Brown paper packages tied up with string...

A brief list of my favorite things of late:

- Wyler's sugar-free pink lemonade. I've gone through 11 liters in the past week and a half.

- Trying to become an astronaut...again. After the devastating news about Pluto, I spent a great amount of time on NASA's "So You Want to be an Astronaut" website. Apparently I'm one inch (and one BS in a scientific field) short of being a qualified civilian astronaut applicant. Hey, they need dentists in space, right?

- Fruit n' Nut wraps from the awful cafe across the street from the D-school. They contain sliced strawberries and bananas, peanut butter, cream cheese, and granola rolled into Original Flat-Out bread. I'm making my own at home with vegan cream cheese and low-carb Flat-Outs. Deeeeee-licious!

- Back-to-school shopping. I don't really need anything new at all but I love back-to-school shopping and am envious that Josh needed 1.) a new backpack, 2.) new shoes, and 3.) a haircut. H-h-hey...I think I need those things too! (psst: I bought a new backpack yesterday and I think I'm going to get a haircut this week...and maybe some new highlighters to boot!)

- This necklace with Elvis' famous "Taking Care of Business in a Flash" logo as a wicked awesome birthday present.

- Project Runway. Holly got me interested in it this summer and now I can't wait for Wednesday nights to roll around. I think PR will be the TV show that I watch this year.

- Claritin D. So help me if this blasted ragweed doesn't knock it off soon!

That is all. Auf wiedersehen :)

xoxox

Another restful weekend is coming to a close and my shirt is ironed and my bag is packed for school tomorrow. In one week's time, I will have neither done the night before and will consistently forget to pack my lunch, forget to wear scrubs on a clinic day, and/or leave my phone at home. Oh well :)

I had a nice weekend that involved The Meltdown, the lamely titled annual Dental School kick off party (see archived post from 8/28/05 in which I apparently also referred to The Meltdown as "lamely titled"...ha!), grilling, shopping with Katrina and Shveta, a few down-right bad rounds of Scattergories, and a teensy bit of studying the respiratory system. My parents and sis also visited Ann Arbor Friday night to see my new digs and to treat Josh and I to dinner at the Prickly Pear so it was great to see them. Of course before my sister took the time to appreciate my new couch, professional paint job, or decorating prowess she promptly took to the message board to illustrate her new favorite nickname for me: tooth sleuth (imagine a smiling cartoon molar with spectacles, a magnifying glass, and a Sherlock Holmes-esque flannel deerstalker hat). Naturally.

I just glanced at the clock and realized I'm running late for my self-imposed bedtime. I had a longer post in mind but I know that I'll be cursing myself when my alarm goes off at 6:30 tomorrow morning if I don't start the ol' face-washing-tooth-brushing-flossing routine now. I'll sign off with the exchange of the weekend:

Tanya: How can they just decide that Pluto's not a planet anymore?
Me: Well, I guess they changed the criteria of what defines a planet. I heard it has a lot to do with Pluto's orbit crossing over Neptune's at certain times.
Mom: But let me ask you this: was it hurting anybody?

My Mom: talented songstress, cook extraordinnaire, and celestial empath.

Have a great week!

xoxox

A timely Friday Fiver

1. Who do you live with?
As of July, I live with my partner-in-crime Josh.

2. Do you like who you live with or do you want to change?
He's a great roommate and I'm pretty sure I won't be changing roommates again...ever...he he! :) (I do, however, miss my classmate-cum-roommate Shveta who always had the good gossip in the mornings after a night out and let me steal her Indian food)

3. Describe the ideal roommate:
My ideal roommate recycles, is picky about keeping the kitchen countertops clean, doesn't mind if I mute TV commercials, and who, upon learning that I single-handedly killed both cacti and bamboo, will water the plants religiously.

4. How much sleep did you get last night? I clocked about 7 hours of in-bed time but my horrendous allergies cut real sleep-time down to probably close to 5 hours.

