Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas...

So, back in October we decided it would be a good idea to skip Christmas this year, all the shopping and commercial hubub was more than any of us wanted this year.  So we decided we would go to Mexico instead.  So on Christmas Eve morning at 9am we left DFW for Mexico, trying desparately to outrun the snow, luckily we made it safely with no delays and were eating lunch and drinking pina coladas by the beach by 1pm. 



I've always loved Christmas so I have been very surprised this year by how wonderful it is to just enjoy the company of loved ones, and skip the stress and hassles of shopping in the Christmas chaos, and traveling all over for 3 or 4 family Christmases.  This was possibly the best Christmas I've ever had! 


We went to Playa del Carmen Mexico, a mere 30 minutes south of Cancun.  We stayed at Secrets Capri Riviera Maya an all-inclusive adults only resort, and would highly reccomend it to others.  We spent most of our time laying on the beach reading, doing water aerobics, swimming, playing volleyball, and walking down the beach.  We had perfect weather, it was hot (80's) when the sun was out and a nice reprieve when it ventured behind a cloud, and cooled off considerably (high 60's-70's) when the sun went down in the evenings.  The goal for me was to have a relaxing holiday, and it was very relaxing.  We also spent a lot of time eating and drinking, part of the glory of an all-inclusive resort.  I particularly enjoyed the dinner and show of the hibachi restaurant, and the dessert options at the Italian restaurant (I ordered two Ice Cream stuffed profiterols with caramel and chocolate drizzle and chocolate canneloni stuffed with strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla mousse mmmmm....). 


Resort Review for TripAdvisor
Great rooms: spacious, with nice balconies, had a single size jetted tub. 
Restaurants/Food: Better than any other all inclusive I have visited, no dinner buffets except for special occasions, 4 sit down dinner restaurants (hibachi/Pan-Asian, Italian, Seafood, Steakhouse), beautifully decorated restaurants with a romantic ambiance
Drinks: Great, good service, fabulous Pina Coladas...good house wines
Staff: There staff were friendly and helpful without being overbearing, and willing to assist you as needed
Activities: Good schedule of activities during the day including water aerobics, volleyball (beach and pool), kayaking, aerobic beach walks, rifle shooting, archery, Bocce, and hobie sailers.  In the evening, more relaxed come and go activities rather than the nightly "big show" I think about with all-inclusive resorts, activites varied from karaoke, live music, football watching parties, casino night, magic show, etc.  Good, but sometimes felt as though there wasn't one thing to occupy the entire evening
Beach: Beautiful fine white sand, there were some stumps in the edge of the water that should be removed, the water is not as clear at the edge the waves disturb the sand, but it is the beautiful turquoise/royal blue you think of when you think of the Carribean once you travel a few feet out and looking at it from afar.
Only Complaints: Stumps on beach, Bad Sushi, Bath tub only for one, and Hot tub wasn't very hot at night



I just asked Richard if he had anything to say about our vacation he said, "I loved spending time with my wife"...what a good husband I have!



Richard Sheffield, M.S.

Saturday December 19, 2009



Richard graduated from SMU with a Master's of Science in Engineering Management after four years of work.  SMU has a distance education program that made it easy for him to work on his own schedule.  I am so proud of him!


Funny story...We pulled into the parking lot at SMU and Richard's phone rang, it was his mom.  She was calling to let us know that he might not be graduating, because his name was missing from the program.  This inspired a little fear, but we carried on, hooded him up, and I went and sat down while he went to join the graduates.  Immediately I started scouring the program, thinking maybe Maria had made a mistake, but NO, he was not in the program.  I called him to let him know, but he assured me everything was OK, they had a card with his name on it!  WHEW!  And he did! A few fun facts Richard is wearing Orange to signify engineering, and at SMU the business students wear DRAB to signify their specialty, coincidence?



I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out and supported us and shared in our Celebration!  We love and appreciate you all! (Maria, Stephen, Nana, Barbara, Clyde, Christa, Daniel, and Mario!)



Richard's Recollection of Graduation, "It was long, boring, and they had to print the words to the National Anthem"



We continued our celebration with lunch at Gloria's!  Yum, I love that place!  Then we reconvened that evening at Champ's in Irving to watch the Cowboys beat the Saints and of course to keep celebrating Richard's big day.  After the game which was very enjoyable, we followed Oscar to a sketchy Japanese Karaoke bar at Royal and 35.  Fortunately, it was awesome!  Good pick Oscar!  You paid by the hour and your entire party had a private room complete with cookie crisp (the cereal, they served it as one of the appetizers).  It was a wonderful day with wonderful people! 

