Week 7 of Semester 1--BIRTHDAY!

So, this weekend was my birthday (yes, thank you for the belated birthday wishes), so I was a tiny bit too busy to update this at that point. I have to say that I have some pretty good friends down here--my birthday weekend was probably the best weekend I'd had since I arrived on this island back in May.

On that Friday, we went to Marriott for sushi and my awesome friends then had a party for me at the boys' apartment. Games and good music... then movies, and an empty promise for cinnamon pancakes (which I MUST have at some point!). The next day, I got home early to let the pup out and then got a new air conditioner installed (YAY!). My roommates took me out to Spratnet's for a lobster dinner (which was close enough to what I'd be getting at home) and then I caught up with Katie for apple pie (yum!) and some of us went out to see Paranormal Activity 2. I have to admit that wasn't too bad... I even saw it again on Sunday, after the wine tasting and pot-luck... and Kristi and Howin's home-made ice cream cake (so... many... candles!). :) So yeah, in short, I have some great friends that really went out of their way to make it a great weekend, and even incorporate some little pieces of home for me.


Monday was mid-semester break, a.k.a. recovery-and-be-lazy day.

My sense of time was all messed up that week thanks to having Monday off. I even missed my lunch with the dean on Thursday because I thought it was Wednesday. Urgh.

Week 6 of Semester 1--Scuba!

I'm just a busy, busy bee lately...

Well, not on Saturday--I spent the day playing Half Life 2 and watching Dirty Jobs... literally for the whole day.

Went on the first "real" dive on Sunday... and while it was scary at first being deeper than a pool, it was AMAZING. Our first dive was to a reef called St. Peter's Reef, where we looked at a lot of corals, tons of fry (baby fish), a stingray burying itself in the sand, and practiced a lot of our skills. The second dive was to a wreck called River Taw--but the visibility made it really difficult to see much. I had a bit of a run-in with swallowing too much seawater and ended up also smacking the back of my head off the tank, but it was still worth it. It's tiring though! I passed out for 2 hours after getting home and then was in bed by 9:30/10:00. I can't wait for the next set of dives--Vajai says he'll take us back to the River Taw, so I hope it clears up a little bit.


Classes are... still kind of dull, but what choice do I have otherwise? :/ I hope that the next set of exams goes as well as that first one did. So far, I have pretty solid B's.

The birthday is coming up--so far I've got a busy weekend planned (as it's also the Midsemester break). Friday, we're going to the Mariott for sushi and then back to the boys' apartment to play some games... Saturday, my roommates and I are going to a restaurant for dinner... and Sunday is a Ladies' Night wine tasting and potluck dinner. Sounds like a delicious weekend to me! So far, I've gotten cards from my mom and dad, my cats, and mom's work--thanks everyone! It made my day!

Week 5 of Semester 1--Homesick

Seems as though this is the time of the semester when I just get homesick--the same thing happened last semester too. I guess it's the time of the term when the realization that the semester is under full-force... although this time has the added difficulty of the fact that my birthday is coming up. Luckily, I have some great friends down here who want to take me out for dinner, go out for some sushi, play some games, and have apple pie. It's not perfect, but there's that little slice of "autumn" at least to look forward to.

So far, the grades are better--
Microanatomy: B+ (got a B the last time)
Anatomy: B (got a C the last time)
Physiology: B (well, let's not discuss what I got last time...)
Nutrition is coming up... on Wednesday... I hope I can get an A this time, but I'll still be happy with that B range.

The ocean dives got pushed off another week thanks to the storms that we had last week. The water got less choppy over the course of the week, but the visibility was an issue. So, we go next week, just before Lia comes to the household.

Reigo has gone to his new foster. I went on a massive cleaning spree over the weekend... nearly killing a roommate with bleach (although I thought I diluted it enough with lavender). The house smells SO much better now, at least.

Still keeping up with the P90X... almost at the halfway mark. I don't SEE much of a difference, but I feel it in my clothes being much looser... although I'm starting to lose motivation... it's tough to keep motivated on it. I hope I get it back... and soon. I like the fact that it's working so far.

I guess that's about it... nothing big going on really yet... dyed my hair again (see picture to the side)... but that was a while ago. Our class representatives made a blog on here for class updates: http://rossvetsep2010.blogspot.com/ There's a way to donate money to the class for our banquet and events via PayPal on there. So, if you follow my blog, you may want to follow that one as well.

Week 4 of Semester 1--Stupid Mistakes

Last weekend was a bit... hectic, to say the least.

Saturday was our first P.A.W.S. adoption event. For how few animals we had in the program at first, there were 14 adoptions in total over the course of the day. Last semester, we had 14 dogs and 17 cats (or the numbers may have been reversed), so we're just about halfway to what we accomplished last semester. Once the event was over, I picked up my new foster cat, Gibbs. Unfortunately, I still have Reigo in the apartment (he should be moving to his new foster home at the end of this week), so Gibbs has been staying in Steven's room. I barely see him--he's so shy around me, but Steven says that he's come out of his shell and will play and sit on his bed and everything. Go figure, huh? Once Reigo is out (and she's old enough), I'll have another puppy in the house--Liamuiga (named after a volcano on the island). She's only 4 weeks old, so she'll be nursing on mom for at least another two. Hopefully she'll be smarter about the housebreaking. :P So, with the end of the event, the website and bulletin board design got handed over to me. Go check it out!

Monday was our first exam--microanatomy. While I did well (I got a B+), it wasn't what I was hoping for--I wanted that A, and I just barely missed it. I spent too much time wavering on "did he teach that to us this semester or am I remembering it from last semester?" Well, he wanted that right answer, not the one I THOUGHT he wanted. So, I definitely learned that if I think it's right, just put it and don't second guess myself if we learned it yet. Tomorrow's anatomy and Wednesday's physiology (the class that did me in), but I'm feeling confident at least... I hope it's not unfounded confidence.

Two of the girls were sick this weekend, so we didn't go on our first dive--it got postponed until next weekend. I'm excited--4 ocean dives over 2 days and then I'm a PADI-Certified Open Water diver.

So, instead of diving, I saw two movies--Devil and The Town. I didn't think they were that bad. However, The Town was set in Cambridge, so I spent most of the movie thinking "I know where that Dunkin Donuts is..." or "I know that bar--you can totally see 93 in that window." Needless to say, it made me a bit homesick. As for Devil, I thought Shyamalan (I think that's how you spell it) made a pretty decent recovery. It wasn't as horrible as his last few films have been, but it's certainly not a movie I'd really want to sit through another time.

I'm going to head off to watch Inception and review some anatomy flash cards. Until next week!