5. Where would you love to play hide-and-seek?
Diagon Alley ;)

Summer days, drifting away...

But oh, all those summer nights!

Well, school officially started today and although it was nice to see everyone after a 7 week break, there's not much new to report. It feels weird to not be the terrified, confused newbies in the school anymore and I completely sympathized with the new D1 students staring at us from across the hall in their uncomfortable suits and shoes and wondering 1.) whether or not they'll ever learn all of their classmates' names and 2.) if they'll be able to swing dental school. Ah, how far I've come in a year.

On that note, I thought it would be a nice send-off to summer if I finally posted some pics from the last few weekends. Despite the stress of a job and a huge moving project this summer I got to spent a lot of quality time with wonderful people. Three cheers to the best season of the year:

Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!

xoxox

p.s. - I re-wrote that last part about three cheers just so I could use huzzah which I think is hil-A-rious.

Dinner at Maddie's favorite restaurant in Boyne City, the Red Mesa

Capturing the last of the summer nights with sangria at Dominick's

The Xtreme Cottage crew at GT's on Lake Erie

sunrise

Shveta punishing Josh at tetherball

I got a great bench of friends. Ha! Get it?

Xtreme cottage, serene cottage, and 5 days of vacay

I've been busy ringing the last drops of relaxation out of my quickly-coming-to-an-end summer vacation. Following is a list of various and sundry headlines from the past 2 weeks:

1.) Weekend trip to Grant's cottage in Ohio dubbed Xtreme Cottage by vacationers:
Some people got hurt riding bikes (tandem, I might add), others nearly drowned in the 10 foot waves Lake Erie taunted us with on Saturday, others still couldn't use their appendages for days after Dr. Turner dragged us behind the boat on all sorts of water toys for 5 hours on Sunday. A brave few returned home with wicked bruises from a series of hilariously intense tetherball matches against Shveta. I didn't know anyone could be good at tetherball but Shveta proved to be the stone-faced Gabby Reece of the playground. I seriously thought Holly was going to cry at some points.

We didn't go to bed Saturday night because the beach bonfire convo didn't slow down until 5:30 am at which time we realized we might as well stay up for sunrise. Afterward, we briefly scoured the shore for newly washed up beach glass but in our delirium, everything looked blue or green. We went to bed at 7 am, got up 4 hours later and finished sleeping on the beach. All in all, a great weekend.

2.) Madeline hosts in Boyne City a week later, coins term "copping" (read: cottage hopping):
This past weekend was a serious change of gears as a handful of us made the 4 hour trek up to Madeline's family cottage in Boyne City...and by 4 hours I really mean 7 seeing as how Josh, Katrina, and I stopped at the gas station, all of our houses, Wendy's, and the outlet mall before we finally arrived in Boyne close to midnight on Friday (but with hot new shoes that Katrina and I got a killer deal on!). We're glad Maddie was understanding...and we brought her a little gas station souvenir as a proverbial olive branch just in case she wasn't :)

We had a wonderfully low-key weekend sunning ourselves, shopping at the Farmer's Market, eating too much ice cream, playing 9 holes of golf, and eating and swimming without waiting half an hour in between. It was a lot of fun.

3.) Despite resolute end date of 8/11/06, Sonya continues research: I was certainly planning on washing my hands of my research project last Friday afternoon (well, not the whole paper-writing and poster-presenting part, just the lab work) but I've found myself at work for the first half of this week. Basically, science doesn't care if I only have 5 days of work-free summer before school starts again and I did have to finish up a few last-minute experiments anyway. I think I'm done today, though, and look forward to a completely unadulterated 5 days off.

4.) TKP plans whirlwind US arrival this weekend: My sister returning to the States from an extended stay abroad has become as normal for my family as my dragging my big-as-a-kindergartner laundry bag through the front door of my parent's home and calling "Lucy, I'm home!" This weekend, I'm motoring down to the Windy City with the 'rents to pick up my jet-lagged sister after she touches down at O'Hare. I'm excited to see her and even though I only have 1.5 days to hang out with her before classes start, I'm sure we can fit all the updates in by using our barely coherent finish-each-other's-sentences giggle-babble.

