F7! I don't speak F7. (Nor do I speak Russian, Spanish, or Chinese!!)

I must vent.

The other morning while I was eating breakfast my oven started beeping and F7 was flashing on the display screen (it has a digital control panel). F7!??? What the heck does that mean? Needless to say, the breaker switch that powers the oven has been flipped. I feel so unstable without a working oven (even though I no longer have time to cook...but still!).

Have any of you ever had a foreign born professor with a heavy accent? Well, I currently have three. Now, I know we're supposed to be all P.C. and promote unity and equality and whatever, but I'm totally frustrated and just don't feel like it right now. I don't have anything against these people being in this country or having the jobs that they do, but I just can't figure out why the powers that be thought it would be a good idea to have these heavily accented individuals teach very complicated subjects to a large group of students who can't really understand what they are saying. Maybe I'm just spoiled, but regardless, I'm still frustrated!

On a much calmer/excited note, tomorrow is Friday! Whoo-hoo!! This has been a very long week. And.....

It's Blue's Birthday on Saturday!
(He made me promise not to put a picture)
Happy Birthday to my favorite math genius!

On Your Mark, Get Set...

So, I'm on my lunch break during my first real day of class at p-school. I'm struck by how different things are here. First of all, my campus is part of a real-life, functioning hospital...something I'm not used to being around on a daily basis. Secondly, all of my classes are held in the same room everyday (except for the one lab that I go to once a week). Most of our tests are taken outside of class time. (BTW, I was looking over the finals schedule last night and I noticed that my Bio-chem final is five hours long...that must be a misprint, right??) I have to wear a badge everyday and ride a shuttle twice everyday from and back to War Memorial Stadium where I park. (The morning bus driver drives the thing like its a nascar, so its actually turned out to be a nice early morning pick-me-up. Once this unbearable heat starts to subside, though, I'll probably start walking.) Most of my classes are team taught, which means that different doctors will come in on different days and lecture about their particular specialties. Speaking of classes, here is what I'm taking this semester:

Pharmaceutics I (basically lots of chemistry and how it relates to pharmacy)
Anatomy/Physiology/Pathology (this class has apparently caused several students to die)
Biological and Cellular Chemistry (I can't even begin to tell you how much this is going to require from my brain)
Pharmaceutical Calculations (thank the lord that Blue is my room-mate)
Pharmacy Practice I (not sure what this is going to entail just yet)

Aren't you glad you're not me? I'm still pretty stress free at this point, which is good. I just hope I can stay diligent and not fall into my bad habit of procrastinating, because apparently that is a death sentence for a pharm student.

I hope you've enjoyed this little lunch time insight into the life of a P-1 student. Join us next time for more enjoyable and enlightening tid-bits and anecdotes (and parentheses).

You Can Trust Me

The weekend has been a very nice precursor to my first official week of p-school. I got a lot of relaxation in, which included hanging out at The Rose last night, always fun. This afternoon I attended the White Coat Ceremony where we're given our snazzy little white lab jackets and we recite the pharmacist's oath...serious business. Check me out in my new digs:

They mentioned an interesting fact during orientation. Out of all the professionals out there, pharmacists are the second most trusted people behind nurses. We beat out clergy, doctors, etc. I'm starting to feel pretty powerful!! (Ha!...I probably shouldn't get too ahead of myself.)

Well, I've got one more day of orientation/registration and then class starts bright and early on Tuesday morning. Duhn, Duhn, DUUUNH!

Wah, Wah, Wah.

Orientation today was pretty uneventful. Just a lot of (boring) speakers. I did get my official UAMS badge. I feel all official now. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little better. They have a scavenger hunt scheduled. (Joy.)

I'm so glad it's the weekend in less than 24 hours. Yahoo!

It's official! You can now sue me and make a ton of money.

Today I became the proud owner of a professional liability insurance policy. UAMS requires it. Luckily, the company gives a generous reduction of the premium for students. They don't so much do that once you are a professional, but that's four years away...no time to worry about it now. Ahh, the joys of the medical field!

Orientation starts tomorrow! I'm a giant ball of nerves! (In a good way (I think)).

Okay, so which one of you put an electricity hex on my house?

