Happy Holidays!

So Christmas is over, but that doesn't mean the fun has to end! I've got tons of presents to play with, and a few parties to attend!



A few of the more notable gifts I received include:

• A brand new digital camera (red)!


• Some long johns. Those are fun!


• Mamma Mia Soundtrack- which I immediately put on my zune and can't stop listening to!


• Raspberry Hot Chocolate!! I flipping love hot chocolate. I should register that phrase as a trademark. Hahaha. I say it often enough. But it's true!
• A lava lamp (from a white elephant christmas party, so it's still technically "something I got" for christmas)

So anyway. I have a party to get ready for. I've been cleaning all day. Some high school friends and I are going to get together. I'm not going to tell you which nerdy club we were all in, but I'll tell ya - it's sure as heck not Physics Club ;) hee hee!

So I've been putting up old articles and flyers from "back in the day" (this phrase here means 2006) . And I kept some of the props/costumes from then, so I've been putting them up on diplay for the partay. (Note: "partay" was spelled as such in order for it to match the word "display". Don't think for one second I can't spell "party". I won the spelling bee in 4th and 5th grade, yaknow. Got the ribbons to prove it. And besides. When you p-a-r-t-y as much as I do, it's hard not to spell it right!)

I'll be at a different party tommorrow night. At Jenna's house as per the usual. That's where all the hip-hop-happenin' people go for things like chrismas parties or new year's eve! That was where the aforementioned white elephant christmas party was held as well. I can't count the number of times I've gone to their house. It's just so much fun! (But don't worry, Mom- I have much much more fun staying at home and watching movies with you than I ever will at anyone else's house ever!)

So those are my end of year plans! See y'all later!

Guest Post: Why Doctors Go Unheard

I got an e-mail awhile back from Kelly Kilpatrick who writes articles for Nursing School Search, a site dedicated to helping nursing students find exactly what they're looking for in a school! The articles she writes are very good, and I was sort of surprised that she wanted to guest post on my site. I don't think I was the only person to whom she sent a request to guest post, but unlike some other bloggers, I'm a risk taker. ;) Hee hee. So anyway, on with the awesome guest post!

GUEST POST:

____________

Why Doctors Go Unheard…

There’s not much sense in going to see a doctor if you’re not going to accept their diagnosis and follow instructions for your treatment, but that’s just what most of us do at some time or the other. We recognize signs of illness and wish to get them checked out, and so we go to a doctor. But there are times when we fail to listen to them, and the reasons are:

• We may feel the suggested treatment is too aggressive: Some patients get it into their heads that the doctor is out to make more money off them and so, recommends diagnostic tests and medications that are not actually needed. Some feel that they’re under pressure from the drug companies to prescribe their products, especially if the medicine is not life-threatening. Other patients feel that the doctors are scared of being sued for malpractice if any serious disease shows up later, and so, are trying to cover all the bases by taking extra precautions.

• We may feel the suggested treatment is insufficient: Some doctors are considered too lazy to properly examine the patient and then diagnose his or her condition – they use superficial symptoms to make a hasty diagnosis and prescribe placebo-like medicines. Some patients feel that their symptoms are too strong to be dismissed as just a common cold or a viral fever, and if the doctor pooh-poohs their fears, they get to thinking that they’ve not been subject to the right amount of treatment.

• They feel the doctor is not competent enough: Some patients feel that they know enough about medicine to tell when a doctor is good and when he or she is not. They may base their decision on the questions the doctor asks and on his or her bedside manner.

So what happens when a patient refuses to accept a doctor’s treatment at face value? Well, if the treatment is perceived as being too aggressive, they may decide to skip a few of the suggested tests or forgo a few of the medicines prescribed. And if the treatment is thought of as being too mild, they may seek another opinion before following the original prescription, or they may decide to change doctors altogether.

The dicey part of not listening to your doctor is that you don’t know if you’re making a big mistake or if you’re just being smart enough to call things as you see them. A large part of medical treatment involves trust; you need to trust your doctor because you are literally placing your life in his or her hands, and when this trust does not exist, it’s time to question your doctor’s diagnosis and seek another opinion. Remember, it’s not the doc who has anything to lose if you decide to leave and go elsewhere; but if your decision is wrong, it could cost you your life. So follow the treatment, one that you trust.

By-line:

This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of choosing a nursing school. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com
____________________________________________________________

To read other articles from Kelly, try out these links!

The Heparin Conundrum

Caring for the Caregiver

And don't forget to check out the rest of the site over at http://www.nursingschoolsearch.com/!

Thanks, Kelly for the wonderful guest post! If you are ever in the guest post-ey mood again, feel free to drop me a line! And that goes for the rest of you as well!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas needs to get here already!!

Okay, so I love Christmas. I really really do. The little kids getting excited, the toys in the store, the smell of winter, that chill in the air. Not to mention the christmas songs on the radio, the "magical" tv specials, and that feeling in the air on a cold winter's night when you're cuddled up on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa, there's a Christmas song playing gently in the background, a fire crackling in the fireplace and the Christmas tree glowing brightly in the dark night.

And I wish it would hurry up and get here! I mean, I know I still have shopping to do. I'm a procrastinator. But I don't mind shopping. Just the other day, the heavy-set hispanic clerk at the local dollar store said I had a nice smile (I smile all the time, smiling's my favorite)! How cute is that? I had a little skip in my step the rest of the day from that little self-esteem boost.

But other than a bit of shopping, I'm soooo ready for Christmas to come! I can't stand waiting! The presents are piling up under the tree and it's getting colder and colder outside. We've always had tons and tons of presents under the tree. Growing up, there were 8 people in the house all buying (or having mom buy for them what they picked out themselves) presents for everyone else. That's 8 people buying one present each for Mom, Dad, and each of their 5 siblings. And then Santa would always fill our stockings with more goodies than we ever could imagine. Big family, big Christmas.

Now that the family has grown up a little more, we're including two nephews and a cousin/roommate who will be getting and giving presents! There are going to be a ton of presents under that tree! It's going to look awesome!

My favorite part of the holiday season is giving. I know it sounds lame and like I'm only saying what I'm supposed to say, and I'm not going to lie to you. I love getting presents. But it's really not so much the stuff, or what I get. I like seeing what sort of thing people get me. For example:

My big sister always gets me some sort of girly stuff. Like those baskets with lotion and body wash and things. One year she got me perfume. Britney Spears' Curious perfume to be precise. This sort of gift shows not only that people give the type of gifts they love to receive, but also the kind of gifts they think the person would need or like. I used to hate the gifts she gave because I didn't like "girly stuff" or I thought she was trying to send a certain message with her perfumes and soaps. But I've come to appreciate the thought that went into it. No, she doesn't think I smell bad, and no, she doesnt' think I'm a slob. She knows that having those things for her helps her feel better about herself and makes her feel pretty. And I think that by giving those things to me, she's trying to make me feel better about myself. Which is awesome, because those gifts work. She always knows exactly what to get me to make me feel like a grown up woman, and not a little girl. And I deeply appreciate it.

So when I give presents, I like to show people how well I know them. I love showing my mom that I was totally paying attention that time we were in the store and she was eyeing that cute towel set. I like to show my brother that I totally get his taste in music and know that he would love to have this cd or that record. I love showing my big sister that even though we might not see eye to eye on the things we like, I still care enough to get those things for her.

The message we send when giving gifts is priceless, and helps to convey feelings and emotions. These messages help to define the relationships we share with those around us. And even if we lose that one gift from our cousin we didn't really need but still liked, or keep that boring gift in our closet to re-gift next year, or even if we use that really awesome gift over and over until it's worn down, it isn't really the item that matters. It's what we're saying by giving it.

