51/365: Free Cone Day!

Oh Tuesdays. I wake up on Tuesday mornings and am temporarily forgetful that you are such a long day. Class, Class, Class, Class, and wait, one more class, then squad. But. Wait. This Tuesday had two ridiculously hard midterms too. What a spectacular day! After taking my last exam on art music, and feeling like my writing hand was going to fall off, I adventured back to the berk and to the grocery store to get supplies for Mexican dinner. I decided to take the night off at squad from doing any work, so after the Mexican feast, I discovered my favorite arm chair and was out like a light (after no sleep last night) within five minutes. Apparently all sorts of stuff was going on around me, but it wasn't until Wilson shook my foot for 5 minutes that I eventually woke up. Most people would be pissed if they were woken up from much needed sleep, BUT this time it was just the opposite. Today was free cone day at Ben and Jerry's, and I don't care HOW tired you are.....there is always time for this.

50/365: Knew It Couldn't Last

Well, we should have known in Virginia that the super-amazing weather couldn't last. With only one class on Monday, and since it WAS a monday (I don't care who you are, no one likes mondays), AND since it was pouring rain outside, I decided to stay in for the day and catch up on work, and relaxation. I went to hang out with CLM for a while, which was a long time coming, then went to the library to study for the two midterms tomorrow which are going to kill. Back at the berk, the parking lot was dreary and the mood was sleepy. Naptime was amazing, and of course medic class came all too soon. And after medic class, the blinding fluorescent lights of the squad classroom and the bottomless coffee pot kept me company for an all-nighter. Discovery of the day = Virginia has banished our nice summertime weather.

49/365: Sunday BBQ

Got stuck this morning at squad on a truck, making the outcome of the rest of the day look grim. Somehow, I managed to get away (fortunately, since I have 3 midterms this week). It was another amazing day outside, so when I got back to Berk, I found a big beach towel, put some snacks in a ziplock bag, got a bottle of water and my books and went to set up camp outside in the grass. The temperature was perfect, and everything was so quiet (minus the buzzing of saws and clanging of ladders nextdoor at the fire station). Studying outside reminded me of Meatsauce, so I called her up, and she came by the join the party. We got some studying done, some talking done, and some snacking and sun basking done. JC and Spants had been at rope class all day, but had the brilliant idea for a nighttime barbeque since the day was so nice. The feast included perfectly grilled BBQ chicken, fresh green beans, roasted potatoes, salad, bread, and homemade iced tea. We followed this up with a brief stint of food coma, and then some homemade thin mint ice cream. So. Good.

48/365: Codes, Tornadoes, and Bloomin' Onions

The morning started off early with a trek to the Coronary Cary Unit for a clinical. I was excited to see some familiar faces, and the shift began with a bang when we heard the unit was getting a resuscitated code (these are the type of things I get excited about). I was so anxious to see everyone in action, but the staff prepared me that these things rarely end well. Turns out today was a rarity. After thinking our patient had no remaining neurological function, on a trip to the CT scanner, she randomly opened her eyes....and then started following commands. No Way! The staff promised me this never happens. I must be good luck.

After clinical, I went down to squad at the request of Walker to be operator for the rest of the shift. I ended up responding with one of my fav partners in crime, Meatsauce, to a call for a "tornado that tore through a softball field"........wait, aren't we in Virginia?? When we got there, unless a light breeze can throw a porta-potty across a field and scatter the blue goo everywhere, something happened for sure. After this mystery, I set out on an adventure with S.Pants, AGill, and Shumar to Outback for some good eats (and a Queensland salad of course). After this, I went BACK to squad to have an awesome long talk with RM. The night was warm, and the front of the squad truck was perfect for sitting. Amazing night.

