I know I haven't blogged a lot lately. For a while there before we moved I was on a role...but that was before I started school...well, this school.
Things are going great here. I have a somewhat regular week this week, except for a couple of big tests, and then next week we start was is called SPA week. SPA means Standardized Patient Assessment. On Monday we have a day of essay tests, Tuesday is a big multiple choice test, Wednesday we go see a standardized patient at the hospital. The next two days we are spent developing an assessment and plan and following up, and then we have an oral exam on Friday. I am very excited about this style of testing...but a little apprehensive!
Valerie is in Tampa for a week with Carver. Portia flew them down for a party she's throwing for Gary at the beach. After a really tough year for Gary and Portia they are celebrating their lives and loved-ones. I wish I was there! Plus they get to see the Dourtes...and I'm sad I'm missing out. The extra time for school is a real gift though.
Vinny came over from Windy Gap last week for a few days. He had taken Gainesville kids to camp and drove himself so that he could come see us afterward. It was so great to spend time with him. Its amazing how much more time I spend laughing when he's around. We went to see Inception which blew my mind. He also built us a chicken coop. We're getting chickens soon!
I better get to some studying. Chemo drugs. This unit included oncology, which both compels me to work in that field and also has me wondering if I could handle that long term. It also included dermatology. Do a google images search for cutaneous dermatoses and you will know why I am leaning away from derm.
Thanks for following my blog. I will try to be better about blogging! I promise!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Not really about anything
There have been a few times in the last few weeks that I've thought, "Will I ever have time to blog again?" Turns out I will!
PA school is awesome. I am really enjoying it, and last week I got a 100% on my pharmacology midterm! I was in a lecture when I got the email telling me that I aced it and was totally blown away. I wanted to jump up and down but all these folks are super professional and don't tell each other their scores...which is fine.
Life in Winston is great. We love our neighbors and our neighborhood. Valerie got an awesome job at the best pre-school in town, and we have two great churches that we really love.
I think the main reason I haven't been blogging is because I haven't been in the writing mood. That may have something to do with the amount of brain I've been dedicating to the rest of my day. I'm gonna say yes.
I have three more regular weeks of school, then a week of finals, and then a week off! This program is going to FLY BY! I am SO excited to become a PA!
PA school is awesome. I am really enjoying it, and last week I got a 100% on my pharmacology midterm! I was in a lecture when I got the email telling me that I aced it and was totally blown away. I wanted to jump up and down but all these folks are super professional and don't tell each other their scores...which is fine.
Life in Winston is great. We love our neighbors and our neighborhood. Valerie got an awesome job at the best pre-school in town, and we have two great churches that we really love.
I think the main reason I haven't been blogging is because I haven't been in the writing mood. That may have something to do with the amount of brain I've been dedicating to the rest of my day. I'm gonna say yes.
I have three more regular weeks of school, then a week of finals, and then a week off! This program is going to FLY BY! I am SO excited to become a PA!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Weekend in Gainesville
So this weekend we headed to Gainesville for Travis and Rachel's wedding. I was a groomsman. It was a BLAST. I still cannot think of an event that compares to weddings with your best friends...specifically dancing at weddings with your best friends. When the DJ stopped playing music, after disregarding about 30 of our really good requests (Fergie didn't even make one appearance) I thought about pooling money to get him to stay for another hour. We didn't, though.
Let me back up and tell you about the whole weekend.
We left the Dash straight from school at about 5:00 on Thursday, and stopped just north of Charlotte at a Chicken-fil-et. That new spicy chicken sandwich is gangbusters for real. So anyway, we get back on the road and about half way to Gainesville the car starts doing a hic-cup type thing every 5 or ten miles. It was almost like it was out of gas for a split second, and then it'd be fine. I called my dad. I still call my dad with all my man questions. Yes, I'm 27. But he's there, and he knows. Not calling him would be like not going to wikipedia if I wanted to know why flag day originated. So he says to put premium in it, and maybe change the fuel filter when I get to Gainesvegas. I did both (we made it to Gainesville). The car wouldn't start Friday morning and hasn't started since. It also got egg'd last night. At first I was like, WTF? Then I was like, when it rains it pours, and then I was like, "I was such a punk when I was in high school." I even helped my best friend siphon gas from his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend's car once a week in the high school parking lot. Kid deserved a lot worse though. I think my favorite part about our car not starting (yes, I have a very good attitude about it and have a favorite part) is that I got such good time with Dan while we tried to fix it.
In the midst of car trouble Friday morning, Carver had some out-of-the-blue asthma attack/allergic reaction to Tug (the Dourte Labrador). I've heard wheezing and stridor, and this was some serious wheezing and stridor. Val was at breakfast with a bunch of people. I gave two puffs of albuterol, which he could barely breathe in because of the airway constriction and crying (he is very interested in the inhaler until you smash it against his face.) We went on a walk with Noanie (Nana + Joanie). After about a half an hour he was much better. Then we took him over to PJs (our newly graduated PA friend), where he and Adam listened to his lungs, gave him some pediatric singulair, and C's been right as rain ever since.