So this holiday season, I'm going to pay attention and see how my presents are recieved. I'm going to try to get the perfect gift that will convey the message I want to send with exactness. And remember that it's not the size or the price of the gift - it's what you're saying by giving it, and how you can convey your love in the right way to the right people.

(Just a random side note: That little baby crab that Dora helps out by taking it to it's mommy is adorable. I love that episode.)

Getting a little personal.

It's raining right now. Pretty hard, too. The rain is beating against the window pane and I can feel the cold seeping in from outside. I just know that later, when I go outside, I'll be able to smell it. You know that smell. The "it just rained and everything's starting to dry off" smell. I love that smell.

I was born in Austell, Georgia. The house I grew up in was right across the street from the elementary school that my siblings and I attended. My best friends lived next door, across the street (Not at the school, but across the street the other way. Our house was on the corner.), and halfway down to the cul-du-sac.

The sidewalk near my house had eight handprints on it. When they put it in, Mom and Dad took us out to go make handprints and write our names on the sidewalk.

In the front yard, there was a pear tree that never really produced alot of pears for some reason. Also in the front yard was a tree that was good for climbing. I mean, to even reach the lowest branch, you had to prop your bike up against the tree, but still. Once you got to that first branch, the rest was an easy climb to the top. There was a tree like that in the backyard as well. The climbing tree in the backyard was my favorite. It was right up against the fence, so we could climb up the fence and into the tree with ease. Needless to say, my siblings and I were a climbey bunch of kids. We must've climbed every tree in the neighborhood and the small woods around it at least once each.

So mid '96, when I was about 8 years old, my dad built a loft in the garage. Now, since our house was a split-level house, the garage was pretty darn big. It went from the very bottom, to the very top. And none of the other rooms in the house did that. If it was clean, we could've fit a couple cars in there with plenty of room to spare. But we had so much stuff to store, we could never clean it all. Thus the loft. The loft was supposed to help with storage and getting things out of the way. I'd say it was about 16 feet high, and took up a corner of the garage.

Now, to an eight year old, 16 feet is pretty big. And at first, we probably weren't allowed up there at all. But there were things stacked against the loft, and we were able to climb up and hang out there. Eventually, a TV made it's way into the loft, a couple of cushions, maybe a blanket or two, and it became the place we would go after school to hang out. Just my siblings and I. But mostly just me. I was probably the youngest kid who was allowed up there. My little brothers wanted to come up, but mom never really let them until they were bigger.

So after school, I'd go up to the loft, lay on my stomach next to the 16-foot drop (it's where the tv was, okay?) and watch my afternoon cartoons, play video games or read books. I loved reading books, and I'd be up in that loft for hours at a time with my boxcar children books. Sometimes, my friends and I would hang out in the loft. I think if their parents had seen the loft, they might not have let them come over to our house anymore.

But one of the things I remember most about the loft was that since there was no room above it, and no rooms around it (except the kitchen on the other side of one wall), you could hear the rain very very well. So I would go up to the loft whenever it started raining hard. I say this because when it wasn't raining too hard, I would most definetly be going on adventures in the woods with my friends. But when the heavy rain started and the thunder started pounding, I would go up to the loft, with the lights off, and just lay there, listening. I would even fall asleep sometimes laying there in the dark, listeining to the rain. Since the loft was in the garage, the sound was even louder because of the empty space. I would lay there until mom called me in for dinner or something. It was very nice. And I knew I was safe in the loft. My Daddy built it, so why wouldn't I be? Although I do remember almost falling off of the edge, and that scared the heck out of me. But mostly, I was comfortable with the edge. I would sleep with a leg and an arm hanging off of the edge, or I would be dangling my feet down, or just lay on my stomach and look down at the garage from right there on the edge.

Everytime it rains that hard, I think about the loft, and how I'd love to go back and take a nap in it. But sadly, in the winter of 1999, we tore the loft down because we were moving to Memphis, TN. The people who wanted to buy our house didn't want a loft in their garage, and wouldn't buy our house until we took it down. So down it went. My safe place. My old friend. My loft.


R.I.P Loft
1996-1999

Finals Week

Finals are this week.

I mean, it's not that big of a deal. I'm doing pretty good in all my classes (exept philosophy! So difficult!) and I've learnt alot.

My spanish class has been tons of fun, my music class has been really enjoyable, and my computer class has been. . . well. . . easy at least. Philosophy class was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever done. My teacher chose to use a novel as the text for the course, his lectures were dull, uninteresting, and uninformed. And even though I didn't understand everything, I could tell I wasn't alone. The teacher was right there with me. Always frantically searching through his notes trying to answer whatever questions we had. I don't understand why he never liked my questions.

For instance-

1. The teacher explains a theory where- because man is IN the world, man cannot fully comprehend the world.

My Question- What about astronauts?

2. The teacher tells of an analogy where there are people chained up in a dark cave. When someone leaves to go into the light and comes back to tell everyone what they are missing, they kill him.

My Question- If it's dark, and everyone's chained up, how can they kill him?

There were alot more, but honestly? Every single one of those questions was shot down as being a ridiculous question not worthy to answer. So I forgot alot of them.

But even though I'm going to certainly fail philosophy this semester, I don't care. I'll try harder and get a different professor next time. It's not my fault, and I can't do anything about it, so I'm not going to waste my time complaining. I just need to learn from my mistake and try harder next time.

Music appreciation class will be a difficult one to try to remember everything we studied. I know alot of the composers and alot of the compositions, but not when everything happened. I'll have to look over that the next couple days.

Spanish will be easy. I've spent so much time on it already, I feel as if I should be proficient, but I'm not. I wish I knew more, and I wish I was better at speaking it, but I guess I'll just have to keep trying!

Computer class will be a piece of cake as long as I can keep my teacher from driving me insane with all of her nagging.

So exams will be over by 12:00 thursday afternoon. Well, at least mine will be. I have two tuesday and two thursday. And I'm going to take a big nap afterward. I still have a little christmas shopping to do, but I have a few weeks still. And also- Saturday, there will be a huge phase ten championship game. Hahaha! So funny. I'm going to enjoy it! And it'll be the perfect end to what's looking like it's going to be a scary week.

Just a little update. Thanks for reading Mom! (And anyone else who managed to get this far without clicking away to something more interesting- kudos!) :)

Engage With Grace

This is important. You'd be surprised the sorts of thoughts this discussion can introduce. Good ones, of course. I was invited to share this with you all by my good friend Paul Levy over at Running a hospital. And I recently printed and discussed this slide with my own family. I think you all should do the same.

(you still have to scroll down and read my thoughtful thanksgiving post if you haven't yet. I spent alot of time on it and want you all to read it. But this is more important I think than that.)

_____________________

We make choices throughout our lives - where we want to live, what types
of activities will fill our days, with whom we spend our time. These
choices are often a balance between our desires and our means, but at
the end of the day, they are decisions made with intent. But when it
comes to how we want to be treated at the end our lives, often we don't
express our intent or tell our loved ones about it.

This has real
consequences. 73% of Americans would prefer to die at home, but up to
50% die in hospital. More than 80% of Californians say their loved ones
“know exactly” or have a “good idea” of what
their wishes would be if they were in a persistent coma, but only 50%
say they've talked to them about their preferences.

But our end of
life experiences are about a lot more than statistics. They’re
about all of us. So the first thing we need to do is start talking.

target="_blank">Engage With Grace: The One Slide Project was
designed with one simple goal: to help get the conversation about end of
life experience started. The idea is simple: Create a tool to help get
people talking. One Slide, with just five questions on it. Five
questions designed to help get us talking with each other, with our
loved ones, about our preferences. And we’re asking people to
share this One Slide – wherever and whenever they can…at a
presentation, at dinner, at their book club. Just One Slide, just five
questions.