47/365: Girls Night Out

Today was an awesome day. No class, no work, no clinical. I wore shorts for the first time this season, even though the trees are still bare (as you can see). That's awesome. I had to go for a couple of hours to take my medic midterm. Not awesome. Then I got to come home and sit around and do nothing which NEVER happens, and things just got more awesome from here. Sprinkle and I decided last night to have a girls night out since we're usually invaded by boys. We went to have a pizza dinner, where we DID let Shumar come along, but then after dinner we kicked him out. We went to the movies to see some new movie with Robert Pattinson (I don't want to be one of THOSE people......but come on). The movie ended with a shock, which put us in the mood to be sad and want to eat cookies. We came home to find Shumar holding down the fort, and found out Walker was on the way since we promised cookies. What was NOT awesome, was that Walker and Shumar made us watch Saw, which I have somehow skillfully avoided seeing for so long that there are now like 7 Saw movies. I finally lost the battle.

46/365: Jeffersonian

One day separating me between this long day of classes and the first relatively free weekend I've had in months. I think tomorrow actually might be the first Friday since Christmas that I haven't been in the ER- either working or in clinical. Amazing. BUT I had to get through 4 classes and medic class today first. In all the rush of going to class and trying to keep moving for fear of falling asleep if I don't, I forget that there's some dang pretty stuff around this town (profound, I know). This morning, it happened to be the Jeffersonian-infused (as they say) buildings against another awesomely blue sky. Pretty, isn't it? I forget this sometimes.

45/365: Lack of Green

Woke up this morning at squad to no delicious tip top breakfast, we decided instead to steal a few more hours of sleep in the recliners until day crew decided we'd been there long enough. Physics lab as usual was nothing to do backflips over, just some long drawn out ridiculous procedure having to do with circuits. I knew I had a lot of work to do tonight, but it was also St Patricks day, which is always a fun night to go out. Instead, I decided to stay at berk with S.Pants and get some work done. Seeing as how it had been a gorgeous day outside, and some of the warmth decided to stick around after the sun went down, we built a fire in the fire pit to enjoy for the evening. Got a lot of work done. Awesome. Got to enjoy a night outside. Awesome. Being out by a fire and away from bar crowds and hoards of green. Awesome.

44/365: 2014 Bobsled Hopefuls

Lonnnng day of classes today, but that's not even worth mentioning. Tonight was an epic night at squad. Decided to conquer the challenge of making breakfast for dinner. 15 pancakes each of blueberry, plain, and corn meal later, along with a heaping pile of bacon and sausage, and pan full of eggs, and a giant bowl of fruit salad made for the best dinner ever. We tried to go into the classroom and be productive, but somehow the temptation of having a fashion show overrode that notion.

After fashion show and the following dance party, makeshift Bobsled 2014 preliminaries began. I knew I'd be the one to get hurt, but it was totally worth it. Creation of one man AND two man stairwell bobsledding = success!

43/365: First of the Last

Back to class today after spring break to finish up the last few of the the school year. The last part of fourth year. The last part of college. Yikes.
In other news, it rained today. And there was a rainbow. The end.

42/365: Oh the Irony

Today the rain turned into mist, but the wind was blowing hard enough with the low 40 degree temps to make it not a fun day to be outside. RM and I were holding down the fort again as ops, walking around the class and contributing where we could (including taking this ironically awesome picture). We camped out bundled up in turn out gear with the other instructors under a shelter for a grilled lunch. We then ventured back to squad to defrost and find some hot chocolate. Went back out to the site to take a look at the final scenarios and had a 2 hour cleanup session. All in all, the class came off pretty well, and the weekend ended on a good note at McGrady's with awesome friends. Trekked back to Berk to run shift with Spants and go no calls. Excellent ending to the weekend

41/365: Rain and Mud

I was right, the rain just kept on coming for our 8 hour stretch outside for the extrication class. Although it may sound disgusting to some, the 4 inches of mud the rain created were actually pretty fun to play in. During the morning, I taught the patient packaging stage with RM and some other awesome people. During the afternoon, me and RM were staffing as dedicated ops for the 3rd day in a row and just wandered around and saw what types of cool things were going on. Ended the night by having dinner at West Main and going to a Bachelorette party with AGill which turned out to be a ton of fun. Gotta wake up tomorrow and do it all again!