The wedding, like I said, was a blast. About 3 years ago I didn't dance. Something changed one day and thank the Lord it did, because now I love dancing...at least at weddings. I would say, though, that this DJ played a little too much traditional wedding dance music (NOW WAAIIIIIITAMIIIINNUUUUTTTEE!!!), and not enough Fergie, Gaga, K-C and Jo-Jo, etc. Nevertheless, it was a blast. The ceremony was wonderful, too. It is such a privelage to see Travis and Rachel get married. They are both my former YoungLife kids turned good friends, and they are truly in love.I know their marriage will always stay fresh and alive and growing. Rachel was beautiful, and wore the same dress her granmother wore when she got married in 1955. It was classy, timeless, and beautiful. Travis is always classy, timeless, and beautiful, so I won't mention anything about his attire. I am very proud of him, though.
So about the car...I ended up renting a car from Avis for $10 a day, because the need to get some cars to Winston, and out of Florida. As far as I know there are no elicit drugs in this deal...just a car.
So my folks came up today and we went to breakfast and spent some time with them. After they left I left and made it home (to W-S) in less than 8 hours. That will probably forever be a record because I doubt I'll do the drive alone again. (Did I mention Val and Carver stayed behind?)
So, tomorrow begins another week of school. I better get to bed.
Go Gators.
Let me back up and tell you about the whole weekend.
We left the Dash straight from school at about 5:00 on Thursday, and stopped just north of Charlotte at a Chicken-fil-et. That new spicy chicken sandwich is gangbusters for real. So anyway, we get back on the road and about half way to Gainesville the car starts doing a hic-cup type thing every 5 or ten miles. It was almost like it was out of gas for a split second, and then it'd be fine. I called my dad. I still call my dad with all my man questions. Yes, I'm 27. But he's there, and he knows. Not calling him would be like not going to wikipedia if I wanted to know why flag day originated. So he says to put premium in it, and maybe change the fuel filter when I get to Gainesvegas. I did both (we made it to Gainesville). The car wouldn't start Friday morning and hasn't started since. It also got egg'd last night. At first I was like, WTF? Then I was like, when it rains it pours, and then I was like, "I was such a punk when I was in high school." I even helped my best friend siphon gas from his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend's car once a week in the high school parking lot. Kid deserved a lot worse though. I think my favorite part about our car not starting (yes, I have a very good attitude about it and have a favorite part) is that I got such good time with Dan while we tried to fix it.
In the midst of car trouble Friday morning, Carver had some out-of-the-blue asthma attack/allergic reaction to Tug (the Dourte Labrador). I've heard wheezing and stridor, and this was some serious wheezing and stridor. Val was at breakfast with a bunch of people. I gave two puffs of albuterol, which he could barely breathe in because of the airway constriction and crying (he is very interested in the inhaler until you smash it against his face.) We went on a walk with Noanie (Nana + Joanie). After about a half an hour he was much better. Then we took him over to PJs (our newly graduated PA friend), where he and Adam listened to his lungs, gave him some pediatric singulair, and C's been right as rain ever since.
The wedding, like I said, was a blast. About 3 years ago I didn't dance. Something changed one day and thank the Lord it did, because now I love dancing...at least at weddings. I would say, though, that this DJ played a little too much traditional wedding dance music (NOW WAAIIIIIITAMIIIINNUUUUTTTEE!!!), and not enough Fergie, Gaga, K-C and Jo-Jo, etc. Nevertheless, it was a blast. The ceremony was wonderful, too. It is such a privelage to see Travis and Rachel get married. They are both my former YoungLife kids turned good friends, and they are truly in love.I know their marriage will always stay fresh and alive and growing. Rachel was beautiful, and wore the same dress her granmother wore when she got married in 1955. It was classy, timeless, and beautiful. Travis is always classy, timeless, and beautiful, so I won't mention anything about his attire. I am very proud of him, though.
So about the car...I ended up renting a car from Avis for $10 a day, because the need to get some cars to Winston, and out of Florida. As far as I know there are no elicit drugs in this deal...just a car.
So my folks came up today and we went to breakfast and spent some time with them. After they left I left and made it home (to W-S) in less than 8 hours. That will probably forever be a record because I doubt I'll do the drive alone again. (Did I mention Val and Carver stayed behind?)
So, tomorrow begins another week of school. I better get to bed.
Go Gators.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Poem Friday
And you thought I'd forgot! Nope, at least for this week I'm committed to Poem Fridays.
This is a poem by Wendell Berry, a great American author...and my favorite author. I have never read anyone that captures and articulates my feelings as well as Wendell Berry, and in my opinion he is the most relevant living voice we (the present world) could be listening to. This poem is from his book Sabbaths 2006. Read it out loud.
VII
O saints, if I am even eligible for this prayer,
though less than worthy of this dear desire,
and if your prayers have influence in Heaven,
let my place there be lower than your own.
I know how you longed, here where you lived
as exiles, for the presence of the essential
Being and Maker and Knower of all things.
