter, a new AA restaurant. The atmosphere was perfect but the food was sub-par. Court, me, and Sara hit the dessert bar (and the bar bar) before the crowds arrived.

Rachel, Shveta, and Courtney christened the dance floor to Usher pretty early in the night

Me and Shveta; one of many "roommates" pictures from the evening

Me and those wild Delt Sig boys

Kevin and Josh loosen up their ties a little bit

A girls' group shot: (L to R) Shveta, Kristin, Sara, Courtney, Katrina, me

Wait...it's supposed to be Spring now?

That's right, folks; while the Spring Equinox was officially yesterday, I had to cover my ears with my hands from the whipping wind walking home today. I've lived in Michigan my whole life but have never quite taken the hint that mid-March means nothing more than basketball in this state. *sigh* It's alright, I guess...as long as it's not too long before I can comfortably bust out the flip-flops. I hate wearing socks!

At any rate, here are my thoughts for the evening. As always, do with them what you will:

1.) Dental "Prom" is this coming Friday, 3/24, and I haven't yet decided if I'm going or not. I'm definitely not one of those still-jaded-from-high-school-dances types nor am I one to turn down an opportunity to get dressed up. I think it'd be nice to put a little effort into my appearance seeing as how my unofficial school uniform has become scrubs, a tee, and a fleece. I'll probably end up going, perhaps as an excuse to not study cardiology on a Friday night if nothing else.

2.) Instead of studying for my Microbiology of Caries test tomorrow, I sat down and watched two consecutive Discovery Channel shows. One was "Cash Cab" which is basically "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" with unsuspecting NYC cab patrons. The inside of this cab-van is equipped with a video monitor and a disco floor-style light-up ceiling. It's quite hilarious to see hardened New Yorkers (not that you're all hardened, Shadi darling!) grabbing a routine ride to work shout out answers like "the Galapagos Islands!" at the top of their lungs inside of a cab and walk out with $500 cash. I also watched a fascinating episode of MythBusters in which they attempted to prove or disprove the myth that a bullet can be caught in someone's teeth. They actually rigged up devices using the same set of prosthetic teeth we use in lab and talked about enamel, dentin, biting force, etc. It was right up my alley and I convinced myself that watching it was akin to studying for an hour!

3.) I found out last night that the scary research proposal I've been working on for a little while has been funded for this summer so I'm thrilled about that. I'll be working in the same lab where I spent my year off from school and will be writing up a paper and making a poster at the end of the project in February 2007, both of which will be invaluable experiences for me :)

4.) To celebrate The Bard's birthday this year, the Royal Shakespeare Company will be performing all of Shakespeare's plays in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon for the next calendar year beginning this April. The start of the plays happens to be during the week I have off between winter and spring terms so I'm trying desperately to find cheap tickets to London and coerce my sister into going with me. Cross your fingers for me that there's a fare sale so I don't have to miss this once-in-a-lifetime (albeit ridiculously geeky) opportunity!

5.) During a lecture on heart rate and blood pressure yesterday, I opened my Snapple bottle. The trivia fact inside of the lid said: "a hummingbird's heart beats 1,400 times a minute!" Fascinating...but I just can't get away from this stuff!

6.) Below are pictures from St. Patrick's Day (night?) celebrated at Scott's house. He adorably decorated the place with balloons and clovers and even alternated green and white Solo cups. I wore all of my green anything during the cruise and during the day on Friday so I was basically green with envy that everyone else was dressed so festively. Someone even remarked: "but Sonya, you're the festive one!" I know! Total holiday faux pas on my part.

Cheers!

xoxox

Me, Rick, Trevor, and a friend of a friend celebrate the snakes being driven out of Ireland (an accomplishment I mistakeningly attributed to the Pied Piper on St. Patty's Day) with an Irish car bomb....or two...or three...