Monday, December 21, 2009

Week 16-Finals, Freedom and Texas


Monday, after a very long weekend of studying my last exam finally arrived.  It was a comprehensive biochemistry exam...yikes!  Fortunately, it wasn't too bad and I got an A in the class.  I just finished my first semester of 7, on to the celebration!  It startted with some celebratory champagne at Lauren's house, before we headed to happy hour at the Front Page.  It's a newspaper themed restaurant in Dupont Circle, I hope that's the right name, I always call it the News Stand...  Here me and about 15 of my classmates enjoyed drinks and food, while waiting for the sweet freedom to sink in.  No time for waiting though, on to the next event... We headed to Lima (a bar/lounge/restaurant) where we participated in a wonderful free salsa lesson and an open bar for the ladies, that's right I said "OPEN BAR".  It was a great way to end what I feel has been a very good semester.  On one hand it's hard to believe I am already one semester into school, but on the other I feel like this was a pretty lengthy semester.  At least I get a pretty lengthy break to recover before the really rough stuff begins.


Tuesday: Welcome to Dallas, Local time is 5:30 and it's 47 degrees!
 I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be home.  I cried during the entire descent, until I got to the car, I was so happy to be back in Texas!   I feel like Texas is like Cheers, it feels welcoming like everybody knows my name. 

I forgot to mention all the fun to get here, this was Angel's very first airplane ride.  I feel like taking a dog on a plane I got my first taste of what motherhood may actually be like...  Let me preface this with the statement "Sheffields NEVER check bags!", this is Richard and I's motto when travelling.  So Angel is in a doggy bag and I'm carrying her being very cautious not to bang her into the seats or the passengers or tilt her on her side or head.  All the while pulling a roller bag down the narrow aisle while carrying my coat, scarf, and book.  When I got near my seat it was time to hoist my bag into the overhead bin... Unfortunately Richard usually does this and I couldn't get it up on my own.  So the guy behind me attempted to help, but it wouldn't fit.  Now what?  Well, I emptied out the front pockets as the line of passengers grew behind be, I took out 3 pairs of shoes, all my toiletries, and my glasses (none of which were in a bag).  I then gathered up all my stuff, the dog, the book, the scarf, the 3 pairs of shoes, the glasses and the sunglasses, and all my toiletries.  Once I arrived to my seat, I had the window, but the two seats next to it were already full.  So, as I climbed in, I started throwing my bundle down in my seat, which I then had to sit on while I tried to organize myself...I was chaos.  Fortunately Angel is much better that any child I've ever seen on an airplane.

Once, I landed though my parents picked me up and took me home for mom's homemade fried chicken and gravy...clearly you cannot get the Texas outta me!

Wednesday: Heaven in Texas!
Went shopping at TJMAXX with Mom, followed by lunch at my favorite dive in Dallas, Shuck N' Jive, where I had some delicious fried shrimp and raw oysters.  Shout Out: TARA!  Then some more shopping, followed by Paciugo, if you haven't tried it, you must and I highly recommend the Caramel Sea Salt.  Shout Out: LISA!  That's not all the day's not over yet, we met my entire family and Christa at Manny's Uptown for some delicious Tex-Mex (Lord, how I've missed you!).  Recommendation: Nuestro Shrimp 
Then we headed to Fair Park for 101 Dalmations the musical.  I'm a huge musical fan so here is my critique of 101 Dalmations: Cruella played by Rachel York was wonderful gave a commanding performance.  It was also great when they incorporated the live dogs, but overall not one of the best shows I've seen.  As far as music goes, not great and missing Cruella De Ville, which was surprising.  As far as Disney goes stick to the Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.  It was great to see the fam and to have the opportunity to get together just us girls!


Thursday, finally got a haircut which was much needed it's funny the things you don't want to change if you don't absolutely have to.  I took Richard lunch at work so he could show me off :), did a little more shopping with mom, and had dinner with the Paces while Richard was at SMU taking the last final of his Master's Degree.  It was great to see Jason and Amanda, I enjoyed chatting.  Carly and Jonah are getting so big.  We went and looked at Christmas lights, then met Richard for ice cream at Coldstone to celebrate!

