Shot through the heart...

I shot a classmate yesterday. Twice.
Yeah, so it was just using diabetic insulin needles and just injecting normal saline but it still made life more interesting than normal. And he didn't even cry! Woohoo! (To be fair, he did a great job with the shots he gave me and put up with me "bouncing" the IM shot - not sure but I think I just jabbed it too hard?)

Of course I'm only updating here right now because I have a module test tomorrow. A hard one that I'm not entirely ready for yet. But I will be by 2pm tomorrow!
Weather has been nice(r) the last few days... After we had tornadoes nearby last week it's stayed fairly pretty though windy. Prayers for those in Edmond working to rebuild after last week's freak tornadoes (in February!! I think I heard that there's been less than 50 of those in recorded history here in Okieland).

Had a great Valentine's Day with Skronky - we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings and visited the Myriad Gardens (well, and Bass Pro Shop but that was more about killing time).

Random 25

This hit me from Facebook... 25 random, about me facts...

1. As apparently runs in my Kappa Psi family, I too am a little OCD… I MUST make my bed every day and things stacked in the “wrong” way really, really bother me. Oh, and people using “texting” jargon in real life (like LOL and IDK – just say the freakin’ words!!)
2. I met my boyfriend at one of his band’s shows… I’m so blessed that I chose to meet up with a high school friend that night! I shudder to think that I’d have missed out on all this if there’d just been an organic chemistry test the next day because I would have flaked on her!
3. I think I’m a different person than I was in high school but have not changed as much as some of my friends so I end up thinking maybe I didn’t change that much after all? I’m still a nerd, still baffled by the popular crowd, and still way too idealistic.
4. I actually didn’t hate high school. Am I remembering it better or was it really as bad as everyone else’s but I’m too scatterbrained to think that?
5. I really, truly love cooking. I sometimes wonder if I’d discovered this love sooner whether I’d have chosen pharmacy school over culinary school. (During horrible test weeks I really think being a chef sounds nice)
6. I cannot play a single musical instrument and am slightly jealous of those who can (especially if they can sing too).
7. The grossest food in the world is goulash. Cannot stand the stuff.
8. The respect for Dolly Parton instilled in me by my grandmum drives my mum crazy (she has tried and failed to understand it. I admit I don’t understand it at all but then I don’t try that hard. I don’t own any of her albums but if a song comes on the radio I don’t change the station, and sometimes I even sing along.)
9. I over-think most purchases that go beyond necessity. Sometimes to the point that they’re no longer in stock/style. (I'm working on this one though)
10. It would severely freak out my dad if I cut off my hair without warning him first. He would probably not talk to me for a day or two over it (if there was no warning).
11. I clean the kitchen when I’m stressed or sad. My parent’s kitchen, Skronky’s, heck – catch me at the right time and I just might clean yours! (It really freaks me out when the kitchen is a mess. I feel compelled to clean it)
12. My “backup plan” was getting a botany degree. To this day I have no idea what I would have done with one.
13. I don’t understand the reasoning behind deviled eggs. Why? Were the eggs not enough on their own that you needed to cannibalize them THEN re-stuff them with their own guts??
14. Sometimes I really miss living at our house in Norman from my Jr. year of undergrad. It was basically perfect and we got along in our own dysfunctional way just fine.
15. My best friend has pretty much moved from that title to sister. The way I figure it, we have each other to make up for me not having a sister and her having the one she does…
16. I’m darn impressed with myself when I actually complete a sewing project. I really enjoy sewing but since I don’t have much time to devote to it I let myself start something and put it off until I’ve nearly forgotten it even existed.
17. I’m loyal to a fault but if you cross me, my grudges are just as long-lived. (references on request)
18. I’ve always viewed my very close male friends as brothers. It rather cracks me up that now some of them really are fraternally related to me since I joined Kappa Psi. Also, that I’m referred to as their “brother”. Ha!
19. My grandmother collects chicken figurines and anything chicken related. I’m worried that this is some sort of dominant trait that I’ve got lurking in my DNA, ready to strike and over take my common sense any day now.
20. I read magazines from back to front. No idea why, but it makes me uncomfortable to have to read them the “right” way.
21. I’m really trying to like different kinds of wine but I’m still more drawn to the sweet, dessert-y ones.
22. I have trouble keeping myself from judging women/girls that have obviously fake nails (the longer they are, or obnoxiously painted, the harder I have to fight my bias). I don’t have a strong argument against them but still judge them.
23. When I start getting a bit of an ego about doing so well with my opportunities in life nothing brings me back to reality faster than thinking about the house where my mom grew up. My dad’s wasn’t a castle but just a tad better in comparison. Remembering visiting my grandparents when I was little brings me back to humble. I hope I never forget that, both the way it makes me feel and the way it really was.
24. I think myspace is stupid and am only on there to stay in-touch with a couple of friends from high school that I don’t know how to reach any other way.
25. I only have 7 first cousins, counting both sides of my family. Of the 6 I’ve met, I’m the oldest by several years. When I was little I used to be jealous when my friends got to go play with their cousins because I didn’t have any to play with me.

