Sarah goes to Deutschland

I'm alive!

2010-01-19T21:17:00.003-06:00

WOW! It has been a LONG time since I last posted! I'm an MS3 now! I've survived step 1! I've even survived my surgery rotation! And I'm married!

I figure no one reads this but me, but I read a few old posts and thought wow! I didn't remember that! So maybe it turns out this is a good way to remember how exactly I felt during medical school.

So far I've finished my neurology rotation, family medicine, pediatrics, surgery, and right now i'm in my first of three months of internal medicine. Neurology was fun, I enjoyed out patient pedi and especially the mito clinic with Dr. Koenig. All the genetics is really interesting. And some of the biochem is interesting too :) Family medicine was bearable only because of the few children I saw. Also my 2nd attending was sick for about a week. Woo study time! Pedi was a really great rotation. I really enjoyed working with the kids and it was hard being done, knowing I had nothing else to look forward too. Surgery was surprisingly fun. Never want to do it again, but I'm glad I did it. My attending at Hermann is being deployed again to Afghanistan, and I wish him all the luck, all the protection, and all the power of healing I can. He is doing God's work taking care of those soldiers (whether he knows it or not). I also learned I cannot deal with open, infected, malodorous wounds, as evidenced by my excellent vasovagal response. And the knot on my head (no worries, it is gone now).

Surgery was also a good rotation because it opened me up to a specialty I never thought I'd want to do.... radiology. I've always enjoyed looking at imaging, I'm a very visual person. But on neurosurgery, we had a neuroimaging conference, and I was awestruck. The radiologist was able to diagnose the tumor just with imaging!!!!! IMAGING! PICTURES! TECHNOLOGY! All without having to cut into the patient once. Also it helps that MRIs of the brain are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. So now I am seriously contemplating pursuing radiology for my career. Wow, who would have thought! I was supposed to meet with the residency program director today to talk about if I'm even competitive for such a specialty, but real life intervened and she was needed to keep reading in the chest room. Hopefully I'll get to meet with her soon. It is really hard to give up the idea of being a pediatrician since I've wanted to do it for so long, but I've realized just because something is comfortable doesn't mean it is the best thing. I like it fine, but do I LOVE it? I don't know. Talking with patients all day makes me really emotionally exhausted, and I don't know if I want to come home to my family every day not having any energy to give them. Family is important too. Cause I'm married! wooo! But we still don't live together. Freaking post office not letting people transfer into Houston. But oh well, we survive and move on. We will be together one day.

So....if anyone out there is reading this, let me know what you think about radiology! Woooooo!!!!

Lies! All Lies!

2008-01-27T12:21:00.000-06:00

Funny story. I guess you can believe some of the things you see on TV.

Your tongue will stick

Chesterton -- Two fourth-grade boys mimicking a scene from the movie "A Christmas Story" wound up with their tongues stuck for a while to a frozen flagpole in bitterly cold weather Friday morning.

Gavin Dempsey and James Alexander were serving on flag duty at Jackson Elementary School and decided to see whether their tongues really would stick to the cold metal.

"I decided to try it because I thought all of the TV shows were lies, but turns out I was wrong," said Gavin, who celebrated his 10th birthday Friday.

--- Star news services

New Study Just In!

2008-01-16T22:56:00.000-06:00

A non-randomized study with sample size N=1 has shown that it takes two days for jalapeño juice to leave the hands enough to prevent extreme stinging and burning pain when removing contact lenses, even with numerous hand-washing attempts. Researchers say that extreme caution must be taken when cutting up jalapeños for a cuban style black bean soup.

Critics say that all the blame should not be placed on the jalapeños because the study also included cutting large amounts of onion.

Hopefully, a second study will not be undertaken.

I had to be silly for a while. But I really did this. I made soup, cut up onions and jalapeños and that night, even after much handwashing, when I went to take my contacts out I felt EXTREME pain in my eye. Luckily it only lasted a few seconds. And the next night. SAME THING! But tonight it was all better. Thank goodness.

Here!

2008-01-12T23:14:00.000-06:00

I'm alive. I really do care. I'm sorry I don't write. But I'm the only one that reads so it really isn't a problem :)

I survived the 2.5 weeks of exams. It all went well. YAY for being done. My break was great. Well except for losing the Alamo Bowl, but I really didn't have anything to do with that. I went to Sea World and saw the Belugas. They are cute. And squishy. And they have a melon. Who knew.

I also got and AMAZING Kitchenaid stand mixer.
It is GREEEEEENNN. Greener than the pic. I LOVE IT. and I got a kick bootie food processor from my step mom for my birthday, and today I just went shopping and got a rolling kitchen island storage thingie and this duvet cover that I've really wanted from Ikea. So everything from break up until this point has been great! YAY! And I really don't mind being back in school. I seem to like this learning thing :)

Done and done!

2007-12-21T18:25:00.000-06:00

I FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm now an MS 1.5. WHOOP! freakin freakin WHOOP! If I could put how excited I was this afternoon into words I would. But I can't. Just know I was practically jumping out of my skin afterwards! YAY YAY YAY!

Oh, and I'd really like to say thank you to all the family and friends that came to serve us stressed out students at Burn Out dinners. It was incredibly sweet and generous of all of you that came, and all of you that donated. We med students REALLY appreciate it! This is just another one of the reasons that I love this family atmosphere at UTH. WHOOP!

Thanks and gig 'em.

(but not thanks for scheduling classes to start at EIGHT AM on th 7th. Yeah... they last til 5pm too. HISS!!!)

2007-12-18T00:09:00.000-06:00

it would only be better if he was petting a puppy :)

I iz coledge edgucated

2007-11-25T22:56:00.000-06:00

who would've thought???

Funny Things

2007-11-25T17:39:00.001-06:00

Two funny things I thought of/said today

Expiration can mean exhaling, but it is also a term used to say someone has passed away.
I'm working on a review for class, and the questions is what causes splitting of S2 (a heart sound) and what makes it go away. Inspiration causes it, and expiration makes it go away. HAHAHAH of course expiration makes it go away because if you're dead you have no heart beat!

Also, I discussed beatin' the hell outta t.u. with my dad and I said that if my future children went to t.u., I would be sad but I could live with it. But if my kids went to tortilla tech I'd wonder where I went wrong raising them and I questions if they could even be mine. So we came up with this.....

If my kid went to t.u. I'd be upset, but if my kid went to tech I'd get a DNA test.

AHHHH funnyness

AGS WIN!!!!

2007-11-24T15:21:00.001-06:00

Aggies: 38
t.u.: 30

Not as easy to inset into casual conversation as 12-7 ("Hey what time is it?" "Oh... about 12 to 7" "Hey, what time is the movie?" "It starts at about 6:48, you know, 12 to 7." "What time do you want to meet for dinner?" "hmmm its 6:30 now, so lets meed at about 12 to 7"), but we'll deal :) I'll just relate the score to baking.

"how long do I need to put the cookies in for?" "hmmm, 38 to 30 minutes should do the trick!"

"Beat eggs for 38 to 30 seconds at a time"

"How many strawberies in the pie?" "oh I'm not sure, something like 38 to 30"

"How many inches of rain have you gotten in Houston today?" "about 30 to 38 inches" (well it feels like it has rained that much today!)

So WHOOP Aggies!!! We BTHO t.u.!

And Fran is gone! Double WHOOP!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2007-11-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

YAY Thanksgiving! Here is a quick rundown of things I'm thankful for (funny and serious) (and in no particular order)

Lotion Kleenex
Family (they're really there for you when you most need them!)
Amazing medical school friends
Incredible tank mates (and a great body!)
The willed body donor that has given me an incredible introduction to the human body
My wonderful boyfriend
Sunday night home cooked dinner at my aunt and uncle's
Good pens
baking
Amazing friends
Aggieland (I never thought I'd miss it so much!)

And that's all I can think of now. I'm really grateful for all of the amazing things, events, and people in my life. Thank you all for putting up with me

When does it feel real?

2007-11-13T23:02:00.002-06:00

So I still surf around SDN because I am curious how med school interview process goes for the future generations (or something like that). Now that November 15th is approaching (the first day for pre-match offers), I think it is so neat how excited everyone is that their life could really change with one email. And people seem to really talk like their life is going to change forever. And believe me, it does change, but what I want to know is, when am I really going to feel like I'm going to be a doctor?

Every day pretty much I can hardly believe I'm in REAL medical school. I guess some of it is because I didn't take time off (and I'm glad I didn't), but every once in a while I go holy cow, I'm really going to be a doctor. A real doctor. A doctor that sees real patients. Human patients. Is there a point when I'm actually going to feel like a doctor though? Or at least like I'm really becoming a doctor. (it is WAY to early to feel the slightest bit competent). I guess it is just one of those gradual transitions where one day I'll go, hmmm guess I'm becoming a real doctor.

Maybe its time I go do some shadowing. I think I'll need to go over my ICM stuff so I might have a clue as to how I should interact with patients......that will have to wait until Thanksgiving.

Tours

2007-11-11T22:16:00.001-06:00

I love giving tours to the interviewees. It really is a lot of fun. My biggest worry is being so excited about school that I scare them away. But I really do love being at UT-H. Even if I am constantly harassed that now I'm a tea-sip errrr... longhorn (for the record, I'm not. I'll always be an Aggie. WHOOP!) And giving the tours gives me the availability to go see the cool things on the tour, like the helipad and heart surgery. YAY cool surgeries (though I am sorry that anyone is ever in the position to have to have the surgery. But since they need it, I may as well watch it).

And here is the cool pic I took during the tour (it was the first time I've seen the life flight helicopter!). And if you're reading thing and you're gonna interview at UT Houston, let me know and I'll try to give your tour!

LOVE IT!!

2007-11-10T13:23:00.001-06:00

I'm alive. Here are some funny pictures I found (click on them to see the whole thing)

Do It!

2007-10-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Go click! Everyday! Plus they have sites for child literacy, child hunger, saving pets, so just go and click!

Seriously?!

2007-10-16T08:49:00.000-05:00

In reference to the Dalai Lama getting the Congressional Gold Medal......

"We are furious," Tibet's Communist Party boss, Zhang Qingli, told reporters. "If the Dalai Lama can receive such an award, there must be no justice or good people in the world."

Talk about over exaggerating. NO justice, OR good people? Seriously? The DALAI LAMA is THAT bad? Seriously? This would be a really good topic for Seth and Amy's REALLY??? segment on snl.

Whoop!!!

2007-10-12T07:45:00.000-05:00

Al Gore won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. That is freaking awesome.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/

Careful......

2007-09-28T19:43:00.000-05:00

Your head might explode with cuteness

2007-09-18T16:20:00.001-05:00

Just another reason you shouldn't do meth.

Too cute!!!!

