Starts today!
Yes, that's right, after a combined 14 years of post-high school education (I know, depressing, right?) Eugene and I will begin our last 'bout of finals today! I mean, we'll still have to study for boards next year so it's not like we're really done studying, but this is the last time (hopefully) that we'll have to endure the idea of several tests in a short interval! I'm not excited at all, can you tell? Finals left: OTC, Law, pharmacotherapy, Population-based strategies. That's it! 4 exams between us and rotations. And, come to think of it, I think Eugene might have a paper.
Professional school really has flown by. Everyone always tells you it will, but really, when I was first starting out, I never would have believed it, and I didn't. During second year, there was so much going on that I barely had time to think. This year has definitely been better, but how is it May 2nd already? We start rotations in 19 days?!? Really? Holy cow!
Truth be told, since school has picked up, the wedding planning had kind of come to a halt. I'm looking over in the corner of the living room realizing that there are lots of projects that need to be done. This whole time, I had been telling myself that we have lots of time until December.... It's less than 8 months. Less than 8 months for me to get my act together, to actually get final counts of what we need and where they all go. Many a person may think 8 months is a long time, but if pharmacy school is any indication, it will go by faster than I realize.
Well, off to study for a bit. Wish us luck on finals!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
On Being Pharmacy Students
It's awful. And wonderful. And then awful again.
Whenever people ask me how the wedding planning is going, my immediate response is that it's going well. It's really pretty much done. Maybe this is just because I'm constantly comparing it to my previous activities in pharmacy school. So here it is, wedding planning is easier than being a pharmacy student. Don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of help along the way, and an AMAZING fiancé, so maybe that's why it seems to be so much easier. Also, it's more FUN. What would I rather be doing right now; studying for pharmacotherapy like I should be (instead of writing this blog post) or making more fabric flowers, painting votives, pouring wax into the stemmed votives that we found for 50 cents a piece back at home? Of course all of the latter activities make me happier.
This is probably why: I like things that get done. It sounds silly, but it's true! I love crossing things off a to-do list, completing assignments, finishing cleaning my room, getting that next load of laundry out of the dryer, and finishing a bunch of dishes. There's a sense of finality to it. In all of this planning/creating, there's a sense of finality. I have missed it so much. There is no sense of finality in pharmacy school. Like I said, we have a pharmacotherapy exam tomorrow, and for the life of me I will NEVER have a sense that I have finished preparing for this exam. I can't. There's too much for my tiny brain to handle. A roommate of mine told me first year: "Larren, there is always more to know." He's right. I don't like that.
Planning this wedding, however, has been a series of tasks that I've been able to do. To do: book a venue, hire a photographer, dj, baker, etc. Each of those are all taken care of. Once it's done, it's done! There's no more studying/researching to be done. And it's awesome!
What does this come down to? I'm a control fruit loop and I don't like things that are out of my control: i.e.: pharmacy school. Don't like it a bit. Maybe things will be better on rotations when I will have a series of finalities each day. For now, back to attempting to study for this crazy exam tomorrow. Story. Of. Our. Lives.
Whenever people ask me how the wedding planning is going, my immediate response is that it's going well. It's really pretty much done. Maybe this is just because I'm constantly comparing it to my previous activities in pharmacy school. So here it is, wedding planning is easier than being a pharmacy student. Don't get me wrong, I've had a lot of help along the way, and an AMAZING fiancé, so maybe that's why it seems to be so much easier. Also, it's more FUN. What would I rather be doing right now; studying for pharmacotherapy like I should be (instead of writing this blog post) or making more fabric flowers, painting votives, pouring wax into the stemmed votives that we found for 50 cents a piece back at home? Of course all of the latter activities make me happier.
This is probably why: I like things that get done. It sounds silly, but it's true! I love crossing things off a to-do list, completing assignments, finishing cleaning my room, getting that next load of laundry out of the dryer, and finishing a bunch of dishes. There's a sense of finality to it. In all of this planning/creating, there's a sense of finality. I have missed it so much. There is no sense of finality in pharmacy school. Like I said, we have a pharmacotherapy exam tomorrow, and for the life of me I will NEVER have a sense that I have finished preparing for this exam. I can't. There's too much for my tiny brain to handle. A roommate of mine told me first year: "Larren, there is always more to know." He's right. I don't like that.