Catching up to the New Year

Finished out the semester well; 4 Bs & 2 As kept me happy since I promised myself before finals that all Cs would be just fine. Aiming low and achieving well - never would have thought that would be me, but here we are in pharmy school just as merry as can be. One semester left of actually-in-a-classroom classes followed by 9 months of a mythical beast called 'rotations' (assigned, spread out loosely into 12 months, somehow, that involves requesting sites that you'll never get, a white lab coat, and unspoken rules as well as several icky test things and "resume building" exercises that promise to reek of boredom). I am terribly ready to be done with school and out working. I honestly don't feel like I know much but I was always very, very good at looking things up quickly so maybe it'll all work out? (That certainly isn't very reassuring to anyone... Let's keep that part a secret, okay?) After finals Christmas hit home. No white Christmas here in Okieland but we had the freezing temperatures. The big family party with
Dad's side was fun with traditional Christmas fajitas, dirty Santa, playing spoons (which my female cousin & I are, apparently, really good at recently), and a foray by my mum & aunt into discovering how to make mulled wine at home (it seemed a lot like making hot tea to me?).
For my immediate family, on Christmas we did our usual laid-back thing at home with biscuits and gravy breakfast just after presents followed by lounging around the rest of the day, recovering from our paper cuts earlier in the day and drinks the night before. (I spent my Christmas Eve at work, since, after all, isn't saving lives a very merry thing?)
Christmas with Skronky, and later his family, was wonderful as well. I got him a cast iron dutch oven. I know what you're thinking... Horribly romantic of me. But that is what he wanted! Better than a tie, I suppose, since he doesn't often wear ties. (I "helped" him 'season' it the next day... I've never seen so much smoke billowing out of an oven!) It was nice to get to see his nephews at his family's party. The oldest one is just a few months past 2y and he's a terror (in a good way), running around everywhere and making friends wherever he goes!
This year for me the presents haul included, in no particular order: a leech jar (no leeches currently in residence), several shirts, a shoe rack, lots of candy, a flashlight, rechargable batteries, another charm for my charm bracelet (this time a celtic cross), cookies, a bird house that I won in my family's dirty santa, coffee & mug, and several books. Skronky got me the first book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer; I've read it twice since Christmas and plan to see the movie soon. (I prefer to always read the book before the movie, strangely enough.) But please don't count me in with the crazy, diehard fans. I like this author's style and artistry but do not have any misillusions or obsessions about vampires. Promise. You'll be the first to know if/when I do...
New Year's Eve saw me at home with the fam plus Dawn, her hubby, and their 3 week-old baby boy. Rocked out the end of the old year watching her hubby play Battlefield: Bad Company while the baby hiccuped in Mum's arms and Dawn & I gossiped. Am looking forward to this new year and all the wonderful things it'll bring. Best wishes to you and yours!

baking up some karma cookies

If you're interested in wine tasting, specifically Oklahoma wines, then I'd suggest attending this function at 50 Penn Place on Nov 15th. I am personally looking forward to it, having secured a DD and entrusted myself to mi mama & auntie who both also enjoy a nip of the vino now and then. There are even workshops offered that day that sound interesting (wine tasting with a sommelier, food & wine pairing, and how to grow grapes in Okieland). What's not to love??
I made some cookies this evening and contemplated, as they baked, how nice and homey cookies are. My chocolate chip cookies aren't pretentious or fancy but soft and flavorful (it's the added almond extract that inserts an extra unexpected kick). Cooking and baking are so like compounding in a chemistry/pharmacy lab, in my opinion, that I find it odd that many of my pharmy classmates profess to be inept at cooking. They require recipies, ingredients, measuring, mixing, and "touching up" just like the most basic of chemistry lab exercises do. Hmm... Mayhaps it is a ploy to procure free cookies? (great idea! What was I thinking??)
Had an interesting weekend with Skronky. Got to watch him work magic on some kitchen plumbing and am impressed beyond words at his newly-revealed skills. I hope to incorporated these skills into a master plan for taking over the world some day but please don't spill the beans to Skronky or he might go fishing that weekend instead. My plan working requires the utmost secrecy and discretion (causing me to rethink posting such on the internets. Yes, plural. Internets.)
That is all. Good luck and good night.