Lets start a global discussion that, until now, most of
us haven’t had.

Here is what we are asking you: href="http://engagewithgrace.org/content/theoneslide.ppt"
target="_blank">Download The One Slide and share it at any
opportunity – with colleagues, family, friends. Think of the slide
as currency and donate just two minutes whenever you can. Commit to
being able to answer these five questions about end of life experience
for yourself, and for your loved ones. Then commit to helping others do
the same. Get this conversation started.

Let's start a viral
movement driven by the change we as individuals can effect...and the
incredibly positive impact we could have collectively. Help ensure that
all of us - and the people we care for - can end our lives in the same
purposeful way we live them.

Just One Slide, just one goal. Think of
the enormous difference we can make together.

(To learn more please go to href="http://www.engagewithgrace.org"
target="_blank">www.engagewithgrace.org. This post was
written by Alexandra Drane and the Engage With Grace team)

___________________________

Thanks Paul for inviting me to be a part of this endeavor! I'm glad I had the opportunity!

Thanksgiving! To: You

Alright, so after spending all day on Twitter today, I feel like making a thanksgiving post. I saw so many friends wishing each other a Happy Thanksgiving and expressing their gratitude for friends and family (and twitter). And I thought that yaknow what? 140 characters is too little space for me to express myself and the gratitude I feel.

I'm listening to christmas music, smelling the thanksgiving dinner, waiting to eat the apple pies I made myself, helping mom clean and cook. I chopped up a ton of potatoes today for mashed potatoes later. I'm hear my nephew complain about being bored and my mom calling for a different tablecloth. . all the usual sounds of the holiday. And it makes me feel grateful. What am I grateful for you ask?

I'm thankful for the fact that my friend Vijay doesn't live in Mumbai. Oh my goodness how I'm thankful for that.

I'm thankful for the fact that even though this blog has only been around for a year or so, and isn't very good, that I still have so many amazing friends who read and comment on it that I've never even met in real life. I love you all. I really do. It might sound weird, but I have all of your collective backs if you ever need anything.

I'm thankful for the plenty of friends I have in my life who read and comment on this blog. Thanks guys. I appreciate the fact that you find this blog somewhat amusing at times. And I'm grateful that you are all there for me.

I'm thankful that Leif doesn't think I'm creepy. I honestly am soo grateful. Anyone else would've taken out a restraining order against someone like me commenting like I do at his blog. (I know I would've) And that he understands that I'm just playing around. Thanks for indulging me in that sense, man. I appreciate it. (Although I am usually not lying when I say that you are witty, charming and handsome. You know that's the truth ;) )

I'm thankful that my family gets along. My parents are still together after 25 years, and my brothers and sisters and I all speak to each other and love each other very much.

I'm thankful that I have a ward family that I get to spend so much time with. I love all of them and have soo much fun hanging out with all of them. Yay ward!

I'm glad I get to spend so much time with my family. We all live relatively close (haha relatively. . like relatives get it? hee hee) enough so that we can all spend time with one another.

I'm grateful for my big brother and the example he sets for me. I'm glad we spend so much time together playing video games, going camping, etc. It's awesome.

I'm thankful for twitter. I know that sounds kinda retarded, but I am. Um, thankful that is, not retarded. Well. . . But I digress (lol the smiths). Twitter helps me to keep track of my friends and stories and helps me to build a stronger friendship with those I care about. And I'm glad that I have the opportunity to learn so much more about you all!

I'm thankful for the home I live in, and how hard my parents have worked to afford the lifestyle I'm used to. Cable t.v. AND my own room?! Sweeet. I'm grateful that my parents love me and my siblings enough to be here doing this for us.

I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to gain knowledge. To grow. To learn and to experience. This is a sweet life I get to lead, and I am grateful I get to live it every day.

I'm thankful for music and the role it plays in my life. I love that I love it, and I love that I know so much about it.

I'm thankful for the church I belong to, and the opportunities I have there to learn more about my savior's love for me and the gospel he has brought to the earth.

I'm thankful that I'm an honest person. I love the feeling that comes with complete honesty.

I'm grateful for my testimony and the spirit's influence in my life.

I'm thankful that I've been able to avoid harmful substances. I don't smoke, drink, do drugs, or anything like it, and I never have, and I'm glad.

I'm thankful for the people I am surrounded by on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. I'm glad that they're kind people who understand my standards and values and respect them.

I'm thankful for fuzzy slippers and hot chocolate in the chilly november.

I'm thankful for all that I know about the world, and all that I don't know. It will be an adventure learning about culture, people, religion, and societies.

I'm thankful for love.

I'm thankful that even though I don't have a guy in my life, I don't mind. I'm glad I don't feel like a relationship is something I need to have in order to feel good about myself.

I'm grateful that I have a healthy self esteem, and that I can encourage others to feel the same way about themselves. And I'm not trying to get all Richard Simmons on you, but- You are a beautiful person. Remember that.

And finally- thank you all for the people you are and for the examples you set for me. Thank you for indulging me when I want to play four different games of wordscraper and scrabble in the same day. Thank you for coming here and reading this. Even if it's only scanning through looking for your name or something you might find interesting. Thanks. Thank you all for teaching me whether it be by example or just by being there for me. Thank you all for being the wonderful caring people you are, and for actually wanting to spend time with me. Thank you for making me feel special whenever I need it.

I love you guys! Happy Thanksgiving!

(just so ya know. . . that turkey up there. . .I put my hand up to the computer and traced it on mspaint) ;) hee hee

I politely decline your invitation. . .

Since starting this blog, I have made an e-mail account to go along with it. You can see it over in the sidebar under the "Contact Me" box. ---->

Now, usually, this is a neat little thing to have. I loved the fact that as soon as I set it up, Doc A sent me a quick e-mail saying hey. I love when I get updates telling me someone new is following me on twitter. I love sitemeter's e-mails telling me that people actually come to this site and check things out. And I welcome any e-mails from friends who want to say hi!

But sometimes, having an e-mail like this is bad news bears, because it means people you don't want contacting you can contact you anyway. But I guess that's why I wanted a seperate e-mail for the blog? An e-mail account that could take a bullet for my real one by accepting impersonal advertisements and offers etc. etc...

Alot of you know what I'm talking about. But let me clarify.

A certain website contacted me awhile back telling me that they loved my blog and that they wanted to feature my blog and have me blog for them blah blah blah. No, I will not tell you what website, but if you follow me on twitter, or you're a medblogger who has had "trouble" with them as well, you probably know. Now, I knew I'd seen this company before and that I wasn't too happy with it then. So when they e-mailed me, I was cautious. I don't want anything to do with them or their website. So I ignored their "invitation".

Just today, I logged into my g-mail to check my mail (of course!) and I had another e-mail from the same site, inviting me yet again to be a part of their "community".

I felt like ignoring them, yeah. But I also felt mad. I know the sorts of things they do, and I don't approve of their ways of doing things. So I e-mailed them back. Better to be proactive about these things, right? The best way to fix a problem is not to sit on your keister and wait for it to go away or pretend it's not there. The best way to fix a problem is to do something about it. (most of the time anyway, I can't guaruntee "doing something about it" will work with every problem)

My e-mail to them:

Dear _______,

I hereby decline the offer. This is not the sort of thing I would like to participate in at all. So no thank you. And if you even read my blog, you would know that the closest I have ever gotten to working in a hospital was during my acting gig, and that I don't really blog a whole lot about health related issues. I'm planning on going to medical school, yeah, but honestly? right now, my blog is one of a community college student who dreams of being a doctor and lives in her mother's basement, and the social interactions that ensue. So please do not contact me again about this. Your company is one with which I would not like to be affiliated. Do not link to my site, use any of my information, or "set up a profile" for me. The e-mail was very flattering, but (and I use this term figuratively) I'm not buying it.

