What a dreary day! The last two days of been cloudy and rainy and just plain dreary. Getting up for 8am class is hard enough, now it is still pitch black when I wake up and then it doesn't get sunny later. It's only going to get worse once the time changes this weekend too. That's the worst part of winter. Okay, maybe not the worst part, but it's pretty bad. I mean, not only is the weather horrible, but it gets dark at 4:30. No wonder everyone is grouchy.

On a different note, my roommate just came in and said she found $40 and my other roommate found $20 yesterday. What the hell?! Who finds money like that? I most certainly never have. So the way I figure it, either our apartment is lucky and I will find $80 or I am just cursed. I really could use that money this weekend...

Speaking of this weekend, it's Halloween and I don't have a costume. There's a party I'm supposed to go to and I still don't know what I'm wearing. I got a costume last year (that I never got a chance to wear), but my "costume" was just an old 70's dress. It would've been a good costume last year if I would have been with my friends in similar costumes, but this year I feel like it will just look like I'm wearing a hideous dress. Any suggestions?

On a final note, the elections are next week and all I have to say is THANK GOD!

White Coat

So, I've been busy the past couple of weeks with tests and other things. I made it through round 2, although I have a few battle wounds. But, I'm haven't failed out yet!

I'm so drained, that I don't have anything interesting to say. Basically, I'm procrastinating because now that tests are over, I don't want to study anymore. Tomorrow I get to play doctor again. It should be interesting. It's my first day with my preceptor. Basically, all I am going to get to do is follow him around and ask stupid questions. But hey, I get to wear a white coat. I have mixed feelings about the white coat thing. Part of me finds it cool that I get to wear the "coveted" white coat, but the other part of me isn't ready for what the coat implies. I mean, when people see the coat, they are going to assume that I know something and can help them. I don't know anything. Sure, I could tell you how bacteria reproduce or what mutation cause Waardenburg Syndrome, but ask me why your knee is the size of a football and all I can do is shrug and say "I dunno." I guess that's why I'm in school, right?

Well, I have more procrastinating to do that involves watching WB.

It's been a about a week since my last entry because I've been spending a lot of time with Mr. C and the gang in the cadaver lab. I swear the chemicals are getting to me and my thoughts are all over the place, so bear with me here.

-My first comment is about last week's debate. I saw very few good points made on either side. Instead, it was 90 minutes of trading insults and dodging the questions. What's the point? I could have spent 90 minutes insulting the candidates and making up stuff. And, I probably would have been more entertaining.

-Why do all of the nice shoes have heels? I'm almost 6 feet as it is, no way do I want to wear shoes that make me 6 foot 2. Even if I didn't mind the height, I wouldn't be able to walk in them anyway. So I'm left with choosing either the ugly, granny shoes or sneakers. There have to be cute shoes out there without a heel, right? If you know where I can find any, let me know.

-My skin and hair look nice about 3 months a year. When it's hot and humid, my skin and hair are oily. When it's cold, they are dry. Right now they are at the in between stage where they don't know what to do, so they are revolting. Maybe I should move somewhere more "temperate."

-When are all of the damn bugs going to die? Isn't that the only good thing about the cold weather, that it kills all of the bugs? The bugs we called the exterminator about a few weeks ago are still hanging out here. My roommate saw one the other day and I saw one just now. They seem to disappear for a week or so, and then we see 3 or 4, and then they disappear again. I try not to think about the fact that they may be around all of the time, crawling all over us in our sleep and we just don't know about. Wait, I guess I just thought about it.

-Why is it that when I study the heart, everyone around me begins having heart problems? Is a coincidence or do I just notice it more? What's going to happen when I study the pelvis and perineum?

-What is boredom, and why did I dislike it so much? I talking about this with my friend, Sarah, the other day. One her friends complained of being bored, and we wondering when was the last time we were bored. I'm guessing it was months ago. I vaguely remember complaining this summer, but now I'm wondering what was so bad about it. I mean, when is the next time I will have nothing to do or worry about? It seems like just when you think you've got everything under control, life throws you a curve-ball. I guess everything happens for a reason, even if we can't understand it now. All we can do is wait for things to work themselves out.

Well, I seem to be getting a little too philosophical. Time to get back to Anatomy. I'm going to be taking a bunch of tests during the next couple of weeks, so I probably won't be too exciting. Don't worry, the "normal" Janet will back soon.