40/365: Irish a Little Early

First day of a 3 day long vehicle extrication class, the lecture day to be exact. The rest of the instructors and I came in and out, doing little things that needed to be done and trying to learn some new things in the process. We were waiting for what seems to be our annual legit extrication that happens on this weekend every year but it never came. Looking outside all day it was pouring rain and pretty cold at that, I'm sure this weather will persist throughout the weekend since it knows we have to be outside for the next 2 days. Wrapped up the evening with a little early St Patty's Day celebration with the staff. Irish car bombs and chicken cheesesteaks make for a good night.

39/365: Best Seat in the House

Another amazing day off with nothing to do until medic class. Sleep, eat, do some physics? Seemed to be a productive day. I stopped by squad to make the rounds before medic class and seize the opportunity to veg out in my favorite chair. Gotta say, not a bad view laying in my chair and looking up out the window. After all the blizzards, it sure is nice to see spring coming this way. Went to medic class and learned about 12 lead EKG's (awesome), came back to staff a rockin 3 person squad company with JC and RM. No calls other than a potential lift assist that turned out to be nothing. Even better! Getting some sleep in anticipation of our 3 day vehicle extrication class this weekend which is sure to tire.

38/365: Round 2

Round 2 in the ER for the week, this time as an employee instead of a student (money is nice to have sometimes). Crazy busy day for a Wednesday but I guess I should have expected nothing less since an overflowing waiting room and constantly opening squad doors is the norm. A nice dose of hazelnut coffee and mini chocolate bars provided enough energy to get through the day in one piece. Luckily, braving the endeavors of the day led me to a plate of red hot blues and world-famous margaritas at the Continental Divide with CLM for a nice closing to the day.

37/365: Grill Season Kick-off

Nice day with no classes and nothing to do. I spent most of it sleeping, but hey, that's what breaks are for. I set foot outside in time to make it to squad shift, which is so much more fun when no one has school work to do. To add to that excitement, we had our first grilling session of the year after winter confined us to the kitchen (Though Gpa did scrape snow off the grill to make burgers a few weeks ago). Steak kabobs, grilled corn, roasted potatoes, no homework, movie marathon, and 2am pepperoni pizza made the shift a spectacular one. Half wishing spring break would last forever, but why don't we just finish out the spring so we can graduate.....

36/365: Spring Break?

First day of spring break (and couldn't have come any sooner during this 8th and final semester). Maybe I'm not going somewhere tropical and glamorous like some other people, but not having class is a plus no matter what you're doing in the meantime. After a rousing day in TCVPO yesterday for a clinical, I walked that familiar walk from Main St towards the ER this morning for clinical #2 of the week. For the first time in a while, this morning's walk wasn't ridiculously freezing. Though chilly, it was gorgeous out- maybe the bluest sky of the year so far that I've seen. The ER looked all peaceful from the outside, with blue skies and helicopters knowing full and well it was a great day to fly. Of course, the inside was a much different story, but we all know that this is no new discovery.

35/365: TCV Post Op

Woke up this morning early from squad. Still dark out but I headed across town towards the big white castle (the common name around here for the hospital). For the what could be the first time ever, I didn't stop on the first floor to go to work or to do a clinical. Today, I braved the trek to the fourth floor (gasp!). You would think a unit called the "Thoracic Cardiovascular Post Op" would be chocked full of intense highly stressed people, but come to find they were all low key, and not to mention they were awesome at what they do. Got to see a bronchoscopy, and found out that looking down into someone's lungs on a big tv screen is much cooler than looking at them in a book (who would've thought?). Though the afternoon was slow, I entertained myself by looking through an explanation of all the surgeries and procedures people have done. Long day, but well spent.

34/365: Balancing Act

After collapsing from exhaustion after clinical last night, I guess my hearing must have been selective enough to ignore my alarm clock this morning. Few minutes late to squad, but no biggie. Saturday shifts are usually pretty steady, but we definitely got a surprise today. I think my max number of legit ALS calls run in a shift is somewhere around 3. Definitely broke the new personal (or even world....but not really) record today with 11. I was wiped by the end, but it sure was fun. I came through the ER at 530am on no sleep, realizing I had to be back there at 7 for a clinical in the TVCPO. It sure will be a long sunday, but the shift was pretty awesome. The overflowing ALS calls were not the most amazing part of saturday though, that award would have to go Wilson, for being able to balance this many boxes of stuff up the stairs to the attic. Job well done.