2007-09-17T22:47:00.000-05:00

These were so cute I had to post them. SO CUTE!
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Open Letter

2007-09-12T18:16:00.000-05:00

This is to the people one over upstairs from me

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't leave your little Beagle-y type dog out on your porch for such a long time. If you didn't notice, it barks, a lot, at everything. It is very cute, and I appreciate doggie cuteness, but sometimes I need to study. And that dog needs to come inside. Don't you know Humberto is on his way? Humberto is the reason I am at home studying being disturbed by your otherwise pleasant bark machine (they had to close the submarine doors at school! No gross lab for me!). So please, be kind, don't leave your dog on the porch for so long. There isn't anything for the poor puppy to do out there anyway. Except bark. A lot.

Quick thought

2007-09-08T01:31:00.000-05:00

I guess this is just the kind of thing that pops into your head at 1:30 in the morning while you're mulling over how your day went. So here's the thought/suggestion for all standardized patients (though I think they should be called differentalized patients because they are far from the same), or really anyone who goes into a situation where someone could possibly be using a stethoscope.

Don't talk to me while I have my stethoscope in my ears. I can't hear you. Unless I'm looking at your mouth or listening to your chest, or you have the diaphragm of the stethoscope in front of your mouth, I won't have any idea you're even talking. I mean my ears are plugged up. That's all I'm saying. Just a heads up so no one will say anything important during the critical time of no hearing.

My first three weeks

2007-09-07T15:58:00.000-05:00

I've survived it. The first three weeks. I'm done. Here's kind of how it went. Excitement, fear, tears, fear, tears, fear, tears, tears, tears, and finally today, excitement again. It has definitely been stressful, but med school is definitely doable. As is gross anatomy. Sorry I haven't posted much but that gives you an idea of the time I have. Anyone who really reads this blog knows me and I call anyway I guess :) Here's what I think of classes so far:

Histology: I'm a little scared of the course director, but I am sure he's a nice guy at heart. Lab just isn't worth going to because you are tested on images from books and websites, not from what you do in the actual lab. My time is better spent looking at images I might actually be tested over. Class is pretty straightforward, I just need to read.

Gross Anatomy: This is the one class that can make me feel like a total idiot and a complete genius. (ok not genius, but at least I feel like I might know something). I can't go to lecture because they go so fast I end up in a panic and I cry because I feel like there is no way I can ever learn it all. So I just stay home and study and I think I've been doing pretty good so far. I did get 12/20 on the practice practical! (sounds bad but it really isn't!) We did have a really good lecture today. Dr. Zhang is absolutely amazing. I want to kidnap him and run away to a desert island and have him talk anatomy to me all day long. Just amazing. (note: I do not literally want to kidnap him, its just a figure of speech because he is so cool I'd like to spend a lot of time with him.)

Biochemistry: This class should be a pre-requisite for medical school. It just should be. What we are going over right now feels SO basic to me. I mean we went over DNA replication today. DNA REPLICATION!!!!!! But the tests are tricky so I'm really glad I have the background already. So if you're pre med and reading this TAKE A SEMESTER OF BIOCHEM. You'll thank me later :)

Developmental Anatomy: It's all about babies. and moms. That is exactly what Dr. Rogers will tell you. And it is. I love it so far. Babies babies babies. What could make me happier? Real life babies. That's about it.

Intro to Clinical Medicine: I loves our course director. She is AH-mazing. But we do this standardized patient thing, which I did today, and it was SO AWKWARD!!! How come if these people are supposed to be standardized, they all act differently?!!??!?!? I guess I just like concrete things like do this, say this, this is how it should be done. Which I would have prepped for if I hadn't been told "oh don't worry! go in there, introduce yourself, and the standardized patient will lead you through it to teach you." Yeah that isn't how it happened. I introduced myself and he said "ok, go" UH it just felt awkward!!!!!! It probably wasn't so bad, but here is what it came down to. Don't put your hands in your pockets, you look casual, and welcome to adult hood. You are Student Doctor Sarah Lastname. I guess I am an adult, but I'm also just a 22 year old medical student!!!!! I can hardly take care of myself!!!!!! (ok, I actually do ok taking care of myself, but I'm just not a cleaner)

So that's pretty much how its going. I love UT Houston. It is amazing. But it is still hard. But I can do it. YEA ME!!!!

Ford The River!!!

2007-08-16T22:37:00.001-05:00

Well today was my first real Houstonian experience. Tropical storm Erin (insert menacing music here) hit Houston hard. Specifically the part of Houston I needed to get around, you know, like to my CONDO!! Where I LIVE!!! My family had come down for my white coat ceremony (more on that later), and my dad and I were trying to get back to my place from Ikea (where I bought a very difficult to put together bookcase. Again, more on that later) and EVERY road to my condo was flooded. Luckily my dad has a Honda Pilot and I did probably the most badass thing I've done in a while. The road where we were was to0 flooded to go through and we were on a one way side of the light rail. So we hopped the curb, crossed over the rail lines, and got back on the other side to head back. It was super cool. I could never do that in my little sports car. I now want an SUV. I NEED and SUV. I NEED TO FORD THE RIVER DAMMIT!

Ok and now the scary. The rain had let up, we ate lunch, water had receded pretty much everywhere, except the way I chose to try to get back to the condo! My car is small, and cute, and the check engine light used to come on anytime I even thought about going through a puddle. There really wasn't room to turn around so I called my dad (who was right behind me) and since I saw another car get through, we decided to FORD THE RIVER!!! It was the scariest thing I've done in a long time. I just tried to keep going. If there is a strategy to getting through water, PLEASE tell me. Here was mine. PRAY! And just keep going. My instinct was totally to ease up on the gas but I just thought, if my wheels keep spinning, maybe they'll work like propellers and get me through. I just prayed and prayed and the water was all splashing up on my hood!!! I thought I was going to die! (ok not die, the water wasn't moving, my family was behind me in their car, but still!) It is seriously God that got me through. I cried. Just a little. It was scary and I lived. It felt good. I like living, and I like my condo. :) And I like Oregon Trail if you didn't notice. Here's a pic of the bayou by my place. (Ok it is the Bayou, but not exactly where I live, and it isn't from today, but I SWEAR it looked like this, but with lots of rushing water)

Now to the white coat ceremony! YAY!!! It was really exciting and very nice. I think mine fits funny but that is ok. It was really feel good, we got to sign the student honor code thing and we took the Hippocratic Oath (modified, but still super awesome since physicians for over 2000 years have been saying it). I think people sign things and take oaths lightly now, but an oath is really really serious and when you violate it, it really puts a mark on your honor as a person. And THAT is a big deal. :) At least to me.

Ok that's all for now. Retreat is tomorrow and I have to get to bed so that I can wake up and finish packing, and get there in time so that they don't leave me!

The end is near!

2007-08-11T12:37:00.000-05:00

So my countdown to medical school is getting quite low. I can't believe it is almost here!

My friends Laura and Nathan came down Tuesday and we went to Galveston Wednesday. YAY Galveston! We had a lot of fun going to Schlitterbahn and to the beach, even if gulf water is salty and itchy. I had cut my elbow at Schlitterbahn so I had to keep it out of the icky flesh eating bacteria infested water. But it was still fun. And I have a little color on my skin before I begin my hermit days of studying indoors.

And, one of the most exciting things, I picked up my white coat!!!!!!! It is so pretty! And it fits just fine too. Unlike my scrubs I ordered. The bottoms are fine but the tops are HUGE! Why oh why am I two different sizes?

Oh yeah, I also got my syllabi for my classes. CRAZY!! A med school syllabus isn't just the intro to the class, it is all the notes for the whole block, semester, whatever. So it is pretty much a book. But much cheaper than any textbook. I took them in to get them bound so I'll post the number of pages when I get them back.

I've got to finish painting the cabinets so I'm off again. I swear I'll write more regularly.

I have internet!

2007-08-02T16:30:00.001-05:00

Thank you Jesus! I can finally get online without having to travel to some coffee/tea place for free internet!

So in short, here's what's going on so far:
Back in Houston from home home
Bedroom painted (light green)
Kitchen painted (red)
Condo getting semi-organized
Diploma hung (it looks so good! YAY Benjamin Knox!)
Foundation Honors certificate hung (also bueno! YAY)
Going out to eat with Aunt and everyone else
Going out Friday with UTH people
Going to Lowe's Monday with Jenny for the BIG TRIP with the 10% off coupon

I'm going to start working on the kitchen cabinets soon so that I can do them over several days since they will be a pain in the butt. I will be using Sherwin Williams paint though, which will make is one million times better. I make the mistake of using another brand *gasp* of paint because the color was sooooo cool for the kitchen, and I was kicking myself the whole time. It didn't go on evenly, I had to double coat, it still shows some brush strokes, and mostly it was a pain to do! As opposed to painting my bedroom which was a WONDERFUL experience (as wonderful as painting can be). The paint went on well, covered the dark yellowbrowngreen color, didn't show any brush strokes or roller spots, and it only needed ONE coat. YAY.

Now if I could only get my hair to cooperate, then I'd be in business. Tips for dealing with curly hair in this extreme humidity are welcome.

Long time no c!

2007-07-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been gone, but we got the CONDO!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Boy was it a TON of work. I'll have to blog about it later. But to sum part of it up, here is my idea.
Make a website where people can list and buy real estate without meddling realtor's to cause problems. I want to call it common sense realty. It will cut all the BS out. When doing the deal comes down to me calling the seller (since my agent can't talk to her, and I can't talk to her agent), why the HECK do I have a realtor anyway?!?!?! If you have the time to steal my idea, just clue me in so I can get some credit. People without common sense will not be allowed. I'll give the tests myself if I have to. I'm at the point where we should forget medical reform, we need realty reform. CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMAN!!! (Funny how that works for BOTH problems!).

But what it boils down to is that we have our condo, and I LOVE it. I love the appliances, I love the floor, I love the location, I love pressing the button to open the gate to let me in the complex, and I love driving around the area to figure things out. YAY Houston!

Here's a lit of what I've done and what I need to do:
Done:
Scrubbed tile and bleached grout in kitchen
Unpacked all boxes
Bought sheets for sleeper sofa
Bought coffee table from Ikea
Bought drapes for bedroom (maroon and cute!)
Chose colors to paint kitchen, cabinets, and bedroom
Put shade sconce thingies on lights above sink in bathroom

Need to do:
Rekey the locks
Paint kitchen
Paint cabinets
Paint bedroom
Paint bathroom
Put coffee table from Ikea together
Mail in change of address form
Put insulation around freon line (strange I know)
Organize desk
Set up cable internet

That's all I can think of for now. YAY condo!

TeeHeeHee

2007-07-10T23:10:00.000-05:00

Since I just posted about Wimbledon, I thought I would put this pic up. If you didn't hear, there was a lot of rain over there so they had to keep closing the courts and delaying the games. I guess this pic happened while they were leaving the court when rain started coming down. (or maybe they saw lightning. Either way they had to close the court and that is the premise of this pic)

Hey, don't you guys love tennis? (from CollegeHumor)

GO Team!