I had a lot of fun yesterday which I've found is preventing me from being productive today. So, I'm hoping if I get all of my excitement out in my blog, I'll be able to finally be productive, although I'm not holding my breath.

So, early yesterday afternoon I headed out for a fun-filled day of gambling, drinking and ogling Keith Urban. The real excitement began as my friend, Barb, and I were driving. We were going through this patch of construction on I-74 so I was looking around and saw this guy on an awesome, custom Harley. Being the obsessed fan that I am (I don't stalk him or anything so don't worry) I recognized the custom Harley from his video. Then I noticed the jacket and the hair. I was pretty sure it was him, but then I figured that was silly. Why would Keith Urban be riding around interstate 74 in the construction? Well, I guess I must have been to distracted by the idea of seeing KU, that I didn't notice that we had missed our exit and were now heading in the wrong direction. After about an hour (when we should have reached the casino in 1/2 an hour), we noticed we were fair from where we were supposed to go. For those of you familiar with the area, we were in Dwight, IL instead of Peoria. So what should have been about an 1 and 1/2 trip ended up being over 3 hours. We finally made it to the casino and decided to only play the slots. Just so no one worries, I came out even thanks to Barb who gave me $3 which was just enough for me to win $50 to make up for the $50 that I had lost.

After gambling and the $20 buffet dinner (yeah, I thought that was a little outrageous), we headed over to the concert. It was awesome! Probably the best concert I've been to. Now, back to my earlier point. So, part way through the concert, Keith's talking to the audience about what he did before the concert. Then he mentions that he rode his Harley out on interstate 74 and complained about the construction. So, figuring the time that we came through and what he said, I am convinced that I did see him. I know this isn't exciting to most of you who probably don't even know who he is, but I thought it was cool that I actually saw him out, not just at the concert. For anyone who is interested in motorcycles, his is even better in person than in pictures. I believe he has pictures on his website if you're interested.

So that was my excitement for the weekend. Today I've had some trouble concentrating because it sucks doing homework after having so much fun yesterday. Well I guess that's just how it goes. Back to the books for me.

Be careful what you wish for!

I wasn't planning on making another entry until Sunday, but I couldn't resist. So, those of you who read my previous post know that I have been complaining about having a boring life. Well as my title suggests, be careful what you wish for. This morning as I was toasting my usual morning bagel, I smelled smoke. Well, I just figured a crumb had fallen down in the bottom so I ignored it and finished packing my lunch. Bad idea! When I looked back there was flames coming out of the top of the toaster. I unplugged it thinking that would stop it. Don't know why I thought unplugging it would stop a fire. Then I turned the water on, but thankfully my logic kicked in, and I realized electrical fire + water= disaster. So then I looked around for a fire extinguisher. Luck for me, our landlord had one placed right over the sick. So I was able to put the fire out before there was any damage (well my expensive toaster is ruined, but...). All I have to say is that it is a good thing it happened this year rather than last year because not only did my place not have any fire extinguishers but the old house I lived in would probably go up in flames in a matter of seconds. I guess the moral to this story is to never wish for excitement, because you never know when you'll get it. So I hope this weekend is fun but a little less exciting.

Talk at y'all soon.

I have to admit that I have been pretty boring the last few days. Everyday I've been meaning to write something, but I feel like I have nothing interesting to say. I mean, I pretty much do the same thing everday. So I thought, "Hell, if you've got nothing else, why not just write about what you do." So, here goes, a day in the life of Janet. Just a note, this will probably be boring, but then again that's my life.

6:30am- Hear the alarm, wake up, wonder how it could possibly be morning already and then stumble to the shower
6:43am- Turn on the morning news and get my daily 20 minutes of TV.
7:30am- Walk to the bus stop and get on the bus with the creepy old bus driver
7:50am- Get cup of coffee #1 and sit down for 4 hours of lecture
8:50am- Coffee #2 because of boring lectures (sometimes must get Coffee #3 if have Embryology)
10:50am- Get rid of coffee 1-3
11:50am- Pry my butt out of the seat in the auditorum and go to lunch
1-5ish- Usually have some sort of boring and tedious lab. On the rare days of short labs (such as today), come home and nap. That's right, I still like my afternoon naps. Wake up and study until dinner
5-6pm- Dinner
6-8ish- Coffee #4 and either head to some sort of review session or go to the lab to study.
8-10ish Come home and try to study but end up complaining (usually to myself) about how I have no time to study.
10pm- Decide that my bed would be a much more comfortable place to study, so I crawl in with my books.
10:30pm- Decide that maybe reading is out, so try to study anatomy instead since it "doesn't take as much concentration"
12pm- Wake up to throw my anatomy book off of my chest

This is just an example, I do vary this some depending on whether my professors "forget" to come or if I get lucky and have no review sessions. I'm going to a casino and concert this weekend, so look forward to some more interesting entries.