33/365: [Insert Creative Title Here]

Usually coming up with the title is one of my favorite parts to this project, but today was generally not that inspiring. It wasn't a bad day, just not especially interesting. Staffed the heavy squad last night with JC- didn't get much sleep cause we started talking about life after graduation, but the lack of sleep was definitely worth the much-needed chat. I scoured the building for a place to sleep and found one downstairs on 2 cushion love seat. Found a space heater, found a down comforter in my trunk- awesome. Slept in, had lunch with CLM and Riverside (best bacon cheeseburgers ever), then went to the ER for clinical for the rest of the day. I also stumbled across this amazing fruit salad. Win.

32/365: Much Awaited Break

Woke up today for another round of thursday classes, only to realize that somehow, the year's flown by enough for it to be spring break. You may be wondering where I'm going. Cancun? No, that's my medic class buddies. Obx? Nope that's my other friends. I get to spend spring break working, running squad, doing clinicals and going to medic class. Why would you want to spend spring break any other way??....bleh. The upside is that this is what I do on any given week, so doing this stuff and not having class to worry about is a much awaited break.

31/365: Helmholtz Coils

Wake up early: check, more study: check, take technosonics test: check, go to physics lab: ugh. Even though lab was a pain as usual, at least it was a pretty sight (see Helmholtz coils to the left. Yep, that's an electron beam. So cool). After lab, time to start on a paper about the works of Stravinsky. YAY! (not). These posts are so boring this week, but all I've been doing is school. Looks like 5am may be a good estimate for bed time tonight. Only 3 more days till spring break!

30/365: Theremins and Teleharmoniums

Gotta love the Tuesday that falls on the week of a 24 hour shift, because that = the night off. Usually, these nights are spent doing something fun and relaxing. Not today. I realized the mistake I made in helping out with a lower level electronic music class as an independent study.......more pressure on tests. That means another long night of coffee, music samples and learning about theremins, trautoniums, and teleharmoniums. Awesome. At least I can enjoy studying this much more than physics.

29/365: Mannequins Kick the Bucket

After having to run a 4am call to our favorite (*cough) nursing home, not having class until 11 this morning couldn't have come on a better day. After class, I tried to get some work done and took a quality nap....little did I know, I would definitely need it. Went to a meeting with Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine trying to decide what I'm going to do with life. I left more confused and frustrated about the potential of having to leave Cville next fall than ever, but at least being a DO sounds cool. Went with Shumar to medic class for the 5th night of dynamic cardiology.....or should I say, intense cardio workout. After having 11 mannequins go into cardiac arrest, lets just say that none of us need to go to the gym for a while. CPR for 4 hours really takes it out of you.

28/365: Here Comes the Sun

After having a continental breakfast in the hotel, going shopping, some exploring, and some tip top lunch, parents headed home mid afternoon. It was a good day, and so nice to see the sun for the first time in forever. Wayyyyy too many blizzards this winter. I never thought I would get frustrated at the sight of snow, but now at the slightest flurry, people get all riled up. But today, the sun is out. Awesome.

27/365: Flaming Turtle

Parents came up to visit today after a long drought from Cville awesomeness. Other than having a good time visiting, gorging oneself on much food always comes along as a bonus package of having parents in town (because pushing past people in a crowded mall while shopping can really work up an appetite?). The food decision dilemma lasted for much of the afternoon, before an amazing breakthrough came about (granted, we had already been fueled with cheeseburgers, onion rings, and fries for lunch). The plan was to to to hibachi Japanese for dinner, followed by chocolate fondue for dessert. Fabulous idea. So, after gorging in an amazing teriyaki, sesame-seeded, "yamyam" sauce experience, we headed for the downtown while in the early stages of food coma. Sitting on the bench waiting to be seated while watching all of the other happy people enjoying their fondue was quite painful, but eventually the moment came. We decided on one order of chocolate peanut butter, and one order of flaming turtle. Ohhhh yeah.

