baby love

This morning I attended my first baby shower given for a friend of my own instead of a family friend. Holy smokes, that makes me feel old. Actually, the mommy-to-be (and classmate of mine) is quite a bit younger than me as she zoomed through college and in to dental school quickly. It was a small affair but we had a good time eating brunch, playing games, and opening presents. I particularly liked the game where we all tried to estimate the circumference of her belly using a piece of yarn cut to our specifications by just looking at her. We all way overestimated the size of her baby bump and she pretended to be miffed. As far as gifts, I chose to buy some adorable onesies and a blanket from her registry, a safer bet than the onesie that simply read "Tax Deduction" on the front which I found hilarious. That's not to say I didn't like what I gave -- I was literally moved to tear-filled eyes as I browsed the baby section of Target last night, a scenario colloquially referred to by Josh as my suffering a "cute heart attack". I could barely handle the "rattlin' mittens" for newborns and the totally unnecessary (and virtually non-functional) newborn shoes made me squeal.

None of this is really new for me of late, however. Although I detest the notion of a "biological clock" ticking a woman's life away, I must admit to being in a total baby mood ever since we covered the reproductive system last fall. I didn't exactly learn anything new but since then I've been prodding all of my married or financially stable friends to have a rugrat so that I can parent vicariously through them. One would think that watching the 23 minute video of a live birth in my Medical Emergencies class on Thursday might put me off babies for a while but I was unfazed. I even perused the Ultimate Baby Name book at Barnes & Noble for over an hour today (although the argument can be made that I'm just a general fan of word etymologies). *sigh.

Obviously I don't really want a baby right now; Josh and I can barely keep up with our newspaper subscription let alone a little one. I think it just all comes back to my itch for some kind of change lately. We started browsing post-graduation dental service corps opportunities the other day, 2 year (or longer) commitments to clinics in low-income and underserved parts of the country that provide public health dentistry experience and help with loan repayment. It was exciting to think about picking a new city, packing and up and going, kind of like closing one's eyes and spinning the globe. My travel itch has also recently been reinstated and I've been fantasizing again about that European expedition I haven't quite gotten around to. Maybe as a graduation gift in 2009, who knows. *sigh again.

I guess for now I'll have to put the wedding, baby, and Eurotrip plans on hold and settle for smaller, though more immediate, adventures. Today I hot-dogged while driving around just a little bit and tomorrow is the Pistons game. Those'll do for now.

xoxox

A vague Friday Fiver

1. What do you dream about?
Boy, that's not a general question at all. Actually, I do remember my dreams a lot after I wake up. Unfortunately, I have a lot of nightmares, some of which I've been having since I was young. One recurring nightmare in particular has to do with swimming in an ocean too-full of cambrian explosion-ish creatures that keep brushing against my body. I've been having that dream for years now. Yuck.

2. Who has been mean to you lately?
I recently had two horrible experiences with the same hair dresser at the fancy dancy salon I frequent. Our first meeting kind of got off to the wrong start and he insulted my taste in salons and my previous haircut. I think he might be the most arrogant man on the planet (second only to Santino from season 2 for all you Project Runway fans). The haircut, however, was phenomenal. I figured that I was equally at fault for our bad meeting (I'd had a long day and was in a crummy mood) and decided to give him one more chance. Last Friday I saw him again, this time with bells on. What started off as a friendly appointment quickly degraded into a very uncomfortable "discussion" about whether I believe in God or not, whether or not I think truth is relative, why I'm not Christian, and whether or not I like Ann Arbor because it's "one of these liberal cities". Honestly? You're cutting my hair, man. I'd actually prefer we didn't have much conversation at all because I like to relax at the salon but if an exchange is necessary, stick to the weather, TV shows, or celebrity gossip. He seems to be the kind of person who asks your opinion so he can hear his own again (the correct one). He was way out of line and his incredible hostility while manuevering sharp objects around my head made me nervous. I'll definitely never go to him again and had to remind myself after I left that his behavior had very little to do with me than to do with him. It must be exhausting to be so belligerent.

3. What makes you tremble in fear?
Inferior alveolar nerve blocks, one of the common injections given to administer local anesthesia for dental procedures. They're not easy to hit...and so much could go wrong. Eeeeek!



4. Tell us something you've destroyed:
All chances of winning the $250 pot for our March Madness pool. My bracket bit the dust particularly early this year. You can check out my entry here...if you dare:

Men's Tournament Challenge: Son-YAwantapieceofthis?


5. Do you feel in control over your life?
Yes, though I wouldn't mind a little spontaneity or change at the moment (see previous post). Frankly, I'm getting a little bored. *yawn.

xoxox

Zzzzzz

I feel so uninclined to post the last few months. I guess I'm just realizing what a total snooze fest my life has become since I started dental school. I'm particularly aware of it when I catch up on the phone with my sister whose dynamic Master's program in a social science has her preparing talks, presenting at conferences, and traveling the globe to do research. I, on the other hand, get particularly excited the weeks that we have practicals (every other) or that I go see a movie. Sometimes I think that despite the intense didactic coursework and challenges of learning to work with patients, one of the hardest parts of dental school is dealing with the sheer tedium of the program, particularly the first 2 years. I'm sure some days my sister would trade her by-the-seat-of-her-pants program for the structure and assurity of mine but I can't help but get a little gloomy when my response to "what's new?" is always "oh, nothing...same old, same old." I'm feeling antsy to start living my "real life" and to end the student life chapters. Although I know I'm imagining it to be much more glamorous than it really is, I envy my friends who are looking for new jobs, getting married, and/or moving to and exploring new cities. *sigh.