Planning this wedding, however, has been a series of tasks that I've been able to do. To do: book a venue, hire a photographer, dj, baker, etc. Each of those are all taken care of. Once it's done, it's done! There's no more studying/researching to be done. And it's awesome!
What does this come down to? I'm a control fruit loop and I don't like things that are out of my control: i.e.: pharmacy school. Don't like it a bit. Maybe things will be better on rotations when I will have a series of finalities each day. For now, back to attempting to study for this crazy exam tomorrow. Story. Of. Our. Lives.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
(Mis)Adventures in Crafting
I was a very confused child growing up. Half of the time I was one of the girliest girls ever. Other times I was a huge tomboy. One day I would want to play dress up, twirling like a princess in various clothes. The next day, I would want to hang out with Kal and roll around in dirt.
Where does this leave my crafting ability? Well, aside from girl scouts, which I quit in the 4th grade, I didn't show too much interest. My Mother is one of the best seamstresses I know. This woman can work miracles. Had I been more patient, I think there's lots she could have told me. At the time, I chose to go roll in the dirt. (Or was it twirl? I can't quite remember...)
Enter... the internet!!! The internet enables my crafting ability. Tons of people all over the world tediously post step by step instructions with pictures! Hooray! Don't get me wrong, there's definitely still somewhat of a learning curve, but I'm getting it! What's more, I plan to put it to good use.
Remember that flower post I made waaaay back in the wee early days of the blog? Remember how I was all torn between real and artificial? Well, I figured it out! Ima make me a whole mess of fabric flowers! They're pretty, cheaper, and I can make them in navy and copper, which is super challenging to do otherwise.
Earlier, I was all manner of ready to get my craft on. I had seen the tutorials, watched the youtube videos and was set. Why don't I post some pictures of progress... or lack there of, but pictures are always fun, right?? Right.
Below are some of my very first attempts. They include rolling some fabric around pipe cleaners, and then twisting. Let me tell you, that super skinny one where I was all OCD... is not the way to go. I had to throw that one away...
Where does this leave my crafting ability? Well, aside from girl scouts, which I quit in the 4th grade, I didn't show too much interest. My Mother is one of the best seamstresses I know. This woman can work miracles. Had I been more patient, I think there's lots she could have told me. At the time, I chose to go roll in the dirt. (Or was it twirl? I can't quite remember...)
Enter... the internet!!! The internet enables my crafting ability. Tons of people all over the world tediously post step by step instructions with pictures! Hooray! Don't get me wrong, there's definitely still somewhat of a learning curve, but I'm getting it! What's more, I plan to put it to good use.
Remember that flower post I made waaaay back in the wee early days of the blog? Remember how I was all torn between real and artificial? Well, I figured it out! Ima make me a whole mess of fabric flowers! They're pretty, cheaper, and I can make them in navy and copper, which is super challenging to do otherwise.
Earlier, I was all manner of ready to get my craft on. I had seen the tutorials, watched the youtube videos and was set. Why don't I post some pictures of progress... or lack there of, but pictures are always fun, right?? Right.
Below are some of my very first attempts. They include rolling some fabric around pipe cleaners, and then twisting. Let me tell you, that super skinny one where I was all OCD... is not the way to go. I had to throw that one away...
Eventually, pretty little rose-looking things can be made. In the top-right corner, you can see the bottle of fabric glue that helped to hold these puppies together. Except, here's the thing: it takes FOREVER to flipping dry!!!!! For-ev-errr. And, what's the best way to help these stay together while the glue dries? Apparently for me, that answer was binder clips...
I also found a tutorial on how to make these pretties from a pattern and candle, needle and thread. I only burned myself ONCE. Impressed? I sure was.
What happens if you're not paying attention whilst crafting all of this? See below!
I glued them together.... Oops.
So now you're probably like, Larren, really, these are not misadventures at all! Oh, the best is yet to come. I decided to put the flowers that I had made on wooden dowels. This way, they stand up and look somewhat floral. So, for the boutonnieres, I needed to cut the wooden dowels... Would you believe I really don't have anything to cut wooden things with? It's very true. So, in all my finite wisdom, I decided to look in the toolkit I got for Christmas to see if there was a utility knife. There was, so I thought, perfect! I began cutting the wooden dowels.... I got impatient... I cut a gash in my thigh. It bled... a lot. Like a mini Mississippi. I was watching these little white specks flowing out wondering if they were platelets, then thinking they were probably just air bubbles. Well. Done. Me. Needless to say, there was some elevation and h2o2 applied, but good gracious. No more of that for me. Eugene's cutting the rest of the dowels... So far they look ok, though. I really enjoy these!! And yes, a second later, Leo did in fact swat at things. Isn't he cute, though??