26/365: Burn Out

After a pretty exhausting time at the concert, we set out on our voyage back to Crozet. After stopping at many a sketchy, uninhabited, dueling-banjos exits for gas (and getting freaked out), we stopped for caffeine and fuel at a slightly more inhabited location. We reached our destination at around 01:30 as I began to contemplate whether I was awake enough to trek from Crozet to Cville. Little did I know, that when I found out that RM was still awake and up for chatting, I got a second wind. I never get to see her nearly as much as would be awesome. So after eating some cheeseballs, brownies, and animal crackers, me, RM and Barnswallow had a wee morning hours chat session that lasted for a good 2+ hours. One of those very therapeutic life talks. Excellent. During this talk, we realized that the picture to the right is life. Right Now. For me. And my patience with waiting on future plans to unfold- that's pretty close to my finger I might add.

25/365: Black Hawk & Black Stetson

Woke up at 0630 for work feeling blah, before I remembered that at least the second half of the day would be awesome. Today's lineup: work in the ER from 7am to 3pm, drive to Crozet, hitch a ride with Barnswallow to Roanoke, have awesome dinner, see Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw in concert. Today is actually a revelation. I despised country music before it was forced on me in the past few years by friends, and now I embrace it as something fun and interesting (so this if my first country concert, though I've been to hundreds of other concerts).
I thought work would be pretty mundane today......I"m usually right about this but not today. Turns out, a helicopter crashed, and we were lined up to get some victims airlifted in, by a black hawk nonetheless. Everyone got all hardcore and banded together and we got the job done (while gawking at the awesome blackhawk). Didn't get to eat lunch, but hey, I felt like I did some good deeds by the time I left. The drive to Roanoke was quick due to some long overdue conversation with the Barnswallow. Hit heavy traffic but had an awesome dinner. How do I feel about my first country concert? It was awesome.

24/364: The Ice Tree

I was walking to class today, almost late due to lovely morning traffic on 29N. I passed this tree near the East Range and all of the branches were encased in this thick shell of ice making the whole tree look clear with a brown filling- one of the coolest things I've ever seen. As I approached the tree, I decided I had to get a picture of it (since it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen), but I looked at my watch, and like a typical I'm-too-busy-for-everything person, I walked by without taking a picture. During my 4 classes, all I thought about was that tree, and how I hoped it would still look the same when I passed back by after class. After much anticipation.....it didn't. Almost all of the ice had melted and I didn't even stop to take a picture of it in it's prime. Life lesson learned today.

23/365: Half Pipe

Started off the morning with a drought- no tip-top biscuits and gravy after shift for the second week in a row. Usually, the biscuits and gravy on top of being tired from shifts makes for an awesome food-coma nap before class at noon on Wednesdays. Today, nap happened anyway, but food-coma was definitely lacking. The awesomeness of the nap-accomplished day was brought to a halt during 2 hours of physics lab (which always brings everything down). THEN, awesomeness ensued once more for dinner at Outback (the bread looked especially picturesque today). Food coma: accomplished (just later in the day than expected). Watched the US dominate the half pipe in the olympics and then fell asleep early. Awesome day.

22/365: Bigeminy and Figure Skating

Another chocked full day of classes. Typical. Another shift at squad. Typical. Well....maybe not so much. I saw Vtach with a pulse awake and talking --> amiodarone --> conversion to bigeminy. For the non-cardiac nerds, this is only one of the coolest things you can see and do to fix someone, so it made my night to see it firsthand. As if that wasn't exciting enough (and it was), eating a coffee mug full of cookies and cream ice cream while banding together with other girls to torture guys by watching men's figure skating definitely made the night.

21/365: Physucks

Physics seems to be a popular theme in talking about my day to day activities. Today was normal. Go to class. Go to the library. Go to medic class and learn about more cardiology (woohoo!!). Then...an atypical twist! After medic class I went BACK to the library with Shumar and Sprinkle. Me studying "intro physics" while watching Shumar fill up 8 white boards on the wall of our cubicle with advanced physics like it was the easiest thing ever was quite disheartening. I didn't let it get to me much though, I just continued eating the pizza we ordered for our snack and plowing away. Stopped by squad at 1am for some much needed delicious coffee, only to finish out the night sitting at home at the kitchen table studying some more. Lonnnnnng. Day.