Pesto Presto!

School's keeping me super busy with TBLs, tests, meetings to run/attend, an all school picnic to plan/execute, and a million little busywork projects to figure out. I'm counting down the days until this Module is done... Argh! I cannot even begin to gripe about that one since it's a mute point, the whining doesn't fix anything, and it only comes off as pettiness. Just know there is a flood of things I would like to elaborate on but dare not. Less than 10 whole days and no more of that business.
Made up some pesto tonight from basil that I scavenged from Skronky's basil-overrun garden. It's really so simple to make that I'm not sure why I haven't been making it for years (other than the fact that I have never in all my life been presented with such a plethora of basil). Tasty too.
It's Rush week for my fraternity at school thus the 'wearing of the tshirts daily' is in full swing. And free food - that's the best part. I just don't have the time this year to get to meet and know the new P1s like I did last year. Perhaps I've hit my capacity for learning new names? Let's hope otherwise. Oh and the theme this year is " The Amazing Race" from the tv show that I've never even seen half an episode of making it hard to dream up helpful ideas to contribute. Thank goodness I'm busy...
Back to studying for tomorrow's TBL on infertility and polycystic ovary syndrome - thrilling, huh?

School.

School has been going full swing for about a week now meaning I'm already ready for Christmas break again. My lovely cousin is begining her first year of college out in Hawaii and my little brother is continuing his flight education at my alma mater - Best wishes to both!

Skronky just started a new job! Woohoo! Happy thoughts for him as well!!

Not much to say - every minute that I'm not studying I feel guilty for not studying... And I still need to purchase textbooks that I've been procrastinating about. Blah.
Happy Labor Day & I hope your week is lovely!

Bad Company, Sad sewing machine

As I type I can hear my brother shooting bad guys on the xbox - Bad Company is the new addiction at our house. We are still baffled by some of the things the "commander" says over the "headset"... Things that sound like "Peter Taco" and "Ichi nichi". What DO those mean???
Classes start next week so I've been helping with P1 orientation recently. I'm finally more than halfway through this academic adventure - woohoo!
On the same table as my laptop sits an unhappy sewing machine. It is mad at Mum and me for unknown reasons and refuses to talk about it. Perhaps it learned a new language and is determined to only use that one, like in college language classes, that we do not understand? Maybe it feels stressed and wants a vacation? Maybe it is having identity issues and is seeking counseling outside of the home for those personal issues? Who's to say at this point but we're having a parent-teacher (um, sewer-fixer?) conference later in the week to try to address such issues. Thank goodness there are 3 other sewing machines living here to help us bridge this time of sadness and confusion.
Skronky's newest nephew was born this last Sunday! 8 pounds, 10 ounces - a big healthy boy! They're still taking suggestions on the name so forward any good ones...
Enjoyed the ropes course and leadership retreat last week. Not quite as challenging a course as last year but still pushed me outside of my comfort zone. Leaping off a telephone pole-height and width pole to grab a bandanna 4 feet away is still outside of my comfort, by the way, but I can check that off the list of things I've done.
Many other thoughts and ideas but no motivation to express them. Seems egotistical to think anyone wants to read about my musings but yet, here I am babbling on and on.

Fishing!

Busy sewing lately...

Caught my first fish last Sunday when I went out to Skronky's Uncle's farm pond to see some of his family (and there were donkeys!!). He and his cousins were fishing so, of course, I got brought into the fun. The first one I reeled in we had to keep because he swallowed the hook (we let the rest go)! Skronky cleaned him up and ate him later in the week!

Enjoyed playing with Marie all day Tuesday - She's getting so big, so fast!
Otherwise, just been sewing, reading, watching Dad & Dork play Bad Company on Xbox. 'Tis a charmed life.
Hope everyone is well and having a lovely weekend!