Very sincerely,


Mary
Student / Unemployed Freeloader
Living in my mom's basement, Inc.

Everyone else is doing it.

I know sometimes, I'll read a blog post that happens to be an open letter addressed to some famous person, usually politically based. And I think: How interesting! This person is writing to this famous person about something and maybe that famous person will happen across this open letter to them and consider the contents therein.

So now it's my turn. I've been wanting to do this for a long time.

An Open Letter to Owen Wilson.

Dear Owen Wilson-

Really not trying to be mean here. And I'm probably sure I could find an answer by searching on Google. But I've been wondering this since I was 13. . .

What's up with that nose?

Very sincerely

Me.

My Playlist. 2nd edition.

For me, I've been hooked on a few songs lately. My Last Playlist was awesome, and I still love those songs, but I have a few more that I've been going bonkers about! And I wanna share with all of you!

1. Stay With Me - Akcent




2. Stay - Jay Sean



3. Life With You - The Proclaimers



4. Take on Me - A-ha



5. What is Love - Haddaway



6. Heaven - Dj Sammy



7. Lovers Cry - Akcent



8. I Met You - The Proclaimers




I hope you enjoy this selection of songs as much as I do. That last one has to be my favorite of the bunch lately. I even take the time to rewind the tape in my car to hear it again and again! The next time I post a playlist, it will be Christmas songs (Which I love! They're so magical!)

Fun times! Fuuuuun times.

As you all may or may not know- I have a life.

I do. Really. I promise.

And as proof of this, I've decided to share with you all the gratuitous amounts of fun I've had this past week.

This past halloween weekend was our annual Young Single Adult Conference. Two dances, three seminars, a hundred or so Young (18-30) Single (not married) Adults (kinda grownups), and TONS of fun!

It started Halloween night with a costume dance. I went as a doctor because I already had the costume from last year, and I really couldn't find anything else. But one of the ideas floating around was that people had to dress up as half of a famous couple so that you could then find your "other half" to dance with them! And while it was a cute idea, it didn't work as well as some had hoped.

The next morning, we got there in time for breakfast. After breakfast, we split into three groups and started rotating through the seminars. All of them were wonderful, and I had a truely wonderful time learning more about life, and hanging out with my friends!

After the seminars, we had lunch (pizza, yum!) and got started on the service project. We made christmas cards to send out to soldiers who would be away from home during the holidays, and that was fun!

After we were done making cards, we changed into more comfortable attire and went on with our activity!! Our wicked awesome fun times activity was making videos! Each team was given a bag of props and assigned a channel to film for. Ours was the weather channel. My favorite videos were the ESPN video, and the CNN video. The rest weren't as hilarious, but still quite creative! (if you can't see the videos in the links, let me know. You might need to sign into facebook to see them.) And yeah, that's my big brother refereeing in the ESPN vid, and my friend Lisa as "svetlanka" the anchor. Hahahaha, fun times!!

We had a few hours free between the activity and dinner that night, so I sat down with my friend (also in the ESPN vid, he was the one in the blue shirt. Cute, no?) And we played all ten phases of Phase 10. Read up on phase ten, because I'll mention it again.

During dinner, we watched the videos and had a fun time chatting about the fun times we had so far.

After dinner was a dance, and I met a lot of new people! One of my favorite new friends was "fred fredburger" (my name for him, I forgot his real name), but maybe that's just because he looks like this guy.

The next morning, we had our church meeting and everyone shared their wonderful experiences. It was a lovely end to a lovely conference. After the church meeting was over, we had lunch and headed home.

Tuesday night, I went over to a friend's apartment and we stayed up late to watch the election! Several people were there including my brother, my friend Lisa, my friend Crystal, the guy I had played all ten phases of phase ten with on saturday, and a few others. We had pizza, microwaved M&Ms (they're gooood!) and soda as we watched, and we also played through phase ten while we were watching the election results.

Tursday night, the same group got together for dinner downtown to celebrate a birthday. It was great fun trying to fit a group of 8 into the small entrance area of Sticky Fingers while people were trying to get in behind us. They sat us, and funnily enough, we ended up with a boy table and a girl table. We didn't even try to sit like that, but that's how it ended up. The four guys at one table and the four girls at the other one. Although the tables were pushed together, so I guess it didn't really matter. After dinner, we went over to the birthday girl's apartment for ice cream and a game of. . you guessed it- phase ten! I did really well, and if we had gone by points, I would've won, but by the fifth hand, we decided it was late and that whoever went out first in that round would win, so Lisa walked away with another victory under her belt.

So that was my exciting week, and with a whole weekend of Dr. A shows going on, I'm exstatic! Will the fun ever end?!? I hope not! Stop by blogtalkradio all weekend for non-stop fun!

Well, I've managed so far. . .

. . . To stay away from discussing politics.



Yeah, I know. Its weird for me to post more than once a week lately, but I found some interesting stuff.



So, the reason I've avoided this topic so far is that I know no matter where I stand, there will always be someone who supports a different candidate. Also, people whose opinions I value support Obama and make fun of those who support McCain. That made me hesitate to share my political view as well. And the old saying that advises against discussing politics and religion. Well I've already discussed religion on this blog, so why not go politics?



Just so you know, I'm very opinionated when it comes to politics.



First of all- VOTE! I don't care who you vote for! Just vote! Those of you who don't really have no right to sit there and critisize the government for it's shortcomings when you yourself didn't go out and participate in the voting process.



Second- Check your facts! Don't go around beleiving whatever your favorite news anchor tells you about a candidate. Make sure you find where they got their information and do a little research!



Third- Don't let the Media decide for you! If you see a video on youtube, or on facebook or something, look up the things they say and make sure you understand where they're coming from. At least check Google or Wikipedia. Because while they're not always the most reliable sources, at least it means you've attempted to find out more. Try to find a non-biased site that reviews claims from both parties and evaluates their accuracy by citing speeches and voting records. For example- This is a very informative site.

Fourth- For the youngguns out there- make sure you know why you're voting for your candidate. Don't let the reason be because your parents have voted that way all your life, or that all of your friends are voting for that candidate, so you should as well. NO! Look at the issues that are most important to you and research what your candidate plans on doing about them. See how your views, opinions and concerns match up against your candidate's views, opinions, and concerns! Who knows, you might change your mind about who you want to vote for!

Yeah, Acting's My Fallback

So around here, there is a program called the Standardized Patient Program. This is where actors are used to simulate a patient-physician interaction. The actor plays the part of a patient with a certain chief complaint and list of symptoms. A medical student taking their OSCE exams comes in and gets as much information as he or she thinks they need from the patient in order to make a diagnosis.





The actor is provided with a checklist of items the young medical student should have covered through the exam. These items include questions the medical student should have asked or behavior the medical student should show.





So Thursday, I had my first job with the SPP. I was playing a patient with shortness of breath in the Internal Medicine OSCEs.





Now, I'm not allowed to disclose any specifics about the case or the patient I play in it just in case there are medical students out there looking for cheat sheets. But what I can do is tell you that this is a fun job.


The training for it is fun, and you learn all sorts of things. The acting part is fun because you get to pretend to be someone else (and sometimes hand out clues) to help a medical student pass their exam.


I get a packet of information during training which includes the page the student will get with your name, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and any other basic stats they should know. Another page gives me the information I need to study about the character I'm playing like medical history, family medical history, review of symptoms, the medications being taken, the family life, amount of children, job of spouse, and age that the character is. Finally, I get a checklist with all of the items the medical student should cover. I review that to make sure I keep an eye out for everything during the exam, and when their exam is over, I go over it with them and give them any information they left out if it's important to the case. I also make sure they know what mistakes they made or what questions they might've left out, and just generally let them know how they did.