20/365: Hazelnut-Chocolate-Pineapple

Got done this morning at Western well-rested after a good night's sleep in an awesomely comfy bed. Managed to plow through an afternoon of physics after coming home to Berk. As soon as I was about to delve into electric flux, I realized that going to the grocery store and getting stuff for an awesome dinner was definitely more important. So a few hours later, I found myself lounging on the couch, watching Olympic pairs figure skating, eating some chicken parm, salad, biscuits, and chocolate covered pretzels, strawberries, and pineapple with S.pants, JC, and Meatsauce. Really don't think it gets much better than that. Learned something new today: Meatsauce could open up her own candy shop at any moment and dominate the competition. After an intense food-coma and Olympic watching marathon, time to retreat to the loft to finish a paper (and keep watching the Olympics of course).

19/365: Western

Slept in, watched ski jumping on the olympics, and studied some physics before our trek to Crozet for rescue staffing. It's proved to be just as awesome as any other year, complete with TV watching marathon, Crozet pizza awesomeness, call running, hilarity, and Dairy Queen blizzards, and the night isn't even over yet. I know it may sound like any mundane night, but it's been a great one, though pretty tiring. Nice to be staffing with a smaller number of people in a new place (with a MUCH more awesome pantry i might add). And you can't really beat laughs, speed skating and ice luge watching, snickers blizzards, comfy couches, and the occasional call.

18/365: All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarden

Traffic class today. No, not because I wrecked my car or ran a red light, we went to learn how to play smart with firetrucks and ambulances on the interstate. What did I learn? Other than a lot of things, I learned that all I need to know, I learned in Kindergarden (apparently this applies to playing safe in traffic as well as it does to playing in the sandbox). A few highlights: Share everything, play fair, don't hit people, clean up your own mess, and when you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Seems simple enough, but I guess life has taught us that getting older makes us forget these things. After class and a 4 hour stint at work in a hella busy ER, I finished out the night with Shumar and Miney at McGradys contemplating life and the plausibility of conquering 4 pitchers between 3 people. Things discovered: conquering is possible, bonnaroo lineup looks AMAZING, and the olympic opening ceremony was sweet.

17/365: Negative end to the Switch

Full day of classes today. Yikes. That hasn't happened in a while. Amidst studying opera, listening to P.Q.H. talk about "AHA" (r hat, again), studying asian musicals and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, physics lab is even more of a downer. Black wire, red wire, alligator clip, lightbulb, resistor, battery....20 other wires....huh? Ran out of lab and booked it to medic class, but, surprise! It's cancelled. That means I get to go to squad earlier than expected to staff the heavy squad. Yay. Checked the truck, checked and stashed my gear. Studied and chatted with Meatsauce for a while, and got in a rousing game of (careful) indoor soccer passing with Meatsauce and MM before bed. Goal = don't break anything. Mission accomplished.

16/365: NCIS overload

Today. Nothing out of the ordinary. No class again, so I decided to set up shop at the kitchen table to, as we say, DO WORK. After getting a surprising amount done, including an entire music composition which I did in place of physics (wise choice....for now), decided to take it easy with CLM to watch an awesomely long marathon of NCIS. No better stress medicine than that. I'll probably end up regretting physics procrastination, but it was an awesome day.

15/365: Snow Wars

Decided to check out some classes today even though half were cancelled. Maybe not the best decision ever to satisfy my relaxation craving, but at least I learned some quality essential-to-life information about the effect of opera on colonialism (uhh, yeah). Although it feels like I had just packed up my life from the squad mat that I resided on this past weekend, I trekked back to squad for weekly shift. As usual, there was some fun peppered in with truck checks, call running, and the occasional homework doing. Lesson of the day: Throwing a snowball through the door at top speed into homework territory will land you, well, in the snow yourself. Good life tip.

14/365: School?....I think not.

Too snowy to make it to class today, oh well it was only one class anyways. Thought I would get a lot of work done today after a picture perfect cup of coffee. I DID end up being super productive, but in building a super humongous snow man with CLM and having NCIS marathon, not physics. So maybe I didn't become a master of electric field knowledge today, but I did have many a snowy-awesome adventure and some much needed couch and tv relaxation.