2007-07-07T16:29:00.000-05:00

I've been watching Wimbledon pretty much this whole week, mostly because it is what has been on ALL DAY, but I really enjoy watching tennis so that is ok. I love it because they are so proper at Wimbledon. It isn't the women's and men's tennis matches, it is the ladies and gentleman's games. So cute! And their British accents calling the game. I love it. And I love that Venus Williams won. YAY AMERICA! I'll be watching tomorrow to see who wins the Gentlemen's final. I think I'm rooting for Roger Federer because geeze, he could be the greatest player EVER!!! And it would let him have won it for 5 straight years and that is cool. Plus I wanted Andy Roddick to win and since he can't, Federer may as well. Though Nadal is good, and young, and it would be cool for him to win. (even thought I totally think Djokovic could have beat him if his poor food hadn't gotten all infected and nasty).

And in another victory for America, we took back the hotdog eating championship. YAY AMERICA!

Sad little Birdie

2007-07-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

It has been raining. A LOT. It has been raining so much I've been trying to find out who is building the ark in our area. It is ridiculous. Unfortunately, a little birdie in my backyard has become a casualty of the incessant rain. Here is this little birdie's story.

The boyfriend and I let the dog out to potty. When Bella got done, she came back on the porch and started sniffing something. At first we thought it was just another bug that she wanted to play with. (and by play I mean paw to death, accidentally of course). I told her to leave it and to come in when I realized it wasn't a bug, it was a baby bird! I felt really bad that it was outside all alone in the wetness so we brought out a towel to try to give it some bedding and we put out some bread so that it could eat.

The next day we kept checking on it to make sure the dog didn't step on it or eat it, and as it tried to dry out, the boyfriend finally tried to poke it and that made it fly away. HELLO BIRDIE!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE FLOWN AWAY LIKE YESTERDAY! Well birdie ended up on the roof. And what happened that evening. It rained. A LOT. Birdie fell/slid of the roof. We found her and I knew it didn't look good. The boyfriend thought we could get it to eat and get its strength up, but I really doubted it. I just couldn't let the birdie be outside in the cold, alone, to die. So we brought Birdie in and put her in a box with a bottle cap of very wet bread and a paper towel and put her in the garage.

In the morning I went to check on Birdie, and sadly she (he?) didn't make it through the night. I put her outside and when the boyfriend got home, he took care of it. (In my mind the birdie is buried next to this Christmasy tree in the backyard). I hope you were at least warm little birdie.

Oh and did I mention. I HATE BIRDS!! They are annoying, they make a lot of noise, the poop/pee EVERYWHERE (they actually don't pee, they excrete a non water soluble uric acid along with other solidish waste, which is different that the water soluble true pee urea that people let out), and I generally dislike them. A lot. GAH! But I am a sucker. And it was a baby. And it was alone (no mommy ever came for it, I watched) wet, cold, and hungry.

And have a fabulous 4th of July. God bless America. WHOOP!

Procrastinating Sleep

2007-06-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

Silly I know, but this seems like fun :)

What Your Favorite Color Green Says About You:

Balanced --- Relaxed --- Flexible
Compassionate --- Philosophical --- Humble
Loyal --- Inventive --- Unique

What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

You Would Be a Pet Dog

You're friendly, loyal, and an all around good sport. People love to be near you.
You are very open with your feelings, and you're quite vocal in expressing them.
You are sincere and kind. You love many people - without any sort of agenda.

Why you would make a great pet: You're content to chill out with your friends

Why you would make a bad pet: You always find yourself getting into trouble

What you would love about being a dog: Running around and playing

What you would hate about being a dog: Being left home alone while everyone else is out having fun

What Kind of Pet Would You Be?

You Are Olive Green

You are the most real of all the green shades. You're always true to yourself.
For you, authenticity and honesty are very important... both in others and yourself.
You are grounded and secure. It takes a lot to shake you.
People see you as dependable, probably the most dependable person they know.

What Color Green Are You?

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack,
I've been too long, I'm glad to be back"

Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos.
But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart
Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome
Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand
And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Loretta Lynne Tucker

Hillbilly Name Generator

There's a 12% Chance You've Been Abducted By Aliens

There's virtually no chance you've been abducted by aliens.
But there's always hope for the future!

What Are the Chances that You've Been Abducted by Aliens?

You Are 62% Tortured Genius

You are smart. Brilliant in fact. And while it's a blessing, it's also a curse.
Your head is filled with everything - grand ideas, insufferable worries, and a good deal of angst.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them!

You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you

You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil

How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

You Should Go to Grad School

Grad school definitely isn't for everyone, but it looks like it's for you.
You have a pretty good idea of what you want to study - and how it will further your career.
So go ahead and go for it! You're ready to be a PhD.

Should You Go To Grad School?

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

If you don't like my driving - stay off the sidewalk

What Bumper Sticker Should Be On Your Car?

Ok I guess that is enough for now...... maybe I'll go to bed now.

I'll still take my horns sawed off.... SHORT!

2007-06-26T17:29:00.001-05:00

Well this was a stupid case anyway, but the t.u. board of regents decided to sue Aggieland Outfitters because they have shirts with a longhorn with sawed off horns. I really love the reasoning, "The mark for which registration is sought so resembles the mark shown in U.S. registration numbers ... as to be likely, when used or in connection with the identified services, to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, .... The similarities among the marks and the goods are so great as to cause a likelihood of confusion." Oh yeah, it took them TEN years to notice too.

So what this says to me is that t.u. fans are so stupid they might get confused and buy a sawed off longhorn rather than a longhorn which is the mascot of t.u. Seriously. Is Austin really the drain of Texas where all stupidity funnels to? I would hope not. But anyway, Aggieland Outfitters settled, and now they have to change the sawed off logo to this stupid looking thing with a white patch and nostrils. GAH. I'm glad I still have my nostril free t-shirt. I hope I don't confuse anyone when I wear it. :-P

Vent... AGAIN

2007-06-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

I know, I'm venting, AGAIN, but seriously, pre-med people on SDN can be AGGRAVATING!!! I don't know how my pre-med advisor does it. Here's my problem today....

STOP ASKING HOW TO ANSWER "Tell us what areas of medicine you are interested in"!!!!!
It is not that freaking hard. Seriously. Just answer the question!!!! I think these anal pre meds are just over thinking the questions. Also, the schools aren't asking you to make your final decision now. They know you'll probably even change your mind from what you say. It helps them choose who to interview you (oh you're in love with pediatrics.... hmmm we'll have a pediatrician interview you!!!) and since we all know there are personality traits associated with what people like, it helps them know more about you from your application. So quit being a baby and just answer the freaking question. If you can't answer this, you're going to have a really hard time making decisions that actually will matter in life.

Baseball been very very good to me

2007-06-21T12:23:00.000-05:00

I went to the Texas Ranger's game Tuesday, the day Sosa choked it up and DIDN'T hit his 600th home run. But the day after, he did it. GOSH! Didn't he know I was there waiting to see history?! Oh well :) I'm not really all that into baseball anyways. But the game was fun.

Nada

2007-06-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

Nothing is going on. A whole lot of nothing. I shall attempt to write a day in the life of Bella the dog.

6:45 am: I wake up with Peter. But I don't want to get up and pee even though Peter really wants me to. I like my bed. I'm comfortable. Come back later. I need my beauty rest
8:30 am: Now I need to pee. BAD. I'll stick my nose in Sarah's face. She has a heart she'll take me to pee.
8:35 am: I finally get outside to pee. But the ground is wet and I don't do water. I don't do dampness. Oh no now I gotta bark. And sniff. And check the wind direction. Ok now I'll pee because Sarah is going to leave me. And if she leaves me, what will I do!! I can't be outside by myself!!! I'll never survive!
8:40 am: I finally pee. FINALLY. Sarah was really excited.
8:42 am: I guess I'll go back to sleep. But first I need to check on Sarah several times. And I have to pace around the room to make sure the ghosts in the house didn't move anything.
10:00am: Hmmmm, Sarah has prepared breakfast. I guess I'll at least pretend to be interested. I only eat under specific conditions. I don't know what they are, but they had better be in place.
10:30 to 2:30: Time to patrol the house. Pace pace pace. Sniff around the house. Bark at the reflections of people in the back yard. Pace some more. Lay down by Sarah. Get up and lay by the TV. Find my blankie. Play with blankie. Lay down again and take a nap. I love to nap. Get up and pace again. Bark at reflections of neighbors again. Look out front window for Peter. Where is Peter! He is late! By the way I'm still not eating. Take nap by front window to wait for Peter.
2:30pm: PETER IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!! PETER IS HOME!!!!!!! JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP PETER IS H-O-M-E Home! YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!
3:45pm: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I've been locked away in the bedroom! Why do they do this to me!!! Woe is me!!!! I'm all alone! Abandoned! No one will ever find me in here!
4:30 pm: Grandma and Grandpa are here!!! They set me free!!!!! Now to bark at the reflections some more
5:00pm: Sarah and Peter are home!!!!!! They still love me!!!!!
6pm: Dinner time!!! It is taco night. I sure like tacos. Well I think I do. I've never actually had them. But I'm sure they are amazing. The family sure like them. Maybe if I look at them with a REALLY cute face... nope nothing. I'll sniff the ground in case they drop anything. Maybe I'll nudge them too. gah... I'll just lay here under the table. Woe is me. Why doesn't my food smell as good as theirs?
8pm: ROAD TRIP!!! I love riding in the car, sticking my nose out the window. fun fun fun. We go the Peter's place. Now I must eat his roommates tiny dog. Fun fun fun. I love chasing the dog. Oh boy another road trip to Peter's parents! YAY!! I chased the cat. a lot. I know the cat likes it. I like the cat. So much fun. fun fun fun. Oh now I'll run up and down the stairs! EVEN MORE FUN!!!!
9pm. Back home. Sarah's step sister has a friend over. I must show all of my cuteness!!! Commence running around jumping and looking all around cute. We're all going to have a slumber party tonight, just us girls. YAY! Maybe Sarah will paint my toenails pink again! Awwww the girls went up stairs and I'm not allowed. Now I have to lay pitifully at the bottom of the stairs. Woe is me.
Now off the doggie dream land. I wonder what I dream about....... hmmmmmmm

Friends, Romans, Countrymen...

2007-06-15T00:26:00.000-05:00

Tell me what you think.....
I was on the phone catching up with a friend that will be going to medical school with me. As I was telling him how loan stuff works, he told me he thought I was going to be class president. How nice of him! I don't like to toot my own horn, but it did get me thinking... should I try to be a class officer? I had thought about it because Welcome Weekend was a BLAST and I would love to help plan and welcome in the newest medschoolers, but now that someone's brought it up to me, maybe I really should do it! If you read, please tell me what you think. :) I'm very curious to hear ideas. Off the top of my head... will I have enough time? Will I be able to keep my excitement level up under the stress of school? Am I smart enough to do it all? Will I still have time for keeping up with family, the boyfriend, and the dog? hmmmmmmm.... I'll ponder it :)

G-Rand Rounds

2007-06-11T23:00:00.000-05:00

Grand Rounds are up. Very fun. I can't believe I submitted!