Let's see, it's about 3pm, according to my agenda it's nap time. Gotta go.
jz

Jacob Carpenter with his fuzzy rug. Here I think he is about 1 year (it's a couple of months old). 

Little ones

After a weekend with my family, it was hard to come back to school. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to stay at home any longer (sorry Dad), it's just hard to start back on my routine after being with people that have actual "lives." I feel like I'm living in a sort of limbo between college and the real world. It's not really like college because I don't go out and do typical college stuff, but it is definately not like the real world. I don't have time to really do anything just because I feel like it. When I do try to relax, I feel guilty because I should be studying. Like right now, I feel like I shouldn't spend the 10 minutes it takes to complain about how busy I am. Then I talk to my advisor about my problems and stress of trying to have a life in med school and here's the brilliant advise I got. "Don't worry about not having a life because you won't." Thanks, Dr. Goldberg.

So, I spent about 4 hours with my niece and nephew yesterday. Man, I love those kids but I am so glad that they aren't mine. It's making me realize that maybe the whole "having kids" thing isn't for me. I'll just have to make friends with people with kids so I can play with them. Here are a few more observations I made after being with the little ones.

1. When you are cute, you can get away with anything. Now that I think about it, this applies to kids and adults. Come on, you know the pretty people get away with more. How many attractive people do you see in jail? Of course the psychologist in me is now asking if it's that attractive people get away with more, or is it because unattractive people are more aggressive to make up for their "unattractiveness?" But that's a whole different story...

2. Banging your head on the floor is a good way to get attention. It's also a good way to get a headache so I wouldn't suggest it.

3. It's perfectly acceptable to talk about a baby's penis and/or vagina (hey, there are some strange kids out there) But once you hit a certain age, it is no longer acceptable. Wonder what the cut-off is for something like that?

4. Baby's lives are stress free. This is something I am very jealous of and it made me wish I was little again. Except for the whole diaper thing.

5. Baby's get WAY more hugs and kisses than adults.

I'm going to attempt to but in a picture of my nephew, Jacob, to be fair since I have a picture of his sister. Hopefully it'll work.

Stiffs: the dead and political kind

Man, it's been a busy week. I've had classes to attend, cadavers to dissect, debates to watch, and most importantly, a chance to play doctor. That's right, after 5 weeks in medical school I finally got a chance to do something remotely related to being a doctor. I spent 2 hours at the hospital learning skills involved in the basic physical. You know, taking blood pressure, listening to the heart, looking in the eyes and ears, etc. Well, I figured this would all be really easy since I have experience taking vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, respirations) when I worked as a CNA. Actually, it's not as easy as it sounds. I looked in the eyes and ear and I seriously couldn't see anything. I felt like an idiot. I mean, how hard can this be. Plus, you know how they "thump" on your back to listen to your lungs? Yeah, I couldn't do that either. I mean, who doesn't know how to thump? It turns out that the other students couldn't either, but this made me think. In a year and a half, I will be doing rotations and in 3 and a half years I will be a doctor. Scary, huh? Good thing I'll be getting a lot of practice between now and then.

I've also been spending a great deal of time in the cadaver lab studying the heart and lungs. Man, it's really cool. I wish everyone got the experience of seeing the human body this way. I know many may think it's disgusting, but I truly find it amazing to be able to hold a heart in my hands. It's really cool. It makes you appreciate how remarkable and intricate and perfect the human body really is. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

Okay, so I'm going to try not to get too political because I realize my comments may offend some (see previous entry). I hope everyone got a chance to watch the debates, whether you have decided who you are voting for or not. It's a great way to hear the candidates views straight from their mouths, and I think it gives a sneak peek into what they are really like. So, watch the Vice Presidential debates Oct. 5th at 8pm and the 2nd Presidential debate Oct. 8th at 8pm. That's all I have to say about that.

well, I'm heading back to the my parents house this weekend to visit with the family and extended family so I'll talk at y'all in a couple of days.