Malaysian cherry vs cookies

Thought about posting. Decided not to... Then changed my mind. Thus is the shambles of my decisiveness that I am left with after ten hours with Marie, the four year old child cookie-making-prodigy known-as-my-goddaughter.
I'm thinking about entering her cookies in our county free fair next month, by the way (if her mama approves). I think that would be neat even if she doesn't win (and honestly, she'll be up against eight year olds who can actually read the recipe for themselves so who, other than those biased by love, would call her the front-runner?) I might just enter one of my homemade dresses as well since there is a section for sewing as well. Fairly certain I won't be entering any livestock or woodcarvings so if anyone wants a sure-win category stick to one of those, huh?
Went camping with Skronky on Monday down at the Lake of the Arbuckles. Very pretty lake, nice on-the-water tent site, and a good time all-around. (Well, raccoons got two of our ears of corn that we carelessly left out but since that was the biggest loss we'll take it.)
My hair is currently "Malaysian cherry" which means slightly reddish. I like it. Only the month-long stuff so if you want to catch a peek you'll have to hurry!

Plaid Pancakes

My mind is full this evening of random song lyrics from pop-y songs that normally make me cringe with how sickeningly cutesy they are. Ah, such is the way of karma.
After a shift at work on Friday (just one silly parent had tasted whatever the toddler ate) I enjoyed a lovely weekend with my Skronky to celebrate a tad early our 3rd anniversary as a couple. Tried out a nice cafe/bakery on Campus Corner where the Mascots' training camp stopped in for cookies (honest, 1 bobcat, a wombat, eagle, and, um, a cat[?] all trooped in for chocolate chip cookies) while we were munching on 3 kinds of pasta salad. (I had to get one of the fresh-from-the-oven brownies that were so huge that it would have been mean not to share - It was delicious!) Very nice place, will definitely be going back soon.
Looked through books and magazines at the local Border's... Found it funny that the 3 ends of the magazine aisles that faced the coffee shop area were aimed, in this order, very specifically at women of progressing ages: first the teenybopper area with fashion mags and gossip rags followed in the second end by the wedding-planning glossy pictures full of dresses and cakes finishing with recipes and gardening journals in the 3rd end. Naturally, that makes sense. Get them hooked to reading and ads early with flashy clothes and dating hints, pull them deeper while they're knocked senseless by the wedding industry, and lull them to sleep with tips on sharpening gardening tools.
Tried out a new pancake recipe. They turned out much like crepes but still very yummy. Made up very quickly and easily with only 5 ingredients!

"Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts?" -Emerson

Water barrel to compost barrel

Been busy with all the regular old stuff. Grocery shopping, laundry, studying, cleaning house, planning what to have for dinner, brainstorming on my next sewing project. The usual suspects.

I'd like to brag for a minute about how crafty Mr. Skronky is... My granddad gave him 2 old plastic barrels since they were in the way (and not in the newest condition) to try to convert into water storage containers to catch the rainwater off the roof of his house (Skronky's original idea that trickled down until it reached Grandpa who miraculously had such barrels available). Well, we hauled the barrels to Skronky's where his distracted girlfriend managed to bust the bottoms of the barrels even worse while unloading making them even less useful for water. That was several weeks ago. This last weekend (Saturday was his birthday!) he put into action the idea to make one of the barrels into a compost bin. Some drilling, cutting, adding of hardware and the compost barrel was done! Ta-da! Kudos to his craftiness as well as his thriftiness!

Instead of my normal sewing kick I've taken a forray into cooking again. And not just cookies my dear friends. Shrimp fettucini alfredo with a side of green beans followed by a dessert of bananas foster. That's the menu for tonight! Tomorrow is looking like baked herb chicken on a mixed greens salad with feta cheese and olives. Later in the week sometime lasagna will pop in to grace our table. Those are as far as I've gotten for this week...
Skronky and I even enjoyed some sushi again this last weekend. Did California rolls (avacado, cucumber, and imitation crab meat) and a mushroom variation (mushrooms sauted with olive oil and basil with the cucumber and avacado as before). Very yummy!

Marie (my goddaughter as those of you in the know... well, know.) stayed with me last Thursday and we had such a blast at the park, making cookies, visiting Grandmum, and watching cartoons that we're doing it again this week! Four and a half year olds are the best entertainment value-wise. Keep ya busy anyway...

Well, I do hope everyone is enjoying a lovely week with all this warm weather.

"Life is a festival only to the wise." - Emerson

Rainy day

In the search for the "next great thing" it can get difficult to always remember that *this*, here and now, is great too and worth the keeping, treasuring, and eventually remembering.