Check it out here

YAY!

Destiny!

2007-06-08T23:51:00.001-05:00

Good news today! My cousin got called off the waitlist and is going to UT Houston! YAY!

But here's where I think it gets better...
My aunt went to UT Houston for medical school
I'm going to UT Houston for medical school
My cousin is going to UT Houston for medical school

Note: My cousin is my mom's brother's son. He's not the child of my aunt that went to UT Houston

It is like we've created a family legacy. WHOOP!

How to TMDSAS

2007-06-02T20:26:00.001-05:00

I love SDN. It is fun to chat with people, debate a little, and learn new things, all from people who could be my future colleagues. Sure I don't agree with everyone, and there are some people that I would probably strongly dislike in real life. But I do like SDN, especially the cool chain of Texas threads we have going. But right now, I'm going to lay it out about what I think of applying to TMDSAS. Now that I've been through it, I think I have a right to an opinion. I'm annoyed at people who haven't stating things they don't know as fact. And I'm tired of lazy people. This getting into med school thing is for the rest of your life!!! I'm sorry if you might have to stay in and work on your personal statement instead of going out and partying, but you're trying to get into medical school!!!! Cut the crap! Anyways, here's my cut and dry ideas on TMDSAS.

Beginning of College: Start a journal where you write down every club, every award, ever little thing you might possibly want to include in any application/CV/resume ever. It will be a lot easier to remember later on. And if you don't, I'll almost guarantee you won't remember every single thing.

Christmas before you apply: begin your personal statement. You have a nice break, just sit down and write the thing. Get a nice rough copy, start sending it to people and getting it evaluated.

Spring break: Finish up your personal statement. Again this is a REALLY nice break, almost zero stress time you can use. Suck it up and do it.

May 1 or when you're done with finals, whichever comes last: Start the application. Once your PS is done, the rest is easy. Especially if you kept your journal! You don't want to start until you're done with finals because your grades do matter, and the first couple weeks don't matter much.

When you've finished entering everything: wait one or two days, don't look at the application at all. This will clear your mind. Then go back through, look at everything freshly, and check for completeness and errors. The person who will read this app won't know you so you need to be clear and informative, but concise. The attitude "if they want to know more, they'll interview me" isn't really a safe one. They might just want to interview the 1000's of other people who DID tell them everything they wanted to know.

Once you've, checked, rechecked, and triple checked your application: SUBMIT! YAY. Then do all those little things you're supposed to do in the directions. Yeah, the directions are important. You should read them.

Once you've submitted: depending on how burnt out you feel, either do the secondaries that day, or the next. BUT DO THEM! Unless you'd rather put off medical school for a year rather than go to that school, do it! And if you think you'd like to put off medical school for a year, talk to all the people on SDN who didn't match. If you've ever had something terrible happen to you that made your heart sink and made you doubt everything you've done in you life, yeah that's about how I think people felt not matching.

The application and secondaries are not the time to wimp out. Write well, do the secondaries, and nail the interview. I'm not pulling this advice outta my behind, I did go through the application cycle, interviewed at every TMDSAS school, and got into 4. My advice isn't golden, but I've gotten a lot of great advice from the pre-med advisor at A&M. I'll be so bold as to say she is the best pre-med advisor anywhere. Seriously. And she's really made me want to pass on my knowledge and advice I've gained from this whole crazy thing. So good luck applying! I'll try to write some future stuff in more detail. If you have questions and you'd actually like my opinion, feel free to ask. I love to help.

p.s. I'm reading Complications by Atul Gawande. It is awesome and you should read it. :)

n00bs

2007-06-01T16:55:00.000-05:00

I added some new links. I thought since I read most all of them regularly, it might be nice to link them. So scheck it out

Oh yeah, in EXCITING news, I called the finaid department, and they mailed out my award letter today. WHOOP! finally

Flea

2007-05-31T10:09:00.000-05:00

No not the bug! The blogger! I don't know if anyone that reads me read him, but I got this from Over My Med Body! who got it from Kevin, MD, so I thought I would share too. I only read him a couple times, and while it sucks for anyone to be sued (even though some people deserve it), what you say can always come back to bite you in the butt, even if you think you're being anonymous. So for those of you who think you're anon, be careful. For those of you like me who aren't, also remember anyone could read it. And jerk guy from the dog park, if you're reading this, you're still a jerk, I'm not sorry I called you a jerk in my blog, and if I see you again I hope my dog bites you or your dog in the butt. Ok I mostly hope she bites you in the butt. And you're still a jerk. Sorry you have to live your life that way.

Hmmmmmm

2007-05-30T23:26:00.001-05:00

I really wish I had something interesting to post about but I don't. There really isn't a lot going on. I'm making a teeny-weeny amount of money working at my church nursery taking care of the almost non-existent babies. I guess I could talk about that.

Dear Families at my Church:

In the interest of the continued growth of our church, it is IMPERATIVE that we have more babies. Currently, we have only ONE regular baby under 1 year. It takes 9 months to grow a new one, so to keep adequate child flow through the nursery, you need to get busy NOW! Be fruitful and multiply, as my father says. However, should you not desire/be able to grow a bun in the oven, adoption/fostering is a WONDERFUL alternative, and we the workers of the nursery of accepting of ALL babies. Even fussy ones. We promise to not even pinch them.

To help sway you, here are some of the amenities the nursery has:

Virtually unlimited cheerio supply (if you don't know already, this is VERY important to the happiness of babies.)

Good snuggling arms

A wide video selection, including favorites such as the Wiggles, Dora, and Bob the Builder

And finally, we have Family Fun Night, once a month, on Friday night, so that you may drop off any children you currently have and work on making a new one

While I will be leaving at the end of June to begin medical school, I'm asking you to do this not for me, but for the church. And the children. So please, put on a little Barry White, light some candles, and do your duty as parents. Thank you.

Love
Sarah

holiday!

2007-05-28T11:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Memorial Day!

Condo update!

2007-05-23T19:13:00.001-05:00

We have a contract! Finally. This dude was a pain in the patootie. Seriously. But after much addendum writing, he's finally happy. WHOOP! I'll put a pic of it from the internet, but please don't stalk me :) Unless I know you, then it is ok :)

The living room

But anyway, YAY condo! And yay for home improvement updatedy type things I get to do now!

Pet Diary

2007-05-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

My step mom sent me this. HI-larious

DOG DIARY:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

CAT DIARY:

Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.
However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

The Dog Park

2007-05-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

This is a venting session for me. So read on if you want to hear about idiots at the dog park

So today the boyfriend and I take the dog to the local doggie park. We do it ALL the time because it is a HUGE nice fenced in area with a lot of other dogs, and the dog LOVES to play. She is just over a year, still a puppy, and likes to play. PLAY!!! But I am honestly thinking about not going back to the dog park for a while. There are a lot of nice people that go there, and a LOT of nice dogs that our dog really likes. But then there are the idiots......

I'll start with yesterday. The boyfriend, the dog, and I have been at the doggie park for a good 30 minutes. Then large hairy black lab came in. Said lab then tried to hump a dog our dog made friends with. Our dog DOES NOT TOLERATE HUMPING! I think I need to give her a sign. She doesn't hump, she doesn't try to be dominate over other dogs, but when a boy dog tries to hump her, SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT! And yeah... if the idiots would read the RULES when they walk into the doggie park they would see that "Do not allow your dog to mount another dog, as this behavior is very likely to lead to a fight. Even if your dog means no harm, the other dog is very likely to take offense." My dog takes offense! Usually it is no big deal at all. The dog snaps and moves to get the offending dog off, and it is all over. So when the lab humped our dogs friend, our dog snapped at the lab. The lab went BESERK! CRAZY!!!! I haven't seen the dog be that aggressive EVER, and there was NO WAY I was pulling her out of it. If dogs are in a real fight, rule numero uno is don't get in the fight with them! You will be injured! (ok I mean I'm not guaranteeing it, but there is a good chance you'll get hurt). Even the boyfriend (uber laid back, nothing is a big deal) gets up because he knows this is a real fight. He grabs some old rope toy laying around and keeps hitting (not too hard) our dog to grab her attention to something other than KILL BLACK LAB. It works, she runs over to us, snarls once when the lab tries to come over too, and then it was done. The lab owner didn't even get up ONCE, call his stupid dog, or do ANYTHING. And our dog ended up with two puncture wounds and a scratch, all on the back of her neck. This dog is like my child, and I was so upset. Dogs can do real damage!!! Just because the dog is big she isn't evil! She is a good dog! But yeah, I was upset, the guy was lazy and stupid and I hope his dog doesn't come back. Ever.

And then today. Our dog is big. She's almost 100 pounds. And she is about 95% puppy. So like I said, she likes to play. Well our dog tried to play with another dog that didn't want to play. She wanted to yelp without being touched, run away very fast, and pretty much act just like the dog our dog is used to playing with. (which is an annoying dog that yelps and barks, and does stupid stuff, but entertains our dog. And they love each other. They are sad when they are apart, so I'm sure when they make all the noise they are playing). Anyway, our dog was playing too hard with the other dog (a boxer) and we knew it, and were trying to gently get them apart. But dogs also run FAST! The boxer owner told us it was ok, she wasn't mad, we got them apart, and boy did they play the rest of the time!! BFF ok!!!! But right as the boyfriend was pulling the dog away from the skittish boxer, this JERK HEAD POO BRAIN in a stupid white polo with stupid aviator glasses trying to make himself look cool even though he was a NERD ALERT comes up and YELLS AT ME that my dog is TERRORIZING the boxer and can't I see that the boxer is absolutely TERRIFIED by my dog. GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Here it is America, the real face of a terrorist (at least a terrorist dog)

She could sit on you and love you to death. Watch out. So the rest of the time I was just really upset that that jerk came up to me like I wasn't doing anything and that our dog was actually trying to hurt the boxer. Again, dogs are fast and hard to catch when they are running. Sorry I didn't jump on top of both of the dogs to break it up. Plus they weren't even fighting!!!!!!!!! We pulled our dog over to the side and everyone in the area asked me if that guy was seriously yelling at me. And of course they all said, "didn't they just see she was trying to play? Doesn't he know anything about dogs? Your dog is really nice." So I felt a little better, but just seeing that jerkface go off to his other elitist dog friends to talk about how horrible and terrifying our dog is made me really mad and upset.