Our power went out again!! This time it was due to the big yet small storm that blew through Sunday afternoon. Apparently it disrupted power for about 3,500 customers including St. Vincent Hospital (cause my mom was working there at the time). This happened at about 4:30. I called Entergy and their cheerful recording stated that power will be restored sometime between now and 1AM. Needless to say, Jillian and I packed up our ingredients for Mac n' cheese and drove out to my parents house in Chenal (where it hadn't even rained!!). No more outages please!

The past weekend was good other than feeling mildly under the weather for most it.

-Friday I met up with the gang at Ciao Baci for some drinks and then proceeded with half of the group to go hang out downtown. It was a blast. Good times, my friends, good times.

-Saturday Blue and I hiked through the wilderness outside of Batesville with Trevor and Brooke and found a pretty cool climbing site. It was pretty hot and we were quite parched after the four miles we did, but it was good to get outside and do something that we haven't done much this summer (cause its been so stinkin' hot!).

-Sunday Jill came over and well, you already know the drama that ensued.

Now I'm just counting down the days until I give my life away to the pursuit of a doctorate. I've got two more days of freedom left before p-school orientations starts. I'd better go take advantage!!

We Didn't Start the Fire

So, last night around 7:20 (right in the middle of Big Brother!) there is this startlingly loud explosion just outside our house. You guessed it. A transformer blew. I never knew how loud those things actually were. It was shocking. Anyway, we look outside and low and behold our neighbor's (who is an older, single lady) yard is on fire, and its a fire that is growing and spreading quite fast. Blue heads outside as do about 20 other neighbors who come running down the street to try and put it out. I call the fire department and this black lady in a robe starts banging on my neighbors door because she's not outside yet (turns out she had had cataract surgery and was all doped up, so it took her a while to get out of bed). All the people in the street ended up putting out the fire with hoses right before two giant fire engines arrived. (The fireman did not look happy. According to Blue's sister who is a firefighter, whenever they take the trucks out of the station they have to wash them when they get back.) Amazingly enough, Entergy had the power back on by about 8:00pm. All's well that ends well.

Yea! It's Friday...but also not yea! because that means I'm one day closer to starting pharm school. It's not that I don't want to go. I'm just starting to get a little anxious is all. I started a bio-chem reveiw this morning to hopefully give myself a head start.

Jillian and I are going shopping and out to lunch today. Then tomorrow Blue and I are heading up to Batesville to visit Brooke and Trevor and go hiking and climbing. Then on Sunday Jillian is coming over for a super sister sleepover. We're making home-made macaroni and cheese and renting girly movies. Yahoo!

I'm sure I'll see most of you at some point this weekend, otherwise have a good one!

Just Call Me Bob Vila

A couple weeks before we moved to LR I decided to take on the task of stripping and refinishing an old hand-me-down dresser for the new bedroom. It was much cheaper than buying a new one and I tend to enjoy those kind of projects anyway. Well, it took a week and a half as well as some minor chemical burns and dead brain cells from toxic fume inhalation, but I'm pretty pleased with the end product. It's certainly not perfect, but for my first try at wood refinishing I think I did okay. Here are the before and after shots:

Before:















After:














I've also been spending lots of time the past few days during my vacatioin doing little projects around the new house. Yesterday I made some valances for my bedroom windows. Blue thought it was weird that they weren't gathered, but I'm going for a modern, minimalistic like feel in the room so I think I like the way that they turned out. What's your verdict?

Babies are like tequila shots: They seem fun and exciting, but then you realize you've got yourself into way more than you bargained for.

Much of my time at the lodge was spent playing with and taking care of my new twin cousins, Josh and Kyle. They're six months old and incredibly cute. They are so cute that they almost fooled me into thinking that maybe I'd like to have one in a few years. Don't worry though. After a couple days I came to my senses.

How adorable are they? I'm holding Kyle and Jillian is holding Josh (aka wittle Joshy).














This is by far the best picture of the trip.















I had to include this picture of one of our canoe trips just to show off how pretty the lake is. Also check out the blue sky with the puffy white clouds. We just don't get those kind of clouds down here. Up there that is what the sky looks like everyday!









Another thing that I've never seen down here are water lillies. They're gorgeous and the lake was covered in them.

One viral cold, several choice purchases, and 6,000 familial arguments later....

