6/30/2013

Arrrg effort. I am used to putting effort into school, work, chores and sometimes even swimming. I am not used to putting work into running 8 miles. 8 miles should be a nice Sunday run in the park except my schedule for today told me to do it in an hour. I made it and felt accomplished but it is much harder than I'd like it to be. 

The rest of my day was just assignments and getting ready for what looks to be a very full week. The second highlight of my day was mint chocolate Oreo ice cream. It really good except that the Oreos got a little bit too crushed up so the ice cream is closer to olive coloured instead of the light free that it is showed to be. Luckily it is very tasty so it should be gone soon and I can try again. 

6/29/2013

Today's footy match was another big victory. They made me feel worthwhile too. I had been given the wrong time for the game and then got a call to be 27km away in 10minutes. I rushed as fast as I could and got there only 40 minutes late. There were 3 players that didn't play the first quarter because I wasn't there. I felt loved. I did get in a good bike ride there and back. 

The rest of the day was skype, west wing, study, and running hills. 

6/28/2013

Although I'm excited to get back to clinics, I'm enjoying actually getting to see my classmates. I went out for coffee at a cafe around the block. It's quite lovely, I'm so glad that I found it. Otherwise I've been busy studying and also being lazy. Laziness is over though. Marathon training started today and I'm getting to work on the projects for the semester which are numerous. 

6/27/2013

Nothing too exciting today except for left over birthday cake. I worked tonight. My favourite retired player was back. He's playing for the next couple weeks. I went climbing tonight as well. After work my arms were quite tired so I didn't have as good of a climb as I have the past few week. It was fun but my arms and legs are really, really tired now. 

6/25/2013

This morning the painter came to re paint our kitchen where we had experienced the water leak a few months ago. He worked all morning while I did business homework....watching paint dry. I decided to go into work a bit early and take the extended bike path to get there little did I know that work had been canceled so I didn't actually have to go. I got a nice ride out of it anyway. 

6/24/2013

Back to reality after break. This morning was quite a bit of work but there isn't all that much class time between now and when I go back to clinic. I have several project that I need to completely relatively soon but I didn't start today. Instead I went on a run. There were some pretty birdies showing off. I got home did some business homework and then went for another run with Kat. For dinner I made eggplant fritters. They were pretty great. 

Just eggplant, 1egg, flour, breadcrumbs, feta cheese, and Parmesan mixed and fried in fritters. Totally delicious. 

6/23/2013

We drove the 6 hours back from young singing and enjoying the whole trip. We got home just after 5 and billy showed up to make us dinner. How sweet. Kat's birthday is on Wednesday so I made her birthday cake ice cream. Similar to turkey Hill's party cake, cake batter ice cream with pieces of cake and icing mixed in. 

6/26/2013

Today has been a very exciting day for me it is Kat's birthday. There is also some very exciting politics occurring in both the US and Australia. I the US there was a failed filibuster in Texas over an abortion law. In Australia there was vote in Parliament where we changed prime ministers. I was amazed around noon it was announced that the party was upset and there was to be a vote at 7pm. The labor party voted and a new man was appointed prime minister right in the middle of the term. To make things more confusing they then checked to ensure that the independents were agreeable to the new prime minister. If they hadn't been then the leader of the other party would have been appointed prime minister. How strange. 

Oh the birthday Kat and I saw ironman 3 and then cooked up a storm and hosted a dinner party. It was lovely except everyone are too much. I hope she liked her birthday. I got her a gift card for hiking supplies since she is going to Africa in 6 months. I put it in the bottom of the ice cream that I made on Monday so she'll find it in a week or so:) 

6/22/2013

Happy Birthday Mom
Last day in Young today.  We washed the cars, did some errands, and did some homework.  I got in a good swim and then we had Kat's grandparents over for dinner.  It was lovely pavlova and all.  After dinner they taught me to play tripoley.  It is a 3 stage card game where you get points for having point cards, then you play poker with you had and then you play your cards down in numerical order.  It seems complicated but it is actually very east to learn.  Not bad for a last day of vacation.

