You know, I don't think it really hit me until today's class...I am really going to be out there taking care of patients in about a year and a half.  I mean, I'm seeing patients and doing exams now...but I mean I'll be on my own, making decisions, ordering tests, prescribing drugs, giving diagnoses.  For some, I know that is a heady realization.  To me, scared me.  This is not something I am taking lightly.  I want my patients to turn to me just as much as they do their doctor. 

I'm in a different kind of curriculum at school.  We're following some med schools and doing something called Problem-Based Learning, PBL.  So, we work cases and in doing so learn about diseases, tests, drugs, procedures, etc.  We just finished a case where a guy fell from a 30' cliff and broke his tibula and fibula...right near his ankle.  Bad break, they pinned his ankle and he was in the hospital for 4 days when we "saw" him (where our case opened).  Turned out he had something called compression syndrome...it's a bad, nasty thing to have and people looses limbs, develop kidney failure and sometimes die.  All because his surgeon didn't take his complaints seriously.  All the staff thought this guy was drug seeking.  He nearly lost his leg because he was believed to be a druggie (no history supported that). 

I guess my rambling is just that I don't want to be the physician assistant (medical provider) who ignores the signs and symptoms because I'm tired, annoyed, or don't care enough to talk.  It's not going to ever be an easy job...I guess if I had wanted that, I would have stayed in my comfy job as an audiologist and been bored outta my head for the rest of my life.  Well, I've gone on too much.  You all stay safe and have a great Friday!

So, everyone starting their pre-Thanksgiving fast?  Yup, I am officially living on bread and water until I start stuffing my face in approximately 180 hours, give or take a few minutes.    Ok, so not really, I can barely make it 5 minutes without snacking on something.  But man, think of all the turkey you could stuff and stuffing and cranberries and taters.  Dangit...I just drooled on the keyboard.

Well, I just wanted to say howdy.  I am stopping by to read my SIR, even if I don't comment, I am thinking about you all! 

Doesn't this----->  look yummy???    I'll regret not seeing this everytime we drive down to see Royce's parents.  After they move, there will no longer be a reason to drive in Fredericksburg.  *sigh* 

And, since I took the time to scan that picture, well, I couldn't not show more pics of Thing 1 and Thing 2.  Here they are. 

 That's Kyra the artiste.And this is Spence, Royce thought he was being funny dressing him this way for church.    The funniest part was picking him up from the nursery after services and seeing him dressed this way...they had taken off his shirt because it had been sooo hot.  heh heh  (sorry for the grainy pics)

You ever wish you could just duck your head under the sand and pretend that things are absolutely peachy?  Yeah, me too. 

Thankfully I have an amazing hubby and a brother who is pulling his out of, ahem, you know.  I'm cool, just had a really bad weekend, etc.  Gotta say I liked Matrix Revolutions but was a little bummed that the plot kinda went thpptt in some places.  I'll not ruin it for others, so don't worry 'bout that.

Ok, gotta do more homework.  Only a little bit left in the semester.  yahhoooooooo!!

Wow, have you all seen this?  What an amazing story.  God is truly awesome!! 

Gotta go rinse the color from my hair.  Sheesh, the work us blondes have to go through to "maintain".   

Well, that was a P.I.T.A. having Xanga being read-only.  While I realize that updates/upgrades/and upstairs  are inevitable parts of running a site such as this, it's a pain when the silly things don't work or take twice as long as they are supposed to. 

So, did you survive your week?  Hope so.  I'm getting geared up to see Matirx Revolutions tonight.  We're going to this very plush theatre in Chevy Chase.  High back leather seats, a bar, stadium seating.  How cool is that??  I get to kick back, drink a beer and watch a flick!  Dang, ain't life grand??    We played Cranium last night with some friends...if y'all haven't played this, I highly recommend it.  The category called Hummdingers was by far the most hated.  You have to hum or whistle a song and your partner has to guess it.  Uh, I stunk at the humming and even worse at the guessing.  Drove poor Royce nuts!  We ended up winning, YAY!, but barely. 

Alright, I've got work to do.  Y'all stay safe and be good. 

Whooo-hoooo!!!  I am AWESOME!!    Just saved 60 bucks off our order with Amazon!!!  Okay, so I had to spend some moola on clothes (which were gifts anyway), but that means I ended up getting a ton of gifts for FREEEEEEE.  That included two CDs that he recommended.    It's very lame I get excited about this, isn't it? 

Well, I'm going to go snuggle on the couch with the hub, have a mug of hot mint tea and watch the rest of the UVA/MD game.  Tah-tah.

Ok, Xanga, don't eat this entry, please!

You know my friend??  The one I told you about before who had an attack of the "yucks"??  Dang, she had appendicitis!    They took out her appendix this morning and sent her home afterwards!  *doh*  Unbelievable the wonders of modern medicine.  If you have a sec, say a prayer for a quick recovery for Malathi (pronounced Mal-tee).    Sleep tight, folks, don't let them bed buggies bite. 

Thanks to those of you calling me Supermom.  Sometimes I truly feel as though I'm SuperRottenMom.  Like those days when the kids are banging on the study door while I'm studying...I either join them for 1/2 hour of play, or gently scream for Royce to get them so I can do some work.    There are definitely days when I think "This is a piece of cake, why am I complaining?!?", then there are those others..."What the heck was I thinking?!?!".  In the end I know this will be worth it.  Whether I go into surgery, forensics, or pediatrics...I get to help people, and that's what it's all about.  So, keep up with the support, I genuinely appreciate it!!

Onto other stuff...anyone know where I can get a big (like 2-4 inch around) super bouncy ball??  Spencer loves Kyra's, but it fits in his mouth and that freaks me out.  Do I go to Toys R Us or Target?!?!  Help!   

Well, I have some research to do before class.  Y'all stay nice and dry and comfy-cozy. 

Shooo-weeeee.  I've got a case of the sleepys.  Somebody wake my tush up!    *yawn*  Got up after maybe 5 hours of sleep last night, got ready, picked up my friend and drove the 45 minutes to school (thanks to Veteran's Day we were able to fly down the highway).  Got to class, discussed some business for about 25 minutes and had to leave as my friend got the "yucks".    So, I dropped her off at the ER (her hubby met us there) and went and did some Christmas shopping.  I'm pretty sure she had a very bad case of the flu, she was absolutely miserable.  I am hoping my flu shot does the trick and protects me and the family. 

I am sooo ready for this semester to be over.  Tho' with the way my psych med test went yesterday, there is no telling if I'll be still in the program...ugh.    I don't know where they get some of their questions, *sigh* I can only do my best.

Well, I'm gonna bolt.  Looks like I've got an EKG to read.  Should be fun.    yippee.