So along with the "Do Not Hump Me" sign I'd like the dog to wear, I'd like her to wear a "I'm sorry I'm big but I like to play and I'm actually quite gentle. My owners adopted me about 2 months ago because my owners gave me up so give them a break because THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO BE GOOD PUPPY PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I strangely feel better having written this all out. The boyfriend, in his amazing ability to tune out anything he wants, didn't even notice the guy, so he wasn't much help for validation. I know I'm biased and I love our doggie more than anyone, and I don't want to be making excuses for her behavior, but I am because she's a DOG and she isn't exactly easy to reason with. You know, "Doggie, please don't be so upset when those boy dogs want to hump you. Also, if you could please not be so excited because sometimes your size intimidates other dogs, so if you could just calmly walk up to them and do the doggie sniff crotch ritual, it would really make things easier for everyone." <-- HAHAHAHAHAH yeah right. I'll get right on that. Have you ever tried to reason with a two year old? Or an infant? Dear 6 month old, please stop crying because can't you understand that the food and diaper change are on their way and by crying you are disturbing the sleep of others around you. Yeah it just doesn't work. Plus dogs don't exactly speak English. She is a smart doggie, but her vocab is pretty limited to "Leave it" "Sit" "Lay down" "No!" "Spin" "Go get it!" and every once in a while "come here!" Oh yeah, she also knows "good girl!" because she is an emotionally sensitive dog and will pretty much always choose praise and a good rub to food. Seriously. That made training to get in the car and in the crate difficult. It sure is hard to explain that she'll get lots of love if she just gets in the kennel! (again, the reasoning). Our doggie is also a police doggie because if any dogs get in a fight she jumps RIGHT in the middle to try to break it up and work it out. Unfortunately, some idiots think this looks like she is trying to fight. She's not. She likes to love. But if a dog is acting out of line and bullying other dogs she'll try to stop it. Because she has a good doggie soul.

Ok so to wrap it up, I don't want to make excuses for everything she does. She isn't perfect, but she's also a dog. And a young one that probably wasn't properly socialized as a puppy. We're working on it. She has a lot of love, and is good at heart, even though if she would also defend her family to the end (hey... great danes were bred to kill boars!). So if you're ever in my local doggie park, don't be an idiot. And don't discriminate against big dogs. Especially gentle breeds, they all just want to love and play too. And if you are an idiot, I hope my sweet sweet dog kicks your snooty dogs butt should the need for a butt kicking arise.
Thank you and have a nice day.

Condos

2007-05-18T11:06:00.001-05:00

So the boyfriend and I are going to buy a condo in Houston together! YIPPIE! But it means money. I'm scared of spending large amounts of money. Well..... sometimes :) Ikea can be an exception. But I think I'm more worried about buying the wrong thing. We have a budget, the dog (who is 98.5 pounds now!), and a need for me to be close to the free shuttle. YAY free! What if I don't find the perfect place? Is it still worth it to buy over rent? Sure I'll be there 4 years, but I could be there longer if I do my residency in Houston. And why is it all my friends seem to hate Houston? I want them to love it so they'll come visit me! I was always wary of Houston since it is new to me, but the more time I've been down there I do feel like I like it! Much more park stuff than Dallas, and I don't know, you can live in Houston Houston, but you don't really live in Dallas Dallas. Plus I want the boyfriend to like it too. I'm uprooting him totally and throwing him down to a city where he doesn't know anyone but my aunt and uncle. (but he likes them a lot so it is cool). I feel like there is a LOT riding on me finding the right condo. But there are also rules and restrictions! 51% owner occupancy, 3% down, FHA approved, must allow dogs (important!) but must also be large enough for 2 people and the dog, and still in budget! Houston is expensive if you didn't know! GAH!

Ok calming down a bit. It also stresses me because it doesn't look like the boyfriend and I can get down to look at condos at a time when my dad can come as well. I don't know much about anything about buying condos or houses, except for what I want. That's why I wanted my dad to be able to come down and go through it all with me. But now its just me and the boyfriend, and we all know (he even says it!) I'm the "responsible one" OH THE PRESSURE!!!! I'm sure whatever ends up happening it will be the right thing. It is just so hard to wait.

If anyone that reads this (oh I was so star struck that Scalpel commented on my little blog! *blush* Thank you!) and has sage wisdom about buying things like condos, or Houston, it would be much appreciated. Or if you don't have sage wisdom and just want to say this is all crazy, you can do that too :)

Funny quote

2007-05-16T22:31:00.000-05:00

Ok, Scalpel's post here reminded me of a funny quote from when I went to get my diploma framed.

The scene: Benjamin Knox Gallery. Mr. Benjamin Knox himself is personalizing all the artwork that day. Very cool. People in front of me in line have a VERY VERY VERY large giclee of canvas thingie that is very pretty and he is getting ready to write stuff on.

BK: eyeing his artwork fondly... "Just look how pretty it is... i mean the colors just look so good. You know they print these one at a time."

Me and my friend Jessica in our heads: "HELLOOOOO IT IS YOUR PAINTING!!!! Of course it is gorgeous!"

I actually had to turn around and look away to keep from bursting out laughing. And when I got in my car 20 minutes later I couldn't stop laughing. Neither could Jessica. It really was that funny. Even if it doesn't seem that way in writing. Maybe it was one of those you had to be there moments. But I sure hope not because it was freaking funny and I want everyone to have at least a nice smile about it.

Disclaimer: I am sure Benjamin Knox is VERY nice, and he was very very nice to me when I met him. It was just funny. And maybe ironic, but I'm not sure that's the right word.

P.S. It was also funny because an older lady was TOTALLY hitting on him.
Nice lady: with a twinkle in her eye......"So, is your place always this busy, or just on graduation?"

LOVED IT!

Graduation

2007-05-14T10:59:00.000-05:00

I graduated! YAY!! It feels very strange to be done. But good. It really means that going to medical school is real too. Thursday the 10th was the Honors reception. It recognized everyone graduating with Foundation Honors, University Honors, and other such fun smarty pants things. There is nothing like an honors party to make you feel like an under achiever. Other people had 3 honors plus a thesis and were going to MIT for engineering. But it is ok. I stumbled into getting Foundation Honors, and it was worth it if only for the reception :) The food was good, but the lights went out right at the end. It was kinda scary. But I got a really cool certificate. I've really enjoyed the honors program.
After that, me and my family went to the Chicken Oil Company, with my friend Chris, his family, and his boyfriend. It was SO GOOD! My family hadn't ever been there so I made them go. The burgers are some of the best anywhere.
I had to wake up bright and early Friday morning. Graduation was at 9 am! Somehow, with about zero coordination from me, all three parts of my family managed to end up sitting together! It was great and very low stress. Of course, graduation was long (darn liberal arts people!) but it was so exciting getting all geared up to walk across the stage. It all went by pretty quickly because I ended up sitting right by my friend Sara. Thank you Ms. Moore for not showing up so that Sara and I could sit together. Once we got up to the stage, we had to do this really awkward not looking at the president thing so that we would have a good graduation picture. Mine better be good because I'm sure I hit the pose PERFECTLY. After I got my diploma there were a dozen more people to shake hands with, and they all commented on how many cords I had. It was pretty funny. Since this is a also a journal for me to remember things, here were the cords I had, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Order of Omega, and Golden Key. I wish Phi Beta Kappa would have given us cords, but I can always order them to put in frame stuff.
Saturday, we went to the Benjamin Knox gallery and my dad, who is wonderful, bought me this AMAZING diploma frame that was my diploma beside a sketch of the 07 Aggie ring. I can't wait to get it all back, especially since it feels so strange to NOT HAVE MY DIPLOMA!!! But oh well, it should be back around June 2 :)

I'll put up pictures as soon as I get them from my step mom. Since I was in the ceremony, I couldn't take pictures of myself :)

YAY GRADUATION!

Responsibility

2007-05-09T23:29:00.000-05:00

I have my boyfriend's dog until he and the rest of my family come down to College Station tomorrow. At first I was so excited, and I still am, but all of a sudden it hit me. SHE NEEDS ME! I have to give her food. I take her to pee. I tell her she doesn't need to bark at the nice people (ok I only assume they are nice... but ya know), and I yank her out of the way when the neighbor's dog hurts her and then she attacks (she wouldn't want to get a reputation for beating up the bully dogs). Ok she didn't really attack, but she kind of did, but she has a scratch and a patch of hair GONE! She has a tiny bald spot! But she seems ok with it :) So anyway, since I'm talking about the dog, here are some of the funny things she did today, that I can remember.

She licked the back window of my car. Not sure why, but it sure looked cute when I saw it in my rear view mirror.

When my friend Vanessa's dog/puppy jumped into the pond, Bella definitely weighed whether she should help get the puppy out, or if she should stay dry. She stayed dry (thank God), and the puppy was just fine, swimming around. Vanessa's dog loves the water. Thank you Bella, for not smelling like wet dog.

I set Bella's bed up all nice beside my bed. Bella is now sleeping on the OPPOSITE side of my bed.

Bella woke up from a nap during our 3.5 hour drive, gave me a super groggy look, and than crashed back down into her sleeping position. SUPER CUTE

Bella stuck her head right in between my two seats to pretend to be the navigator.

My roommate and I were watching a movie we rented. Bella walked in front of the TV about a million times, but when the clock struck 10pm, she was OUT asleep. I guess that is just her bed time. It was pretty funny though the way she just stopped at exactly 10.

Ok that's all I can think of right now. Oh she just barked at the dryer. But it is ok because I'm part of her pack and I told her it was safe. She layed back down, on the side of my bed where her bed is not. Dogs.....

You learn something new everyday

2007-05-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

As I was watching the news this morning, at 6am, waking up so I could take my EIGHT AM biochem final (it went well, thanks), they said the president is having a white tie dinner for the Queen of England. What in the world is a white tie dinner?!?!? <-- I asked myself. Sure we've all heard of black tie events (ooooo fancy!), but white tie?? So I googled it and investigated. Turns out, as only the British can create, white tie dinners are EVEN FANCIER than black tie. There is even a strict dress code for what should be worn! Here, from wikipedia, is the dress code.

Formal evening dress is more strictly regulated than other forms of dress, and properly consists of:

Black tailcoat with silk (ribbed or satin) facings, sharply cut-away at the front
Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe
White stiff-fronted shirt, with cotton pique dickie, boiled or heavily starched
White stiff wing collar (attached to the shirt with collar buttons)
White bow tie (usually cotton pique)
White low-cut waistcoat (usually cotton pique, matching the bow tie and dickie)
Black silk stockings
Black patent leather pumps or shoes

WOW! I really want to see Senor presidente in patent leather pumps. I also like that patent leather pumps are a clickable link in wikipedia. Just fun. So this white tie affairs looks uncomfortable, but fun. I mean you get to meet the queen! If only I could meet Prince William (he's single!!!!). So yay, and thank you England for sending people over here, so that eventually I could be born. :)

Swanky, swanky outfit

lazy

2007-05-06T19:28:00.000-05:00

I have my biochemistry final tomorrow, and I just feel lazy. I've studied pretty diligently all semester, so luckily I don't really have to cram or learn a bunch of stuff I missed earlier. But now, it is SO hard to study! I know I should try harder, but it isn't motivating either when I only need to get 94/150 points. Surely I can do that with the reviewing I've done!