All of the students Thursday did wonderful! And I think I did a pretty good job conveying the information without handing it to them on a silver platter. I heard from one of them that a standardized patient at a different station had really let them have it for leaving out a certain question! That surprised me greatly! Our job is not to critisize, it's to help! And I hope that the person who berated the medical student for forgetting to ask about whatever it was comes to see that that's not what we're there for.

Google Reader Trends

Top Read:

























In reference to the picture above: If you are wondering why Ramona is on there twice, it's because she's just that awesome!!! ;)

Also- I haven't figured out how to stop double following people on blogger and google reader, but that's only because I haven't bothered trying.

Most Starred:

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Same reason why Bongi is on this one twice. He's just that amazing!!! ;)

I also can't understand why Killing Batteries isn't higher on both lists. That guy is cool.

I wish google told you which blogs were your favories, because these lists would be in a totally different order.

I really use Starring as a way to bookmark posts I want to read again, not only those I really like, but also those which I just want to check out later rather than reading them at that moment.

Baseball

My story starts early last Thursday. Well, not really early, but early on in Philosophy class. And this is just a small subsection of a big story I have to tell you that spans over a whole week, but only covers three of those days. It'll make sense later.

So, you may have heard, if you follow me on Twitter, that I am not particularly fond of my Philosophy class. The teacher is not very nice, the constant questions are confusing and the whole "which philosopher generated which theory" thing absolutely confounds me. I have no clue who said any of the things I hear in class. I have no textbook, only a novel with occasional side notes crediting quotes and theories to their philosophers in a small paragraph or even one line sentence.

Oh yeah, and it also reminds me of that one day I threw up in class, but we won't go there today.

No, today we are taking a trip that many a student has taken before. The trip down the familiar "This teacher has a personal vendetta against me!" road.

Let's begin, shall we?

So yeah, as I was saying. Last Thursday. I was in Philosophy class as you may or may not have already guessed, and the teacher was introducing the subject of discussion. In my constant stupor of thought that possesses me the moment I enter the room, I was confused before he finished his first sentence.

What do confused students do? Naturally, they raise their hands to ask a question or make a comment in an often futile attempt to become un-confused.

So I raised my hand.

Usually, when this happens, I get positive feedback from teachers. I get a kind answer and a patient explanation of whatever confusing thing I am asking about. Sometimes the response is humorous and says "don't worry, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either" and sometimes it says "don't worry, you'll get it in a while" or maybe even "that was a really thoughtful question, I'm glad you asked!!".

What I got this time, word for word started with "Put your hand down!! I haven't asked any questions yet!!"

That surprised me, but I went on to answer that I didn't want to answer any questions, and that I had a question of my own.

The teacher faces the class and laughingly tells them something to the effect of "this girl is so funny! I haven't even opened the discussion and she's already anxious to participate! She is just so excited about this class, it kills me! It's so funny because she loves this class so much!"

He was laughing, and I wasn't. He was trying to dismiss me as just another one of those students who is vying for their daily amount of "participation" extra credit. I wasn't one of those students.

Now for a little sidenote. Those of you who know me know that I have a hard time lying. And sometimes, I am even blunt or brutally honest about what is on my mind. Trust me, this is one of those times that bluntness was needed.

I quickly corrected him, telling him "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. No. I hate this class. I'm just confused"

The rest of the class laughed. I did not. (Neither did the teacher if you are curious)

I thought then that he might've been mad at me.

I might be right.

Last Tuesday, the teacher condemned a student for wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. The student quickly tried to make up for this by insiting that he didn't like the Red Sox, and was only wearing the hat for the colors. The team he is really a fan of is the New York Yankees. Really.

Did that work? No. Apparently, the teacher is a fan of the White Sox. He then goes on to warn against claiming support for either the Red Sox or the Yankees. He says that either team is ridiculous and that, while we have a free pass today because of our ignorance, he will not be so lenient in the future.

Of course, he was playing around. The other students were laughing, I was laughing, and even the teacher thought that he was hilarious. I don't know enough about baseball to be a fan of any team, so I decided to comment that I was a fan of "all baseball teams".

I started it out with "I'm a fan of the Yankees and the Red Sox!". I was about to go on to say that I liked ALL the baseball teams! After all, they must be talented to make it into the pros and being that skilled means training, endurance, hard work. . all admirable qualities.

But before I had the chance to tell him anything about my widespread respect for all teams in baseball, he interrupted me.

"You are about to leave this class." and this time, he wasn't kidding. He took my remark as a smart mouth thing to say. This was unfortunate for me.

Thus began the verbal onslaught of threats. "If you want to review with us this class for the test next Tuesday, you need to just shut your mouth." or "If you want to stay in this class with us, you will not mention either the Red Sox or the Yankees again the rest of the period" and then there was the "there is a difference between 'joking around' like we've been doing - ha ha haaa -and being rude to the teacher like you just were"

Needless to say, I was ignored for the rest of the day (which was bad because he wanted everyone to tell him what to review, and I had alot I wanted to review) and everytime I raised my hand, either the subject was quickly changed or he just ignored me until I put it down and he called on someone else.

Thus the whole "personal vendetta" theory.

So today in class, we took a test. I studied very hard for this one, and will be surprised if I get any lower than an 80% on it.

You should've seen the look on his face this afternoon when I looked him straight in the eyes while wearing my dad's New York Yankees cap and left after finishing my test.

Conference Weekend!

Alright, so I have a secret. Well, it's not a secret. But I think I'll remind those of you who might've forgotten:

I'm Mormon!! (A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to be more precise)

And, as every Mormon knows, this weekend is General Conference.

That being so, I've already attended two sessions, and my brothers have attended 3. All in all, I've sat through around 4 hours of wonderful talks from wonderful people.

My favorite speaker so far has been Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I love his story about the Moldovan Young Single Adults who went to their YSA Conference (ours is coming up at the end of the month, and I can't wait!!) and took notes to share with the YSA who didn't have an opportunity to attend because they couldn't afford to travel that far. How amazing!

For those of you who have no idea what General Conference is, it's basically a big meeting that is held in Utah, and broadcast through television, internet, and the radio throughout the world to the members of the church. It is translated into 62 languages over the internet, and probably more than that when it is transcribed and published in our church magazine to be sent all around the world.

General Conference takes place twice a year. Once in April, and once in October. There are usually five sessions of conference that are held over a period of two days. Typically, 3 sessions will be held on Saturday, and 2 more the following Sunday. These sessions can last anywhere from 90-120 minutes, and can have anywhere from 6-8 speakers who are usually chosen from the general leadership of the church.

My big brother is actually in Utah right now and has had the opportunity to attend a session live, and will attend another one tommorrow! Attending conference live is quite an opportunity. While tickets are free, they are sometimes hard to come by. The Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah seats 21,000, and was recently completed in April of 2000.

Tommorrow, we will have two more sessions of conference, with more wonderful talks, and more amazing speakers. I can't wait!

I love computers!! And a few realizations.

Okay, so not a weird way at all!





And don't even think about saying "well if you love computers so much, why don't you go marry one?!" because that is soooo fifth grade. And sooo my joke.





But the truth of the matter is, I'm awfully fond of computers and the Internet and all of the useful things that go along with them!





The other day, I got a text from my friend in Washington State (who I met online) and he was on vacation. But something came up, and he needed to contact our mutual friend in Nottingham, England (who we both met online) about some urgent business concerning him, and yet another mutual friend who lives down in Alabama (who also is one that we met online)! I got the text after school, and as soon as I was home, relayed the text to my friend in England who appreciated the help and took care of things from there.






