hershey's special dark

albany is not my friend. syracuse, oddly enough, has been better to me. capital of new york, poo on you.

yesterday i drove back from boston. a long stretch of 90, with a little blip of 87 around albany. because no one wants to get too close to albany....

i was doing fine until just after i crossed the hudson. i was on the phone with pete, being blown around the road by the nasty wind. it was about 8 o'clock at night; i had class at 8:30 the next day.

an hour passed. pete and i were chatting it up, and then suddenly i passed a sign. an ominous sign. it read "new york city 100 miles." i gasped. why would i be within a hundred miles of new york? albany is way further away than that, and i must have passed it an hour ago--holy crap! i never got off 87! i've been heading south for an extra 45 minutes at least....

i would like say that i acted calmly, rationally, maturely. but sadly, i have a witness to the contrary. i'm sorry, pete. to put it mildly, i freaked out. there were tears, yelling, more tears.

i turned around, starting heading north, watched the signs get slowly closer to albany. like i really want to go to albany ever.

i got back to 90. i still hadn't, how do you say, calmed down yet. but soon, fate would play it's dirty trick on me again, when i realized that things were getting more urban than i would have expected, driving through middle of nowhere, new york...hmm, was i actually getting closer to albany? a mile later, a sign (ominous sign #2) confirmed it. i was heading on 90 east, back to boston, by way of albany. i immediately burst into tears. at this point i was off the phone with pete (who hung up on who is a moot point), and couldn't get it together enough to call him back until i was off the road and parked at a gas station. after calming down a bit, i started finding 90 west, my new best friend. it took a little while, sadly. but then, finally, hallelujah, i was back on the road going the right way. it was now 10 pm. albany is 140 miles or so away from syracuse. but i was going to make it.

oh, and then pete and i made up, which was good because i needed to talk to someone or else i would fall asleep. and that's when i realized that i had a hershey's special dark chocolate bar in my car, bought for me by my mother, which would later be my salvation. i don't think i've enjoyed chocolate so much before. it was the spell that would lift my dementor-induced state. it was special. and dark. it was hershey's special dark.

thank you, chocolate. (and pete. and my mom.)

molecular foundations of medicine....check

i just finished my first class at med school. i think that's cool. the test was really hard (obnoxiously...), but it's over. i didn't need to do that well on it to pass (i would've had to get nothing wrong in order to get a high pass...yeah, not so much)...

but now the exciting weekend. i am almost ready to leave and go to boston, my favorite city, to get to the rehearsal for my favorite bride, kara, wearing my festive red sox shirt, and finally play that song i've been working on with the girl i'm accompanying tomorrow....

how exciting. i love the weekend. it's so short, but whatever.

ok, i have to pack now. i still don't know what i'm wearing tomorrow, so i have to bring options...

no snow again, what the heck weatherman?

it was supposed to snow this morning, but it just rained. not as fun.

anyway, it's been a big week. full of ups and downs. if there was a graph, it'd look like the himalayas. what is mostly going up and down? if you don't know, you don't know me and don't deserve to read this blog. my EMOTIONS! aka, my best friend.

well, i have an exam on friday. and i'm losing motivation...and i'm not understanding stuff...and i'm easily distracted...and not sleeping well...etc. actually, today i felt pretty good. i got sleep last night, and worked today and got stuff done! this segment, which is the last one for this class, had fewer lectures but is much harder than the last one. so right when i feel like i should be the expert on how to study for this class, i feel overwhelmed. my wonderful study partner kinda crapped out on me too, for unknown reasons. i first thought it was personal, but everyone else has been saying he's acting weird, so i don't think it's me. i hope he's doing ok...

oh, i said i was going to have controversy in this entry. hmmm...let me think....should i talk about the family planning doctor who lectured today? no, too controversial....how bout the meteorological cause of lake-effect precipiation? no, not controversial enough....

so heather suggested states rights. the only thing that comes to mind there is when i was trying to explain to my canadian friends why some laws are state and some are federal...i didn't do a very good job...the canadian friends are interesting, different views on things (usually liberal. but i'm used to that, i went to school in boston).

