A blog post oasis in the desert of finals

Hiya readers! Long time no see. I meant to post this weekend but my final exams snuck up on me in the worst of ways. Things are going pretty well -- I only have 4 more exams and one quiz before I'm done next Tuesday after which time I'm off for about 2 1/2 weeks. Sure, I'll be studying boards material at least 10 hours a day but it'll be a vacay nonetheless :)

I'm happy to report that our small tapas soiree was a success last Friday night! We had a great turnout and everyone was quite creative with their dishes. Josh even pushed the limits of his culinary comfort zone by making kalamata olive tapenade and grilled portabellas with hazelnut gremolata...yum! I got a little recipe-happy and made bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms (not even close to as good as yours, Mom!), baked tomatoes stuffed with pesto and goat cheese, and a white bean and gorgonzola spread. I was happy with the way everything turned out and Josh and I now have enough wine to regift for a year! I'm kidding -- but I'd consider it if I could remember who brought which wine. How embarassing to regift someone their own gift! I've actually only ever regifted once when I got two Hungry Hungry Hippos for my 8th birthday and the son of a family friend had his shortly after. I remember feeling guilty and kind of tacky at the time. Anyway, I digress. Here are some pics from Friday:


The table was starting to get crowded at this point but the amount of food almost doubled after I took this picture and more guests arrived. Roua here brought an awesome home-made spicy hummous. I've been eating the left overs for days now!


Hyden commadered my camera for most of the night


Josh spent a lot of time near the food table. I think he's unable to mingle on an empty stomach


I was thrilled that Stephanie made it from Lansing (here with boyfriend Scott) and that Christin was able to join us from E. Lansing (and bring some incredible personal cheesecakes!)

All in all, a great time :)

Also, yesterday marks a minor milestone in my dental school career: the end of my time in the simulation lab. Gone are the days of practicals and entire weekends spent drilling inside a mannequin head and trimming acrylic. Never more will I cause trouble with the Back Row Babes and watch a demo on my personal monitor. From this point on, everything I've learned to do on dummies will be on live patients...yikes! and *tear. Most days I gripe about the 12-20 hours a week we spend in there but now that I'm at the end, I'm pretty sad about leaving. I was fortunate enough to love my randomly-assigned row mates, forming the BRB's for moral support and getting to know them well. We even ordered our clinical instructors, Drs. Jaarda and Stoffers, their very own Back Row Babes t-shirts because of how much they loved that our little row didn't "take all of this stuff too seriously but had fun with it, too." I had a wonderful (and frustrating and exhausting and unforgettable) experience in the lab and am ready to apply what I've learned up in the clinics. Appropriately, our last day in lab was spent taking a 7 hour practical during which we had to prepare 3 teeth for crowns, make a temporary acrylic crown for a front tooth, and make a temporary acrylic 3-unit bridge. Up until now, all of our practicals have been 3 hours or shorter so this one was pretty draining. It was certainly a culmination of everything we've learned this year:


We come in around 7:30 on practical mornings to set-up our benches for the instructor's check at 8. I didn't have a chance to snag a picture later but by 11 am (only 2 hours into the practical), my bench area was an official disaster area.


It's tradition to wear our Back Row Babes t-shirts for practicals and Drs. Jaarda and Stoffers eagerly wore theirs, too! Besides, pink on men is so in this year!


This picture was taken my first week of dental school when holding a drill was still terrifying. Almost 2 years and a dozen restorative patients later, I don't think twice about it. My family was tickled by this picture though; Dad felt terribly sorry for "that poor guy who has to go to the dentist every day!"

Okay, enough piddling around. I have a final in my complete denture course tomorrow morning that is not going to be easy. Dentures are difficult to fabricate and require meticulous attention to detail. Even perfect dentures can never function like natural teeth for eating and speaking. Honestly, take care of your teeth to keep them as long as possible; ask me if you have questions how. Half Dr. Palit, over and out.

xoxox