I attempted to update my blog with a nice, new template but didn't find any of theirs that I liked enough to modify for myself just yet so stuck with the same old look for now. Playing around with the html code just isn't as fun as it once was and has even turned into a bit of a burden so I'm hesitant to change around too much that I wouldn't want to have to fix a second or third time. Argh!

Cory and Jillian's wedding shower last weekend was great! Lovely, simple, and modest - it was everything a shower should be but often isn't (we even played xbox Rock Band -too much fun). Love & best wishes to the darling couple who will make their vows this next weekend!
Hope all are well and enjoying today! (Prayers for those in the flooded regions of the Midwest would be more than appropriate!)

Busy Memorial Day weekend

Life is pretty darn wonderful, huh? So blessed
Memorial Day weekend was full of excitement
Saturday was Stuart & Jenni's wedding out at a beautiful bed and breakfast SE of Norman. Short and sweet ceremony then food, dancing, toasts, and cake. (Playing the part of the "unloved cousins" Julie and I served up that cake within an inch of it's existance - it wasn't a pretty sight when we finished but it was done. We now know that if pharm school doesn't work out that falling back on cake cutting as a profession would not be our best bet.) Lots of dancing was enjoyed that night. Love to the happy couple and best wishes for a great honeymoon (2 weeks in Hawaii)!
Sunday was lunch at the Mont (where they have very yummy hamburgers) then I headed off to work at Poison Control for the evening. When I got there the hallway to our office was cordoned off with caution ribbon since they were buffing or waxing the floors, which they used to do by halves of the hall but now apparently take over the entire hallway to do. Since I don't know of another entrance that we can enter through (strange new building rules) I just tiptoed over the caution tape and along the side that seemed driest. Made it all the way to our door before the guy doing the waxing/buffing saw me and gave me a very mean look full of hate daggers. I sneaked into our office to find out that they'd been working on that tiny area of the hall ALL DAY already and had been told that people would be coming through to get into our office because we're a 24h-7d-a-wk place. Argh! When we went to leave late that night our door had even more caution ribbon on it (hinting to us that we should be more careful??) and when we got to our usual exit the door would not unlock to let us out!!! Coincidence? I think not! So we tiptoed back over ALL of the caution tape to get to another hallway to take elevators (since the stairway doors are often locked) to another floor to try to find another door that would open. Does this sound safe to you? If there was a fire we'd be doomed. Oh well, made it home and to bed with little other trouble.
Monday, Memorial Day, Skronky and I headed to his sister's for their family cookout-thing (on the way we stopped by the Asian market Cao Nguyen to pick up supplies for later). His nephew was very cute, as usual, and I think everyone had fun. That evening, back at Skronky's house, we made sushi for the first time. I've been intimidated by how hard I thought it would be but found it really, really easy and yummy. We made "California rolls" with avacado, cucumber, and imitation crab meat in the middle of the rice and nori, as well as other variations with carrot, sauted mushrooms, and shrimp. I forsee an addiction/obsession in the near future... We also enjoyed some edamame (soy beans) boiled so the whole meal was quite filling after sharing 3 full sushi rolls and a bunch of the beans. Yay!
Cousin Courtney is gradutating from HS today - Woohoo!!! Congrats darlin'! We'll be seeing you soon!
I know I've mentioned keeping busy with sewing so here are a few pictures to entertain...


Love to all and to all a great day!

Procrastinating during Finals Week

'Tis the middle of Finals Time... But thankfully my worst, most truly scary final is "done & did" and I no longer have the power or will to change/affect/effect/think about that one any more. Just Pharm Administration Mgmt and Neuro Module finals left (neither of those is cumulative or I would be sweating bullets about both) Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Not sure that I hit the mark of "a better person that has discipline and motivation out the wazoo" but I have been trying very hard. I will be so thrilled to finally be done with the semester. 'Twas mostly even a very good semester, just terribly long.

Skronky is graduating in a few days with his Bachelors degree (YaY!!!) so his mom called me up to get me in on a little grad party for him. We were to meet them at a local German restaurant for an early dinner Sunday but it was to be a surprise to Mr. Skronky so I had to fudge my tush off to keep him from figuring out where we were going. Did I mention he was driving? THAT was the most difficult part to maneuver, getting him to turn in there and park somewhere that he didn't think was our ultimate destination for the outing. I was so very nervous/anxious that he would be mad at me for keeping the secret (since he hates surprises) that apparently I seemed mad/upset most of the way there purely from trying not to talk or give anything away! Irony, huh? He wasn't mad, the food was great, and our parents finally got to meet after 2.5 years of hearing about each other. Hurrah for fun!
In other news, I'll be old soon. Very. Very. Old. Just so you know. But since it comes with cake that's okay, right? Be at my house this Friday night around 6pm and you can have a sopapilla. Yes, and probably cake. Or pie if I'm feeling sassy...
Love to all and to all a good night! (And if you have any tests this week, either scholastic or the life sort, best wishes! We all need a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card at some time or another, right?)