In other news, I'm excited to see another cycle of med school applications begin. It seems so long ago that I applied, but it also doesn't seem very long at the same time. This time last year I was working away on my application, and here I am now, waiting to graduate and begin my life in Houston! I know several people who are applying right now and I can't wait for them to interview at Houston so that I can see them and say hi! I know it made me feel a lot more comfortable at my interviews when I saw people I knew.

Well I guess I will get ready and finish studying. I don't have a scantron so hopefully someone will have an extra, or the AgCafe will open early enough. 8 am finals are ridonkadonk!

AED induction

2007-05-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

So tonight was my last induction ceremony with AED. I sure am going to miss it. This group got to be a LOT of fun. Crazy smart kids :) I got really sad when my little sib was leaving and he goes "Oh wait! Am I ever going to see you again?" I was sad. I want to leave, but I want to take all my friends with me. I guess I'll just be forcing them to come with me to UT Houston. YAY :)

Mikel and Lee, who were apparently twins for the evening

Me and Sheena, the two exemplary ladies

Me and my little sib Lee!! SNIFF I'm going to miss him!

Things that make you think

2007-05-02T14:15:00.000-05:00

I'm taking this women's health class online, and here are some funny things I read. These are straight for the slides, not something I made up. I promise. Please feel free to comment.

Breast Cancer - leading cause of cancer death in women
Lung Cancer - more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer

Possible symptom of ovarian cancer - asymptomatic

Risk factor for colorectal cancer - previous history of colorectal cancer

Complications of syphilis - death

If I notice more I'll post them. I just thought they were funny. But it was also late when I found them. :)

I'm kind of a big deal.....

2007-05-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

So I got to have a dinner thingie tonight with Mrs. Gates, the wife of Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert Gates, or as Becky calls him, Bob. :) It was so exciting! I have a starstruck problem, but I handled myself at least somewhat graciously, and here are the pictures :)

First, me and my Little Sis

All the graduating seniors at the senior celebration

My pledge class that was there, and is graduating (so small!)

Me and our chapter advisor, who works in the Aggie Ring office

And finally, me and Mrs. Becky Gates. WHOOP!

What an evening! It was very fun, we got a small present, and most importantly we ate cake. Yum!

YAY Aggies

2007-05-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

Here is an article from 1942 my dad found. Very cool

Monday, May. 25, 1942

Aggies at War

The A. & M. in Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College might as well stand for Athletic & Military. In other days nine out of ten of its students played football on one of its many school teams; all but the bedridden turned out for "yell [not cheer] practice," its rough, tough, blacksmith-armed Aggie teams romped over opponents. And last week, of 699 graduates in the class of 1942, 565 went out with Army commissions; of the remaining 134, more than half have already signed for Army and Navy aviation. Texas A. & M. turns out more officers than West Point.

Unlike most U.S. colleges in the last two decades, Texas A. & M. never gave pacifism a lookin. Only college with nine branches of R.O.T.C., it enrolled every Aggie in one of them for at least two years, ran the whole school on military discipline. Seniors wear breeches, boots and spurs; freshmen are "Fish," from whom upperclassmen tolerate no nonsense. On Dec. 7 Texas A. & M. had among its alumni 5,135 reserve officers (more than half of all its living graduates).

Texas Aggies figure large on the roll of U.S. heroes in World War II. An Aggie "sighted sub, sank same." Another (Major General George F. Moore) directed the coastal defense at Corregidor. Aggies have won D.S.C.s like football games. Twenty-eight of them died on Bataan and Corregidor. The Aggies are proud of their military record. They like to recall the example of the Class of 1917, which held its commencement at a training camp, joined up as one man.

As early as June 1940 Texas A. & M. offered its full facilities to the U.S. Immediately after Pearl Harbor the Aggies were the first major U.S. college to go all-out on a twelve-month schedule, first to switch shops and laboratories to a 24-hour day. The four-year course was cut to two years, eight months. Doubling military instruction, the Aggies added Army mess management to animal husbandry, inaugurated courses in explosives. Architects shifted to camouflage. A. & M. organized Statewide courses for civilian defense.

Readying itself to train 1,000 to 3,000 flyers, navigators, bombardiers, A. & M. is now finishing an airport, planning a doubling-up program to fill dormitories four or five deep. Says Aggie President Thomas Otto Walton: "What does the Government want done? We will do it."

Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766581,00.html

If I weren't going to be a pediatrician..

2007-04-30T13:16:00.000-05:00

I would absolutely work in geriatrics! Here is an example why I also love old people. Other than their extreme cuteness...

82-year-old Miss America pulls gun on thieves

Basically, there were some guys scrapping her metal on her property, and she shot out their tire so that they couldn't leave until the police came. She was just on Jay Leno too, and she was just hilarious. Plus, the elderly have such amazing stories to tell. And they are cute. And apparently they kick butt when they are packin'.

Its so hard..... to say goodbye.....

2007-04-27T23:36:00.000-05:00

Tonight was what will probably the last time my friends Chris and Aubrey and I ever go out to sushi together, at Kyoto, for a very long time. Friday night sushi is a tradition we started freshman year. Every Friday, (well pretty much every Friday, sometimes I went home, things were going on, etc.) we went to Northgate to the sushi place. We lived on northside so it was super convenient to get to, and it was a nice break from Sbisa. What started out as just us three, has grown to be a huge event, involving lots of planning and calling to make a time fit for everyone. But now today, we were back to the original three. I started school with these two, and it is so hard to see myself leaving them. Chris is going onto another job, Aubrey will stay at A&M, and I will be going off to Houston. I've really tried to not think about it because it is very hard for me to imagine leaving them. I'm incredibly excited to go to medical school, can't wait to get to Houston, but it is so sad to see us all going our separate ways. It didn't help that at the professional school dinner tonight, the speaker talked about how even though we are all going our separate ways to do big and great things, we shouldn't forget A&M and the amazing people that have helped us get where we are.

I won't. I will never forget my time at A&M. I loved my friends in high school, but I never liked high school. I LOVE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY!!!!!! And I love my new college friends. I graduate in exactly two weeks. Then I'm done. I'm no longer an undergraduate. There are so many deep, powerful thoughts that I have that just won't come out on paper (errr..the screen). I wish I was better at expressing my feelings, but mostly this is for me I guess. If I could give any college advice, it would be to go somewhere you will love to be. You'll grow so much, learn so much, and have more fun than you'll ever imagine, all while still being a kid. Don't get caught up in the pre-med hype. Do what you love and it will all work out. It always does. So here's a sappy Aggie poem. I love it. It is outside the bonfire memorial here, and it really means a lot to me. Even though I won't be at A&M anymore, I will carry the Aggie spirit with me every day.

The Last Corps Trip

It was Judgment Day in Aggieland
And tenseness filled the air;
All knew there was a trip at hand,
But not a soul knew where.

Assembled on the drill field
Was the world-renowned Twelfth Man,
The entire fighting Aggie team
And the famous Aggie Band.

And out in front with Royal Guard
The reviewing party stood;
St. Peter and his angel staff
Were choosing bad from good.

First he surveyed the Aggie team
And in terms of an angel swore,
"By Jove, I do believe I've seen
This gallant group before.

I've seen them play since way back when,
And they've always had the grit;
I've seen 'em lose and I've seen 'em win
But I've never seen 'em quit.

No need for us to tarry here
Deciding upon their fates;
Tis plain as the halo on my head
That they've opened Heaven's gates."

And when the Twelfth Man heard this,
They let out a mighty yell
That echoed clear to Heaven
And shook the gates of Hell.

"And what group is this upon the side,"
St. Peter asked his aide,
"That swelled as if to burst with pride
When we our judgment made?"

"Why, sir, that's the Cadet Corps
That's known both far and wide
For backing up their fighting team
Whether they won lost or tied."

"Well, then," said St. Peter,
"It's very plain to me
That within the realms of Heaven
They should spend eternity.

And have the Texas Aggie Band
At once commence to play
For their fates too we must decide
Upon this crucial day."

And the drum major so hearing
Slowly raised his hand
And said, "Boys, let's play The Spirit
For the last time in Aggieland."

And the band poured forth the anthem,
In notes both bright and clear
And ten thousand Aggie voices
Sang the song they hold so dear.

And when the band had finished,
St. Peter wiped his eyes
And said, "It's not so hard to see
They're meant for Paradise."

And the colonel of the Cadet Corps said
As he stiffly took his stand,
"It's just another Corps Trip, boys,
We'll march in behind the band."

-By P.H. DuVal Jr. '51

Wowza!

2007-04-26T22:02:00.000-05:00

Sooooo here I am, post biochem and medical terminology tests, and post advanced human genetics project, really ready to have fun!!! Woohoo!! Tonight we're having a reunion of the Fab 5, me and the four other girls who bonded over my study abroad trip. We are AH-mazing. I can't wait. We'll go have some good German koelsch beer at Fox and Hound. YAY. Hopefully I'll get back to blogging again soon. :)

2007-04-23T12:24:00.000-05:00

Woooohoooo! I added a countdown! Get excited!

In the news....

2007-04-22T12:52:00.000-05:00

So here are a couple news stories I thought were really good/cute/yay!

Back to Story - Help

Peru's 'miracle baby' walks on her own

Fri Apr 20, 10:13 PM ET

Peru's "miracle baby" walked around her nursery school yard Friday, ducking in and out of a plastic playhouse seven months after undergoing an operation to fully separate her fused legs.

Milagros Cerron, whose first name means "miracles" in Spanish, was born with a rare congenital defect known as sirenomelia, or "mermaid syndrome," which left her legs connected from her heels to her groin.

Dr. Luis Rubio, head of the medical team that separated Milagros' legs, invited reporters to see her progress on Friday. He said doctors have successfully reconstructed the child's hips, knees and ankles and that she is "doing well physically."

But Rubio said Milagros — who is called "the little mermaid" by Peruvians — will need another operation in about two years to reconstruct and repair her urinary and sexual organs.

"We've gotten past the first stage, but it's not the last," Rubio said. "There's a long way to go."

Milagros, who turns 3 years old next week, now takes ballet classes and runs around the playground with her classmates.

In June 2005 doctors successfully performed risky surgery to separate her legs to above her knees. The operation seven months ago was to separate the remaining four inches of fused tissue just below the groin.

Rubio has said Tiffany Yorks, a 17-year-old American, is the only other person known to have undergone successful surgery to correct the rare congenital defect, which occurs in one out of every 70,000 births and is almost always fatal within days of birth.