6/21/2013

More adventures in Young today. I did a bit of homework and did some errands. We had afternoon tea with Kat's Grandparents chocolate cake and all. I took the running tour of Young and went for a 10km or so run. i'm pretty sure that my GPS lost me for a bit but i could have also slowed down significantly right in the middle of my run without noticing it and then got faster again at the end. It was a very pretty sunset run.  Tonight was French movie night we watches Les Miserable and the intouchables both were very good. 

I realize that I am a bit selfish. I blog to stay in touch but really it ends up being a bit of a one sided conversation. I always write about myself and the things that are important to me at the moment. I want you to know that I think of you every time I post. I love you and miss you. I hope at least in a little way I can help to brighten your day. 

6/20/2013

Back in Young today.  We started the morning with facials! She said my face was a mess.  I said, "You take my exams and see how your face looks!!!!" Just kidding I was polite and agreed that my face could use some work.  It was relaxing.
Today we also went to the Chinese memorial Gardens.  It was a bit barren since it's winter but still pretty.
This evening we washed the dog and I taught Kat how to play dragon age.  Kat's birthday outfit a dinosaur costume has also arrived so she has been dancing around in it since the mail came.
I also finished Echos of Thunder and have started on both The Brain That Changes Itself and 1Q84. Movies of the day have been 'Catch and Release' and 'King and Maxwell'
Pictures to come.

6/19/2013

I spent the day exploring Canberra the capital of Australia! I started the morning shopping with Katrine and her mum in one of the large indoor/outdoor shopping centres of the city.  We also had coffee in a cafe in the city. Then I went to Parliament house where I saw the House of Representatives and the Senate.  I miss the tour but I was able to explore by myself.  

I spent 2 hours there and was able to watch both houses in action.  I was a little shocked. At one point the committee chair interrupted a member of the house with a motion to make her shut up.  It was amusing but very rude.  I also went on the roof.  They claim that anything worth seeing in Canberra can be seen from the room of Parliament house. 

 

Once I had finished Parliament house Kat met me and we went back for lunch.  Afterward I ran to the war memorial.  It is absolutely enormous! I spent the afternoon going through memorials of all of the branches of military service for all of the wars that Australia has been involved in.  

At 5pm they have a closing ceremony with bag pipes, drums, and a bugle. 

 

 I ran back in time to have a turkish dinner party with one of Kat's friend's from Canberra.  It was absolutely amazing.  We headed back toward Melbourne late so that we arrived just in time for me to fall asleep.

6/18/2013

Another lazy day in Young.  I was content to take it slowly and have another relaxing day.  I read a bit more of my book curled up next to the fire.  It's cold here in Young as they don't have the buffer of the ocean.  The high today was 7 and it was foggy and overcast all day.   At noon we went out and did some shopping.  Kat picked up clothes to go to Africa in January, I got socks.  By the time we got back I was almost ready to stop being lazy.... almost.  We made an early dinner and headed off to Canberra around 7pm. We listened to the soccer game in the car on the way down and then watched it on TV once we arrived. Australia is going to the work cup next year!!! 

6/17/2013

It was a quiet relaxing day today.  It is quite peaceful in Young.  I started the day by finishing my ethics homework.  That unfortunately took till almost noon.  Then we went to the store to pick up food for lunch and dinner.  I started reading Echos of Thunder, had a swim and went birthday present shopping.  The movie of the night was Day After Tomorrow which I had never seen.  I almost started doing my homework for next week but changed my mind after writing out the questions.  Ahhh Holidays!

