Day 21: Making the most of it

Today's inane image of the day:

I'm not quite leaving yet... but it's coming too soon!

The problem with flying out to California for a 3-day weekend is that it ends too soon. While I don't technically leave until tomorrow, I basically only have 24 more hours here with Mike before I return home. I feel like it was just last night that I landed here and I have to leave again!

I wish that we had more time together -- it feels good to be back in an old familiar routine [even if it's in a new place] and it definitely doesn't hurt that Mike can help me get through any stressful patches... but the reality of our relationship right now is that we are ~2,000 miles and 3 time zones apart. It's hard not to have the inklings of doubt when you haven't been able to touch your significant other for weeks at a time, but finally having these moments together again reminds you of why you love them.

So I have a confession to make: I've never really learned to cook before. For various reasons, I've never actually had to pick up the craft, so I decided that this weekend would be a good opportunity to try something new. Plus, I requested that Mike make us a pasta dish [it was fabulous!] and I thought it would only be fair if I returned the favor with something edible and hopefully tasty.

What did I end up with?

A scramble with carrots, spinach, sausage, and red onions!

I definitely cannot complain about how it turned out since we enjoyed eating it! Sadly, this now means that I no longer have the excuse of "I don't know how to cook" when Mike asks me to make food for a meal.

Alas, time to crank out [or crank into my head?] some biochemistry!

Day 20: Making this work

Today's inane image of the day:

Even while on "vacation" in California, I need to keep up with studying! At least the sun makes every subject so much brighter and more fun to study [plus, it doesn't hurt to have Mike around to keep me smiling!].

Greetings from the Starbucks in Duarte, California! You didn't think I'd forget about you during my extended weekend, did you?

Yesterday flew by in a dizzying haze. I woke up slightly earlier than normal to ensure that I could leave early enough to get a prime parking spot near O'Dowd [since the rest of Oakland University started classes on Thursday, we haven't had a problem with parking... but Dr. Sabina warned us about how it can get frightening to fight for a spot during the first couple of weeks when students still attend class] and to give myself some time to review the various biological tools of molecular biology [e.g., Northern/Southern/Western blots, PCR, gel electrophoresis, etc] that our TBL was on. One of my classmates' wife baked us a billion cookies, which was a pleasant and much needed treat [more reasons to love my peers... and their significant others!].

The TBL was... what I expected. The questions in the IRAT were definitely more clinically-oriented and not just, "What does a Northern blot do?" While I cannot say I am thrilled with my performance on the IRAT, I did well enough. Plus, our group did fantastic on the GRAT... which made up for our poor performance on the application exercise portion. Although I hate to admit it, I'm starting to understand the reasoning that pass = MD. Plus, the TBLs aren't worth a huge portion of our BFCP grade, so I'll just see this as a learning experience and make sure to improve next time.

After the TBL was over, I hurried home to take care of last minute packing and eat a quick lunch before heading to the airport for my flight to LAX. Happily, there wasn't much of a line at security, I had an exit row seat on the plane and I purchased internet on the plane so I was able to at least start a to do list. By the time I made it to Duarte last night, it was already somewhere around midnight EST [which is so late for me now!].

Although I'm happy to be with Mike, it has been hard trying to balance my study needs with wanting to spend every waking moment in his presence. I was slightly distraught earlier because I felt like I had wasted the day away, but I think I just need to keep reminding myself that by taking things one small step at a time, I can get a lot done.

We have a reflective writing assignment due on Monday and our first exam is a week from then. To say that I'm slightly stressed is an understatement, but generating unnecessary cortisol never did anyone any good. With that, I need to get back to biochemistry...

I hope you're having a fabulous long weekend!

Roadtrip update: from Duarte, CA

Today's inane image of the day:

We had a fireplace in our room at the Colony Palms Hotel.

It's sad that I have a fear of fire because just looking at a fireplace really has a calming effect on me. There was this cute little fireplace in our room as well as a cozy sitting area near a fireplace to dry off from the pool -- both of which were really relaxing to sit in front of. Mmm, I'm already missing my resort time!

Currently I'm sitting in Mike's new apartment in Duarte, California [the city is about 15 minutes from Pasadena]. Sadly, this is my last full day here [CA weather has not disappointed and neither has spending endless hours with Mike] so we've planned an adventure out to see the blocky Hollywood letters [I'm a tourist... what can I say?!] then to relax and walk around in Beverly Hills. I'll be back to visit Mike during the Labor Day weekend, so hopefully I'll get to slowly chip away at seeing various sites in L.A. during my future visits [and maybe even spotting my favorite reality TV star, Lauren Conrad].

In the meantime, I feel like there's a huge dark cloud of tasks that I need to complete before starting orientation on Monday [I seriously cannot believe that I'm only 5 days away from being a real medical student!]. Unfortunately, my vaccination forms are taking longer than they should to complete and I've been neglecting the various tasks that I had planned to do during trip downtime [finishing my lab data analysis, making a lab presentation, looking into the Anatomy primer, doing the online orientation, filling out various other forms... the list goes on!]. Hopefully when I return tomorrow, I'll be ridiculously efficient with my time and get a ton of things done.

Anyway, time to get moving -- Mike's making us a tasty breakfast of french toast and eggs... mmm I'm excited.