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Bride Freakout Number 1
Ok, I for reals need to get better about these blogposts. One-month intervals is simply not ok for me to be writing. If nothing else, I could probably use the catharsis.
You'd think this would be about Valentine's... Nope. I'll save that for another post. Which will NOT be in March. I'm mostly telling myself this...
And, well, let's be honest. This isn't bride freakout number 1. It's really just bride freakout number 1 that I'm telling the world about. It's just kind of funny, and tells the world that I'm a little spacey sometimes.
I go to do the dishes, then finish some other tasks that really needed to get done (removing the table sticky from my grapefruit breakfast... yep). I finish. I stop. I say out loud, when I really wish this was in my head "omgosh, I have no idea where I set my ring down! I went to do the dishes, took it off to do the dishes, and eep, where is it?!?" I then look on my hand and there it is. A little less spazzing might have been pleasant for everyone involved.
My biggest fear?
-Something like this happening in front of a patient. It happens to me all the time when I'm at home. I mis-place my keys and they're in an obvious place, I forget where I set my cup of coffee, etc. However, as this past Monday's TOSCE (Teaching Objective Structured Clinical Exam) taught me, once there's a patient in front of you, they're really trusting you not to mis-place any piece of information or to miss anything! All of a sudden the pressure is kind of on and I'm not really sure how ready I am for it.
Patients tend to think/trust (or maybe this is just my Mom) that healthcare professionals are mind-readers. "What do you mean I have to tell my Dr. that, don't they know?" HEEECK NO, THEY DON'T! Fortunately, educators in healthcare are well aware of this and teach us to ask questions... lots of questions, but pertinent, important, discriminating questions. However, when I tried to do this with my standardized patient, he informed me that "well, you're the pharmacist, shouldn't you know this already, what this drug is used for?" Yes, sir, I understand that you're taking your flipping simvastatin for hyperlipidemia... But I'd feel much better knowing that YOU know this and how it works so you understand why it's so important that you take it properly... *Cue headache* "Well, I feel like you're grilling me. Why do you care that my Doctor tells me this or not..." Ugggh. If only it were professional to face palm in front of patients...
I am mutually ecstatic and terrified that I only have <1.5 years of school left. I really don't want to make a mistake, but at the same time, I have to come to terms that I am human and I am far from perfect. Does anyone else ever have this sense of insecurity?
You'd think this would be about Valentine's... Nope. I'll save that for another post. Which will NOT be in March. I'm mostly telling myself this...
And, well, let's be honest. This isn't bride freakout number 1. It's really just bride freakout number 1 that I'm telling the world about. It's just kind of funny, and tells the world that I'm a little spacey sometimes.
I go to do the dishes, then finish some other tasks that really needed to get done (removing the table sticky from my grapefruit breakfast... yep). I finish. I stop. I say out loud, when I really wish this was in my head "omgosh, I have no idea where I set my ring down! I went to do the dishes, took it off to do the dishes, and eep, where is it?!?" I then look on my hand and there it is. A little less spazzing might have been pleasant for everyone involved.
My biggest fear?
-Something like this happening in front of a patient. It happens to me all the time when I'm at home. I mis-place my keys and they're in an obvious place, I forget where I set my cup of coffee, etc. However, as this past Monday's TOSCE (Teaching Objective Structured Clinical Exam) taught me, once there's a patient in front of you, they're really trusting you not to mis-place any piece of information or to miss anything! All of a sudden the pressure is kind of on and I'm not really sure how ready I am for it.
Patients tend to think/trust (or maybe this is just my Mom) that healthcare professionals are mind-readers. "What do you mean I have to tell my Dr. that, don't they know?" HEEECK NO, THEY DON'T! Fortunately, educators in healthcare are well aware of this and teach us to ask questions... lots of questions, but pertinent, important, discriminating questions. However, when I tried to do this with my standardized patient, he informed me that "well, you're the pharmacist, shouldn't you know this already, what this drug is used for?" Yes, sir, I understand that you're taking your flipping simvastatin for hyperlipidemia... But I'd feel much better knowing that YOU know this and how it works so you understand why it's so important that you take it properly... *Cue headache* "Well, I feel like you're grilling me. Why do you care that my Doctor tells me this or not..." Ugggh. If only it were professional to face palm in front of patients...