My and Sara's patented whine (applicable when sick of school, sick of studying, cranky, when faced with major decisions, etc.). I think at this point we were mourning the weekend being obliterated in preparing for our cardiovascular exam Monday morning. Waaaaahhh!

Jason, Josh, Holly, and Rick celebrating with a car bomb as host Scott cheers them on from behind

Cheers to St. Patty's Day!

Erin Go Bragh!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Although I've never been big into green beer or even Ireland for that matter, it's fun to have a minor holiday in what would otherwise be a forgettable month of March. I wore green scrubs, a green t-shirt, and even green socks today :) I probably should study tonight for our big musculoskeletal exam on Monday but I think it'd be much more fun to make Irish car bombs at my buddy Scott's place--I'm not one for Guinness or political incorrectness, but they're too good to turn down!

I will leave you with my favorite Irish joke:

Q: What's Irish and stays out all night?

A: Patty O'Furniture!

xoxox

There are a few things that I've accepted I'll just never be: an astronaut, for example, or 5'7''. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I wouldn't be...graceful, even coordinated. Me, who took dance, ice skating, and gymnastics lessons growing up? Me who cheered for 6 years in middle and high school? Impossible! But I've just recently realized that I am quite possibly the biggest klutz in the world. What I've always attributed to an inner ear problem, icy sidewalks, or poorly designed high heels turns out to simply be my utter lack of coordination. I usually have a significant fall once a week, I run into things daily, I drop everything, and I can barely keep my balance putting my shoes on. I trip and or stumble constantly and lets just say that at this point, if I don't drop at least 2 (usually sharp) instruments on the ground every day that I'm working in the lab, I'm shocked.

*sigh* I'm not really devastated or anything; sure, I've always considered myself a picture of grace and realizing otherwise is weird. But what really struck me is the fact that I'm apparently the last one to notice my klutzy inclinations. When I finally asked Josh (with an expression of wide-eyed shock) whether or not he thought I was a klutz he sheepishly replied "well, you do fall a lot, Son." He's known all along! I guess I'll just have to roll with it...and hope for my patients' sake that my hands become more coordinated than the rest of my body!

In related news, I filled my first cavity ever on a patient yesterday in the clinic! I was assisting a fouth-year student and often times they let us do some small procedure on their patients. Usually it's negligible and technique-insensitive so that we can't screw it up too badly as we're shaking and sweating bullets. But yesterday I did my first restoration and I must say it turned out beautifully (thanks to some great polishing on Jason-the-D4's part!). I can't believe I'll be seeing my first patients for simple cleanings this spring! Speaking of which, I need a few friends with good oral health to be my first patients for cleanings. Any volunteers? Maybe I shouldn't ask in the same post in which I painstakingly describe my clumsiness. Muhuwahahaha!

I should run and study. But only after I look up plane ticket prices to London for the end of April (details later!) and fill out my bracket. Go Gonzo!

xoxox

Rest for the weary: a Mexic-Ode

Ahhhh. I'm back from an extraordinarily restful spring break. I've never had a week-long vacation feel this much like two weeks and I almost always get lucky with weather, this vacation included. We had a lot of sun, good company, probably too much ice cream, and even a marriage proposal! It was great. We left Ann Arbor last Saturday to fly down to Tampa and stay two nights with our friend Sara's family. We hit the beach, got babied by her parents, and hung around by her pool. Most of us agreed that that alone would have been enough vacation for us for the week so we were thrilled to board our cruise on a sunny Tampa Monday afternoon. It was a blast to share our vacation with so many of our friends on board and both Cozumel and Costa Maya were beautiful and interesting. The only complaints about my vacation are two-fold:

1.) I unfortunately learned first-hand how much devastation last fall's Hurricane Wilma did to Cozumel. The entire port is more or less destroyed and apparently only just reopened to cruise ships a month ago, an enormous blow to Cozumel's chief industry of tourism. I heard that the eye of the storm sat over the city for 3 continuous days and it shows--Josh and I were in Cozumel exactly 2 years ago and I barely recognized a lot of areas. Most unfortunate is the irreversible damage to the second largest coral reef structure in the world which made Cozumel a diving and snorkeling hot spot. We even saw huge concrete and wire structures in the water while we were snorkeling and tour guides were saying that over 3/5 of the reef was damaged.