But because of my unruliness, or some erring
virtue in me never rightly schooled,
some error clear and dear, my life
has not taught me your desire for flight:
dismattered, pure, and free. I long
instead for the Heaven of creatures, of seasons,
of day and night. Heaven enough for me
would be this world as I know it, but redeemed
of our abuse of it and one another. It would be
the Heaven of knowing again. There is no marrying
in Heaven, and I submit; even so, I would like
to know my wife again, both of us young again,
and I remembering always how I loved her
when she was old. I would like to know
my children again, all my family, all my dear ones,
to see, to hear, to hold, more carefully
than before, to study them lingeringly as one
studies old verses, committing them to heart
forever. I would like again to know my friends,
my old companions, men and women, horses
and dogs, in all the ages of our lives, here
in this place that I have watched over all my life
in all its moods and seasons, never enough.
I will be leaving how many beauties overlooked?
A painful Heaven this would be, for I would know
by it how far I have fallen short. I have not
paid enough attention, I have not been grateful
enough. And yet this pain would be the measure
of my love. In eternity's once and now, pain would
place me surely in the Heaven of my earthly love.
This is a poem by Wendell Berry, a great American author...and my favorite author. I have never read anyone that captures and articulates my feelings as well as Wendell Berry, and in my opinion he is the most relevant living voice we (the present world) could be listening to. This poem is from his book Sabbaths 2006. Read it out loud.
VII
O saints, if I am even eligible for this prayer,
though less than worthy of this dear desire,
and if your prayers have influence in Heaven,
let my place there be lower than your own.
I know how you longed, here where you lived
as exiles, for the presence of the essential
Being and Maker and Knower of all things.
But because of my unruliness, or some erring
virtue in me never rightly schooled,
some error clear and dear, my life
has not taught me your desire for flight:
dismattered, pure, and free. I long
instead for the Heaven of creatures, of seasons,
of day and night. Heaven enough for me
would be this world as I know it, but redeemed
of our abuse of it and one another. It would be
the Heaven of knowing again. There is no marrying
in Heaven, and I submit; even so, I would like
to know my wife again, both of us young again,
and I remembering always how I loved her
when she was old. I would like to know
my children again, all my family, all my dear ones,
to see, to hear, to hold, more carefully
than before, to study them lingeringly as one
studies old verses, committing them to heart
forever. I would like again to know my friends,
my old companions, men and women, horses
and dogs, in all the ages of our lives, here
in this place that I have watched over all my life
in all its moods and seasons, never enough.
I will be leaving how many beauties overlooked?
A painful Heaven this would be, for I would know
by it how far I have fallen short. I have not
paid enough attention, I have not been grateful
enough. And yet this pain would be the measure
of my love. In eternity's once and now, pain would
place me surely in the Heaven of my earthly love.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Retiring
Today is my last day at work. Did you know I blog at work? Well, if you're my future employer...no, I don't blog at work...blogs are for self-important post-college, pre-true-adulthood twenty-somethings.
Well, I'm super excited to not work here anymore. Of all the jobs I've had, this one seems the farthest from what "work" was supposed to be many millenia ago before we men-types were sent out to the east of Eden. The job that most closely resembled that old forgotten type of work was probably mixing and blending smoothies all those years...but still a pretty major stretch.
Anyway, we pack the moving truck tomorrow and abandon our roots here in Gainesvegas for a couple of years. I'm pretty sad about that part. I somewhat inadvertently think of myself as a leader, and so its hard for me to think of what Moe's Thursday will be like after we leave. And where will everyone watch The Office and 30 Rock...and is it fair for us to bring Bananagrams (TM) with us? Its not that I think I'm more important than other people...but who will fill the enormous void of terrible jokes and talking too much?
Here is what I'm pumped about, though:
My social circle consisting of Valerie, Carver and I,
Learning medicine,
Experiencing life outside of the colorful, lawless swamp,
Being an hour from mountains,
Living in a house again,
Finding hills to skateboard down.
OK, I have work to do. I'll see you later!
Well, I'm super excited to not work here anymore. Of all the jobs I've had, this one seems the farthest from what "work" was supposed to be many millenia ago before we men-types were sent out to the east of Eden. The job that most closely resembled that old forgotten type of work was probably mixing and blending smoothies all those years...but still a pretty major stretch.
Anyway, we pack the moving truck tomorrow and abandon our roots here in Gainesvegas for a couple of years. I'm pretty sad about that part. I somewhat inadvertently think of myself as a leader, and so its hard for me to think of what Moe's Thursday will be like after we leave. And where will everyone watch The Office and 30 Rock...and is it fair for us to bring Bananagrams (TM) with us? Its not that I think I'm more important than other people...but who will fill the enormous void of terrible jokes and talking too much?
Here is what I'm pumped about, though:
My social circle consisting of Valerie, Carver and I,
Learning medicine,
Experiencing life outside of the colorful, lawless swamp,
Being an hour from mountains,
Living in a house again,
Finding hills to skateboard down.
OK, I have work to do. I'll see you later!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Begging your pardon
OK, sorry about my last post. It may have been a little harsh...especially depending on YOUR opinion of immigration. I still stand by my opinion, though.
"...but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."
"...but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."
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