6/16/2013

ROAD TRIP!!!!! Katrine and I got ourselves up, organised, and out the door by 10am this morning to go on a 6 hour drive.  While singing the glee soundtrack we drove from Melbourne to Young, a small town in country New South Wales, where her parents live.  4 hours into our drive we stopped in Holbrook, NSW for lunch.  They have fantastic burgers.  They also have the hull of the NMS Otway.  A world war I submarine.  You may be wondering why a town of 1,200 people located over 100km inland has the hull of a submarine and a submarine museum.  I am wondering the same thing but I have half an answer for you after discussing it over dinner.  The town got its name from a submarine captain in World War I.  Not the captain of the Otway but of a different ship.  They have a 1/15 replica of this ship in the town.  When the Otway was decomitioned half of the hull was gifted to the city(because they like submarines??) so the city through a generious donation by Captain Holbrook's wife bought the remainder of the hull.
If you have a nagging curiosity about the momument Wiki can help: Holbrook Wiki
We got to Kat's parent's around 5 and had a swim before dinner.  I did a bit of business homework. Then we had fantastic home cooked food and apple cake.  After dinner we watched the Hobbit and I fell asleep before finishing my homework.

6/15/2013

I woke up on my first day of vacation at 7am because I had work today.  It wasn't too bad. My favorite team was playing at my favourite field, the one 3km away, my favorite player showed up for the first time in 3 months, and the team won by 6 goals.  I had planned on going for a bike ride after work but my riding buddy was busy today.  Instead of going without her I took it as a sign that I deserved a rest.  I cleaned my house and watch the entire series of The Newsroom for the rest of the day.  The Newsroom is a show written by the same person who wrote the west wing so it's a pretty good show.  I had heard about it but I had been to busy to check it out.  It was a good lazy day and had the added benefit of giving me an excuse to clean my house.

6/14/2013

Today was my last of 3 exams.  I along with the rest of my class were quite tired of studying by the time we go to the exam.  The lists of things that people were doing instead of studying was quite substantial.  Most of it was complaining about not wanting to study.  I got to the exam no less prepared than anyone else.  It was a fair exam.  I hope I did well.  I knew the answers to all of the questions.  Let's just hope that I put down enough information to get the points that the teacher was looking for.  After the 3 hour exam we all went in different directions. With only a week off many of my classmates had flights Friday night or first thing on Saturday morning.  I met friends downtown for some much needed rock climbing.  We climbed for nearly 4 hours.  By the end my toe and finger muscles were exhausted. Afterward we went to the pub next door for dinner and sat around talking for another few hours.  I would be excited for holidays if I wasn't so tired.

6/13/2013

The cardio exam went much better than the musc exam, unfortunately, I really wanted to do well in musc.  Tomorrow is my last exam and I am so excited.  I feel like I have studied my brain to complete mush and I can't wait to be done with exams.  Kat has gone a bit study brain as well.  The made a crown out of led lights...but only because she was out of candles to entertain her. 

I needed some motivation so I made mint chocolate chip ice cream. It is absolutely delicious.
I got a fantastic package from my sisters today.  It completely made my day:)

6/12/2013

First exam down.  I didn't do quite as well as I would have liked.  I word vomited on the page and didn't answer the questions to the best of my ability.  Oh well back to studying for cardio tomorrow.  I'm 2 more days away from a break.  Let me know if you have any suggestions for my week off.

6/8/2013

I started today with a 7am bike ride. We only went 2 hours and it was quite slow but it was good to be out. After I got home I was productive all day until 8:30pm when Avatar was on TV. I have a few notes just of the most important things that I really need to know.

6/11/2013

Knee surgery day! I went to the Eppworth, one of Melbourne's private hospitals,  today to observer knee surgery.  We started at 7:45 and did 8 cases, it should have been 9 but there was a mishap with a bone graft.  If I were a surgeon I would definitely choose to work here.  Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea are all catered as well as coffee, tea, and hot chocolate between each patient. It's pretty sweet.  So today I saw 3 Arthroscopes, 4 ACL reconstructions, and 1 ACL revision. It was fun and educational.  By the end I had the hang of the room and could identify most of the anatomy during the scope.  It was definitely a fun room to work in.  They also let me have a feel of some of the joints while the patients were sedated.  The tests of the knee are much more elegant when the patient cannot guard against them. Knee surgery is definitely the best way to study for the exams that start tomorrow.
After surgery I went on a fantastic 18km bike ride along yarra blvd. Which is very hilly but bike rider heaven.  I really enjoyed the bike ride but I would still consider it to be the worst part of my day, the rest was so amazing.