I am mutually ecstatic and terrified that I only have <1.5 years of school left. I really don't want to make a mistake, but at the same time, I have to come to terms that I am human and I am far from perfect. Does anyone else ever have this sense of insecurity?
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Invitations Headache
If you didn't see the title of this post, check it out. If you did, read it again. Cause it's legit. Invitations to a wedding are fun enjoyable easy straightforward simple (aw heck no, 'simple' was a mistake to think of) challenging. There are a million paper vendors out there and just as many Do-It-Yourself tutorials. There are people saying they would never trust themselves to their wedding stationary and others that complain of the exorbitant costs of paying someone as a vendor for the stationary. I guess you could toss me in the second cohort? We plan to invite approximately 70 people to this shindig. That translates to about 50 real invitations, 70 programs, 70 menus, 70 name cards, and whatever else that people use paper products for in a marriagin'.
Some vendors will charge anywhere from $2.00-$6.00-$10.00 for an invitation. With some brilliant quick math in my head, that could translate to $500.00 on just the INVITATION! An invitation, that I know will eventually end up in the rubbish, because once someone writes down the date and time (which they may already know cause let's face it, I'm not the quiet type) what's the point of hanging on to the invitation? Oh, I should concede that the RSVP card comes in the invitation (which EVERYONE is sending back to me, riiiiight? Please? Pretty please?). So that's important. But even the RSVP card, gets sent back to me. So why should I spend so much money on that thing? People could as easily just send me a text, "hey, put me down for 3 peeps 2 moo moo's and 1 cluck" and be done!
So guess what I decided. Though I was not originally thrilled with the idea of DIY, we're going that route. Initially, I just didn't trust myself to design/execute such an operation. However, after some brilliant workarounds with MS powerpoint, I think I have the base design down for the invitations. Next comes researching all those DIY tutorials that will hopefully show me how to buy my cats' weight in cardstock and spend a lot of time folding and gluing. They will probably have to be professionally printed. I don't trust my relationship with the Canon home printer for this job. I'm not that smart. Hopefully people like them enough to send me back the RSVP card. Hopefully they do their job. Hopefully they don't make my wallet scream 'Shenanigans!' in the process. At least there's a lot of time until these bad boys have to go out. Any thoughts? Does anyone know of anyone else who did their invites themselves??
Some vendors will charge anywhere from $2.00-$6.00-$10.00 for an invitation. With some brilliant quick math in my head, that could translate to $500.00 on just the INVITATION! An invitation, that I know will eventually end up in the rubbish, because once someone writes down the date and time (which they may already know cause let's face it, I'm not the quiet type) what's the point of hanging on to the invitation? Oh, I should concede that the RSVP card comes in the invitation (which EVERYONE is sending back to me, riiiiight? Please? Pretty please?). So that's important. But even the RSVP card, gets sent back to me. So why should I spend so much money on that thing? People could as easily just send me a text, "hey, put me down for 3 peeps 2 moo moo's and 1 cluck" and be done!
So guess what I decided. Though I was not originally thrilled with the idea of DIY, we're going that route. Initially, I just didn't trust myself to design/execute such an operation. However, after some brilliant workarounds with MS powerpoint, I think I have the base design down for the invitations. Next comes researching all those DIY tutorials that will hopefully show me how to buy my cats' weight in cardstock and spend a lot of time folding and gluing. They will probably have to be professionally printed. I don't trust my relationship with the Canon home printer for this job. I'm not that smart. Hopefully people like them enough to send me back the RSVP card. Hopefully they do their job. Hopefully they don't make my wallet scream 'Shenanigans!' in the process. At least there's a lot of time until these bad boys have to go out. Any thoughts? Does anyone know of anyone else who did their invites themselves??
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Eugene Thinks I Should Be an NFL Announcer
So, to be fair, this is mostly a joke and response to my random comments on the Saints vs. 49ers playoff game. Of course I sit there making all sorts of side comments about the game. We are seriously watching the game, but sometimes it's fun to notice things other than the game. Some of my winning quotes:
"Awww, Brees has the same birthday as his 3 year old, you can't hate him..."
