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!

Week 2-Enjoy!

I have sucessfully made it through week 2 of CRNA school, and I haven't drowned yet. This week resembled a real week in the life of me, more so than last week even though is was slightly abbreviated due to labor day. I have officially been introduced to all of my courses. Tuesday was nice, it felt routine already, another day of anatomy and cadaver lab. The exception came around 5 o'clock when I had my first Health Policy class, a 3 hour long weekly class. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, the professor is quite animated and seems excited to be teaching the course, unfortunately he prefaced the class by telling us not to expect an A and as long as we show up and do the assignments we will get a B...not sure how to take that. Wednesday however greeted me with a double serving of biochem with a research intro inbetween, sounds stellar huh? I thought I felt overwhelmed after that, but then I came home made some clarifications, and guess what? I actually understood a good deal of lecture, he wasn't speaking a foreign language after all. Thursday, anatomy again... Friday,rainy walk, wet jeans, and squishy shoes followed by Anatomy-Biochem-Anatomy Lab, from 8:30 to 3:00, I know doesn't seem like much to those of you out there working 12 hour shifts, but my brain felt like scrambled eggs.

So I came home, and swore off school for the evening. I went shopping, in search of some flat brown boots and some more comfy shoes that are not tennis shoes. This has been my big conundrum with my new lifestyle, no appropriate shoes! Tennis shoes are fine for jeans and a t-shirt or scrubs, but with skinny jeans? I DON'T think so! Thus far I have worn the same pair of shoes every single day, some zebra flats from Target that are super comfy. But who wants to wear the same pair of shoes everyday? NOT ME!!!! So after 4 hours and 6 stores I came up with one additional pair of shoes, the same flats in black instead of zebra from target! So, less than fruitful but at least I wasn't studying. Oh well, by the end of the day I had bought some boots on overstock, we'll see how that goes!

I also came to some major fashion revelations that I am happy to share with the rest of the world. A. Rain boots actually do have a purpose! If you walk everywhere and it's raining you will be wet up to your thighs without them. B. Jeans in the boots vs out is more than just a fashion statement or fad, it is PRACTICAL! Who wants to walk around in the rain, snow, and much with there jeans dragging through it, its definately more than fashion, it is protecton and comfort!

Overall, school is tough, it's a lot of work, but if you diligently stay on it day by day it seems totally manageable at this point. We'll see how it goes when you throw a test or a major paper in the mix though..

Then Saturday I had my first outing with new friends, which I am very excited about. Me and three other girls went out to dinner, drinks, and gelato, my top 3 favorite things. It was excellent to have some social interaction and start getting to know people. I also found the greatest website in the world, Urbandrinks.com It is a day by day blow by blow of area happy hours, and it works for Dallas too!

Oh! The other big event at school this week was the formation of my research group, which I have been really stressed out about. In my program, I do not do a thesis, I will do a group research study with two other people, and we will be continuously working on it for the duration of our schooling, and we have to pick groups by next week. Fortunately thursday my single became a pair and friday my pair became a trio...done and done. Now we just have to figure out what we want to research... Is nothing an option?

Richard's First Visit

Friday night around 10pm Richard arrived to DCA where I picked him up...approx a 7 minute drive without traffic. It was so good to see him I immediately started crying, but once we got past the tears we headed to the car where he was joyously greeted by Angel. Then home for the big tour. I really enjoyed getting to show him around the apartment, I've spent the last 3.5 weeks telling him about it and explaining things and finally he got to see it all.

Saturday, we started our day with an introduction to the neighborhood and a walk through the farmer's market before heading over to Georgetown (not the school) to do a little shopping. Then we prepared for our evening, since Rich didn't make it in on Friday night we had to move our big family dinner to Saturday. So, Sara, Tom, Leo, Josey and Maria came over for dinner. This was Richard's first time to meet Josephine.