6/10/2013

Today is the queen's birthday. Well not really, it's just when Victoria celebrates it. This means that everyone had the day off work. So.... I went to the hospital, which was completely empty and studied for most of the day. I read X-rays, CT scans and consultation reports until my brain turned to mush. It was almost 9 hours and incredibly useful. After that I went home. On my lazy ride home I ran into someone who needed a bike pump and was happy to lend mine. I feel useful. Once I got home Kat and I say around the kitchen for 3 hours. No lie 3 hours. In the dark. It was a good break. We started out talking about physio and quickly moved in to not physio. So much study, I think that I may be getting dumber:)

6/9/2013

More study all day today. Started at 8:30 and went until 6. After studying I had a well deserved break and went out with one of my friends. We had dinner and a classy tour of Melbourne. I went to so many nice places that I didn't even realise were in Melbourne. It was really fun to act like a grown up instead of a lazy student. Such a good night! Too bad it's back to work in only 7 hours.

6/7/2013

More study today! Hours and hours of study. I had quite a bit of procrastination as well. I ran to the pool, swam 5km and then ran home. It was a good 3 hours off.  I came home and did a bit more study before going to my first professional footy game at 5:30pm. It was great Billy's team(Carlton) played our friend's team(Essendon). It was a really close game but Carlton lost by 5 points. The stadium is quite fun and it has a terrible bird problem so the players are constantly scattering birds. The very best part was that as we were leaving game we saw cookie monster playing the bagpipes! fabulous! After the game we went to a hipster bar. There was guy with artfully fake sagging pants. Kat and I laughed quite a bit. Then home and back to study. 

6/6/2013

More study today. I got a good bit of cardio today. I gave up for the day at 3 and went shopping. The dress that I have been looking at for months is on sale so I got the last one left in my size:) Then I went climbing with my normal climbing buddies+1 extra from Adelaide. It was a good workout I'm quite tired. Malaysian for dinner yum!   

6/5/2013

Today was actually much more productive. I studied consistently from 8am-10pm. I made it through all of my musc notes, asked my teacher a very detailed question to which she gave me a 1 word answer, (man i miss clinics!) finished business for the week and started on Cardio. I also bulked up my social calendar a bit so I'm going to need to study really hard the next few days. My study buddy next Tuesday(the day before my first exam) is going to be the head orthopaedic surgeon who has done all of the ACL's and half of the knee replacements I've seen.

 For dinner tonight I made broccoli fritters as suggested by my lovely little sister yesterday. I agree they are pretty great. 

Procrastination today was minimal but included drinking tea, cleaning my closet, tweezing my eyebrows, and complaining that it's cold outside. During one study break I accidentally started studying Neuro when a lecture came up on my play list.  Instead of hitting skip I just started taking notes. Sigh! 

6/4/2013

Honestly I'm not doing the best with studying. I have plenty of study breaks set out which would be great if I was actually studying when I was supposed to be but I'm not. I spend plenty of time researching conditions that I'm interested in and going into way to much detail of very specific problems but actually learning the material for the test is not my strong point at the moment. 

Today I got through 4 of the 6 ethics assignments that I need to do this week. I did more on soft tissue healing, fracture healing and tendonopathy. I can now tell you what happens at every level from patient symptoms to cellular response, including the most recent research.  I really hope that I can use my knowledge on at least 1 question. Finally after dinner I realised that I need to buckle down and study so I got another 4 lectures done before getting distracted again. 