It made me feel special to be a part of this sort of "grapevine" of messages. Like I was in that movie 101 Dalmatians (the cartoon, not the real life one with Hugh Laurie, Jeff Daniels, and Glenn Close) and it was that part where the dogs have their little "barking chain" thing going on? Not that I am anything close to a dog, but the basic concept was close enough for comparison.





Now, I have a considerable amount of online friends, colleagues, acquaintances, etc. who I communicate with on a daily/weekly basis. And I feel connected! I have three different pals in Romania, two in Wales, three in England, and one each in Ireland, Russia, Turkey, India, and South Africa. And about a dozen others across the United States!





And friends that I've made in my life that have made their way across the globe and are now in places like Cambodia, Argentina, and Hawaii.

And those people have dozens of contacts around the world as well! It is amazing what a small world we have!



And it's getting smaller every day.



I have a friend here in SC who comes over and chats about once a month. She's really awesome, and very very interesting to talk to. All of her kids have moved out of the house. I have met only one of them, but I hear her talk about the others and feel like I know them.



Just the other day, I had this friend over and we were having a nice conversation about why I was learning Romanian and about the things that each of us know about Europe and other far away places. And as it turns out, her son is really into Gypsy music. And we chatted about that for awhile. She asked if she could give him my e-mail address and I said that that would be fine, and I gave her the one I use for personal interactions. And she also mentioned that he had a blog, and suggested I check it out.


So I checked out his blog, and my mind was blown.


You'll understand why in a minute.


I guess. . . growing up in the South, I don't really realize how . . sheltered. . . I've been. Especially growing up in a LDS family. And I realize now that having friends out there in the world doesn't really give me an accurate view of the world itself. The life I live goes by like a slow, quiet, gentle river. My constant sub-urban surroundings have sheltered me from the chaos on either side. I've never known city life. I think I know it from movies and books, and fancy magazines, but those never tell the truth about what it's really like. They dress it up and throw it out there on display for everyone to see, but for no one to really experience.


Growing up Mormon helped as well. I've had LDS friends as long as I can remember. And it's WONDERFUL! I rarely hear any foul language, I never have to deal with any smoking or drug use. I don't have to be around alcohol. Being surrounded by people who share the same beliefs as I do has made my life easier than most. I know my friends would never ask me to do anything that is against my standards or beliefs, and I know that as long as I am with them, my values and morals are safe. I'm constantly uplifted mentally and spiritually by the people I surround myself with, and it's splendid. Sure, I know about the things that happen in the "real world" and can tell right from wrong, but I really haven't had to make that many decisions on it. I've never been offered drugs or alcohol or cigarettes. (Although I'm sure I'd say no if I were offered.) And I haven't seen firsthand the effects that these things have on people, families, or friends. I have never been around anyone who was intoxicated. I've never been around anyone whose life has been torn apart from drugs or some other dangerous addiction. I don't really "Know" what it's like to see someone throw their life away through substance abuse.


Watching movies, I've come to a certain sense of what is "normal". I have ideas and concepts of what a "normal" person is like and, for the most part, expect that everyone is just as "normal" as everyone else. I recognize different cultures and traditions and religions, but all in all, I think to myself, everyone is really the same.


-Back to the "Mind Blowing Blog"-


And then I stop by that blog. And I see things that make me think. Just seeing his video of him riding the L train at 6:00 in the morning in New York and riding a bike through the streets going from work to home blows my mind! There are people who live in New York and they actually ride trains and they work all night and get home early in the morning. There is a big, busy city there that I personally would be scared to go anywhere in without my mother's permission and a printout of directions from Google maps. And I certainly would never think that anyone would walk to where they need to go! Much less ride a bike!


I guess I never really realized that those people on the streets are actually transporting themselves from home to a job or to school or to a party or from a friend's house back to home or something like that. I never really realized when I watched those movies that Hey, this is actually their form of commute! And I saw that video and I absolutely went nuts with this realization. Why hadn't I thought of that before? Why hadn't I realized? Why am I just now seeing this??


And then this guy whose blog I stopped by, I see that he's not Joe schmo office worker calling a cab to take him to his apartment or to his cubicle. I see that he works in a bar. His culture and surroundings and social life are completely different than anything I've ever seen. I started to realize that maybe not everyone is the same. I guess people are different. And can be unique without being those attention-starved posers you see in the halls of your high school. This whole different "sub-culture" of punk gypsy bands and going to places, and trying to break into "the biz" (my word, not his) of tattoo artistry. This life that he leads is an eye opening view!


Not to say that since reading his blog, I'm now an expert on the world. I'm not. I'm still protected and sheltered here at home. I'm just a little more aware now. And a little less. . . brainwashed by media portrayals.


Needless to say, I'm going to stop by more often.


The Aforementioned Blog: Captain

Blog Highlights 4

Blog Highlights is a thing I did earlier in my blogging, that I haven't done in a long time. I know both medical and non medical people visit my blog, and also that people my age and "more mature" ( I originally put "Old People, but I know how sensitive some of you are when I go there, so I didn't ;) lol) people as well stop by here every once in awhile. So I figure, why not show each the other side by highlighting the blogs that I find interesting, and kinda giving them a tour around the blogs I like!

This comeback blog highlight will be about...... SCANMAN!!!

Over at catscanman.net!!

Alright, so in case you guys haven't seen it, Vijay has a podcast up. Now, even though he hasn't done an episode since like, February. . .(we want more Scanman!!) It's still wicked awesome!! He tells awesome stories, and with his own time limitations, all three episodes take a little less than 45 minutes to listen to! (I know, because I went through them all last night on my zune!!)

Check it out right HERE!! My favorite one is the one where he talks about meeting his lovely wife for the first time. Very funny story if you haven't heard it, and hilarious story even if you have!!

If you have a zune, like me, just copy/paste this address:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ScanManSpeaks

into your add podcasts section and you'll have instant access to whenever he posts a new one! (Which should be soon! Now that I've found them, I want more scanman podcasts!!)

So check that out, and also check out his blog over at http://www.catscanman.net/blog/

He always has interesting and fun posts like one with a image perception personality test on it. . . (I just had to take it to see how my scores matched up with his!) He got Artist and I got Guru!! We are only one space away! We must be twins or something!!

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NFPS - The Guru

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

______END OF BORING QUIZ YOU DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT____

So yeah, go check out his blog, and his podcast and his twitter!! Follow him on Twitter here if you aren't already!! --> http://twitter.com/scanman

He's an awesome medblogger and an even more awesome friend! He was one of my first medblogger friends, and has been an amazing person to know, and I feel privelaged to have met him!

If y'all wanna know exacly how awesome he is, stop by the Dr. A podcast next Thursday night, and he'll probably be in the chatroom ready to greet and befriend any newcomers that stop by! You won't regret it!

______________

(if any of you care to see the other posts in the Blog Highlight series, just click on the tag, and you'll be whisked away into a land of . . well, you'll be taken to a page with all of the blog highlight posts on there)

Just a few notes. . .

I had wanted to blog about a local news story awhile back. But I feel that the time has come and gone, and it's really not that big of a topic for me anymore.

I wanted to blog about certain goals I've been reaching for, but they don't seem that important now, because my progress is hardly showing.

I wanted to blog about that new book I got: "Med School Confidential" because it had a few activities in there for the future medical student to do to see if they REALLY REALLY want to go. Just questions, really. Like "why do you want to go into medicine?" or "what do you think it will be like?" etc. etc. I figure when I don't have other papers to do, I'll sit down and think them out.

I was going to share my "threw up in philosophy class" story, but then I figured it wasn't all that . . neat. At all.

So this leaves me no choice. I've gotta blog about something I've been thinking about lately, and something that applies to more people than just me.