Fortunately, some of the bigger changes I'll experience in my program will be happening in the near future. My D2 year is officially over on May 17th, I registered to take my board exam on May 23 (yikes!), and will start seeing patients full-time on May 29. I'm excited to make the transition from mostly coursework to mostly patient care this spring.

Anyhow, enough gloom and doom. There are a lot of things that have made me smile recently:

1.) I've opened my sunroof 3 times in the past week and a half. Dare I say that spring has sprung? :)

2.) Josh and I are heading to the Palace of Auburn Hills to support our Pistons against the Miami Heat next Sunday with some buddies. I haven't been to a Pistons game in a few years so I'm really looking forward to it.

3.) I've agreed to play mixed doubles with my Dad at a table-tennis tournament sponsored by some members of the local Indian community in April. I've watched "The Calcutta Kid" numerous times before (even at this particular tournament - see post from 4/26/05) and never cease to be in awe of his raw skill. Here's hoping it's genetic!

4.) Tomorrow is F-F-Friday! I'll be in the lab a lot this weekend to prepare for our practical next Tuesday (yahoo!) but it'll be a weekend nonetheless.

TGIF.

xoxox

What's Irish and stays out all night?

Patty O'furniture! Ha! Just my favorite St. Patty's Day joke for your reading pleasure :)

Well, I'm finally back after my post-vacation weblog vacation. Like I mentioned, I had a great spring break in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and being back at school, although no frisbee game on the beach, hasn't been too bad. The past 2 weeks have flown by and I'm thismuch closer to wrapping up the winter semester and winter weather. Check out my vacay pics below:


Old Man Winter definitely had his way with our trip. All 16 of us were on the same flight leaving Sunday morning and found out late Saturday night that it was cancelled due to the massive winter storm that shut down O'Hare for a few days. We all had to scramble with Josh and I driving to Grand Rapids to catch a 5:50 am flight and other friends leaving from Cincinnati or juggling the Detroit departure schedule. Unfortunately, about half of our party got delayed overnight in Dallas and had to miss almost a day and a half of vacation. Our ungodly early flight was delayed 3 hours due to being overbooked by 13 people. Here the runway crew is de-icing the plane's wings prior to take off.


We finally made it! Fortunately, the only cloudy day was our first afternoon there.


These nerds played jumbo chess for almost 2 hours! (L to R: Stacy, Diane, Katrina, Connie)


Katrina and I didn't know what we were getting ourselves in to when we agreed to be on opposing "Tequila" and "Cerveza" teams for the Beach Olympics one morning...


Two games of beach volleyball, one game of beach soccer, a sack race, and a 20 minute game of water polo later we were exhausted. Here, Josh snapped a pic of us deliberately un-participating because the soccer game was getting a little too intense.


Of course Josh, Katrina, and I found the only travel Scrabble in a 10 mile radius


Only 60 pesos extra for a song by an authentic mariachi band during dinner? Of course! Hey, I invest in experiences, not things :) (Stacy and me)


We went in to the actual city of Puerto Vallarta for Roua's mid-week birthday. We convened at the ridiculous underage drinking hot spot "Senor Frog's" and continued on from there. (L to R: Roua, me, Connie, Diane, Jessica)


Josh got yanked on stage for one evening's "Macho Man" contest at the resort's on-premesis theater. Much to his embarassment, he had to do a macho John Wayne walk, take a shot of pretend tequila, and do a "Mexican hat dance" followed by a "sexy dance." Who knew Josh was such a thesbian?


Our last night there, Roua and I took a series of cheesy BFF/senior pictures. I didn't realize until we got home that Grant had found a way to sneak into the background of every one. Can you spot him?




It may be a long time before I have another pina colada or strawberry daquiri after this all-inclusive week. Or guacamole...I think I ate my body weight in guac.


Me and my favorite vacation buddy. He's always up for a game of frisbee, getting up early to kayak with the dolphins, or sunscreening my back :)

I wish I could go back!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

xoxox

Hello dear friends! I'm back from vacation and in the full swing of things already. Tonight I'm working on my long-overdue research paper (my final obligation to this nearly 1.5 year research program!) and might not have time to post. I just wanted to write a little note to say that all is well; I had a wonderful trip, feel tanned and rested, and will be posting some pics soon. My adorable friends Carrie and Shadi called the other night from NYC to check in on me - it's been a while since I'd posted last and they were starting to worry! Thanks for keeping up on my goings on, ladies! :)

Okay, don't get too comfy on the edges of your seats...I'll be back in a flash!



...sunset on the first night as seen from our resort...

xoxox