Today was insanely busy. I barely had time to think! My new haircut was a hit with the Med school crowd. People that normally don't even look at me were complementing me. Strange....
Tomorrow is clinic day. It is strange. I almost miss family medicine, as I was busy all day and felt like I was helping people. In internal med I just do a physical then get yelled at for reporting it wrong. NOT a lot of fun. Oh well, Nick and Brianne are in my group, so it is almost like the good old anatomy days (Bilal was moved to another group....)
I have become addicted to Chuck Klosterman's irreverant Super Bowl Blog on ESPN's Page 2. Here is the link: Klosterman Blog

The Oscar nominations were announced today. Some of them were hardly surprising. I have seen Brokeback Mountain, Walk the Line, Pride and Prejudice, Crash, and Cinderella Man. I can honestly say that some deserving roles were turned away this year. Terrance Howard could have easily been like Jaime Foxx was last year, with two nominations (a second for his role in Crash). I do not agree with Keira Knightly's nomination, as her role was not that orignal (the A&E film was far superior). Why did Naomi Watts get snubbed? Her acting in King Kong made the movie work! Oh well, I guess my feelings are not that relavent, since I am not a Hollywood maven but a poor medical student. I will be anxiously waiting for the Oscar results on March 5th. Maybe Jenny D. and I can arrange an Oscar party!

Happy Lunar New Year!
Matt and I enjoyed some yummy Chinese food at the Village Wok yesterday and were treated to a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration. It is weird to think that over a billion people worldwide were celebrating over the weekend.

I chopped off my hair tonight. I decided to finally bite the bullet and try a short hairdo. I don't know how I will feel about it in the morning, as Rosie straightened it tonight after she was done. Tomorrow, when I get around to "styling" it, it will probably be one curly mess! Oh well, my hair grows quickly, so if I really hate it I will just go a few months with trims only. I will try to get a picture posted sometime this week. Maybe we can have a poll or something about the new cut.

I have a pathology exam on Saturday, but I have survive that long. I have lots of other stuff going on right now that distracts me from studying the really really boring subject of polycystic kidney disease. Doug and Maragret are in town tomorrow for more MRIs, I have to lead small group on Friday, plus orchestra, internal medicine, and PAS group stuff (IHATE GROUP WORK!). It is amazing I am not in a ball crying on the floor (that I reserve for Sunday when I have to write four straight microbiology lecture summaries!) Wish me luck over the week, I need it!

I get a free day today! Yup, a whole day off! Why? Because my preceptor for Family Practice is on vacation in Las Vegas. I worked my butt off for the last two sessions, so he gave me this week off instead of pawning me off on someone else for one session. I hope to use the day productively. I am going to the Rec to work out, printing off the final version of the K-Coop I put together for the first year students, and studying my butt off for the mid-term next Tuesday. Tonight I have to meet up with Gretchen and Andrea to print off packets and stuff them. Hopefully with three of us it will not take too long.
Karen has an ear infection. It sounds like Enamine has a thing for the metholatum tha Karen is using to help ease her pain. The kitty bit her ear! And Karen claims she doesn't have a chewing problem......
This weekend Matt and I are volunteering at a homeless shelter. It should be good fun, as we are supervising a children's playroom for six hours on Saturday and three on Sunday. Matt is upset because he will miss some of the playoff games. I am sort of angry because I will have less studying time. Oh well, I guess I will just have to forgo sleeping in to make up for the time.
Well, I need to get moving here. Have a great Wednesday!