So how many blogs do you stalk? How many blogs do you stop by on a daily basis without commenting just to read? How many bloggers do you admire who have no idea you exist??

I can count mine on one hand.

Now, how many people stop by your blog without commenting? How many silent watchers does your blog have?

You probably can't count that number as accurately as the first can you? Why? Because the silent watchers are just that- silent! No comments on the blog, no tweets on twitter, no e-mails no nothing. The only way you can tell they've been there is because your sitemeter tells you that you have a hundred or so visits that week. (by all means, not a real number, I look at my sitemeter reports ONCE and then forget everything that was in them, but I'm sure I don't get 100 views a week.)

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm not! I love stalking blogs and not feeling like I neeeeed to comment. I like stopping by blogs without the pressure to actually interact. (Although I do wish that certain people would acknowledge my existance!!)

I love the fact that there are people who read my blog (probably only once and then they run away!) and I don't find out until I see them on my blog's blognetwork on facebook or something. It makes me feel special (warm and fuzzy inside, etc.)! :) I even sometimes doubt they actually exist until things like that happen.

Or until I find a comment that they've left on a post I wrote awhile ago and didn't check the comments until the other day when I went back and reviewed all my posts/comments.

But honestly? I'm always scared that I've chased them all away! I'm always paranoid that I'll post a dumb blog post one day and then no one except my mom (thanks mom!) will ever ever want to stop by ever again!

And I also freak out when I don't post a comment on someone's blog and then they won't know how amazing and cool I think their blog is! Yaknow?

So anyway, I just want you all to know that yeah, I read your blogs. Even if I don't comment, I'm there. I'm enjoying and google reader starring your posts one after the other. I'm thinkin about y'all when you have no idea I'm around.

And wouldn't it be cool to have a list of the people who read your blog? Like if you could have sitemeter jot down the names of everyone who stops by and be like "oh yah, so and so stopped by and checked out your blog for (random amount of time)" Wouldn't that be nice? That would be nice.

Also- Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack is a hilarious show, and I dont know why it's so funny. Inflatable Bubby is amazing.

A Mommy Story

[From The Desk of Our Very Special Guest Blogger!! Enjoy! -3M]

First and foremost, I would like to thank Mary for asking me to place a post on her blog – I am always delighted to “share” my many life experiences with Mary. She is so sweet and so very easy to talk to. As she stated in her intro, we met in medical terminology class and have continued to grow our friendship ever since :)

During our weekly gathering after class, we all sit around a table and talk about our many classes. As I listen to each of the students, all of whom are so much younger than I, I cannot help but to think about how lucky I am – here I am, 42 years old and surrounded by young adults in their 20’s, just starting their adult lives with such enthusiasm and open minds! How fortunate I am to feel accepted by the warm and loving hearts of our campus community.

After sharing the fact that I have a son (who ALSO attends the same college) I decided to tell them one of my many “mommy” stories about my son, Andrew …

At the very end of my pregnancy in the summer of 1990, I became quite ill. It was a hot summer that year and I wasn’t due to give birth to my son until July 17th. On July 2nd, I spiked a temp (approx 102) experienced a backache, nausea and vomiting. For 24 hours, I tried to deal with the “virus” I initially diagnosed myself with. Sometimes, those who are in the healthcare field make horrible patients – seems we are always ready to help others, but fail to take care of ourselves the way we should :)

Well, that temp did not go away and I knew that it signaled an infection. The back pain I experienced was near my kidney and I was concerned enough to go to the Dr. After a trip to the OB/GYN, he confirmed a kidney infection. Since my “due date” was only 3 weeks away, he wanted to contact the pediatrician to see which med the baby could tolerate best. He sent me home with Keflex and assured me that my 4th of July holiday would not be negatively influenced by this illness :)

As instructed, I went home and took that horse pill! They also prescribed Phenergan, which helped to cease my vomiting and also made me sleepy. The next morning, to my elation, I woke to find that the Dr was right! Here it was, 8 a.m. on the morning of the 4th of July, and I awoke after the BEST night sleep OF MY LIFE! My fever broke, the backache was gone and I felt WONDERFUL! I remember my husband and I rolled to face one another in bed. I told him how happy I was to feel so much better. He embraced me as we snuggled together for a moment. I then giggled softly and said “too bad we couldn’t have a 4th of July baby” …

I then sat up in bed, and my water BROKE – literally GUSHED right after my statement! Andrew entered the world that evening, 10:42 pm, amidst the fireworks I could see from my hospital room window! As soon as he was born, the Dr and my husband commented on his striking RED hair, so fitting for a 4th of July baby!

He truly is, and always has been, my little “firecracker”!

The moral of the story might possibly be: A good night sleep will prepare you for all you may face the next day :)

Guest Blogger Coming Soon!

Hey everyone! I know it's weird for me to post more than once a week when school's going on, but I have a special treat for you all!

I have secured a special Guest Blogger who has agreed to share a story with you all. I have had the opportunity to know this woman in real life, and let me tell you, she's amazing! I was lucky enough to meet her in my Medical Terminology class last year, and her sweet spirit and enthusiastic personality made the whole class brighter every day! Her encouraging words helped people to get excited about the world of medicine, and her kindness towards everybody in the class made going to it a special treat!

I'm fortunate enough to have her in my Spanish class this semester, and, as before, her amazing attitude and wonderful sun-shiney personality have made this class better than, I think, it would've been in her absence.

I myself have had wonderful discussions with her inside and outside of class, and our discussions are always pleasant and enlightening for, I'm sure, both of us!

The other day, she shared a story with me that I loved hearing so much that I wanted you all to enjoy it as well! I asked her today after our Spanish class if she wouldn't mind sharing the story with you guys via a Guest Blog! Thankfully, she said that she would love to share the story and was delighted to be a guest writer on my blog!

I decided that she deserved and introduction, and didn't think that I fit an introduction about someone so wonderful into a paragraph before the guest blog.

Thus this post. So stay tuned to this blog, and keep an eye out for my Guest Blogger! You'll kick yourself in the head if you miss this one!

The Birthplace of Spam?

No, sillies, I'm not talking about that processed ham substitute that they shove into cans so that the un-healthily minded can scoop it out of said can and shove it into their mouths.

No. I'm talking about the type of spam that afflicts anyone with any sort of access to the internet. The type of spam we come across on websites, in our e-mail inboxes, and even in the comments we get on our blogs!

It gets annoying to find your inbox filled to the brim with advertisements, insincere offers of free gifts, and even promises of monetary gain!

But where does it all come from? Who actually has time in their life to write a letter asking for people's names, address, telephone numbers, etc?? Who had the time to sit down and write the letter I received today detailing the gruesome recent demise of an African billionaire who- oops!- doesn't have anyone to give his billions upon billions of dollars to after his tragic death on the top of a mountain in some far away land??

My theory? It comes from the land of geeks. Every corner of whatever online role playing game floats your boat hold a spammer. Every single online game that you come across where there are people pretending to be mystical creatures surrounded by horrible graphics and poor plotlines is an opportunity for a spammer to be born.

These people obviously have no life, right? They've been unemployed and living in their mother's basement since they were 15 or so and, even though they are in their mid-30's now, the only thing that has changed in the last few decades is that they went from playing Dungeons and Dragons with their buddies in person to playing World of Warcraft with their buddies that they never see, and never really talk to except on the game to trade armor, or swords or whatever the heck you trade on there.

Anyway, on with my theory. Since these people have no contact with the outside world except when they occasionally go out to an important family event, they obviously have to do something when their computer/internet goes through some lag-time, or while their computer -gasp- loses power. So that's when they put together their plans. That is when they compose their outlandish stories and etc. to fill the gap left behind by the absence of internet.