Yet another day in the rut of paradise

Same old rush, same old me. Nothing earth shattering has happened lately, thank goodness. Isn't that truly a blessing? A bit odd to wrap my mind around but it is a blessing to have a rut, a beloved rut, to enjoy each day with the knowledge that every now and then you can hop the curb, take a little jaunt into adventure and then hop back into that rut. Beautiful.
The dogwoods and redbuds are blooming with the daffodils. I love spring! It's this season in Oklahoma that makes me remember a tinge of regret at leaving my botany "back-up major" path for my pharmacy college goal. Just a tinge but still...
Skronky has/had morchella mushrooms in his front yard (also known as morels) this past week. Didn't notice them last year so we assume the soil was effected by all of the downed tree branches from the winter ice storm that sat there and decayed in his yard for several weeks. They're edible but I didn't really notice that they were all that flavorful or terribly special. Perhaps the wonderful taste was obscured by the other flavors in the lasagna we made this afternoon?
Helped with the Big Event for the 4th year in a row last weekend. Our little group was sent to a community center that has after school programs for the neighborhood children to aid in cleaning their crafts room and work over the flowerbeds that had gotten a little overgrown. Always a good time.
Pharmacy Celebration this Saturday was interesting. The food was decent and the company was terrific but the flower centerpieces were... tactfully, I'll say they left a little to be desired. And calling them "flower" centerpieces would be more truthful as there were precious few actual flowers in attendance. I wore a truly vintage dress (a cute little black number that my lovely aunt got for me ages ago at an estate sale - it's been biding its time for so long but it was fabulous!) and my mum's pearls so I felt like a lady out on the town. Skronky escorted me and performed his duties as squire, taking the job so seriously as to help me reach the butter across the table when I was in distress over the naked state of my bread. Such a gentleman. Everyone looked so lovely and contributed such lively conversation that we hardly minded the awards ceremony in the background. (I jest, of course we listened attentively!)
Had out-of-state family in town last week. My cousins are growing up so fast, it's amazing. I remember the very day the oldest one was born (we were out of school for a snowday) and it's so strange (in a good way) to see her now, to see how much she's grown into herself and all the nuances of her personality that are forming. (That's the sort of realization that makes me scared to be a parent someday - that I could somehow be responsible, and purportedly qualified, for helping a child form into the person they will become.)
Well off to bed and dreamland... Love and best wishes to all!

"Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts?" -Emerson

Spring, sewing

I ought to know better than to post when I'm like this... No, not drunk. Just moody or whiny or something. I'm tired of trying to keep score (of grades, of work, of giving, of organizations, of time, of joy, of everything) and pass muster (whatever *that* means) and just generally live up to expectations. Which is illogical and impossible yet still dangled out there like a carrot to me, the mule. Yeeeehaaawww!
Spring break came and went. Skronky is feeling better and recovering nicely at home. I spent most of the week with m'boy and my only regret is that he does not live closer to my sewing machine. Not that that makes any sense. So I suppose no regrets then.
Accomplished quite a lot of sewing during break... 6 shirts, 1 Capri lounge pants, 1 skirt for my Goddaughter, and a summery t-shirt reconstructed dress. I've been wearing the shirts and they're lovely. The best part is when people don't even notice that they're homemade - that makes me feel like I've done them well enough that it was worth the time it took since my shirts look normal enough to miss. Odd I understand but still...
I spent an abnormal amount of time arguing with the sewing machine though. Not really its fault but it did cause me to wonder for the umteenth time if I am going crazy or just coping in my own little way. Who knows?
I am entirely sick of weddings and I haven't even had the joy of attending one yet this season. That's rude of me to say but it's true none-the-less. I extend sympathy to anyone who has to attend and/or be a member of more than 2 weddings a year. I've decided that is the tolerable limit and even then they should be spaced out, such that one is in the spring and the other wisely in the fall. Quite appropriate if everyone would just listen to me... haha...
I guess I'll just finish up by putting in pictures of a few of my sewing creations to brag about (see, keeping score again!)... Love to all and apologies for my melancholy posting.