Friday, I love seeing my friends.  I've made some good friends in DC but I sure do miss the ones at home.  Hopefully I'll have time to catch up with everyone while I'm here.  Tonight, we met Nick and Kandice at Chaucer's in Addison (they have amazing sushi, but don't ever go here on a Friday or Saturday night if you plan on trying to have a conversation).  It was so nice to see them and catch up, they've had quite a busy couple of months and blogs are nice but it's good to hear it in the flesh as well.  We had a great time with you guys!

I think that's about enough for one post, the rest of Week 16 to come...

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Week 15-Finals Take 1


It all started Monday with a hellacious Anesthesia exam.  Started with a written exam with two flat out wrong questions.  Followed by a horrific comprehensive oral exam in which I spent roughly 20 minutes regurgitating everything I've learned in the last semester...it was great (<--note the sarcasm). 

Followed Tuesday by my final Health Policy class.  We had presentations for our final grade, and my group did a presentation on death panels.  If you think you like Sarah Palin I suggest you google her with death panel and look at just how intelligent she is.  Prior to her smear campaign there was a provision in the reform bill that provided medicare reimbursement for end-of life counseling (which is fabulous), but now it has been removed.  Thank you Sarah Palin!  More people will now waste our resources because their families won't know what they won't.  Ok, I'm done with my soap box...

Wednesday, I had my last biochemistry lecture!  Thank God!  One more comprehensive exam in this class on monday, then its all over...Until January that is.

Thursday, was slightly painful... I got to spend 8 whole hours listening to research presentations...  When I have a biochemistry final to study for.  Now I'm blogging when I should be studying.


Friday, I studied all day and then Nicole and I took a break and went to see the National Christmas Trees down by the White House, followed by dinner, and some White Chrismas!  So the big lighted tree is the national tree and then their is an individual tree from each state or territory.  The pic of me is front of the Texas tree, the ornaments were decorated by kids at a Christian school in Lewisville.  This was my last break before a weekend FULL of studying!



Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Week 14-GREAT NEWS!!!


The beginning of this week was absolutely wonderful, Richard was still here.  Monday, it was cold and rainy so we spent the day lounging around watching movies and had a nice dinner in.  Then Tuesday we got up and headed into the city to go to the Spy museum.  This is one of the only museums we had not visited before because its usually $20 to go, and almost every other museum in the city is free.  However, I got some discount groupon tickets, so we went, and it was really enjoyable and interesting...I still wouldn't pay $20 but it was worth the $9 I paid.  Then we had lunch in Chinatown before we headed home to take Richard to the airport.

Then the BIG news!  On our way home Richard got a text message from his friend Katie (who got him the DC interview), saying that they sent him an offer!  We were so excited that even though we should be going to the airport, we came home and logged on to the Raytheon secure site to look at the job offer, and it was good.


Thursday, after some negotiations he accepted the job at Raytheon in Falls Church (which is 20 minutes from our apartment against traffic, and about 10 minutes from Sara and Tom's house)...Sara this means I can send him to your house when I have to study or maybe when he makes me mad, haha, I'm kidding.

Richard got a job in DC and will be moving here in January!

Other than that, the week was spent preparing for my comprehenisve anesthesia oral exam, and written exam worth 60% of my grade. Only two weeks until Texas, though!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Week 13-Happy Freakin' Thanksgiving!

This week started out great!  Only one day of class, starting Monday.  Unfortunately Monday evening I started feeling slightly under the weather, so I just thought I needed to go to bed early.  But Tuesday when I woke up, things were worse.  I thought I had a typical sinus infection but as the day progressed I determined it was the flu!  So Wednesday morning after Richard arrived he took me to the Dr. to check it out, yep FLU!  They didn't test to see if it was H1N1 but they gave me some tamiflu which made me sick at first but I certainly started feeling better.  The worst part about being sick was that I missed the big family Thanksgiving, I was quarrentined because I was contagious.




Friday, I stopped being contagious and me, Rich, and Stephan went to the Hirschorn Museum and out to Sara and Tom's for Turkey day leftovers.  Where the boys proved their masculinity with Brazil nut cracking (see picture below).  Also, got to spend time with our beautiful neice and boistrous nephew (we built a garage for his hot wheels).