The other theory I have is of the Door to Door salesman. Haven't you all noticed that you never see door to door salesmen anymore? Why is that? Did they die out? Are they extinct? Did a meteor land on their "door to door salesman" convention in the middle of their annual get together? No, my friends, they have gone to the internet. The same annoying little distraction from your otherwise normal day is certainly unwelcome, but do they care? Of course not! They go about their business of having doors slammed in their face (without the physical door!) and being virtually ignored by not only stay at home moms and housewives, but also by their friends and family and anyone who has access to a computer!

Sorry door to door salesmen, but the gig is up, and the sad thing is? This online spamming thing is even worse for your wellbeing than before.

Not that all people who play online games or go door to door selling things are bad. I'm sure they're lovely people who are, at least, beautiful on the inside! I know some completely wonderful people who are not in any way awkward, socially challenged, pimply, nerdy or anything close! In fact, there are some people who play these games that are perfectly normal people who may or may not spend an insane amount of time online, and also find time to live a life. I'm not trying to diss them at all. And going door to door selling things can be a very respectable source of income if you do it the right way! I have nothing against most of them.

No, the problem I have is with the spammers. The people who waste other people's time (not to mention their own as well) with meaningless messages, e-mails, pop ups, advertisements, etc. The people who have nothing better to do than to sit at home on their computer and bother other people who just want to go about their business in peace.

Also- everyone deletes spam. Everyone closes pop-ups. If their is any worse way to advertise something, it's by using popups and spam. So thanks for that offer of 3.2 million dollars if I wire you money to escape from some country I've never heard of. I'll deeeeeply consider that offer. I'm already halfway to the nearest bank to transfer it into your account right now. Really. Keep e-mailing me. It'll get you something. Be persistant, PLEASE! And maybe you can share your boundless wealth and (no joke) "2 boxes of treasure" with me. R-E-A-L-L-Y.

My Weekend (well, last weekend)

*BEEEEP*

This is Mary's phone, and even though we have AT&T, we still had no bars in that podunk little town we stayed in during our vacation. So thanks for that call about. . well if anyone had called, I wouldn't have gotten their message.

But seriously, the vacation last weekend was pretty fun. We left home round about 4pm on Friday night, and arrived around 10pm that night to the house we were going to stay at.


The house we stayed at was nice, and we were able to take a tour before we went to bed Friday night. We chose the rooms we wanted to stay in and then explored the rest of the place. It was a cute little house and I wouldn't mind living there at all, but the house was owned by the company my dad works for, and is on the property. It's a guest house for employees like dad who need to commute back and forth from work on the weekends and such.





But it had a pool table, and we all were able to improve our pool skills while we were there. So that was pretty neat. And the plant was a wonderful place for me to take pictures and look around. So I did that once or twice.

Saturday, we woke up early and were out the whole day almost. We looked at houses, and met my sister for lunch in Augusta. I wasn't feeling like being there at all because I'm not too fond of Zaxby's. Especially after I found a bug on the sandwich I ordered. I got a new one, but really didn't think that it made sense. "There was a bug on your last sandwich, so let's get you another and hope there's no bug on it!" Yeesh!


But other than that, Saturday was alright. We had fun playing pool and hanging out at the house.
Sunday we went to church down there, and even though our church really is the same all over, the congregations are definetly not the same all over. There were alot of . . . older people. Talk of dentures and depends littered the conversations I overheard. Although they were awefully nice people, I wish that there had been more people my age around. There was even a college right across the street from the church and there weren't any kids my age around!

Monday, we stopped by the Airspace Museum down in Macon, and I took tons of pictures, etc for my buddy who wants to be a pilot. The museum was pretty interesting!

But I'm way glad to be home, and to have the internet!! And to be back in my own bed, and have an actual signal on my phone (not that anyone calls me, but still). I don't know why it took me so long to post about the trip, but I'm glad I did.

Aaaaand, one more pic, just cuz I like this one.

Was taken in Downtown Macon, GA. The full view is much better. I sure do hope these ones all pop up if you click on them. . . that'd be nice.

Look what I can do!

Hahaha, I can tie a tie.

I found out that I know how to! Big Brother, a few weeks back, gave me a crash course one afternoon during a commercial break from whatever hilarious show was on, on tying ties! I had one of dad's old ones lying around, and so Big Brother showed me how a tie is tied.

After a few tries, I got it right, and I've been trying not to forget! I mean, what good is it knowing if you are then going to go and forget it by not practicing??

So tonight, after the Doc. A. show, during the Ustream afterparty, there are too many commas in this sentance.

Let's try that again.

During the Ustream afterparty tonight, I found a tie on the computer table! It was one of Big Brother's that he left around after church or something. My thought process procedes as such:

Lookit how pretty it is! But wait, uh oh! I think I forgot how to tie a tie! Aww, man! Does anyone in the chatroom know, and is willing to walk me through it?

Apparently, all that the chatroom can do is tell me to search wikipedia or youtube. Psh! Like I'm gonna do that just for learning how to tie a tie!

I'm sure I can remember if I just try. . .

So I try.

This is, I think, Big Bro's favorite tie. It's his Donald Trump tie. Now, I had no clue th

at The Donald put out a line of ties before Big Bro came home from his mission with one.

But lookit how shiney and fancy it is! I definetly liked messing with it and trying to remember how to tie it! So fun!

And dang I'm glad that Big Bro didn't catch me messing with his tie. He's very particular about his ties. Luckily, he won't find out unless he reads my blog! Hee hee, sneaky.

A few minutes of trying and failing to produce a smooth knot, and finally I figure it out! I had to do it a few times more before the knot looked even remotely like what a tied tie should look like. But I finally got it. And that's my little success of the week!

(That black stuff under my eyes is paint. I was fingerpainting before the show. There's proof for all of you doubters! I guess technically, I was supposed to keep the paint on the paper, but I decided to have a little bit of fun with it.)

Last night's show

Allllll-right. As alot of you know, the Doctor Anonymous Show comes on Thursday nights, at 9pm eastern time, and many of you know that I love going! I love going because the guests are always amazing, and the people who call in are always so fun, and, of course, Doc A is super-cool.

Well last night's show was no exception. The amazing, beautiful, and popular Ramona Bates of Suture for a Living was on last night. And, although at first she was a little nervous, once she got used to being on, she was awesome! So, good job Ramona!

Alot of people called in to talk to Ramona. Theresa and Val both called in while she was on the show, and it was fun hearing from my three favorite blogger ladies.

In the middle, the show kind of gets to be crazy. Scanman calls in to talk to Ramona, but she had already hung up, and then as soon as Scanman hangs up, Ramona calls in again! So then of course, Bongi, who had wanted to speak with Ramona but had gotten to the show a little later, called in. And then Scanman called in. And then Rico called in, and then I (seeing all of the amazing people who had called in) wanted to call in! It was a five person pileup on the Doctor A show, and it was amazing. One by one, we left as we talked to whoever we wanted to talk to (I chose to ask Bongi a question).

And I think, as always, I was the last one to leave the party. I'm soo lame that way. Always have to be the very last one. But oh well. I tried to hijack the show for a bit at the end, and close it up as elegantly as Doc A, but it didn't work that well. It was fun attempting to close out the show. I recapped the guests and thanked everyone for being there, but I have no clue how Doc A does it without being as ridiculously awkward as I was. Probably his scripted notes and such. I thought it funny when someone suggested in the chat that I was the new co-host. Probably Rico. He's a joker.

Anyway, I encourage all of you to check it out! If you don't know where to find it, I have it on my sidebar over to the right, and the most recent episode of the Dr. A. show is always on there if someone wants to listen to it! Show 45 is going to be up there until a newer show replaces it next week!

So go listen!