I'm Back! I had a nice time on my recent trip up North to visit my Mom's family and celebrate my Grandfather's 70th birthday. It was quite relaxing spending several days at the family "lodge." We spent lots of time outdoors canoeing, swimming, etc. and I don't think I got one mosquito bite (they tend not to like me).

This is the lodge:














We also spent two days in Minneapolis doing some serious shopping. Though the Mall of America may seem ostentatious, it is quite impressive once you're in it. It's like Las Vegas for gamblers...nothing compares.

Last but not least, we spent copious amounts of time playing with and taking care of my new twin cousins. They're six months old and cute as buttons. My sister has hijacked the camera that has all of the pictures of them on it so I'll try and post some tomorrow.

And Finally, I want to do some hanging out this week...dollar draft night, margaritas and cheese dip, happy hour, anything! Whose down?

Northern Bound

Well, I know I just started blogging again, but for the next five days you may not hear much out of me because bright and early tomorrow morning I fly up to the great state of Minnesota. I'm going up there to visit my Mom's side of the family. My grandfather is turning 70 and they're having a big party this weekend at the family lake house in western Wisconsin. It's a pretty cool place. I refer to it as the "lodge." I'll be sure and bring back photos. We'll also be spending a few days in the twin cities, which I'm so excited about. Watch out mosquitoes...here I come!

Back, Back, Back Again

It's a miracle! We FINALLY have internet in the house. Thank the lord!

It's been a whirlwind weekend. Friday and Saturday during the day were spent getting ready for the housewarming/welcome home party, which turned out to be a smashing success if I do say so myself. I had a great time and I think everyone else did too. Almost all of the food got eaten which is always a good sign.

On a funny note, I did take some pictures but they don't include any people...just food. I'm sure others will post some people pics on their blogs.

Here's what we ate:














Cheese Ravioli in Marinara















Marinated Cheese















Honeydew Melon wrapped in Proscuitto















Italian Meatballs















A Fruit Plate (made by Brooke)















Seven-Layer Italian Dip















Bruschetta (Blue made this...what a guy!)















Roasted Cherry Tomatoes stuffed with Pesto




















Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies
Grapes, Figs, and Chocolate covered Strawberries
Ginger Star Cookies















Buttermilk Cake with chocolate and strawbery filling iced in Almond buttercream and topped with chocolate covered strawberries

Yum-ola! I had a blast putting it all together and I can't wait to do it again.

Comcast must Die!!

So, we're on our fourth appointment with Comcast trying to get our cable and broadband turned on. Major Arrgh! I won't go into the details because it's boring and frustrating, so just cross your fingers that they show up on Friday between the hours of 2 and 5.

On a more fun note, the housewarming/welcome home Chandle is fast approaching. If I know you and you live in LR (or are visiting this weekend) you are invited even if you didn't get one of the evites. I have limited e-mails, so I didn't get it out to everyone. It's on Saturday at 7. Call me or any of our friends for more detail. Yea for having good reasons to party!! See you there.

Wired!

If everything goes smoothly, we should be online in the new house tomorrow. Yea!

Oh, and I just sent out the e-vites for the housewarming to all you LR people. I think it worked alright, but if you didn't get one let me know and I'll see if I can fix it. Any of you out of towners who will be here on July 29th are certainly invited too!

At Last!

We are in the new house!! Unfort. we do not have internet yet. Comcast = Arrgh! Just wanted to let you know I'm alive. Hopefully I'll be back online soon. More to come!

Rampant Inefficiency / See You on the Other Side!

I am so MAD! So I get a call today at 2:30 from U-haul. They tell me that I'm going to have to pick up the truck I reserved for the move in Clinton, AR. Are you kidding me??? That's like an hour outside of Conway. I argued with them for a while and got no where, so I said screw you and Blue and I spent the next hour on the phone calling everyone in the phone book trying to find a truck for tomorrow. Luckily, we found one. We have to go to Little Rock to pick it up, but, hey, it's better than going to Clinton. Oh, and stay away from U-haul. They're on my black list for sure.