2.) One of those nasty Norwalk (Norfolk?) GI viruses making the news recently for infecting passengers on cruise ships hit the Grandeur of the Seas while we were aboard, making about 100 people quite sick. Unfortunately, about 6 people from our group of 30 got the bug and were down for the count for a few days (a few still aren't fully recovered). The cruise line tried to control the spread of the virus (ew!) by making passengers use hand sanitizer before entering every eating area and nixing the serve-yourself buffet after the second day. I was sufficiently grossed and weirded out and became paranoid about acquiring the virus from anyone and anything. I can see how I could easily become one of those germophobe people. At any rate, it was gross and creepy and I could have done without it.

All in all, I had a wonderfully restful and fun break. I posted some pictures below and tried to edit them down to 10 or so keepers but had too much fun looking through them. There are two more that I want to add that I will later seeing as how my posting software decided to peter out on me at the end. Enjoy the pics and Viva Mexico!

xoxox

Shveta serving up a good one!

Hanging by the Sheffields' pool in Tampa

Our home for 5 days: the m/s Grandeur of the Seas

The open lobby of the ship

Roua and I are dancing machines. No really, we had to be dragged out of the club the first night.

Marty and Sara pose on deck with the sun, 3 beers, and the Tampa skyline

Josh and I in the Palladium Theatre. This is where the show's "Broadway style" entertainment is every night which I'm not too cool to deny loving. Katrina and I sang along to almost every song the night of the Broadway revue and if I could whistle really loudly using my fingers I would have.

They're goin' to the chapel and they're gonna get married...Kevin proposed to Courtney the first night of the cruise!

Some fine dental gentlemen on formal night: (L to R) Matt, Josh, Phillipe, Trevor, Marty, and Salam

A girls' group shot on formal night: (L to R) Courtney, Sara, me, Laura, Katrina, Shveta

Where we spent our day in Costa Maya. Welcome to paradise, eh?

A quaint little strip lined with hawking vendors, tequilerias, and oceanside massage tables in Costa Maya

Taking a dancing break in the ship's nighttime hotspot, the Viking Crown Lounge

Diane, Katrina, Rashmi shakin' their groove thangs

Josh, Roua, and Katrina laughing it up on the dance floor!

GT, Josh, and me being ferried to our shore excursion bright and early

This is the sitting area of the private beach area--Playa Uvas (meaning "beach of grapes")--where we kayaked and snorkeled our day away in Cozumel

We explored the Cozumel reef (well...what's left of it) in these clear kayaks and later went snorkeling in the same area. It got pretty windy that morning so kayaking became quite the unexpected upper body workout. Not that I needed it or anything ;)

Me, Courtney, Sara, and Laura

This pic is blurry but 2-time US Olympian gymnast Luke Ringnald performed for us the last night of the cruise. Not only did he do amazing acrobatic tricks but he also played the piano and sang!

Me climbing the rock wall at the aft end of the ship...

...and ringing the bell at the top!

A group shot in the main stairwell on the last night. We were 29 D1's, 1 wife, 1 cousin, and 1 new fiancee strong. What a great vacation!

National Pig Day

Happy National Pig Day!

Apparently, March 1st marks the official day of pig appreciation and because they are such clever, intelligent, and clean animals, I thought I'd honor it this year. I've recently become fascinated with the idea of having a pig as a pet once I get my own digs--I've read numerous times that they are just a treat to have around because of their personalities, loyalty, and intelligence. I'd name my pig Gordon, Gordie for short :)

xoxox

"A day honoring moi? Oh, you are too kind!"