Saturday, I finally had some time to hang out with the hubby.  I made a butternut squash pasta sauce courtesy of Giada, and it was awful!  I didn't know whether or not I liked butternut squash, I don't!

Sunday, I had a bit of a nervous breakdown when I realized that I have a comprehensive oral anesthesia exam in a week that I have not started studying for.  So I spent some time studying.  Then Sara, Tom, and Stephan came over for dinner, wine, and Trivial Pursuit.

Week 12-I'm too sexy for my Cranium...


Me and Heyni with Dr. Azzam (best anatomy professor ever)

BEST week of the semester!!!! Anatomy is finished, one A down we'll see if I can pull off a few more.  This week was basically a week of celebration.  Anatomy final on tuesday.  Then all day wednesday and thursday I spent time with Lauren, Adaire, and Amy working on our mind boggling scapula presentation.  We rewrote some popular songs...including ABC, 123 (the Jackson 5), Fresh Prince (Will Smith), Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice), All the Small Things (Blink 182), and I'm too sexy (forget who sings this...)  I've posted some videos on you tube, do a search for Georgetown NAP 2011 to find the evidence! 

My Anatomy Presentation Group-We ROCKED!!!

So Friday we delivered our presentations (search Georgetown NAP 2011 on youtube for a video), followed by pizza and beer courtesy of our professor!  It was fabulous, but the real party was Saturday.  About 10 or 12 of my classmates celebrated with a night out on the town.  We met at Lauren's to pregame, then headed out to Roxanne's in Adam's Morgan for some more alcohol, dancing, and pure insanity!  This night has been the highlight of my semester, it was so nice to go out and not think about school or what I wasn't getting done!  I also feel like I have officially been initiated into the DC bar scene after a 3:30 trip to Jumbo Slice, they have NO Jack in the Box or curly fries here!!!  They serve the largest slices of pizza I have ever seen, check it out!

Sunday, day of recovery and biochem catch up, only one more day of class before Thanksgiving break!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Week 11- BIG week!!!


Hey guys,

I hope everyone is doing well, I really miss you all!!!!

This week we turned in our Literature review, WHEW!  Glad we finished that, but now I have to get started on anatomy, but Richard is coming this weekend  so I really need to finish up before he arrives!  So Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Anatomy study....

Friday night 11:30 pm Richard ARRIVES!!!!!

Saturday, I spent the day enjoying the company of my husband, which was wonderful! I hadn't seen him in 7 weeks, so it was unbelievably wonderful to see him!!!  He got into DC at 11:30 Friday night without delay, Angel and I met him at the airport.  Saturday we ran errands, went out to Tyson's corner (good shopping) then Katie and Kurtis (Katie got Rich his interview) over for dinner.  We had Linguine con Cotze (with mussels) and chicken Milanese with salad followed by Ameretto Chocolate pie!

Sunday, we slept in and then met Sara, Tom, Leo, and Josey at Gravelly Point, where we watched the planes take off!  Then we headed to my hood for some good gelato at a local joint.  Then we headed back to the house and Rich watched the Cowboys while I studied for my anatomy exam.

Monday, BIG DAY!  Richard has his interview today.  He interview at Raytheon in Falls Church (20 minutes from our apt), he interviewed from 10-2pm, while I was at school.  He then picked me up from school and we came home and I studied for anatomy for a couple of hours, while he napped and we had date night.  We went to La Tasca, a fabulous Spanish restaurant, they have fabulous sangria and food.  We had a great time, then came home and watched OTH, and Friends!  So another thing that happened today, I became class rep.  Essentially I ran for class president like 3 weeks ago and I lost.  Kate won, but due to school and her father's health she felt it was not a good time for her...So NOW I am class pres!  How exciting right?  I got it by default, whatever, I wanted to do it.  I did it in undergrad and I had a great time, so I can do it now!!!!

Tuesday, ANATOMY FINAL!!! (I think it went well) Then I went home , took a nap with Rich, we got up, walked the dog, ate lunch and he took me back to school.  Who ever would have thought such an average day could be so wonderful!!!  Anywya, then Rich took me back to school and I took my practical final!! Which was fabulous, I did very well, and then I went and drank (only 4 glasses of wine) before my tuesday night health policy class!!!