mom thinks i should talk about swimming. i think that the back stroke is overrated, because i get water in my eyes, and then i breath water in to my nose, and then i start drowning....not good. freestyle is fun, but my shoulder hurts after awhile. i use the kickboard, but then it TAKES FOREVER and that's just boring. i tried breaststroke last time, and i was pleasantly surprised at how much it worked my arms, but didn't hurt my shoulder. i'm sure i'm doing it wrong, but why fix what ain't broke?

ok, those weren't that controversial. i think i'm just not a controversial kinda gal. oh well.

so, test on friday, then drive my butt up to quincy to get to kara's rehearsal/dinner. then wedding on saturday. then drive back on sunday. monday i start anatomy! meet my lab group, meet my cadaver, wear some scrubs....very exciting. ahh, one of my last formaldehyde-free breaths...

tata, folks...

sorry heather, no snow

i have to say, i'm glad we didn't get snow. there was supposed to be a shower on saturday night, but i didn't see any signs of it on sunday morning.

anyway, things have been alright in the medical school world. i got my second test score back last week. i had quite a jump from last test, which is good. i was excited. or at least, content. i was exactly the average this time. so here i am, just your average med student...

things have been alright for the past week or so. this is the last segment of my "molecular foundations in medicine" class, then we'll start anatomy! i'm glad, this stuff is so boring, and hard. there aren't as many lecture for this segment (about 20, instead of 30), but they are quite dense. i'm trying a bit of an experiment, which is not going to many of the lectures, but instead studying on my own and watching the lectures on video. then i'm not wasting time falling asleep in lecture, and listening to them when i'm really ready. oh, i also listen to them in double time, sometimes 2.5X. makes the lecture must quicker. you wouldn't believe how slowly the lectures seem to go without speeding it up..."and here's...the....uh....carboxyl group....which....seems to indicate.....something....." you get the idea. i was studying with arlin still, but we got out of sync on the studying. i'll probably study with him tomorrow though.

pete came up and visited this weekend, which was very nice. we played halo on xbox with my friends, and brunch on saturday at breugger's bagel factory, which is very nice. good bagels. then i sent pete away so i could work. i did a couple hours of work while he was shopping at the mall (his choice, really..). then we had dinner at a mediteranean/middleeasternish restaurant nearby. it was good, but a bit eerie, because there were very few other people there. i kept getting the feeling like everyone knew something that we didn't and was avoiding the place. i never did uncover the secret. if you happen to be in syracuse, on marshall street, try aladdin's. it's good.

sunday pete left, and i napped. then went for a swim. it's difficult to find time to do active things. especially now that the weather has turned. however, my roommate loves to swim, and tries to go as much as she can. so i went with her. when i was a kid, my mom took me and my sister to the pool at post that she belongs to. that's where i learned to swim, and dive, and lots of stuff. i get flashbacks to those days when i'm in the pool here. i start to play with the kickboard like its a surfboard, or dive down to the bottom of the pool, or race marie (she always wins, unless i'm doing freestyle and she's doing breast stroke). being a kid was fun. though what i HATED as a kid was having to shower and change after swimming. and have my hair combed back out. oh the knots! my hair is so much more well-behaved now.

i had to write a paper for my ethics class. it was on a case where a jehovah's witness needs surgery, says he doesn't want a blood transfusion, in the middle of the surgery needs one to live, the doctor talks to the wife who wants him to have one. what to do? and it's too late to pass the guy off to another doctor....trust me, that'd be my first thing to do...

you know, it's funny, because i sometimes randomly read other people blogs, and they are usually 1 of 2 types. either they are some sort of angry, opinionated, blog full of arguments for or against something, or they are like mine, just a diary sort of thing. but the first kind is more fun. there also seems to be a large amount of religious fanatic types, as well.

and mine is so boring...

wish i had some great issue to discuss....

i'll think of something for next time.

best columbus day ever....

and i 'm serious. the stars aligned for this weekend. the weather was perfect, the leaves were beautiful, i was able to relax but still see lots of people i haven't seen, and i DID NOT STUDY AT ALL.

i hope my use of caps has made an impression. i do not do so lightly. it was that wonderful not to study (i just had to intentionally unsplit my infinitive...).