Engaged to Schadenfreude

Yay! It's finally Spring Break!!! Aren't you thrilled?
Skronky had surgery yesterday on his arm/shoulder/pec to try to correct an injury sustained in the Judo ring at a tournament he was in 3 weeks ago. Been visiting him as much as possible since then to keep m'boy company and to make sure he's doing okay. I think he'll survive once he gets past the point where his shoulder spasms into pain for no apparent reason. That sucks tremendously it would seem. The doctor who performed the surgery said he hasn't seen many of these and that as best as he could find there are only 150 documented cases of this exact injury. Isn't my honey ambitious? Prayers for him would not be remiss...

So, school's held me captive the last few weeks but the hard work has been paying off... I pulled off a 95% on an exceptionally difficult essay and fill-in-the-blank Pharmacy Administration and Management exam (-I have yet to hear anyone else brag of a higher grade so for once I WIN!! Woohoo! That REALLY never happens for me, the doing really, really well on a test that isn't exceptionally easy from the outset.) That was followed by 72% on a terribly subjective Respiratory/Renal Module exam on asthma, a 100% on a smashingly simple exam in the elective I'm taking at the Allied Health building (having correctly assumed that their electives are easier than my college's own), and an earth shattering 82% on my Pharmacy Practice IV midterm - the only test that I can ever remember utilizing the ENTIRE time allotted to take the exam and then walking out nauseous beyond words only to stay anxious and nauseated for the next 12 hours or so. I was OVERJOYED to find out that, not only did I pass the exam, but I made a B!!!!! (I did a tiny Snoopy dance there in the Lounge at the computer to spite the cruel PharmPract world that had hurt me so in the past.)
So beyond taking way too many tests and trying to fit in all of the site visit hours we're required to complete my classmates have been getting engaged. As in, to be married happily ever after. I have no idea if there's something in the Starbuck's they're drinking or if it's viral but there are currently 12 out of 83 of my classmates engaged, 2 of them to each other (our overt class couple who are practically joined at the hip already. And I'm biased but I think my name for them is hilarious - "Kodd" -a merger of their names, Kim & Todd. As in, here comes Kodd! ). That may not seem like much to an outsider but when a new one hits each week it seems like an epidemic. We did not have anything like this happen last year, nor do the next upper classmen report such an excess of new sparkly rings in their P2 year, which truly lends to the theory that this is viral. Thank goodness that I'm immune (since I'm what my grandmum calls, with a bit of regret, "so independent").
I've been sewing this evening and last since Skronky is otherwise busy being in recovery. A couple of new shirts, both with puffed short sleeves that I drafted myself! Both from either free or very cheaply acquired material, which just rocks in my world. Am looking forward to more sewing this week...
[Foreshadowing word of the day: Schadenfreude which is pleasure in the misfortune of others]

At my site visit in an independent retail pharmacy today (where I transferred out a script for the first time ever! Woo!!!) I took a call from a customer who seemed to think that it was perfectly normal and appropriate to demand that we fill her expired script right now for her even though she was told four days ago that we couldn't fill it and that we'd fax her doctor about it to try to fix the problem. I believe that same doctor talked to her that very day, four days ago, and told her that she would have to come in for an appointment before he could write the script since she had not been in for over a year for her checkup. She refused to make an appointment with her doctor and decided to wait until today, Saturday, to call to berate the pharmacy staff about her prescription. It appears to me that she thinks we're just refusing to fill her script out of pure spite, not because to fill it would be breaking the law. We do have, after all, a magical medicine wand that we can wave about when there is a problem and *poof* the problem is magically resolved and everyone gets their medicine of choice, whatever kind they'd like, for free and without any pesky doctors, appointments, laws, or questions. We're just holding out on her to be mean, because we like to see people writhing in their medicine-less misery. (Please disregard my sarcasm. I'm still sore about her actually progressing to where she was yelling at me, indicating that I was personally responsible for her discomfort, discomfort which I later found out is likely due almost entirely to her choice of lifestyle. Go figure.)

And now away to bed to muddle through dreams that make no sense but are delightfully silly. Love to all and Happy Spring Break!!!