Finally, I just want to say
CONGRATULATIONS TARA AND BEN!!!!!!  I am so excited for you guys!  I can't wait till August 7/14 2010! 

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Week 10- All HELL broke loose


Monday this week started out with a bang when we had an Admin meeting in our nurse anesthesia class and were informed we were all getting our Oral Exam grades revoked for academic misconduct! Really great way to start the week, don't you think? Ok, whatever I just lost my 95, if I made a 95 once and can make it again, right? I hope so, but no it didn't end there, I got dragged right into the middle of the whole stupid thing. We had a class file share that most people recieved the material directly to their inbox (not me though!), and one of our classmates who had to take a medical leave of absence halfway through her first semester last year (meaning she had taken this oral exam previously) apparently posted her exact questions to the file share. Anyway I had to go and have a sit down with my professors and the program director and explain that I never saw these and was not aware of its existence until after the exam, and I still never saw the questions. However, this is not what I got upset about. I am upset because my integrity was questioned because I was nice enough to share my personal study guides (that I spent hours composing) with the rest of the class....

Lessons learned: People Suck!, Don't try to do something nice for other people, they will just throw you under the bus later. People LIE!

Good things that came of this, I realized I have made some really good friends here, both Heyni and Lauren called to disclose information/check on me...

Tuesday, A new day, the sun is shining for the first time in two weeks, maybe this is a good omen. Today is a day of study I have my second biochem exam tomorrow. Angel and I went outside and had a study picnic in the sunshine, which was nice. Then for the big news,

Richard officially has a job interview at Raytheon in DC on November 16th!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, not only do I get to see him before Thanksgiving, but he may get the opportunity to move here! Please,please, please pray for us in this situation, we are really missing each other a lot these days and would be thrilled to be back together.

Moving on, the week got better Wednesday with an A on my biochem exam.  Unfortunately it immediately started sucking again as research started bearing down on my soul.

Thursday, research continued to slowly suck out my soul like a dementor, starting with all happiness....

Friday, research left me a shallow husk of a body, but then I rejuvenated myself with some drinks and sushi at the epicurean before heading to the ICC for the weekend movie.  We saw the Ugly Truth, which was freaking hilarious!  I was expecting a romantic comedy, but it was so much more!

Saturday, was the highlight of my WEEK, I went to the Metropolitan Cooking Show at the DC convention center and saw a live demo by Giada De Laurentis!  Who, in case you don't know, is my ABSOLUTE favorite FN star.  I went with Sara and Nicole and after the show we walked around and enjoyed samples of cake, bread, and everything else people were peddling.  My only purchase of the day was some apple cider spice packets, you put it in some red wine to make spiced wine or in apple juice to make apple cider.  Mmmm, delicious! Then back home for some Anatomy and Research.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Week 9-Happy Halloween


Monday morning started out with the written portion of my anesthesia midterm, followed by 4 miserable hours of anticipation, and then the feared oral exams. This was the first of many oral exams in this program, and we really didn't know what to expect, fortunately it wasn't quite as terrifying as expected. Basically the biggest fear was the unknown, granted the actual exam was no cakewalk! I did feel really good about it leaving though, so that's always nice, especially since I didn't do quite as well as I should have on the written exam... You can't win em all! (No worries, I got a B). As a reward for this experience we went to the on campus bar (which has a really good happy hour, and decent house wines) and had some drinks and discussed our triumphs and failures. When I came home, I decided I deserved more reward so I cooked dinner, and laid on the couch and watched TV for 4 hours and did absolutely NO SCHOOL!!!

Tuesday, brought the return of reality, unfortunately my brain was still checked out, so I just kindof drifted through. On the plus side, after school my friend Adaire and her husband, Will, brought me home and took me to go buy a battery, then we stopped for some delicious pizza at Sette Bello (Al Funghi, I love mushrooms!). Then Will successfully replaced my battery, so my car is up and running again, and I have vowed not to be so stupid in the future!

Wednesday, was a day of recovery! Since the last couple of weeks have been so busy, my house, laundry, errands, etc have been severely neglected, so today I just played catch up with that and with school. Oh! I ended the day with some TACOS, I really miss good mexican, so that's pretty much all I am going to eat when I come home for Christmas. Which by the way, I am coming home on the 15th of December, so lets make plans!!! But I forgot to mention in my post last week that we (me, Rich, and my mom and dad) are going to Mexico for Christmas, so we will be gone December 24th-29th. I am super pumped, we're going to an all-inclusive adults only resort outside Playa, so hopefully it will be super relaxing, because I know I will need it by the time December arrives.