13/365: Cabin Fever

Day 3 at rescue snow-athon. Loopiness is setting in. People were tired of being cooped up and decided it was a great day to go to the hospital. We braved many an adventure including a fallen-tree-climbing, ice-sliding (and falling) experience trying to hold it together for another day. Breakfast was a no-go. We cooked lunch but eating it was a no-go. Took advantage of a 20 minute afternoon down time by crashing on the mat for a much coveted nap, then back to the grind. Decided at the end of day shift to pack up camp and head for home. Dug out the explorer and went home hungry and tired to find the best surprise ever. Somehow the snow overshadowed the fact that it was the super bowl, and I walked through the door of Berk to find that Sprinkle had a spread of food complete with wings, taquitos, and brats waiting for consumption. What an awesome way to finish the night.

12/365: Belgian Waffles and Snowy Adventures

Woke up on my mat-bed this morning to find a full (but necessarily full) house at squad. The snow was still coming down and after some icing last night, the roads were the worse for wear, but the smell of Belgian waffles cooking in the kitchen made all this seem negligible. After spending last night on the heavy squad with no activity other than digging out the vehicles of poor souls that got snow-mountained due to plows, I moved to a truck today to do some patient care. It was definitely a new experience to have to be preceded on calls by some sort of all-terrain vehicle to make sure the road was accessible and take care of any fallen trees or miscellaneous other hazards. We got to play around in the snow with some neighborhood kids on a call, waiting for the duty officer to chainsaw some trees blocking the road, not to mention they were building a 10 foot snowman that we just couldn't stay away from. By nightfall, everyone was getting a little worse for wear, but we made it a fun night nonetheless. Looks like one more day of staffing to go

11/365: Foreboding Blizzard....again?!?!

Well, apparently Cville lies within the arctic circle. The big hype for this weekend is 35+ inches of snow (what?!?!?!). Had to work in the ER this morning before this whole shindig was supposed to start. Got the luckiest break ever when they accidentally wrongly scheduled me for only 4 hours when I was really supposed to be there for 8....I'll definitely take it to get the heck out of there before the thing started. Hitched a ride back to squad on an ambo and set up base camp for what was sure to be days on end. Turned out the classroom was already underway of being a slumber party with gym mats and sleeping bags for beds. The day was a little disappointing, with only around 5 inches by nightfall instead of 10, yet the snow continued to fall. Either way, the night proved to be a fun one, complete with intense indoor 4-square and card games often escalating to competitive-semi-violence. Definitely a "slumber party" to be remembered. And just the beginning of a long squad stint.......

10/365: Twist on MGMT- "Shock me like an electric field"?

Ohhhh physics. How we all hate you so much. The exception is the occasional laugh at things such as thinking P.Q.H. is saying "AHA!" every few seconds, only to realize that he's really saying "R hat".....as in the letter r, with a carrot symbol on top. Oh boy. Electric fields, right hand rule, resistance.......what's for lunch again? So what have me and my squad physics buddies learned so far in physics? If you play sporcle and have sporcle wars too loudly, everyone in a 300 person lecture will turn around and look at you at some point. Distraction win.

9/365: Gone Wrenching

I've decided to take it easy for awhile, getting some schoolwork done and relaxing for once. Back to the schedule of wake up, go to class, go to medic class or run squad, sleep, and repeat. Definitely enjoying not spending every spare minute that I have stuck in the health sciences library studying for the MCAT. Burying myself in practice problems while looking around and seeing that med students have to work this hard all the time. Not that relaxing of a glimpse into a probable future, but I guess it falls back on that corny phrase that says something like you have to work hard for what you want (but in a more catchy tone). At least life is semi back to normal. For a few days, I can sit down and do nothing while watching S.pants and Shumar "go wrenching" (aka: play video games) again without feeling like I should be doing something more productive. Loving this return to normal, but April will come faster than I expect I am sure.....