"Wow, Alex Smith is a HUGE friggin guy!"
"Gah, Smith is such a bro-ham!"
"Harbaugh's all, stay down there, stay down there!"
Eugene: "Smith is kind of ADD like Leo"
"*Gulp*" to imitate Jim Harbaugh's very visible swallow after they failed their 2-point conversion
"Who the heck is that guy?"
*pause, have to hug fiancee after Saints TD*
Holy cow they moved that ball down the field!
"Davis, keep it together, man!"
Eugene when Davis got to Harbaugh: "Aw man, I stubbed my toe coach, it hurts so bad!"
"That's ok, Davis, I'll hold you till it gets better."
Have to say, the 49ers did really, really well. We'll see how the Packers do tomorrow. I just thought this would be fun to share. We've both been in a fit of giggles since. Take care everyone!
"Awww, Brees has the same birthday as his 3 year old, you can't hate him..."
"Wow, Alex Smith is a HUGE friggin guy!"
"Gah, Smith is such a bro-ham!"
"Harbaugh's all, stay down there, stay down there!"
Eugene: "Smith is kind of ADD like Leo"
"*Gulp*" to imitate Jim Harbaugh's very visible swallow after they failed their 2-point conversion
"Who the heck is that guy?"
*pause, have to hug fiancee after Saints TD*
Holy cow they moved that ball down the field!
"Davis, keep it together, man!"
Eugene when Davis got to Harbaugh: "Aw man, I stubbed my toe coach, it hurts so bad!"
"That's ok, Davis, I'll hold you till it gets better."
Have to say, the 49ers did really, really well. We'll see how the Packers do tomorrow. I just thought this would be fun to share. We've both been in a fit of giggles since. Take care everyone!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Reflection Of Our Relationship
First off, I have to say I'm sorry for not updating this in a long long time. I know, it's been forever. I'm sorry! I'm going to blame it on holidays and finals. That's acceptable, right? Right? Thank you, I knew you'd understand :)
On to the reflecting bit. I think everyone knows at this point that we have 2 cats: Ronan and Leo. Ronan came first. He's our 8 year old geriatric cat that we adopted from the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter. We pretty much bonded instantaneously and now there's not a day that goes by where we don't have some quality cuddle time. Leo came from the Maryland SPCA because I couldn't handle going back to BARCS. It really was kind of like Animal Auschwitz. Leo's awesome, but he really is Daddy's cat. He will cuddle with Eugene until the cows come home. So many pictures on my phone are of Eugene and Leo in various stages of cuddles.
Today, when I was reminding Leo that he has shots coming up in April at the vet's office, Eugene and I both decided to break into song. Not the same song, mind you. But hey, why not. Here's what transpired:
Me: "Leo, in April you have to get shots. Excited? Shots....?"
Songs
Me: That obnoxious song that says shots like, 16 times that was rampant in public during my first year of pharmacy school.
Eugene: "Shot through the heart! And you're to blame, you give love a bad name..."
I love that Eugene still lives in the pop culture world of the 80s.... It adds much laughter and value to my life.
On to the reflecting bit. I think everyone knows at this point that we have 2 cats: Ronan and Leo. Ronan came first. He's our 8 year old geriatric cat that we adopted from the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter. We pretty much bonded instantaneously and now there's not a day that goes by where we don't have some quality cuddle time. Leo came from the Maryland SPCA because I couldn't handle going back to BARCS. It really was kind of like Animal Auschwitz. Leo's awesome, but he really is Daddy's cat. He will cuddle with Eugene until the cows come home. So many pictures on my phone are of Eugene and Leo in various stages of cuddles.
Today, when I was reminding Leo that he has shots coming up in April at the vet's office, Eugene and I both decided to break into song. Not the same song, mind you. But hey, why not. Here's what transpired:
Me: "Leo, in April you have to get shots. Excited? Shots....?"
Songs
Me: That obnoxious song that says shots like, 16 times that was rampant in public during my first year of pharmacy school.
Eugene: "Shot through the heart! And you're to blame, you give love a bad name..."
I love that Eugene still lives in the pop culture world of the 80s.... It adds much laughter and value to my life.
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