Milagros' family comes from a poor village in the Andes mountains but Lima's municipal government has agreed to pay for her medical care.

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

How amazing is it that these doctors have given this beautiful little girl the ability to walk! I think it is just amazing. Plus the little girl is SUPER cute. Gosh I'm a sucker for kids. Love them!

Back to Story - Help

Parents of conjoined twins await surgery

By THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press WriterFri Apr 20, 4:45 PM ET

The parents of 3-year-old conjoined twins said Friday that they are worried but hopeful as they await high-risk surgery to separate their daughters.

"It's kind of an anxious time," the Rev. Alin Dogaru said in an interview with The Associated Press while sitting hand-in-hand with his wife, Claudia. "Of course we are concerned about their health," he said.

A team of up to 50 doctors and nurses will separate the 3-year-old girls in four stages over several weeks at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland. The surgeries are tentatively scheduled for late May.

Before the interview, Claudia Dogaru gently lifted up the girls — Anastasia in a blue dress was held in her mother's left arm and Tatiana with a pink dress in her mother's right arm — and placed them in a two-seat stroller.

The top of Tatiana's head is attached to the back of Anastasia's. Twins born joined at the head — called craniopagus twins — are extremely rare, occurring in about 1 in 2.5 million births.

Claudia Dogaru said she was facing the future with prayer.

"I will face every day at a time. I will pray," she said. "I cannot say what's going to happen tomorrow."

The twins, who were born in Rome, arrived in Cleveland several weeks ago after 2 1/2 years in Dallas.

Among the surgical risks are the possibility of brain damage, stroke or a fatal amount of blood loss.

Anastasia, the larger twin, also requires a kidney transplant; she has no kidney function and relies on Tatiana's kidneys.

___

On the Net:

World Craniofacial Foundation: http://www.worldcf.org

Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital: http://www.rainbowbabies.org

I think the story of these twin girls is really neat. I saw a thing about them somewhere on TV, and it was about them while they were still in Dallas. The thing that hit me most was when their mother was talking about how nice the public in Dallas was to them. They had a scene at the grocery store where the manager asked if he could bring the girls balloons, and all these people coming up to them letting them know the girls and their family were in their prayers. It was all just so sweet, especially the mother's reaction to all the people. When it really hit me was when the twin's mother was saying how nice it was that the people in Texas were so nice, because when they left Italy (I think that is where they were), the girls were beginning to be ridiculed and pointed out by adults. ADULTS!!! Don't they know better?!?! How cruel can anyone be to make fun of two little girls who are conjoined at the head, with no fault of their own!! It was just terrible to hear, and it made me really happy that this family's first U.S. experience was with some good ol' Southern hospitality.

Anyways, I have a biochem test coming up so we'll see how this all goes. Gosh the senioritis is terrible.

Aggie Muster

2007-04-21T17:47:00.000-05:00

Today is Aggie Muster, the day when we remember all Aggies who have passed away in the previous year. It hits home a little more this year because we will be remembering Robert Walker Best '06, who should have been joining me in entering medical school this fall. He passed away after several interviews, but much before acceptances were sent. It is just tragic to me that someone who could have been a really amazing doctor passed away in such a terrible accident.

Update: Ok I went to Muster and it was amazing. Our speaker was very inspirational. I think she was the best Muster speaker I've heard in my four years here at A&M. I only cried a little at the beginning, I said here, and was just very moved by the whole thing. Aggie traditions are great. It is like nowhere else on Earth I know.

Photos

2007-04-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

This first picture is from the Japan Festival in Houston. It was mucho fun.

My roommate and I went to Brenham to this 50's diner. This is a sign that was in the restroom.

This is my boyfriend's dog. She is SO cute. And big. I love her a lot. I almost miss her more than the boyfriend. :) She is almost 100 pounds, and still growing. She is very skinny still (grrrr to her old owners) and it got cold (in April, very strange) so we went to get her fleece so I could make her a blanket and this is what the boyfriend picked. I need to buy her more pink things.....

Just to give you an idea of how big Bella is, here is is laying on the floor next to the boyfriend. He is normal sized :) (6 foot, 6'1", you know). She has a very cute pink collar that she isn't wearing in this picture. It is VERY cute. So cute you might explode. I measured her and I think she was 31" at the shoulder (which is the proper place to measure them I learned!)

Ok that is all the cuteness/funniness that I could squeeze out. I have a terrible bout of senioritis right now. It is AWFUL. Especially since I have a biochemistry test Tuesday.
I just thought I would put up a couple pics :) Pictures are always fun

TALK TO ME!!! PLEASE!!

2007-04-19T13:23:00.000-05:00

Ok so I know some people are at least looking at this stuff, if not actually reading it, but just leave a comment and say hello! Tell me it sucks, tell me you like it, tell me you agree/disagree with my feelings. Tell me ANYTHING!! I JUST NEED A SIGN OF LIFE OUT THERE!!! Ok silly time over

Ok not really, silly time is never truly over for me. But on what else is going on in my life. I know the Virginia Tech massacre is hot news right now, but I feel like there is nothing really constructive that I can say. It is absolutely terrible, and the best I can offer is my love and support to that community. My only real contribution, is that even before this, I've really thought that kids lately have almost zero appropriate/successful coping mechanisms. I don't know why it is, but they just don't. It is very sad. I really feel like we almost need classes for children to learn what is appropriate and what is not when they deal with feelings like sadness, anger, etc. It isn't instinctual knowing how to deal with these feelings, and there are so many parents that don't even know how to deal with their own feelings (mmmhmmm I watched Dr. Phil yesterday......).

In other news, I'm still stupidly excited about medical school/Houston. I've been looking at getting a condo. It would just be cheaper than rent there. Houston is expensive if anyone isn't aware. There are several I like so me and my dad are just going down there to check them all out after graduation. EEEKKK Graduation! I've got to get those announcements sent out. The semester is almost over. Everything has really flown by for me. I have loved going to A&M. I've made amazing friends, learned lots about myself, and have just had the most incredible time that I can't even put into words. I know there is a lot of hubbub about picking the right undergrad to get into medical school, but seriously, people need to go to a place they will get a good education, but that they will also enjoy. People told me a lot to have fun because you have your whole life to work, and it sound silly but it is true. But then again I never really listened much to what people told me. You just always have to live through it. But if everyone says it, perhaps it at least has an ounce of truth :)

Currently watching: Passions! I love my NBC soaps!

I'm in love with a med school.....

2007-04-15T18:01:00.000-05:00

Ok so read the title like the song. It is funny I swear. I just got back to good ol' CS from Houston and I AM IN LOVE WITH UT HOUSTON!!!! I hope that isn't creepy. I had an absolutely amazing time meeting all of my new classmates and meeting the current M1s. I also now have a clue about how the heck to get around Houston. It is very confusing. Very. Maybe I'm just slow. I left after my class Friday and went down to meet my M1 buddy (my big sis if you will) for a mini tour of the med school and lunch. I also got to meet a bunch of her friends which was very fun. Friday night I met a couple of girls in Rice Village for drinks which was very fun. Saturday my M1 buddy and I had breakfast, I went to see my aunt, and then I went back to the big social thingie that was the real part of Welcome Weekend. There was a ton of BBQ, and two kegs of beer! BEER! And Dr. Kellaway was there! It was CRAZY! And it was no cheap beer either, they sprung for the good stuff. It was very nice. After chatting like crazy with about a million different people, I went with a friend I already knew, two people I kind of know, and two new people to this boba tea place that my M1 buddy showed me. SUPER GOOD! I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. Boba tea will certainly make me poor. After tea, we met a couple other people for dinner at El Meson in Rice Village. Very good but greasy. Then we met up with the rest of the Welcome Weekend crew at this bar place. It was also fun. I felt like an old lady though because at 11pm I was beat. Lame-o. But I still had a really good time. Oh and did I mention it was FREEZING!! 60 degrees, in April, in HOUSTON! Ridonk-a-donk!

Today, I went with my aunt to the Japan festival in Hermann park. Also very fun. Having that huge park in the middle of Houston really reminded me of the parks in London (I LOVE London) and I think that whole museum district really solidified that I am going to enjoy being in Houston.

So WHOOP for UT Houston and WHOOP for medical school and WHOOP for brand new friends. I am pumped for medical school this fall.

Currently craving: Jasmine green tea with tapioca from that teahouse! YUM

Memories....

2007-04-12T13:39:00.000-05:00

So I woke up this morning, checked the online news like I usually do, and I was completely upset to find that the one and only Kurt Vonnegut has passed away. I am really sad about this. Kurt Vonnegut was very cool. I even did my author project in high school over him. It was a good project. I got an A on it. Yeah he was quite liberal, but the way he wrote, what he wrote about, it was just amazing. Plus it was funny. This guy dealt with really really crappy things in a funny way. You didn't have to agree with what he was saying to appreciate it, and it really made you look at your own point of view on the issues he addressed. Also did I mention, he was funny? I appreciated that. Let's look at some quotes from dear Mr. Vonnegut...(some from books, some he said... you know...)

"We could have saved the Earth but we were too damned cheap. "

"This is a tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast."

"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different. "

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

I really don't read much, but his passing makes me want to go out and just grab one of the books and enjoy it the same way I did when I first started reading him in high school. It would get my head out of the med school world a little bit too :) Sure the last three books I read are all medically related... what of it? I really wish I was better at writing and that I could say more eloquently how I appreciate Kurt Vonnegut and his books, but I would only butcher it. Just go read some of the news articles about him. They put it better than I ever could.

In happier news, I go to Houston tomorrow! YAY! I am having pains of middle school though. Will they like me? Will I like them? Will I have anyone to sit by at lunch? What if I can't find my class? Oh c'mon everyone worries about that. Don't they? It is funny because I am staying with a friend already in school there, and I have about 3 people I know that are starting. Plus I'm still praying for the ones that are waitlisted that I want to come desperately to UTH. I sure hope I get used to the idea of living in Houston. It is such a big city! Luckily the friend I am staying with is adventurous and knows a lot about Houston and is going to show me around. I think it will be fun. Minus the traffic. Well I have biochem homework to attend to. I can't wait to write about Welcome Weekend. WHOOP! I am excited. :)

I keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' what!

2007-04-11T10:47:00.000-05:00

YAY my advanced human genetics test is over. I was a little worried about it since I still haven't gotten back the last test, but now that is done I am certain I did just fine! I love that total feeling of relief when I'm done with a test and I know it went ok. I was a total bum yesterday after the test and it was fantastic, though now I have the urge to clean and organize, which I know is a good thing since my room is falling apart (though it isn't as bas as it has been!).

So in the news lately......