On a lighter note, tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!! (Cue angelic voices singing "Ahhhhhh"). I've got my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. I'm feeling slightly stressed because we move on thursday and then I leave for my annual Minnesota trip on Saturday. I'm just gonna have to find a way to deal with not being able to unpack everything before the trip. Due to all of thismoving and stuff I'm probably gonna be without internet service for a few weeks, but I'll update as often as I'm able. The next time you hear from me I'll officially be a home owner. Saa-weet!

Oh, and have a fabulous Fourth of July! Don't forget to practice proper firework safety!!!

Movin' on UP...

Let the moving madness begin...

This use to be our living room. I'm proud to say that 95% of the house is packed and ready to go (and we still have two more days!). I am slightly perturbed with the fact that our landlord called today and told us we have to shampoo the carpets or he's gonna take $100 out of our deposit. We didn't even get them dirty. He says it's his policy. Whatever jack-@&& ! Oh, and that kid pooped in his pants AGAIN! I'm not kidding. I talked with the director and they are going to talk to his parent. It's got to stop!

What is that smell?? (times 2)

Ah, the joys of working with kindergarteners...

So two days ago we were having free-time in the classroom and some of the kids started yelling about a bad smell. I didn't pay much attention because we have a few boys who have yet to mature enough to be embarassed when they pass gas, so they usually just let it fly. After a minute or two passed I started to smell something too. I noticed one of the boys sitting alone so I went over to check things out, and lo and behold there was a toxic cloud of stinkiness surrounding him. That's right folks...he had pooped his pants! I won't go into detail because I'm sure you can imagine just how much fun I had dealing with the situation.

But wait...it gets better.

The next day, at around the same time for goodness sake, I started smelling a familiar foul odor. I looked around the room and the same little boy was off by himself with a grim look on his face. Yes, indeed. He had pooped his pants...AGAIN! I was shocked, flabergasted, and horrified at the prospect of having to go through the clean up ordeal two days in a row. Blehhh!

Luckily, we made it through today without any accidents. Lets just say that this is affirming my desire not to have children anytime soon.

Hiatus/Take your nappy!

Um, yeah, so unbeknowst to me, my blog decided to go on a two week cruise to the Bahamas. It had a great time, and now that it is back, I'll be able to update more frequently.

Summer day camp is going pretty well so far. I have a pretty good group of kindergarteners this year. I've noticed that I tend to loose my patience around 11am, but thankfully nap time starts at 12:30pm. It is my refuge...but don't worry. I don't rub paste all over my face and do tribal dances like the kindergarten teacher in Billy Madison. I usually just read a book.

I'm totally hating the getting up at 5:30am so I can drive to LR and be at work by 7am, but there are only seven more days of that bull-shizz left because I will officially be on vacation starting the 29th. I will also officially be moving that day too. Hooray!

Speaking of the new house, I have an important announcement. A date has been tentatively determined for the Housewarming/Welcome home Chandle/etc./etc. (we have a lot to celebrate) BASH! Pencil it in on your calendars for the evening of July 29th (a Sat.). More details to follow as the date approaches.

I'll leave you with a portrait of me that one of my kindergarteners handed me the other day...

I'm not quite sure what it says, but I'm excited that I'll apparently never need collagen injections. Ha!

Endings, Beginnings, Endings, Beginnings...

Yea! School is officially over, complete, done (until fall)! I finished accounting with flying colors, and now that I have completed ALL the necessary requirements, I will officially, to the most certain degree, be attending UAMS this fall. Sweet!

I've also completed my last day of baking at the restaurant. I'll miss it, but I won't miss the crazy old woman that I shared baking duties with. What a loon! The owner asked me what it would take to get me to stay...I said raise my salary to $25 an hour with benefits and buy a brand new oven ( to replace the P.O.S that they have right now). He rejected that offer. I was kind of kidding but not really cause, heck, I'm worth it!

Tomorrow morning, bright and early at 7am, I begin taking care of a kindergarten classroom (all by my lonesome!) at Camp Falcon (Christ Lutheran School's summer day camp). I'm excited to meet all of my kiddos this summer. Hopefully I'll have some cool ones. I've got lots of plans for our class this summer, which I'm sure I'll describe in a later post.

I have a feeling that this summer is gonna go by very quickly, but I also have a feeling that it's gonna be tons of fun! Let's hope so.

**!!!!!24 days till the Little Rock exodus!!!!!** Yahoo!