Sunday, we went to lunch at Cafe Asia, a trendy sushi/Japanese restaurant in the area, followed by a trip to the American History museum. After the museum we headed home and packed a picnic for the evening's big event, the National Symphony Orchestra concert on the west lawn of the Capital. The concert was scheduled to begin at 8:00pm so we arrived about 6:30 and laid out our blankets and pillows to relax before the show. I did some studying and Rich read some Harry Potter or HP as he likes to call it, then we had our picnic dinner a little after 7. As our dinner was drawing to a close it began to sprinkle, then as we contemplated what to do and packed up our food, it began to rain, and as we headed under a tree for some shelter it began to pour. It came down furiously for about 10-15 minutes while we cowered under the tree waiting for them to make an announcement, which they did not, then after the rain stopped people slowly trickled back to the lawn to re-stake their spots. So at 8pm the show started, and it was wonderful, they played for about 50minutes before declaring it time for intermission. No sooner had the conductor said the word intermission than the skies opened with another torrent of rain, this time we grabbed our blanket threw it over our heads and RAN for the metro. Who knows if they even finished the concert...

Monday, we laid around on the couch watching movies, reading, and studying before going out to Sara and Tom's for Richard's birthday dinner, where he was honored with a delicious meal and boston cream pie.

Tuesday, Richard is 28 today!!! Although he doesn't want to be... I had school this morning but we got to spend some time together in the afternoon before he left. Saying goodbye was difficult, almost as difficult as it was when I left Texas. I miss him a lot and I didn't really realize how much until he was here with me. Luckily, we get to see each other again in 3.5 weeks!

Week One

So I have officially been in school for one week, and I want to record how I'm feeling so I can look back in two years and see where I've come from. First, I feel like they have really eased us into things, only 2 of my 5 classes started the first week (granted they are 2 of the toughest 3). So I feel like I've been able to redevelop some study habits without falling behind d/t the strenuous schedule. On the other hand, I feel like they could have made the first week much easier if they had better prepared us over the summer for the housekeeping tasks. They did not give us a very clear picture of what to expect, or a very clear book list, or a list of all the things that would need to be done during the first week of school.

I started my Anatomy class and my anesthesia class this week. Anatomy is already intense, I have class for 1.5 hours 3 days a week and cadaver lab 2 hours 3 days a week, plus the hours spent outside class relistening to lecture and memorizing the ridiculous quantity of stuctures in the human body. But I feel pretty sure there is no better way to learn anatomy than to have cadaver lab and a real human skeleton at home to study with, so I feel extremely grateful for this. Then in my anesthesia class we had intubation lab on day 1, so that's pretty exciting to actually get to start practicing technical skills so early. So school has been great thus far, but ask me again next week after we pile on Biochem, research, and health policy...

The other big challenge for me this week was figuring out the public transportation and what combination works best to get me to and from campus. Fortunately the school shuttle (GUTS) bus has an Arlington loop that picks up a block from my apt, and is a 3 minute walk. From this stop to school is 8-10 minutes, and then another 8-10 minute walk up a HUGE hill to St Mary's (the nursing building). So best case scenario it takes 19 minutes to get to school, not bad.

It's been a really satisfying week for me in school, but at home it was a little sad. My mom left on wednesday after being here with me for 3 weeks, so I spent my first night truly by myself wednesday night. I miss having someone around, but I sure have a lot of time to study (or blog...should be studying). The good thing is that I am finally starting to get into a grove, but did I mention how insanely sore I am from walking all over the place up and down hills? I have been walking somewhere between 1-3 miles a day, depending on the situation, and there are no flat areas...I look at it as a good way to get my heart pumping and to get exercise while accomplishing a goal.

Now, I am awaiting Richard's arrival. He was supposed to get here around 5 o'clock, but his flight was cancelled and he did not leave Dallas until 6 o'clock. He is due to arrive at 10pm, so now I'm heading off to the airport! I am so excited!

First Day of School

Today was my first day of CRNA school. We had orientation today and a good opportunity to start getting to know my fellow classmates. After orientation we went out for happy hour to Mai Tai in Dupont. It was definitely a nice day, which is good considering it was probably the last truly free day for the next 2.5 years. I really cannot believe this day has finally arrived, when I got accepted it sure seemed like a long time away.
One of the events at orientation was an advice session from the class ahead of us. I am going to share a statement made by one of the students so hopefully you will all understand when I don’t keep in touch as well as expected. She said to tell your friends and family “I love you, but I’ll see you 2.5 years.” Although the demands have not started yet, I know they are coming and soon, but please help me keep in touch. I love you all and miss you!!!