Billy Gillispie left our wonderful University for Kentucky. I was mad, never really sad, then super mad again, now I'm pretty much over it. Obviously there was drama and I'm glad he's gone now, even though he did amazing things for our program. He just didn't get what it took to be an Aggie. The new guy Mark Turgeon has two super cute kids. Gillispie had none. That makes Turgeon obviously better in my book :)

Larry Birkhead is the baby daddy! Well.... duh. It was pretty obvious that the pretty little baby did not have the schnoz to be related to Howard K Stern. I'm not saying he'd be a better parent, that he doesn't have ulterior motive (ummmm that baby could be worth A-LOT), or that he is even normal. But all I'm saying is that I totally knew he was the dad. Just look at a picture.

Sheryl Crow came to A&M for the stop global warming tour (or something like that). I didn't see her but she's cool and I'm glad she came. Even though it could be bad timing since everyone down here just had snow. Snow is not warm. :)

Ok that's all I can think of for now. I must clean clean clean so that I can feel organized and happy. Maybe I'll buy some highlighters. Seriously. I've been thinking about which brand will be best for medical school because I feel kind of picky about highlighters and I want ones that are bright and somewhat light. I don't want the ink to seep through the pages and look so dark I can hardly read my own handwriting. Maybe I'll ask the office supply people to let me open packages and test them out :)

Currently craving: a clean room! hah yeah

Hop Hop Hoppy!

2007-04-08T20:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter!

Nothing particularly exciting happened today. There were a ton of kids at church (duh) and they were super cute and dressed up. I loved it and took tons of pictures. I also got a couple late birthday presents today so it was extra fun! I'm very full from all the food, and sometimes I wonder why Easter isn't a bigger deal than Christmas. I mean, it really is the most important Christian holiday, with Jesus rising from the dead to ascend into heaven as forgiveness for our sins being quite a big deal and all :)

Christmas in July....err April

2007-04-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

It snowed. In April. In Texas. Who'da thunk.... I think this is ridiculous. I do not like cold weather, it makes me grumpy, and generally is just not something I like, especially in APRIL! I was just outside playing soccer with the doggie, (SUPER cute I'll have to find the pictures we took) and all of a sudden there was white stuff falling from the sky. Incredible.

On a different note, I saw this interesting article. It goes along with how I've felt for a long time. DO NEWBORN SCREENINGS!!!!!!! For pretty much everything. I even wrote a paper about it for my study abroad program. I compared the U.S. and Germany's newborn screening and immunization programs. Let's just say the U.S. has a ways to go.


Visit us online at www.MedPageToday.com

Universal Newborn Cystic Fibrosis Screening Pays Off

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
April 06, 2007

MedPage Today Action Points

Explain to interested patients that in 2004, the CDC in Atlanta recommended that states add CF to their panels of newborn screening tests. At least 27 states have done so, with another four to seven states likely to begin soon.
Inform patients that the findings add economic weight to arguments for newborn CF screening, which has also been shown to improve outcomes for patients with the disease.

Review
NORWICH, England, April 6 -- Routine screening of newborns for cystic fibrosis is cost effective, found researchers here.

The cost of therapy for children eventually diagnosed clinically with cystic fibrosis was 60% to 400% more than for those diagnosed by newborn screening, said Erika J. Sims, Ph.D., of the University of East Anglia, and colleagues.

These treatment savings alone would offset 60% to 73% of screening program costs in a conservative estimate, they wrote in the April 7 issue of The Lancet.

Previous studies have tied early treatment as a result of screening by age two months to better growth, less need for long-term therapies, and even better cognitive development.

In 2004, the CDC in Atlanta recommended that states add the test to their existing panel of newborn screening tests. At least 27 states have done so already with another four to seven likely to begin soon. In England, where the cost-effectiveness was evaluated, CF screening of newborns is not routine.

"If clear clinical benefit does not always persuade governments to implement screening, cost benefits might," the investigators wrote. "The costs of screening are an important part of such decision making."

The study included children ages one to nine years old with CF identified by screening within two months of birth (184) or after clinical presentation without screening (950).

The researchers estimated yearly costs of long-term and nebulized therapies and intravenous antibiotics based on data in the United Kingdom Cystic Fibrosis Database from 2000 to 2002. The cost estimates for CF screening included staff, overheads, and consumables used in adding the test to Scotland's established newborn screening program for phenylketonurea and congenital hypothyroidism.

Among the findings, Dr. Sims and colleagues reported:

For mixed CF genotype patients, clinical diagnosis was associated with 400% higher median treatment costs than with screening ($2,442 versus $352, P<0.0001).
For homozygous genotype patients, the difference was smaller but still significant (median $2,516 versus $2,090, P=0.0001).
Adjusting for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection status, clinically diagnosed patients received significantly more treatment than those identified by screening (heterozygous $3,126 more, P=0.02, homozygous $4,739, P=0.009).

Overall, an estimated 34% to 121% of newborn screening costs would be offset by lower treatment costs. The estimated annual screening cost would be $2,971,551 for the entire United Kingdom whereas the median cost saving for treatment would be $1,001,326 with a mean of $3,601,744.

Using a more conservative model that took into account infants who present clinically prior to screening or who have a rare genotype not picked up by the screening assay, the mean cost saving would still have been $1,791,198 to $2,156,940 (60.2% to 72.6% offset).

Furthermore, the estimated cost savings in 2002 alone would have offset 100% of the estimated costs of implementing the program.

Adding indirect costs from time invested in care by parents and caregivers and days of school missed would likely have further increased the cost saving, the researchers said.

However, they acknowledged there is substantial variation in cost of the screening assay used. In their study, the 31-DNA mutation screen cost $4.44, which was double the $2.66 reported for the single-DNA mutation test used by Wisconsin, for instance.

The study is among the first to look at cost-effectiveness rather than cost-comparisons between methods, according to an editorial by Bridget Wilcken, M.B., Ch.B., and Kevin Gaskin, M.D., both of the Children's Hospital at Westmead and University of Sydney in Australia.

In their editorial, Drs. Wilcken and Gaskin cautioned that other treatment costs, such as those for inpatient care, were not included in the analysis because they are not captured in the database used.

Nonetheless, "Sims' findings probably apply widely outside the United Kingdom," they noted.

The economic, clinical, and social evidence weighs "unreservedly" in favor of international adoption of universal newborn screening programs for CF, the researchers concluded.

"Even if cost savings do not offset the total costs of a screening program, improvements in health resulting from the program justify implementation, if the ratio of costs and benefits are within an acceptable margin," Dr. Sims and colleagues wrote.

The study was funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the National Services Division of NHS in Scotland. Dr. Sims received salary support from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust when the work was carried out. Other researchers reported funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Scottish National Services Division of NHS. The researchers included the director and the manager of the U.K. Cystic Fibrosis Database and the director of the Scottish Newborn Screening Laboratory. Drs. Wilcken and Gaskin reported no conflicts of interest.

Primary source: The Lancet
Source reference:
Wilcken B, Gaskin K "More Evidence to Favour Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis" The Lancet 2007; 369:1146-1147.

Additional source: The Lancet
Source reference:
Sims EJ, et al "Economic Implications of Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis: A Cost of Illness Retrospective Cohort Study" The Lancet 2007; 369:1187-1195.

Disclaimer
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So yeah, pretty interesting if you read the whole thing :)

Currently wanting: warm apple cider. brrrr it is so cold!

TMDSAS goodness

2007-04-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

Thursday, I ran into a friend that I don't see very often, and since he's a year younger and applying to med school, the topic of advice came right up. I have to say, I really really like giving advice. I feel like when I have good knowledge, its almost my duty to, you know, pass it on to future generations. I want to help people learn from my mistakes, give them hints on how they can do well at something. All that jazz. But I also don't get worked up if they don't take it. I mean I gave the advice . . . at least I tried. (perhaps I will make a list sometime of all my big advice) This year was a brand new admissions system, and I think it was really rough on people. The schools all gave out pretty much every available seat in this years class before match. Was it fair? probably not. But it also isn't fair that not every deserving person gets into medical school, while some jerk faced undeserving people who are so anal they probably haven't pooped since '91 do get in. Ok I dont know anyone like that, but you know. I also think Texas needs more med shool spots. I don't know if it would be better to make the existing schools better, or to make a new one. The problem with making a new school, is that it probably should be in an underserved area, such as oh... El Paso or other West/South Texas places. OH WAIT! That's right! Most people don't want to go down there!! But really, this just leads me into a rant on how it all trickles down to families and the priorities they put on education, as well as the education available to them beginning in elementary school. I mean, if you can barely get kids out of high school, how are you going to get them to be successful in college, let alone med school. But that is a much longer story, and it all leads to stories about how people should not think so much about now now now and they should look a little more long term. I mean, if I didn't think long term, how in the world would I know this long road to becoming a doctor is worth it for me. I mean, I'm going to be in school for-ev-er. And that is ok. I'm going to be a doctor!!! *happy dance* I've always wanted this and I'm just one step closer. And thank goodness this is where God wants me to be. I guess if He wanted me somewhere else He would have just put me there. Unless I'm that preverbial (or however you spell it) boulder that's so big God can't even lift it. But jeeze I don't weigh that much :)

Ohhhhhhh... and on a fun note, the boyfriend and I went to get his/our dog fabric to make a blanket. We narrowed it down to either Disney Princesses (light pink fleece) or this cool Yoda and Star Wars (black fleece). She technically is his dog so I told him to pick. When he couldn't I told him black wouldn't look so dirty after a while, so now this giant dog with the pretty pink hearts and bones collar has a silly Yoda blanket to keep her warm (she's very skinny if you weren't aware). And he complained people always called her a boy..... now what are we supposed to do?

Currently watching: CSI miami. LOVE IT! Love CSI, love science, love it love it love it! Plus I can't sleep. Oh me, oh my

It feels like the first time!!!

2007-04-05T00:05:00.000-05:00

So, I'm probably really writing this for me. I doubt anyone other than family/good friends really care what I'm up to. Heck they might not even care. But I choose to think of the positive, so of course they care!
The real point of this blog is to discuss what is going on in my life. To start with, I will be graduating from Texas A&M in May. WHOOP! I'm very excited. VERY excited. And then I'll be attending medical school at UT Houston. Also something I'm very excited about, though this time it is a nervous excitement. All of a sudden it hit me. I'm going to move to a BIG CITY. VERY big city. I'm not from big city, I'm from what most people would call the suburbs. I decided to call this blog Sarah goes to Deutschland, because I feel like my whole medical school experience will be a lot like my study abroad trip. It will be overwhelming, scary at time, but in the end will be one of the best experiences of my life. Also, I kind of think being thrown into medical school is like being thrown into a foreign country. You know, you don't know the language, the customs, all that jazz. Also, it is about as clever as I could muster. So there. Its all out. Me. I'm an open book. Whoop for that.

What I'm really up to right now: Desperately wanting my earache to go away. I broke down and went to the quack shack today, got my Z-pack, and now I'm just waiting it to feel all better. Plus I already went through one box of kleenexes, I don't want to go back to the store for another.