5.) Announcements:

- a huge congratulations goes out to my college friend and weblog muse Emily who got engaged to her wonderful boyfriend Bill two weekends ago on Mackinac Island. To think I saw them at the ice skating rink on their first date ever...le sigh! Congratulations you two!

- because I'm a bonehead friend, I once again forgot to wish my friend Thomas happy birthday on August 8th. Tom is in Japan aboard a navy ship right now and will be there for another year and a half or so. I think it's to-tally awesome that he's not allowed to tell us where the ship is going, only where it's been, for security reasons. After all, you know what they say about loose lips...

Happy (belated) birthday, Thomas! Ahoy!

And that's all the news that's fit to print...or post...or whatever. Once I get my wireless internet working (and don't have to use Josh's weird desktop in lieu of my adorable laptop), I'll post some pics. Because I'm officially on vacation until classes start next Tuesday, I give you permission to be on vacation until then, too. Do something ridiculously fun and then write me a comment about it!

Toodles!

xoxox

Well. It seems that the only part of me on vacation this summer is my weblog. It's been a while. I guess the reasons for my hiatus are two-fold: 1.) my internet access has been remarkably limited since I moved into my new place (fortunately, Comcast installs today so expect a renewed weblog zeal in the weeks to come), and 2.) I've been quite melancholy lately. Between recent family health scares and the tragic loss of a good friend's loved one, I haven't felt happy, excited, or even interested in much lately. I'm feeling a little better recently and hope that will allow me to be a more supportive friend, sister, and daughter if needed.

Mopiness aside, I'm looking forward to a weekend on the lake at my friend Grant's cottage. Now, Grant takes the cake for being the most laid back person I've ever met and I was first jealous and later awed by how he could say as cool as a cucumber during his first year of dental school. Needless to say I was shocked when I discovered that summertime Grant is even more relaxed, if that's even humanly possible. The kid literally spends every second possible at the beach, playing basketball, or out with friends every summer. He certainly doesn't bother taking phone calls unless it's either storming or too humid to lay out and his tan when I saw him 2 weeks ago rivaled mine at the summer mid-point. Hopefully his "what responsibilities?" attitude will rub off on me a little this weekend so that I unwind for the last 2 1/2 weeks of summer instead of making my time off a decorating frenzy.

That being said, good times lie ahead. I'm starting to get the ol' wheels turning again in preparation for the pace of school...not necessarily the work demands but the fun demands. Fall is a busy time for the class social chair with new D1's to host at various events, football tailgates, and warm late summer nights that make everyone want to go out and have a good time. I've got a couple aces up my sleeve for this year in terms of events (and a brand spankin' new grill for tailgates!) and I'm looking forward to having a few not-so-low-key times soon :)

That's about it for now. I beseech you to get out there and enjoy the perfect weather this weekend if you're in the Midwest. 85 is like an arctic blast compared to the chart-topping 105 degree days as of late.

Ciao!

xoxox

A predictable F.F.

1. When is the last time your phone rang in the middle of the night?
Recently, when my sister (who's spent the majority of the last three years abroad in the same time zone) called me at 2 am on a week night and was shocked, then confused, then apologetic about miscalculating the time difference. Again.

2. Who makes you yell?
George W. Bush

3. What do you do for fun?
The standards: get ice cream, go out with friends, see movies, read, and shop. However, we changed it up nicely during spring term by heading to the local arcade, Pinball Pete's, for a quick game of skee ball when we needed a study break or just for the heck of it.

4. What hours do you work/go to school?
This summer my work hours have imperceptibly shrunk from 8:45-5:00 to 9:45-4:00 during the 6 weeks I've been here. During the school year, I'm in class 8-5 and doing home or lab work until bedtime which is usually between 1 and 2 am.

5. Who is number one in your life?
I have 4 No. 1's, three of them Palits, one a Wanton.