8/365: Cville-Bound

After braving the snow the night before to find a satisfying pizza dinner, we all turned into bed early and decided this morning to set out to Charlottesville in hopes that the roads were decent enough. The interstate had one lane plowed, totally do-able, so our small convoy set out for home and arrived back in Cville exasperated but in one piece. I've decided that the best way to view this whole situation is that, hey, at least I have more study time now right? (even though I'll be taking this test 4 MONTHS later than I was supposed to). However, for now, I'm vowing to take some time off from intensive MCAT studying. Bad idea? Most likely. Necessary? Absolutely. Life needs to return to it's usually-crazy-yet-normal-for-me baseline.

7/365: Prometric FAIL!!

Hearing the alarm go off, before opening my eyes it seemed like a typical morning.....this may have been the most wrong I've ever been. After I remember that I'm in a hotel room, AND that there could be a blizzard outside AND that my mcat is [supposed to be] today, I walk to the window to see that this is far beyond confirmed. My explorer looks peaceful in it's natural snow-loving habitat, but if nerves weren't enough today, the snow definitely made up for it. After consulting with my co-tester Shuki, Meatsauce and I decided to set off for the testing center 4 hours early in hopes of getting back to Cville early. After the explorer braved the 7 unplowed inches to the Prometric center.....we see this sign on the door. Shame that AAMC said that the MCAT would NEVER be cancelled. So much for guarantees. And so much for them caring at all. MCAT rescheduled until April. Worst news ever. We're snowed in for another night. Again. And MCAT-less.

6/365: Foreboding Blizzard?

Day before the MCAT, I decided after so much hype and forewarning of a huge snow to go ahead and get a hotel room the night before. Meatsauce decided to be my faithful companion and we set out on the trek to Glen Allen with clear skies. After a delicious dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, we went on to the hotel for fresh baked cookies and hazelnut coffee. After resisting the temptation to go to bed, I tried to get in some last minute practice questions. Around midnight, before decided to go to bed, I looked out the window to see snow......oh joy.

5/365: How Wide is your PR Interval?

We started learning cardiology in medic class......call me a nerd (as you should), but I've been waiting to learn about this for years- just consult my abnormal EKG collection for proof. I find it slightly hilarious that not only had I been looking forward to this class for so long, but this four hour session served as my much anticipated break from MCAT studying. I guess it never ends, especially these days. What ever happened to the days of watching tv and doing nothing? I haven't seen those in a while, but I guess it's all worth it. You, though, probably have one burning question: was starting to learn cardiology as exciting as I thought it would be? Answer: Ohhh yeahhh.

4/365: Grateful-est

After having a stressful night at squad facing the reality of impending snow on my mcat and getting a hotel, etc, woke up this morning to leave to find a package on my computer. One of my awesome preceptees decided to give me a present for helping him realize that we do squad for the patients, not for med school applications or anything else. The surprise included a card, a squirrel pouch, and a chipotle gift card (which he so eloquently supported with the fact that, "no normal person has an unused chipotle gift card laying around"). Best. Day Brightener. Ever. Especially knowing that we do meaningfully get through to people on occasion....

3/365: Day Old Bread

Sunday.....procrastinating doing any work, first full week of classes starts this week. Should have been studying all day. Didn't. Oh well.

Apparently driving perpendicular to a median half on and half off the median won't get you anything but totaling your car, being extricated from it, and then becoming a trauma alert yourself only to turn out to be fine. Typical day.
Made a big fish and rice dinner at Bmar and invited Meatsauce and JC over to sit at the round table and eat. JC taught me that apparently Jimmy John's sells day old loaves of bread for only 50 cents that are still perfectly delicious. I learned something new today.

2/365: "Spring" cleaning

Though it was my 24 hour saturday shift at squad today, I had to miss the first part to go to intubation day for Medic class. Before the class started, 8 hours promised to be a long, long day, but after learning how to intubate and figuring out that it was incredibly fun and awesome, it turned out to be a great time. Went to CARS afterwards to find the building in complete shambles, but for awesome reasons. "Spring cleaning" was scheduled today and the whole building was getting a new makeover. Over 50 people showed up to help, and everyone was making great progress cleaning everything top to bottom and doing all sorts of projects. By the end of the day, the building was spotless and almost the whole interior was repainted with a great color scheme. Totally exciting.