Thursday, I don't really know what I did, except study and watch TV

Friday, last day of the week, I made it through another one, and as a reward I got to have dinner with friends. Nicole had us over for Stroganoff dinner, and Hocus Pocus (the movie). A night of good food, good conversation, and good friends.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Today was halloween, which has always been one of Rich and I's favorite holidays. Unfortunately we had to spend it apart this year, it's also the first time in five years we haven't had our big party. It was very different, but fortunately for me I still managed to have a really good time. Lauren, a friend from school, had a party at her house in Georgetown, where we enjoyed some food, drink, and fun in the form of catchphrase, before heading down to M street. M street was pretty much AMAZING! It was super crowded and the cops were out in full force, but it was some of the best people watching EVER! I really enjoyed seeing everyone in costume, and have the people were drunk and it was extremely amusing. I also conducted my own social experiment where I randomly started singing a song everyone knows and see how many people join in....it was a great time!

Me and Nicole

Garth and Wayne (Lauren, friend from school)

Only at a party with nurses...Drinking I.S.!

Crew from school, Nicole, Jason, Lauren, Me...P.S. I'm gazing lovingly at the skull because I crashed my plane on a desert island and my navigator died first...I was Amelia Earhart

Sunday, study, study, study and meeting the neighbors. My neighbor (who I had never met) down the hall had a post halloween hangover and housewarming party, so I went. I ate some meatloaf and potatoes, met some neighbors, then headed home for some more studying.







Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Job Front


So, most of you probably are not aware of what exactly is going on with Rich and his job search. He is actively looking for a job in DC, and has been for a while. Unfortunately nothing has come up. Then a few weeks ago he randomly applied for a job in Dallas as a program manager, and received a job offer. After having a preliminary discussion with the HR director for this job we were thinking he would accept the job, and just fly to DC every other week. However, once he got the official job offer almost 2 weeks after the verbal offer, the pay scale had been severly altered and was significantly below the low end of fair market value. For us, this was God closing a door, so he turned this job down, and we decided to stick to the DC search.


A week after he turned down the job in Dallas, it seems a window may be opening. Katie, a friend of Rich's at Raytheon in DC, called him to let him know they are unexpectedly loosing someone, and that Richard would be qualified to fill his position. So he sent her his resume, and now we are just waiting for them to close the job posting and schedule the interviews. So at this point we are expecting him to interview in the next 2-3 weeks. If all goes well he could potentially have a job offer by Thanksgiving! So please, please keep us in your prayers!

Week 8-2/3 through Anatomy!

Monday we had our introduction to the anesthesia machine, which is great, it is especially nice to have a break from cadaver lab and blocks!

Tuesday, I had Anatomy round 2 of 3! Had oral exam at 8am followed by a practical exam at 2pm, followed by drinks at the campus bar and finished the day off with my health policy class.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to spend anytime recovering from my anatomy exam, because I had Wednesday to Monday to cram in 2 months of anesthesia work. So this started Wednesday as soon as class was out, and continued thursday (kinda).
Friday and Saturday morning I took a break. Nicole and I went to dinner friday night and went to see the free showing of HP6 on campus. We love HP and didn't want to wait until it's out on video to see it again. Then Saturday (October 24th) was Leo's third birthday and first big birthday party. Sara went all out for Leo's Little Einsteins party, and Leo had a wonderful time. Except for the happy birthday song, he was doing good and had already blown the candles out twice, but then we started singing, and he had a small meltdown (see picture above). I also got to spend some time on baby duty. Josey is getting so big, and is absolutely beautiful. She is such a good girl, she was calm and quiet for the entire birthday and then some. After all Leo's guests left and it was just the family, Leo enjoyed opening his birthday presents. The cutest gift he got was his apron and oven mitts from his grandma.
Then I headed back home for some serious study time...
Sunday, the fun really began. I went to my car to head to my belly dance class and my car battery was dead! Why was it dead? Because overstress from school makes me DUMB + my parking garage is really dark... Seriously, the more I worry about a test the worse I do... Oh well! We will deal with it later because I do not have time, energy, or emotional strength to deal with it today. That will be a lovely thing waiting on me after I finish my oral exams...