Procrastination today included: eating cheesecake, making nachos, skyping, renting a car, looking up placements for next year, running and figure skating.

It was so good to go skating. I haven't been in so long. I had to rent skates as mine are in Morgantown. The man at the counter sharpened them for me to try and use. It wasn't completely embarrassing.... By the end I could almost waltz jump and do a few revolutions of a two leg spin. The problem was that there were no toe picks(well decretive ones) so initiating a spin or jump was almost impossible. After getting a feel for the skates edge work wasn't too bad. I was flying around the ice doing cross over sequences but the blades couldn't handle power pulls or spirals. I ran to the ice rink which is only 3 miles from my house and saw baby black swans in the creak on my way. 

6/3/2013

Finally a chance to sleep in.  I made it all the way till 8am before getting up to study.  I am doing somewhat ok with the work load.  As Kat was pointing out it is quite ridiculous, we have had an entire semester of practical and minimal theory; however, our exams are completely theory based.  We have 3 exams each 3 hours that are completely essay on everything and anything.   I'm a bit unorganised with my study plan still but I seem to be doing alright.  I don't know how I am going to manage another week and a half of study but I'll try.  It is starting to become a bit boring and I find myself getting distracted doing research for conditions that we are most likely not going to see on the exam.  I have really loved learning the past few months but this exam study is definitely bring me back down.  Procrastination today included going to the grocery store, hanging my mirror, cleaning my room, doing laundry, eating left over cheesecake and skyping.  What to do tomorrow....

6/2/2013

Today I buckled down and started on some studying.  I did quite a bit of research on soft tissue healing this morning.  After I had it figured out from patient presentation to the cellular level I went out to lunch.  The footy team had a reverse draw raffle where they draw numbers and the last one left in gets $1,000.  More excitingly they hd free food while this was going on.  The team is trying to get the trainers more involved so I did my part and came along for 4 hours or so.  It was alright and I got to talk to a friend that left physio to become a teacher.  On my way home I stopped at IKEA.  Smart idea on a bike....Not! I bought a mirror and was struggling to take it home when a friend invited me over for dinner and Robin hood.  luckily they live less than 1km from ikea.  Kat came along as well so I was able to dump the mirror on her and bike home much more easily.  It was a really good dinner with a movie and card games.  Then home, study and bed.

6/1/2013

It was a three game Saturday for me today.  It was pouring down rain when I left but luckily it had cleared up by the end of the first game otherwise I would have been completely miserable.  The Clubbies won! but the reserves and the seniors lost.  It was a big day for the seniors and reserves as well.  They were playing on the professional teams ground, but lost....by 1 point.  What a bummer.  I did have quite a few good injuries. One player had a slipped disc.  Right in front of me.  Normally I see patients a few months down the track not as they do the initial disc injury.  I also had a player with a dislocated rib and one with the worse bruise I have ever seen.  Here they call it a corkie, it is forceful contact that results in a sub-dermal hematoma.  His was so bad that it immediately turned black and covered his entire thigh.  Pretty crazy! After footy I went out for Sri Lankan food with my friends.  It was delicious and spicy.  Then we took food to our friends with plumbing problems.  Their house is quite gross and flooded with sewage luckily their landlord is paying for them to have a hotel until the damage has been cleaned.  I'm so glad that my plumbing problems are better:)

5/31/2013

First day off and what do I do? I wake up early and go into uni to help out with presentations being given by the 3rd year students.  It was quite exciting and there were actually several very exciting presenters.  I got free food, goodies, and insight into what I am going to need to do for my assignments next year.  I finished around 2 and then came home to write my paper before friends came over for dinner.  We had 3 guests over for dinner just friends of Kat that I'm starting to like as well.  Billy(Kat's boyfriend) made chicken Kiev for dinner and I made caramel apple cheesecake for dessert.  Both were delicious. Our friends that came over are also having plumbing problems but theirs are sewage related instead of in-flow related.  I feel so bad for them:(