"For [in seeing reality] each man sees his own life defaced and disfigured, as the life of man is not to his imagination. Each man sees over his own experience a certain slime of error, whilst that of other men looks fair and ideal." - Emerson, from his
essay on Love

Week(s) in Review

Hello to a new month!
Lots to report on since my last post so long ago... (I'm a bad blogger if you can't tell.)
I think I've pretty much finished that pinata game I've been addicted to this summer. I got all 50 achievements and added 1000 points to my brother's gamer score on the xbox so woohoo for geekdom! (I think there are nefarious plans in the works to start me over on the other box to up the score there too for my dad's... haha) I find it pretty funny how goal-oriented I can be on games like that but how many works-in-progress I'll start in real life without finishing in a timely manner. (Remember my 3 years of working sporadically on that t-shirt quilt??) I currently have several projects up in the air....
Including a t-shirt quilt for Skronky. Before you gasp and call me nuts to start another one right away... His only has shirt blocks on one side with flannel for the back and no middle pieces, since he wanted it to be light (Boy, it is light too... Rather worries me how light it is... not really a blanket so much as heavy sheet weight). Plus his blocks are larger than mine were so I didn't even have to tie it as much. (Did you notice that past tense??!? Yay!) I'm almost done with his, anyway, just have to bind it once I find a store that has another of the binding I did on mine; I have most of a pack of the binding I need but need another full one since mine took one and a bit so his should need one and a half or so. Then, though I have stuff already started, I want to do up a 4 piece set of appliqued dishtowels for that boyfriend of mine just to see if I can handle appliqueing. Guess we'll see... Not much time left before school starts back again.
Baked up at least another 5 or so apple crisps... We still have apples left! No one else at my house likes muffins or I'd try a recipe I found for apple raisin muffins that sounds delicious to me. I'm getting a bit sick of apple crisp so I'm going to have to find something else to make with these green, tarty apples. (I might just try the muffins anyway and eat them all myself. It's a thought anyway)
Enjoyed the Natural History Museum near campus with Skronky, his sis, her baby, and more of her crew last weekend. Skronky's nephew obviously didn't really understand what any of the exhibits were but he was his normal happy self so it was fun to see how he reacted to the new sights. They have a big statue, bronze maybe, of a wooly mammoth attacking/being hunted by a primitive man, a woman, baby, and wolf-dog next to him. Skronky's nephew loved the wolf-dog and when we sat him on it he laughed as his dad snapped a picture! Such a hoot.
The next day we, Skronky and I, joined a few of my classmates to celebrate a birthday at the Mont. Caught up some on summer gossip and news. Not ready to head back to class quite yet but seeing my friends was a nice way to ease back into the pharmacy college mindset. Speaking of which, I recently had a planning meeting for the P1's Orientation. Looks like it should be fun if we can figure out where to have the All-School Picnic, the finale of Orientation. We've already tried the Library where we were promptly turned away as they claim to already be booked for that Friday at noon (I have my doubts... They probably just heard how wild and crazy the pharm college faculty are and didn't want such hooligans around, right?) So if anyone has a suggestion for a site on campus, near the Pharm college, with lots of shade, that might be available, please, please let me know! (For those who know campus, we're currently looking into using the pavilion between Nursing and the Apartments. Fingers crossed that works out.)
Yesterday I joined 9 of my Kappa Psi brothers to work on a house with Habitat for Humanity at their newest build community Hope Crossing! The home we were working on is almost finished so we did touch-up painting, window sealing, and hardcore cleaning to get it ready to be carpeted this weekend, followed by sod/landscaping outside, for a family to move in as soon as next weekend! The really neat part of volunteering with Habitat is working with families who are putting in hours toward their own homes someday so they think about things like, "How would I want that in my house", so they do a great job because they're interjecting themselves into each project. ("Sweat equity" is a big part of the Habitat program. If you don't know much about the program I encourage you to check it out - What they're accomplishing even just in Oklahoma is great!) Of course, you get the occasional court-mandated community service people who just want to put in their time without really caring how it looks but hopefully those are few and far between (personally, I would much rather help H4H build a house than pick up trash at the side of the road. Maybe that's just me?)
Everyone have a great weekend!! Woohoo!!!

Skronky

Apparently Skronky thinks I should have mentioned him in my post for Monday... I had the wonderful opportunity to hang out with Skronky this weekend, specifically Saturday, after he won the gold metal in his division at his Judo tournament earlier in the morning. So congrats to Skronky and much happy Judo-ing in the future! Also, Happy Early Birthday in case your forgetful girlfriend happens to leave that out of her next post...