Week 7

So this week starts a crazy three week stretch of chaos. In school this week my research group and I formed our problem statement and hypothesis, we will be researching the role of the CRNA in chronic pain management and palliative care. This is a big advancement in my research project, next step is a massive lit review, sounds fun huh?

On wednesday this week Sara and I went to a girls night out event at Constitution Hall in DC. We had a really great time, free drinks, shopping, and girl talk, + free front row parking=winning evening! Also, anything that gets me out of the house on a weeknight is nice.

Then its time to start studying Anatomy! Test two is coming up next tuesday... It was cold and rained all weekend, which was nice because I really didn't want to leave the house all weekend, but on the downside I didn't really want to study either. I wanted to take a nap!

Sunday I started a four week belly dance class at a studio in Clarendon. It was a really fun interactive workout, and we even got a jingly hip scarf to dance with, followed by more studying.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Week 6


Another busy week... Started with Richards visit, and trying to simultaneously get things done and spend time with him. Monday, we got to spend some time with Sara, Tom, and the kiddo's before Rich left.


Tuesday was a rough day for me. It was the hardest day I've had since I've been here, Richard left today, and I don't know exactly when I am going to see him again, probably not until Thanksgiving. That is almost 2 months, which is way longer than the 3.5 week stints we've been doing. So I spent most of the day crying and was really down, it is extremely difficult to say goodbye, especially under these circumstances.


Wednesday was a much better day, I somewhat recovered from the emotional drama of yesterday, and had some time to catch up on my work. In school I feel like I've figured out how I need to study and what I need to do to be successful in class, now it is just a matter of continuing to do it. I have lost a little of the initial back to school steam, and things are starting to drag a bit, fortunately I feel like I am making some friends which makes this much more bearable. The most important thing I've found is that I not get behind, because there is no time to catch up once you're behind. Today we also turned in our research topics, my group has decided to focus on the role of the nurse anesthesthetist outside the OR in various areas of pain management.


Friday, the week is over and I am looking forward to a three day weekend, and I still did biochem work on friday afternoon. Then, Lauren and I went to Cactus Cantina...my first DC mexican, the margaritas gave me a false positive enjoyment. They at least have delicious homemade tortillas, but otherwise the food was extremely bland, and I'm pretty sure my chimichanga was not fried...which makes it a burrito! Then we went and had a good ugly cry watching My Sister's Keeper on campus. On our way home we ran into some drunk undergrads (mind you it is only 1145), peeing in the bushes outside the campus bar, while screaming and running in circles...quite entertaining.


Saturday, study, errands, cooking, studying, Dinner Party! My first dinner guests came over saturday, it was quite successful, we made it through 4+ bottles of wine...which lead to a less than productive Sunday. But it was really wonderful to entertain, first time I have done this since...um... the power outage party in May. Definately a nice end to a stressful week.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Groupon...check it out!

Groupon is a website that offers really great coupons based on collective buying power. They have great deals on food, activities, spa tretments, etc... Each day they post a daily deal, if a set number of people purchase the deal, "the deal is on". There is a Washington DC (for when you come to visit) and a Dallas, and various other big cities. It is really great!!! If you decide to buy a groupon, use my referral link so I get a bonus! Thanks!

Check out Groupon's daily deal - huge discounts on the coolest stuff in your city. http://www.groupon.com/r/uu201110

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Week 5

This week has been one of the busiest thus far. Trying to simultaneously keep up with 5 classes and studying extra for an upcoming exam is an overwhelming feat. I had my first biochem test on wednesday, which was particularly annoying. It was a 20 question test worth 20% of my grade, and 2 of the questions were over material not covered in lecture or our readings. Oh well! Moving on, after the exam we went to Happy Hour at La Tasca for Sangria and Tapas, good therapy after the exam.

Thursday, I tried to get a lot os studying done before Rich's arrival. He made his second visit, and had his second American Airlines catastrophe. His flight was 3.5 hours late leading to a 1:45 am arrival, when I had class at 8am the next morning. On the plus side, I had plenty of time to get some studying done and work on my health policy paper on cost containment in the reform debate.