well, lets see. first, i took my test. good to get it over with. i have no idea how i did. i bet i passed. so i'm not worried. then i drove home, with jackie, of the boyfriends in boston club. the leaves got better as we moved closer to boston.

then, i saw pete! how very exciting....he had dinner ready (just about, the chicken was still a little pink in the middle, but you know...he told me to drive slowly, but like i was really coming just for the food?). and there were candles involved. and jazz (wait, was it jazz? if not, it was something that promoted similar vibes...).

the next day, i went to a shower for kara (hi, kara). it was lovely, to be expected, knowing how her roomies/bridesmaids are. and oh so many girls. i haven't been with that many girls in a while. oh, we talked so fast...

after the shower, pete and i went into the city. first to downtown crossing, then to the common and gardens, which were gorgeous. i played tourist and read the inscriptions on the monuments, for the first time. though i missed some i know. save 'em for later.

then to dinner, and starbucks, and a movie (the illusionist, i liked it, it reminded me of books i've read and enjoyed, and i appreciated this story more as a movie than as a book. does that make sense? my reader-self liked it, but was glad it was a movie and not a book...wouldn't have been as appealing)

then to sunday (ahh, only on sunday...this was quite a weekend). my parents and liz and joe and auntie beth came up to visit. they came to foxboro (with a few thousand patriots fans....whoops) and saw the new apartment of rich and pete (pete moves in at the end of the month), we went out for lunch at the chinese restaurant on the corner of maple and mechanic (they didn't have wonton soup. it was very odd. i thought my family handled it well. good job, family).

then into boston. to the common. again. wandered a bit, then pete and i had to leave for church in allston. i wished i had stayed with my family, though, in hindsight. but church was alright. sadly, a holiday weekend for me means i can go to church, but for others it means they go away elsewhere, and are not at church.

then hung out with pete for a bit longer, left him to sleep for work the next morning. i woke up on monday morning late (why not?), and found heather outside the house (her house, i stayed in her bed) on her phone. she had given me her key for the weekend, so she was locked out when she got home. so i let her in, that's what friends are for. we hung a bit, caught up.

then i went to quincy, to enc. oddly enough, i was actually nervous to be on campus. i didn't want to run into people i didn't want to see (which, for the life of me, i can't even think of who that would be, emotions are funny things). and i didn't want people to think that i was one of those loser alums who like to come visit all the time. i am a loser for different reasons... :)

so i saw jennie, sort of surprised her in her bedroom (the door was open, ya know), and we walked to the beach and talked. it was good.

then i picked up jackie at the t, and drove back to school.

the end.....

feeling the love

for all of you who were guilted into replying by my mother, i thank you. what are mothers for?

oh, liz, trying to be anonymous...

anyway, i just wanted to post quick. it's the night before the exam and things are going ok. i did a couple practice tests, and i did pretty well on them. much better than last test, especially the practice tests. ok, much better might be a stretch. but consistently better. which is good.

today i went to the indian restaurant nearby with some friends, there's a really good buffet for cheap. i ate way too much. but it was so good. just the smell walking in is heavenly. i want to bottle it. "indian restaurant" air freshener. mmm...

the funny thing about the indian restaurant is the last time i went, i went with two indian guys. i was asking them about the food, and they knew nothing. they kept saying, yeah, my mom makes that, i don't know what's in it. just useless.

then tonight i got thai, ordered in with some more pals. gotta stick together through all the stress!

well, now i'm talking to pete. and i can't multitask. haven't had that course yet....

downtime

it's sort of odd, here, because you want to study all the time. there's always something else to do, to learn, to review. but it just doesn't work that way. say you have a good day. like saturday. i studied long and hard, and i accomplished more than ever. it was very exciting. 7 lectures in one day.

then i get to today. i've worked hard for the past few days, the long weekend (yom kippur). today i had a few lectures, then just relaxed for a few hours. just chilled. napped, played some piano, just laid on my bed and didn't think about school.

then this evening i got into a long discussion with some of my friends about poetry and books and writing. it was good stuff. reminded me of old days. you know, a month ago. it was very refreshing. soul-restoring.

and that's just as important as studying. actually, it's really more important. because i need to be me, and i'm not just work.

so today was downtime. there's plenty of time the next two days to finish my studying.