Matt and I had a good long weekend. We could get used to these! On Friday and Saturday night we had tickets to the Gopher/Sioux series. We enjoyed Friday night's game, as the Sioux were defeated 6-1. After that game we took our good spirits out to Sally's for some beer with Matt S. He was just back from London, so it was nice to see him and hear all about it. I also discovered how small our world is. We were sitting at a table in one of the "off" rooms of Sally's. Phil P. from my high school looked around the corner. I had seen him various times throughout the year, as he is a manager at the University Bookstore. Phil sees me, and waves, followed by HUGE EYES......"YOU know MATT?" he shouts. Assuming he was not talking about my husband, I knew he meant Matt S. It turns out they party together due to a mutal friend. It was a little weird. Here was someone I hadn't talked to for five years who is friends with one of my good buddies here in Minneapolis.....strange.
Saturday night the Gophers let us down in the last two minutes. It was sad, but they had lost their previous 3 games against the Gophers and are pretty much out of title contention, so I can be statisfied with that.....oh, and I got a Sioux fan kicked out of the arena for swearing in front of little kids....heheh
Today Matt and I went ice skating in downtown Saint Paul. I was a bit shaky at first, but then it came back to me. It was fun, plus we got free stuff!
Tomorrow the undergraduates start up again. Sometimes I like that I choose a campus with undergrads on it, but the first day of classes is NOT one of them. I have to go the Rec Center early because all the girls will be working out to lose weight in time for spring break. Lucily, after next week most never come back....
It sounds like Jenny and Karen had a fun weekend in Lawrence. I wish I could have joined them. I will just have to look forward to seeing Jenny in a few weekends (or sooner?) and Karen in March!

Tales from Medical School: Venipuncture day!
Well, today was our first lab medicine lab. It was the one where we learn how to draw blood and then do test on our blood. I partnered up with my buddy Ryan. Ryan got a crack at my arm first. Due to my pale, freckled skin Ryan has some solid landmarks to work with. He hit paydirt (aka the vein) on his first stick. His luck ended there though, as he proceeded to pull the needle out as he was switching tubes. I had to undergo another stick in my other arm, and we were done. Next up: ME. I had to do venipunction in Ryan! Yup, they gave me a needle. I have done venipuncture in sheep back at NDSU, but this is WAY different. Luckily, Ryan had awesome veins, so I also was successfull in my first stick. My luck unfortunately ran out in the same place as Ryan's, so I to stick his other arm as well. This is where the tricky part lies, Ryan's other arm had a beautiful, easy to see vein which was unfortunately right over a tendon. Being a wimp, I surrender my needle to allow the supervisor to demonstrate a "tricky" draw. I would rather have him cause pain in Ryan.....

Well, that is all the excitement from Minneapolis today. Matt and I have hockey tickets this weekend. We are going to cheer against the Susies (THE SUE AS A MASCOT NOT AS A PEOPLE SUCK!) GO GOPHERS!

The holidays have come and gone. Matt and I had a relaxing trip back to Fargo and Jamestown. Both of us got to see some friends that we have not seen since our wedding. It was especially a treat to get to see Mitch and Derrick, as both live so far away now!
Karen loved her present. I can't believe I kept meeting Martha Stewart a secret from her for over a month! I don't know how many times either Jenny or I spilled the beans.
We are back at school for the second day today. I was at clinic all day. It was much better this time, as most of our cases were colds. We wrote a lot of prescriptions for cough syrup with codeine. THE CRUD IS OUT THERE FOLKS! WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY!
I had the joy of getting an ultrasound on my gallbladder on Monday. My doctor thought my nausea may be due to gallstones (as opposed to my theory of GURD). I got the ultrasound report back, I DO NOT HAVE GALLSTONES. Yup, I am just going to take some OTC acid reflux reducers like Ashlee Simpson. Hey, I wonder if I can blame my lack of a PhD mentor on GURD........
Funny story. Matt swore he had school yesterday. After whining like a two year old about not wanting to go, he got out of bed, showered, and got ready. He drove me to school (or normal first day of the week back routine) and went to DeLaSalle. There he discovered HE DIDN'T HAVE SCHOOL! Wow, now I know why I am in charge of paying the bills and such.....I pay attention to dates and days. Oh well, he was not crushed by this discovery, when home and played video games all day....so this story has a happy ending.
Tomorrow night Matt and I will not have heat, as our apartment is getting a new boiler. The current 1910 versions are burning fuel at a less than 50% efficiency, costing us lots of money is heating bills. We have some tiny little space heaters from the gas company to keep us warm. I think we will also rely heavily on a trusty hot water bottle and lots of blankets. Pray for a warm night tomorrow.
Well, I already have over a hundred pages of reading to do, so I better go.