Friday, Richard got to sleep, while I had to go to class from 8-3, then he picked me up from school and I went home to take a nap before our outing. After I woke up, we headed to Georgetown to meet some friends for dinner, and a Georgetown ghost tour (which was amazing). It was a good show, very entertaining, and ended at the famous exorcism steps (which I go by every day). Then we hit up the Tombs for some drinks before heading home.

Saturday, we just enjoyed being together. We ran errands, stayed home and cooked dinner, went to go see The Hangover (finally).

Sunday, we spent a beautiful sunny day at the zoo. This is a highly reccommended DC adventure in nice weather, the zoo is really very nice. After the zoo we stopped at Medaterra, a Greek restaurant close by with tasty $3 strawberry margs on sundays...Unfortunately Richard's driver's license is expired and they refused to serve him alcohol. He enjoyed watching me drink! Oh well, time to go home and watch the Cowboys! Actually, I wrote that lovely health policy paper I mentioned earlier, while Richard watched the Boys loose. Then we enjoyed a delicious dinner.

See the Tiger in the background...the battery died right after this picture, glad I got it.















Saturday, September 26, 2009

Week 4


This week was definately busier than the last, it started off Sunday with the arrival of my first house guests which was definately exciting. I went and picked Steph and Thane up at Union Station at about 4:30, then we came home walked around the neighborhood, and then enjoyed a nice dinner at the house, then I did some studying while they watched the Cowboys.

Then monday, I had class, but monday evening after Thane and Steph had finished their sight-seeing we went to happy hour at a Tapas place called La Tasca in my neighborhood. It was amazing and I quite possibly have found a new addiction, they had absolutely amazing sangria (one of my favs) in 8 different varieties, and really good happy hour prices!!! So this is what I did the night before my first big graduate level test, I blew off some steam and didn't worry. It was a really great evening.

Tuesday, written exam at 8...easy, followed by lunch with the girls at Chipotle...yummy, cadaver practical at 1...SUCKED, Happy hour at the Tombs...feeling better, class at 5...boring! So the practical was much more difficult than the written (not what I was anticipating), hopefully it will all turn out ok though.

Wednesday, day of recovery! Went to class, came home took a 2 hour nap, bummed around, and then met Steph and Thane at the Kennedy Center for a horrible display of noise they called modern music?!?!? Oh well, it was free and I did get to see the Kennedy Center, which is beautiful. Then we headed to Dupont Circle where we went to Brickskeller's a restaurant with subpar food but an amazing beer menu, 1000 beers, it took us 30 minutes just to make a decision. The beers really were great!

Thursday, more class, Thane and Steph left, and I must succomb to reality and start the biochem study-a-thon (biochem test next wed). BTW I did wonderful on my written Anatomy exam...still awaiting the practical grade.

Friday, long day...Anatomy, Biochem, Lunch, Anatomy Lab, Biochem Review/Cluster ****, Happy Hour again!

Saturday, I hired a dog walker for when I can't make it home to let Angel out...i.e. Tuesdays I'm at school 8am-8:30pm. Then my bed, which I have been waiting on since June, was supposed to be delivered, but they arrived and only had half the bed! WHAT!!! Now we are trying to deal with that drama. Going to spend the rest of the day studying and maybe a Target run!





Week 3

Just another week, mostly consisted of studying, reading, and going to class. I was finding myself a little bored (I have no cable, and everyone else is too busy studying to hang out) so I read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series (3 books), very nice light read. This week also began the first week of test prep, my first exam was a week from Tuesday, so the atmosphere in class has changed a bit. Everyone is bussing about the upcoming exam and what we've heard from the previous class, and what's going to be harder the written or the practical.

I managed to sneak in a little fun as well. Friday night I went out with a few girls from school, we ate at Circa in Dupont Circle, it was good but not great, but when a bottle of wine is involved the food isn't quite as important. Then we went to a bar called Buffalo Billiards and played table top shuffle board, which I suck at, but it was soo much fun. I really enjoyed myself, this is the first time I've really gone out since I moved up here, so it was a welcome distraction.

Then Saturday morning we had a practice Anatomy practical in the cadaver lab, had to be there at 10am, not particularly fun. But the exam was easy, I did very well, so hopefully I don't have to worry too much about Tuesday...we will see.

I am scheduled to get my first visitor's tomorrow! Thane and Steph are coming for a visit, another welcome diversion!
 
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